AN: Please enjoy. Thank you for reading and reviewing. This is rated M. Be safe and be good people
Chapter 3
When Klaus woke he was in bed alone, but as he lifted up on his left elbow he could see that the witch was at her table, but what she was doing he could not see.
With her back to him, she said without turning, "I am preparing herbs for you to take back with you."
Klaus chuckled, "So little witch, you can read minds?"
"Not normally, but yours is rather easy," she teased, getting up from her seat, wiping her hand on a cloth, turning to face him.
She was a sight, he thought, her hair was away from her face in an angled braid that twisted around her head with the tail end laying over her right shoulder, falling down to her waist. She wore a woolen brown dress with yellow, purple and blue flowers embroidered around the end of the flowing sleeves and hem. The dress covered her modestly but fit her perfectly, contouring to her curves, valleys and slopes.
She came to Klaus to help him sit up better. Letting the furs fall to his waist not worrying about his bare chest since the fire was high. Once she was satisfied that he was comfortable she walked to the fire and the pot that hung on a chain over the fire. Using a ladle she filled a wooden bowl with stew, but mostly the broth of it.
"Prince, eat the broth that I spoon to you first then I will mash some of the meat and vegetables together for you to eat. It has been a long time since anything with substance has been on your stomach," she said as she walked over and sat next to him.
"I am no prince, my name is Niklaus or Klaus. What is your name?" He watched her intensely. It wasn't often that he trusted the kindness or motivations of others, but he mused that what benefit would it bring for her to kill him after she saved him.
"The wind tells me you and your siblings, your entire family are rulers, kings, with royal blood. Your father rules across the waters." She replied quietly as if she was expecting him to ridicule her or call her a liar.
"How do you know these things?"
"I told you, the wind speaks. One day you will rule. But for now you must follow," she smirked. Holding the spoon under her mouth she blew on it then placed it to his lips.
He accepted the spoon of broth. After several more spoonfuls he asked again, "What is your name?"
"Prince..Klaus..I have no name, not one that I can remember." She was looking down as she spoke, mashing the more solid contents of the bowl together.
"How long have you been here in these lands?" She didn't look more than a few years older than Rebekah, but not as old as Freya and Rebekah had twenty-two winters whereas Freya had twenty-five.
The questioning was making her uncomfortable, not because she didn't want to give him the answers he wanted, but because she didn't know. Continuing to look down even though she had finished mixing the food, she replied, "I remember trembling before the great viking chieftain, Hastein as he and his men, like a terrible flood, covered the golden sands of my home. And on a great and mighty steed he carried me away to his ship, as payment and gift from my people."
Klaus sat eyes wide looking at her, trying to find any sign of duplicity and found none. But his mind was spinning, his father told him and his siblings stories many nights of the mighty chieftain that traveled to far away lands bringing back wonders never seen by their people. But Hastein had long been dead.
He placed his finger under chin to lift her head, looking into her eyes, he said, "Two hundred and fifty winters have passed since his death. How can this be?"
"I have no knowledge of such things. I only know he brought me here and here is where I have stayed." Looking at the bowl of food long forgotten, she whispered a spell to mildly heat the food. "Enough questions, you must eat. You will need your strength." She mixed the food again then spooned some out and brought the spoon to his lips.
Although Klaus had many more questions, his stomach told a different story, so he acquiesced to her command.
XX
The days passed as they do and during the passing of time both Klaus and the witch settled into a simple routine. He tired of calling her witch or witchling and since he found her to be beautiful he would call her his bonnie lass and eventually he dropped the lass part and called her Bonnie.
The witch liked it and would answer to the name when he would call out to her. As he grew stronger she knew that soon he would have to return to his people. Insomuch as she knew this it saddened her to think of it, so she would often seek to commune with the forest and woodland creatures to distance herself from him, but he would follow.
Close, as close as he dared to get to Bonnie, he would watch her as she talked to the forest creatures, gathered herbs or used her magic in some way. He once intruded on her bathing in the lake. He stopped and watched for a few seconds, knowing it was rude, but star-struck by the vision. He knew she was aware of his presence, but she did not seem ashamed of her body or embarrassed. He walked away thinking she was a strange sort of woman.
The next night would be a full moon and he was fit enough to shift into his wolf form. He could shift any time but the pull of the moon made it more appealing.
XX
Bonnie lay in bed asleep when the howl in the night woke her. She instinctively knew it was Klaus, he would be the only one that would brave the forest at night plus the howl was like a call to her soul. He was calling to her.
The night was cold but her body was hot, her hands were sweaty and she thought she would faint as she walked. She had never felt this way before, her heart was beating rapidly and she could hear the sound in her ears. She shivered but not from the cold but from an unexpected excitement and in the pit of her stomach she felt an ache. It was an unknown feeling to her, but she recognized that Klaus caused it.
As the days passed she knew that he was making her feel foriegn emotions and sensations that she never experienced before and strangely she liked it, even welcomed them.
Following the howls Bonnie stopped short when she saw the biggest wolf she had ever seen standing near the odd pool of dark water where the voice came from.
He stood there black thick fur that appeared soft to the touch, eyes, glowing gold orbs, strong legs and massive paws. He stood regal and proud contemplating the witch as she did the same.
Bonnie should have been apprehensive, but as deadly as she knew he was, she felt safe and so she drew closer, a step or two. By instinct alone she knelt down and bowed her head submitting to him, the beast and the man.
Klaus watched the witchling. In his wolf state he was all beast, all instinct, all primal. The wolf wanted her as his mate, to have her completely, to protect her, to indulge in her sweet scent, to have her willingly give herself to him.
When Bonnie kneeled down before him, he instinctively moved gracefully accepting her supplication. Standing in front of her, head even with hers, he lowered himself down , head on her lap.
Once the wolf laid his head in her lap she hugged his neck rubbing his fur, feeling content.
XX
Neither one of them remember when they returned to the hut, but it didn't matter as they held each other while lying on the pallet under the furs. For the first time for both Klaus and Bonnie they felt an emotion that for him was akin to what he felt for his family and for her,a feeling she could not fully articulate and couldn't remember having ever encountered.
As she slept Klaus rubbed her hair and held her close to him enjoying her warmth and the soft texture of her skin. He had grown accustomed to her scent, a mixture of wildflowers, earth and ginger. He buried his nose in her hair and neck needing to be surrounded by her scent.
Klaus had been with many women, the most recent was Aurora, who was back at home waiting for him and a proposal of marriage, which he had had no intentions of giving, especially now. She thought of herself as being in love with him, but he was sure she was more enamored with the prospect of being a chieftain's wife. And although they took pleasure in each other's arms, Klaus did not feel any other affection for her other than of a carnal nature, nor did he believe she was a good addition to his family. To Klaus' reasoning she was unsuitable as a wife and he could not formulate a vision of her as the mother of his children.
Of course, thoughts of marriage had never plagued him before and he was less inclined to seek it out while he was still young, but Bonnie had him wanting to make a claim and make it known.
She would be an asset, a worthy addition to his family and he was sure that his mother and father would find her captivating. Yes, he thought as he allowed sleep to overtake him, she will be my wife, my queen.
XX