Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any recognizable people or places.
This is my first foray into the Vampire Diaries universe so please be kind.
A month after the wedding between Thorsten and Emeline, Calynn still felt like there was something she was missing, like she had forgotten something important. And ever since the wedding she had felt unease around Mikael and she couldn't figure out why.
It was like his stares had gotten even more intense and she thought she had caught him taking a deep breath of her hair and adjusted his breaches at one point but she might just have been mistaken or something.
Calynn took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock on the Mikaelson's door. She had promised to help Henrik learn how to play Tic-Tac-Toe, also known as three in a row. As she waited for the door to open, she thought about the future and what she could change and what she could not.
She was knocked out of her thoughts by the door opening and she looked up with a smile, expecting Finn or Elijah but her whole body froze as she came face to face with Mikael.
"Greetings, Calynn." Mikael smiled at her while his eyes traveled her body and Calynn suddenly felt like she wasn't wearing enough clothes. "What brings you here today?"
"I promised Henrik that I would tech him how to play Tic-Tac-Toe." Calynn felt slightly surprised that her voice was steady while something inside her was screaming at her that something was wrong.
"Ah, yes, he hasn't stopped bragging to his siblings that you promised to teach him first." Mikael nodded. "Come in."
While Mikael opened the door wider for her and stepped aside to let her enter, he didn't move a lot which resulted in Calynn having to press past him to get inside and she would swear that she heard him moan lowly.
Before she could start analyzing and trying to figure out what was going on, Henrik ran up to her and grabbed her hand.
"Calynn, you're here!" Henrik dragged her towards the big room. "I was getting bored as all of my siblings and my mother are out right now and father doesn't really have time to play me."
"The rest of your siblings are not around then?" Calynn tried to sound teasing while some of her instincts screamed at her to get out of there.
"Yeah, but Finn looked very disappointed about not being here when you were coming." Henrik looked confused. "I guess he really wanted to learn to play Tic-Tac-Toe."
"I guess so." Calynn murmured with small smile and a blush.
Calynn proceeded to teach Henrik Tic-Tac-Toe and several variations of the game for the next three hours, all the while ignoring the burning stare that roved along her body every few minutes.
It was getting close to dinner time and Calynn could see that Henrik was getting hungry but none of his siblings had come back yet so Calynn offered to make some food that would feed the entire Mikaelson family.
"Can I help?" Henrik asked softly.
"That's up to your father." Calynn smiled down at him.
"Father may I help Cal with dinner?" Henrik looked at his father, making sure his eyes were big and pleading.
Mikael looked at Henrik before turning to Calynn and then he turned back towards Henrik, "You know I do not like men doing a women's work."
Calynn had to bite her tongue not to snarl that she would show him a 'women's work'. Fucking sexist pig! That of course, most men in this time were sexist and that was something Calynn had been trying to change but progress was slow.
"But because Calynn had been kind enough to offer to cook for our family I will allow you to help her." Mikael declared.
"Thank you, father." Henrik smiled and walked over to Calynn. "What food are we making?"
"We are making a meat stew with potatoes, onions, garlic and herbs." Calynn smiled at Henrik's enthusiasm.
Calynn let Henrik shop the onions and the herbs while she did the rest. At one point she had to ask Henrik to get some more water from the well and while he was gone Mikael pressed up against her to 'get a cup' from one of the higher shelves.
That incident made Calynn feel scared because most of the time when she felt worried or scared, she would feel her magic right under her skin, ready to act at her behest, but with Mikael it was like her magic hid as far inside Calynn as it could get and she was powerless.
"Mikael?" Calynn asked quietly when Mikael didn't step back from her.
"Yes." Mikael almost whispered in her ear.
"Can you step back?" Calynn hoped he couldn't hear the fear in her voice. "You're making me uncomfortable."
"Am I?" Mikael started intently at her lips before looking up into her eyes.
Mikael started to bend forward as if to kiss her when the door opened and they heard Henrik return. Suddenly Mikael was back in his chair by the table and looking like he hadn't moved since Henrik left.
"Cal." Kol smiled as he came into the kitchen with Henrik, carrying the water while Henrik bounced beside him.
"Calynn are you alright?" Henrik asked as he saw how shocked and pale she was.
"Yes, I'm fine." Calynn assured him, trying not to look over at Mikael. "I was just not expecting your arrival and might have jumped a little."
"I'm sorry." Henrik looked down.
"It's not your fault that I was lost in thought." Calynn smiled at him, still feeling Mikael's eyes on her.
After that they continued with the stew while the rest of the Mikaelson family slowly trickled in, one by one, until the whole family was present as Calynn placed the stew on the table.
"Thank you, Calynn, for making dinner for us." Esther smiled at her as the all started to eat.
"It was no trouble, Esther." Calynn smiled back.
"You will make someone a very good wife someday." Esther told her brightly.
Calynn blushed and looked down, not noticing Finn, Elijah, Niklaus and Kol looking at her with longing and love and Mikael looking at her with lust and want.
"Would marrying Calynn make her husband into a god?" Henrik asked thoughtfully. "I mean, she's a goddess, right?"
"That's a very interesting question, Henrik." Esther smiled proudly at her youngest. "But impossible to answer before Calynn gets married."
The thought made Calynn start thinking; what would happen if she got married? Who could she even marry when everybody saw her as a goddess? Unbidden, images of Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, and Kol flashed through her mind.
'NO!' she screamed at herself, she would not be another Tatia, Katerina or even Elena who played with the hearts of brothers and made them compete against each other for her affection.
17 Years old
In the last four months Calynn had had another black out where she was missing memories and it was starting to worry her. She had been over at the Mikaelson home with Rebekah, letting her braid feathers into her hair. She remembered Rebekah having been called by her mother and the next thing Calynn remembered was waking up in Rebekah's room the morning after.
Rebekah had told her that she had been asleep when Rebekah came back from helping her mother and that her father had carried Calynn to Rebekah's room. Calynn had shrugged it off as her being really tired but something kept nagging at her and then she had noticed the three, weirdly shaped bruises around her left breast and the weird substance on her underclothes.
Calynn was knocked out of her thoughts by a knock on her door and when she called out her permission for her mother to enter, Ayanna walked in with a bright smile.
"Happy name day!" Ayanna hugged Calynn close. "Seventeen years already."
"Thank you, mother." Calynn smiled.
"Mikael's sons are almost here." Ayanna smiled knowingly as she pulled out a dress for Calynn to wear. "They wanted to escort you to a picnic in the woods today."
The dress was beautiful and the fabric shifted colors as the light hit, with dark stitching on the front and Calynn gasped as she saw it, "It's beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it." Ayanna smiled proudly. "It took me almost a year to complete it."
"You've been working on this for almost a year?" Calynn ran a reverent hand along the skirt of the dress.
"I wanted it to be perfect." Ayanna blushed a little. "Now put it on before the boys get here."
Half an hour later Calynn walked out of her house and was met with four smiling young men. Finn, Elijah, Niklaus and Kol all wished her a happy name day and then she was offered Finn's left arm and Kol's right as the five of them made their way into the village on their way to the woods.
"So how do you feel, Cal?" Kol asked her with a smile. "A whole year older."
"You want to know something really surprising?" Calynn asked softly, like she was divulging secrets. "I feel exactly like I did yesterday."
"No? Really?" Niklaus gasped in 'shock', making the other four laugh.
Calynn laughed with them as they continued to joke, but at the same time, she felt something in the air, almost like the whole village was filled with anticipation. She assumed it was because of the bonfire tonight in her honor… was it to late to run away and live in the woods?
"I'm so sorry." A voice spoke up from where a young woman had bumped into Finn.
"That's alright." Finn smiled kindly and helped her to righten herself.
"Thank you." The woman looked up and Calynn had to stop herself form gasping in surprise, in front of her stood none other than Tatia, the doppelgänger that played with Elijah and Niklaus.
Calynn swore then and there to do everything to stop Tatia from hurting her boys. Yes, she said her boys. They were her boys and while she hadn't planned on falling in love with the four older Mikaelson brothers, it had happened, but she would not play them against each other and she would be happy for them when they fell in love and got married, as long as it was not with Tatia!
"Hello, you are new in this village, are you not?" Calynn asked pleasantly.
"Yes, I just arrived two days ago." Tatia answered softly, but Calynn could see how she looked at all the Mikaelson brothers.
"Why did you move here?" Kol smiled at her. "If you don't mind me asking?"
"I don't mind." Tatia smiled back. "And I moved here because I heard rumors of this village being protected by a goddess and was safe from bandits."
"Had a problem with those in your last village?" Finn spoke gently.
"There were several raids on my village and I was forced into bed with one of the raiders, resulting in a child and the other villagers shunned me for it." Tatia looked down.
Calynn somehow knew she was lying, she didn't know how she knew, but she did. Calynn didn't see that the Mikaelson brothers noticed how she stiffened and mouthed 'Liar'.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but rest assured that won't happen here." Elijah told her a bit coldly, not trusting anyone who would lie to get sympathy.
"It gladdens me to hear that." Tatia tried to look coy but Elijah ignored it.
"I assume you are coming to the bonfire tonight?" Niklaus spoke up.
"Yes, I am very curious about this goddess you all seem to worship." Tatia smiled again.
"Then we might see you there." Finn bowed his head while his brothers smirked, knowing that the Goddess was standing beside them. "But now we have to go."
Tatia looked after the four young men and the woman in their arms as they walked away. She wanted that, several young men devoted to her and her happiness and those four would work, they were all very good looking. Sure, the woman was strikingly beautiful, but Tatia was convinced that she could lure the men away from her, Tatia was, after all, much prettier.
Not knowing that Tatia was planning and scheming, the Mikaelson brothers led Calynn to a clearing in the woods, where they had put up a blanket for a picnic. Finn led Calynn over to the blanket and helped her sit down on a pillow while his brothers went and got the picnic basket from a tree.
"You had the basket in a tree?" Calynn giggled softly.
"Well, we didn't want any animals to get the food, now did we?" Niklaus gave a dimpled smile.
"You do know that bears can climb trees, right?" Calynn asked as she looked at him.
"They can?" Niklaus sounded as shocked as his brothers looked.
"They can." Calynn smirked.
"Whatever, we have food to eat and presents to give and a question to ask." Kol started to pull out all the food from the basket while almost bouncing in place.
"Question to ask?" Calynn wondered as she looked around her at the other four.
"Yeah, but that comes later." Niklaus smiled. "Food first."
"You four didn't have to go through all this trouble just for me." Calynn smiled shyly at them with a blush as Kol gave her a small pastry with custard filling.
"You are worth it." Elijah smiled at her.
"You are all so kind to me." Calynn patted Elijah, who was sitting closest on her left, on the cheek.
After the food had been eaten and laughs had been had, the four brothers cleaned up the dishes and placed them back in the basket.
"Calynn, there was something we wanted to talk to you about." Finn spoke up slowly. "And we don't really know how you'll react."
"I don't know either until you talk to me." Calynn smiled encouragingly at him.
"We want to court you." Kol blurted out.
"Kol!" Three voices reprimanded and Elijah hit him over the back of the head.
"What?" Calynn stuttered out in shock.
"We where going to ask you gently and not blurt it out but Kol is right." Elijah spoke up.
"I don't understand." Calynn muttered, feeling off-kilter.
"We want to court you." Finn repeated Kol's earlier words. "All four off us."
"But… wouldn't that be frowned upon?" Calynn whispered softly.
"We don't think so." Niklaus told her gently. "We have been discussing this for over a month."
"You have?" Calynn felt like her world was turning upside-down.
"We want you." Elijah grabbed her hand and stroked is thumb over her wrist. "We feel drawn to you, like a moth to a flame."
"And as a Goddess, you should have your own harem, right?" Kol smirked.
"We all brought you courting gifts, but you don't have to accept us." Finn assured her with a small but vulnerable smile.
"Mine first." Kol bounced in place and handed her a small parcel.
Calynn smiled at Kol as she accepted the gift and slowly opened it. Her eyes widened as she saw the beautiful bracelet inside, it was beautifully crafted with a red stone in the middle and some intricate designs on the sides.
"It's beautiful." Calynn looked up at Kol.
"I'm glad you like it." Kol muttered a little embarrassed.
"Here I hope you like it." Finn handed her a small wooden box.
As she opened it, she saw two exquisitely made earrings in silver with a red stone in the middle. Calynn smiled as she started to see a pattern and concluded that all of them had actually collaborated on their courting gifts.
"They're so beautiful, Finn." Calynn smiled at him.
"A beautiful gift for a beautiful woman." Finn smiled.
Niklaus handed Calynn a small packet with a dimpled smile and a blush, not saying anything.
"Oh goodness." Calynn gasped as she saw the necklace inside, burnished gold with red teardrop gems. By the looks of it the necklace would fit tightly to her neck, almost like a collar.
Niklaus gained that adorable smile on his face that was a mixed of pleased, embarrassment and cocky. Calynn placed the necklace down in front of her with the rest of the courting gifts and smiled at Elijah who handed her a thin square wooded box.
"And lastly, my courting gift." Elijah smiled at her with hope and fear fighting in his eyes.
Calynn accepted the gift with a reassuring smile and then she gasped when she opened the box. On a piece of satin cloth there was a beautiful silver circlet with red gems and some diamonds. She looked up at Elijah with wide eyes and then she gently pulled the circlet out of the box and placed it down by the other gifts.
"Are you four sure about this?" Calynn asked seriously as she looked at the brothers. "Because if I agree, you will need to share, I refuse to pick one over another."
"And that is the reason we are sure about this." Finn placed a hand on her cheek.
"You will never play favorites between us and I have a feeling you'll love us all equally." Elijah smiled brightly at her.
"And all of you feel this way?" Calynn asked one last time, to be sure that they were sure.
As the four brothers nodded with smiles on their faces, Calynn took a deep breath and started to put on the four courting gifts, proving that she accepted their suit and would let them court her and, hopefully one day, marry her.
The Mikaelson brothers cheered as she put the gifts on and then Finn pulled her up on her feet and spun her around in happiness, making Calynn laugh freely, feeling happier than she ever had. When he came to a stop, he gently tilted her head up with a finger under her chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Calynn was quickly pulled away from Finn and into Kol's arms and her lips caught in another soft kiss, before she was suddenly twirled into Elijah's arms and received another gentle kiss.
Lastly, she ended up dipped and kissed gently by Niklaus before she was placed on her feet ones again, a blush adorning her face as the four brothers smiled brightly at her. The five of them started to walk back towards the village, this time Calynn was walking arm in arm with Elijah and Niklaus while Finn carried the basket and Kol the blanket.
What none of them seemed to notice was that Calynn was shimmering, almost glowing, quite literally, with happiness, as they walked back towards the village. No, the five of them were lost in their happiness as Calynn was proudly displaying her courting gifts as they walked into the village.
A/N: Finally, a chapter!
I'm sorry for the wait, I've been swamped with work and homework, but I hope you like this chapter.