A/N- Here we go, a long chapter from Elijah's POV.

People have been requesting Caroline, she's not working for Alaric unfortunately but she comes along next chapter.

Email Received 6:00

Professor Saltzman,

My name is Aaron and I am a member of the nobility in a position to approach the Royal Family and suggest implementing many of the actions you have proposed in your papers and manifestos. We have exchanged emails before in the past and I was hoping to meet with you at eight-thirty am today if that is convenient for you?

Regards,

Aaron Newland.

His Majesty's Royal Council.

Email Received 7:50

Re: Meeting

Sure, I would be happy to meet with you.

My office is on the first floor in the Dobrev Building on the main campus. Rm 112.

A.S

"I still think this is a bad idea" Klaus told him as they strode quickly through the university campus, hoping that speed combined with their attempt to be inconspicuous would lead to them being overlooked and unrecognized as Royal Princes.

"I'm meeting with a university professor Niklaus, not an anti-monarchist socialist alternative if he throws me up against the wall you are more than welcome to defend me"

"That's my point" Niklaus took his arm and pulled him around so that they were facing each other in the ancient university square, the fog of the morning still heavy on the ground, "He's an American, what if he has a gun?"

Elijah cocked an eyebrow, "Don't you also have a gun?"

His little brother pulled a face and didn't meet his gaze. So Elijah took that as an affirmative, but is tugged back when he goes to move.

"It's not a crime to kill you today" he reminds him, "By Valhallan law, you can't be murdered because you won't exist again for another fifteen hours and thirty-three minutes"

Elijah cups his brother's face and bumps their foreheads together,

"I trust you to protect me Niklaus. I trust you even more than I trust Ansel. And even if I am killed today-which I won't be-" he has to add hastily when he sees his brother flinch,

"I know that you would never allow my murderer to walk away alive"

Niklaus exhales shakily and Elijah steps back, "Now come, don't want to be tardy for the abolition of the monarchy" he jests,

"That is not funny!" Niklaus snaps but he follows him up the steps and they momentarily falter before finding Room 101 and figuring that even in universities numerical systems had to make sense.

Because they did not want to have to stop and ask directions.

Niklaus might have been out of the public eye for a few years but Elijah had been living and breathing under the gaze of the nation and paparazzi.

Elijah has an embarrassing moment when he reaches the office door and looks down at the knob, doors had never been closed to him outside of the palace before and he wasn't aware of the etiquette.

Niklaus reaches over his shoulder and knocks, almost immediately there's a sound of papers rustling and the cry of 'Enter'

Both brothers step into the room and note the messy intellectual air of the office, books and essays scattered everywhere, mugs sitting on window sills and a plant in the corner that was either plastic or immortal. Professor Saltzman had his back to them, rifling through his desk,

"Sorry" he calls in English, his American accent noticeable, "End of semester, every last one of my students handed in their papers yesterday and why the uni doesn't allow everything to be sent online is beyond me"

He turns around and Elijah notes the man would be early thirties with friendly features,

"It's nice to meet…"

The recognition in his eyes is almost instantaneous and his hand falters at his hip, frozen in the act of being offered for a handshake,

"What the holy hell is this?!" he demands in a tone that bore likeness to thin ice over a raging river,

"Am I under arrest?"

Elijah blinked at the suggestion, surprised at the suggestion, "No, no I assure you if we were going to arrest opposition to the monarchy we would not be starting with the international academics who'd have the support of the U.S embassy behind them"

"We also wouldn't be sending in the…heir to the throne to make the arrests" Niklaus points out as he strides to the small window and looks out, noting the low hanging tree that allowed little natural light to filter into the room.

"Then might I ask why two members of the royal family, second and third in line to the throne are standing in the office of a man who received an email asking to meet with a progressive nobleman?"

"Technically" Elijah allowed, "No part of that email was a lie"

Alaric Saltzman did not look impressed, "You said your name was Aaron Newland"

"Elijah Aaron Daniel Mikael Lothbrok" he explained, "So Aaron is one of my names and when for many reasons I do not use my full name tradition dictates that I adopt the name of my father's territory. When Vahalla was first discovered it was called, New land. Hence Aaron Newland"

"And he is an honorary member of the Royal Council" Niklaus adds less than helpfully, reaching up to the bookshelf where an antique dagger stood,

"Niklaus, don't touch things without permission" Elijah chides, "Especially sharp objects"

"I did want to meet with you" he continues, turning back to the academic, "I meant what I said in that email, I am interested in the suggestions for progressive change you've suggested in your essays for years and I am in the position to implement them"

Alaric still doesn't look convinced but he gestures to the armchair and the ratty couch in the corner of the room and Elijah sits down gratefully, Niklaus subtly shaking his head when he opens his mouth to give the other two men position to sit.

"Okay…" Alaric settles into the armchair, "I'm going to assume I can speak freely?"

Elijah nods with an amused smile, "Completely, I checked a few months ago and it turns out that there are no listening devices in your office or home, although I wasn't told whether this was from oversight or concern over the U.S reaction to bugging their citizens"

Alaric scratches his nose, "Damn, usually being bugged or listed with the intelligence services is a sign you've made it in your field"

Niklaus snickers and takes a stand behind Elijah's back, Elijah took a moment and wished he had his little brother's natural charm- that he didn't have to work so hard to make himself personable.

"Professor Saltzman, we have confirmed that this isn't a hoax, I am here because as I mentioned, you're one of the most reasonable men in this field, and you're the only person whose work I've read where you don't call for bloody revolution but the installation of measures that would benefit both the nation and more importantly the people. We need that in the government, and currently we don't have anything or anyone with the knowledge to make that happen"

"You've never spoken about progressive politics before" Alaric argues, "I've read every paper you've ever written and you argued for consistency in monarchical rule"

Elijah shakes his head, "Those papers weren't written by me, they were ghost written by my father's staff with my name put on them in an attempt to placate those who would see the monarchy continue unchanged for another hundred years"

"You didn't protest?" the academic questioned and Elijah ran his tongue over his teeth,

"Mikael was never a father or a king that allowed for protest in or outside of the home, especially when you had vulnerabilities that he could exploit"

Alaric looks over his shoulder and Elijah nearly reaches behind himself to take his little brother's hand, for whatever strict measures Elijah had suffered, Niklaus had endured much worse.

"So why now?" he asks, "The royal family has never acknowledged any opposition groups before, so why now?"

Elijah glanced up and checked his watch, eight fifty-seven, close enough,

"My father died last night" he confesses, and Alaric pales before taking out his phone and checking online,

"I didn't hear anything!"

"You wouldn't have" he explains, "Tradition allows a gap of nine hours between the King's death and the announcement to the nation so that the heir has time to prepare…or to grieve" he adds.

"And the first thing you did was turn up at my office?" Alaric slides his phone back into his pocket,

"Was your father really that much of an asshole?"

This is the first time someone outside of the Royal Family has ever made this suggestion and the lese-majesty is an affront but Elijah had sworn upon honesty today,

"In truth I have yet to even shed a tear over the loss" he acknowledges, "And I will struggle to find one person who will mourn the man as opposed to the King"

Alaric blinks at the candour, "So that's why you're here," he realises, "You're now the King of Valhalla"

Elijah nods, "I am here because I want you to be the first person I appoint to my Royal Council. I want someone who will point out when my actions favour the few and not the many, when I am being traditionalist and conservative instead of turning to the progression that both the monarchy and I will need to survive this increasingly changing world. I don't want my people to see the Palace and my family and see a way of life that has barely changed in two thousand years and to look at the elite in this country and see a socio-economic gap that they can never hope to bridge. I want there to be fluidity between the classes, I want people to be able to come up from nothing and achieve everything as my ancestors did all those years back"

Alaric shifts uncomfortably, "I'm a university professor, I don't even speak Valhallan fluently, I've never sat on anything more than an academic board"

Elijah shrugs, "We can hold the meetings in English, we all speak the language fluently and most of the men my father appointed had only attended university for the drinking and whoring. That you've sat on any board would probably mean you would have been over-qualified in the previous regime"

"Besides" he added with a quirk of his lips, "There is actually one requirement for serving on the Royal Council which will be the first I will strike down and that is that you hold noble title"

Alaric nodded, "Can I think about it?"

Elijah grinned and stood up, "Of course, the first Council meeting will be on Friday when I formally dissolve it, come along and we can talk afterwards"

They shake hands just as a student bursts into the room breathlessly,

"Hey Professor Saltzman!" he blabs excitedly, "Did you hear? The bastard King is dead, they're announcing it now"

Alarics face blanched and Elijah cleared his throat before looking down to his watch and turning his profile, the student was wearing a t-shirt with one of the anti-monarchy symbols splashed across it, red with a shattered crown. He was young but clued in enough to recognise the two Princes in the room.

"My watch must be slow" Elijah noted, "Good-day Professor"

He strode from the room, Niklaus right behind him and they made it halfway down the still empty corridor before breaking snickering,

"Poor kid"

"Well the truth hurts" Elijah said before glancing out the window, "We may have to hurry, people will be staring at their phones or the television but some will still have class"

The car is just pulling out of the tiny university parking lot when Niklaus' phone rings, he answers with a grin,

"Yes Ansel, His Majesty is still alive…there was a slight incident with a stray bullet but…uh huh…yes…I'm sorry…never again"

Properly reprimanded Niklaus holds the phone to his chest, "Ansel wants to know whether arrangements have been made for the Petrova family?"

Elijah frowned, "Arrangements?"

"Where will Katerina be staying?" he clarifies, and Elijah realises he hadn't considered it,

"The family had a room in the Palace did they not?"

Niklaus checks before putting Ansel on speakerphone,

"King Mikael rescinded their Palace privileges after Katerina became your fiancé" the man explained,

"Baron Petrova has been staying at an apartment in a building owned by Giuseppe Salvatore however tradition dictates that Katerina can't stay in the Palace otherwise her- and I'm quoting the Lord Chamberlain here- her…virginity will be called into question"

Niklaus' laugh was cut off by Elijah cuffing him over the head, "I'm sorry" he wiped at the tears in his eyes,

"But after…well…the closet incident I think it's safe to assume that question has been answered"

"One more word and I will have the driver take us out into the middle of the country and leave you there" he snatches the phone from him,

"Can we give her rooms in the Cousin's Palace?" he asks, "I know the place is supposed to be for royals only but in lieu of actual royal cousins or extended family, or family I don't like…"

"The Blue Rooms I assume?" Ansel interjected, "She should be there by nineteen hundred hours"

"Thank-you"

He hangs up the phone and turns to look out the window, to all the people gathering in cafes and standing in the street stunned over the death of their King. Mikael had ruled for a great many years, the younger generations would have never known another King and the older generations would say he had been an improvement over the last one.

Which if nothing else. Elijah supposed he had been.

Katerina had never liked him and that feeling had been reciprocated and then boiled over into full blown loathing. She would be glad that he was dead.

And she was coming home.

He would see her again for the first time in five years.

He wondered how she had changed, if she still wore her hair curled and…if she still cared for him.

He remembered the longing glances they'd used to exchange across crowded rooms and the way she'd always quiver when he kissed her.

"I'm going to need to schedule some free time today to speak to her" he informed Niklaus who nodded,

"Wonderful…did I just leave the army to become your Private Secretary?"

He smirked, "Of course not, you're going to be my beloved body guard"

His brother laughed as they pulled through the back, lesser known entrance to the palace.

"I am almost certain there would be laws against the heir to the throne protecting the King…something along the lines of two birds' one stone"

"Damn" Elijah sighed, "You'll have to be a Council Member then"

"Defence?" Niklaus asked reluctantly, but Elijah shook his head, "I was thinking Art, Culture and giving Kol Tourism"

His brother smiled and Elijah figured that was two things he had done right today.

So far so good.

"Your Majesty" Aidan caught them just as they were exiting the garage,

"I…uh…am going over your father's schedule with his Private Secretary now, I rang and cancelled your breakfast at the British Embassy, they were pissed until I explained why and then…well the British are assholes and sent over a list of protocols for handling the death of a King"

Elijah blinked in surprise, "Right, send it back with a bouquet to show our gratitude…and make it the most obscenely ridiculously extravagant bouquet that can be found outside a celebrities wedding. I want it in red, white and blue and to be so big that it has to be transported in a van"

Aidan nodded, "If they don't get the insult?"

"They pride themselves on subtlety" he assured his secretary, "They'll figure it out, eventually"

"And jumping across the pond to the formerly British but still assholes, the American ambassador wishes to speak with you asap"

Elijah begins walking towards the palace, Niklaus in tow and Aidan following with one eye on the king and the other on his tablet,

"About what?" he asks curiously, "I wasn't aware we had anything we needed to discuss"

"He didn't say" Aidan murmured, "But at midday you are going to start receiving calls from world leaders offering their condolences. The ambassadors will likely be coming by in person from tomorrow onwards, the Americans might simply want to be first in line"

He nodded, "Alright, first things first, I want to meet with the Lord Chamberlain to discuss the handling of my father's body, the funeral arrangements and the subsequent rituals, we'll have to figure out my royal calendar and my charities. I want to know which events I'll still need to attend and which will fall upon my brother as the new heir to the throne" he gestures behind him to Niklaus,

"I want the Royal Council to be contacted and told that the next meeting will be on Friday…I don't care what they say" he added when Aidan opened his mouth, "There is no tradition demanding a period of absence for the Council, my grandfather's first Council meeting was held when they were still washing blood off the floor and clearing up the bodies. Winter is only a few months away and I want to have everything sorted before we start with the Winter Court"

Aidan tapped his tablet and it pinged, "Alright and you'll have to meet with the Head of Security, Mr Wolfsbane who you have the option of replacing if you need…"

Niklaus made a noise in his throat that was rather close to a growl. Elijah wondered if he'd have to stand between his brother and his secretary. Aidan was part of the monarchies attempt to move with the technological times and had only come in two years ago along with a string of social media savvy college graduates sourced from America and the UK.

Unlike the servants who had been around for over a decade and seen the children grow up, he had no idea about the loyalty they felt towards Ansel and the way he had earned that loyalty.

"I will be keeping Ansel on as Head of Security" he tells both of them firmly, "He has proven himself well-suited for the role and I have no desire to try and find a replacement"

Aidan nodded, "Alright, well he's available at eleven I can have him meet you in your study?"

Elijah nodded, "Very good. Tell the Lord Chamberlain I'll speak to him over lunch, have something prepared for us in the Jade room"

He turned to his brother, "Shall we go see our father now?"

Niklaus paled but swallowed and nodded firmly, "Lets"

Petrova must have cleaned up the body, or was it supposed to still look so lifelike?

Elijah wasn't aware how long after death a corpse started to smell but it had been twelve hours so surely something should have happened?

He shivers when he steps into the room and notices that the windows had been opened and the air conditioner turned on, they must have been providing a makeshift morgue.

He inhales and exhales slowly before moving across the cavernous room to the bed, his father had been put into a dressing gown and been lain atop the sheets with his hands folded over his stomach. His eyes had been closed and his hair brushed.

Elijah realised that he had never seen his father asleep and wondered whether he had been a very still sleeper like himself, who would fall into one position and wouldn't move for the rest of the night, or like Katerina who would roll about and steal all the covers and sometimes the pillows.

He looks at the bed and wonders whether he would ever be able to sleep in it without thinking about his father, how he would be able to make love to his fiancé without thinking about how Mikael and Esther had done the same thing and created life successfully five times.

There'd have to be a new set of sheets and mattress.

He wondered who he'd have to speak to about that.

Niklaus entered behind him and remembering that he wasn't alone he takes the chair that had been left beside the bed and sits down, unbuttoning his jacket and then wondering what he was meant to do or say. Niklaus pulled up a chair and then reached over, putting his hand atop Mikael's,

"Goodbye father" he whispers softly, "Go join our ancestors and our gods at Odin's table, feast, drink and know that we will be with you one day"

Elijah notes with something close to envy how his brother's eyes are watering as he manages to say the perfect farewell to their father. He's never had the natural charm that Niklaus could turn on when he chose and that Kol could never seem to turn off.

It was a miracle he'd ever managed to convince Katerina to fall for him when he could barely bring himself to break the façade of the proper heir to the throne and let his true self shine through for longer than a minute at a time.

But he'd managed and if he could make people respect him, Katerina could make them fall in love with her.

Between the two of them they'd make do.

If she still wanted him.

He lays a tentative hand on his father's wrist and withdraws it quickly when he notes the cold skin, he shudders in disgust and wipes his hands on his trouser pants.

"Goodbye father, I'm…sorry we didn't have time to repair our relationship"

And for the number of times he had wished the man dead.

They linger for another ten minutes, both of them shifting awkwardly and unable to make proper conversation with their father's presence still so heavy in the room.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to live in those rooms" he confides to Niklaus, "I don't know how my ancestors managed it, especially when they usually killed their predecessors"

"Sheer stubbornness?" he suggests, "You could give them to Finn? He'd kiss every inch of those sheets, we're probably going to have to burn them so he doesn't wind up stealing them and hoarding them in his basement dungeon"

Elijah snickered, successfully distracted, "You and Kol have no proof that Finn has a basement dungeon or that he violates corpses"

"We have no proof he doesn't"

If Finn loathed Elijah for being the legitimate firstborn, he loathed Niklaus and Kol equally for not living up to his idea of princely behaviour. It wasn't helped that his two brother's went out of their way to antagonise their half-brother, deliberately failing to appreciate their privilege when he was around to envy it.

He opens his mouth to warn his brother on the dangers of insulting and offending their bastard brother, especially when he was father's favourite and would run to him at the first wound to his ego before remembering that he didn't have to shield his siblings from Mikael's rage anymore.

He didn't have to shield anyone from Mikael anymore.

He is grinning as he makes his way to visit Ansel.

That evening he had walked from Kattegat Palace to the Cousin's Palace, enjoying the weak sunset along the path, the chilly air in his lungs and the wet scent of dirt. The faint light of the dying day on the garden around him and the proud sensation of accomplishment. It had been tough but he had made his through and all that was left was the announcement that his team was writing up now, putting in the finishing touches and co-ordinating with the media team who'd be recording the address for the news stations.

He walked towards the Cousin's Palace with a firm step and clear eyes.

He made his way back in a daze, not ending up in one of the water features out of what must have been sheer luck. He could still feel Katerina's moist lips against his own and licking them he could taste the sweetness of lipstick, he wondered if it was on his lips and blushed foolishly at the image in his mind. He could feel Katerina's hands pressed against his stomach and the warmth of her face against his chest.

It was strange that five years had passed and yes, he could notice some changes in her, her face was more angular and she'd either gained a little weight or that was just wishful thinking and he'd continue to loose bed sheets and blankets as she struggled to keep warm in the winter. But at her core, she was still the Katerina he'd fallen in love with.

They hadn't lost that at least.

"Your Majesty!"

His musings are interrupted by a familiar head of red hair and he winces internally,

Duchess Genevieve.

The red headed siren herself.

The woman had married her husband shortly before his seventieth birthday and in a true act of defying nature had managed to get triplets off of him before he died, leaving her the sole inheritor of his title and fortunes. These triplets, Davina, Monique and Casandra were- in Genevieve's mind- all in need of husbands and as she had netted herself a rich one, she saw no reason as to why she couldn't find three for her daughters.

She had been the bane of the Royal family once the brothers had begun hitting puberty in quick succession, her husband had been a distant cousin so the family was technically Lothbrok, although the strain so thin as to be almost useless. However she wielded this connection like a weapon and as she had three daughters of relative age and Mikael had three sons she hadn't seen why there shouldn't have been a triple marriage uniting the families.

Elijah himself had always thought that Genevieve was the reason Esther had fallen back on tradition and sought to arrange marriages for her children.

After all, the red head was overbearing enough now, if one of her children became a Princess they'd never see the end of her. As it was, they'd often had to remind her that she and her children did not have access to the Royal Jewels, nor would they risk lending any pieces to her, they'd never see them again.

Thankfully Elijah had become engaged, Niklaus had been sent into relative safety of the army and Kol had discovered the joys of indulging in illicit pleasures overseas.

She had been thwarted and then distracted as her daughters had then discovered the pleasure of teenage rebellion. Now however, there was no avoiding her.

"Rise and greet your new King" he tells her as she scurries to a stop and her knee barely touches the ground,

"I was so devastated to hear about your father's passing" she gushed and he took the chance to note that those who were closest to him hadn't offered such condolences, only the merest courtesies yet those who were mere acquaintances…

Those who didn't know him and didn't know that the greatest emotion he was feeling right now was relief.

"Thank-you for your kind words" Elijah replies politely and she links her arm through his and leans on him as if they're suddenly close family. What made matters even more irritating is that she was using the same side as Katerina and he was forgetting the feel of her weight in light of this new pressure.

"And of course the last thing you'll be wanting to think about right now is public duties" Genevieve continued, "But I simply wanted to let you know that in the absence of a queen and as dear Rebekah is still in school, I would be more than happy to step up as the First Lady"

Ah.

He smiles and gently disengages himself, "While I am most grateful for your offer, I am fortunate in the fact that Katerina has returned to Valhalla and as my fiancé, naturally she will be taking up any royal duties required of the queen"

Genevieve momentarily glowered and Elijah took pleasure in how furious she was with this lost opportunity,

"I wasn't aware she had returned, how wonderful that she managed to make it back after so many years away and at the time when she was needed most"

The sheer amount of suspicion in Genevieve's tone could only be managed by one who was making an accusation of the very same crime they had been trying to commit.

"Are you sure she'll be able to cope with the attention?" she continues, trying to take a motherly tone.

Elijah smiled pleasantly, "Of course, she handled it when she was seventeen she can handle it at twenty-two, besides" he shrugged,

"She has her family and the Salvatore's behind her"

And that subtle reminder was enough of a threat to put Genevieve in her place.

To remind her who she would be going up against if she chose to try and dislodge Katerina from her rightful place.

Hours later, Elijah was not only grateful for the empty corridors of the Cousin's Palace but also for the car that was waiting in the avenue with no questions asked. It made it far easier to hide his unseemly erection.

He hadn't meant to go so far with Katerina tonight, he had simply found himself bouncing around Kattegat and needed to get out and get away. As there was very few places he could get away to now that he was King, he had on impulse decided to visit his fiancé.

He'd figured he might find her with her sister or tucked up in her bedroom but when he had found her in her state room, in that nightgown…

He'd remembered the first time they'd made love, the way her hands had gripped his as he'd moved inside her. He'd remembered the stolen moments in dark corners, fierce kisses and quick touches before they'd had to sneak back to whatever event they'd snuck away from.

He'd remembered the closet incident.

He climbs into the car and winces as he rearranges his pants so that his erection is slightly less painful and gives himself a moment to recall the memorandum he'd read a few hours ago from the Grand Mufti of Valhalla, extending his condolences on Mikael's death and commemorating the man for his religious and racial tolerance.

There. He exhaled with relief, he could now concentrate enough to drive away from the palace and not fantasise about racing back up those stairs, marching into Katerina's bedroom, pushing that tiny nightgown out of the way and…

Breathe.

He drove through the city streets, half an hour from the heart of the capital, from the Royal Streets and couture, luxury stores there was a student district, trendy and hipster with cafes and bars, galleries and stores that seemed to exist not on profit but on their bizarre nature alone. The apartments had been there since the seventies but had gone from wrecks to coveted property, most being remodelled and refurbished but adored by those who had signed onto rent controlled leases and were now living in something twice the value of when they had moved in.

Some of these buildings even had parking garages, even though most of the city dwellers used trams, trains or bikes to get around.

Elijah parks in the designated spot, the one in the furthest corner, with broken lights and hurries to the mostly unused back stairwell. The apartment he seeks is three floors up and once he checks that the hallway of exposed brick and grey carpet is empty, he has the keys in hand and is opening the white door, pushing his way inside.

Gia bounces up from the white couch she had clearly been dozing on,

"Oh my god!" she is in his arms in an instant, pressing her body against his and holding him tightly,

"I saw on the news and I tried to call you but you weren't answering your phone!"

She's wearing a university hoodie and tracksuit pants, her feet are covered by ugg boots and he wonders if she owned sexy nightgowns or lingerie.

He wonders if Katerina owned tracksuit pants or ugg boots.

"I'm sorry" he apologises, "My head of Security scrubbed my burner phone and will be issuing me a new one later"

She wrinkles her nose but nods, "You hungry? There's leftovers in the fridge"

He shakes his head, and opens his mouth to try and vocalise what he needed before he runs his hand through her hair and pulls her against him for a hard, passionate kiss.

She opens her mouth and his free hand dives under her hoodie, finding her bare breasts and massaging them as she begins unbuttoning his shirt.

She's wet and welcoming as he bends her down over the coffee table and takes her from behind, their breathy cries lost in the tiny apartment with the mercifully thick walls separating it from the neighbours next door. He kisses the numerous tattoos on her back as he thrusts into her with long, smooth movements until he feels the familiar squeezing in his balls and he comes inside her, his thumb rubbing her clit to ensure her own climax as his eyes dart to the tiny scar on her arm where the contraceptive implant was buried.

She has an early start in the morning so she showers while he goes to the fridge and finds a left over pasta dish, eating it cold with a fork in the tiny kitchenette and marvelling over the fact that the King of Valhalla is able to do any of this.

Gia calls him to bed and he leaves the plate in the sink, kicking off his shoes and stripping down to his boxers as she pulls on the jersey she prefers to sleep in.

He wonders if she'd watched his address to the nation. If she'd noticed the young woman standing with his family and heard the news networks naming her as his fiancé.

He knows that he has to discuss everything with Gia but for the moment…

For the moment he can lie down in a double bed, in white IKEA sheets with a cheap clock radio that would wake them up with an annoying tune at five am and the lava lamp that cast a purple glow across the room.

He can pretend that he is a normal man in an uncomplicated situation.

And he enjoys that.

A/N- Before you all start killing me, bear in mind that Elijah and Katherine have been separated for five years. It will be explained in later chapters.