Chapter Six

'I have a question.' I said to Klaus when he finally joined Elijah and I in front of the house, where we had been waiting for at least twenty minutes.

'Of course you do.' Klaus rolled his eyes, loading the last of his things into the carriage.

'Why are there only two horses?' I asked, eyeing the beautiful creatures before us—Elijah was already sitting on a deep chestnut, while it's companion, a stunning white mare remained without a rider.

'Because you're riding with me.' Klaus said simply.

'Why?' I pressed, a little irritated, 'I am perfectly capable of riding a horse on my own, thank you very much.'

'I don't doubt it love.' Klaus smirked at my antics and stepped into my personal space, 'but we only came with two and don't have the time to commandeer another, so up you go.'

I opened my mouth to protest at his attitude but it snapped shut when he lifted me onto the horse in one swift movement. Klaus joined me after, sitting behind me. As if my back being flush against his chest wasn't torture enough, I was encompassed with his scent and warmth when he leaned forward to take the reins. I don't know how he managed it, but he always smelled intoxicating; the smell of the woods, rain and whiskey all rolled into one—it made my breath catch and made me want to bury my face into his chest and never leave. Definitely a normal reaction; I needed to calm down.

It was going to be a long ride.

Honestly, as soon as we started moving, it was a little easier not to be consumed by Klaus' touch as I took in the sights around us. We were riding in front, with the carriage behind us and Elijah behind the carriage. It was incredible to see so many small villages when we passed vast fields, trees and flowers. It was breathtaking, even more so was watching the sunset; it was if we were racing toward it, desperately trying to catch it in time. When it was replaced with the moon, I felt my whole body completely relax and my eyes started to droop. We had been riding all day, without a rest, and surprisingly the slight rocking was therapeutic. I felt Klaus stiffen in surprise when I leaned my head back and rested it on his shoulder. He started to speak, but I was too far-gone to understand it.

It took another two days of riding, including an eight-hour break for the horses, and us before we reached the house in England. Unsurprisingly it was even more extravagant than the last one and Klaus had ordered that I stay in his living quarters just like before. I'd settled in rather quickly, not finding the house to be vastly different from the last one, at least until I realised it had been a week since I had seen my family.

As soon as I'd had the thought, my hand came up to my throat, fingering the silver locket that rested there. My mom and dad had gotten it for me for my sixteenth birthday, and I hadn't taken it off since. I unfastened the chain from around my neck and opened it, smiling slightly at the pictures that rested there. One was of Jeremy, Elena and I and the other was Mom and Dad when they were graduating collage. My smile turned bittersweet as I stared at their faces, the prickling in my heart reminding me that the loss would always haunt me. But I shook that feeling away and refastened the locket around my neck. They would always be with me, no matter what, just not in the same way as before. I wiped the tears away from my cheeks and stood from the end of my bed, deciding I wanted some air. I made my way through the house and almost reached the front door when a strange sound made it's way to my ears. It sounded like metal clanging and it was coming from outside. My curiosity got the better of me and, I pulled open the door and followed my ears, what I was met with shouldn't have surprised me but it did.

Klaus and Elijah were standing about ten feet away from the house and they were sword fighting. I almost couldn't believe it—sometimes I forgot for a moment what century I was in, and moments like this slapped me in the face to remind me. I had no idea who was winning, but both of them were giving off an aura of strength and power in that moment.

'It appears we've gained an audience.' Elijah commented, amused.

'It appears we have.' Klaus' eyes met mine for the briefest of moments, not breaking from his stride for even a second.

'Are you doing this for practice or fun?' I wondered, perching on a rock that rested close by.

'Practice, mostly.' Elijah said after he and Klaus shared a sad look that made me frown.

'Well I want to fight the winner.' I declared, cracking my knuckles, 'so I can show you how it's done.'

Klaus released a genuine laugh that made my cheeky grin grow into a sincere smile. Elijah smiled too, but his amusement was much more restrained compared to his brother. It was both nice and strange to see Elijah have such clear affection and loyalty towards Klaus. I knew that in my time, he had worked with us because he believed his family to be buried at sea, though when Klaus had been on the brink of death he had admitted that wasn't the case. That was when it hit me. The caskets—they were Klaus and Elijah's family.

'Have you ever wielded a sword before, love?' Klaus' teasing voice broke me out of my thoughts.

'No, but how hard can it be?' I shrugged, seeming more confident than I felt.

Klaus and Elijah stopped fighting all together to fix me with incredulous stares; though it was clear Klaus was amused as well.

'You've never wielded a sword and you think you can win in a fight against us?' Klaus clarified.

'Well… not realistically but I'm too stubborn for my own good.' I smiled innocently.

Klaus opened his mouth to reply, but one of his men joined us in the clearing.

'Lord Klaus, Lord Elijah, the alpha of the werewolf pack that resides here has requested a meeting.' Trevor said, his tone respectful.

'Very well. Send him an invitation to dinner for this evening. I will go and prepare,' Elijah told him, handing me his sword, 'it appears Klaus is already engaged with an important matter.'

Trevor looked confused, but didn't question his words. I waited until they were both out of earshot before I spoke.

'I don't think I've even been called an important matter before,' I snorted, standing from the rock and getting a feel of the sword in my hand. It was heavier than I was expecting, and I was sure that without my vampire strength I wouldn't have been able to hold it upright for long.

'Aptly said, if you ask me. You not being able to hold your own in a sword fight is a travesty that needs correcting immediately.' Klaus smirked, gesturing for me to join him.

'Okay, just to be clear I have no idea what I'm doing.' I was starting to freak out a little now—I knew he couldn't kill me, but that didn't mean being stabbed wouldn't hurt.

'Relax, love.' He smiled his dimpled smile that made my dead heart flutter, 'I think you'll find I'm an excellent teacher.'

'I'll be the judge of that.' I teased. We shared a grin before his expression turned serious.

'The most important thing is to never take your eyes off your opponent. Their actions and movements can tell you their next move before they've even thought about taking it.'

'Got it.' I nodded.

'Next, the sword isn't an object that you are using. The best sword fighters think of their weapon as a part of them, an extension of their own arm.' Klaus said, his voice seeped with power and confidence; it was impossible not to listen to every word he said with rapt attention.

'Okay.' I frowned a little, not sure about that; how was I supposed to think of a sword in that way?

He smiled a little, 'you'll get it. The final rule, you learn better by doing and learning from your mistakes.'

I barely had time to react before his sword came at me, I rose my own just in time and they kissed with a clank that echoed in the forest around us. I cocked my brow at him and pushed against his sword. I couldn't help but smile at the expression of surprise on his face, though when he recovered and his devilish smirk took over, I knew I was in trouble.

XxX

'Alright!' I laughed, holding my hands up because Klaus had somehow managed to knock my sword out of my hand, 'you win.'

'What was that, love?' he cocked his head to the side, a faux expression of confusion on his face, 'I didn't quite hear you.'

'I said you win, jackass.' I smiled sweetly—he hadn't known what that word meant, but in the course of our training session, he had quickly learned it wasn't anything good.

'I'll overlook the verbal abuse as it's quite clear your pride has taken a beating,' Klaus teased, his eyes shining with mischief.

'You, Klaus Mikaelson, have just issued me with a challenge,' I carried on before he could speak, 'I will beat you at least once before I go back to my time, and it will be so amazing that you will never underestimate any woman again. Especially me.'

Klaus' brows rose in amusement and I could tell he was biting back a laugh at my behaviour, 'so be it love. I look forward to it.'

'As do I.' I replied, picking up Elijah's sword from the ground, both of us walking back towards the house, but when I saw Trevor flashing from the house I remembered what I needed to talk to Klaus about.

'I need to talk to you about something.' I murmured, my tone going from light to serious and I could tell that Klaus noted from the frown on his face.

'Yes?'

'When the doppelgänger gets here, who are you planning to have watch her?' I started, placing a hand on his forearm to get him to stop walking.

'Trevor or Elijah are highest up in level of command. I was going to have them split the duty.' He replied, his eyes flickering over my concerned expression, 'I'm guessing you don't think that's a good idea.'

'I was just going to suggest that it might be in your best interest to compel Trevor to watch the doppelgänger and bring her to you when the time as right. And you should compel Katherine not to run and to ignore anything about a ritual or sacrifice.'

'That's very clever.' He complimented me, his head tilting in acknowledgement, 'are you saying that I cannot trust Trevor or Elijah?'

'I'm not saying you can't trust Elijah.' I shook my head firmly—I knew that despite his blossoming feelings for Katherine he remained true to his brother, 'and I don't think you should kill Trevor either, just compel him so you know he'll remain loyal.'

'Very well, I will take your advice.' He smirked before he continued, 'though I do hope you're not leading me astray, Evangeline.'

I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder, recognising the teasing lilt in his voice. But my merriment soon disappeared when I thought about having to see Katherine in the flesh again.

'You know I'm only jesting, don't you?' Klaus asked, his smile gone from his face.

'Yes.' I offered him a small smile, 'I was just thinking about how Katherine will be here soon.' In four days to be exact.

'You haven't told me about how you know her.' Klaus said, his hands clasped behind his back.

We started to walk again and I followed him blindly, the journey was spent in silence as I pondered over what I was planning to tell him. I'd probably already changed the future so much, why start lying now?

'Katherine, or Katarina as you call her, is or will be the vampire that turns me.' I told him, my voice soft.

'Is that how she escaped the ritual?' he frowned, trying to put the pieces together.

'It's a very long complicated story.' I sighed, taking a seat on the grassy bank overlooking a nearby river—I made a mental note of its location for the future.

'I'd love to hear it. If you want to tell me.' He flashed a dimpled smile that made my stomach flip but I just rolled my eyes.

'Everything? You want to know everything that Katherine did in my time? How she evaded you? What you did when you ventured into my life?' I sent him a challenging look that he didn't waver under.

'Tell me.' He said firmly.

I shrugged and I told him everything, starting at the beginning when Stefan and Damon came into my sister's life. How I'd transferred collages to be closer to her, because I knew she needed me. How she had learned that Stefan was the one who saved her the night our parent's car drove off Wickery Bridge. I told him about Katherine coming back into our lives, how she had played the Salvatore's and Elena, how she'd hated me because I was respected amongst my friends. When I relayed that she had turned me out of spite, his fists had clenched in anger until I assured him that I was happy as what I was. I told him about how she had triggered both Mason and Tyler's werewolf curses, how she'd also transformed Caroline. I told him that she was planning on gathering all the required ingredients and offering them to him in a bid to win her freedom. I told him about the arrival of Elijah; how we had planned to work with him until Damon got it in his head he couldn't be trusted. Then I relayed how he had been daggered until we realised we needed him. I told him that Elijah was the one who informed us of how the past ritual failed; Trevor informed Katherine of Klaus' true intentions and helped her flee. I told him that they had run for five hundred years and had bartered their freedom from Elijah in exchange for the doppelgänger. Elijah granted Rose freedom and murdered Trevor.

When I reached the point of him arriving in town, I looked away from him, not wanting him to witness the sadness and anger in my eyes. I told him about possessing Alaric, him trying to kill Bonnie, him turning my aunt to use her as a vampire in the ritual, Elijah promising to help us stop him and his brother's eventual shift to his side. I told him everything up until the point of Stefan leaving town with him so that Klaus would help his brother. I didn't elaborate on why Damon needed help and I didn't tell him that his blood was the cure, or that Elena was Katherine's doppelgänger. I was sure to refer to her as "the doppelgänger" whenever I mentioned the ritual. I didn't know if that information would make any difference, but telling him so much just made me feel stripped bare and vulnerable, I wanted to know something that he didn't. Honestly I didn't think it would make much of a difference, he already knew more about my life than anyone outside of my circle of friends back home and it scared me.

'That's a lot of information to take in.' he murmured, and I looked over to him for the first time in a while.

He wasn't looking at me, he was staring into the river in front of us, and he seemed miles away from the conversation and me.

'Tell me about it.' I let out a breathy laugh.

I started when Klaus' hand was suddenly on top of mine. When I recovered from my fright, he had already entwined our fingers. I squeezed his hand and gave him a look of confusion.

'I'm sorry for the pain you have endured.' He said and I was blown away by the sincerity in his blue eyes.

'You don't need to apologise, Klaus.' I offered him a sincere smile, 'like you said, you haven't done anything wrong and if I'm successful you won't have when I return. If we completely fail, you can apologise in six hundred years.'

He chuckled and shook his head, both amused and surprised.

'You are like no one I have ever known.' He murmured, his free hand brushing my curls behind my ear and caressing the side of my face.

'I'm sure plenty of women before me have heard that very line.' I teased, hoping he didn't notice my blush.

He smiled softly, but didn't elaborate and I was glad. Klaus had this way of looking at you as if you were the most beautiful thing in the world, priceless and exquisite beyond compare. As you can imagine, being on the other end of that stare was more intense than I can put into words. But a part of me revelled in it, appreciated it, because honestly I couldn't remember the last time anyone showed even a little bit of interest in me, let alone looked at me like that. I shook away my wayward thoughts and cleared my throat before standing.

'We should get back. Won't the alpha be here soon?' I wondered quietly, standing from the bank and turning to cock my brow at him.

'You're quite right. I suppose we should,' Klaus sighed and pushed himself up off the grass as well.

He offered me his arm before we started walking. To his surprise, as well as my own, I took it without hesitation as I tried not to think about how… normal his touch felt. His skin underneath mine was warm and comforting, I realised with a start that Klaus made me feel safe. Definitely not something I thought I would ever associate with the hybrid.

When we reached the house, I realised how long we must have been gone when we saw the servants starting to lay food out on the table. The alpha would be arriving a lot quicker than I thought. Both of us departed to our rooms to get ready after we shared a smile. I simply changed into another dress that didn't have sword rips, dirt or blood on it—it was a deep green colour and honestly I was going to miss this kind of fashion when I returned to the future—it was incredibly comfortable. I would have had a bath, but there wasn't any time; they literally had to fill up a massive metal tub with boiling water, it took quite a while. It was wonderful, but it also made me incredibly grateful for the plumbing advancements in the twenty first century. When I was satisfied with my appearance, I made my way down stairs, running my fingers through my long curly hair on the way, trying to free it of any tangles.

'Ah, Evangeline there you are,' Klaus said in a voice I had never heard him use before.

I frowned in confusion until the smell of wolf invaded my nostrils, alerting me to the alpha's presence. I assumed Klaus was in host mode, or lure-my-potential-enemies-into-a-false-sense-of-security mode.

'Here I am.' I forced a smile and took the empty seat across from the new face.

He was kind of scary looking; he was covered with scars on his face, his shoulders were incredibly broad and I'm pretty sure that one of his biceps alone was bigger than my head. His dark hair and eyes seemed to heighten the aura of darkness that hung around him. Definitely not a guy you wanted to cross.

'Now that we're all here, the discussion can begin.' The alpha said, his voice was deep and gravely in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

'Absolutely. We are more than happy to live in peace with your kind while we are here, none of us have any aversion to werewolves, despite the rumours that are going around at the moment,' Elijah's calm voice relived some of the tension in my shoulders, but only a little.

'How do we know if you're telling the truth?' biceps asked, his dark eyes assessing all of us in turn, I frowned at the disgust on his face.

'Well if we weren't, we could have killed you already,' I smiled sweetly; his clear dislike for vampires was making me a little bitchy.

'And what makes you think I would be threatened someone like you?' he sneered.

I cleared my throat and forced a small smile, 'someone like me? I'm not sure what you mean?'

I saw Klaus' hand come up to hide his smirk—he knew how pissed gender repression made me and I was pretty sure this guy was gonna add the fact I was a vampire into it.

'A woman like you has no business having an opinion in important matters, the fact that you're a leech doesn't make you more important.' He growled.

I pursed my lips and nodded, calmly reaching up to my neck and removing my locket. I took Klaus' hand and dropped the jewellery into it—he looked a mixture of confused and amused but before he could question me I lunged across the table at the alpha, successfully knocking him to the ground with me landing on top of him. It was a few seconds before anyone reacted, I heard chairs scraping back but I paid it no attention and punched the alpha in the jaw hard enough to break the bone. He roared in outrage and tried to strike me back but I simply snapped his arm and was about to do the same to the other that rose to strangle me when I was pulled back by strong arms around my waist.

'What are you doing?' I almost yelled, anger still pumping through my veins.

'As arousing it is watching you singlehandedly take on a werewolf, you need to clam down.' Klaus murmured in my ear, his warm breath rising goose bumps on my skin. I felt myself relax into his hold, when he felt the fight leave me his arm wrapped casually around my waist but I knew it was there encase I acted out again. It didn't stop me from leaning into the touch.

Elijah had to restrain the alpha when he got to his feet, as he immediately tried to come after me. Scarface struggled against the elder Mikaelson's hold but it was pointless; Elijah was much older and more experienced than him.

'You're dead.' He snarled.

'Very true. Wanna try telling me something I don't know?' I remarked, hardly registering Klaus' snort of amusement.

'When the moon rises next week, our pack is going to come for you. Mark my words.'

At that, both Mikaelson men suddenly became eerily serious. Klaus moved me behind him, and noticing his demeanour I frowned, wondering why his conduct had changed so suddenly.

'Do my ears deceive me, brother, or did this werewolf just threaten our guest?' Klaus asked, stepping towards him, his arms behind his back.

'You heard correctly, Niklaus.' Elijah replied, releasing his hold on the alpha. He tried to go for me straight away, but Klaus pinned him to the wall by his throat.

'You understand, mate, that while we were more than willing to play nice and negotiate peacefully, we aren't opposed to doing this the hard way.' His voice remained steady, but that somehow made it sound more threatening, 'truth be told, the hard way is much more fun.'

'I- I didn't mean—,' the wolf gasped out, but Klaus just gripped his throat tighter to stop his words.

'You come into our house, insult our friend and dare threaten her in the span of ten minutes. Let me make myself perfectly clear.' Klaus' eyes darkened, 'if you, or any of your werewolf friends come after her, it will be your head, and the heads of your entire pack. Do you understand?'

The wolf's face was turning purple but he managed a slight nod that had Klaus releasing him. He slid down the wall a little as he gathered some air into his lungs. He snapped his arm back in place, shot me a glare and then left without a backwards glance. I felt my face shift into a guilty grimace as both Mikaelson's turned to face me at the same time.

I bit my lip, wondering if I was about to get in trouble, 'that went well.'

'What were you thinking?' Klaus asked, though there wasn't any rage in his voice, just frustration.

'I was thinking that he was rude and obnoxious.' I rolled my eyes but the guilt in my stomach made itself known, 'but I'm sorry that I messed everything up.'

'I don't care about that!' Klaus snapped, running his hand through his hair, 'he was never going to accept us being on his territory.'

'Then what's the problem?' I frowned, confused.

'The problem is that you have just made yourself an enemy, an enemy that could kill you with one bite on the night of a full moon.' Klaus yelled, making me blink in surprise.

Did he… care about me? No, he couldn't, I shook that thought away and felt my defences rise at his tone.

'Klaus I've faced plenty of werewolves on the night of a full moon. I can handle myself.' I told him flippantly, 'I think I proved that already.'

'You're not going to be of any help to me if you get yourself killed!' he yelled, rage most definitely in his tone now, but I refused to back down or be afraid of him, especially seeing as my heart stung to have his lack of affection for me confirmed.

'You can't control everything Klaus!' I matched his volume, standing toe to toe with him, 'you most certainly cannot control me. So if I want to beat up a werewolf knowing he could turn around and bite me in the ass, that's my decision to make—not yours!'

'That is quite enough.' Elijah's calm tone interrupted our moment, 'I suggest you both stop now before you say something you might regret.'

'That's a good idea, Elijah.' I nodded, shooting Klaus one last glare before I stormed from the room and headed towards my chambers.

I needed to be alone.

But I had barely reached my door when I realised it wasn't going to be enough distance. With that I flashed out of the front door encase either of them tried to stop me—it wasn't like tonight was a full moon so if the alpha came back for me he wouldn't be a threat. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going for a while, the fight Klaus and I had was running on repeat through my mind, fuelling my anger. This was how I usually worked through things; if I was angry I let it run its course and then I'd look at the situation without fury tampering with my judgement. By the time that had happened I'd reached a waterfall, and I felt any remaining anger sizzle out of me as I listened to the falling water.

Klaus had a right to be angry with me, and he did have a point about making the alpha angry. But I had never let the fact someone was stronger than me stop me from standing up for what I believed in. I might have been in a century where women were viewed as less superior to men, but that didn't mean I had to stand for it. I stood by what I did, and I wouldn't change it. And I wasn't mad at Klaus' reaction, not really, I was mad that while my feelings toward him seemed to be changing he didn't care about me even a little. He apologised to me earlier and he seemed to mean it, but what if he was just trying to manipulate me into trusting him? It wouldn't have surprised me. All he cared about was making sure I stayed alive long enough to guarantee that this ritual was successful. But what did I expect? He said he trusted me, but that was a far cry away from caring about me. I was expecting way too much from him, and I was losing sight of why I was here.

I'm here to make sure Katherine dies in the ritual so Klaus could break his curse and I so won't have to worry about him coming to Mystic Falls to sacrifice Elena and kill those I care about on the way.

I nodded with at my decision and stood, not remembering when I sat down.

'Well, well what do we have here?' I felt my whole body stiffen at the voice before I span around, facing him with a glare.

'I could ask you the same thing.' I retorted—if I still had a heartbeat it would have been racing in that moment.

'You must be stupid to wonder into my territory after attacking me,' He snarled and stepped forward.

'You wanna do this again?' I snorted in amusement, focusing my hearing to detect if anyone else was around.

I could have screamed when I heard at least ten other heartbeats close by. One werewolf on my own, I could handle, a whole pack of them? I was fucked.

'I have something I didn't last time, honey.' His lip curled into an ugly sneer, and in that moment several werewolves stepped out from behind the trees, inevitably surrounding me.

My lips pressed into a hard line—I refused to look afraid, but there was a chance I was completely screwed. My only benefit was that without a full moon, they didn't have any toxic venom in their fangs. Night was falling, and if that were the case I'd be dead by sunrise.

'What is even more stupid is that you wondered in here on the night of a full moon.' He smirked.

'The full moon isn't until next week,' I argued, taking a step back. I knew for a fact it was exactly a week away.

'There is a full moon next week.' He nodded, stepping even closer to me and chuckling when I stepped back, 'but there's also one tonight.'

Before he could reach me I flashed around and managed to knock out at least eight of the wolves before the alpha caught me. I had a moment to struggle and managed to break out of his grasp when everything went black.

There's chapter six! Does Klaus really not care for her? How will he react when he finds out about the spot of trouble she's gotten herself into? You'll have to wait and see ;) ALSO I KNOW THAT FULL MOONS DON'T HAPPEN SO CLOSE TOGETHER, BUT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE STORY LETS PRETEND THEY DO ;)

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