Chapter 9
Father of the bride
Venice, 1325
"You look beautiful, sister," Finn said smiling.
"Thank you," Ginna replied and kissed his cheek. "And thank you for doing this."
"Of course, anything for you. Although I am still not completely pleased about this."
Ginna smiled.
"Tristan loves me and I love him. He makes me happy."
"Yes, I know and of course I wish you to be happy, but…"
"Finn," Ginna said gently and touched her brother's cheek." "No one will ever replace you. You know that, right?"
"I suppose so," he murmured.
"Brother, you and I are a family; we have been through so much together. I need you to know that my marriage does not make you any less important to me."
Finn smiled and kissed Ginna's hand.
"I know. It is just hard for me to give you to some man. Even if you love him."
"You and Tristan are getting along, are you not?"
Finn shrugged.
"I do not hate him. But I have made it clear what will happen to him if he hurts you."
"I am sure you have," Ginna giggled. "He respects you, you know? And he did ask you for my hand."
"Yes, he did. I suppose you could have chosen worse."
"Thank you. Your approval means a lot to me, I hope we can all be a family. You, me, Tristan and Aurora."
"Yes… She certainly is a handful," Finn huffed.
"Tristan loves her just as much as I love you," Ginna replied.
"Yes, I am aware of that. The thing is that you are not only accepting Tristan and his sister, you will have to accept the Strix as well."
"I know."
The truth was that Ginna hadn't been very thrilled when she had learned about Tristan being the leader of the Strix. She and Finn hadn't really spent much time with other vampires after leaving their siblings; they had thought that it would be safer to stay as unnoticed as possible. Things had been very different after Tristan had found her few months ago.
He has had to work a lot before she had been willing to listen to him. She had even punched him when he had tried to explain himself. Now she certainly wasn't angry at him anymore. No, she was angry at Elijah and Kol. They had broken her heart and kept her and Tristan apart for over 300 years. No more. After today she and Tristan would be a husband and wife. She couldn't wait marrying him.
Aurora, the Strix, Ginna was willing to deal with anything now when she was with Tristan again. They would deal with all of it together. She was also more than happy that Finn had agreed to walk her down the aisle. There wouldn't be many people in the chapel, only Aurora and few members of the Strix.
"Alright," Finn said. "I shall wait for you outside."
"Thank you," Ginna replied and hugged him. She was glad to have a moment by herself before the wedding ceremony. Her maid had done a wonderful work with her hair and she liked her creamy wedding gown. She hadn't wanted a big wedding; although Tristan had thought that they should throw a bigger celebration. He had said that he wanted her to feel like a queen and give her the wedding she deserved.
Ginna on the other hand wanted this to be just for the two of them. She didn't want to concentrate on anyone else today; to her this was one of the most important days of her life. The day when she would officially give herself to Tristan. She had never stopped loving him, no matter how hard she had tried. He was her soulmate. Her kindred spirit. She had no doubt of that. After taking a one last glance of her reflection in the mirror, she was finally ready to go. She smiled when she heard the door opening.
"I am coming, Finn…"
"Hello Ginna."
She froze when she heard a very familiar voice. Quickly she turned around.
"Father…"
Mikael looked at her calmly while closing the door behind him. Ginna swallowed and tried desperately to formulate a plan.
"Well," Mikael stated after a brief silence. "I must say that you look lovely."
"Thank you," she managed to reply.
"I heard that you are getting married today."
"Yes."
"Hmm. I do not recall anyone asking me for your hand in marriage."
Ginna stared at him disbelievingly.
"You… You have hunted us for the last 300 years…"
"No," Mikael cut in.
"What?"
He pressed his lips together.
"I have not hunted you, Ginna. I would never hurt you."
She wasn't sure what to think, he seemed to be serious.
"What about my siblings?"
"As I said, I would never hurt you," Mikael replied. "You are my daughter. My little girl."
"Why are you here?" she asked after a moment of silence. She needed to stop him from hurting Finn or Tristan.
"My daughter is getting married, where else would I be?"
Ginna looked at him cautiously.
"What do you want, father?"
Mikael stared at her for a moment before replying.
"You are afraid of me. Do you really think that I could hurt you?"
Ginna shrugged.
"You want the truth? I did not think that you could hurt mother either."
"I did not kill your mother," Mikael replied tensely. "I would have never done something like that to my darling wife. Please tell me that you believe me."
Ginna hesitated before replying.
"I… I would want to, but I saw mother's body…"
"I did not kill her. It was your bastard brother."
Ginna's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Niklaus killed your mother and blamed me for it." Mikael paused and took a step towards Ginna. "I am telling you the truth, I swear. I would have never harmed your mother, no more than I would harm you. I love you, Ginna, I always have."
Ginna stared at him for a long while before she was able to reply. He was telling the truth, she was sure of it. He wouldn't hurt her, but that didn't meant he wouldn't hurt Finn and Tristan.
"Why are you here, father?"
