A/N: There is a link in my profile to pictures of the new characters and the translation in the last section is beneath the author's note at the bottom. Enjoy!

EPILOGUE

16 YEARS LATER

"Ella!" Caroline called her oldest daughter. "Come help me with dinner!"

"Coming, Mother!" Ella called back with a groan. She stood from her position on the steps in front of her house. She had been waiting for her father to come back from town. There was no sign of him yet, but then again, their house was surrounded by trees for miles. She walked in and saw her younger sister, Claire, setting the table.

Caroline motioned for Ella to come toward her, then handed her a knife and a carrot. "Chop this up, then put it in the pot."

"Yes, Mother." Ella took the knife and vegetable and began to slice them into small pieces, and when she was finished with that one, Caroline handed her three more. Just as she went to hand her daughter the fifth, the door swung open.

"Father!" Ella exclaimed in excitement.

Caroline smiled then noticed the bewildered expression on her husband's face. "Stefan, what's wrong?"

"I don't- I don't know whether to be ecstatic or worried."

"Well, what is it?" Claire asked anxiously.

Stefan took a deep breath. "When I arrived into town, everyone was talking about it."

"About what, Father?" Ella asked.

"King Niklaus... is dead."

The three women gasped.

"How?" Caroline asked.

Stefan shrugged. "No one seemed to know."

"Well, who will rule our country?" Ella was flustered.

"When the announcement of the Niklaus's death was made, they said that the king's son, James would be taking over. The coronation ceremony will follow the King's funeral tomorrow."

"Should we go?"Claire asked. "How often will we see a King's funeral or a coronation?"

"Hopefully, never again." Caroline said, then sighed. "After dinner, we will start the journey to the castle walls and gather with the mourners. We need to show our loyalty to the Queen."

Elena sat on the edge of Niklaus's bed. It was difficult to comprehend that after 22 years, the struggle was finally over. A huge weight had been lifted. She only wished that Caroline, Stefan, and Damon were still here to celebrate with her. Especially Damon. Once Stefan informed her of his brother's death, she cried for days, laid in bed for months, and took years to start living again instead of just watching her life pass her by. What started her journey back to reality, was the birth of her youngest child, Victoria, who was now fourteen.

There was a knock and a male voice said, "Mother?" Elena looked up and saw her son standing in the doorway.

"James." Elena smiled, then patted the bed next to her.

As he walked over, he took in his surroundings. "I can't believe he's finally gone."

Elena flinched, then spoke softly, "Don't act so excited around your sisters. He was actually a father to them." James was close to his mother and although there were some days where Niklaus seemed to truly love James, there were also days that made the boy wonder if all fathers treated their sons that way. James had known for four years of his mothers tryst with the stable boy. He knew of the probability that Niklaus was not his real father, and understood why Niklaus treated him the way that he did. For years, Elena and James took Niklaus's abuse, until they decided to end it once and for all. It took some careful planning and conspiracy, but no one would suspect the king was actually murdered.

"Mother." A sob came from the door. Alexandria stood with her twin, Alice. "The mourners have begun to arrive."

Elena nodded. "We should all go to sleep. It will be a long day tomorrow for all of us."

Elena awoke with a start from a nightmare. She took several deeps breaths and looked around. All four of her daughters lay around her. Suddenly she was overwhelmed with the sense that she couldn't breathe at all, and quickly maneuvered her way around her children making them stir only in the slightest. Deciding she needed some fresh air, she grabbed a black cloth and draped it over her head.

Once she was outside, she made her way around to where all of the mourners stood, and subtly mingled herself with them. She carefully watched them all. Some, she could tell, were there only to have a good spot for the ceremony, some were there to support the royal family, and others looked genuinely distraught. It was the last group that she truly pitied. Why anyone would care to waste any tears on that poor excuse for a man was beyond her.

As she surveyed the crowd, a familiar blonde glint caught her eye. Elena began to wade through people until she came right up on her. The girl turned her head and Elena's heart sank when her friend's familiar face didn't meet hers.

Until, "Aunt Katherine?" The girl said with confusion. Elena wrinkled her forehead as the man and woman, hair slightly gray, turned to face her.

She recognized their faces instantly. "Caroline! Stefan!" She didn't say it loud, but her excitement was there.

Caroline stared for a moment before quietly whispering, "Elena?!" and quickly embraced her best friend. They held each other tightly, neither wanting to let go. Finally they let go and Stefan gave Elena a friendly hug.

"Elena," Caroline spoke and motioned the girl Elena had mistaken as Caroline. "This is my oldest daughter, Ella." A subtle look passed between the two friends as Elena silently asked, and Caroline silently confirmed, that Ella was Niklaus's child. "And this is my youngest daughter, Claire."

Elena hugged them both, but Claire spoke first. "I don't understand. You aren't Katherine, but yet you look..."

Elena smiled sadly. "Katherine is my sister." Before either girl could say anything, Elena turned back to Stefan and Caroline. "Come with me. You shall be my guests. We have so much to learn from each other." Elena saw Caroline's hesitation and quickly added, "I won't take no for an answer."

The family grabbed their few items and followed Elena back around to where she had exited before.

Elena showed the girls to a room where they could sleep, while she asked a servant to make some tea for the two adults.

She learned that Caroline and Stefan were married shortly after Damon's death. Katherine moved away, but visited as often as she could, and the Salvatore family lived in her old house. Ella was never told of her true paternity, and as far as she knew, Stefan was her biological father. Nor was she told that her parents had any connection to the royal family and was bound to start asking questions.

The three of them talked until the sun came up, and someone came to let them know the ceremony was about to take place.

"I should go find James and make sure he's ready." Elena said and stood.

Ella woke up and saw some clothes laying on a chair. She remembered the Queen, who was apparently best friends with her mother(!) saying she was going to lay out some of her daughters' clothes that would fit her. The clothes, not surprisingly, were a lot nicer than any clothes she had ever had. She changed then walked out into the hallway. It had been dimly lit the night before, but now the sun was streaming through the windows lighting the entire hallway. She couldn't remember which way they had come from the night before. She began walking and soon happened upon a room with an open door.

That was how she got on this hallway before...through a door, right? She pushed it opened and realized she was wrong-at least about this being the door she had come though.

"Oh!" She gasped. "I'm so sorry!" she said as she covered her eyes.

She heard a deep laugh. One that likely belonged the shirtless guy she had just walked in on. "It's quite alright." He said. Her eyes stayed covered. "Would you feel more comfortable if I put on a shirt?"

"Yes." She squeaked out.

A moment went by, then she heard, "It's safe now." She slowly moved her hand away and immediately saw the amusement plastered all over his face. She could feel her cheeks flush.

"My apologies." She said. "I got lost."

"No apologies necessary. You just saved me from myself. If I had to be alone in this room one more minute, I may I have jumped." He motioned to the window he was standing in front of. "And then who would run the kingdom?"

"Run the...You're James! The King's son!"

"So, you've heard of me?" He smirked.

Her face saddened. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Don't be. He was bastard."

Ella flinched. "I..."

James waved his hand in front of his face, "I'm sorry. It's not right to speak ill of the dead. Especially not on the day they are to be buried."

Ella shook her head. "No. It's alright. I love my father, but if you didn't get along with yours, that's not my business."

James nodded then wrinkled his brow. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"I'm Ella. Apparently, our parents were great friends."

"Friends? What are their names?"

"James!" Elena said brightly as she came into the room. "I'm glad you're awake, and I see you've met Ella."

"Yes." He smiled. "We were just getting to know each other."

"There will be more time for that later." Elena told him. "Right now, you have a funeral and a coronation to prepare for. Ella, come with me. I'll take you to your parents."

"Thank you."

Elena stepped into the hallway to wait for the girl to follow her.

"Will I see you again?" James asked her.

Ella smiled. "I should hope so." Their gazes lingered a moment before Ella remembered that the Queen was still standing right next to her, and turned to follow her away.

"Madame Rebekah!" a man yelled running through the house.

"Tyler! Mon Dieu! Qu'est-ce que c'est le probleme?" Rebekah asked as he approached her, finding her in a sitting room.

"Terribles nouvelles de l'Angleterre." Lady Rebekah, who stood when Tyler came in, sat back down slowly.

"England?"She said mostly to herself, dropping the French for a moment.

"Ton frére. Il est mort."

"Non! Non! Ce n'est pas possible!"

"Je suis trés desolé."

Rebekah took a few deep breaths. "Merci, Tyler."

"De rien. Est-ce que je peut-"

"Non. Quittez. S'il vous plait. Maintenant."

Tyler nodded and left the room. Rebekah took another deep breath and wiped her eyes before getting up and walking into the next room.

"Niklaus is dead. It's safe to return."

The dark haired man looked up at her, his ice blue eyes meeting hers. "Wonderful."

A/N:

Fin!

Thank you for sticking it out, for those who did.

It seemed most everyone wanted an epilogue. I'm not sure if it was mainly because I had just killed Damon and nobody wanted to read it without him, or if people had grown tired of the story.

Like I said before, the epilogue I had in mind could be a story all on its own, and some wanted a sequel as well. So, in writing the epilogue I had to find a balance between telling enough of this new story that it would be a satisfactory end to the old one (giving readers an idea of where the characters go from here and drawing your own conclusions), and leaving out enough that there would still be story to tell if I were to write a sequel.

I hope I succeeded.

As of right now, there are no immediate plans to write a sequel, but if I get a lot of people demanding one, I have no problem with writing one. Just let me know.

Translation:

*This is not a literal word for word translation.*

"Lady Rebekah!"

"Tyler! My God! What's the problem?"

"Terrible news from England."

"England?"

"Your brother. He is dead."

"No! No! This is not possible."

"I am very sorry."

"Thank you, Tyler."

"You're welcome. Can I-"

"No. Leave. Please. Now."