Hey, loves! So here is the next chapter in this fanfiction and I hope that you guys are enjoying it thus far even though my updates aren't exactly regular.
Enjoy!
When the blonde felt nothing, she opened one of her eyes and noticed the look of distress on the prince's face. He was visibly wincing and she wondered why considering that he seemed to be very driven to show her just who she was to him- a mistress of a sort.
A couple of seconds later, he got off of her and turned away as he raked his fingers through his dirty blonde curls.
"Open your eyes," he demanded through gritted teeth and Caroline realized that she was complying to his order.
As her eyes drifted open, she sat up on the chaise and wrapped her arms around her knees as she looked at him with something akin to disgust in her bright blue eyes.
"I am sorry." He apologized quickly, still standing a couple of feet away from her.
"I would like to return to my family now, please." She told him and even though the blonde knew that she cared for the prince, she understood now that whatever future they talked about was way out of reach- a dream, really.
"Why?" He asked as his face fell and he bit down on his bottom lip as the tick in his jaw began to work.
"Why?" She repeated. "Because I belong with them and I really should get back to my duties. I have been neglecting them enough with me being your mistress and all."
"My mistress?" He questioned, the confusion evident in his accented voice. "Are you out of your bloody mind? You know that what we have is true and I refuse to allow you to think of it as some liaison that has come and gone."
"But isn't that true? You are to be married and I am sure that you will not keep your vows, but I will not become the woman you keep on the side. Yes, what we had was something, but it is over."
"It isn't over until I say it is, Caroline. Remember your place!" He shouted as his eyes darkened and his hands clenched into fists out of anger.
"I know my place." She told him, keeping her eyes downcast. "And now I would like to return to my family, your grace. I have not seen them in quite sometime."
"Do you truly want to return to the life you had before I saved you?"
"Yes," she said immediately and the prince stepped back as if an actual force pushed him away from her.
"And what of the guard that tried to take your innocence?" Klaus asked as he thought about Tyler and what his group of friends were about to do before Henrik stepped up.
"I will fight him." Caroline told him. "And there is no longer any innocence to speak of. You took that, my lord. You had the honor of deflowering a slave, so bravo."
Wincing, he shut his eyes as he shook his head back and forth.
"Caroline, you are overreacting and I know that you will understand that very soon. And also, what I took from you, you gave willingly."
"Perhaps," she agreed. "But you seem to forget that you were about to force me before you stopped."
"The keyword being that I stopped. You know that I would not have done such a thing to you because I care about you deeply."
"No you do not." Caroline shook her head. "Now, please… Allow one of the guards to escort me back to my actual home."
"This is your home." He told her as he tried to get through to her, but to no avail.
"Is it?" She asked.
"Yes," he nodded quickly. "You will be my wife, not that woman that my father wants me to tie my life to."
"Is that a proposal?" Caroline questioned as she felt her heartbeat quicken and swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in her throat.
"Yes, yes. Please, Caroline. Become my wife and we can run away from all of this nonsense and finally start our lives together."
Shaking her head, Caroline sighed heavily before she slowly shook her head.
"I am sorry, but that is not a possibility. Not in this lifetime, at least."
"So, you refuse my offer, then?" The prince asked as he ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed the nape of his neck.
"Yes," she nodded.
"You are sure that you will not change your mind?"
"Yes," she nodded again.
"Very well," Klaus responded, sounding defeated beyond belief.
"Now, may I return to my family?"
"You may," he told her before he turned away from her and went over to the double doors. As he opened the doors, he motioned for one of the guards to come to him.
"My Prince," the guard bowed as he kept his eyes downcast.
"Escort the girl to her home. She will give you the directions."
"Of course," the guard said as he looked over at Caroline.
Swallowing and forcing the tears away from her eyes, Caroline walked past Klaus without so much as a word. The relationship that they had was now over and there was no reviving that.
It was far too late...
The next week passed by slowly and Caroline slowly got used to the workload put on her. After having a break for a while, she felt her bones protesting.
At the moment, she was standing at the well with her mother and Caroline realized that her mother looked more exhausted than before.
"Mama?" Caroline said, looking over at her mom with a worried expression in her bright blue eyes.
"Yes, my love?" Liz asked as she looked over at her daughter with a tiny smile on her chapped lips.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Of course," Liz nodded, reassuring her with a gentle pat on the blonde's wrist.
"Mama, are you sure? Please, if there is something wrong, tell me and I will try to make it better."
"Everything is alright. I simply haven't been sleeping well since your return. I worry about you, you know... You haven't spoken about what occurred while you were under the prince's protection.
"There is nothing to say." She told her. "What I thought we had was wrong and now it is over."
"Do you miss him?"
"Why would I?" Caroline questioned. "I am the one that left him, mama."
"I hear your sobbing at night, my love... I know that whatever occurred between the two of you plagues your mind and does not allow you to rest. And the black circles under your eyes do not lie."
"Back to work!" One of the guards shouted as he advanced on them.
Immediately, the two women returned to their jobs and as the guard passed Caroline, she felt his hand on her behind.
Jumping, Caroline turned on him with a wild expression in her eyes and realized that it was the guard that was a menace to her presence from the beginning.
"Lea-" Liz started, but Caroline shook her head in order to stop her mother from saying something that would cause her to be hurt by the guard.
"Rumor has it that you were a wonderful tumble between the sheets." Tyler told her as he moved closer to her with an evil smirk on his face. "I cannot wait to sample you myself, you pretty little slave."
"No," Caroline said as she began shaking her head. "Please don't."
"Wait and see, slave. After I am through with you, you will never be the person that you were before."
Shivering, Caroline stepped away from him and her bottom lip trembled as her hands got clammy.
"Oh, and you will have no prince saving you now. After all, he is the one that sent you away."
With those parting words, the sick guard walked away from her with a wink.
"Caroline?" Her mother said as she placed a hand on her elbow.
Flinching, Caroline shut her eyes before she shook her head.
"Not now, mama. Please," the blonde begged, returning to the task at hand.
"Very well," Liz said with a slight nod.
With his arms crossed over his lean chest, Klaus looked out of the elegant wooden window and searched for the girl that got away. The sun was beating down on the slaves and he could tell that they were close to their breaking point, considering that they have been working for over twelve hours already.
"You cannot continue like this." Rebekah said, coming up behind him and putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Leave me be, Bekah." Klaus growled, never turning to look at her.
"Nik, please." His little sister said. "Just try and get her back."
"What me and Caroline had is gone for good, Bekah. It would be best if you remembered that and did as I bid you. And anyway, even if there was a chance, father expects me to marry that incessant woman that I am apparently betrothed to."
"Since when do you care about what father asks of you? From what I remember, you were always the one that caused the most trouble when we were growing up."
"I am honored that you think so, but let us be honest here... The one that was most trouble was Kol and really, still is."
Sighing, Rebekah stepped away from him and crossed her arms over her own chest as she shook her head.
"You are going to lose Caroline for good if you do not do anything about it, Niklaus. You know it, as well as I do, but obviously you do not care." She told him before she walked away from him and her slippers tapped on the marble floor.
"I know," he said under his breath when he knew he was alone.
Focusing on what lay outside once again, Klaus spotted a flash of long golden blonde hair that seemed to have been curled to perfection.
Feeling the lump growing in his throat, he swallowed, but to no avail considering that the knot in his throat only seemed to get bigger.
The woman that has continuously plagued his every waking moment as well as his every unconscious moment looked worn out and exhausted. Her brown dress clung to her body enticingly, but he knew that it was not her intention to show off her exquisite feminine figure.
As if sensing him, the prince noted how Caroline looked directly at the window that he was standing before and his breath hitched in his throat. Now that he could see her from the front, he also realized that the dress she wore was far too small in her mid-section.
"Why did you walk away, love?" Klaus said out loud as he shook his head and turned away from the window because it was time to return to his daily outings in order to see how far those outside were getting in the building of the pyramids and other things.
Straightening his back, the prince looked regal as he stepped out into the sunshine. Some of those that were closer to the palace looked over at him with their eyes wide and he noticed that some of them even had disgusted looks in their usually empty eyes.
He deserved their looks of disgust, he realized with a sigh as he made his way down the steps and into the working area.
Keeping his hands at his side, Klaus opened his mouth because he knew that if he would not call for a break, they would work until the moon appeared as well as the stars.
"Rest!" He commanded in his most authoritarian voice.
Immediately, they stopped what they were doing and some of them even collapsed onto the floor as they placed their faces in between their legs in order to try and catch their breaths.
Klaus nodded towards the guards and as they made their way over to him, his eyes found Caroline's and they locked. She looked defeated and the glow that always surrounded her was no longer evident.
Though, they had their eyes locked on one another for about two minutes, she quickly looked away and focused her attention on the older woman that he knew was her mother.
"Your Grace." One of the guards said as he bowed and the others followed suit.
"Guards," he nodded in greeting. "Do pass a good serving of water around as well as a piece of bread with cheese for each person."
"Person?" Tyler snorted. "Oh, please." He scoffed.
"Is there a problem, Tyler?" Klaus questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest and kept his gaze directly on the man that he despised with every fiber of his being.
"No problem, your grace… I am simply saying that the slaves are not people. They may be a race, but they definitely are not human beings."
"Keep whatever you may think to yourself, Tyler. Unless, of course you are ready to be dismissed from your position here in my palace."
Nodding, Tyler followed the other guards to retrieve the water and food, but then he returned with a smirk on his lips.
"This is not your palace, your grace." Tyler said sarcastically. "Oh, and very soon I'll have the slave you used and discarded splayed on her back eager to accept my cock."
Gritting his teeth, Klaus tried to keep his temper under control, but before he could that, he erupted into a fury and punched the son of a bitch directly into the jaw before he kicked him in the shin. Once one the floor, Klaus pummeled Tyler's sorry excuse of a face with a smirk on his lips before he stood up unscathed and walked away.
There you have it! I hope this chapter was alright and I am going to assume that I am probably going to fast forward a week or two on my next update.
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~Hana :p