"You become my wife, I become the heir of the Forbes kingdom and there is no bloodshed necessary."

At first, she was in shock. She gasped in pure disbelief, staring back at him with wide eyes.

Then, the reality of what she had just learned crashed down at her and she felt another wave of nausea building in her chest.

No.

She covered her mouth with one hand, leaning back into her seat, trying to process the information.

With how he had presented things there was no possible way to deny his offer. She couldn't let him murder her family.

Never mind the fact that he had robbed her of her future today, he had already decided on a new one for her. The ghastly parody of a choice, a thoughtfully set up trap that she could not help but walk right into.

She was just overwhelmed. Never in her life had she been faced with such calculating cruelty.

"Why would you even want that?" she asked him, weakly.

"I fancy you," he simply stated and she raised her head to look at him.

The grin had faded from his face. He looked slightly displeased, but not explicitly threatening.

For now.

"What?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief.

Of all possible answers, this would have been about the last one she'd had expected.

Here he was, forcing her into a marriage only hours after he had slaughtered her fiancé. A man who did not seem to care about her opinion, let alone the idea that she might have one. And now he possessed the insolence to say he did this because he fancied her?

He raised his eyebrows, the mocking smirk returning to his lips. His eyes, though, remained cold and calculating.

"You're brave, honest, loyal, selfless," his eyes darkened while he spoke. "Beautiful."

A shudder went down her back, as her fingers dug into the skin of her am.

"Why wouldn't I want you?"

She scoffed, shaking her head, while blinking rapidly.

This had to be a nightmare.

How should she respond to this man? He was the epitome of entitlement.

Complimenting her like that, as if to flatter her, only to lace his words with a not so subtle threat. Pretending to give her a choice, while knowing that there was really only one way she could take. Talking to her as if he genuinely wanted to hear what she had to say, while clearly implying that there was only one answer he would accept.

Did this guy honestly want her to thank him for this?

"And if I refuse?" she asked.

His eyes darkened more and she saw his jaw clench.

"I conquer your parent's territory, slaughter your family and make you my mistress," he simply responded, his voice indifferent as if he was talking about the most ordinary thing in the world.

She just stared back at him in horror.

Great.

Just wonderful.

She laughed dryly, biting her lower lip as she stared down at her hands, trying to come to terms with what she was faced with.

"That's not my decision to make," she said. "It's my fathers."

One last try to escape, although she knew it was futile.

Klaus got up from his seat. "Oh, he will agree," he simply stated. "Or you will make him agree."

She laughed out again, covering her face with her hands.

She didn't have a choice. He had left her no way to escape.

She'd never dealt with anything like this, and to be honest she couldn't quite grasp it yet. It felt surreal, like she was dreaming and would wake up to her old life at any given moment. That prospect felt a lot more likely than the idea that this was actually happening.

She was in shock, the sharp edge of terror pricking in her chest. But she was also angry, very angry at this insolent monster that dared to dress himself as a man. Maybe this was a defense mechanism. But somehow she felt, if she let go of her anger, there would be nothing left to shield her.

Again, she felt the exhaustion overcome her. She was annoyed by her own weakness, but she really wanted nothing more than to escape this endless night of horror into sweet, dreamless sleep. Even thought she knew she would have to wake up again and face this tomorrow.

"You should go to bed," he stated.

She wanted to nod in agreement, but froze mid-movement.

For a moment, she felt like she couldn't move.

To bed… did he mean-

There was a moment of silence between them as she once again fought the desire to just pretend none of this was happening.

"You can decide tomorrow, you should sleep now," he said and she looked back up at him.

He was still standing beside his chair, his piercing gaze fixed on her.

She couldn't escape him, no matter how much she wanted to. It was not like her not to face a challenge. Even if this proved to be one of a caliber she hadn't dealt with before.

Reluctantly, she got up from her seat.

She sighed, shaking her head. "There is no decision to make. You left me none," she stated, raising her gaze to meet his.

She took a few steps towards him. Be brave, she told herself and held her head high, not looking away, despite the fact that she still wanted to. Just pretend you know that you can do this.

"But there is one condition," she said.

He frowned. "This is not a negotiation, sweetheart."

She stared him down, ignoring his comment.

"I want the survivors to be safe. I want you to make sure your men don't harm them further than they already have."

There was another moment of silence between them and she could basically taste the tension. She forced herself to stay calm.

"Okay," he simply stated. The condescending smirk returned to his face, but to her surprise, that was all he had to say.

Whether it was because he was not using this opportunity to threaten her, or because she felt safer because she had been able to stand up to him so far – suddenly the shock faded, replaced by a burning anger. It nagged at her, the desire to make him fall from his throne. Foolish, maybe, but it felt like she needed to hold onto this to keep her sanity.

"Alright, I will marry you," she bit out.

She saw a glint of excitement in his eyes, and in that one moment she wanted nothing more than to smack the smug look off his face.

"But there is one thing I want to make clear."

He looked at her expectantly, raising his eyebrows.

She took another step towards him until she was only a few feet away from him. This was a crucial moment. She could not mess this up. She knew there would be consequences, but there were things worth risking them. She didn't hide the disgust on her face, her anger clearly visible in her eyes.

"I despise you," she sneered, every bit as vicious as she knew he could be. Instantly, she felt a rush of gratification, a long missed sensation on this endless night of terrors.

She watched his gaze darken instantly, an air of danger radiating off him but she didn't regret her words. Wasn't honesty one of the qualities he appreciated in her, after all?

He took a step forward and grabbed her face in his hand.

Her heart stopped as her eyes widened, but she did her best to hide her fear. This was to be expected, after all.

He bent downwards, his face dangerously close to hers, his burning gaze piercing her, everything about his gestures intimidating.

"You shouldn't anger me, love," he hissed and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

His gaze turned more calculating, as slowly, affectionately he let his hand glide down from her jaw down the side of her throat. Her skin tingled where his fingertips touched her skin, and she felt a numb sensation spreading all through her body as her breath grew heavy.

His hand finally rested on the side of her neck, close to her shoulder and she could feel his breath on her skin. She felt dizzy.

"But I will be lenient, you had a rough night," he said, almost softly.

She blinked, staring back up at him.

Suddenly, he pulled her closer to him so that her head was pressed against his chest, his mouth beside her ear.

"But just to be clear, misconduct has consequences," he sneered, his voice vicious and cruel and she realized his former softness had been nothing than another tool in his game of intimidation.

She gasped, her heartbeat speeding up again as fear shot through her.

It was clear what he wanted to do, point out to her that she was completely at his mercy.

But she already knew that.

No matter how much he scared her, she wouldn't be a submissive damsel in distress, not if this was going to be her whole life.

As quickly as he had grabbed her, he let go of her again, taking a step back, his cold gaze still fixed on her.

"You should sleep now. Lie down over there." He made a small gesture towards the bed as he turned away, heading towards the door.

'I have my own bed', she wanted to say, but she figured it would be best not to challenge him anymore tonight. The shock was still cold in her bones.

At least it seemed as if he was going to leave her alone for now.

Slowly, she made her way to the bed, hearing the door close behind him.

Finally, a moment alone.

She let herself sink into the covers, lying down as far on the side of the bed as possible and instantly, she felt the tears break.

Tears about Vicki, Matt, Tyler, Anna. Tears about all the other people she had seen, lived with every day that were now dead, or robbed of their home. Tears about herself and her future, that had been taken from her and replaced by one she dreaded.

But she was exhausted, so she quickly felt herself dozing off, crying herself to sleep.