I Won't Go
Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864
Damon sat at her side, her hand in his own as they watched the fire burn in the hearth before them. Astra could feel the warmth of it on her cheeks and throat, causing her to smile softly. Damon's hand was warm around her own, his calloused finger rolling the ring he had given her in circles around her forth digit. She couldn't help but to imagine what it would look like to have a gold band accompanying the blue engagement ring.
"I'm thinking the summer," Damon finally said after a couple of minutes of playing with her hand. "I know that you love the summer months and it should be a beautiful time for a wedding." Astra nodding along, picturing the wedding in her head, with the smile on her lips growing. "I can just see you now, all dressed in white," Damon whispered in her ear, the natural ringlets of her hair ticking his cheek.
"I would imagine that you're doing to look absolutely…ravishing, as well," Astra teased, looking up at him from the corner of her eye.
She was worried, on the inside. She knew that she was going to have to tell Damon about her 'little' secret very soon. She would not marry him with such a secret under her belt, it would leave her feeling heartless. If he didn't accept what she was and she was already married to him…She would never do such a thing to a man. She would leave him with the choice. But she was unsure of when to present the truth to him, especially with Katherine in town. Things were getting far more complicated for her than she had ever thought when she first moved into the town of Mystic Falls.
Damon smiled back with a glint in his alright mischievous blue eyes, causing Astra to laugh softly and look away, knowing what thoughts were going through his head exactly. Her cheeks flushed at the thought and she did her best not to show the slight discomfort that it brought to her. She loved Damon with all her heart and knew that she was ready to be with him, but it was still a frightening thought; for her to be so close to man.
"I hope that there aren't going to be too many people there, a large wedding is not something I wish for," She whispered as her eyes drifted over to the dancing flames in the fireplace.
"I know, I made sure that the people who were invited were only the closest of relatives or friends," Damon assured, pressing a kiss to the corner of her jaw to bring her attention back to him. She smiled at him over her shoulder, scooting away from him to tease him.
She couldn't help but find it adorable when he jutted out his bottom lip in an obvious pout, his hand moving to tug on her dress in a silent demand that she move back to his side. She smiled softly and moved back to her original place, letting him take her hand in his again and have her lean against his side.
"Pouting becomes you, Damon," She teased as she leaned in close, barely out a reach for a kiss.
"Really now?" Damon asked in mock surprise, "Will that get me all the things I wish for?" Damon asked in a hushed voice, leaning in just slightly toward her as well, looking into her happily dancing violet eyes. She hummed softly in response, her eyes flicking down from his clear blue orbs to his lips.
"Maybe not all of the things you wish, but-" She was interrupted in her sentence when the doors to the room opened, the two drawing away from one another to a more appropriate distance and looking over to where Damon's father stepped into the room, looking startled to see the two there.
"Mr. Salvatore, I pleasure to see you," Astra said fluidly, smiling to him with charm in her expression. He nodded back wearily, looking like a burdened man with the world on his shoulders.
"Miss Casca," He greeted back, looking between her and Damon. Astra repressed the urge to frown in confusion at his strange behaviour. He was usually very friendly to her, but lately he had kept her at arms distance, treating her like a stranger and not the woman about to marry his son. Did he blame her for Damon's return home? She wished to compel him to tell her, but she could smell the vervain every time she stepped into the kitchens of the Salvatore home and knew she would only be exposing herself. "I hope that you are faring well."
"Yes, thank you," She answered back, looking over to Damon quickly. Damon seemed to note his father's strange actions as well and wasn't hiding his frown as he watched the elder male.
"We were just discussing the wedding, but we may go elsewhere if we are in your way," Damon offered easily, still looking confused over his father's actions. Astra looked back to watch the man again, trying to notice if he did anything else differently.
"No, that is alright, I apologize for interrupting you two. Please, I'll leave," He said simply, his hand rising to adjust the high collar of his shirt. Astra frowned slightly at the sight of his fidgeting, beginning to worry. This was not a man that she knew to become uncomfortable in any way, especially so openly. He turned and departed before either had a chance to say another word on the matter, the doors closing behind him.
"Is your father still upset with you?" Astra asked softly—carefully—as she turned to look back at Damon again.
"Not so much as he was when I first arrived back home. He is not pleased with me still, but we can begin to have civil conversation now." Astra nodded her head, glancing at the closed doors for the last time before willing herself to push aside the occurrence to think on at a later time.
"I hope that the both of you may make amends before the wedding," She said with a sad look coming to her eyes. When Damon's father had first heard that they were to be married, he offered to walk Astra down the aisle, since she did not have a father to do so. She had been happy to agree, and was beginning to worry now that she might need to ask Stefan to take his place.
Roman Empire, Pompeii, 78 A.D.
Astraea woke groggily to a semi-dark room, the cool air that came in through her window leaving her skin chilled. She threw her arm over her face to wipe away the sleep that lingered in her eyes and on her face, trying to wake herself enough to think clearly. What made woken her up in the first place? She didn't even remember what she had been dreaming about anymore, but she remembered that it had been pleasant.
Inhaling deeply before opening her eyes again, Astraea tried to remember what had happened the previous night. It was still a blur to her and she was having trouble recollecting anything more than images or flashes. She could see the bright red of Elijah's blood and taste its strange and unique flavour on her tongue, but when she tried to remember his words they were muffled and unclear in her head.
Rising to sit up straight, she looked around the space of her room for any traces of Elijah, but, as always, he had removed any evidence that he had once been in the room with her. She sighed softly to herself before tossing the blankets off of her legs and pulling herself from the bed slowly. She felt too awake and energized to be lying down. It was probably because of Elijah's blood that she felt to alive so soon in the morning.
She would need to get more details from him the next time she spoke with Elijah. She didn't know near as much on what his blood would do to her as she wanted.
Slipping out of her room silently, the house was deadly quiet around her. She stepped along the cold stone floors, jumping on the balls of her feet when she reached a path of marble that felt like ice itself, to get to the kitchens of the home without waking any other occupant of the building. Stepping into the comforting space of the kitchen, warmth still lingered inside from the fires that had been used to bake the previous night's meal.
"Lady Astraea?" A soft voice called from behind her, causing the young woman to jump in surprise. She turned to look at who had followed her down to the lower floors, seeing that it had been the servant that had been assisting her family for many years, Clara. "I apologize for startling you, lady, please forgive me."
"No, it is not your fault. I was not expecting another to be awake so early," Astraea assured with a smile. Clara looked surprised at the upturned mood of her mistress, knowing full well that something had been bothering her for quite some time.
"Why might you be awake, Lady Astraea? Are you feeling better?"
Astraea knew that there was nothing that she could hide from Clara, she had been around for so long, she knew all of the secrets within the walls of her family home. All but two rather large ones. She did not know of Astraea's impending death or the demon that often stepped over the threshold of the abode every day.
"Yes, much better. I cannot seem to fall back asleep, however. I thought perhaps some water might help, my throat is very dry from sleep," She said softly, turning to look around the kitchen space. She had always loved coming to the kitchens while the cooks were working, watching them with adoration as they moved about perfectly in their element.
"I could make you some tea if you would like, the Camomile herbs are known to assist with sleeping; I could brew you some if you wish?" Clara offered as she stepped into the space after the younger woman, moving over to the water basin. "I am glad to see you feeling better, Lady Astraea, I was becoming concerned for your wellbeing," Clara said softly as she moved about the kitchen fluently, lighting a fire to heat the water and beginning to grind up the dried camomile.
"And I, as well. I feel like a child again, so full of energy," Astraea said with a smile as she took a seat out of the water, placing her hands in her lap to warm them against the cool air of the home. The fire that Clara had lit was beginning to warm the kitchen slowly, steam soon starting to rise off the surface of the water in the pot she had filled.
"Would this good fortune have anything to do with one English foreigner?" Clara asked coyly as she looked over her shoulder to Astraea, noting right away the blush that rose up to cloud the once even skin tone on the lady's face. "Ah, I see."
"Not in such a way, Clara. Elijah is different than the men here, he does not wish only for a friendship with my father," Astraea tried to reason, but the knowing smile never left Clara's face as she strained the ground tea leaves from the tinted tea water. "He does give of a very…healing effect, though."
"Oh, Lady Astraea," Clara said sadly, the suddenness of the emotion throwing Astraea off for a moment. "What about the arrangement that your father is making? With the Egyptian Scholar?" Astraea felt her heart constrict in her chest that the thought of having to move away from her family, her friends, her life, just to live with someone that she didn't know in Egypt.
She was afraid to leave Elijah.
"I do not wish to be with him," Astraea mumbled to herself, looking down at her bare feet and away from Clara. A soft thud drew her attention to the tea cup that had been set down on the table beside her, Clara standing with a sympathetic look in her eyes.
"If I know you as well as I pride myself, I know that you would fall in love with a man that will do whatever he can to keep you at his side," Clara said softly, one of her hands moving to place gently on Astraea's mussed hair. "I am hoping that Lord Elijah will do just that."
Astraea could not agree more.
Another update, yay! I'm bribing you all into forgiving me for the long wait between updates :P
Please review, they are very much appreciated, I love to hear what you all have to say about the story!
Chapter 18 – Agony Goes Both Ways
Elijah's hand clenched around a wine glass as pain rippled through him, the glass soon exploding under the pressure. Bits of glass and wine covered his fingers and the once clean floor of the kitchen. He felt no pain in his hand as the glass dug through his skin, blood pouring through the injuries. He could still feel agony in his chest, back and head as he tried to figure out what was happening. The pain disappeared a moment later, leaving him aggravated and confused. Ignoring the mess of his right hand he pulled his cellphone out with the other and hit a single digit before holding it to his ear. The line was only barely answered before he ordered out in an angered voice.
"Find Astraea."
Barely paying his hand any attention aside from pulling out the large pieces of glass that were interfering and wiping off the blood, he was out the door of the large home and running on foot to get into town. The method of travel was far quicker than his truck and he could be at the Martins' apartment before they were even finished locating wherever Astraea was. He was careful to avoid populated areas as he was stepping through the town, only slowing his pace when he absolutely had to.
His phone began to buzz in his jacket pocket just as he emerged from the elevator. He ignored the device and threw open the once locked apartment door, causing Jonas to spin around with his phone still pressed to his ear. Luka jumped from where he was sitting at the table, looking at a map of Mystic falls.