-5-

Isolde

Isolde hadn't gotten much sleep when she heard Vera trying to sneak off before dawn without saying goodbye. Isolde caught her sister in the garage as the door was rising and hugged her tightly

"Call us if you end up needing us, alright?" Isolde demanded, holding her sister arm length away to get a good look at Vera's face.

Vera was nodding already. "I will. Tell Theon I'm sorry for bailing before he was awake but I didn't want to disturb him and Rebekah since they were up late. I could hear them chatting well past two. Oh- and if you get a chance to talk to Rebekah, tell her the same. I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to speak with her. We should all go to lunch and hit the mall when I get back. Hopefully with Freya, too."

"Oh, good idea. I'll tell them." Isolde agreed, snatching the keys out of her sister's hand.

Vera tried to snatch them back with an aggravated; "Hey!"

"You're not taking my Tesla, sorry. This model literally just hit the market, I got one of the first. It's my new baby and I won't have you parking next to some roided out truck guy in New Orleans and getting it door checked." Isolde said and slapped a different set of keys down into her sister's outstretched hand. "Take my Lexus."

Vera grumbled and scrunched up her face at Isolde, but got into the other car. "- you're a terrible driver, try not to wreck it in the first year."

Isolde pretended she didn't hear that. "What, did you say something?"

"Nope, must've been the wind." Vera grinned, shutting the door. Through the glass she said; "Gotta go, place to be, Love you!"

Isolde waved until Vera was past the tree line and hit the garage button as she reentered the house. There was still an hour or so before dawn, but it was summer, and the night was warm so Isolde grabbed her laptop and earbuds from the coffee table in her living room and started a pot of coffee.

Bracing against the countertop, breathing in the aroma of strong, fresh coffee, Isolde decided to mentally sort through last night. She'd tried to avoid it so she could sleep, but that hadn't worked out.

She wasn't worried about being bonded to four men. She'd spent over half of her life between Egypt, Greece and Rome, all peoples well known for polyamorous relations. Actually, polyamory still was accepted and practiced in Egypt. It's not like she hadn't had multiple partners before.

And no two bonds would be the same; not only had she witnessed this a lot over the millennia, but Emeric's soul bond proved that a bond didn't have to be romantic.

From Isolde's bonds, she got the feeling they were all going to be quite different. Kol seemed to be the most interested in a sexual relationship, as hands-on as he'd been. This was an interest she returned with equal fervor. She hadn't had the opportunity to even speak to Finn or Elijah, but the way his eyes had been observing Isolde while he held Elena in place Elijah had looked interested; very interested. Finn didn't. In fact, Finn had been disgusted with her for favoring Dahlia over his mother. Isolde hoped they could get to know each other better and see where that took them. Hopefully they could, at the very least, be good friends.

Klaus… Well, she knew he wanted her. Probably not romantically. She was a good tool to have in one's arsenal. He'd obviously enjoyed Isolde being on his side during last night's confrontation. He'd likely have a fit the first time she decided to fight him on something, but it had to happen.

That's really what she was worried about. Having to fight Klaus until he realized that the soul bond wasn't a sire bond. As much as he likely wanted to use her to further whatever goals he had, Isolde would never be Klaus' bitch.

And that was just one of Isolde's worries. Another was that the Original Family of Vampires had a millennia of bad reputation behind them. Which meant as soon as their people found out they were all awake and that they were going to settle somewhere, no matter what their plan was, the Mikaelson's enemies would be coming to test them. The Alexanders were going to be caught in the crossfire, and Isolde couldn't bring herself to be angry about that.

The Alexanders had collectively decided to let the vampires be, hadn't they? If they'd killed Mikael and sat his children down to tell them about the rest of the supernatural world- and educate them on the laws- then the vampires would likely be leashed by now. The fallout of allowing a whole species to parade around unchecked and ignorant was on the Alexanders almost as much as it was on the Mikaelsons. In truth, her family should've intervened a long time ago.

That was a conversation she'd need to have with them; soon .

Steaming mug in hand, she settled herself at the outdoor table just as the sun began to crest over Isolde's bountiful garden, and started working through emails. Most of them were from a couple record labels she held contracts with. What Theon had told the Mayor at the ball was true, Isolde was a poet and a lyricist. She mostly sold the lyrics because they were a passion of hers and she made royalties whenever someone bought the artist's album or the song.

Plus, it was always satisfying when one of her works hit the top charts. And sometimes hearing how the musician interpreted her words and put them to music just touched her soul. It was divine, like a brief moment of understanding had passed between lyricist and musician.

But she couldn't fully focus on that. She may have been on vacation for the past five decades but, like any CEO or world leader, she's never truly off duty.

Another few emails down was a report from her lead sentry in South America, Eztli, written in twenty five hundred year old Mayan code on a piece of paper, the picture attached. It was the best way they'd managed to adapt and transfer information in the modern age without having to rework their entire code system.

It seemed all was relatively well in South America, all things considered. Isolde's people had eyes on the Cartel's movements. Venezuela was likely heading towards financial ruin. Brazil's President was probably going to be impeached. There was another disease running rampant in the Amazon. Nothing too out of the ordinary. She emailed Eztli and told her to keep an eye on the cartels and to arrange for more antibiotics, doctors, builders and educators to be sent to the tribes deep in the Amazon. Mindful of the budget, of course.

Isolde's people didn't have as much funding as her siblings' people did. Which made sense.

Vera's people, TUMAINI, were activists. They worked their way into most groups that were fighting for positive change in the world, including helping with development in the countries considered third-world. They needed a lot of funding to work on those causes and actually make changes. If the situation in the Amazon got worse, Isolde would send an email to Vera's South American sentry.

The Warriors of Macedon; Emeric's people were part of just about every military complex in the world. They kept an eye on new military strategies, weapons development, along with keeping up with the newest technologies as available to them. His people were also involved in the scientific and medical communities. Emeric was the type of man who wanted to know all of the things, all of the time.

And Theon's people were just as important. They weren't even a secret organization, people all over the planet knew about the Freemasons; World leaders, politicians, political advisors, economists, philosophers, lawyers, and business people. They either were (or they had the ear of) all the major leadership from the US to the United Nations to China and back again.

Isolde's people were no less important but the only funding she really needed was enough to put her people up in apartments and make sure they were fed and paid a good salary for what they do.

Her people were called The Hidden Ones but the oldest of them, the ones that had been with her in Egypt, just went by Amunet ; Isolde's birth name. They were the spies, informants, and when necessary, assassins.

Scrolling down through a few more emails from labels, there was one from her lead sentry over the Middle East, Lazarus. Those countries never got a break, they'd been at war in one way or another since before Isolde had been born. The only difference currently was how destructive modern technology and military advancements were becoming. Theon's people were doing everything they could to keep the situation from going nuclear, which had been difficult for the last nine years since 9/11. Lazarus was just updating Isolde on things she'd already figured were likely. It was good to be right, though, because it meant there weren't any players smarter than her family on the board right now.

After a second of thought, Isolde opened a new email and composed an order to her most accomplished Legatus; someone who'd led many of her legions since the beginnings of the Roman Empire. She clicked send; now she just needed a response. Knowing him, he'd get back to her before the day was over. With things going the way they were in Mystic Falls, she'd like to have eyes and ears on all the players.

With that one email, she'd begun mobilizing her people for the first time in five-decades. Isolde's vacation was over.

She closed out of her email just as the sliding glass door slowly opened.

Isolde looked up to see Rebekah lingering in the open door, still in her ball gown and looking like she wasn't sure she should be there.

The older woman decided to put her mind at ease. "Good morning," she said with a smile and stood, closing her laptop and tucking it under her arm, "would you like coffee? Or a blood bag, I'm pretty sure I have one in the fridge."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get up, you looked focused."

"I was just finished actually. Perfect timing," she smiled and Rebekah moved out of the way as Isolde came inside. She glanced at Rebekah's dress. "Beautiful as you are in that dress, would you like a change of clothes? You're a bit taller than me but I think we're roughly the same size."

"Actually yes, if you can, that would be lovely." Rebekah said, tucking some loose hair behind her ear and looking away.

Isolde motioned for Rebekah to follow her. "I have some freshly washed clothes hanging in my laundry room. You can pick whatever and I'll iron them for you."

"Oh you don't have to iron them," Rebekah insisted, "I'm just happy I'll be able to change."

"I'm surprised Theo didn't come take something from my closet for you, honestly." She laughed, showing Rebekah into the laundry room and pointing to the clothes hanging up.

"He offered, but I declined. I didn't want him rummaging through your things while you slept." Rebekah said, sifting through her options.

"Thanks, never know what kind of embarrassing things I may be hiding in my closet." Isolde joked and Rebekah flashed her a smile, pulling a pair of black shorts and a white sleeveless blouse off the rack.

"Would these be alright for me to borrow?"

"Sure," Isolde nodded, flashing a smile and turning to walk away "and I have the perfect ankle booties if you don't want to wear your heels. They would go so well with that outfit. There's a bathroom right around the corner and don't quote me but I think there's a brush and some hair ties under the sink if you want to use them. I'll be in the kitchen when you're done."

"I'll take you up on that coffee." Rebekah called after her. "Caffeine sounds divine right now."

Isolde moaned exaggeratedly, pointing into the air. "I'm right there with you, girl."

She grabbed a bag she'd saved from her last time shopping in Richmond and put it on the floor in the kitchen for Rebekah's dress. Order was sitting by his food bowl, staring at it as if willing the bowl to fill with the Force. She started another pot of coffee and was just pulling the food out from under the sink when Rebekah walked in looking like she'd hadn't slept over.

Isolde gestured to the bag. "You can put your dress in there if you like. Coffee's on."

"Thank you. You have an Egyptian Mau? What's its name?" Rebekah asked over the sounds of crinkling paper as she indelicately shoved her dress in the bag.

"This one is Order. He has a sister around here somewhere named Chaos and their mother's name is Mura. Mura doesn't like new people, you'll have to come over for a few weeks for her to come out when you're around. And Chaos is likely giving her name justice somewhere outside. Likely terrorizing my gardens."

Rebekah laughed and took a seat at the table. "I wanted to say last night; you have a lovely home. A Victorian masterpiece, and the gothic era touches are well done. It's stunning, really."

Isolde gave the younger woman a warm smile, setting out cream and sugar on the table. "Thank you, that means a lot to me. I built it myself."

"Yourself? As in…" Rebekah raised an eyebrow, accepting the mug of coffee Isolde handed to her.

"I designed it. Then when I finalized the design I mixed the cement for the foundation, laid it, chopped the trees for the wood and did the framework. Etcetera. Save for the glass, the whole house was built by me in the first decade I settled in Mystic Falls. I was bored." Isolde laughed with a shrug, dumping a ton of sugar in her mug while Rebekah watched with wide eyes. Because of the sugar or the story, Isolde wasn't sure. "And I had a lot of free time then; I'd just returned from doing work on the frontlines in the aftermath of World War II and I told my whole family to shove off and leave me be for a minimum of two decades. They listened."

"That's…" she glanced around the kitchen, marveling at the work that it had to have taken Isolde, "amazing, actually. But now I'm more impressed you got your family to leave you alone when you told them too. Teach me your ways?"

Isolde laughed, elbows on the table and sipping her coffee. "Well they just know better than to mess with me when I'm in a bad way. The trick is to go a little crazy every now and then; keep them on their toes."

"I don't think I could out-crazy my brothers." Rebekah sighed, staring down into her mug.

"That," Isolde grinned cheekily, "I can teach you."

Rebekah grinned back. "This may be the start of a beautiful friendship, Isolde."

"I do love the sound of plotting in the morning. Should I be worried?" Theon's voice rang through the kitchen as he finally graced them with his presence. He got to Isolde first and swung down to drop a quick kiss on her head, then again on Rebekah's (lingering far longer than was necessary) before stepping over to the coffee pot. "Seems like two of my three favorite girls are getting along."

"Speaking of, Vera said she's sorry for leaving before saying goodbye. And for leaving before officially meeting you, Rebekah. Promises of lunch and shopping when she returns were made."

"I'd love to. Anything to get out of this insufferable town for a day."

Isolde's head tilted slightly at Rebekah's words just as Theon moved to take the seat next to Rebekah, he turned the chair so he was angled to view her better.

As he sat, Theon asked; "Oh? Is there anything we can help with?"

Rebekah bit her lip and looked away from them for a moment, staring instead down at Chaos who'd finally made an entrance and wound herself around Rebekah's leg with a sharp meow, pawing at the woman's leg for pets. Rebekah reached down to scratch Chaos' head, then watched as the kitten abandoned her to scramble quickly towards the food bowl and body slam her brother away from it.

Order hadn't even been eating any more. He was just sitting there.

Rebekah laughed and turned back to the table. "It's really just that doppelganger wench and her friends. Though I'm not fond of being back in this area after a thousand years, either. I love it and I hate it, if that makes sense."

Isolde hummed in understanding. "I get that, I feel that way about Egypt; our birth land. So many good memories that are forever clouded by bad ones. I prefer our lives the way they were in Italy."

"Yes, exactly." Rebekah agreed, staring down into her coffee with a far away look. "Too much horror happened here for it to ever be considered home again. Our lives were better in New Orleans. I'd like to return now that I am undaggered. But Klaus expects the family to stay together, and he wants to stay here because he needs Elena's blood to sire hybrids. That's the crux of the issue, it's also why Elena was willing to sign a death sentence for our entire family last night. She'll give anything to see Klaus dead, even if it means killing noble Elijah who has sworn to protect both her and her loved ones."

"She's refusing to cooperate, then." Theon said to himself, leaning back in his chair. "Which is pissing off Klaus and Elijah is caught between them in order to keep his word. But is that still an issue after last night?"

Rebekah shrugged. "I can't be certain, Elijah hasn't bothered to tell us specifics. He interfered when I tried to kill Elena a few nights ago."

"Do you know what Klaus has done to foster Elena's compliance? Maybe we could help him change tactics." Isolde asked, getting up to snag her laptop off the counter.

Rebekah looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Foster compliance? We shouldn't need to do that. We are Originals. Her and her boyfriends will do what Klaus wants done; by force if necessary."

Theon and Isolde shared a look over the blonde's head.

Yeah, they needed to have a talk with the Mikaelson's.

"So I'll take that as a confirmation that he's just barreled his way in and ordered them around. Got it." Isolde started sifting through things in her files and pulled up a blank contract, handing the laptop over Rebekah's head to Theon's outstretched hand.

"What are you doing?" Rebekah questioned, head turning between the siblings, eyebrow still raised.

"Well, beautiful, we're working on a contract that could call a ceasefire to the doppelganger/Mikaelson' feud." Theon stated distractedly, eyes not leaving the screen. "It would help if either Klaus or Elijah were here. Since we're kind of the outsiders in this and they know more about the situation than we do. It's hard to write a contract neither party can refuse when one doesn't know all the variables."

After a brief pause, Rebekah stood and pulled her phone from her pocket. "I'll call Elijah. Klaus can't keep his head long enough to be of any use with this. But would a contract even be binding? Don't you need a witch, or blood, or something?"

Theon paused to look up at her with a wry grin. "Oh- it's binding. There's a lot about the supernatural community that vampire's haven't been privy to since you're a young species. We will be changing that in the coming weeks. Rest assured that since Elena is supernatural, this contract is just as legally binding as any human contract is. Perhaps moreso."

"Alright, I'll get Elijah over here." Rebekah began with a swift nod, stepping out the back door.

In a low voice not even a vampire would hear, sliding into the seat Rebekah had vacated, Isolde spoke to her brother. "I mobilized a legion this morning. I wasn't kidding about that bad feeling. And hearing what Rebekah just said about using a show of force on a eighteen year old…"

Theon stopped typing for a second, all emotion sliding off his face. Effectively shielding his inner turmoil. "I know, I feel it too. I'll be mobilizing as well. I think you're right, shit is about to get messy. If Vera doesn't make it back in two weeks we'll tell Emeric anyways."

Isolde just nodded her assent.