When everything is wrong and the battle seems to be lost the one thing that we have to consider is the fact that the princess is always there for the dragon.
It was all very well to say "Drink me," but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. "No, I'll look first," she said, "and see whether it's marked 'poison' or not." —Chapter 1, Down the Rabbit-Hole
You could have heard a pin drop.
The silence was almost deafening in Caroline's ears. And though she could hear her heart beating in her chest. Her eyes never left Niklaus. From all the time that she spent with Kol and Rebekah, she had learned quite a bit about the family and the way that they operated.
Mikael was the head of the family and was not to be trifled with. Everyone was expected to fall into line and do as they were told. Esther was the matriarch of the family and everything that she said went, but she was clearly subservient to Mikael in every way.
There was something in Caroline that bristled against the thought she would one day have to become Esther should she ever marry. Though her memories of her own mother's face was foggy she could clearly remember the fight and fire that her mother had. She fought her father every time that she thought he was making a dumb decision.
But this was the past and things were a lot different here. Men wielded power uncontested and to do otherwise was considered an affront. There were some liberties afforded to women here like divorce, but it was rarely used if ever.
Caroline sometimes wondered why Esther, a powerful witch, stayed with a man like Mikael when there was so much anger directed at her. Mikael wanted nothing more than to use Esther and the power that ran through her veins, but Ayana told her to leave things where they were and to not poke her nose into the business of others.
But then why would Esther stay with a man that so clearly hated their son. Mikael continued to eat his food that was set before him. He did not raise his eyes from the plate.
"Sit down Niklaus and stop your yammering," Mikael said without pause. Caroline's eyes darted between both Niklaus and his father. She could feel the tension in the air. No one else was eating except Mikael. It appeared that he did not take what Klaus was saying seriously. But Caroline knew that this was something that he was serious about.
Klaus always got this look in his eye as though some fire was lit inside of him when he got an idea. And it was present now. Kol and Caroline shared a look with one another. Klaus shook his head and planted both of his hands on the table.
"Egil and I sparred today and he said that I have some talent. So I am going with him and the vikings in order to bring back gold and glory," Klaus said, staring his father down.
Caroline looked to Esther. The woman looked aghast at what it was that he was saying. She did not want him to go on the raid, but then again what mother would? What mother would want their child to go out killing.
She turned her eyes back to Mikael. The man wiped at his mouth and placed the food back on the plate.
"You think that you are good enough to become a viking? You think that you are honored enough to join the einherjar and party with Odin in Valhalla? No you are nothing but a sniveling quim of a boy. Discard these thoughts of gold and glory and work the farm with your brothers," Mikael said. The man did not even have to raise his voice in order to get his tone of utter disdain across.
Klaus pounded his hand against the table and his face flushed an angry red. Caroline wanted nothing more than for this conversation to stop and to move away from it all, but she was here for her weekly meal and Mikael would not let her go. No, she was to stay here and play some role in the family politics.
Elijah spoke up then, "Father, maybe there is some merit to this. If Egil said that Nikluas had some talent then we should consider the glory that he could bring to our family."
Egil was a man that had been on many raids and had many slaves. It was something that Caroline abhorred, but it was different from the slavery that Caroline grew up learning about. It was not based on the race of the person, but was more directed at all outsiders. And they were not chattel but still considered people.
Niklaus nodded his head, some of the angry flush leaving his face as he shot a grateful look to Elijah. "Egil said that I will do well in battle and that I will probably bring a lot of gold and glory back home. Father, I want to do this."
"I said no boy!" Mikael said with a strong slap to the table. Everything jumped and Caroline gripped Kol's arm. This is what she was afraid of. Mikael and his anger was nothing small to weather. His anger was like an inferno where everything and everyone could get burned if they were not careful. "You are not worthy of fighting for the gods. You would be nothing more than an embarrassment to the whole family."
"But father if Egil said -"
"I do not care what Egil said. And you," Mikael said pointing a finger at Elijah. The older boy straightened in his seat. His eyes downcast as the brunt of Mikael's anger was pointed at him. "If you did not encourage him with your stupid games then this wouldn't be happening."
"Father, please this was all my own idea. Elijah had nothing to do with it," Niklaus said, his voice turned into a plea. How many times had she seen this exact scenario play out in front of her? Niklaus begging for something and Mikael doing everything in his power to deny it? Niklaus was always trying, always striving for the attention of his father. And every time he was denied.
Something in Caroline ticked. She remembered the time when she was dancing in the ballet studio and when she turned her eyes to her father. And he was looking somewhere else. Caroline's heart squeezed in pain because she knew the feeling.
Niklaus looked at his father for another moment. His eyes pleaded with his father to just give the blessing. But then she sighed. She knew how this was going to go.
Mikael slammed his hand against the table one more time. "My answer is no. And if you keep pushing it I will kick you out of the house."
Mikael turned back to his food. The argument was over. Caroline turned back to her food and swished the food across her plate. The room was silent.
"No."
They all raised their heads at the words. They looked at Niklaus. He sat at the end of the table and shook his head.
"Egil said that I have talent. And I want glory. If you will not allow me to honor the family then I will do it for myself," Niklaus said.
Caroline's heart soared for him. This was something that she wanted for him for so long. This was something that she believed he was capable of from the start.
Mikael did not look up from the plate. "Get out."
"But Father -"
"Get. Out."
Niklaus looked around the table. He looked to his mother and Elijah. And Caroline looked at him and stared at him in the eye. She wanted to tell him how proud she was of him. She wanted to tell him how happy she was that he was doing this. But then Klaus looked to his mother one last time.
Caroline watched as his mother kept her head bent. And Caroline hated the woman for being so spineless. Something broke when Klaus rose from the table and walked out into the rain.
Everyone went back to their food as though nothing happened. But Caroline was not going to allow this.
Rising from the table, Caroline walked over and grabbed her cloak.
No one tried to stop her as she left.
The rain pelted Klaus and soaked his clothing, but Klaus was grateful for this because it hid his tears.
All his life he wanted nothing more than for his father to acknowledge him. To fucking like him. But it seemed that it was nothing more than a fantasy.
Klaus did not know where he was going. He did not know where he was going to stay tonight, but he would figure something out. He had friends around the village despite Mikael's attempts to quell their conversations.
He stopped in the rain.
Through one of the windows, Klaus could hear one of the families inside their home. They were laughing. And at the sounds something broke inside of Klaus.
All he wanted was one of the families that he saw around him. Where fathers loved and raised their children. Where they were acknowledged. All Klaus wanted was for his father to look at him and see something worthwhile in him.
Elijah and Kol seemed to have it the easiest but there was something about Klaus that was just so repulsive that his own father wanted nothing to do with him. He knelt down, placed his head in his hands, and sobbed.
What was wrong with him?
What was wrong with him?
What was wrong with him?
A warm hand slipped against his shoulder. The warmth of the hand warmed his whole body. And Klaus raised his head and wiped away his soaked curls.
Standing there with a waxy cloak in her hands was Caroline. She said nothing as she slipped the garment over his shoulders. She was crouched behind him and when she rose so did he. She guided him towards the cottage that she shared with Ayana.
When they entered the cottage, Caroline said nothing and stripped off her cloak and walked to the back of the main room. Sitting there was a chest that she rifled through. Pulling out some clothing she handed it to him and pointed to a divider that he could change behind.
Klaus did not say a word and changed out of his wet clothing. As he changed the soaking clothes made a wet slapping sound that resounded in the space. All that could be heard was their breathing.
Klaus returned in dry clothing to come and see Caroline tending to the fire. She stoked the flames and when the fire was well enough she turned and looked at him. At the sight of him a small smile quirked at her lips.
"You look better now that you are dry," Caroline said. It was the first words that she had said to him that whole night.
"Why are you helping me?" Klaus asked. There was nothing about him that was worthwhile. His father found nothing about him spectacular. Maybe she thought of him as nothing more than a pity case. Like seeing a kicked dog in the streets.
Caroline turned back to the fire. The flames lit her face, showing the brilliant blue of her eyes and showing the platinum highlights of her hair. Her eyes got a far away look to them and Klaus wondered where she was at that moment. And then she spoke.
"I understand what it is like to have no one see you for what you truly are," Caroline said. "To want your family to see something in you."
Klaus tilted his head. Caroline rarely spoke of her family. Klaus remembered when she first came to them and she could not speak. What happened to her family? Where were the people that were supposed to raise her?
He shook his head. There was no way that she could understand the depths of his sadness. No one understood.
"You came here covered in gold and diamonds and you want me to believe that your family did not care about you?" The venom was all he had. The venom is what kept him going. And if he could not hurt Mikael then he would hurt Caroline.
There was a strickeness to her face in that moment that almost made Klaus regret the words that he sent to her. But then something steeled inside of her and she rose from in front of the fire.
"I was not sent here by my parents. I was stolen from them, but I doubt that they would notice. They were more wrapped up in one another than they were concerned about me," Caroline spat. Her voice was frosty and cold and something in Klaus shivered. Caroline nodded her head to the alcove that hung over the space where Klaus changed his clothing.
"You will sleep up there," Caroline said.
"You expect me to stay here?" Klaus asked, his eyes widened.
"Do you have anywhere else to go?"
A beat.
"That is what I thought. Ayana is out investigating something and won't be back for a while. You're sleeping in her room so touch nothing and if you break anything you are out on the streets."
Caroline walked away from him then and went back to tending the fire.
Klaus raised a hand. What did he want to do? What did he want to say. His tongue was tied in knots in his mouth and he wanted nothing more than to speak out his truth. He wanted to tell her about the beating and the anger and the rage that dwelled within him because after that show he thought that maybe she would understand.
But he lowered his hand. There were too many confusing words and feelings in his chest. He did not know how to vocalize them. He wanted nothing more than to speak but he did not know how. So Klaus climbed into the bed and closed his eyes.
What was wrong with him?
It was the first time that Caroline had spoken about her family since she had arrived here.
She could remember that moment that she had told Klaus about. She was dancing in the ballet studio and when she looked up her father was not looking at her. He was not seeing Caroline. He was wrapped up in his own life that did not include Caroline and that was something that hurt Caroline.
Caroline wanted nothing more than to be involved in the lives of her parents, but her parents' concerns about keeping her safe and protected meant exclusion from the lives that they led. Caroline shook her head.
Did they not see? By excluding her from their lives they lost her. It was why she so readily followed Emmie out into the woods that night. And then there was the fact that her father had just been leaving her mother.
A broken home. That is what she came from. And while she could not understand the clear disdain that Mikael seemed to hold for Niklaus she could understand the exclusion. When her friends were out celebrating Mother's Day, she was sitting in the police precinct waiting for her mother to come home.
In Niklaus she saw a reflection of her younger self. While the life that she lived now was not what she would have envisioned for herself, it was better than the life that she was living before. Caroline sighed and poked the fire.
Mikael would be upset that she was housing Klaus, but then again there was nothing he could do about it. She may be his ward, but she did not listen to him. She was Ayana's beast to deal with. And it had been that way since Esther showed some of that spine that she had and kicked Caroline from the house.
Sometimes Caroline wondered why Esther stayed with that man, but a man as angry and as powerful as him was probably someone easier to placate than go against fully.
Caroline spared a glance at the alcove where Klaus went to bed. If there was one thing that she was not going to have was a person cold and starving on her watch.
But what would Ayana say? Well, she always did say that Caroline had a bleeding heart. She sighed and rolled her shoulders. She could care for him while Ayana was gone and when she returned then they would work out other arrangements.
Caroline nodded her head. Yeah, that sounded like a good enough plan. That would get them through the weeks ahead.
But then the viking thing…
Caroline did not know how she felt about the vikings and the gods that these people worshiped. She was raised Southern Baptist and Jesus was the Lord and Savior, but then again this was a different time. Klaus wanted to find glory and who was she to deny him that?
Throwing another log on the fire, Caroline rose and went to her cot. This was all something that she would contemplate for another time.
"Please no more," the woman whimpered.
The witch smiled and raised the knife.
It was quick. A stab to the heart.
The younger witch choked on their own blood and the other witch came forward and took a long sip.
The other witch drank deeply of the witch's blood. It permeated throughout her senses. The power surged through her. Her blood seemed to pump faster and for one moment, the heartbeats of the two witches were in sync.
The living witch smiled as the younger witch died.
"Now, where is that spell," the other witch said.
She turned page after page and when she came upon the magic spell she smiled. This was exactly what she was looking for. Yes, this would do well.
The witch now had the power to cast the spell and there were many spells she intended to cast.
Author's Note: Happy fan fiction friday! Tell me what you think? Some romance should sprout between Klaus and Caroline since they are now living together right?
