The next day, Elena was sitting at the table with her aunt and uncles having breakfast before school. She wasn't as happy to be going to school as she was yesterday. Yesterday hadn't exactly gone well. She was still kind of pissed after her conversations with Bonnie and Stefan, especially Bonnie.
"Elena, I see you're not too happy this morning. Are you worried about what might happen at school?" Elijah asked.
"Not worried exactly. I'm just not looking forward to another showdown with Bonnie and Stefan," Elena said as she pushed her food around her plate.
"You don't need to worry about Stefan. He should not be there," Elijah said.
"If he is there, you'll tell us," Klaus said. It was not a request. If Stefan went against their orders again, all bets were off. His life would come to an end very shortly.
"Yes. I hope he is not stupid enough to go against my instructions again, but if he is, you need to let us know," Elijah said.
"Oh, you already talked to him? And you let him live? I figured you would've killed him," Elena said. She was still trying to decide if she actually wanted Stefan dead. Her life would be less complicated if he was, but she had cared about him once.
"That was my vote," Klaus said.
"There are other ways to handle a problem besides murder," Elijah said.
Elena snorted. "Yeah, spoken from the guy who decapitated a person the first time we met."
Elijah sighed. He really couldn't argue with that. He was far from one to shy away from murder. Frankly, if he'd known Elena was his niece at the time, he would've done far worse to Trevor for kidnapping her and trying to hand her over to be killed. "As I said, you should not have to worry about Stefan.
"And I will be with you today. I will handle Bonnie, if necessary," Rebekah assured her.
"Rebekah, you will not cause a scene. I have already told you there will be no revenge. I hope I do not have to repeat it," Elijah warned sternly. They did not need attention brought to them, especially Elena. Keeping her safe and under the radar was his first priority.
"The girl needs to pay for the way she treated Elena," Rebekah protested.
"She called my mom evil!" Elena exclaimed angrily.
Elijah softened a little as he addressed his niece. "I know, dear, but I think this is a good time to learn to ignore unsavory people. The people that matter know that your mother is not evil, that she simply did something extreme to protect you. That is what matters."
"What do you think she would say to you right now if she was here, child?" Finn asked.
"She'd agree with Uncle Elijah. She'd say that it didn't matter what other people thought and I shouldn't let what other people think upset me. But Bonnie was my friend," Elena said.
"I know it's unfair the way Bonnie is treating you. She's hurting, but she shouldn't be taking it out on you. That's why I would like you to stick close to Rebekah and try to avoid her. And no vengeance. Am I clear? If I find out you have done anything resembling payback, I will not be pleased, and I will find out, Elena. Am I clear?" Elijah asked sternly.
"Yes, Uncle Elijah," Elena said reluctantly.
Elijah turned to Rebekah and raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response from her as well.
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Yes, your bloody clear." That didn't mean that she wouldn't do it anyway, only that she acknowledged that he'd made himself clear.
"You guys are going to save my mom, right? Uncle Kol said you would," Elena told them.
Elijah gave Kol an unhappy look before turning back to his niece. "Let's talk about that later. You need to get ready for school. It's almost time to leave."
Elena nodded before getting up and heading up the stairs.
Rebekah got up to go get ready as well.
Elijah turned back to Kol. "Kol, you should not be making promises that you may not be able to keep."
"I told her we'd try to help her mum. Is that not the plan?" Kol asked.
Elijah sighed. "I would like nothing more than to rescue Freya. If it is at all possible to do it without exposing Elena to Dahlia, we will, but I will not do it at Elena's expense. I do not know much about our sister, but I do know the lengths she went to in order to protect that girl. I don't think she would appreciate us undoing it for her benefit. You made a promise to Elena that she now expects us to keep, and I don't know that we can."
"I didn't promise we would definitely get Freya back. I just said we would try," Kol said defensively.
"That's obviously not what she heard. She took your words to mean that we could stop this witch," Klaus said with his own glare towards his younger brother.
"Which is understandable. She misses her mother terribly. It makes sense that she would hang onto any possibility of getting her back. You shouldn't have said anything," Elijah said. He knew Kol's heart was in the right place, but he didn't want to see Elena disappointed. It would break her heart if they couldn't fulfill Kol's promise. She had been through enough without having false hope.
"Elijah, I made that promise because she was talking about finding a way to save Freya herself. I was concerned that she would act on her own. And if we don't do something to save Freya, she will act on her own," Kol explained.
"Did she tell you she had something planned?" Elijah asked concerned.
"No, but I got the impression that she was willing to do something to save her mother if it came down to it. I thought if I could reassure her that we'd handle it, she would trust us to do so," Kol explained. He left out the part about the grimoire his niece had copied. He had promised after all, though it still made him uneasy.
"It's a legitimate worry, Elijah. She's fifteen with a good handle on magic, and she knows it. She probably thinks she's invincible, but magic is dangerous and I doubt she can appreciate the consequences," Finn said.
"I will speak to her when she gets home from school," Elijah said. He did understand that something had to be done. If Elena was thinking of doing something to provoke Dahlia, he had to stop her. He had to make her understand the danger she faced.
"It's going to take more than a lecture. She needs to be taught to respect her boundaries where magic is concerned. I'm confident that Freya did her best in that regard, but it's a lesson that needs to be reinforced. I think more lessons in safely building her magic would be beneficial as well. Kol and I can aid in that, despite no longer having powers," Finn said.
Elijah nodded. "I agree. She's a very strong witch, and still growing in power. She needs to be taught to harness it without destroying herself. And I do want to save our sister. If there's anything I can do, I will do it. I just want Elena to have realistic expectations."
"I didn't mean to get her hopes up, but I think she could do with some hope," Kol said.
"The situation needs to be handled delicately, I agree, but I think we should try to do something. Maybe we start by questioning Elena a little more about Freya and what she knows about Dahlia. Maybe she knows something that could be helpful," Finn said. He was in agreement with Elijah on this. At first, he'd wanted nothing more than to save Freya. He didn't even consider the consequences, but as Elijah had pointed out, Freya would want Elena protected first and foremost. That had to be the priority.
"That seems reasonable. We can discuss it later. It seems there's much we have to discuss with Elena later on. Once we do that, we'll go from there," Elijah said.
The rest of them nodded in agreement.