Forever Original | Alaric Saltzman

Chapter 29

When she got to the courtyard for lunch the next day, Hayley was enjoying some grapes.

"So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" she asked as the three Mikaelson siblings made their way toward her from different parts of the house. There was a giant array of fruit and baked goods on the table of the courtyard, with one medium sized platter covered with a silver lid near the edge.

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows as his sister looked at him, thinking this was his doing. "It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this..."

"I didn't do this," said Hilda. "No offense to any of you but I don't care about having such bountiful breakfasts. A bagel is sufficient for me."

Hayley pursed her lips and looked up at Elijah. "Well, then, I guess we have you to thank?"

He was equally confused. "This wasn't my doing..."

Hayley frowned. "Then, where did this all come from? There's no way the wolves—"

She flinched as the silver lid began to rattle, as though something was inside of it. Hilda was the first to step forward, pulling the lid off. She jumped back as two starlings fluttered out and flew to the roof of the Compound. Where they had been was a piece of folded parchment.

"What the hell was that?" asked Hayley.

Klaus took the parchment and opened it up, gritting his teeth. "An invitation from our mother."

Hilda swore loudly. "Seriously? What the bloody hell does she want?" She snatched the parchment from her brother and saw it read 'Dinner, Your Home, 8PM.' "Oh, you've got to be bloody joking..."

Hayley crossed her arms. "It is times like this I'm really glad I never knew my mother."

"We have enough enemies here," muttered Klaus. "And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family."

"Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart," said Hayley sharply. "I will happily add to the body count."

This made both Klaus and Hilda smile, but their elder brother was displeased with them for finding humor in it.

"You will do no such thing," said Elijah, pointing a finger at her dramatically. "Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."

"Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children," said Klaus. "I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."

"A Binding Spell can be done," mused Hilda thoughtfully. "To mark her. First, though, you need to find a witch willing to do it, and that will likely require different items depending on the witch."

Elijah nodded. "Well then, we have this afternoon to prepare for the worst. I will get the Binding Spell underway. Sister, if you would please, the preparations. I expect you would prefer a busy task."

He then walked off, and Hayley rolled her eyes. "The bloom is off the rose, I see," said Klaus to the younger hybrid, who growled. "Shut up."

Hilda tried not to think of how bad things were likely going to get. Taking her phone and some earbuds, she put on some music and started writing instructions for the servants. She did the cleaning herself, fixing up the dining room. Elijah texted her briefly to let her know that the spell was going to be done by a witch named Lenore, but soon after she had learned that Lenore had been kidnapped by Esther. Hilda had broken two wine glasses out of frustration, however, her brothers had assured her that they would take care about it.