Klaus would have liked to dagger his siblings again.
He had led Esmeray to her room, first, since he'd seen the bag she had with her. His mother hadn't been expecting her this soon, so she likely wasn't ready for whatever scheme she had cooking up. Thus, he had brought her into the lounge where his siblings were gathered together after breakfast.
He noticed instantly that absolutely all of them fixated their eyes on her. She hadn't picked up on the meaning behind each stare, but Klaus certainly had.
Finn was surprised to see her there. Was it because he did find her attractive, or was it because he was a simpering fool that wanted to be the favorite child? Klaus watched his eldest brother get up to greet the younger hybrid, taking her hand and kissing it before heading upstairs, likely to inform Esther of her arrival.
Klaus wasn't surprised to see Kol was staring at her with a hunger that no one could mistake as anything other than lust. He knew Kol was attracted mostly to witches, and granted how beautiful Esmeray was, the Original hybrid knew precisely what his younger brother was imagining when he looked at the girl, who averted her gaze awkwardly when she realized that Kol was looking at her so intently. Klaus definitely would have liked to shove a dagger into his chest.
Elijah had only directed a cordial smile to Esmeray, which she reciprocated as Klaus brought her to sit closer to Rebekah, who for some reason, almost seemed to be glaring at her.
"Good to see you," said Esmeray shyly, looking at the youngest Original who, hours ago, had been whispering dirty things in her ear and making her quiver and say humiliating things all for gratification.
"Hang on a moment," said Kol, a very mischievous look on his face. Rebekah shot him a warning look, but he didn't relent. "Ah... but of course."
"Shut the bloody hell up," snapped Rebekah.
Both Elijah and Klaus seemed confused as to what he was talking about. Kol started to laugh. "How isn't she dead, Bex?"
Esmeray felt a panic rising in her chest as Rebekah sneered at her brother. "Watch your tongue, Kol, or I'll rip it out."
Elijah held his hand up. "What, pray tell, is this all about?"
"They slept together," said Kol, gesturing to Rebekah and Esmeray. "Or were you two too busy thinking of your little hybrid plaything in that dress last night to realize how her heartbeat changed when she sat with Rebekah?"
Klaus's jaw twitched, and he looked at his sister, who was mortified. "It didn't mean anything, Nik," she said as Esmeray covered her face, the entire house starting to shake, because she thought that Klaus was going to be mad at her. He wasn't in the slightest— he was mad at Rebekah.
"Oi, make her stop, it's not going to be as funny when the walls explode," said Kol a bit more sternly when he realized that Esmeray was the one causing all the objects to rattle over where they were placed.
"This wouldn't even be happening if you kept your fat mouth shut!" hissed Rebekah, trying to soothe Esmeray. "Hey, you don't have to feel overwhelmed..."
But Esmeray, to their surprise, had started to cry. She hadn't let her emotions out this way in a long time, and after the conversation with Damon that brought her here, the anxiety at her impending meeting with Esther, and the worry that Klaus would hate her, she just needed some release.
The four Originals went silent, hearing her sniffling and trying to muffle the sound of her sobs. The house was still shaking, and one of the vases off to the side shattered as the flowers within it wilted, making her get up quickly and head to the door, but she bumped into someone, and when she uncovered her eyes, she saw Esther, who with a simple wave of her hands, stopped the shaking.
"Esmeray Poldark," she told her gently. "Why don't we come and chat upstairs?"
The hybrid didn't really have a choice. She followed the Original witch upstairs, her hands still trembling as she tucked them in her pockets.
"Nik, don't be mad at her," said Rebekah once they heard the door close upstairs. "She didn't approach me to try and initiate anything. It didn't mean anything. We're both at perfect liberty to be with whoever we want to be with."
Klaus was staring at the now empty table that had a broken vase and dead flowers beneath it. His jaw twitched once more, and he looked at his two brothers, who seemed to be quite concerned about how he'd retaliate against Rebekah.
"Never lay a hand on her again," Klaus growled. "None of you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Is this a wolf thing?" asked Kol venomously. "You think you can claim her as yours, or something, merely because you're both hybrids?"
It took every inch of self control in Klaus's body not to attack Kol. He was far too worried about what his mother was saying to Esmeray. He didn't want to let himself get distracted. If Esther hurt her, he'd never forgive himself. "I am not claiming her," he sneered. "I am telling you to back the bloody hell off and let her be. She isn't a toy for people to use." He turned to his sister. "What did you mean by her not initiating anything?"
"It's really none of your business," said Rebekah hotly, not wanting to tell her brothers that she had a threesome. "The point is, she was fine with it, but neither of us want to be with each other. It was a mutual relief exercise that we ought to never speak of again."
"I don't understand why you're the one who gets to decide that she's off limits," said Kol impatiently, staring at his brother. "She should be the one who gets to decide. If Bex can have a one night stand with her, then I should get to—"
Elijah and Rebekah had to hold Klaus back before he could bash Kol's face in. "Niklaus is right, Kol," said Elijah, pulling Klaus off to the side. "That poor girl doesn't need to be torn apart by our family conflict. It's already difficult enough for her to deal with being in a world she doesn't understand. She was awoken after a thousand years to find her entire family dead, in the clutches of a vampire, hearing a language she didn't understand, and up until now, she hasn't had one moment of proper rest, because she's constantly being pulled in different directions. We shall let her be."
"Fine and dandy for Bex, then, she already had her!" snapped Kol.
There was the sound of a dry laugh, and they turned to see Finn had come back downstairs. "No wonder Mother wished to speak with her," he said in a clipped tone. "That girl will end up dead if she resides in this house for longer than a few hours at a time."
"What do you know of what our mother wants with her?" asked Elijah in concern.
"Likely to tell her to watch her back when she's around this pitiful family," scoffed Finn. "She is practically a child, and all of you are being disgusting, fighting over her as if she doesn't have her own free will to choose what path she wants to take in life. I can assure you that she won't survive if she ends up with any of you."
The siblings were clearly not in the mood to be around each other anymore. Kol growled and left the house, Finn returned to his room, Elijah moved off to the side for a drink, and Rebekah walked off to feed on one of the servants. Only Klaus remained in the lounge, wondering if Finn was right. Was Esther only warning her?
"Sit," Esther told her, gesturing toward the small couch in her room. "Here, drink this, you will feel better."
Esmeray looked at the tea she handed to her, and without thinking, took a long sip of it. "My mother used to make tea for me all the time," she said quietly, unable to discern a peculiar taste in it. She could smell burning sage, and knew Esther was doing a privacy spell.
Esther smiled and came to sit with her. "I knew your mother, just briefly. She was quite wonderful."
The hybrid looked down at her tea. "I didn't mean to ruin the house."
"Don't fret, a vase can easily be fixed. I wanted, first and foremost, to apologize for the role I played in putting you to sleep. I wished to protect you from my son, to protect him from himself, and to help your Pack find a solution. After my death, the spell was unable to be undone, and with the vampire-werewolf conflict that my husband unjustly started..." she gave a soft sigh. "Perhaps you may not believe me when I tell you that I am sorry for what you lost at my hand. I understand loss more than you may know."
Esmeray knew this to be true. Esther had lost two children, her lover, and her life, as far as she knew. She had returned only to find the world in greater turmoil than it'd been the last time she walked the Earth. "I just want to know why you really did it," said Esmeray. "Protection... or restriction."
Esther raised an eyebrow, and the hybrid continued, "You say you sought to protect me from Klaus and Klaus from himself. You didn't want him to kill me and you didn't want him to be able to unlock his hybrid side or sire others like him. But I want to know the truth. Did you do it because you feared the power he and I would have, whether separate or together, if we were both granted complete control over each nature we were born with?"
The Original witch looked almost uncomfortable. "When I turned my children into vampires, I didn't expect for them to become such abominations. They disgraced nature and spilt innocent blood. In terms of Niklaus... yes. I feared what he would do, how unhinged he would be if he was able to create an army of hybrids just like him, filled with anger and subservient to one master who had every reason to be mad at the world. I failed him as a mother, and I wanted to clean up the mess I made. You... I heard of the control you lacked, and yes, I did fear you might be a problem. But I was less concerned about you because you were mortal. You would eventually live out your life and die. My son would not die. Hybrids are unnatural. You have to understand that."
Esmeray only then started realizing that the tea was making her feel hazy. "What did you do to me?" she said softly as she tried to get up before slumping down, the teacup falling to the floor. She tried to hold her hands up to use magic and send Esther away, but it wasn't working.
"Some cleverly mixed herbs spelled to suppress your magic and weaken any mental defenses," said Esther, standing up and going to a small table where she had a spell written out. "I have a proposition for you. Last night, Elena Gilbert gave me the drop of blood I needed to link my children together, so that I may have a chance to destroy them in one blow. I would like to offer you the chance to help me do this. Help me rid the world of the blood-sucking beasts I created. My children cannot be allowed to hurt anyone anymore. Help me, and I will perform the spell to half-bind your witch nature without need for a ritual."
Esmeray may have been woozy, but she certainly wasn't going to let Esther kill the Originals. She shook her head, holding the edge of the couch tightly to force herself to her feet. "No," she said coldly, trying to blink away the nausea. "You're not... going to entice me... with... that. I won't help you... kill them..."
Esther seemed to have been expecting this. "Very well," she said, taking her arm and murmuring a spell in a language Esmeray didn't understand. The hybrid felt her legs give out, and she sank to her knees, her head aching as her hands found the floor to stop her face from hitting the carpet.
She got up slowly, the entire proposition now wiped from her head. She gave Esther a polite smile and thanked her before walking out of the room and down the stairs, where she found Klaus waiting for her.
"What did she want?" he demanded. "Are you alright?"
"She apologized for having me put to sleep," said Esmeray, convinced that a different conversation had taken place. "She said it was a mistake— she didn't anticipate that any connection between us... could be a positive one. She knew my mother, and told me about how my mother did a spell when she was pregnant with me that might've been the reason I ended up with the gene. She comforted me after... earlier."
"Why were you crying?" he asked her. She didn't seem to be lying about what Esther had told her. But that was only because Esther had tampered with her memories.
Esmeray looked down. "Damon and I are... not going to be an item, it seems. A conversation was had and I expect that even a follow-up chat won't change the consensus we came to. Things just aren't working between us. While we still definitely want to be friends... being together isn't going to happen."
That took Klaus's mind off of Esther immediately. "Oh," he said, trying to keep a smile from coming onto his face, since she still looked sad. "I... offer you my support, in any way you need it."
Esmeray moved to her toes to kiss his cheek once again, just as she'd done last night. "If it's alright with you," she said simply, "I'm going to rest in my room."
Klaus placed his hand on her arm as if to urge her into staying at his side, but he released her, nodding and watching her go.
Esmeray felt like she was falling asleep with every step she took toward her room. While she had no idea that her memories had been altered, there was a strange nagging feeling in the back of her mind that left her tense and unsteady. She entered her room, and when she closed the door, she swayed, everything seeming like it was spinning. Was she floating? It certainly felt like it.
She staggered to her bed, bringing one hand up to hold her temple, wincing in pain when he palm made contact with her head. It was as if she had a bruise on the spot she'd touched. Trying to remain upright, she moved toward the bathroom to see herself in the mirror, but slipped, and nearly collapsed onto the tile. She gave a quiet groan, everything appearing to glitch and swirl in her vision.
"What the fuck," she said to herself, shaking her head and trying to get back to her bed, thinking maybe she just needed to sleep it off. She didn't remember having drank the tea that was suppressing her magic.
But Esther was far more clever than she realized.
The Original witch had anticipated that Esmeray wouldn't want to help her. She had to be careful to ensure the hybrid didn't go off telling the other Originals about her plans. Thus, she'd made a concoction of several herbs with a hint of wolfsbane, keeping her from using her magic against her, and leaving her as just a regular wolf while the tea was in her system, which meant Esther could alter her mind.
The effect Esmeray felt as she struggled to get to her bed were the effects of an additional Sleeping Spell settling into her mind. She had no idea that she had basically been poisoned, becoming a tool for Esther even despite not wanting to cooperate. Esther had blocked her magic, changed her memories, and was intending to force her into another period of rest so that she could channel her and use Esmeray's power for the spell, anyway. With any luck, Klaus would find her unconscious, and would be distracted trying to wake her up. By then, Esther would have enough time to execute the plan that would kill all the vampires in the world.
Esmeray let out the quietest of whimpers as she sank onto her bed, the pounding her head becoming stronger every second. "Klaus," she breathed, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear her. "Klaus..."
She went unconscious before she spoke loud enough for him to hear her.
_
It wasn't until the evening that Klaus realized that something was wrong with Esmeray.
"She never sleeps this bloody long unless it's a full moon," he said to Elijah. "I haven't heard a single sound from her room."
"She's emotionally exhausted, Niklaus, I imagine she let herself indulge."
Klaus shook his head. "No, brother, she never sleeps this long. She doesn't like to— says it's a waste of perfectly good time. She jokes that she slept for a thousand years and hardly gets tired anymore. I need to ensure she is alright."
Elijah couldn't have stopped him even if he tried. Klaus got up, going straight to her room and knocking on the door. There was no response, but he could hear her steady heartbeat inside. Perhaps she was asleep? "Esmeray, love," he said, knocking again. "You've missed two meals, and I know you would have enjoyed them. It's time to eat something."
Still no response. Biting his lip, Klaus fumbled with the doorknob, his brows furrowing when he realized it was unlocked. She always locked her door when she stayed there, and he expected she would have done it now that she knew Kol and Finn were in the house, too.
He saw that one of her legs was hanging off the bed, and she was facedown. Immediately, it made him think of a crime scene. It was as if she only barely managed to get onto the bed before having slipped into a state of dreams.
"Esmeray," he said worriedly, coming over. She was breathing, but still unresponsive. "Love..." he tapped her shoulder, and still, she didn't wake.
He had a bad feeling in his stomach. He turned her onto her back, and saw her eyelids didn't even flutter in the slightest. In fact, she was unnaturally limp, even for someone who was asleep. He put his hand on her wrist, thinking to go into her mind and check if maybe she'd put herself in a sort of trance to work out her emotions safely, but he found he wasn't granted entrance. He didn't understand magic, so he didn't know if she'd blocked him out or not.
He saw that her phone was still on top of her bag, where she'd left it when he brought her to the room earlier. He saw that she had about twenty unread messages and five missed calls from Damon. He growled, thinking that maybe killing Damon would be an all-around benefit.
Elijah seemed to have grown concerned when Klaus didn't return. The hybrid heard footsteps, and turned to see Elijah in the doorway, looking at Esmeray's unconscious body.
"Something is wrong with her, Elijah," said Klaus shakily, no longer able to contain the anxiety that had built up in him. "She's not waking up, but she's still alive."
Elijah immediately went to get Esther. He only partially believed Elena yesterday, when she said that Esther only wanted to unite their family. Now, he was suspicious.
But the Original witch played the part well. "This is a magical affliction," she said, feigning proper worry. She felt for Esmeray's pulse, then gasped, as if she'd been burned. "This... this is exactly why I told them to put her to sleep..."
"What does that mean?" asked Elijah. "What is the matter with her?"
"Her magic is fueled by her emotions," said Esther. "It's a very strange way of doing it. She doesn't draw from ancestors, she doesn't follow spirits... her Pack taught her magic that is drawn from one's own inner strength. Similar to Expression, but less dark, harder to control, really only possible when one is already naturally born with greater abilities than the rest. She told me today she learned her magic by absorbing the memories of those that came before them. Earlier, she was quite overwhelmed, and I fear... her magic attacked her instead, because it is so close to the full moon."
The brothers were easily fooled. "What can be done?" demanded Klaus, unable to see that Esther was merely trying to distract him. "How can she be awoken?"
"We will need to see if, on the night of the full moon, she turns. If she does, she will likely wake up on her own, once her mind has worked through its discord."
"And if she doesn't turn?"
"Then... she may not wake up for another long time."
Esther's plan almost worked. For days, while she and Finn planned for the ritual that would kill the Originals, Klaus was at Esmeray's side, completely out of the loop on what was going on in Mystic Falls.
"I can't believe you made me come to this absurd place," sneered Klaus when, on the afternoon of the full moon, Kol had dragged him to the Grill.
"You're no fun when you're hanging onto an unconscious girl all day," the younger Original said, ordering them some drinks. "You can return to her side tonight."
Klaus swirled his bourbon in the glass once it was in his hand. "I simply do not understand," he said slowly. "How?"
Kol shrugged. "I dunno, mate. I've never even heard of that sort of magic. It doesn't add up to me."
Klaus frowned. "Why not?"
"Well, I've studied a lot of forms of magic. My specialty is magic quite similar to what Esmeray was taught, because that's similar to what I learned before we were vampires. The way Mother explained it to you sounds like very complex wording for something far simpler. Esmeray still practices traditional magic, it's just untamed. This isn't anything like Expression. If Esmeray's magic had any similarities to Expression... she would quite literally have enough power to kill us, even temporarily, though any other vampire would die permanently."
"Are you saying that Esther lied to me?"
"Mother says that her magic attacked her because of her emotions and the upcoming full moon. But according to you and Elijah, that never happened before. Her symptoms, to me, feel like what happens after someone uses Connective Magic. It weakens some witches quite a bit— it makes sense in Esmeray's case, because she's so sensitive to the moon and wolfsbane."
"Connective Magic. That means..."
"Someone may be channeling her. This is all just theory, but—"
Klaus's glass shattered in his hands, his eyes glowing golden. "Esther," he said darkly.
He was at Esmeray's side the instant she woke up, after the moon had already disappeared from the sky. Though he was stressed about Esther and Finn having disappeared after trying to kill them, and though he was worried when he heard from Rebekah that there was still white oak around, he knew that the place to be was in a chair by her bed, holding her hand and waiting for her to open her eyes.
"Klaus?" she said quietly when the spell faded, Esther's control over her broken.
"Hello, love," he told her, letting go of her hand. "How do—?"
She pulled him into a tight hug as she began to cry.