Dinner was served.
Amaris could smell it downstairs, as she stood in front of her dresser, mustering up the courage to go and get this over with. It would be fine... right? She wouldn't clue anyone into the fact that she and Lucien had been sleeping together for days already, meeting up behind her family's backs. Nobody would know... she wouldn't let them find out... it would be fine... just fine.
She didn't believe that at all.
Elijah called for her to come to the courtyard. Gulping, she forced herself down, wearing a nice tank top, but her usual jeans. It wasn't meant to be too formal of an event. Dresses would just make her feel uncomfortable in such a high-stakes environment.
She saw their guests had nearly all arrived. Lucien was there, with Tristan, both of them in suits. Tristan was holding a bouquet of flowers settled into a large ornate pot.
"Good evening," said Amaris, taking Elijah's hand when he offered it to escort her from the stairs to the table.
Tristan offered her the flowers. "A gift for you and your sister, the ladies of the house." He bowed. "I am Tristan de Martel."
"Amaris Paxon," she said simply, nodding to him and taking the flowers. She glanced at Elijah. "Will Freya be joining us—?"
"In a moment," said Elijah with a smile. Behind them, Kol and Klaus came downstairs.
"Lovely," said Klaus. "We're all getting along."
"Mmm, like a fuse and a match," said Lucien. He and Amaris looked at one another, but both quickly turned away.
"I take it Aurora is on her way?" inquired Klaus, not noticing their interaction.
Suddenly, the redhead appeared in the doorway, donning a dark-purple velvet dress with puffy sleeves. "I'm sorry I'm late. Just freshening up. I did want to look pretty." She smiled at Lucien. "Well, well, if it isn't my old friend Lucien."
"Hello, Aurora," he said calmly. "It's been ages."
She turned to Amaris. "And you must be one of the long-lost sisters. Amy, was it?"
"Amaris," she said tightly after depositing the bouquet onto the table. "It's good to meet you, Aurora."
"Welcome to our home," said Elijah, wanting to be done with the greetings. He'd noticed Kol made no effort to address anyone present, and had already sat down. "I do wish it was under better circumstances. We all face a common threat— a prophecy warning that my siblings and I would all fall within a year. I fear my sister already has."
"Only as a precautionary measure, I assure you," said Tristan.
"Interesting," said Elijah dryly. "You see, I would have called it an entirely unnecessary measure. We need to unite to prevent the prophecy from coming to pass. And, since any alliance is impossible without honesty..." He gestured between Lucien and Tristan. "Let us begin this evening's proceedings by formally acknowledging your clandestine alliance."
Tristan looked surprised that they knew. Lucien did not. "But of course," said Tristan, eyes flickering to Lucien. "I imagine you made them aware of this?"
"Lucien has proved helpful," said Klaus. "He realized that aligning with the winning team was the smartest move." He smirked. "Isn't that right, Lucien?"
"When I realized what we were up against, I knew it was unwise to go with our plan," said Lucien carefully to Tristan. "We expected to face only the three remaining Originals. Instead, upon arrival, we learned of two new sisters and of Kol's resurrection. It would be foolish to try and trap them."
Albeit annoyed, Tristan didn't seem surprised. "You always were a coward," said Tristan. "Driven by what, self-preservation? More like ineptitude."
"Gentlemen," said Kol loudly. "Let's not brawl before the meal."
"Indeed," agreed Elijah. "We ought not ruin the dinner before it begins."
"And do try to bear in mind," offered Klaus, "we expect an honest and productive negotiation this evening!"
Tristan nodded warily, humming as they took their places. Klaus sat at the head, with Aurora on his right, followed by Tristan and Lucien. Elijah placed himself opposite to Klaus, leaving Kol to sit across from Lucien, Amaris across from Tristan, and an empty seat for Freya on the other side of Klaus.
Servers came forth with their meal, beginning to place the first course on the table.
"Given everything is out in the open now," said Amaris calmly, regarding the alliance being exposed, "I say the smartest thing, to avoid the least casualties, would be to manage this prophecy together. We know we cannot prevent it, as prophecies declare what is inevitable in one way or another. But we ought to be prepared to mitigate the fallout."
"Well said," Tristan declared, staring at her. "If it is, a fact, rather than an assumption, that everything is out in the open."
Amaris blinked, tucking her hands under her chin. "I don't know what you mean. Do you think we're hiding something? Because from what I hear, the only ones hiding anything are..." she pointed her fork at the de Martels, "the two of you."
Aurora made a face. "So, this entire dinner is meant to be some boorish inquisition? How rude."
"Nonsense, love," said Klaus. "My siblings and I merely wish to make certain we're all on the same page. So, who would like to begin?"
Tristan cleared his throat. "Well, Lucien and I have always loathed each other. Had we arrived as allies with a bleak future, you would have doubted us. We sought to remove suspicion by maintaining appearances. Of course, it seems Lucien disagreed on this point."
"The bottom line," said Lucien firmly, "we came to protect you ourselves. We have never wavered on this point. It is why I revealed the alliance, to in turn, protect us as well." He glanced at Tristan. "You know very well they would have killed us both if they learned of it from anyone else. And then, who would protect them? Who would protect your sister?"
Tristan considered this, and was silent.
"And the bodies on my streets," said Klaus, "is that your protection as well?"
"It's business as usual for The Strix," said Lucien.
"An old tactic," continued Tristan, "used often and to great success. Jack the Ripper, Son of Sam... A frightened human populace is that much easier to control. If tourism should decline, and the local vampires are deprived of fresh blood? Well, you saw how quickly Marcel joined our ranks."
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Pedestrian. I would've expected more from such gaudy theatrics."
"It worked in our favor, did it not?" said Tristan. "Your close friend, Camille, became very involved in the investigation. Knowing what her family has been involved in for centuries, we were able to narrow down our search for the weapon."
"The medallion," said Elijah, changing the subject when he noticed jealousy flaring up in Aurora's eyes. "The one which Lucien handed to us."
Tristan glared at the man beside him. "Yes. That one."
Klaus clasped his hands together. "A medallion that could lock us away hardly seems like a wise strategy for those come to protect us. Lucien came to that conclusion and fessed up."
"Good thing he did," said Kol with a cheeky smile, lying as he said, "because Freya and I learned of it just hours before he handed it to Elijah. We would have located it and taken it anyway. At least his actions are what's keeping the three of you alive. I would have gladly killed you all the instant I got my hands on that weapon. But now... I don't see why we can't move past it."
"Our real concern," said Elijah, "is that you release Rebekah to us. Immediately. You do not have the weapon that would have locked us away. There is no need to keep her. Lucien's surrender of the medallion has bought you both your lives. But his actions will cease to protect you if you do not give us our sister."
"I see no reason why I shouldn't be trusted with my sire's safety," said Aurora.
"My sister sought leverage to protect herself," said Tristan. "Who among us would do otherwise?"
"Oh," said Amaris, unable to keep from snapping, "so if I wanted to protect myself, it would be okay of me to kidnap your sister, too?"
"Amaris," said Elijah, signaling for her to be quiet. He faced his brother. "Niklaus, will you politely remind me why we shouldn't just compel them all to give us what we want?"
Aurora suddenly laughed loudly. "I'm sorry," said Klaus dryly, "did Elijah say something amusing?"
She smiled politely. "We lost a century to compulsion, my love. And some of us lost a great deal more. Surely you can't believe we'd allow ourselves to come here vulnerable?"
The smile Elijah returned to her was very, very fake. "My dearest Aurora, compulsion is not my only party trick."
She scowled instead. "I do not like these threats."
Tristan held out his hand. "Our continued existence depends on the Mikaelsons. We've known that since Finn and Kol died. Unfortunately, so does every other vampire in the world. Given that the sirelines have declared war against one another, you can imagine how many young upstarts have come to the same conclusion— kill a Original, wipe out an entire line of rivals. Heavy burden, isn't it? The lives of thousands of sired vampires resting on your shoulders? In a perfect world, you'd allow us to seal you away forever, thus eliminating the threat. That was our plan. And now, the medallion is in your control. However, the threat has not passed."
"The world is far from perfect," said Klaus coldly. "My family is mighty. No one will best us, you needn't be concerned about that."
"Aurora," prompted Elijah. "My sister—"
Klaus cut him off, "Aurora is quite aware of our desire to see Rebekah home, and I'm sure she'll do everything in her power to oblige."
They glanced up at the sound of footsteps in the entrance hall. Moments later, Freya appeared, looking shocked at the sight of them dining together. "We're welcoming our enemies to the dinner table now?" she asked, glaring at Aurora. "Convenient, given she's the one who has the answers I want."
Aurora scoffed, getting to her feet. "Oh, for heaven's sake! Now I have to deal with the other long-lost sister?" She faced Klaus. "Nik, please spare me your family's rage and paranoia. It is exactly this kind of lunacy which led me to steal Rebekah in the first place."
"What did you do with her?" snapped Freya.
"Oh, I'm sorry, love, but this prophecy has you all acting as fools," said Aurora. "And I've no intention of risking my life to foolishness. Now, I can't trust Rebekah with any of you." She chuckled lightly. "And I certainly can't trust the silly dear to endure on her own, so I decided to put her someplace safe. Imagine a spot where no harm could come to her. Where, in fact, no one could possibly even track her down." She smiled. "Yes, rest assured, Rebekah is perfectly fine... at the bottom of the ocean."
Amaris stabbed her knife into the table as she stood up. Kol yanked her back, keeping her arms down before she could lunge at Aurora. "You're bluffing," said Klaus furiously. "Tell me you're bluffing!"
"Oh, you should all be thanking me!" said Aurora, as if everything was just fine. "Rebekah's never been safer! She has plenty of company down there. There's all the little crabs, and octopus, and..."
Klaus slammed his hand against the table, standing up as well. But suddenly, Tristan sped forward, going to stand behind Freya and holding his knife to her throat. "Harm my sister, and I'll be forced to return the favor."
Elijah zoomed to him, pulling him away from Freya and pinning him face-first into one of the pillars. Kol, meanwhile, had moved to stand protectively between Aurora and Freya.
"Oh, this all escalated very quickly," said Lucien, awkwardly sipping his drink.
"Shut up, Lucien!" spat Klaus. "Or I'll tear your tongue from your head."
"Nobody's tongue is coming out," said Amaris, staring at Aurora. "You're going to tell us where our sister is, or you're not walking out of here alive!"
Aurora leaned over to sneer at her. "And a beast like you is going to do what, exactly, to keep me here?"
Freya flicked her wrist, snapping Aurora's neck. "Freya!" said Klaus in protest as Amaris laughed, walking over and kneeling down in front of Aurora's unconscious body.
"Maybe I can't keep you here alone," she whispered, "but I do have a few siblings who'd gladly help me imprison you."
"Niklaus," said Elijah, dragging Tristan back to the table. "Which of these two vulgar parasites would you first like to torture?"
Klaus shrugged. "Well, it's half a dozen of one and six of the other, isn't it?" He walked to stand behind Lucien, squeezing his shoulders tightly, as if mocking him. "Why don't you take the stable boy? Tristan and I are long overdue for a good catch-up."
"I'll join you," offered Kol. "Ris can go with Frey—"
"No," said Elijah, knowing damn well Amaris would lose her temper and kill Aurora before they got any answers out of her. "Freya, keep her somewhere. Amaris, you will be with me."
They dragged them to separate rooms. Elijah pulled Lucien by the collar of his shirt, bringing him into Klaus's art room. Lucien remained calm, even going to pour himself a drink at Klaus's bar. "No doubt you're angry, rightfully so," said Lucien. "But I did my part, I gave you the medallion and information about our arrangement. I had no idea Aurora would take Rebekah."
"That is not what I wish to ask you," said Elijah. "How do I know that you're not the author of this very prophecy, Lucien? Alexis was your little fortune teller, and anything that may have come to pass could be the result of your own duplicitous little games."
Lucien was surprised. "Well, you give me far too much credit for being clever. Instead, consider the rift between Niklaus and yourself— made worse, thanks to Aurora. One shall fall by family. That does not bode well for you."
Elijah tried not to look bothered. "Whatever differences we have, and however smitten my brother may be... I am certainNiklaus will always put family first."
"Really?" asked Luicen. "Aurora drops your sister in the bottom of the ocean, yet Klaus does not seem particularly inclined to make her suffer for it. I wonder why."
"Elijah," said Amaris sternly. "We need to get Rebekah back. I say we search Aurora's mind, find out where Rebekah was dropped, and we get her ourselves. She'll have nothing that we need and we can focus on tackling this problem together."
He pursed his lips, pointing at Lucien as if he suddenly had a realization. "Watch him. I need to ensure Freya hasn't taken matters into her own hands."
"I hope she has," said Amaris honestly as he left.
She was silent, waiting for him to leave. Lucien sat down in the chair in front of her, looking up at her with a smirk on his face. "Well, this evening is going rather well, isn't it?"
She concealed a grin. "I wouldn't say that. I'd very much like to hurt Aurora. Besides..." she lowered her voice, "Tristan isn't too happy with you."
"His devotion to Aurora outweighs even the value he places on his own life. Regardless of your influence, I would have given your family the medallion once I found it. Though, I did get a nice reward for doing it sooner..."
"Shh," she urged. "Let's remember there are ears everywhere."
He dared to sit up, giving her a firm kiss, holding her hip and trying to press her onto the couch. She pulled away, "No," she whispered, her smile not so easy to contain anymore. "You're being too risky."
He pouted playfully. "Is that meant to last me until the next time we see each other?"
"If I can, I'll come by tonight. We were already together today, surely that's enough—"
"It's never enough, love."
They heard movement in one of the other rooms. Amaris quickly leapt back, pretending she'd been serving herself a drink. Kol peeked his head in. "We're heading back down," he said, winking at Amaris.
"Thanks," she said, before motioning for Lucien to follow her.
Apparently, Freya had taken matters into her own hands. She'd invited Hayley over to question Aurora, and they'd learned that Rebekah's location— the coordinates, to be precise— had been split between Aurora and her brother. Requiring the both of them to be kept alive if they wanted to get their sister back.
"Longitude and latitude," said Lucien once they were seated at the table, hearing about the new developments. "Lovely."
"Well, despite our differences, I believe great strides were made today," said Tristan. He lifted his glass, and his sister mimicked him, humming.
"Tristan," said Elijah darkly, "I can't murder you at this very moment, but I could just as easily tear those eyeballs from your skull and feed them to your sister."
"Elijah!" said Klaus, chastising him. "These are our guests."
Kol, Freya, and Amaris rolled their eyes at this. Aurora, however, smiled. "Nik, it's so sweet of you to defend us."
"You know," said Klaus, getting to his feet, "I doubted my brother's wisdom in bringing us all together today, but he was right. We must confront the harsh realities we all face and make difficult choices to ensure our collective survival. And I have every confidence that my choice... will be the right one."
Suddenly, he was behind Tristan, and had snapped his neck. Aurora stood up quickly, and Klaus sneered in her face, "Were you anyone else, the servants would already be mopping your blood from the floor. If you do not bring my sister home, Tristan will die slowly, and in tremendous pain."
Aurora glared at him. "You betray me after all your promises of love?"
"I meant to keep those promises!" he fumed. "It was you who shattered them when you took Rebekah! Now I have your brother— a sibling for a sibling. I want Rebekah back."
"You will regret this," threatened Aurora. She shoved the dinner table to the side, spilling the remaining food and wine and breaking several glasses as she stormed out of the Compound with an angry huff.
Freya scoffed. "After everything today, you just let her go?"
"Aurora should be easy enough to control," said Elijah. "We have Tristan now."
"And we're going to have such fun with him," said Kol wickedly. "When will the torture begin?"
"In the morning," said Elijah. "For now... Freya, if you would please create a Barrier Spell to keep Tristan trapped in one of our rooms." He turned to Lucien. "You are free to go. But if I learn that you aided them in any other way beyond what you have confessed..."
"I'm sure he's aware," said Klaus smugly. "If you ever betray us, you will meet an end so cruel, the devil will weep."
Lucien held his hands up in surrender, and exited the Compound quickly.
Amaris went upstairs soon after, sitting in front of her dresser and cleaning off her makeup. She had her phone out, her Messages app open to await a text from Lucien about whether he got home safely or not so that she could plan ahead if she was going to sneak out. None arrived. She was worried, at first, until she heard movement in the window. She got up quickly, wielding her hairbrush as a weapon, until Lucien himself tumbled into her room from the balcony.
"Are you insane?" she hissed, looking toward the door as if expecting someone to barge in.
"Well, it shouldn't be you who's always sneaking out," he said playfully as he got up.
"Lucien, you have a place of your own, and you're not the one with a load of overprotective siblings!"
"Don't worry, love, no one saw me." He sat on her bed. "This is rather comfortable. Not as soft as mine, of course, and certainly not as big, but..." he winked. "Nothing is."
She sat back down to continue removing her makeup. "And how will you sneak out in the morning?"
"Simple. When you go down and let me know all your siblings are at breakfast— the only exception being Kol, given he knows about us— then I will slip away as if I was never here."
"And what if Klaus goes looking for you right now?"
"Then it'll seem like I have business elsewhere and that is why I am not home. Relax, love, I won't let anyone catch me. I thought you had a Silencing Spell put up in your room."
"I do, but it won't do us any good if any one of my siblings comes to speak with me." She glanced at him through the mirror as he came over, brushing her hair away from her shoulder and kissing behind her neck. She gave a sharp gasp when he bit in, followed by a moan, reaching back to grip his hair, tugging at it as he fed.
"Relax," he whispered, pressing his lips against the wound to minimize any blood flow as he waited for her body to heal. "If anyone comes by, I can leap out the window and be just fine."
She found herself growing lightheaded, enough so that it was pleasurable and she was able to slump back into her seat. "Relaxing does sound nice," she murmured. "If I wasn't so worried. There's no way we can sleep together here, you know that, right? The lock on the door won't keep my siblings out if it's an urgent matter. We don't have the same privacy that we do at your place."
"That's alright. I don't need us to sleep together, love. I just wish to be close to you."
He waited patiently on her bed while she changed into her pajamas. It seemed no one needed her, because no one came by. He kicked off his shoes and slipped off his shirt, laying on one side of her bed as she crawled into her usual position on one end. She situated herself so that her head rested on his lap.
"Goodnight," she whispered, closing her eyes. "Stay alert. I don't want them to hurt you."
"I'll be awake," he said, smoothing a hand over her back. "I'd rather watch you sleep, anyway."
He was still there in the morning when she woke up. He'd needed to leave quickly when a knock at the door alerted them that someone was looking for Amaris. She waited by the door for him to disappear out the window before opening it, revealing a very scared looking Klaus.
"What is it?" she said immediately. "What's wrong?"
"Camille," he said unsteadily. "She's gone."