Chapter Twenty-Two
Avarice was quick to leave after that. She went to her room, and was preparing to get ready when Vanessa and Pin came in.
Pin was wearing a beautiful dark pink dress. It cinched at her waist and then flowed in layers down to her feet. Avarice didn't normally like the colour pink, but the dress looked beautiful on her. Avarice was about to tell her so when she saw what Pin was holding.
It was a black box with a blood-red ribbon wrapped around it to hold it shut.
"What's this?" Avarice asked, an eyebrow raised.
"A gift," Vanessa hummed with a smile, handing her the box.
"We figured that if you were going to be forced to make the other reapers happy for a night, you should at least do it in something new," Pin grinned.
Avarice couldn't help but smile widely as she untied the ribbon and removed the lid. The dress inside was a dark red, and long-sleeved. She immediately adored it, and even more so when she pulled it from the box and let the hem fall to the floor. It had small jewels - they seemed like diamonds - along the bodice and the neckline, which dipped rather low. Low enough to show some cleavage, at least. Avarice had no issue with that. The sleeves would go down to her wrists in lace, which just made her like it even more.
"What on earth would I do without you two?" she asked, pulling the two girls into a group embrace.
When they each pulled away, Pin and Vanessa looked a little sad.
"We're sorry that you have to do this," Pin frowned.
"It should not be required of you," Vanessa muttered, her jaw clenched. Her sadness had turned to anger.
"But it is," Avarice told them. "I hate it as much as the two of you, but Ajal is right. Kaige isn't the only one who wants to see the Mikaelson's for themselves, and if we are to be left alone here, we must introduce them into our world in order to have peace in the castle."
They both nodded, voiced their displeasure about the ball once more, and left. But before they did, Vanessa called over her shoulder, "Make sure you put on the diamond earrings!"
"Why?" she asked.
"You'll figure it out soon," she said with a wave of her hand, then rushed down the hallway after Pin.
Pin would be going, as would Levi, and there was no telling how it would end up. Pin hated Kaige and wasn't willing to forgive him, but she knew it was best not to say anything at the ball because no one else knew. None of the other white-eyes or the reapers knew about what had happened except for her, Avarice, Levi, Vanessa, Ajal, Jagger, and now Elijah. At least, Avarice was sure that Elijah knew. Pin at least had some self-control and would not even go near Kaige the entire night, but Levi had a tendency to favour confrontation.
She slipped on the dress, and absolutely adored it. Avarice had never been an especially confident person, but Pin and Vanessa could not have chosen a better dress for her.
She heard a knock at the door as she was putting in the second diamond earring, and told the person to come in.
Elijah opened the door and stood there in silence for a few moments, his lips parted. His eyes shot down to the bottom of the dress, then back up again. He wore a tuxedo now, and Avarice was pleased to see him in something other than a business suit. He looked marvellous in both, but the fact that he wore this for a special occasion made him look all the more better in it. She then saw that he had the smallest of smiles on his face, a hand on the door handle while he held a large velvet box in his right.
"Vanessa shared with me the style of your dress, and I thought you may like an extra touch," he said. "Both of us picked it out."
He walked over to her, and before she could tell him that she did not need anything else, he opened the box.
Inside was one of the most gorgeous necklaces she had ever seen. It was a pure silver chain that overlapped into sharp edges that reminded her of thorns. In the centre was one single diamond, and no matter how eye-catching the chain was, the diamond was clearly the most important part. It was large, but had been carved flat so that it rested comfortably against the wearer's neck.
"Before you say you do not need it, I wish for you to accept it. When I say 'both', I mean that Vanessa and I went into town one day while you were gone. So if you were to insist on leaving it behind, you would be saddening both of us instead of just myself. Now, do you wish to put it on or shall I?"
She almost laughed. She would not have thought that the most Noble Original had the ability to blackmail and guilt-trip a person so very well.
She nodded to him, and then turned so that she was facing away. She heard him close the box and set it down on the table beside her.
She held up her long hair, and he encircled the necklace around her neck. After he clasped it, his fingertips lingered upon her skin, and she nearly shivered. He was cold, but at the same time, made her skin feel so very warm.
Avarice let her hair fall down her back and then turned to the mirror. Seeing it rest upon her neck brought her some kind of bravery, simply through knowing that one of the most powerful beings in the mortal world cared about her enough to get it for her.
"Thank you, Elijah," she said, turning back to look at him. "I will cherish it after this night."
He smiled down at her. "Well, shall we?" he asked.
He held out a hand to her, and she grinned before taking it in her own.
Perhaps the night would not be so terrible after all.
*
When they reached the castle, however, Avarice's thoughts began to change. She did not like the idea of going back into that castle, but this event was needed. Some of the reapers believed that the Mikaelson's were a threat, given the family's ability to take over entire cities with almost no effort at all. They were afraid of them, and it was Avarice's turn to show them that they had nothing to be afraid of. Not yet, at least.
When they stepped out of the limousine that they had taken to the castle, Avarice was more than irritated, she was enraged.
While she stared up at the castle with a tense jaw, Elijah came up to stand by her while Levi, Aspin, and his siblings were busy marvelling at the magnificent building.
"Are you sure you wish to do this? This is by no means vital."
"I thank you for trying to help me out of this, Elijah, but I will not be throwing you to the lions on your own," she stated.
"Well, in that case, shall we walk into the lion's den together?" he asked.
She looked up to see him with a smug smile on his lips. He had his arm bent and held out to her. She looked up at him with a slightly wary feeling, wondering how the other reapers would feel about her walking upon his arm, but then realized that she most certainly should not care.
She laced her arm with his, sending him a soft smile before they went up to the doors. The servants opened them, and they were led towards the ballroom. She could not help but grip Elijah's suit sleeve just a little tighter.
They entered the ball room, which had a theme of red and gold, when every single head in the room turned to them. Even the servants couldn't help but gaze at the Mikaelson's.
Freya, Kol, Klaus, and Rebekah were right behind them.
The one face that Avarice had been wanting to see the least quickly crossed through the crowd to see them.
His black hair was longer than she remembered, and grazed at his neck. The white scar on his cheek had faded even more over the years, but it still pleased her to see it there knowing that it had been caused by her hand.
When he came through to them, he was smiling widely. Though, when Avarice looked at him, it seemed like he was sneering.
"Avarice. I am glad you wanted to attend," he said.
"I am not, under any means, glad to be here," Avarice replied, her expression now completely stoic.
She clutched at Elijah's suit even more, feeling guilty but also feeling too tense to even attempt at letting go. Elijah reached up and placed a hand over hers, and when Kaige saw it, that smile quickly faded. Elijah gave him a closed-lipped smile, and Kaige seemed like he had a fire blazing in his eyes.
Avarice's hope for how she would restrain from murdering Kaige during the course of the night began to rise.
And once again, it was all thanks to Elijah.