The Original Wife

Chapter Four

They all knew when Kol woke, simply because he announced his consciousness by smashing glass and raging about the Salvatore brother. Neither Cassandra nor Finn were in the mood to deal with his anger and so they exchanged a glance and left the others to handle Kol. They escaped the house to the sounds of Elijah and Esther attempting to talk down Kol, with Klaus being more or less helpful. Finn and Cassandra chose to simply walk, at first fast enough that the sounds of fighting soon faded even for their enhanced senses, then leisurely enough for humans to see. They were both lost in thoughts, Cassandra thinking about what she would do now that she was awake again, how she would make her husband pay, and Finn most likely contemplating about the differences in the world now and when he’d last been awake. Something in the distance growled and Cassandra spotted yellow eyes belonging to a werewolf, but even if it were to come close to them, they would be able to take care of it with little effort. Finn looked similarly unimpressed by the growling and they changed directions slightly, away from the wolf and closer to where Cassandra remembered the town center was, but she couldn’t tear her thoughts away from the werewolf. If Klaus had broken the curse, did that mean he could turn now? Was he turning? Somehow, it hurt her more that he’d broken his curse without her than the fact that he’d daggered her in the first place. She’d worked with him towards breaking the curse since it had first been placed on him, had sacrificed time and effort for even a hint of information about Doppelgängers, and when he’d finally managed to get all the pieces in place he’d broken it without her. So much had happened in the last year, he’d accomplished so many things, and somehow he’d never entertained the thought of sharing these things with her. How could she trust him again? How could he think, that she would forgive him simply because he’d asked for it - without even actually apologizing? She pulled her phone out of the pocket the seamstress had sown into her gown, clumsily activating the display to check the time. It was past midnight, close to one am. She loathed feeling this incompetent. She’d always taken pride in her intelligence, had made it a point to stay up-to-date with the newest discoveries in science, had compelled many people to teach her any topics she found interesting, but now in this time she struggled handling a smartphone, a device that was apparently so common place that nearly everyone had one now. It made her feel stupid, made her feel the way she had whenever a man had dismissed her opinion simply because she was a woman, simply because she looked younger than her real age. She hated it, and she hated Klaus for making her feel this way.
“What are you going to do now?” It broke out of her before she could think twice and now she couldn’t take it back. She’d gotten along well with Finn before he’d been daggered, in the cooly polite way that people who didn’t have much in common but still cared deeply about each other did. But she’d changed in the nine centuries since she’d last seen him, and if she was being honest, she was afraid of his reaction to all of them. He’d only directed his rage at Klaus, directly after waking, but she knew perfectly well that it could easily shift towards her as well.
“I’ll be gone as soon as possible.” Finn answered without turning towards her. “I do not want to spend any more time with our family than necessary.”
She nodded and needed effort to make her voice more than a whisper. “That is understandable.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry for … my part in leaving you daggered.”
“Are you?”
His tone was cooler now and she rushed to come up with an explanation. “I thought it would be only a short-term measure- I didn’t know what it was like to be daggered for longer than a few minutes and so I thought-”
He cut her off. “You’re old enough.” His voice was ice cold. “You could have defied him centuries ago. Sixty years daggered are nothing compared to the time you spent awake - nothing compared to the time I spent dead.”
Her mouth opened but he continued before she could try to drag up a defense. “You’ve known who he was, always, sister. It was your decision not to interfere earlier, and it was your decision that finally got you daggered. Any attempt for sympathy from me - even from the others - will fall flat because you’ve backstabbed all of us.”
“I haven’t-”
“Haven’t you?” He shrugged elegantly and she felt paralyzed, rooted to the ground with her eyes fixed on his back. “You sided with him over my daggering, and I’m sure you’ve done it many times since. Kol is nothing if not vindictive, do you think he will not turn against you? He’s sympathetic now, but only because he hasn’t considered your part in daggering him yet. Rebekah’s loyalty is only to Niklaus, if to anyone at all, and while Elijah may be outwardly understanding we all know he will side with Niklaus over you. You have no one here. Not since the first time you stood by your husband’s side without protest.” He paused. “I apologise, sister, but I do not believe it wise to remain in your presence, or mother will be angry at me for causing discontent.”
She hated how her voice trembled. “Finn, I tried.”
“You should have tried harder.”