Back in Mystic Falls

43. Love is a Virtue

Pairing: Sage/Jeremy (F/m) hand (mild)

Mikaelson Estate

Mystic Falls, Virginia

August 1855

Evening

Elijah's vampire ears caught the sounds of the incident in the kitchen. He was pleased that Sage and Kol dealt with it, as Freya was continuing her story. He had hoped to visit Miss Hayley this evening, but that would have to wait. It was not every eve that brought them a new sister. With each moment they spent with her, he could see the strong family resemblance.

"Niklaus, you asked me how I found you," Freya continued. "But for many centuries, I did not know of your existence. I had assumed Finn had lived as a human or witch and then succumbed to his mortality. Yet one year, when I was still with Dahlia, she slipped up."

Finn leaned forward. "Ah, perhaps our brothers will tell you where I was those years?"

Klaus groaned, "I shall make this short. Freya, Finn wished to leave us. To protect us all, I used magical daggers to put him in a deep sleep."

"Yes, I only just awoken a few months ago. It twas a sore spot but we have made amends," Finn said eloquently.

"A magical sleep! Yes, that is why she could not locate you," Freya said with excitement. "Dahlia could sense that you were still alive, yet she could not pinpoint your location. She sought the counsel of another powerful witch, a man named Mathias. I had very little contact with outsiders, but he spied me in our hut. He slipped Dahlia a sleeping draught and we talked. Rather quickly, we fell in love. He shared with me what Dahlia was up to. I did not realize it at the time, but Dahlia mayhaps set the whole affair up. I became pregnant."

Freya grew pale and Klaus poured more alcohol in her tea cup.

"Thank you," Freya said, after a moment. "This tis difficult. I have never spoken of it...I realized that Dahlia would snatch my child and make him her slave, like she did me. I panicked. Matthias and I sought to escape, but Dahlia anticipated this. She slew Matthias in front of me and I..."

Freya paled and stared off into space. She seemed to falter in her chair.

"Enough," Finn thundered. "Sister, you must take some food and then rest. Surely, we shall have time enough in the morn to continue."

"No," Freya said, gathering her strength. "Allow me to finish. I went into the cottage and drank Dahlia's strongest poison. Like I have mentioned, I woke up with my child dead and finding that I could not die. Dahlia put me in the magical sleep and I did not awaken for a century. I knew that I had to escape from her, if only to get my revenge. I played along with her evil games and did her bidding to gain her trust. Though a creature like her, cannot truly trust another."

"And how did you come to discover us?" Klaus said evenly. "Though magic?"

"Yes, she found another witch who knew a stronger blood spell. She used a map and your path led us from Europe to this New World. To a place called New Orleans," Freya shared. "We arrived but Dahlia feared the power of the witches there. She laid low, but the time I knew of you all, you had simply disappeared. I left Dahlia in a tomb, chained up, and walled in, but she will free herself. An evil like her is unending. That was forty years ago. Somehow, I awoke early. Some massive spell stirred me out of my slumber early. Niklaus, it may have been your breaking of...-"

"My curse," Klaus interrupted. "As you were in a hell of Dahlia's making, I was in one of Mother's. With my werewolf side suppressed, I was stunted, damaged, and in a state of humiliation."