𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.
Humans reveled in the idea of immortality, but those who possessed it were...
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Summer 999- Vinland
It had been nearly five summers since the death of Astra's father and every year Elijah expected her to tell him she was leaving. After all, she had no desire to stay in this village. Something she had made abundantly clear to him.
Yet, every year she remained. She fixed up her parents' hut and lived out near the wolves by herself. This only served to fuel the gossip that she was an evil witch practicing dark magic. Many of the villagers even suggested that she had used dark magic to ensnare Elijah's attention.
He couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous accusations considering he was the one ready to marry Astra and she turned him down. However, the villagers couldn't fathom that he had made twenty-two winters and was still unmarried. Elijah always wanted to point out that his older brother was still unmarried, however, no one seemed surprised by that outcome. Elijah on the other hand was the best warrior in the village and had gained a lot of attention from the women. While he wasn't shy and had been intimate with several of the women in the village, he never made any move to settle down. Which led the villagers back to the idea that it must be witchcraft.
And Elijah supposed they were partly right. It was Astra that was preventing him from settling down. But not through witchcraft. It was his own stupidity. He assumed one day she would change her mind and decide marrying him was better than living the rest of her life as a spinster, always on the outskirts. Yet, every year it seemed less and less likely.
As he walked through the village, he tried to not let the rumors affect him. He had more important matters to concern himself with. Such as his father's imminent arrival. Mikael had taken a group to the ocean for supplies. It was about a ten-day trek each way and they were due back any moment.
Elijah and his family had been keeping busy. It was already his youngest brother's eighth summer and Elijah was preparing him to begin training with the rest of the village boys. Elijah had wanted to push it off another year but Mikael insisted he begin or else he would fall behind. Mikael was adamant he would not raise another weak boy.
So Elijah was spending most of his time with Henrik, making sure he was ready to join the others. In the meantime, he had sent Niklaus and Kol out on a hunting expedition so that they would not be present when Mikael arrived. Mikael was always in a foul mood after a long journey and it was best to keep Niklaus away until he had settled down. Or until his mother had cast whatever magic she often did to keep him asleep.
While he was walking through the village he saw Astra leaving Ayana's hut, the basket in her arms full of herbs. He began to head over to her and offer to walk with her back to her hut, but the sound of hooves stopped him in his track. Astra's eyes met his and he gestured for her to head back without him. Astra was another person he tried to keep away from Mikael when he was in a bad mood. So she gave him a little smile and headed back towards the edge of the village.
