Dispersora | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 22

Hope was spoiled.

With a million people willing to do her bidding (pretend to be the voice of her stuffed animals) and bending over backwards to make her laugh (laying on the floor with her and tickling her belly), she was growing to expect the constant praise she received each day that she was a Princess of New Orleans.

It was better to be able to walk around with her on the streets. Yara could now push a stroller all the way to the docks if she wanted to, and no one would hurt them. Hope could reach out for flowers and pinwheels that were given to her for free (though Yara would drop change into the collection bins afterward) just because she was so cute.

Klaus could now paint by the balcony, with Hope relaxing in her cot beside him, cooing and every now and then waking up to demand attention. Whenever he or Yara were busy, Elijah was glad to watch her (Hope seemed to like playing with his ties) and Freya would happily have her on her hip while preparing different spells.

Rebekah and Kol (resurrected generously by Davina upon becoming Regent) were traveling and enjoying their mortal witch bodies, but never forgot to send Hope all sorts of gifts, even calling her so she'd recognize their voices. Hope grew excited whenever she heard Kol call her 'buddy.'

Cami and Marcel were frequent visitors, the most trusted babysitters by Klaus's standards if his siblings were too busy to watch Hope whenever he and Yara went on dates. Sometimes, Ansel would swing by, but now that the threat from Dahlia had passed, he preferred to spend his days out in the woods rather than be surrounded by buildings. Every now and then, Klaus paid him a visit, always coming back with a new carving. Yara began to wonder if they'd stopped meaning anything once he began using them as decorations by Hope's window.

The one whose presence (or lack thereof) began to worry her the most was Davina.

She'd become increasingly busy with her duties as Regent, which Yara understood until she started to notice changes in Davina's behavior.

"I don't like this," said Yara to Marcel a few weeks later when Davina had stated that no vampires were to enter the cemetery. "I know she's trying to appeal to the witches, I know she doesn't want to seem like a vampire sympathizer, but we had an agreement, freely roaming and benefitting the communities. Now there are restrictions... no vampires or wolves in the witch neighborhoods, no vampires in the cemetery... is she coming up with this on her own or is someone whispering in her ear, making her isolate herself?"

"I don't know," said Marcel, remaining very still so Hope could rest comfortably on his chest. "But I'm not liking it either. I've hardly spoken to her this week. It's a miracle if she can return texts these days. She used to be here all the time to see Hope and now she won't visit."

"Wasn't Vincent supposed to mentor her?"

"Yeah, doesn't seem like he made good on that promise. Since the guy won't practice magic, he's withdrawn from everything. He put her in that seat just to step aside and let her handle it on her own. She doesn't know how to run a whole coven! She'll do whatever she thinks will make the witches happy until they inevitably put her in a tight spot and, well, we all know how temperamental Davina can be. I've been trying to arrange a meeting with her but she keeps not being available and I can't go surprise her at the cemetery or I'll be violating her rule."

Yara set down the shirt she'd been mending. "I worry about them angering her, too. We know they didn't like her because she survived the Harvest, we know they were rude when she came back even after the Reaping was done. She stepped out because they were toxic and now she's shoved head first back in... they must think it's like having an outsider telling them what to do. Davina has publicly rejected so many traditions. They're going to try and turn her into a puppet and she's not going to listen, she will be stubborn and stick to what is right but with these conservative witches, that won't fly. Should we be looking for someone that we can ally with, someone on the inside we can use to check in on her? To make sure those Elders aren't manipulating her?"