The Red Queen | Lucien Castle & Tristan de Martel

Chapter 25

Klaus wasn't having it.

At first, he didn't believe Vivalda, so sure she was just supporting Finn to get on his nerves. Rebekah was the first one who considered it, then Kol, then Elijah. They all thought she had to be telling the truth. And it was clear that right now, the only one who knew the enemy that was coming their way was Freya. They needed allies and they needed them now.

Rebekah tracked Freya's story, confirming that just days prior, the Fauline Cottage– now an asylum for witches of the city– had had a flood of patients leaving in the middle of the night, kickstarter by a witch who somehow broke a very powerful hex on the front gate, courtesy of Klaus and Marcel in 1914, something Kol scowled at while remembering.

In order to keep their peace with the witches, Elijah and Kol went ahead to round up the witches. Rebekah stayed to keep Hayley and Hope company while Klaus, always in the mood for trouble, insisted he and Vivalda track down Finn and Freya.

It took several hours on foot, despite Vivalda insisting they stop and ask Kol for help. Klaus even denied her calling Finn to ask where they were, wishing to pop in by surprise. How he thought that was a good idea, she wasn't sure. Maybe he still thought she was lying, maybe he was certain that he'd catch Finn cooking up some sinister plot; such was the lack of trust Klaus bestowed on his eldest brother.

"We're going in circles," said Vivalda, the two now in Baton Rouge because Klaus swore he sensed something. "We were already here."

"And so were they," he insisted. "But I cannot trace exactly where they went."

"Well, don't go straight, last time we just wound up at a hot dog stand. What about that path?" She pointed down a small dirt road. "Not sure what Freya intended but it seems she had something private in mind, I doubt she'd be down the other way, looks like there's a fair. Unless she was craving funnel cakes, I vote to try the dirt road." She put her hands on her hips when he made a face. "What is your problem?"

"You don't find it the least bit suspicious?" he demanded.

"I find all of it suspicious but I know Finn wouldn't lie about such a thing. Like with any threat, we should assume it is real, prepare, and then if it turns out to be nothing, at least we were ready. But first Finn tells us about our mother's secret history, then Freya shows up? I'd be a fool to ignore that. If you want to go question our mother instead, go for it. I doubt your compulsion would tell us anything different. Maybe more details about how the hell her sister came to hate her enough to take her first born as payment for making her fertile. Which begs the question of how Esther couldn't do it to herself? I thought she was really powerful. We were annoyed enough when our mother wanted to kill us. Something tells me we're going to hate Dahlia a lot more if we don't set the paranoia aside and prepare for war."

They walked silently down the dirt road, heading closer to the forest, until at last there was a small cabin near the edge of it. They could sense Freya and Finn before they even heard them talking, apparently reminiscing about childhood memories.

Already, Vivalda could tell that Klaus hated Freya.

"For the record," said Vivalda when he threw the door open, disrupting their tea time, "this was his idea. I came along to make sure he didn't do anything stupid."

Freya stood, already knowing what to expect. "Before you dismiss me," she said cautiously to Klaus, "you should know this– if I've woken from my slumber, Dahlia has as well. Once she's sensed your child's magic, she will come for her. And she has the power to kill anyone who stands in her way... unless we kill her first."

"That's quite convenient, isn't it?" said Klaus. "You show up in the nick of time to help us kill the woman with whom you've spent a thousand years!"

The woman frowned, no longer in good spirits after hearing his angry tone. "You have no idea what it took to escape her! Or what I lost in the trying. Her punishment will be profound."