The Cruel Prince || Klena

05.

Elena shuffled alongside her bed, tossing clothes and various belongings into her trunk. It was time for her to leave. It had been decided that the bonding ceremony would take place at the wedding, in exactly one week. A week. That's how long she had to get to know Niklaus. It seemed impossibly cruel.

She was exceedingly tired. Just hours ago she'd been shot in the shoulder, and now she was being forced to make the journey again while it was still nightfall. She didn't know what contributed more to her exhaustion. Her wound or her lack of rest.

She stepped aside as the butler, Henry, carried the trunk with ease, muscles easily very visible even underneath his clothes. Henry was young, in his mid-20's perhaps. It wasn't like she had asked. She'd learned long ago that the workers of the castle preferred to be spoken to as so, and took being treated as an equal like an insult. They must've been crazy.

Maybe it was because it was their family legacy to serve. Whatever the reason, Elena avoided asking personal questions and stuck to orders and demands. Which was unlike her. But if it pleased them, she felt no guilt.

A small group awaited her outside by her carriage. Anna, Jeremy, her father, her mother, and her two friends, Caroline and Bonnie. She smiled weakly. They all looked like they were barely awake. Except for Anna, who seemed as energetic as ever. She smiled brightly at Elena, who could only return a tight lipped one.

She embraced her, trying not to hurt her. Elena sighed and inhaled deeply. Anna was always beautiful. But a different beautiful. Beautiful like a wild flower, careless and free. Her pale ivory skin and dark black hair put Isobel's to shame. And her own brown eyes matched Elena's. Anna whispered in her ear. "Good luck." Elena nodded. "Congratulations." She said back.

"I hope you and my brother are happy together." She turned to Jeremy who enveloped her in a bear hug, his large arms wrapping completely around her and then some. She winced and he loosened his grip ever so slightly. "I'll miss you, big sister." He sighed. "I thought I'd be the first one to leave. You surprise me more every day. And I'll miss that. Seeing you. Hearing your absolutely annoying voice telling me what to do."

She hit him on the back of the head.

He let her go, setting her down. She cautiously adjusted her bandages decorating her shoulder. Her mother and father nodded at her. Caroline and Bonnie hugged her together as one. Elena would miss them the most after her brother, she supposed. They were the only ones who knew the life of a princess.

"We'll miss you, Elaine." Caroline teased with Elena's full name. She'd decided it was too formal, and had taken to Elena instead. She sniffed. "And I you, Carolina." Bonnie laughed at the two. "Goodbye to you, Bonnie." Her guard lifted her into the carriage and that was the last she saw as the door swung shut. The carriage lurched forward and she clutched her seat.

As a last minute urge, she looked back, watching her family and friends disappear into small specks, until they were no more. An overwhelming wave of sadness hit as she realized she would not see them again for a long time, and nothing would ever be the same.

She hailed her old life one last time, before she turned to face her new one.