Elijah Mikaelson & The Dragon's Legacy

Chapter 8

Elijah and Angelica talked the entire distance back to the estate. He was impressed by her vast knowledge on many topics, her ability to present valid and solid arguments, her enthusiasm toward life even in light of what she had just experienced. He learned a great deal about her, about her family, her upbringing. She was sheltered from the world and her first foray out ended with this tragedy. A journey that would have ended in her being further sheltered from the world as part of a cloister. "That was the real tragedy," thought Elijah, to hide such an intelligent and beautiful creature from the world. He wanted to ask her about the fire and why she wasn't injured, but he did not ask. Even the sun that was beating down upon them did not cause her sunburn and she was not perspiring from the heat, and it was a very warm day.

He had noticed that she did not ask him about how she was healed, and he did not offer the information. Perhaps the shock of everything caused her to forget. He was not certain what she had seen when he killed the two men, had she seen his face, his monstrous face? Elijah put those thoughts out of his mind and decided he would cross that proverbial bridge when he came to it. He drove the horses and just enjoyed listening to Angelica talk, occasionally baiting her to debate a topic of the day just to listen to the grace and beauty of her logic and reason as she defended her position. They even laughed a little as they talked and then he saw Angelica catch herself and glance back, remembering the solemnity of their cargo and dreading having to tell her father what had happened. She turned her attention back to Elijah and they journeyed back to the estate.

They arrived in the late afternoon. Elijah was going to help Angelica out of the carriage seat as any gentleman would do but she had already climbed down to the ground on her own. Angelica ran into the house and disappeared across the threshold, a place he could not follow without invitation. Elijah heard Angelica call for her father, causing the house servants to gather along with her father at the surprise of her return to the estate. Elijah waited by the carriage, listening to everything Angelica told them inside the house. He noticed she was careful to downplay the attack on her, her injuries, her being healed. He heard her father react to the story and eventually the Duke and Angelica emerged from the estate and walked toward Elijah and the carriage. The house servants came out and the stable boy had arrived and taken control of the carriage. It was a heart-breaking scene as the old Duke mourned his wife, mourned Mr. Reyes, the attack on his daughter, and then finally looked to Elijah, slightly bewildered as he had just realized Elijah was standing there. Elijah offered his condolences to the old Duke, and the Duke embraced Elijah and offered his thanks for saving his daughter and bringing her safely back home to him.

The stable boy put Elijah's horse in the livery and secured the carriage, bringing Elijah's bags into the estate. The old Duke invited Elijah in with insistence that he must stay with them. Elijah accepted the invitation and crossed the threshold into the house. Everything happened quickly. The bodies were removed from the carriage and the mortician was summoned. There were no authorities to be notified as the attackers were dead and rightfully so.

The kitchen staff scrambled to make dinner for Elijah and Angelica, but the old Duke was unable to join them. Angelica explained that he was not feeling well but Elijah could hear the Old Duke mourning his deceased wife, crying alone. The house maid prepared Elijah's room and after dinner she announced it was ready for him, and that his bags were already in the room. Angelica thanked her and she excused herself.

Angelica and Elijah retired to the library and Angelica poured Elijah a drink. He looked around the library, with books from floor to ceiling lining the walls, so many books that piles had formed in the corners. They sat down to sip their drinks and soon they were joined by the old Duke, his eyes still red and his face puffy from crying. Elijah noticed he walked with a limp from the gout. Elijah stood in respect as the old Duke entered and the Duke motioned for Elijah to sit. Angelica poured her father a drink and handed it to him. "Thank you, my child," he said. He turned his attention to Elijah, this stranger who had saved his daughter, and toasted Elijah, raising his glass to him. Angelica sat down next to her father and put her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. It was a beautiful moment to observe thought Elijah, and he was blessed to witness such love between family members as his own father was an entirely different sort of man.

The hour was getting late and Angelica excused herself for the evening, Elijah added that he, too, should retire as it had been a long day. The old Duke would be up for hours as he did not sleep well and he wished them both a good night. Angelica showed Elijah to his room, the two parted and she went up the next flight of stairs to her room, and closed the door behind her.

Elijah could hear Angelica in her room, walking across the floor, changing her clothes, and then his curiosity was piqued when he heard her open the bedroom window and climb out. "That can't be," thought Elijah. He deftly climbed out of his own window and scaled quietly to the roof, following the direction of the sounds he had heard. From the shadows he saw her, basked in the moonlight in her white nightgown, on the roof of the grand estate, wrapped in a blanket and gazing up at the stars. Elijah made no sound so as not to disturb her but stood there in the shadows, transfixed on her, as she watched the stars and then fell asleep. He stayed there until sunrise and watched her awaken as the sun rose. She quickly moved to the edge of the roof and climbed back down to her room and disappeared through the open window. Elijah did the same and returned to his room, smiling, at this most unusual young woman.

The funeral for the Duchess was an understated affair as Elijah would soon learn that the Duke and Duchess had been nearly forgotten by Spanish royalty, and the estate was in financial disarray. Angelica oversaw the arrangements for both her mother's funeral and Mr. Reyes' funeral. Mr. Reyes had no family but Angelica viewed him as family and treated him as such. Elijah stayed through the funerals and thought to leave for Madrid after but he found himself drawn to Angelica, he felt responsible for her, he wanted to protect her, he wanted to be near her, and he found that he did not want to leave her.

As the weeks passed, he enjoyed evenings talking with the old Duke and his days were spent with Angelica as she showed him around the estate as she ventured for the first time into the farmland areas with her new handsome escort. She had ideas on how to revitalize the estate and spoke with Elijah about those ideas. "They were creative and could just work," thought Elijah. But the old Duke was obviously not a good estate manager and his health was not good. Weeks became months, and the old Duke, who had now decided his daughter would never be sent to the convent, was going to be the Lady of the Estate, and this man Elijah, her savior, who asked for nothing from the old Duke, had great promise.

"I cannot accept," protested Elijah, in response to the old Duke's offer for Elijah to manage the estate. "But you must, my boy, you and the Lady Angelica have such grand ideas. I'm just an old fool with no head for land management. But you, you and my daughter, could make this work. It is the only legacy I have to give her when I am gone." Elijah eventually relented and accepted the position on a temporary basis. Elijah compelled several transients through the village to become his messengers in Madrid for whenever Niklaus and Rebekah would arrive there as he did not want his siblings to worry about Elijah's safety.