The Devil In Me

Chapter 26

Klaus watched from the upper balcony as Caroline and Elena embraced another time, and tried to quiet his frustration. Of course she required time to bid farewell to her sister, and he had removed himself, to allow her privacy. That did not mean he couldn't watch from a discreet distance, he reasoned to himself.

"You are not playing tonight?" Mikael's voice came from behind him, and he stiffened, keeping his eyes on Caroline, his source of calmness and light. He moved his shoulders non-committally.

"Perhaps it is for the best. You never have had the best luck" Mikael chuckled darkly, coming to lean again the bannister. Klaus grit his teeth, and longed for one of his brothers to show up and relieve him from the torment of having to speak to his father.

"Things change" Klaus muttered, watching as Damon Salvatore approached Caroline, and they fell into conversation. Mikael shifted his attention to the lower floor and watched his new daughter in law.

"Ah, I suppose you mean Caroline, your loving little wife. I wonder if I was ever as naïve as you boy, I cannot recall. Let me give you some advice, from father to son, as it were." Miakel said with a smirk.

"She will use you up, and move on when it suits her, it is in their nature. Women are distractions, temptations, and that is all. If you care too deeply for them, you open yourself up to humiliation and ridicule." Mikael said, in a low voice, his gaze lost in the distance. Klaus glanced at him, surprised by his earnest tone. Mikael pointed a finger down to the dance floor, where Caroline and Damon were talking, quietly, off to the side, though still within full view.

"Looks like it has already started, my son. Once she has made you care for her, once she has blinded you with lust and affection... then it really begins. The lingering looks, and dances, the private conversations and clandestine encounters. Soon, before you quite realise it... you will be looking at your child, around the dinner table, and wondering if your blood runs in his veins." Mikael finished maliciously, and Klaus felt the sting of his comment. He clenched his jaw.

"Caroline is not that sort of woman" he said.

"And you think your own mother was? They are all the same, and the sooner you learn it the better. I cared for your mother, once. Before she destroyed our family, and my reputation and pride along with it". Mikael said quietly, and Klaus looked at him, shocked by the suddenly vulnerable tone to his voice. Meeting his son's eyes, Mikael's hardened and he cleared his throat, turning to leave.

"At least you... my bastard, having nothing of the sort to lose" he muttered and strode off, leaving Klaus gripping the balustrade tightly.

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"You see, the situation is really quite difficult. I do not think her indifferent to me, not wholly, yet I do think I might be far from winning her affections." Damon said.

"I think you might not be so far as you imagine" Caroline replied, smiling at him. Rebekah and Damon, she could not think of anything better.

"Well, in any case, I wanted your opinion, being the closest to a sister she has now... with no mother, and Mikael as a father..."

"She is sorely in need of someone to represent her" Caroline concluded, agreeing,

"You may always speak to Klaus" Caroline suggested.

"He may be gentle around you, sweet friend, but he is hardly easier to approach than Mikael, for most of us" Damon said.

"What will you do?" Caroline asked, looking at him speculatively.