Severed Heaven (Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson)

Chapter Thirteen: August's Ending

1312, France

     Most people were onto us. They were onto the quick glances, the secret meetings, the excuses to be together. Even if we barely knew it ourselves, the village would provide us the truth. I could see our reflecting in the water by the stream, the willows whispered about us. It thrilled and flattered me whenever he would wait for me by the willows, which had become our secret meeting place. He was obviously interested— he liked me. It hadn't been as difficult as that. It might have started way later than I originally thought. I hadn't noticed anything at all. How couldn't I have known? I know desire when I see it, and yet, this time, it slipped by completely.

The summer haze was slowly disappearing at the end of august. I realised a second thing after that, I'd known him for over two months; two months of trying to discover his secrets, two months of butterflies in my chest, two months of endless glances and longing smiles. He was quite an open book, or so I thought, because he'd let me ask whatever I pleased. Yet, we never talked about what he was. We never spoke about what his ways of survival were, and I didn't think I even wanted to know.

It wasn't until the end of august that my mother dared to speak of it. She'd been brisk, bold, and blunted— take your pick. "I came to notice how much time you spend with the Mikaelson family." She asked me forthrightly when we happened to be the only ones in the room.

It startled me. Then, almost without thinking, and with my back turned to her, I came to the realisation that she didn't like it. "Mostly with Rebekah." I assured her, as if that would worry her less. "The others not so much."

I stood by the window, and as the raindrops dripped down the glass, I perceived how it hadn't rained in way too long. I could hear her place her cup of tea down on the wooden and crooked table. It could only mean one thing; either an argument or a lecture, and I predicted the latter. I was rarely allowed to speak my thoughts on such matters. When I shut my eyes for a brief moment, he appeared before me— looking as handsome as any other day, effortlessly and without a considered thought. He'd caught my feelings in his own safety net ever since our moments by the stream and the willows. I played with the necklace he'd given me, my fingertips searching for the roughest kind of edges.

She exhaled lightly. I almost hadn't noticed. "What about the blonde one— Niklaus?" Yes, this was going to be a lecture.

By turning around I hoped to convince her of how guiltless I was, because normally I wasn't one to face her during a conversation like this. I shrugged, and waited for her to speak again, but she never did, meaning she demanded an answer. "He's okay." I said, but I lied. He was more than okay. He was incredible. Of course he wasn't perfect, but I'd never felt this way before. He was the light at the end of the tunnel.

She wouldn't approve of my answer, and she clearly didn't. Her silence was demeaning. "I remember saying give them a chance, but I did not say befriend them, Elizabeth."

It sounded harsh, curt, and dismissive, spoken with the veiled indifference of people who may not care to see or hear from you again. Instead, though, she did want to hear from me again. I scoffed as if it were funny. "They wouldn't hurt me, mother." I quickly said and turned my back to her again.

She was going to say it. Was I able to watch her tell me off about him?

No, not today.

The silence lasted for a short moment, but I wished it'd lasted until the end of time. "I don't want you seeing that boy." It was done. Just like that. I shut my eyes, and inhaled deeply. No, I wasn't going to fly off the handle. "I'd rather you seek men that are not associated with such darkness. I can't and won't allow it."