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Two weeks had passed since the devastating loss of Ivar, and though she would not admit it, Astrid was struggling to cope with her grief.
Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Ivar's glassy eyes. A shimmering blue that hauntingly echoed her own.
The brunette, much to her husband's disapproval, had shut out those around her to wallow without confining in her family.
At times it was almost as if she forgot that she wasn't the only one grieving the loss of their son.
Niklaus had been rather quiet and distant on the matter, often sneaking away to the caves where Elijah or Rebekah would find him carving beautiful pictures and patterns into the walls.
At least Nik was positively using his loss to fuel his creativity, but his wife was becoming a danger to herself.
It was almost as if she was a loaded cannon, and sooner or later she would go off.
All the Mikaelson's had tried to work their wisdom with the brunette.
Rebekah would often stop by every other day, the blonde would talk to Astrid about mindless village gossip she had overheard, and sometimes Henrik would come along too, allowing Astrid wrap her arms around his petite frame.
Astrid would close her eyes and pretend it was her son who she was embracing, not Henrik.
Elijah had also stopped by the cottage a couple of times, each visit he would bring her some freshly picked flowers.
From sweet smelling lilies to vibrant daisy, it was always a different type of bouquet each visit.
Not only Elijah, but also Niklaus' older brother Finn had come round once, however, unlike his brothers and sister, he had been less comforting.
He had clearly been tense and out of his comfort zone, and perhaps if she had been in a different state of mind, Astrid would have appreciated him trying.
If anyone understood what Astrid and Niklaus were going through it would be Finn.
He had quietly commented that the loss of his wife and child had been an extremely difficult time during his life, but he had said that slowly, things would heal and herself and Niklaus would become whole again.
But Astrid hadn't responded, prompting Finn to silently leave the cottage, giving her the space she pretended to yearn for.
Much to Niklaus' pleasure, Kol had been visiting Astrid daily. He tried to get Astrid to open up to him by revealing the secrets they had been sworn to hide; that his mother was a talented witch and Kol had inherited her skills unlike his other siblings.
At first Astrid hadn't believed Kol, as after all, this was Kol, but she couldn't deny what her eyes had seen when Kol had proudly made the goblet of water levitate in the air before the bronze cup bursted violently into flames.
