30 | Mon Enfant

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 anxious about what was happening. Finn was in their living room, Maxime proceeded to deal with Davina, and Klaus and Elijah were whispering about things that they were clearly hiding from her. She did not do well with secrets and lies, which might be a bit hypocritical given her entire Dakota fiasco was built around it.

But while Mary was trying her best to keep herself occupied by roaming around town, Kol, Klaus, and Elijah were seated at the dining table they set up to have a chat with the eldest brother of the family.

"If so, tell me, Niklaus, where is our sister Rebekah?" Finn pointed out the missing, living Mikaelson sibling in the group. One whom both Finn and their mother Esther predicted was interested in the offer that they had laid out in front of the siblings one too many times.

"She was blindly loyal to you for a thousand years, and now, nowhere to be found." Finn stated, looking down at his plate and seeing his shackled wrists in his peripheral vision. He then turned his head to look at his hybrid brother, pure curiosity and suspicion glinting in his eyes. "Where did our sister go? And how did she escape your vile machinations?"

It was difficult to miss the change of expression in Klaus's face. Finn definitely saw that he was getting warmer, getting closer to something they didn't want him to know. And the closer he's getting, the more agitated the hybrid became, so did Elijah.

Kol noticed that as well. Although, unlike his two brothers, he was unaware of the secret that they were hiding. Not a shocker, though. Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah had always been thick as thieves. Kol learned that early in their vampire lives. He wasn't the one they ran to when they were in need of help. They didn't think much of him often, which was the main reason behind why he kept acting out, like a child throwing tantrums when his parents weren't paying attention to him.

When Klaus turned away and composed himself, he let out a scoff along with that mocking grin of his that reached his mischievous eyes.

"You think me vile?" said Klaus before he sat back down on his own seat. "Well, what then do you make of the one who cursed us?"

"She was trying to make you mortal again." Finn reasoned out. He shifted his gaze to his brother who had claimed nobility out of all of them. "That you both refused her only proves how much you've fallen."

Elijah gave him a swift glare while he played with the knife in his hands before bringing his head down and staring at the plate to keep his anger under control, knowing that his emotions at the moment were a lot harder to keep in check lately after what Esther had done to him.

"But I expect Rebekah will have a different response to her proposal. See, unlike the two of you, she always did cling to her humanity." Finn spelled out. Then his taunting gaze reached Kol and the older Mikaelson suddenly felt the need for satisfaction that could only be filled with seeing Kol squirm from his words.

"As for Mary, well, mother's proposal to her remains unanswered officially. But we both know that what she has in store for your girlfriend is what's best for her." Finn proposed.

Finn fought the urge for his smile to reach his ears when he saw Kol get uneasy because of his words. When it comes to torturing his brothers, he really did know what buttons to push. And this time, it was about the fact that Mary was playing tug-of-war with a powerful witch spirit for her own body.

"Rebekah and Mary are off limits to you. You pursue any of them and you will suffer." Elijah said. Kol wanted to say that. He wanted to defend Mary and threaten his brother for trying to come after her but he was too busy being struck with reality. Because Finn was right. It would be better if Mary transferred to another body. That way she could be rid of that spirit that had been haunting her for centuries.

"Do not let him goad you, Elijah. Neither he nor Esther can convince Mary to abandon her perfectly healthy body, let alone find Rebekah unless she wants to be found, and she does not." Klaus said, looking at Finn with an intense gaze to deliver his point, but that only made Finn more suspicious–wanting to provoke them more.

"Esther is quite determined." Finn taunted, his eyes meeting Elijah's. While there was calm provocation in the eldest brother's eyes, there was an agitated beast lurking behind Elijah's. Kol could see how Elijah was barely hanging on to his sane and calm self just by listening to their brother talk.

"Let's just say, she's in the process of acquiring someone important to Mary to speak on our mother's behalf." Finn smirked. Kol, Klaus, and Elijah could not help but furrow their eyebrows in suspicion about who Finn was talking about. There were only very few people whom she considered important in her life. Maxime wouldn't side with Esther. Cordelia would for sure agree with Esther's proposition, but her loyalty was with Mary. James and Francis were dead. And the Mikaelsons, there's no need for an explanation for that.

"As for our dear sister, she's been searching for Rebekah since the day she returned. I imagine it's only a matter of time." Finn added, still trying to stir them up, Elijah more specifically. And he was successful.

The next thing all of them knew, Elijah stood up from his seat, took Finn by the collar and sprawled him across the table before burying his fangs in his neck, the eldest brother letting out a painful scream at the feeling of his teeth jabbed into his flesh aggressively.

• ─────────────── •

The former Scottish Queen was on her way back to the compound, letting her heels click as loud as she could make them to alert the people of her presence. Much to her dismay, the first person to greet her was not her lover, but rather his brother, one kf her best friends.

"Little fox." Klaus greeted. "I believe we have something to discuss."

"Okay. But where's Kol?" Mary asked, her eyes breaking contact from Klaus's as she looked around the compound, trying to pick up any sort of indication that Kol was anywhere within the compound. She picked up none.

"My little brother is occupied at the moment, as are you." Klaus replied, reminding her of something that he wanted to discuss with her.

"Okay then, what is it we need to talk about?" She asked.

The original hybrid displayed signs of discomfort and anxiety as he stood there before the heretic, as if he was preparing himself to say something so important and so sensitive that the mere mention of it out loud makes him flinch.

"I need you to understand that what I'm about to tell you cannot be shared with anybody else, even with my dear little brother, at least not yet. The hybrid explained. Klaus was careful in his choice of words and it was obvious, which then caused Mary to knit her eyebrows together in confusion and suspicion, wondering what was so scary and nerve wracking that even the great Klaus Mikaelson was experiencing what Mart could clearly see as fear.

"You're telling me to keep a secret from Kol?" Mary cleared up.

Klaus raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "Why? Are you incapable?"

"No," Mary said, shaking her head. "I'm very capable. I've done it a lot."

"What healthy relationship you two have."

"We have a long way to go."

Klaus merely smiled while Mary did the same at the original hybrid's remark. Then the atmosphere began to feel heavy once again at the same time Klaus's smile slowly dropped to a serious expression.

"You're one of the very few people I trust the most, and I feel like it's time I finally share with you a secret more valuable than any of our lives." He began, setting the tone of the conversation—which for Mary was very uneasy.

"I was a queen, my value cannot be easily surpassed." She retorted, trying to lighten the ambiance a bit to keep her from suffocating. Just the tone of the conversation alone was enough to make her feel claustrophobic for some reason.

"You've always been so competitive." Klaus tugged a small smirk.

Mary shrugged in reply. "The world would be boring if I wasn't."

Klaus pressed his lips into a thin line and sighed deeply, looking behind him where the room Finn was trapped in before he returned his gaze to the former Scottish Queen.

"My daughter, I've told you about her." He said.

The redhead nodded in response, remembering his daughter with Hayley who had allegedly died because of the heartless witches in this town. "Hope Mikaelson."

The mere mention of his daughter's name and Mary could already see the despair in the hybrid's eyes, despair like nothing she had seen before in those eyes of his. And with valid reason. The greatest pain a person might experience could be the loss of their child.

Mary very well knew what that felt like.

"As a fellow parent, I understand the subject of her passing can be quite difficult to talk about." Mary said, trying to make it easier for the hybrid to confide in her given that he wasn't exactly the type to open up that easily.

For some unknown reason, the words Mary had uttered made Klaus shift uncomfortable in his feet, making Mary narrow her eyes at him.

"That's the thing." Klaus said, lowering his gaze. It took him a couple of seconds before he was strong enough to meet the woman's gaze again and utter the words he had been wanting to tell her for a while. "She hasn't passed."

Mary's matte red lips parted, stunned. Her eyes were not blinking as she stared at the original hybrid and her mouth remained agape before she could register the situation into her mind completely and compose herself. For someone as experienced in life as her, there are still a number of things that still managed to astonish her.

The world really was filled with secrets waiting to be unraveled.

"What?" She replied, still in shock.

Klaus took a step forward and took her shock—disguised as a question for elaboration—as a chance to continue to tell her everything.

"Her death is a mere front, to stop our enemies from coming after her. She's in hiding with Rebekah." He explained, watching as the expression on Mary's face did not change a single bit. Klaus took it upon himself to place his hands on her arms gently, a way to bring her back to ground as it seemed that she was beginning to zone out in astonishment.

"I tell you this in confidence because I trust that you would do whatever it takes to keep her safe, because right at this very moment, this secret will soon be found out and her safety will once again be compromised." He said, his eyes boring right into hers, as if it was another way to get those words into her head despite still being taken aback by the revelation.

Mary finally clamped her mouth shut, swallowed hard, and nodded confidently.

"You can count on me." She finally answered.

• ─────────────── •

The former Scottish Queen felt something heavy on her chest. Like another thing added to her list of things to be scared about. Losing the daughter of her best friend. She always had a soft spot for children. She had always longed for one and not only because she was basically obligated to produce an heir for Scotland and France. She genuinely wanted to be a mother.

She wasn't going to lie, Mary was still salty about the fact that Kol made her barren for quite a while as a revenge plot. She was still holding a grudge about that. She wasn't perfect, neither was their relationship. They went from enemies to lovers real quick, the change was going to be quite a complicated and long one. Hell, she still even had no problem keeping a secret from him, it was that easy for her.

It's really safe to say that their relationship was undergoing a major makeover.

Mary looked at the name that flashed on her phone screen when it vibrated on her hand. She was waiting for a call from Elijah who she was planning to see when Klaus asked her to be with him in helping Rebekah and Hope. But she instead saw the name of another one of her best friends.

"Max, hold on, I have something to take care of—" Mary immediately said once she answered the phone call, but she was cut off when Max suddenly spoke, his voice still quite hoarse.

"Davina's on her way to Klaus." Max warned her, which caused the heretic to halt her tracks, her heels planting firmly on the cemented ground of Bourbon Street before she replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked, wanting more explanation as to why the little witch was on her way to someone who was obviously not very fond of her very existence.

"She knows Marcel gave him the stake. She plans to get it back." Max explained. Mary closed her eyes and brought her free hand to her head, running her fingers through her hair in frustration before Max spoke again. "Mary, Klaus will have no problem killing Davina. If she dies..."

That's when Mary heard the click in her head where everything started to line up in her path to a certain, specific decision.

"She won't be able to help me." Mary whispered more to herself, but it was enough to be picked up by the mic of her phone.

The path was clearly telling her to go back to the compound instead of going to Elijah. She knew Elijah and Rebekah would be there to protect Hope and Davina was basically walking into the hybrid's den like she had a death wish in mind.

But which one was more important to her, making sure that her key to getting better was secured, or protecting the one child on Earth that her best friend deeply cares about?

Honestly, it was a no brainer for her.

"I have more important things to handle. Davina's on her own." And with that, Mary hung up the phone.

She was okay if she had to live with a spirit inside of her forever, but she knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if something had happened to Hope knowing that she could've been there to prevent it.

• ─────────────── •

Mary was already parked in front of the diner Elijah told her about but she hadn't stepped out of her car yet when her phone once again rang. And right now, it's not Maxime calling her.

"Where are you?" Kol's anxious voice was to be heard clearly through the speaker of Mary's phone.

The former queen had to come up with a lie quickly to cover up the fact that she was protecting the daughter of his brother who was supposed to be dead.

"I'm with Max. We're following a lead on how we can get the damn spirit out of me." Mary quickly answered, not worrying about the fact that she might get caught because she had always been a good liar.

But today was definitely not her day.

On the other side of the phone, Kol lowered his head while still clutching the phone to his ear. Then he turned around just a bit to look at the people he was with at the compound, just a couple of feet away from him as he stood near at the gate.

And one of them was Max.

Kol clenched his jaw and sighed deeply, realizing that Mary had once again lied to him.

"Kol? You still there?" Kol heard Mary's voice through her phone and he responded while his eyes were still fixated on Maxime, who was oblivious to the conversation that Kol and Mary were having now as they were too busy trying to figure out a way to save Cami from being Rebekah's new host.

"Yeah, I'm still here, darling." He responded. "Just checking in to see how you're doing and what time you're coming home. It is Christmas after all"

Mary smiled at the blonde witch's words, also completely clueless about the things running around in Kol's mind. "Do you miss me already?"

Kol's grip on the phone tightened, just as his heart was. He thought that because they were together now, that he wouldn't once again be a victim of Mary's old ways, a.k.a. her scheming behind his back, even if it wasn't about him.

"You have no idea." He simply whispered. Kol finally looked away from Maxime and lowered his gaze once again.

"I'll come home soon. Don't wait up, mon amour." She said.

Kol slightly smiled at that, though it was a mix of a sad and loving one. He didn't know which one he was supposed to feel after that conversation.

"Be safe." was his only reply before he hung up.

Mary moved the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen to see that she had received a text from Rebekah.

Something's wrong with Elijah, it said.

The redhead exhaled deeply through her nose before locking her phone and stepping out of the car. The minute she got a foot into the diner, the strong scent of blood was a dead giveaway. Something was definitely wrong with Elijah. But she tried to keep her cool anyway as she landed her eyes on them, not that it was hard to look for them seeing as they were the only customers.

Mary tugged a charming yet mischievous smile on her lips as she approached Rebekah.

"Did you miss me, dear Lady Rebekah?" the heretic joked as she neared them.

"Not even a little bit." The blonde original replied, her thick English accent rolling off her tongue perfectly. Mary only gave a small laugh in response to the woman's cheeky retort as she and her older brother were standing before a table with a baby carrier on top.

Once Mary got close enough, she finally laid her eyes on the beautiful baby girl for the first time. And the first thing she noticed was her eyes. Those eyes of hers that looked like an exact replica of her father's. And she melted.

It was one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever set her eyes upon. Suddenly, she felt tears forming in her eyes. She was too proud to let it show so she tried her best to hold them back, and she successfully did. She was reminded of the first time she had seen her beautiful baby boy James. It was like her whole world stopped at that very moment.

There wasn't a second in her life that went by that she wasn't thinking about him, and the life that they could have had if they weren't royals. She always imagined them living in a simple cottage, just her and James. Away from the dangers of the crown. Away from the eyes of the vultures. Away from the chaos of the supernatural.

It was what she wanted for Hope as well, to be peaceful with her family. But obviously, that was off the table.

"I can't believe we were all this innocent once." Mary whispered, but loud enough for them to hear. The redhead bent down toward the little one to pick her up in her arms. The baby cooed as she looked up at the woman, her eyes quite confused and looking as if she was trying to check if she knew her at all. At one point, she even looked scared when she realized that she hadn't met Mary before, but quickly calmed down when Mary flashed a genuine, sweet smile at her.

"We mustn't let the world hurt her." Elijah said.

Mary never let her eyes wander off from the baby she was holding, even when Rebekah spoke and acted against her brother right in front of them.

"You're right. We mustn't." Rebekah replied and with that, the blonde snapped Elijah's neck with one hand, letting him drop to the floor.

The redhead did not even flinch a muscle when the older Mikaelson brother collapsed to her feet, she remained focused on Hope, admiring every little movement and noise she was making, as if every one of them was an achievement.

"What now?" the blonde asked.

Mary, with her smile decreasing to a tight lipped one, sighed softly before putting the baby back into the carrier and turning toward Rebekah with her hand still holding one of Hope's.

"Call Klaus. Tell him that Hope's okay, but Elijah might not be."

• ─────────────── •

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!