Chapter Text
“I have a job for you.”
Hope stills, fist inches away from the punching bag she’d been practicing on for the last hour. “Not interested.”
Kaleb joins her, walking behind the bag. He takes a hold of it, holding it steady for her next hit. Hope smiles at him, and without a second thought, throws a few hard punches, everything she was holding back when she was training alone. Kaleb takes the hits with grace, the bag barely moving from his hands.
“It’s a post at the palace. Near the princess."
Hope almost laughs. She rolls her eyes and throws another punch. “Then I’m definitely not interested.”
Kaleb is quiet for a minute. The only sound in the room was the noise coming from Hope’s fists against the bag.
“It pays well.” He tries, knowing Hope would most definitely be interested in that. “And as you know, it’s dangerous.” She’d be interested in that, too.
“With the sister trying to kill her and all, you mean?” It’s in the news everywhere. The war divided between twins; a dark-haired girl hidden among the shadows, waiting to strike. The tall blonde, hair shining as bright as the light from the sun, front and center with a perfect smile on her face. It was a striking juxtaposition, to see one so dark, and the other full of light. Hope didn’t really care much for politics, but even she knew for the past year the twin, Josie, had stepped out on her family. Sending hitmen, trying to take her sister out. It’s the only way to be queen, if she didn’t want to leave it up to choice. If she killed her sister, she’d be the only one left. Hope wasn’t a fan of the system, didn’t care much about the Salvatore-Forbes family and what they did as kings and queens and princesses. But she did know one thing; loyalty. The protection of family. She didn’t understand the sister who could go after her own blood. Hope hadn’t particularly taken sides, but she’d be lying if she hadn’t been rooting for the sister who wasn’t actively trying to kill the other one.
Kaleb nods. “They’re doubling- well, tripling on security. The boss and I thought it’d be okay to let them know we had a free-lance worker, someone really good.”
Hope hated compliments. She hated them even more when they were supposed to butter her up to something she didn’t want to do. “Cut the bullshit. What aren’t you saying?”
“The kind of people they’re looking for..” Kaleb starts, quiets, and then tries again. “They want bodies with no connections, Hope. You’re the best choice for that. Your parents are gone, your family is scattered..” He keeps going, like if he doesn’t get it out in one go, he might finish saying it at all. “No boyfriend,” Hope gives him a look, and he rushes to say, “Or girlfriend, or um, partner?”
Hope wipes the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. “I see. If the people who are meant to protect them have someone to lose, they have someone they’d trade the princess over for.”
Kaleb, again, nods. “You know how it is. If you have people-”
“They can use them to get information from you. Trust me, I get it.” And she really did. Her parents were the head of a facility she left after they died, and before then, no one knew who she was. The people there, the people her parents trained to kill without leaving a trace, thought she was a baby left there by some random person who didn’t want her. It wasn’t rare for her parents to take fosters in, to feed and home and train the kids who wanted it. It was the perfect cover, and her parents did everything to make sure it worked. Treated her the same as everyone else, with hidden actions of their love. She understood why they did it. It kept her hidden from the people they worked for, for the hits they were hired to do. It kept her safe from the other side, from people using her to make her parents do what they wanted. “There are other people here who have no one, though. Why me? And if that’s a rule, just how likely am I to be captured and tortured for someone I dont even know?”
“I don’t know, I just heard a princess needs protecting, and I thought of you. And really, they’re just taking precautions.”
“Oh, really? What, you think I’d enjoy throwing myself in front of some princess so I’d die instead of her?”
Their boss walks in from behind her, his laugh and heavy footsteps alerting her that he’d joined the room. “Self sacrifice is kind of your thing.”
Hope turns to look at him, a bit annoyed at the comment. “I know why you want me there, Alaric. Let’s not pretend it’s because of who or who I don’t have to love, or anything about me. You want me there to protect the daughter who doesn’t want to see you.”
“It’s about both of my daughters, Hope. I trust you, I have trust in you-” He’s pleading, his eyes full of desperation. “If you keep Lizzie safe, you keep Josie from doing something she’ll regret over a position she doesn’t even want.”
Hope is confused, but another thing she hates is asking questions. She waits for him to fill her in, and he does. “Elizabeth is perfect for the position. Has wanted it since she was young. She cares about her people, and cares about the job. Caroline told me Josie had never said a word about it, but expressed her anger that she hadn’t even been considered.”
“And why wasn’t she?” Kaleb asks, genuinely curious.
Alaric sighs. “Caroline didn’t know to consider her, she never said a word. Now it’s about what she thinks Lizzie is taking from her.”
Hope messes with the wraps on her hands as she listens. She didn’t know much about the twins, had never even met them, but she could already guess the dynamics. A confident blonde with a winning smile, a quiet brunette scared to shine on her own.
“She’s going down a dark path.”
Hope cuts in, “Yeah, that’s obvious. How many hits has she put on her sister now? Two? Three?”
“Someone is behind her, whispering in her ear. They’re using her jealousy and misplaced hate for their own good. We just need Lizzie protected until we can get Josie back.”
“And why isn’t witness protection an option?”
“It’s better if everything goes on as normal. For Elizabeth to attend to her regular schedule. She cannot appear weak.”
“And you think her not appearing weak is better than, I don’t know, keeping her alive?”
Alaric tries to speak, but Hope beats him. “Please, don’t even try to convince me keeping her in place wasn’t your idea. I don’t know why Caroline still keeps an ear open to your advice.”
Kaleb looks at Hope like she's lost her mind, but this wasn’t new. Hope wasn’t scared of Alaric, and definitely wasn’t one to tip-toe over things he doesn’t want to hear. She’d joined his group a short time after her parents died, and he’d used her to spy and fight and even kill. Threats against his family, against people who paid him money to keep them safe. He was good at giving her things to do, but he wasn’t a good person, and she didn’t treat him like one.
Alaric talks like he didn’t even hear her. “Will you do it?”
Hope bites the inside of her cheek while she considers. She hadn’t taken a job in awhile, the last one she had going south in ways she hadn’t been prepared for. And this profile was high, the highest she’d ever accepted. She didn’t know how she felt about protecting a princess, knowing the risks. Knowing that most likely, this would be the closest she’d ever be to taking a hit for someone. Because the princesses life, if she accepted this job, was more important than hers.
Which, well, piqued her interest. She’d be putting herself in a situation she’d never been in before. And if Hope loved one thing, it was a good thrill.
“Sure, yeah, whatever. But if I die doing this, I will haunt the hell out of you.”
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Hope spends days going over Elizabeth’s file. Spends countless hours memorizing things like her height, eye color, weight, blood type. To others like what she liked to eat, where she went when she was lonely, her interests and hobbies. She had known a few things already (like the color blue of her eyes, the pictures making it hard to forget) and that she liked to carry a sword by her side (the pictures making that hard to forget, too. A princess with a weapon? Hope couldn’t ignore how, well, attractive, it was.) Hope liked to be prepared, though, and wanted to know more than the information given to her. So, yeah, maybe she went to the local bar in the village and listened to the petty gossip spread by people who heard things about the royals from a friend of a friend of a friend. They talked about who Elizabeth spent her time with, who she hated, who she was dating and not dating. Hope knew everything about her she could ever learn without actually knowing her, and yet, meeting her for the first time, was still woefully unprepared with the personality in front of her.
Upon joining the Salvatore-Forbes security, she spent a week learning the insides and outs of the palace the family stayed at. How to get in, how to get out. All of the hiding spots. The secret passages and hideaways only important people knew about. She spent another week learning what to do in certain cases of emergencies, what to do if the worst event you could ever imagine possible was happening. They put her through hours and hours of tests, which she ace’d perfectly each time. She had literally been born to do this, afterall. Put a knife, dagger, bow and arrow, sword, whatever you wanted, in her hands and she knew how to work each and every single one to her advantage. She knew weaponry, and she knew how to kill. Hell, she didn’t even need anything, her bare hands were enough to get the job done. She herself was a weapon, and the people here loved that about her.
She thought she had been properly prepared for this position. Thought she was ready for anything they could throw at her. The mind games, the “what would you do if”’s, the obstacles she had to run through with a fake princess by her side. She was confident until the assignment was to actually meet the princess she was being tested to protect.
“She’s supposed to keep me safe?” Elizabeth was eyeing her from her seat in the living area of her rooms. Hope had to keep reminding herself not to look at her exposed skin, the nightgown she’s wearing offering plenty of it.
Her face is up there, Mikaelson. Get yourself together.
But, really, Hope was taught to memorize every single detail of everything she saw, and that didn’t stop at the princesses dress, or lack thereof. It didn’t help that she was kind of amazed by the blonde's beauty, the photographs posted around the town did her no good. They didn’t capture just how physically stunning she was, and wow, her legs-
“But she’s so small!” Elizabeth gets up, and Hope keeps trying to keep her eyes on her face. Your gown is short, too! Is what she wanted to say. Instead she says nothing.
“Jed, seriously. If you put her in front of me, I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. If someone aims a weapon at me, they’ll meet their mark. She offers no protection.”
One of the guards in the room, a friend Hope had already made, Rafael, laughs. Elizabeth shoots them a look that shuts him up immediately, not finding it funny. Hope was glad, because if that had continued, she’d have to do something about it later (she didn’t like to fight friends to prove a point, but she would.) Just like she needed to do something about this now. Without a second thought, she attacks Elizabeth, bringing her down to the floor without much trouble at all. They both hit the floor with minimal sound, Hope knew how to keep things quiet, and within a second her arm was under Elizabeth’s throat, pressed hard, showing her just how easy it would be if she wanted to keep her from breathing.
The guards all jump into action, swords out, trained on Hope.
Elizabeth is looking at her in a way she can’t explain, like she couldn’t believe Hope had just done that, and maybe, impressed that she did. Hope puts less pressure on her neck, so she can speak, and probably fire her, but instead is shocked by what she hears.
“That’s certainly a good way to prove your point.”
It makes Hope crack a smile. “Being small is an advantage, Elizabeth. People like you see me and think I’m capable of much less than what I can do.”
Elizabeth watches her lips as she speaks, and Hope is caught up in the moment of it, of being this close to the princess, of having her underneath her like this, before Elizabeth is trying to move. “Um, as much as I know you’re enjoying this, can you like, get off me?”
If Hope had any decency, she’d blush, but it took more than this to embarrass her. She backs off, offering Lizzie a hand, pulling her up to stand. She ignores this is the second time she’s touched the princess. To have someone that beautiful at the end of your fingertip was definitely something she was not used to.
Elizabeth looks around at everyone, weapons still out, and rolls her eyes. “Put your swords away. Jesus, does it look like she’s trying to kill me?”
Everyone does as she says, even Jed, who is slow at it. “I mean, yeah, it did.”
Hope walks back to his side as Elizabeth goes to sit back down. “Oh please, as the people who've trained me, you should act less like someone this small could end my life."
Hope smirks, looking at her, eyes full of a challenge accepted.
Elizabeth says nothing before dismissing them, telling everyone to go back to their jobs. They were only here to introduce Hope to Lizzie, and anyway, they were annoying her. Before Hope walks out of the room, she looks back at her and sees something in her eyes that says she was interested in the challenge of what she said just the same.
“It’s Lizzie, by the way!” She calls out as Hope shuts the door behind her.
&
Hope had officially been on duty less than five days before she made her first mistake. Jed greets her at her post, which was rare. He was head of security, and had better things to do than be on watch outside of Lizzie’s bedroom, which as of late, was Hope’s job. She’d never been directly on Lizzie’s schedule, didn’t follow her to meetings, to interviews, to the lunches she had with important people, to the fittings she had to make sure her clothes were right for events coming up. Hope didn’t mind much, but she couldn’t help but want to know more about the princess, of what her duties were and how she handled them. Instead, she was here, making sure no one entered her room while she was here and while she wasn’t. Nothing interesting had happened yet, except that she was starting to guess that Jed was more to Lizzie than just security. He had visited every single night Hope had been here. He never said a word, but Hope could guess what he was here for. She didn’t care, though. She was here to do a job, not talk about what the princess was doing with who. She was good at keeping secrets, especially when she didn’t care enough to spill them.
“The princess in?” He asks, coming to stand in front of Hope.
“Shouldn’t you know?”
“Shouldn’t you?”
Hope continues staring at him, non-answering. Jed gives in. “She was four hours in on her schedule for the day before she told her mother she was going to lay down.”
That caught Hope’s attention. If she were going to lay down, certainly Hope would have seen her enter her room. Certainly, one of the other guards would've followed her to her room before passing her off. The only chance she had to get in is if she hadn’t directly used this door, but the passageway instead. Hope hadn’t heard anything inside of her room, though. Didn’t see her when she did a run through to make sure everything was as it was supposed to be. Had she missed something? Had something happened that went past her head?
Hope realizes she hasn’t said anything, trying to figure it all out inside of her own mind, and Jed was still waiting. She does something she didn’t expect, and lies. “I know. She came in around an hour ago. Said she didn’t want me letting anyone in to bother her. Something about a headache.”
Jed frowns, but doesn’t argue against it. He still followed orders as much as the rest of them. “Alright, I’ll let her mother know to cancel the rest of her stuff for today. Make sure to keep to your routine checks, even if she doesn’t want it. You’re on door duty, you don’t count as people who bother her.”
Hope nods, and the minute he leaves, rushes into Lizzie’s bedroom. She looks around for anything out of the ordinary, pacing around, trying to figure it out. Lizzie hadn’t come here, hadn’t come in, in any of the ways Hope was taught she could. If she had, she was long gone by now. What did she say, it had been an hour? If that was true, Lizzie had hours on her. Or, whoever took her did. Hope opens the other set of doors to the room her bed was in, and searches for clues that might dig her out of the grave she dug for herself. She sees that Lizzie’s wardrobe is open, and the dress she had been wearing earlier, a long-sleeved blush colored piece of silk that fit her body with a certain kind of perfection, was discarded. It made Hope think of something she heard when she was in the village, trying to learn some of Lizzie’s secrets.
“I heard she comes to the village, to this bar even!” A young girl was saying as she sat on one of the stools in front of the counter. Her partner laughs at her silliness, unbelieving.
“With all those enemies she has? No way.”
“I’m sure, I heard some girls say they saw her, gave them money to keep quiet.”
“And obviously, they didn’t.” He says, taking a sip of his drink. She pushes him on the shoulder.
“Of course not! It’s the princess. What do you think she does out here?” The girl thinks, and her face lights up. “She’s probably meeting someone.”
The guy laughs, decides to play along. “Yeah, maybe she comes out here and meets a bar boy. Forbidden love is the best kind, I’ve heard.”
Hope wants to roll her eyes, but she pushes her cup around, listening.
“Oh my god, totally! Why else would she risk her life to sneak out? It all makes sense!”
Hope had heard enough. She was bored, kind of drunk, and tired of hearing things that may or may not be true. She didn’t get why these people cared. Did they really have no life of their own?
She almost wants to laugh at her previous thoughts, considering that now her life was all about the princess, too.
And now, she was thankful that the girl had been so excited. So talkative. If Lizzie was sneaking out, was risking her life by going into the village, hopefully that’s what was happening currently. Hopefully, no one had taken her, and this was all about her own stupidity. Hope leaves her room, and decides how best it would be for her to get out. She doesn’t want anyone to see her go out, doesn’t want anyone to know she was chasing a lost princess. A lost princess who, if in fact was risking her life for some boy, might just make Hope kill her herself. Hope decides on exiting from her balcony, as there were no guards posted here. It was too high, and if someone truly wanted to leave this way, it would be in death. Well, if you weren’t Hope Mikaelson. But no one had been trained for the impossible like she has, and scaling down the wall, no matter the height, wasn’t really an issue for her. It takes her a few minutes to get anywhere, to make a plan on how to do this without dying, but when she does reach the ground, the only thing it took from her was time. Had the princess left this way, too? Hope couldn’t believe it. She had been trained her whole life, it was the only reason it didn’t kill her. But so has Lizzie. She was just shocked that maybe, possibly, Lizzie was just as good as she was.
Hope is surprised to see that there was in fact a guard here. A guard who looked as if he was waiting on someone.
She walks up to him, and decides the best option she had was to give him none. She pushes him into a tree, and pulls a dagger from her belt. “Where is she?”
The guard, who she knows now is Ethan, eyes go wide. “What- What do you mean?”
She holds the knife under his chin, and presses it gently into his skin. “I don’t have time for games, Ethan. You helped her leave, didn’t you? And you wait here for her to return?” The pieces were going into place. How Lizzie got out and back in without being seen. Someone was helping her. He swallows, and she can see he’s thinking about the risk of not telling her what she wants to know. Her blade presses into his skin, and she draws blood. “I don’t care what I have to do to get you to talk, so you might as well just tell me what I want to know. Saves me from hurting you, and you, well, from being hurt.”
He crumbles. “Okay, okay. She pays me off to help her get out sometimes. I get her clothes to blend in, and, I don’t know, the money-”
“I don't care. Where does she go?"
“I don’t know.”
“You help a princess escape from the safety of her home, and you don’t know where she goes?”
“I, uh, well, she comes back and she smells like beer, and, um, oh , she has those cookies she likes from the one bar, um-”
“Mystic falls?” Hope supplies, knowing that if she let him, he would keep saying words to keep her happy. And from killing him.
“Yeah, yeah! That’s the one. Mystic Falls.”
Hope steps back and wipes her knife off on her pants. “You’re pathetic. Get out of here, and do not do this for her again. If you do, I’ll open your mouth and remove your tongue so that the next time she offers you money, you cannot accept.”
Ethan doesn't spend time trying to reply, and makes quick work of getting out of her sight. She knows that when she gets back, he’ll have quit. Better to be long gone than risk someone telling a secret that could get you in deep trouble. She sighs, although no one is around to hear her do it. This wasn’t how she had imagined spending her day. It’s one thing to wish your day wasn’t boring, it’s a whole other when it turns into a princess with no brain leaving the people who keep her safe to do god knows what. Hope goes through the trees, taking the same path she’s sure Ethan uses to get Lizzie out. Most of the populated areas get the most attention from the guards, and although someone is meant to walk rounds back here, she’s noticed that it’s highly neglected. The wall that protects the castle is broken down and weathered, but it’s deep in the woods, and unless you know your way around, you’d get lost. It’s why they don’t consider it an issue. If someone were to try to attack from this area, they’d die trying. The woods are a scary place, and unless you’ve been trained in them, entering them is a good way to lose your life.
It’s what Hope thinks about when she makes her way to town. That Lizzie is stupid, stupid to climb the walls of the palace, stupid to trust a guard who only wants her money and doesn’t care about her life, stupid to go into the woods where she could easily get lost and die of starvation. If her enemies don’t get her, first. It makes it hard for Hope not to kill her when she sees the blonde sitting in a booth at Mystic Falls, the hood of the cloak she’s wearing on her head, a cup of beer and a plate of cookies placed in front of her.
Hope slides into the seat across from her, and Lizzie takes a swing of her drink.
“Well, you’re not supposed to be here.”
“Unbelievable, coming from you.”
“Will Ethan still be alive when I get back?”
Hope smiles, nasty and sweet. “Yes, dear. But will he still be working for you? Hard to say. If he wants to keep his tongue, you can assume the answer is no.”
Lizzie smiles. “You’re a piece of work.”
Hope reaches across the table and steals her beer. Lizzie watches her as she drinks it, and then puts it in front of her, not returning it. “So I’ve heard.”
They don’t say anything for a while. Hope isn’t in a hurry to take her back, knowing that as long as she’s with her, she’s safe. After she finishes Lizzie’s drink, she does the thing she hates doing, and asks a question. “What are you doing out here, Lizzie?”
She watches as the other girl chews on her bottom lip, noting it as a habit of hers when she’s nervous. “I don’t really know. The owner, Dorian, is struggling. I give him money. I walk the streets, and see people who need help, and I give people money. I don’t- I don’t know. I want to help them. The people who struggle.” Lizzie talks like she knows what it’s like to struggle, but as a princess, Hope finds that highly doubtful. “But all I have is money.”
And she doesn’t mean to, but Hope laughs. “Trust me, they’re thankful for it. But Lizzie,” She wants to reach out, to put her hand on Lizzie’s, but she doesn’t. “You’re not safe here. There are other ways to help these people if that’s what you want. But you can’t put your life at risk to do it.”
Lizzie talks like she didn’t hear her. “I think my parents are forgetting. We’re caught up in our lives, and we forget about the people we’re doing everything for. I mean, I don’t even know the last time my mom came out here. She’s a good person, I know she is, but she’s forgetting. We all are.”
“You’re not.”
“Yeah, well, what good does it do them?”
Hope stares at Lizzie for a moment. She recognizes something in her. Loyalty.
“Fine. So we keep coming back. But you have to promise you will not leave without me.”
Lizzie is about to agree, but Hope needs to make sure her point is made. “I’m serious, Elizabeth. Pulling this kind of stunt will get you killed. Coming out alone, when your sister wants you dead? I could almost kill you myself for how stupid that is.”
“Ha! I’d like to see you try.”
“That’s the second time.”
“Second time what?”
“That you’ve said you can take me. You’re going to have to prove it one of these days, because really, words are just words.”
“Cute. So, what? You won’t tell on me?”
Hope sighs. Something tells her this most definitely is another mistake. But she can’t help herself, can’t keep Lizzie from doing something she believes in. From being loyal to people she cares about. And, anyway, her job is to keep the princess safe. Is that not what she’s doing? “You have to promise.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. The safest place I can be is right next to you.” She says it mockingly, but they both know it’s most likely the truth. “I promise, Hope. I won’t put my life in danger unless you’re around to keep an eye on my stupidity.”
Hope groans. “That is so not what I meant.” She would much rather Lizzie didn’t put herself in danger at all. Lizzie was twisting her words.
“It was implied.” She smiles. “Only be stupid if Hope is around to keep the stupid from killing me.”
“Now I’m the one with a headache.” Hope stands from her spot. “Let’s get out of here, I don’t think I can take another minute with you.”
“Too bad spending time with me is your job.” Lizzie smiles like she knows something Hope doesn’t. “But sure, dear.”
&
The next day Hope reports to her shift, Jed finds her before she can reach Lizzie’s bedroom.
“Mikaelson, come with me.”
She stops in her tracks, and suddenly, all the secrets she’s keeping all flood to the top of her brain. Is she about to get in trouble for not speaking up? Unless Ethan was willing to get himself in trouble, she knew there was no way they knew about yesterday. And there was definitely no way Lizzie told on herself. She backtracks, joining Jed at the bottom of the staircase. “What do you need?”
Jed turns and goes the way they came. Hope follows, unsure about what this was about and if she should, instead, be making a run for it. Jed would be easy enough to take out, based on the attack being a surprise. Hope runs different plays through her head, wondering which route was best to take, and how exactly she could get out of here without harming any of the people just doing their jobs, when Jed says something she wasn't expecting.
“Lizzie requested you as her new personal guard.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“We didn’t train you for it, and I told Lizzie that, but she doesn’t care. We had someone ready to take the place after Sebastian, her old guard, got a little creepy with her. But she doesn’t want Penelope, not with her, uh, history with Josie. It’s why she won’t take Finch, either. It’s actually kind of perfect, seeing that you have no connection with her sister.”
“But like you said, I’m not trained for it.”
Jed shrugs. “It’s not much different. You’ll wear a different uniform, something more sophisticated, to alert everyone of your status. Weapons will be hidden, as you’ll be in places more fancy than her bedroom. You’ll follow her wherever, to meetings, interviews, events. Dances, balls, anything and everything. You don’t wait outside her door anymore, you go in. If Lizzie is somewhere, so are you.”
Hope nods, taking in all the information. She doesn’t understand why her position is being changed, why Lizzie is requesting it. They could have kept her secret just fine with the post she was at before. “Where are we going?”
“Sorry to do this, but we’re kind of throwing you into it. One of the higher ups is throwing a ball, and Lizzie is set to attend. Which means-”
“I’m meant to attend.”
“That’s the deal.”
“Are you sure I’m the right person for this?”
“Usually, it’s something we take into account. But you’re being requested, Hope. You can say no if you’d like, but that’s a matter better dealt with by the princess than with me.” He looks down at her as they walk. “And honestly, it’s a hell of a lot better than door duty. You once told me you didn’t like being bored. Well, now there’s absolutely no chance of that happening.”
Hope fakes a smile. She remembers saying that during one of the obstacle courses they had set up for her. That kind of stuff was more her speed, much better than standing and waiting. But something was making her nervous. To be the person between the princess and whoever, it really would be up to her to keep her safe.
The safest place I can be is right next to you. Now all Hope could do is hope that it was true.
Jed takes Hope to get changed, and tells her the information she needs to get up to speed. She had already known Lizzie would be gone for the day, but now, as her personal guard, it was important for her to know where, when, and why. Lizzie was currently getting ready for travel, as the other Salvatore brother was throwing a ball. Her parents were attending, as well. Lizzie travels differently than them, as a better way to keep everyone safe. They took different routes, went at different times. That way no one could pin down a schedule of who was where. If Hope had more time, she’d learn the layout of the other Salvatore castle, and she hated that she couldn’t. Didn’t like that being there, people could take her by surprise. Use her lack of knowledge to their advantage.
Hope was currently waiting outside of Lizzie’s carriage, petting the most beautiful horse she’d ever laid her eyes on. Her attention is on it when Lizzie steps outside of the castle, and when Hope glances over, she has to do a double take. Lizzie is wrapped in a sapphire blue, a color so close to the one of her eyes. Not as light, but close. It sits on her body beautifully, the floor length gown falling in waves down her legs.
“You’re staring.”
Her voice kickstarts Hope’s heart, which had kind of stopped at the sight of her, and this time, she does blush. “It’s a beautiful gown.”
“And the person in it?” Lizzie smiles as she makes her way up to Hope.
“Almost as stunning.”
Lizzie fake pouts. “Ouch, Mikaelson. That’s what I get after making you my personal guard?” The person following Lizzie out nods at Hope, and she nods back, signaling that Lizzie had officially been handed off to her. They both walk to the door of the wagon, and Hope holds her hand out. Lizzie takes it.
“I don’t get why you did that.”
Hope helps Lizzie into the vehicle, and follows her inside. Lizzie sits near the window, fixing her dress around her. She avoids Hope’s gaze. “I like to keep the people who know my secrets close.”
That made sense. Easier to know if someone were to betray you before they did it. She doesn’t know why, but she feels disappointed that that had been the reason. “With no favor to me. Now I’m being dragged to things like this.”
The carriage starts to move, and Lizzie reaches out to put a hand on Hope’s leg, stilling herself from the movement. They lock eyes, and Lizzie retracts her hand. “Oh, please. Dancing, music, drinks. What about this makes you miserable?”
“Talking. Politics.”
“So everything I stand for, then?”
“Not you.”
Lizzie looks out the window. “I don’t like that stuff either. Having to make sure I say the right thing to the right person.” She lays her head against the glass. “But sometimes I get to dance with a cute boy, or sneak off with a pretty girl in the garden. The drinks aren’t half bad, either. And trust me, I won’t say a word if you drink on duty.”
Hope knows she won’t. She wasn’t trying to build more secrets to keep. “I’m glad it’s fun for you.”
“Only sometimes. If the company is good and the people are pretty.”
“Trust me, I’m not the good kind of company.”
Lizzie lifts her head and turns to look at Hope. “But you are pretty.”
Hope stares at Lizzie in disbelief. She wonders if this is how she got to Jed. Being close to her does no one any good, because she’s pretty and she calls you pretty and makes you feel things you aren’t used to feeling. Hope says nothing, and Lizzie goes back to resting her head on the window. They travel in an hour of silence, and somehow, Lizze’s head moves from the window to Hope’s shoulder, and Lizzie is sleeping, and Hope is counting down the seconds because this feels like some kind of form of torture. Surely if they had added this in her training, she would not have passed.
The carriage comes to a sudden stop, and immediately Hope feels on edge. They weren’t scheduled to arrive at their destination for a few more hours, as they’d only been traveling for less than one. Hope listens, but she doesn’t hear the driver call out. Instead, she hears a body hit the ground. Without seeing, she knew it was the driver. Lizzie stirs next to her, and Hope quickly puts a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. Lizzie’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t move. Just stares at Hope, trusting. Hope brings a finger up to her mouth, signaling for her to be quiet. When Lizzie nods, Hope removes her hand. The carriage starts to move again, the person who killed the other driver taking over. She could almost call out something like, “are you stupid?” to them, if they really thought she wouldn’t notice the sound of a body drop. Wouldn’t notice the trick they were trying to pull. But she wasn’t alone, and she wasn’t going to risk Lizzie’s life over a dumb comment. Clearly whoever was driving had limited access to their brain, Hope just needed to figure out what she was going to do about what they thought they could get away with. It was a choice between opening the hatch on the floor of the carriage and escaping from a moving wagon, or somehow taking the driver out from inside of it. Both options weren’t great and looking at Lizzie, she knew she couldn’t do anything risky. Anything she would do if she were alone, uncaring for the life she lived. But Lizzie was here, and Lizzie needed to live, and damn, she was the one who needed to make that happen.
“Okay, okay,” Hope is whispering, reaching out to grab Lizzie by her shoulders. “I need you to do what I say, okay? I’m going to distract him. If we have any chance of escaping unharmed, the carriage needs to stop moving.”
“Why can’t we-”
“Jump? From a moving vehicle? If you weren’t here, I’d consider it. But not with that dress.”
That makes Hope think. If Lizzie’s legs weren’t pinned under the cloth, she’d have a better chance of using them to break her fall. She grabs the dagger from its spot underneath her pants, where it’s strapped to her leg. She doesn’t give Lizzie a chance to react, and starts cutting the fabric on her dress.
“Hope!”
Hope eye’s widen. “Sh!”
Lizzie covers her mouth with her hands. She moves them away and mouths sorry. "I'm not good in stressful situations!"
"Then you're going to be a horrible queen." Hope doesn't make the mistake of giving her room to reply. “If we’re going to jump, you need your legs.” Hope whispers, and Lizzie nods, moving to help Hope reach the dress behind her. After they’re done, and Lizzie’s dress ends before it hits her knees, which, if Hope had time to think about, it didn’t need to be that short, she opens the door as quietly as she can, and takes a small peak out of it. She needs to know if the driver is the only person to worry about. They must have thought that if they could replace the driver without causing alarm, there’d be no reason to send men that would only do the opposite, because there’s no one else. Luckily for her, the sound of the body being pushed off the carriage was warning enough. Hope clicks the door back in place, and turns back to Lizzie.
“You’re going first.”
“What? No, I don’t think I am.”
“Lizzie, trust me. It’s not a far drop, and it’ll only hurt if you land wrong.”
“And if I land wrong, Hope?”
“You said you’ve had training. You know how to land properly, Lizzie.”
She shakes her head. “I’m in distress, Mikaelson! I don’t know anything!”
They don’t have time for this. “Where is the girl who said she could take me? How on earth could you do that, if you can’t even jump out of a carriage?”
The noise Lizzie makes is too loud. “That is so not the same! A five foot dumbass over a moving vehicle with someone on it that, I don’t know, actually wants me dead?”
Hope could not believe her. “Now I’m not going to be nice. I was trying to give you a little confidence, but you’re mean, and it’s not worth it. I guess we’ll just do this the hard way.” Hope moves around Lizzie, hands on her to urge her to move over, so she could take Hope’s place, and Hope hers.
Lizzie lets her be pushed. “The hard way?”
Hope nods. She reaches across Lizzie’s body, pushing the door open all the way. “The hard way.” She pushes Lizzie just a little further, and Lizzie grabs onto the sides of the wagon with her hands.
“Not that I mind a little pushiness, but what are you doing?”
“Let go.” Is the only warning she gives before she pushes the blonde out of the wagon. She moves fast, knowing that the driver would have had to hear her fall. She braces herself, counts to three, and follows Lizzie out. She tucks against herself, rolling into the ground, letting her body take the hit. She can only hope Lizzie had the common sense to do the same.
She’s not on the ground for long before she jumps to her feet, ignoring the pain caused by her body hitting the dirt path. She looks around for Lizzie, and is confused when she can’t find her.
“Looking for something?” It’s a man’s voice coming from behind her. She turns, and sees Lizzie in his arms, knife to her throat. He must have stopped driving the second he heard her on the ground. She hadn’t made a plan that far, she had just hoped Lizzie would have been able to run.
Hope smirks, acting as unbothered as she can. Her heart is racing, and seeing Lizzie like this is making her rethink each plan she concocts to get her out of it. Her mind is racing, too, and every single time she thinks she gets somewhere, she sees Lizzie’s face, and her mind resets. She’d never experienced this kind of reset button before, and would make sure she never would again. Lizzie would be training under her from now on, if she could get her out of this mess. Less likely for her to let herself get captured if she learned from someone who knew how not to. “Not really. How much do I get if I let you both go?”
The man is confused. “You want money?”
“Of course I do. Why do you think I even took this job? I don’t care what you do with her. I can even disappear, if that’s what you want. I say nothing, no one knows you have her, and I get money for my part in the kidnapping of the princess.”
Lizzie is looking at Hope like she doesn’t recognize her. Which is crazy to her, because really, she doesn’t even know her at all. “Who hired you, anyway? I suddenly find myself looking for a new job.”
The man smiles big, dumb. He believes every word she’s saying. He loosens his hold on Lizzie, and Hope knows it’s her chance. "He said you would–"
She ignores whatever it is he's trying to say, looks at Lizzie, makes sure she knows she's talking to her, and her only. “Drop, now!” Lizzie follows her direction, her body folding in half. Hope has her dagger out and thrown at his chest in a split second, and she watches as his body folds, too, sending dust in the air as he hits the dirt.
Lizzie spins around, looks at the man as he dies in the road. Her hands cover her mouth as she falls to her knees, and she crawls over to him, scrambling. “Oh my god. Hope! You killed him!”
No freaking way. No freaking way. Had she not just saved her life? Hope walks over to him, trying to steady her breath. She hadn’t realized how nervous she was. “He was going to kill you.” Her voice is calm, the complete opposite of how she feels inside.
“No, he was going to kidnap me! You said it yourself!”
“I was just playing his game, Lizzie. I had no idea what he was going to do! We just got lucky he’s an idiot!”
“He was an idiot. Now he’s dead.”
Hope leans down and grabs her knife from his chest. Lizzie watches her and cringes as she wipes the blood on her pants. Great, now she’d have to get another pair, again. “I can’t deal with whatever this is about right now. We need to go. The carriage can’t be far, we can take the horse and we’ll go back to the palace.”
Lizzie looks back to the body. “We can’t just leave him here.”
Hope looks at Lizzie like she wants to kill her. She doesn’t know what this is, maybe shock, but they don’t have time for it. “Yeah, we can. He’s not working alone, which means we need to get the hell out of here, and fast.”
When Lizzie doesn’t move, Hope hooks a hand around her waist, and lifts her up. “Lizzie, please. Just listen to me right now, okay? I’m here to protect you, and that’s what I did.” Lizzie helps her by standing, but grabs Hope’s arm and pushes her away. She runs her hands up and down her face, frustrated, like maybe the movement will undo the last 5 minutes.
“I know, I know! I’m sorry, okay? I’m not good with murder!”
Hope wishes she wasn’t, either. “Like I said, what a queen you’ll be.”
Lizzie ignores her comments, walking off to what Hope assumes is the carriage. “Um, Lizzie, it’s this way.” Hope points in the opposite direction and Lizzie stops, turns, and goes that way instead. Wordless. Hope is fine with that. As long as she can get her to safety. They find the wagon just down the hill, and the horse from before let’s Hope unchain them from their post. Hope climbs on, hand held out towards Lizzie, to help her up if she needs it.
She did not.
“I’ve been riding since I was a kid.” She says from behind Hope, sitting sideways, her dress not allowing her to get on properly. It’s an annoying error on Hope's part. The horse would have to go slow, to keep Lizzie from losing her place. Lizzie wraps her arms around Hope’s waist to try and keep that from happening, and Hope, again, tries to ignore how many times it was now that Lizzie has touched her.
“We should go to uncle Damon’s, my parents will be worried if I don’t make it.”
“We’re closer to the palace.” Hope stops to think. “We can send another guard, get a message to them that you’re okay, but that there was an attack.”
“I’m gonna miss the party.” Yeah, she was definitely in shock.
Hope grips the horse with her legs, and the animal starts moving. “I don’t care about the party, Lizzie.”
&
“Wait, something isn’t right.”
Hope steers the horse off the road, behind a tall tree that, if lucky, would keep them hidden. Well, if people didn’t look.
Lizzie lifts her head up from Hope’s back, having rested it there on the journey back home. She sees what Hope does, and unwraps her hands from their place. “Who are those people? I know every single one of our guards. I don’t know them.”
Hope jumps down, her limbs sore from the ride, and her body sore from pretty much everything else. She offers Lizzie a hand, and this time she takes it.
“I think that whoever was sent to get you, was probably going to take you right back where we started.”
Lizzie slides down the horse, confused. “But how? No one knows the palace. No one would even know how to claim it. Wouldn’t be able to even get in!”
Hope fixes Lizzie’s dress, where it had ridden up her body. It doesn’t take long for everything to click into place. “How about someone who grew up there?” Hope says, looking over at Lizzie. She watches as she realizes what Hope already had.
“Josie.” It comes out a whisper, and Hope’s heart breaks a little. She couldn’t imagine the kind of hurt you get from a family member wanting you dead. “But why?”
“She wants what you have. It looks like she's taking it.”
“It’s our home.” Tears are in her eyes, and Hope reaches out, pulling her into a hug. She didn’t like to see pretty girls cry. “All she had to do was come home.”
Hope doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t say that it isn’t just her home that she wants. If that were the deal, she would have simply gone back to her parents. Instead she took over her home, like she planned to take Lizzie’s life. Hope holds Lizzie tight, as if that could make anything better.
“What are we going to do?” It’s whispered into Hope’s neck, and Hope would laugh at how awkward Lizzie had to bend to be there, if things were normal.
“It’s too late to travel right now. We need to camp out for the night, and get back to it as soon as the sun hits the sky. We can’t take the roads, though. They’ll be watching for you.”
Lizzie doesn’t complain, not like Hope was expecting. They let go of one another, and together, they lead the horse deeper into the woods. Somewhere hidden in the trees, somewhere they wouldn’t be found unless someone went looking. Lizzie hits the ground as soon as they pick a spot, arms wrapped around her legs, saying nothing. Hope leaves her alone, trying to figure out what her next move is. She can’t start a fire, the smoke would alert anyone to their exact location. It was early spring, and although it felt good during the day, the darker it got, the more cold the air became, and it was definitely a concern. They would be okay without food, missing a night wouldn’t do them any harm. They may be dehydrated by the time they reach Salvatore's castle, but it wasn’t a worry, either. No, the big concern from the woods was the animals. She had no plan for that. She just hoped Lizzie wouldn’t ask. Hoped that if they were quiet, the animals around wouldn’t care to kill them.
Without much to do, Hope herself drops to the ground, laying down flat on her back. She throws her arms behind her head, using them to rest on. She can feel Lizzie watching her, and after a minute, the blonde is crawling over. She hovers beside Hope, not yet joining her, like she had something to ask.
“What do you want?”
Lizzie is quiet. It’s dark, so Hope can’t see the exact look on her face. “Can I lay with you?”
Hope is glad Lizzie can’t see her face much either. “Yeah.”
Lizzie joins her then, laying her head against Hope’s chest, arm thrown across her torso. Hope cannot believe the kind of day she’s had. Not even a personal guard for a full 24 hours and she’d already killed someone for the princess. Not even a personal guard for 24 hours and Lizzie’s head is on her chest, and it’s taking everything in her to keep her hands where they are. Maybe she can’t blame Jed much for giving in.
Insane.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Why couldn’t your sister just, I don’t know, be queen?” Hope doesn’t care if she sounds stupid. Sure she knows enough about politics for her job, but really, she didn’t understand the war.
Lizzie laughs, Hope smiles. “If only it were that simple.”
“Why isn’t it?”
“It’s not up to us. It’s up to our people. As you know, the oldest usually becomes next in line to the throne. But who is oldest among twins? Should seconds take the crown?” Lizzie shakes her head. “My mom wanted it to be fair. Our people were to decide. Josie didn’t want to leave it up to them, I guess.”
“But, my boss– ” She didn’t want to name drop Alaric, not if Lizzie didn’t know he sent her to Lizzie. “He said you’d always been trained for it. That Josie wasn’t even considered.”
“That’s not exactly true. I was more interested. I liked the job, I liked learning the history and the rules, I loved my people and they loved me. I always tried harder than Jo. I always did.”
Lizzie takes a deep breath before she continues. “It wasn’t until Josie thought she was overlooked that she became interested in the position. But it wasn’t out of love for it, or out of honor or duty. She hated me for being the twin everyone saw. I guess I tried a little too hard.”
“That’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it, though? My sister is going somewhere I can’t follow, but did I not push her there? I don’t know. It feels like I did.”
“How? By being more confident than she is? By wanting it more? There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I don’t know, Hope. I was so focused on the goal that I didn’t even realize I was stepping on my sister to get it. Maybe if I had backed off-”
“And why would you? She could have fought just as hard.”
“She’s not like me.”
“I don’t see how that’s your fault.”
Lizzie quiets. Digs her fingers into Hope’s body. Hope doesn’t mind.
“It kills me, you know? That someone saw how hurt my sister was and used it to their advantage.”
“I can kill them for you, if you’d like.” Hope is saying it before she thinks, but it still rings true.
Lizzie’s whole body freezes. “That’s not funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
“I don’t get you. You talk as if a life isn’t something that belongs to someone.”
Hope looks up to the sky, happy to see a night full of stars. “We were raised a little differently, Elizabeth.”
“Yeah, well, I hope you tell me about it sometime. Maybe you’ll start to make more sense.”
Hope smiles even though Lizzie can’t see it. “Yeah, maybe after I stop your sister from trying to kill you.”
“I know you well enough by now to be concerned you might kill her.”
“I would never do that. She’s misguided, and I don’t blame her for that.” Hope gets lost in the stars, her mind turning with ideas on how to handle the situation. “But, she does need to be stopped.”
“Yeah.” Lizzie whispers, tired. “You know, when I was young, I used to follow my mom everywhere. To every meeting, every event. I watched her help people. Watched her kindness and compassion. My dad was just the same. There wasn’t a thing they wouldn’t do to help a stranger.”
Hope listens to her story, listens to her as her words get slower and slower, fighting sleep. “I wanted to be just like them. Josie already was. She was so sweet, would do anything for anyone. You didn’t have to ask. She was just there, ready to help within a moment's notice.” Hope closes her eyes, imagining Lizzie’s story in her head as she says it. “Not me. It was something I had to learn. Something I had to work on. I’ve grown a lot, tried my best to be the person my sister wanted me to be, the kind of person the people needed me to be. It makes me wonder, with Josie doing all that she has, if she thinks I’m not good enough. If I haven’t done enough for her.”
Hope wanted to fight with her words, but she was tired, too. It wasn’t fair the way Lizzie saw herself. As if her sister wanting her dead was a problem she caused. It’s quiet for a while, and just as Hope is about to fall asleep, she hears Lizzie speak.
“A shooting star! You have to make a wish, Hope!”
Hope is too close to sleep to do that. But the last thing on her mind before she’s out is what she would have wished for. What she would have said.
I wish Elizabeth gets the life she fights so hard for.
&
They’re back on the horse first thing in the morning. Hope keeps them on backroads, hoping they’d get lucky enough to make it to the castle with no trouble. The fact that they do tells Hope that something is wrong.
Damon’s guards let them inside, and Lizzie’s family is waiting for her when they enter.
“Elizabeth!” Her parents run to her, gathering her up in a hug. Hope stands by, eyes on Lizzie. She was far too nervous to let her out of her sight.
Her uncle, Damon, walks over to Hope, and only then does she look away to speak with him. “We were on the road, someone hijacked the carriage, planning on kidnapping the princess.”
“Hm.” Damon rubs his lips together. “And are they still alive?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“We tried to go back to the palace, but, um,” Hope looks over at Lizzie and her family, who are all watching her now, listening. “Your daughter has claimed it for herself. It’s crawling with her people, and if what I think is right,”
“Which, annoyingly, she always is.” Lizzie pipes in, sounding anything but annoyed.
Hope throws a glare her way but continues. “I believe your daughter sent the man to retrieve Lizzie. Was probably meant to take her back home.”
“This is getting out of hand, Caroline.” It’s Stefan speaking, and Hope is glad to have all the eyes off her. “We need to do something.”
Caroline sighs. She looks tired, like she hasn’t slept in days. Probably hasn’t, with one daughter hellbent on killing the other. “I know. I was just really hoping we wouldn’t have to.”
Hope really doesn’t want to add to the mess, but she can’t help it. “There’s something else.” When she knows everyone is listening, she says what's on her mind. “We had no problem getting here. I took the roads less traveled, but even then, I was expecting something. Traps. People. But there was none of that.”
Lizzie is looking at her confused. Her parents share a look, but it’s Damon who speaks. “She wanted you here.” And by you, he means Lizzie.
Hope nods. “Whatever she has planned next, she needs Lizzie here to do it.”
Damon locks eyes with his brother. “I’m sorry, brother, but I think it’s time.”
“Time for what?” Lizzie asks, trying to catch up with what everyone else knows.
“We need to gather our advisors. It’s time we put an end to this.” A second after Damon says it, the door opens, and Jed comes running in, a piece of paper in hand. He looks just as tired as the rest of them.
“I was told that if I didn’t get this message to you, I would die for it.” He’s speaking to Lizzie, and she meets him in the middle of the room, taking the note from him. Everyone is watching her, wondering what it says. Hope watches as her face transforms from scared, to complete horror.
“Honey, what does it say?” Caroline walks to Lizzie’s side, but it’s Hope Lizzie locks eyes with. It’s Hope she repeats the words for.
“It says that every day I don’t surrender myself, a person dies."