Chapter Text
Kara had always believed there were some things a person should be allowed to choose for themselves.
Where they lived.
What they did with their life.
Whom they loved.
Whom they married.
Apparently, her family disagreed.
She stood at the tall windows of the drawing room, staring at the rain sliding down the glass. The gardens beyond had disappeared beneath a grey veil, the trees bending beneath the autumn wind.
Behind her, the room was painfully quiet.
Her father had asked her to sit.
She had refused.
That should have been her first warning.
“Kara.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
“I heard you.”
“You need to listen.”
“I am listening.”
“No. You're waiting for me to finish.”
She turned around.
Her father sat behind his desk, his expression unusually grave. A sealed envelope rested in front of him.
Kara looked at it.
Then at him.
“What is that?”
“An agreement.”
Something cold settled in her stomach.
“What kind of agreement?”
Her father didn't answer immediately.
That frightened her more than anything else could have.
“Kara, you know what our position has become.”
“Our position?”
“Our family.”
She gave a short, humorless laugh.
“We're not exactly destitute.”
“No.”
“So what is this about?”
“Protection.”
The word hung between them.
Kara folded her arms.
“Protection from what?”
Her father finally opened the envelope.
“From everyone.”
That made her stop.
He withdrew several pages.
The paper was thick, expensive. There were several seals impressed into the wax, some of them belonging to families Kara recognized.
One, however, she didn't.
A strange crest.
An ornate M.
She frowned.
“Who is that?”
Her father's eyes met hers.
“The Mikaelsons.”
Kara had heard the name.
Everyone had.
Not because they were simply wealthy.
Not because they were influential.
Because people became strangely quiet whenever the Mikaelsons were mentioned.
“They're vampires.”
“Yes.”
Kara stared at him.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am.”
“You're asking me to marry a vampire?”
“I am telling you that the agreement has already been made.”
For several seconds, Kara couldn't breathe.
Then she laughed.
It wasn't amusement.
It was disbelief.
“No.”
“Kara—”
“No.”
She stepped away from the desk.
“You don't get to do that.”
“I am trying to protect you.”
“By marrying me to a stranger?”
“He isn't a stranger.”
“I've never met him.”
“You've heard of him.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Her father's jaw tightened.
“The man you're being promised to is Elijah Mikaelson.”
The name seemed to change the temperature of the room.
Kara knew that name.
Everyone did.
Elijah Mikaelson.
The respectable one.
The gentleman.
The negotiator.
The brother who supposedly kept the rest of his family from tearing the world apart.
A vampire who had lived for centuries.
A man whose reputation was almost more frightening than the stories about him.
Kara looked again at the contract.
“Why me?”
“Because your family has something the Mikaelsons need.”
“And what do they need?”
“An alliance.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one you're getting tonight.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You've already agreed.”
“Yes.”
“You signed this?”
“Yes.”
“Without asking me?”
Her father's silence was answer enough.
Kara felt something inside her crack.
She picked up the first page.
Her eyes moved across the carefully written terms.
An alliance between their families.
Protection.
Mutual interests.
A marriage.
Her name.
His name.
Elijah Mikaelson.
The words blurred for a moment.
She blinked.
Then continued reading.
There were clauses about property.
Security.
Public appearances.
Confidentiality.
And, almost absurdly, expectations regarding the future.
Children.
Kara lowered the pages.
“You expect me to have children with a vampire?”
Her father looked uncomfortable.
“The agreement does not demand an immediate heir.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“Kara—”
“No.”
She put the papers down.
“No, you don't get to sit there and tell me this is for my protection when you've just handed my entire future to someone I've never met.”
Her father stood.
“Kara.”
She backed away.
“I'm not doing it.”
“You will.”
The certainty in his voice hurt more than the words.
She stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because if you don't, they will come for you.”
Silence.
Kara's anger faltered.
“What?”
“There are other families who know about the agreement.”
He looked toward the window.
“The supernatural world is changing. Alliances are being formed. Old enemies are resurfacing. Your name has become valuable.”
Kara swallowed.
“And Elijah?”
“He offered protection.”
“Why?”
Her father looked back at her.
“That,” he said quietly, “is something you will have to ask him.”
Kara stared at the contract again.
She hated it.
She hated the idea.
She hated that a stranger's name was already written beside hers.
But most of all, she hated that somewhere beneath all the anger was a tiny, unwanted question.
What kind of man agrees to marry someone he's never met?
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
Her father pushed the contract toward her.
“You have until tomorrow evening.”
Kara looked at him.
“And if I refuse?”
His expression softened.
For the first time, he looked less like her father and more like a man who had run out of options.
“Then you will face the consequences alone.”
Kara didn't answer.
She took the contract.
The pages were heavier than they should have been.
She walked toward the door.
“Kara.”
She stopped.
“There's one more thing.”
She slowly turned.
Her father hesitated.
“Elijah will come tomorrow.”
Her heart gave an unfamiliar, uneasy beat.
“To meet me?”
“Yes.”
Kara tightened her fingers around the contract.
For the first time, she wondered whether the man behind the name would be anything like the stories.
Whether he would be cold.
Cruel.
Arrogant.
Or perhaps something worse.
Perhaps he would be exactly what everyone said.
A gentleman.
Because somehow, that seemed like it might be the most dangerous possibility of all.
Kara left the room.
Behind her, the contract remained open on the desk.
Two names.
One promise.
And a future neither of them had chosen.
Yet.
Kara.
Elijah Mikaelson.
The lie had not even begun.
But already, it felt eternal.