𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬; 𝚔. 𝚖𝚒𝚔𝚊𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚘𝚗 (under co!)

𝟶.𝟶𝟻 - "𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝗌 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝖾, 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽'𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎."

"𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝗌 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝖾, 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽'𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎."

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Rohana and Hayley are in the Mikaelson compound, eating away at goodies that were sent to the house. Klaus comes down the stairs and chuckles at the two girls eating. "So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" Rohana asks Klaus. He gestures his hand over the food. "It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this.." Hayley smiles softly. "Well then, I guess we have Elijah to thank." Elijah joins them in the courtyard. His brows scrunch up, as if he's confused. "This wasn't my doing." 

The silver lid on the platter starts to rattle, startling Hayley and Elijah. Klaus and Rohana look uneasy when Klaus lifts the platter, which releases two starlings that fly up toward the ceiling, causing the four to reflexively duck. Hayley sighs. "What the hell was that?" Rohana reaches for an invitation that flew out. She opens it and it reads, "Dinner, Mikaelson Compound, 8pm." Klaus takes the invitation out of Rohana's hands, and reads it again. "An invitation from our mother." Klaus, Rohana, and Elijah look at each other with unease. 

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[FLASHBACK - 10TH CENTURY, NEW WORLD]

Ester ladles out food for her children and Rohana, who are all very young and who have gathered around the table for breakfast. Ester sternly tells them, "Now, children, it's very hot! Rebekah, Kol, Rohana, be careful!" Finn sneaks into the house and joins everyone at the table. Ester notices one missing, and sighs. "Where's Niklaus?" Everyone stays silent. Elijah and Finn look at each other and smile softly.  Rohana's eyes grow scared. Either Niklaus was hiding- or Mikael was beating him. She felt bad for Nik, wishing she could just use a little magic on his father; to make sure he never hurt Nik again. Ester smacks the ladle on the table, startling Kol and Rohana. "Elijah? Finn? Where's your brother?" Finn looks at Rohana and Elijah. He then sighs and hesitantly says, "He's in the woods, Mother. Hiding."

Ester makes her way to the woods and finds Niklaus. She bends down to be on his level and sighs. "What are you doing here?" Klaus has a tear going down his cheek. "Father says he's to take me hunting later. But I'm no good. Not with him. He gets angry at me."(Esther looks at him with sympathy. "I understand. Do you know what I do when I'm afraid? I listen to the starlings.-" In the background, Finn is  eavesdropping on them. "When I was a little girl, my mother taught one of them a tune. And, since they mimic each others' songs, it spread, until every starling in the forest sang it.-" Klaus looks up to see the birds in the trees. "When we made this our home, I brought these same birds to these woods. Whenever you heard one sing, Niklaus, remember I'm with you. Always and forever. " Esther takes Klaus' hand and pulls him to his feet. Finn watches from afar and gulps sadly. 

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[PRESENT DAY - MIKAELSON COMPOUND]

Klaus was staring at the invitation while standing on his balcony. If you listened close enough, you could've heard steam coming out of his ears. Klaus liked things in his control and this was out of it. He walks into his bedroom where Hayley was laying on his bed and Rohana was sitting on the edge. Hayley speaks up, "You know-" She begins while rubbing her stomach softly. "It's times like this that I'm really glad I never knew my mother." Klaus' eyes gaze to Hayley and puts the invitation on the bed. "We have enough enemies here. And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family." Klaus responds. Hayley sits up. "Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart. I will happily add to the body count." As if on cue, Elijah walks in. "You will do no such thing. Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host." He says to Hayley. 

Rohana chuckles softly to herself. "If there was one thing that woman could do... it was possession." All eyes laid on her. "She taught me when we were younger." She says to everyone. Klaus smirks. "Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children. I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul." Elijah's tone changed immediately, and he shrugs. "Well, then. We have...this afternoon to prepare for the worst." He says while checking his watch. Elijah leaves and Hayley rolls her eyes which makes Klaus smile. "The bloom is off the rose, I see." He follows Elijah out.

Klaus makes his way down to the dining room, already compelling caterers to bid his doing.One of the caterers gives Klaus a choice of two wines. He sighs. "Let's skip the salad course. Let's not make this dreadful evening longer than it needs to be." He decides on a wine, and dismisses the caterer. Hayley and Rohana walk over to Klaus. "So, I guess letting Oliver live paid off. He just informed me your mother has a partner -in -crime - another witch." Rohana simply nodded. She could tell something was definitely off. Rohana remarks, "Building alliances in her quest to destroy us all, I imagine." That earned a small, smirk from Klaus. "Why does she hate you so much, Klaus, Rohana? She had seven kids, it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene."

Klaus rolls his eyes softly and looks at Rohana then to Hayley. "Eight, actually. And, I think at one time, she loved us very much-" Klaus folds a napkin neatly on the table before finishing.  "One died before I was born." Hayley's face falls. "I didn't know that." Klaus voices, "Years later, my brother Henrik was killed by the werewolves in our village. The loss of another child pushed my- our mother over the edge. So, she used her magic to turn us into immortals. I think that's when she loved us the most. But, it was her undoing. It triggered a sequence of events that led to the reveal of her long -held secret. My birth father was the werewolf whose pack killed my little brother. Of course, when Mikael found out, he murdered my real father, and so, my mother lost her lover, too." Hayley stood there, stunned. Rohana smiled at Klaus. "No wonder she's crazy." Klaus continues, You know, my siblings used to tell each other she didn't hate us. I mean- she loved Rohana.  She hated herself for what we've become. I think they believed that even after she tried to kill us all." 

Hayley looks at Klaus, then down at the floor. "What do you believe, Klaus? Rohana?" They look at each other, and simultaneously say, "I don't know." Klaus continues, "I just knew, I wanted her dead." Rohana smiles. "Well, every good story needs a wicked witch. Watch her favourite child become her downfall." A flicker of red shines in Rohana's eyes, and it disappears as fast as it appeared.

sorry this chapter is so short. i promise the next one will be much longer. 

also.. 10K READS! what in the world. i honestly thought this one would get like maybe 2. thanks for the suppourt <3