Two Beasts | Mikael

Chapter Fourteen

 Radu was a quiet man, with mostly quiet habits. But he was no longer the same.

 It was nearly a century since Mikael had left him. Mikael never returned, never gave him a sign he hadn't forgotten him. But he didn't really believe Mikael would forget him; he wasn't the sort of man who wouldn't keep his promises.

 On every yearly trip, Radu would look for news about him, but he always came up with nothing. Until his last trip, last year's. It was then he heard that Mikael had been murdered by Klaus two years before. He had immediately returned to his castle, worried that in his anger he would cause too much destruction in the outside world. Mikael, that one friend who understood him and whom he understood, was gone.

 When he left, Mikael had forgotten his scarf. Radu found it lying on the floor, and it now hung on a hook in his study, next to the telescope. It was sort of silly, but he wanted something to remember Mikael with, some proof that it all really happened, and that it wasn't his imagination the entire time.

 Radu didn't expect anything anymore. He wasn't quite so much a terror anymore, since he kept up what Mikael had advised about just killing to fill up his blood stores. But nothing seemed anything, and everything was less interesting. This had made him realize just how alone he was in the world.

 Which is why he was surprised when something did indeed happen.

~~~~~~

 Radu peered through his telescope. Nothing very exciting was happening today: gray skies, towns and villages in their usual state, a man walking briskly towards his castle.

 That last one made Radu look again. It was a blond man, dressed in modern clothing, walking briskly through the mountain path, and constantly looking over his shoulder as if fearing someone was following him.

 Radu stared and stared, because the man looked exactly like Mikael.

 But it couldn't be, because Mikael was dead. Klaus murdered him. This was his mind playing tricks on him; this was him finally going mad.

 "Radu!" He heard the gates rattling. "Radu, let me in, please! It's me! It's Mikael!" 

 Radu turned away from the window, shutting his eyes tight. This couldn't be real. Things this miraculous didn't just happen out of nowhere.

 But then he heard a thud outside, and went back to the window. Mikael must have jumped he gate, for he was now lying unconscious on the other side.

 Radu went outside. The body was still there when he opened the doors. He slowly walked over to it, and couldn't help letting out a small cry of delight when he saw the man's face. It was indeed Mikael lying there. Radu bent down and gently brushed a strand of hair from his face. He was certainly no ghost

 He lifted Mikael up in his arms and carried him into the castle. He brought him up to the bedroom he'd given him, the one Camelia loved. It would be good for Mikael to have familiar surroundings when he woke up.

 Radu was there with Mikael when he opened his eyes.

 "I suppose you haven't learned not to challenge magical barriers," he said. 

 Mikael smiled. "I suppose I haven't."

 Radu sighed and knelt down next to the bed. "What happened, Mikael? Last year I heard news that Klaus murdered you. I didn't dare to hope you would ever come back."

 "Klaus did kill me." Mikael sat up. "But that was three years ago. I was able to talk a witch into bringing me back from the Other Side before it collapsed. I went after Klaus again, but on that last day, we allied to take down an enemy who would have taken his baby daughter from him."

 "You allied yourself with Klaus?"

 "I know. Sounds completely mad, doesn't it? But someone convinced me. My daughter, Freya."

 "Freya?" Radu repeated. "You told me she died."

 "I thought she did, but-" Mikael sighed and lay back against the pillows. "I' rather not get into it now. I'll tell you about that later."

 "But how did you get back here?" Radu asked. "Did you finally murder Klaus?"

 "No." Mikael slowly shook his head. "He was going to murder me. When he held up the white oak stake, I just suddenly felt...afraid. The Other Side was destroyed, so I don't know where I would have gone. To the underworld with Eurydice, I suppose. Niklaus may be the Hybrid, but I'm the Hunter. I got away from him, and I ran like a coward."

 "You're weren't being a coward," Radu said. "You were thinking about your own safety for once."

 "Yes, I suppose I was. It felt like cowardice, though. But I...I destroyed the stake. I didn't want him to get it, so I burned it. I couldn't have killed him, anyway."

 "Why not? It was what you planned to do for so long."

 "I know. But if I killed Klaus, his entire sire line would have died with him. That includes you, Radu. Klaus turned you himself. If I had killed him, you would have died, too."

 "And...you didn't want me to die?"

 "No, of course not. Don't be silly, Radu. Why do you think I came here? I knew I would be safe with you."

 "Oh." Radu stood and cleared his throat. "Well, I'm flattered you think that. Um, I am going to let you get some rest. You must be tired. I'll be in my study."

 Radu left the room and quietly closed the door behind him. Mikael had given up killing Klaus for him. He gave it up and burned the white oak stake because he didn't want him to die.

 To him, that one action said more than any amount of words ever could.