Red Queen ▻ The Originals [1]

9

New Orleans, 1820

At Emil, the Governor's son's funeral, all that attended dressed in black as they followed behind a horse-drawn carriage.

Ophelia walked with her arm locked with Klaus'. From the corner of her eyes, she watched as a man on a horse whipped a young black boy, who screamed in pain with each lash taken

Ophelia slightly flinched at each time the boy was his. Klaus noticed and clearly couldn't take it anymore. Klaus broke away from Ophelia and Klaus stepped out of the procession to turn and look at the boy. The boy, having fallen to his knees in pain, grabbed an apple off the ground then turned and threw it at the man with the whip, a fierce look of hatred in his eyes.

Infuriated, the man winded up for another lashing, but Klaus grabbed something off the ground and hurled it with vampire strength at the man.
The object ended up him in the forehead, causing him fall off the horse, dead.
Ophelia, Rebekah and Elijah watched closely as Klaus approached the boy.

"What is your name?" Klaus asked as he walked over to the unnamed boy.

The boy stared up at him, clearly shocked that Klaus was actually talking to him, "Don't got one," He answered calmly, "Mama wouldn't name me till I turned ten, 'case the fever took me... then it took her."

Klaus crouched down before the boy, getting onto his level, "You're a survivor, and survivors need names," Klaus told him, "How about Marcellus?"
He suggested.

Marcel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Marcellus?" He asked confused.

"It comes from Mars, the god of war, and it means 'little warrior'." Klaus explained as he stood back up, holding out a hand to the boy. The boy hesitated, but then smiled, taking it and Rose to his feet.

_________

"It isn't right, Ophelia!" Marcel shouted at the female who had come to be like a girlfriend to her in the past century.

They were both standing in the compound, arguing. They rarely argued, but at that moment it was bad.

"What isn't right, Marcel?" Ophelia asked confused, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"You've been changing like crazy ever since Klaus got here," Marcel told her, seeming to become a bit calmer than he was earlier, "I rarely ever see you and the only reason that deal was made with him about Elijah was because you agreed to it, not me. And I wanna know what's going on." He insisted.

"Are you jealous?" Ophelia asked him curiously and Marcel scoffed loudly.

"Of course not!" He argued, "I was just want to know if my girlfriend was fooling around with someone."

Ophelia became angered by Marcel's insinuation, her werewolf temper getting the best of her, "Screw you, Marcel!" She shouted at him angrily, her eyes begging to glow its supernatural color, "You think I would do that? You must not know me at all. We've been almost ninety years together, I would have told you if I still felt for Klaus. He left this town. He left both me and you. Why would I still care?"

Marcel nodded his head, "Yeah, we spent ninety years together, but the two of you spent twice of that together. How am I supposed to compete with that?" He replied calmly.