Chapter Six: 1648 A.D.

"…Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful
Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful…"

~ "Young and Beautiful" – Lana Del Rey

Northern France

July 1648 A.D.

July 11

My mother once told me that time heals all wounds. All Althea and I have is time now and it seems as though her time fades away with each day. One hundred and eighteen years has done very little to heal the wounds cruelly inflicted upon her. A century we have lived in the country and little peace has she found. She tries to hide it, I know she does. In all the time I have known her, Althea thinks very little of herself and cares for those around her more. I can remember her compassion towards Anya all those years ago as she courageously defied her father. I can still see her kindness in trying to save Katerina. I can still feel the warmth of her lips on mine the night I kissed her in Italy. For all those things, she received a beating, a curse, and a less than worthy husband.

Her pain though has grown so greatly that I no longer know how to reach out and help her. In my desire to save my brother and Rebekah, I have lost the one constant that has been with me through all these long years. She has comforted Rebekah in times of need and supported Klaus on his darkest days. She has given up so much to keep a promise my mother forced her take. Through all these trials…she has endured, but that endurance is fading. I see it in the way she struggles to do most things. Where she once freely smiled, it is forced. I see it in the way she wanders around the countryside as if looking for a purpose. The beautiful brightness of her eyes has dimmed and the glow she once possessed is leaving her. Klaus has noticed it on his visits and not even his paintings bring the joy to her that she once had over them. She smiles and tells him how wonderful it is, but I see the look in her eyes that she tries to hide.

There is something I cannot explain about her. Her goodness was spared from my mother's magic and that very goodness has shown for so long as guiding starlight. She has become my North Star and that light is fading from the sky. It diminishes with each breath she takes and each tear she silently cries. I do not know when it began, but each moment that passes leaves me feeling more powerless to stop it. There is nothing I fear more than the day that my Northern Star fades to darkness…

Elijah put the quill down and closed the ink pot. Standing and walking to window, he watched the very subject of his thoughts slowly wonder aimlessly down the garden path to the large fountain that was the focal point of area she walked in. Her beautiful dress blew in the soft breeze. The cream colored silk complimented her skin and her curls were pulled back to reveal her swan like neck. He had long since come to the belief that she was by far the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. Gracefully, she sank to sit on the stone edge of the fountain and dipped her fingers into the water.

Watching her, Elijah couldn't place the exact moment when it had happened, but he'd fallen in love with her. He loved her more than he'd ever loved Tatia or any woman. The love that had grown for Althea made anything that he felt for Tatia pale in comparison. In 1492, Althea had confessed her love to him. She had willingly gone to search for a way to save the woman he had thought he'd loved and she had given him a gift so precious that day. He had not realized what she'd given him and in his blindness, he'd smashed a fragile gift that had been hanging on a glass threat.

"Is she wandering today?"

Looking over his shoulder, Elijah nodded to Klaus as his brother stood in the doorway. He turned his gaze back to Althea as Klaus moved to stand in the next window. She had not moved and he did not know how long she would spend staring at herself in the reflection of the water. A maid moved to stand over her with a parasol, but Althea sent her away.

"It's going to be one of those days. I can feel it," Klaus murmured as Elijah nodded in agreement. "Did your books have any effect?"

"None," Elijah told him quietly and was silently grateful that Klaus was with him. His brother pretended not to care for many, but Elijah never doubted Klaus' care for Althea. The curse that was meant for Klaus had been wrongfully put on Althea and Elijah knew that his brother blamed himself for it after all these years. Althea had shown them all that not all the humanity was gone from Klaus. Like his brother, Elijah did not know how to reach out and bring her back from whatever darkness was pulling her away to sea.

Her depression had grown so worse in the past few years that Klaus had begun to base himself permanently in France with them. Even Rebekah who had taken to wondering the world on her own now returned often to be Althea. Their sister was one of the few that could pull a genuine smile for Althea's lips.

"She found the dagger a few days ago," Klaus whispered into the silence. "I caught her in the same trunk where we keep it and she barely said a thing when I pulled her away from it. I can only say that she had a look of…longing. I cannot call her pathetic or anything else. She is above my reproach in this. After what everything, I finally understand her wanting to die. She has been cursed with what should have been my curse. She is carrying what should be my burden. She is unable to feed or touch anyone, but another vampire and even then…I know she is afraid."

"Niklaus," Elijah murmured back as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the glass. "I may just give it to her. To watch her suffer…I know that you claim to have no heart, but she was not meant for this. Her heart…I have inflicted too much upon her. This life…she cannot survive much longer."

"We could ask her to close off all emotion," Klaus suggested angrily. "That would be far better than letting her end her life! She is your wife, Elijah! There must be another way!"

"She would not be able to turn off her emotions if we asked," he replied quietly. "Her goodness would not allow for that to happen. You and I both know it. Besides, I would not let her become the very thing that she cannot stand to be. I will not see her become the monster that we ourselves have become. Do you think that she would be able to live with herself if she ever turned her emotions back on?"

For half an hour they stood together and watched her in silence before Klaus turned towards him.

"You must love her very much to give her the dagger," he spat angrily. "Love! It is your greatest weakness."

Without another word, Klaus fled the private study and Elijah let him. He had long since come to terms with the fact that Klaus doubted love's existence. Scared by their parents and haunted by nightmares, Klaus could not understand what he, Elijah, felt for Althea. It was the reason why Klaus could not understand why Elijah was prepared to surrender the dagger to her. Living without her was the one thing he did not want to do and yet, he couldn't live to see her suffer so much pain.

July 12, 1648…

Elijah looked into the music room and found Althea sitting in the new pianoforte that had been delivered shortly after breakfast that morning. A handsome piece, Elijah paused a moment to watch Althea run her fingertips over the shining wood. He was certain that he would spend the rest of his years spoiling Althea. Seeing her smile when he gifted her dress, books, or diamonds never failed to bring a warm feeling to his chest. He no longer did it simply to cheer her up. No, Elijah had long since come to realized that he doted on her because he loved her. He loved seeing her completely engrossed in a book or hearing each new pieces of music that she mastered. She was by far the best pianoforte player that he'd ever heard and he reveled in every moment that she let him listen. He had come to know her likes and dislikes, what brought her boredom and what brought out her passions. He had long since discovered she preferred diamonds over any other stone. He had come to know every silent signal she gave in a conversation. An arched brow meant that she was feeling somewhat playful and a roll of her eyes meant that she disagreed.

In the long time that they had been together in the country, he'd come to know her more intimately than any other person. Tucked away from the world, he'd come to love her more than any other. Whatever he'd possessed with Tatia had been a passing fancy. Not even Tatia could inspire the feelings that had bloomed in his chest at the very thought of Althea. No woman ever had and Elijah knew that no other woman ever would. People had spoken to him before of soul mates and fated loves, but he'd dismissed them. He'd told his own mother that such a thing did not exist, but she had proven him to be wrong. If he could put to words what he felt for Althea, the word starlight came to mind. It was her light that bathed him in warm and he yearned for her love. Love that she had once professed to him and he'd thrown it carelessly away…

He had long since doubted that her love for him even existed anymore. He was a monster and he'd been…Elijah couldn't even put to words how horrific he'd been to her. Failure was all he'd given her. Failure and heartbreak was all he'd provided her with, but he was slowly mending it. Each day that he loved her was a day that eased not only the aching of his own black soul, but he hoped eased Althea's as well. He hoped that each day brought some renewed strength to her.

Stepping into the music room with the news clipping that Klaus' friend had sent, Elijah waited until she looked up at him with a small frown. The line that formed between her brows begged him to kiss it away and soothed, but Elijah resisted. Someday soon, he would not hold himself back. Someday, he would walk to her and simply kiss away that line. Today would not be the day. The news clipping contained some things that he was being forced to address with her and it was not something he wished to do. Walking towards her, he stopped at the pianoforte and looked down at her.

"Klaus says you've become quite famous at the Duke of St. Albans castle," Elijah began with a hint of disapproval. "'The Legend of the Woman in Red' that is the title of the article that was forwarded to him from a contact in London. It's become quite a hit story in the countryside."

Ripping the newspaper from Elijah's hands, Althea scanned the newspaper and he saw the first smile come to her face in days.

She scanned the news clipping and gave a most unladylike snort. The details of the story were greatly exaggerated, but the general outline still seemed intact. The story of how an angry woman, whose husband's affairs had become common knowledge, lost her sanity and killed a roomful of men was quite amusing to read. Parts were certainly embellished and she knew the real death toll.

"It's quite…exaggerated."

"How many did you actually kill?" Elijah demanded to know with a hint of disapproval in his voice. "Sixty? Seventy?"

"Twenty-five," Althea said mockingly as she handed the paper back to him. "It was my final meal before I lost the ability to bite humans. Klaus said the words 'Petrova Doppelganger' and I simply lost it. What would you like me to do? Write small cards of apologies to the current families for their loss?"

"What exactly happened between you and them?" Elijah asked sounding a little more than jealous. In truth, jealous plagued him and the very thought of anyone touching her body made him see red with anger. He had lost his rights to her body a long time ago, but it didn't mean that he did not want to renew those rights. No, Elijah wanted to be the man that brought her to the greatest heights of pleasure. He wanted to be the one to show her what exactly her body was capable…how much passion could pulse through her veins. He wanted to be the one to touch her and know her body…he wanted to be the only one…no one else…

"Nothing," Althea laughed humorlessly, "Honestly, Elijah! What do you think I did? I made love with each of them before I snapped their necks and bled them dry? Do I truly seem as if I were that kind of person? Really! The only sort of romance that I witness is the maid with the footman in the butler's pantry sometimes for a quick session of love making against a wall. That is the only passion that I have ever known."

Her words reverberated around his head before Elijah completely understood exactly what her words meant. If possible, his heart stopped in his chest at the realization that she was untainted. She was still the virgin that she had been on their wedding night. A part of him was relieved and a second part was shocked.

"Are you telling me—"

"Yes, Elijah!" she said as her cheeks grew red under his heated gaze. Elijah looked exceptionally surprised as he watched her. That she admitted such a thing freely gave him cause to celebrate. Not only was she trusting him with such valuable information, she was willingly telling him with prompting or questioning.

"I was simply assuming that perhaps over the centuries you had grown close with one of the masters I had engaged for you," he murmured. "I thought that you had perhaps had a lover at one point or another. I would not be upset or unreasonable about such an event happening."

His own history of illicit affairs and dalliances passed between them and he knew that she was thinking about it as much as he was. It was one of the many things that he had come to regret of the past years. Elijah could not count how many times he wished that he hadn't chosen other women.

"Unlike you," Althea snapped back. "I have not whored myself out for blood or for quick and easy entertainment."

"Not even after our wedding night? You were with no man when we were human?" Elijah asked, still unsure as to how to move on from the shock.

"Our wedding night does not even count as a wedding night," she told him mockingly and he silently agreed. "It was awful and humiliating and it was made even worse by the fact that people knew that we had faked that night. The blood stain never worked with some. Even Tatia knew that you hadn't lain with me and she made sneering comments and hateful remarks every chance she had. So, if my listening to the maids is so distasteful, please enlighten me because I must be the world's oldest—"

Before he could stop himself, Elijah cut her off with a swift kiss to her lips. It had been something that he'd wanted to do from the moment that they had arrived at the château. The beautiful sprawling estate was purely magical and it was casting a spell over him that left him begging to kiss Althea every time that he saw. He pulled away and smiled when he saw that her eyes were still closed.

"A single kiss does not undo anything," she murmured softly.

Pressing another kiss to her lips, Elijah had long since promised himself that his lips would never touch another woman's. This moment only reaffirmed his promise to himself and whatever higher power existed that he'd begun bargaining with. The same sweet nectar that he'd tasted in Italy had only become sweeter and she would ruin all other lips for him. Breaking the kiss, Elijah peppered soft kisses to her cheeks, jaw and brow before she opened her eyes and stared at him. A tear slipped down her cheek and she forced a smile on her lips.

"I am not a fool, Elijah," she whispered. "I know what happened in the caves between you and Tatia. I know that seeing Katerina in England affected you. You cannot deny it. You do not love me. You only want to save me and I am not pathetic enough to let you save me because you pity me for being weak or for being a virgin."

"Pity is the last thing that is on my mind." He whispered to her before leaving the music room before he lost all control and ravaged her on the new pianoforte.

July 13, 1648…

"Did the pianoforte not suit you? You were playing it so beautiful earlier."

Althea looked up when she heard his voice. The book in her hands was forgotten as she stood up. Elijah showered her with gifts and his newest gift was a beautiful pianoforte. It was by far the loveliest sounding thing that she had ever played. She could have spent hours playing it, but she had run out of music to play and did not feel like trying to drum up enthusiasm to play anything. Her fingers had grown tired and she knew that it was because of her refusal to drink blood. She hadn't even had a sip in days. It was better to have the feeling of all consuming hunger to suppress the grief that threatened to overwhelm her.

"It was very beautiful," Althea told him quietly as she sank back down onto the window seat. "I thank you for such a beautiful gift, Elijah."

For a moment, she lost the feeling in her fingertips. The book she had been holding in her lap slid from her hands, down the front of her gown and dropped to the floor. Closing her hands, Althea folded her hands hoping Elijah would not touch her to see how cold they had become. She did not want him to pity her any longer. She could not have his love, but having his pity was far more painful. She'd had his pity for nearly three decades and she could not bear it any longer.

Elijah bent and picked the book up. Kneeling before her, he reached out and took her hands into his. In the past decade, he had touched her more than he had touched her in their whole existence. She couldn't understand why he wished to clasp her hand or brush a kiss against her knuckles every so often. There was no one around to act for and Althea told herself it was because he pitied her.

"Your hands are cold," he said softly as he looked up at her with concern. "When was the last time you had something to eat?"

"A biscuit at daybreak," she told him as he gently massaged her fingertips to warm them.

"That is not a meal," he whispered with a stern tone. "Your hands are cold, Althea. We do not get cold. We do not feel weakness enough that we can no longer walk far. You stopped playing this morning because your fingers became tired. That is not normal for us. When was the last time you had blood?"

"It does not matter," Althea snapped already feeling annoyed. "I cannot touch a human to feed. Unlike you, I do not need to feed every day. I can go days and yes, I do yearn for the taste of warm, fresh blood from the vein of a human, but I will never get to taste it again. So, what does it matter if I do not drink it?"

Elijah said nothing to her words, but let go of her hands. He stood up and quickly slipped his velvet blue coat off and unbuttoned his silver waist coat. Walking across the room, he closed the door to the music room and locked it before joined her at the window seat.

"What are you doing?" Althea asked as his waist coat joined the coat on the floor. Elijah ignored her question and quickly undid his cravat and tossed it aside as well. He unbuttoned the wrists of his snow white dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves to his elbow. He withdrew a small dagger from the pocket in his waist coat and she knew what he was doing. Rebekah had told her about blood sharing between vampires and it was not something she wanted do with Elijah. Her sister had described it as being the most intimate and personal thing that could happen between two vampires besides sex.

"I'm not drinking blood from you," Althea whispered. "I'd rather drink from a pig."

Elijah ignored her and raised the dagger to his palm. Cutting the outside edge, he could tell that the smell of blood had an immediate effect on her. She knew eyes darkened and she could feel her body become tense. He pulled her to him as he leaned back against the panel wall. One leg stretched out and one bent with his foot on the floor, he looked so calm and relaxed that it seemed dreamlike that he wanted her to drink his blood. She wanted to fight him, but just thinking about blood made her realize how truly ravenous she was. Elijah pushed a few curls that had fallen over her shoulder back as his hand healed.

"You're hungry," he pronounced gently. "You haven't eaten in days except the small goblet of blood your maid gives you every few days from her wrist. Eating human food will not sustain you, Althea. You and I both know it."

Her mouth ached to bite down and feed. She felt like a person that had not had water in days, so acute was her hunger. Elijah raised the dagger again, but like a dart, Althea reached out and stopped him. Taking the dagger, she tossed it aside to be with his coat and waistcoat.

"You will not hurt me," he told her softly. "Take as much as you need, Althea."

And she did. The feeling was euphoric and unlike anything she had ever felt. So long had it been since she'd sunk her teeth into anything that she barely heard the moan of pleasure that she let out. Curled against Elijah's chest, she could feel his hand on the back of her neck and it only added to her drive to feed. His touch ignited something within her that she could not stop. For the first time in a long time, Althea felt her hunger become sedated. It did not take long for her to feel full. Curled against Elijah's chest, she strove to fight off the drowsiness that accompanied a good feeding. His fingertips traveled over her smooth skin that was exposed.

She fought against sleep. It was the last thing she wanted to do. This was a moment that she wanted to remember for the rest of eternity and beyond. Promising that she would close her eyes for just a moment, Althea drifted off to sleep as Elijah pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"When did you become my everything?" he asked her sleeping form. "When did you become my heartbeat?"

It was nearly dark when Althea woke again. She wasn't in the in the music room, but in her own bed. Elijah was gone and she felt so confused. Something felt different about her. Something had changed and she couldn't quite explain it. It was as if there was someone with her, but she was quite alone. A warm feeling was growing inside her and she couldn't deny that she felt physically better. The constant ache in her teeth had gone away and for the first time, the god awful hunger that plagued her had been sedated. If it was lady like enough, Althea was sure that she would have been purring like a kitten. She felt that content simply lying on the bed. A silk blanket had been placed over her and gently pushing it back, Althea set her feet on the stone floor.

A fire danced merrily in the grate and shone light across the dim room. Spotting her fur slippers near the chair by the hearth, Althea slipped them on reached to the shawl that had been laid across the back of the wingback chair. Leaving her rooms, Althea wandered the house until she heard voices.

"You must do something with her," Klaus hissed from behind a partially closed door. "This has been going on quite long enough."

"I will handle this," Elijah snapped back sounding exceptionally angry. "Give me a little more time, brother."

"One week. If you do not do something…I will go and fetch Rebekah."

Althea barely jumped back from the door before Klaus threw it open.

"Althea," he said calmly with a smile. "Finally awake, love? You look much better. Color in your cheeks."

Klaus pressed a kiss to her cheeks as he turned towards Elijah and pulled her into the study. Looking at the various maps that laid out on the desk, Althea wondered exactly what they were up to. Elijah was startled to see her up and about, but he kept whatever comment that he was about to make to himself as their butler appeared in the doorway to the study.

"I beg your pardon, milord," Louis said in a deep baritone, "The local judge is here asking to speak with you. I've shown him to the library, if that is acceptable."

"Yes, of course," Elijah replied as he moved around the desk. "Please send refreshments for the judge and I will be there in a moment."

As he passed her, Elijah dropped a kiss onto the side of her head and Althea watched him go with mixed feelings. Part of her was relieved that he was leaving, but she couldn't stop the electrically current that had swept through her body when he come close to her. Elijah left the study with the butler following him and a footman closed the door from the hallway.

"Planning world domination?" she asked playfully to Klaus after hearing the door click shut. A grin came to his face unlike anything that Althea had seen in years as he guided her to a wingback chaired near the fire.

"And would you join me?" Klaus questioned with a laugh and a large grin. "I'd build temples for you and have the humans worship at your feet as the most beautiful creature in the world. Would you like that Althea? Would that make you laugh more?"

Looking down at her hands, Althea shook her head. Leaning up to Klaus, she kissed his cheek as he fussed with putting a blanket over her lap. The action was so out of character for Klaus that she knew that she been the subject of the conversation that she had interrupted. Letting Klaus fuss, Althea grabbed his hand as he finished and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I do not need to be worshiped. I am sure there are far more beautiful women in the world besides myself. Will you be staying long?" she asked a small frown.

"As long as you ask me to stay," Klaus replied easily with a grin as he kneeled before her. "I am at your mercy."

"I was hoping that you could do something for me."

"Anything, my darling girl. What would you like me to do?"

"I confess," Althea sighed and pulled at the invisible threading of the silk blanket. "I was hoping that we could add some…personal touches to the house. I request from you a painting. Elijah's birthday is coming soon and I wished to give him a painting. I can think of no better artist to commission. You are, by far, the most talented one that I know."

A delighted smile covered Klaus' face as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, "What do you have in mind?"

"A landscape," Althea smiled as she held Klaus' hands in hers. "Paint the stone steps near the bench that Elijah loves to sit on and read in the late afternoon. He will love it, I am sure."

"As you command, my love," Klaus smiled. "It will be done in time for Elijah's birthday. I will do my utmost to make you proud of it."

"You are the very best of brothers, Niklaus," Althea whispered. "Never forget how much I love you. I love you even if you do tease me unmercifully."

"Will you smile for me more if I stop?" he asked seriously. "Will you be happier if I stopped?"

"You would not be the Niklaus I have come to know and love if you did."

July 20, 1648…

"Here you are! I thought I might find you up here. Niklaus is hard at work on some new painting of his and I bring good news! Rebekah will be coming to see us," Elijah told her as he held up the letter he carried. "I thought that you would like to see what she says about Greece and the new friend she has made there. She and this young girl are taking in the pleasures of the ancient world, I believe."

Standing in the field of grass, Althea looked down at the grand house that Elijah had given her. The view was beautiful and the rich colors of the gardens mixed to look almost like a painting. She had spent the last few hours simply standing in the field and memorizing every single detail. Ignoring Elijah's out stretched hand with the letter, Althea walked past him. Something inside her had snapped and she could not stand there another moment. Using his speed, Elijah stepped in front of her and looked at her worriedly.

"Do you not wish for Rebekah to come?" he questioned with a frown, "It will make you feel—"

"I want to feel nothing," Althea whispered before turning away. Her words brought pause to Elijah as she walked past him. He turned and watched her go with a heavy heart for he knew what her words meant. She was burning out and he did not know how to reach her, but he had to try. Going after her, he caught up to her easily and gently grabbed her elbow. The letter was long forgotten as he searched her face.

"Tell me what is wrong," he murmured to her. "Tell me what is wrong and I shall fix it, min –"

"You have called me that since we came here," Althea said tearfully. "What is wrong…you cannot fix, Elijah."

She yanked herself away from him and continued walking back to the house. Her skirts flying out behind her in the wind as she hastened her steps.

"I cannot fix it if you will not even let me try," he called to her and she stopped.

"What has been broken has been broken for so long that I fear it is not fixable," Althea told him as she turned to face him. "I do not even know what is broken, Elijah. How can you fix it?"

He watched her and took slow steps towards her. His soft brown eyes fixated on her and she hated it. She hated that he looked at her with such pity. She wanted his love above anything else despite all the hurt and sadness he had caused. Pity was the last thing she wanted from him and it appeared to be the only thing that she could inspire in him.

"Why did you do it?" he asked her after he'd stopped in front of her., "Why did you go after a cure for Katerina?"

"It does not matter," Althea murmured as she looked away from him and down at the ribbon in her fingers. "It is long since over and you bring up the past."

"Why?" Elijah pressed again. "Why did you do it?"

Seeing that he would not let the matter go, Althea drew in a breath and weaved the ribbon she'd been holding through her fingers. She had tried to bury the past away and she didn't know if she could safely let herself open the door without destroying her very being. Standing on the hillside, Althea knew she could no longer live the life that was laid out before her. She could not live in the beautiful manor Elijah had given her nor wear the beautiful dress and jewels that he gifted her. She could not praise Klaus' paintings and try to pretend they made her happy. There was nothing left worth living for and lingering only extended the pain. Pain that had been growing for so very long…pain that was now unbearable and that crushed her with its very weight.

"I did it because I love you," she confessed softly. "I did it because I do not want you to suffer the same as I have these many long years. When you were with…her…you smiled like you used to when were human. There was light in your eyes and you looked so happy. All I wanted for you that day was happiness. Magana told me that I had discovered the secret of life that day when I went to her and I wish that I had never learned of it."

"What is the secret of life?" Elijah questioned as he covered her hands with his. She could feel his warm skin against and the silky embrace of the ribbon. To end the pain, she knew of only one way. There was one object that could end the torment inside her and she wanted it.

"I will tell you, but you must give me something in return."

"You wish to make a deal with me," he said as a small smiled came to his lips. "Alright…what is the secret of life?"

Turning and looking back at the house, she knew exactly which window matched to the room that contained Elijah's trunk. The dagger was buried at the bottom under scrolls and leather bound journals that had documented his long life. She had not dared to read his thoughts, but she had stumbled upon the dagger while looking for a book that he'd given her in Italy many centuries before.

"There is no greater gift on this earth nor nothing as powerful in this world and the world beyond as love. No spell can harness the power that love creates over the individual who loves. There is no spell that can match the power in the very truth of how far a person is willing go to save their love nor what they are willing to sacrifice protect the person they love. The greatest magic we possess is love," Althea whispered. "It is our greatest passion and it can bring us the greatest agony and I would beg you to please, end my agony. I know that you have the silver dagger, Elijah. I wish for it to mine. I have told you what the secret of life is according to Magana and now you must keep up your end of our deal."

"Handing over the silver dagger was not our deal," he choked back.

"Please," she begged softly as tears fell down her cheeks. "Let me use the dagger you possess in the bottom of your trunk. You promised to give me what I wanted and I want to die. I cannot live like this anymore, Elijah. There is nothing left for me to live for!"

Althea wrapped her arms around herself as she stared out at the beautiful landscape they were surrounded by.

"How many times have we walked down this road?" she asked him softly. "Please…you have my heart in your hands, Elijah. I am at your mercy. Since the very first time you helped me to carry that woven basket of tunics back to your home, you have stolen little pieces of my heart from me and I do not know when you stole the last piece, but you did. I can only beg you not to take a dagger to it any longer. That is the only mercy I ask of you."

Not pausing, Althea turned and walked back down the hill to the manor house. She couldn't let him see her tears because the gods only knew how much she wanted him. It would only lead her to more heartbreak when he turned to another one of his lovers that had the same dark look as Tatia. The heart he held in his hands was so fragile that Althea doubted it would take much for it to shatter into pieces that could never be put back together.

All he had to do was to give her a small, tiny push and the pain he caused would be so that she was willingly crawl to Klaus and beg him to put a dagger into her. She would willingly beg him to end her existence however he could. There was nothing left to live for. Dark grey clouds rolled in above her and thunder rumbled. Picking up her skirts, Althea ran for the large willow tree. Pushing aside the long tendrils of leaves, she fell back against the trunk of the tree and rested her head back.

"Why Esther?" she cried out. "Why did you make me promise all those years ago never to leave him?"

"Because she knew you and I were always meant to be."

Opening her eyes, Althea looked at Elijah as he stood in front of her. She could feel his breath on her cheek and feel the warmth of his body. His long hair had become loose from the ribbon that had held it back and curled behind his ears. His warm brown eyes bore into hers and she felt as if he was staring into her very soul.

"You have confessed yourself," Elijah breathed as they stood sheltered under the branches. "But I have my own confessions. I kissed you in 1114 and since that kiss you have given me no peace. Not even in my dreams! Your lips haunt me. I have wronged you more times than can ever be counted…that will forever be my greatest regret, but in the years I have spent here with you…you have taken your own pieces of my heart from me. Can you not see it? Can you not feel it the very air we breathe? Or have I not done enough to show my true feelings? I know you think I look at you with pity, but it is not so. Tell me Althea, what I must do to convince you of my feelings for you? Ask me anything and I will willingly and I will gladly do whatever you request of me."

His tears fell down to caress her cheeks as if they were her own tears.

"Ask anything of me, Althea," Elijah pronounced as his hand came up to caress her neck. "Ask anything of me, but I beg you not to end your existence. You have been my guiding starlight and I do not wish to live in a world without you. I am a fool! It has taken me this long to realize it, but I do not wish to live darkness. You are the warming light that keeps the heart in my chest from freezing in the darkness that could easily consume me."

Reaching inside his waist coat, Elijah pulled out the dagger and offered the grip to her.

"If you believe that you must end this life," he told her. "I will not stop you. I cannot count the many times you have suffered for what you believed to be my happiness. You have set aside all your own feelings for my imagined happiness. You have walked next to me even as I have inflicted great pain on to you. I will not stop you from reaching out and taking the dagger. I would even press it into your heart if you asked me, but I beg you to let me try and cure the pain that you feel."

"Why? What is the point?" Althea cried as her own tears fell down her cheeks. "What is the point of living, Elijah?"

Thunder rumbled again above them and the sound of rain hitting the leaves began softly. It was one of the few melodies that did not change with time.

"The point of living is so that I can feel the warmth of the starlight that shines from you and share it with you," he whispered softly. "So that every stolen kiss I share with you becomes as much a part of your soul as it does mine. So that every smile and every laugh we share fills your heart with the greatest joy. So that we may make happy memories to replace the years of torment that I have filled your heart with. So that every second I spend with you is not a second wasted, but a moment lived to fullest. The point of living, my Althea, is so that I can love all of you. If you leave, the sky will have lost its brightest star and I will have lost the one thing that I have come to cherish above all else. These clothes, the house we live in… the world means nothing to me without you. Build a life with me that will fulfill every dream you have and even the ones that you did not know existed. Let me live for you until you are ready to live for yourself. Let me carry you when you can no longer carry yourself. Let me shelter you and your heart until you feel ready to reveal them to me again. I promise you, I will treat them as if they with the utmost care because they are the most precious treasure I will ever be given in this long life of ours. Just do not dare to leave this life without knowing how much I've come to love you."

Rain fell from the sky harder as Althea looked back at Elijah, she could see every promise in his eyes and in the tears that had become one with the rain.

"Please," Elijah begged her. "Do not leave…not yet…not before we've loved each other. Not before I've had chance to show you what you mean to me."

The dagger fell from his hand as he cupped her neck with both hands and Althea felt his warm breath on her face before his lips met hers. It was not the passionate kiss she'd expected. No, it was a sweet kiss that told her he'd meant every word. It the kiss she'd told the little girls about in their village before bedtime. It was the kiss the hero gave the girl when he knew that he'd fallen in love with her. It was a kiss she never wanted to end.

He pulled away first and pressed his forehead to hers, "I love you."

Raising her hand to caress his cheek, Althea pulled away and smiled tearfully at him. Taking his hand, she bent down a picked up the dagger he'd tossed aside so easily. Walking, he walked instep behind her as they walked back to the manor in the rain. By the time they reached the stone steps of the veranda that led out to the grounds, they were soaked. Walking up them, she led Elijah to the double doors and pushed them open. He followed her through the entry way with its impressive marble floors and up the grand staircase. Through the maze of halls until she reached his rooms and pushed open the twin doors. Stepping into his sitting room, she walked slowly backwards until she walked into his writing desk. It was only than that she held the blade and offered the grip out to him.

"I wish to change the terms of our deal. I told you what the secret of life is…now this is what you must give me. Elijah, live for me until I can live for myself," she whispered to him, "Make me whole again and love me until the end of all things in this world and beyond. Please, just love me. That is all I ask of you. Forever and always…"

He was before her in heartbeat and the dagger was tossed aside again. He lips were pressed into hers with the sweetest of all passion and Althea cared for nothing else in the world at that moment. The rain poured down outside and the thunder that rattled the glass in the windows, but she hardly noticed as Elijah's lips caressed every part of her skin.

Somehow they made it too the large four poster bed in his chambers. Clothing was removed with shaking fingers and eager caresses. The way his hands skimmed over her sensitive flesh left Althea begging for more. His lips trailed kisses all over her flesh and left her burning. He ignited a flame of desire that she needed to be fulfilled badly. For the very first time, he loved her in the late afternoon of that summer day. Every touch he gave and every kiss she offered brought them closer. Pleasure unlike anything that Althea thought possible hummed through her body. There was not an inch of their bodies that was not left untouched by their hands nor was any part left without a kiss.

It was the closest to heaven Althea was sure that she'd ever reach. With Elijah…she felt as though she touched the stars and bared the last of her soul to him. He murmured her name like it was a long forgotten prayer as he worshiped her body over and over again until he had no more strength. He kissed away every tear and they shared in every moment of bliss as one.

Lying together afterwards in the late afternoon, she caressed his cheek as he held her close. It still rained and the thunder echoed out every so often, but nothing could shake what they had experienced together. A fire burned between them and its warmth warmed the numbness within her soul.

"Marry me," Elijah whispered as his forehead rested against hers, "Marry me again, my starlight from the heavens above, I never want to let you go. I know that I am unworthy of you now, but give a chance to prove myself to you. Give me the chance to be the man you believe that I can be."

Two days later

July 22, 1648…

Elijah let his hand rest on her lower back as she stood beside him in the church. A silvery blue dress was what Althea had worn and he had never seen a more radiant bride in all his long years. Klaus stood on the other side and held onto the bouquet of flowers he'd given her. It was the one tradition Elijah had failed to observe the first time he had married her. It had Finn who had given Althea her bouquet of flowers in 984. Custom had once dictated that the groom wait his bride with the flowers he believed matched her beauty, but he hadn't done that the first time.

This time, Elijah had made sure to find all the flowers he believed represented her beauty, but he still felt like he failed her. There was to be no celebration afterwards and no men waiting to steal kisses from his poor bride the moment he left her side. There was no wedding sheet that needed to be provided as proof to the masses. A quiet meal had been planned with Klaus and Rebekah would arrive later in the week to the news her brother was a newly married man…again.

Watching her pick up the quill, Elijah smiled as she signed her name and the date next to his. This was to be the record that would live on in history. This was the proof that she was giving him a second chance. It was by far one of the most beautiful sights that he'd ever seen.

Althea Mikaelson, 22 July 1648