A/N: This is an AU idea I've had in my head for quite some time now and I couldn't wait any longer to write it. It's a Romeo and Juliet meets Lady and the Tramp version of Delena set in 1865. I hope you like it!

Special thanks to BadBoysAreBest and notenoughpotter for putting up with my insecurities and looking over this for me.

Thump, thump, thump. Elena swallowed thickly as she heard the hum of her heartbeat thud beneath her chest. She sat, placing her hands firmly under her small bottom as to not fiddle with the delicate skin of her fingers, a habit she had indulged in since a child and one that her father hated. "Grubby hands" his voice echoed in her head, the harsh tone of it reminding her of her many telling offs. She shifted atop the soft, velvety upholstery of her bed bench, feeling as though she would suffocate from the tightness of her corset, the many layers of her undergarments and dress heating her in the warm summer's air. She had been told to retire to her chambers and await her father's return, he would bring grand news and good fortune, she had been promised. But, Elena couldn't help but feel nervous.

Her ears perked as she heard the hinges of the grand gates open and the clip clop sound of the horse's hoofs along the cobbled path to the Gilbert mansion. Her father was home, this was it, the announcement she had been waiting for. She inclined her head to the side as she heard her father bundle through the front door, greeting her adoring mother with a faithful kiss before singing to himself merrily as he made his way to her chambers. Elena stood instantly as the door opened and her father sauntered cheerfully into her room. She welcomed him with a smile, her eyes lighting up at his happy persona, the nerves that had riddled her previously, diminishing.

"Father, to what do I owe the pleasure of your joyous self?"

"Our troubles are over my dear, Elena."

"Our troubles?" Elena inquired, smoothing her hands down the lavish material of her skirt.

"Yes child. The feud is no more." Master Gilbert was a man of great prosperity and his family had lived as Kings and Queens of Mystic Falls, unchallenged for many generations. A dispute had erupted when the Salvatore family, Italian shipping tycoons, had settled in what Master Gilbert referred to as his kingdom. He hated having his riches rivalled by a family of similar dignity and affluence and his resentment of this had enthralled the land with bitterness, slander and violence.

"That's wonderful, father. You're so skilled and talented to bring about an end to our suffering." She smiled in approval, having never liked her father's unnecessary obsession with the Salvatore family.

"No my sweet, Elena, you are the answer. You are the one that will end this family's suffering for generations to come."

"Oh!" Elena appeared visibly shocked, her voice capturing an intrigued air. "Please explain, Father."

"You will marry the Salvatore boy. Two grand kingdoms, joined as one in an arranged marriage of fortunes and well being." Her father beamed and cupped her face, planting a tender kiss on her forehead.

Elena had never met the Salvatore son but she had heard gossip among the town's people, a girl who Stefan had courted but who was later considered unworthy by Giuseppe, had boasted that he was irresistibly gorgeous and wonderfully attentive.

"But, Father" Elena desperately tried to interject.

"No buts. Four Saturdays from now, when the sun is at its highest in the sky our families will join in matrimony and end this feud, forever. "

"Please" Elena ran to her father, her voice dripping with desperation as she pleaded with him to reconsider. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting him at least bless me with this."

"Stefan is a charming boy, my sweet. I would only have the best for you and he is the best."

"If you only want the best for me then you will not have me marry someone I've never even set eyes upon. It would be improper to stand before God and vow my love to a man I do not know and who I do not love."

Elena desperately tugged on the cuff of her father's sleeves only to be administered a short, sharp slap across the face. She had become accustomed to his rages and brutal assaults, his hand raised to her on more occasions than she wished to remember, but the sting of his vicious outbursts never failed to surprise her. Elena was many things, but submissive she was not, something which her father hated and took it upon himself to beat it out of her. She stumbled back, her cheek instantly reddening with a powdered blush, tears pricking in her chocolate orbs. Her father may have been a man of business and deals but she never thought he would exchange her, in the terms of one.

"You will be seen and not heard, Elena. Do I make myself clear?I did not raise you to disobey me." John shouted furiously in her face. "You will marry him and you will be grateful that I have bestowed upon you a fitting husband. Now smile and thank your loving father." He calmed slightly as the last words rolled from his lips, his hand smoothing over her flushed, sore cheek.

"Yes Father. Thank you" she bowed her head as soon as she finished her sentence. Allowing the tears to fall from her eyes and flow fluidly down her rosy cheeks.

"Master Gilbert, your bath is drawn." One of the many servants interrupted, beckoning her father away and Elena was thankful to be left alone to wallow in her misfortune. How could this happen to her? She was as close to royalty as they came and she was being traded off as if she were a servant, or worse, a pauper.

Elena sat in the small booth, her chest heaving and tight as she begged air to flood her lungs and give her the strength to speak. Her heart hummed loudly beneath her supple breast and she could feel the eyes of God burning into her, judging her.

"Forgive me Father for I have sinned, it's been a month since my last confession." Elena sobbed in the confessional, taking comfort in the screen that separated her and the priest.

"Go on." Father Saltzman prompted the words from Elena's lips.

"I dishonoured my parents. My father gifted me with a wonderful suitor and I questioned his judgement." Elena bowed her head in shame. She had always been independent and her behaviour had sometimes been frowned upon but she should have known better than to defy her father's words.

"Why did you question him, my child?"

"I do not love my suitor and I do not want to marry a man who I do not love." Elena swept the tears from under her eyes before placing her hands in her lap, beginning to pick at the sensitive skin of her fingers.

"Could you not grow to love him?"

"I do not know him, Father Saltzman."

"You would fare well to get to know him, my dear, for it is your father who holds the final decision. I wish it was different but it is not. May God be with you in your plight and may you grow to love this man who you will soon call your husband."

The heavens had spoken and all Elena could do, was accept her fate and marry Stefan. She would be happy to pull her family from eternal misery and rivalry, even if it meant a life of sadness for her, and like Father Saltzman had encouraged, Stefan would court her and she could grow to love him. The thoughts collided around her mind as she rode in her carriage back to the mansion, desperately trying to reassure herself that her father had bestowed her with a gift, not a plague. What high society girl wouldn't want to marry a man classed as a prince? She sighed and resigned herself to her fateas she sank back into the velvet upholstery of the carriage and closed her eyes to block out the cruelness of the world.

"Miss Gilbert?" Her fair maid roused Elena from her slumber as the mansion came into view. She gulped at the idea of returning to the confines of her chambers, or prison, as she now thought of it, a place to lock her away until she could be carted off to begin her new life, with Stefan. His name made her skin crawl slightly and she already resented him for taking away her freedom.

With elegance, Elena exited the carriage and snuck back into the mansion, bringing her finger to her lips and hushing her fair maid into a silent promise to never speak of her outing to confessional. Reluctant and heavy lidded she retired to her chambers, taking comfort in the soft, silken feel of the luxurious sheets against her olive skin, only for her mind to betray her once again, mulling over her future. Soon she would be married; the thought caused tears to sting in her sullen eyes. Viciously taken from her family as a sacrifice or bargaining chip in the evil terms of the devils deal and given to a man she had never met before.

Morning would come and with it, preparations for her new life, she shook her head and wished it away, tears staining the soft, cream bedding, the speed of it all making her sick with nerves. If only she could wander into the night with a dark prince and never return.

A/N: I'd just like to remind you all that this IS a DELENA story, please, please, please be patient; I just need a little time to get there.

What did you think? If you want this story to continue please be good and review, any feedback, good or bad, helps!