Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Katherine

It had been a little over four hundred years since we ran from the Castle De Martel, we had travelled all over Europe in that time eventually ending up here in England. We were living as nobles again; it had become our main way of staying in hiding. Even though Father was no longer hunting us, it was necessary, as we had no idea who else was after us. Unlike in the show, all of us were here. Finn had brought Sage with him and a couple of other vampires that he had sired. Elijah brought Aya along with Tristan and a small amount of the strix, who unlike in the show, remained ever loyal to him. Kol only had a few vampires with him, but had also surrounded himself with a coven of witches who he taught magic too. Klaus had brought a few of his most loyal vampires with him, more as a security **** than anything. That left Rebekah and me with the least amount of vampires with us as we had brought Aroura, a young woman called Rose, and I had created seven heretics who were also with us. Rose in particular was interesting as in the show Elijah had turned her and Trevor, but here Rebekah found and turned her and as far as I was aware Trevor did not exist. Louis the First, the vampire I had sired, opted to stay in Europe and deal with my business over there, which I was thankful for as it meant I travelled less and could rein in my family if they got out of control. We had all become extremely powerful in the past century, with our powers increasing to new heights. Flight was effortless for all of us, and control over shadows and fog was even easier. We had even been able to control bats and birds to a degree, the only power we had not all unlocked yet was control over blood, I being the only one to be able to do it and becoming extremely proficient in it. We had discovered that vampires we sired were unable to use the extra powers we had, much to their chagrin of some of my brothers who wanted to have true equals. I, of course, was glad knowing that there was even less of a chance that they would try to turn on us, or attempt to usurp our power.

Kol, Finn and I had gone south a few days ago, finding ourselves in London, one of the largest cities at the time, housing around fifty thousand people, a far cry from what it would become but impressive for the time. Currently, we were sitting in a relatively large tavern drinking ale and eating, although neither would affect us, it was necessary to fit in with those around us. Finn had gone to get us more ale, leaving me and Kol alone for a time. When he returned, both Kol and I were surprised to see a young brunette on his arm laughing at something he said. As the young brunette turned to face us, the familiar visage of a Petrova doppelganger met my eyes. I knew that the Petrova doppelgangers were perfect copies of one another, yet it still took me by surprise how much Katherine looked like Tatia. Brothers, "This is Katerina Petrovna, she has been recently exiled from her homeland of Bulgaria, as such, I offered for her to travel north and stay with us,", Finn explained casually as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Standing, I greeted her, grasping her hand and laying a kiss on her knuckles like I had done with Aroura many centuries ago.

After greeting Katerina, I excused myself so I could make preparations to travel. We had planned on heading back home in the next few days, and the appearance of the doppelganger had encouraged my siblings to head back sooner. We would travel back with a caravan of carts, dozens heading north, ours luxurious with enough room for ten people to travel comfortably. Considering that there were only four of us, it should be more than adequate. A second cart would follow u,s stock full of chests, many filled with gold and silver from my business ventures in Europe, the rest having fine silks and exotic spices I wished to sell to the nobles.

We set off early in the morning, unlike when we headed south the trip north would take over a week, whereas going south took less than a day as we relied on our enhanced speed to run there. All that we could really do to pass the time was talk or play chess, a board game introduced to Europe centuries ago that my siblings and I had gotten extremely good at. I was currently even teaching Katerina how to play, while subtly interrogating her to find out if her history was the same as it was in the show. So far, all seemed to be the same; she had grown up with her family in Bulgaria, eventually having a child out of wedlock, leading to her exile. After being exiled, she travelled through Europe before arriving in England and meeting Finn, Kol and me in London. All in all, the trip south had been eventful, even if it was cut short. I had gained contacts throughout covens in the south of England, collected shipments delivered by Louis in France and now had a doppelganger in my care.

We arrived late back after eight days of travelling, having separated from the rest of the caravan some hours early, our two carriages now cut through the empty streets and into the courtyard of our mansion. Stepping out of the carriage before helping Katerina out I saw a look that stated she was impressed by our wealth. "Lord Asmund, when your brother said that you were wealthy, he may have been underestimating how wealthy you actually are". Katerina said the same look still on her face as she scanned the massive mansion in front of us. "Well, Finn is not one to brag, and we have all been extremely lucky with our investments over the years", I retorted as she wrapped her arm around mine. Before our conversation could continue, the main doors to the mansion opened, out stepped Rebekah, followed by Rose, Aroura and three of my heretics, and several servants followed behind them. They swiftly walked towards the carriage before the servants broke off to begin unloading the carriage. "Asmund, you're back earlier than expected, I am glad", Rebekah stated before pulling me in for a kiss. "Really, you two, in front of our guest", Kol stated before slapping me on the back. Both Rebekah and I shot him a dirty look that he just laughed off before going straight into the mansion. "Yes, our guest, I would like you all to meet Katerina Petrova", I introduced her to all the vampires present before continuing ", Rose, I would request that you show her around and keep an eye on her," I added. Rose quickly agreed before she and Aroura left with the doppelganger in tow. "Why do you always seem to pick up strays, brother?" Rebekah asked me, a smile adorning her face. "Why not? But this was not technically my fault. Blame Finn; he found her" I responded while shooting a look at my awfully quiet brother. Finn just laughed before heading inside himself, leaving just me, Rebekah and the heretics as the servants had already finished up and headed inside. "Have you accomplished the task I set for you?" I asked the three heretics, a smile raised on the oldest one's face, Marco, the unofficial second in command of the heretics after me, of course. "Yes, lord Asmun, the elixir was completed a couple of days ago, the other four of our ranks are currently cloaking, it as we speak" Marco spoke in his thick Italian accent. "That is good, once they have completed the cloaking spell, all seven of you take a few days off, I shall award you all for your help in this task". Smiling, all three heretics who thanked me before blurting off to join the others. "Well then, brother, now that we are alone, you should tell me of your journey as we go to our bed chambers, but be quick about it, I don't want to spend too long talking". Rebekah spoke again a flirtatious smile on her face as we started off towards our room.