Chapter Text
ADNE’S POV
The scent of blood still lingered, even after the scalding shower she took left her skin flushed and irritated. She did her best to ignore it, as she lathered herself in vanilla scented lotion and slid on a matching set of flannel pajamas. New Orleans rarely ever reached freezing temperatures, but Adne always ran cold, even in the midst of a summer heat wave.
Her family had returned home by the time she exited the bathroom, though they remained in the formal wear they had gone out in. Immediately, she took note of her sister’s appearance. It was hard not to have one’s eye drift towards Calypso Covington, the shining star of their empire, their parents’ pride and joy.
Her ivory dress wrinkled, make-up smeared down her cheeks, and a look of betrayal aimed towards their father evident on her face. Adne couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like for Calypso, to be able to wear her emotions so plainly, without fear of punishment. She certainly had never had that right.
“Daddy, you can’t make me do this. I won’t .” Her lip wobbled as she seemed to continue an argument Adne was not a part of- though that was hardly a novel concept when it came to the private matters of their family. Adne didn’t need to know; she just needed to obey.
“Cale, you cannot send our daughter into that lion’s den! I don’t care what they’ve promised!” Her mother cut in, laying a comforting hand on her eldest daughter’s back, and sending her husband a pleading look.
Deucalion Covington appeared as uncaring as ever.
“I’ve made my decision; we need this alliance- with Marcel off the throne and the witches more rebellious than ever…”
Adne considered cutting in to say the witches would probably be a bit more cautious for at least a little while, considering the losses they’d suffered that night, but she knew better than to speak up without permission unless it was really important.
“And there’s no other way?” Her mother interrupted once again.
“The marriage seems to be working out for the wolves. It seems logical to follow suit.”
Marriage . Their father had promised Calypso’s hand in marriage to someone, Adne realized.
An inevitable fate, unless Calypso had found a fortuitous match on her own without his interference. It was for that reason their older brother, Evander, had gotten married the moment he graduated college, to the first witch from an influential family that he didn’t find entirely objectionable.
But for Calypso, twenty-seven and still no viable matches on the horizon, what had she expected?
Well, she probably expected the rules to not apply to her, as per usual thanks to her status as the golden child.
“But he’s a vampire!”
Oh , that was a plot twist, Adne mused.
Their family paraded themselves as entirely human, though there was plenty of speculation in the quarter as to whether or not that was actually true. Regardless, they aligned themselves primarily with other humans, witches, and sometimes the wolves when they had something worth striking a bargain for. They avoided working with the vampires, at least publicly; it was more beneficial to pretend to be the underdogs, working against the ruling faction in order to rally more allies.
But perhaps with the return of the Originals, that was destined to change. Perhaps her father saw them as a fight he couldn't win against, and figured it would serve him better to fall into line now.
“Technically, he’s a hybrid.” Evander drawled out from his spot kicked back on the sofa, earning him a dirty look from both Calypso and their mother.
Hybrid . That meant it was just any high-ranking immortal set to be Calypso’s husband, but Niklaus Mikaelson, perhaps the most notorious of the Originals.
“I won’t marry him.” Calypso reiterates, even more childishly this time.
If it had been Ariadne talking back like that, he’d have already backhanded her. Because it was Calypso, however, she only received a tired sigh.
“Callie, I have taken care of you your entire life, paid for your schooling, your clothes, and your fancy apartment; in return, all I ask, is that you serve your family and marry who I select for you-”
“Anyone but him ! He’s a monster!”
Adne had to bite her tongue from asking her sister what she thought the rest of them were. They may not have an eternal life expectancy, but their hands got plenty bloody from the limited time they did have on Earth. Then again, that was another thing Calypso had the luxury of turning a blind eye to.
Speaking of which, her sister’s eyes finally seemed to flicker to Adne, still standing half concealed by the shadowy hallway. She could tell what went through Calypso's mind the second that their eyes met. But there was no stopping it, the words were already leaving her mouth before Adne could even finish mentally bracing herself for impact.
“Why can’t Adne do it? It’s not like the Mikaelsons are insisting that it be me. I can get a better match; she can’t.”
Ouch . She wasn't wrong; it wasn't like she had suitors lining up out the door from any one of the factions- but it was rude of Calypso to point that out.
Adne froze under her father’s calculating gaze, awaiting her sentencing without a word of argument.
“Ariadne serves our family in other ways.” He pointed out, his tone not quite as harsh, meaning he was considering it.
The time to speak was now, which meant it was also time for Adne to make a snap verdict on what she wanted. She wasn’t used to making her own decisions; instead, she found it was best to hope for nothing, rather than be disappointed. But marriage was not something she could remain neutral on- let alone marriage to the Original Hybrid.
She weighed her pros and cons.
Pro- she’d be a step further away from her family’s influence.
Con- she’d be under the control of perhaps a worse monster.
Pro- she’d be able to get closer to Marcel and finally figure out what really happened to Thalia…
“I can continue doing what I do and marry the hybrid.” She finally spoke, her words and tone both kept nonchalant, her body still leaning casually against the wall. The look her sister gave was almost one of gratitude, if she was even capable of such an emotion.
“You know she’d be better suited for this than Calypso.” It was the closest her mother had come to complimenting her in nearly ten years, and naturally it was for neither her own benefit nor best interest.
Still, never one to allow anyone to influence him or take anyone else’s feelings into consideration, Deucalion made a show of thinking it over himself.
“You couldn’t use this as an excuse to slack off; it’s more important than ever that we keep our edge.”
“I understand that, Sir. I just figured I’d be an even more useful asset keeping an eye on the Mikaelsons than Calypso, considering my abilities.”
She decided not to point out, that her abilities might also be her Achilles heel in this arrangement. For every strength she had, she had a devastating weakness, and if she didn't maintain a careful balance...
“Hm… And you’re quite certain you won’t be discovered?” Her father seemed to read her mind anyways.
“Our kind has gone unnoticed for generations; I won’t be the one to break that streak. I’ve been doing this longer than most.” She pointed out, trying her best not to let her words sound too bitter.
She was chosen for this role at only twelve years old; younger than most would deem appropriate, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Regardless, she had been fulfilling her duties flawlessly for a decade now. Most who came before her only made it a couple of years before it either became too hard on their body, they were driven to madness, or they met an enemy they couldn’t overcome; but not Adne.
And it was a good thing too, seeing how there still wasn’t a viable replacement for her, for when she inevitably did kick the bucket- which was bound to happen sooner rather than later.
“Indeed, you have.” He agreed, before he sighed and ran a hand through his gray streaked hair. “Are you sure?”
Her younger self may have wondered if the fact that he actually asked meant that he loved her or at least respected her more than Calypso. But by now she knew better than to think he saw any one of them as anything more than pawns for him to move about the invisible chess board of New Orleans politics. He just wanted her to make the final call, in order to be able to throw this back at her, should things go awry later.
“I’m sure.” She confirmed.
“Well then,” Evander stood from the couch and stretched, as though he’d just been enjoying a nap, rather than listening to them argue which one of his younger sisters to marry off. “I best be off; Zia’s probably worried.”
“Tell her and Orion I said ‘hi’.” Adne cut in, a soft smile tugging across her lips just thinking of her kind sister-in-law and troublemaking nephew; easily her favorite two members of their family.
“I will.” Evander replied flippantly, as he pressed a kiss to their mother and then Calypso’s cheek on autopilot.
“You’ll return for the engagement dinner this Sunday.” Their father ordered him before he could reach the door.
“Yessir!” Her brother gave a playful salute before leaving the townhouse.
“I believe we’ve all had a tiring day. Callie, sweetie, would you like the staff to prepare your old room for you?” Her mother chimed in, still rubbing her sister’s arm reassuringly.
“I don’t think I can stomach being around him after what he put me through tonight.” Callie sniffled and gave their father another sharp glare.
Their father remained unmoved by the display of emotions.
“Ariadne, we still have business to discuss. Follow me to my office so I can lay out the guidelines for this marriage, and you can give me a report of what happened on your mission tonight.”
“Yes sir.” She said diligently, already heading back down the hall without a second glance towards her sister.
There was no point waiting for a ‘thank you’- unlike her future husband, Adne didn’t have forever.