Part 3

"Nik, please…" Cilla pleaded.

"No!" Niklaus shouted. "I won't allow this! Do you hear me! I forbid it!"

Cilla held still as Niklaus marched away. Elijah could see tears in her eyes. Seeing her tears always affected him the same way, he couldn't bear to see her sad.

"Cilla?" he said cautiously.

She startled and quickly dried her eyes before turning to look at him.

"Oh, hi, 'Lijah."

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

She sighed tiredly and shook her head.

"Not really. I just told Nik and he… He didn't take it well."

"Yes, I heard that. But I am sure he will get over it."

"He won't."

Her eyes were watering up again as she pounced on Elijah.

"I hate this," she sobbed. "He needs me; my place should be with him."

"I'm sorry," Elijah murmured. "Please don't cry."

Elijah hated this just as much Cilla did, or perhaps even more. Just the thought of that bastard touching Cilla… No, Elijah wasn't going to allow that. He wasn't going to allow their father to sell Cilla like she would be nothing more than cattle. The marriage Mikael had arranged for her wasn't going to happen.

"It's alright," Elijah assured. "I will speak to mother; I am sure she will…"

"She agrees with father. She said that this is for the best." Cilla paused and pulled away. "She said that my presence harms Nik. That I harm Nik."

"What? That's not true. Niklaus loves you, how could you be harming him?"

Cilla didn't reply, but Elijah could see how upset she was.

"Cilla…"

"Am I hurting you, 'Lijah?" she asked quietly. "Mother said that I am."

Elijah's eyes widened.

"No! No, no, you're not. Why would mother say something like that, that's just…"

"She said that you are not married because of me. What did she mean by that?"

Elijah swallowed and forced himself to smile.

"I have no idea, but it's not true. You know I would have wed Tatia if..."

Yes, Elijah had proposed her and he would have wed her if she wouldn't have been in love with Niklaus. Perhaps Elijah hadn't loved her the way he loved Cilla, but he would have done his best to be a good husband. Apparently he hadn't managed to hide his feelings as well as he had thought, not from his mother. Once again he felt the same guilt he had felt for as long as he could remember. His feelings were wrong, he knew that.

"I'm sorry," Cilla said. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"You didn't," Elijah assured. "You didn't."

Cilla wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I just wish things could be like they used to be," she murmured. "When we were children."

"Me too," Elijah replied quietly.

Unfortunately that wasn't possible, they weren't children anymore. Niklaus couldn't keep Cilla any more than Elijah could. She was a young woman now, a midwife. Ayanna had trained her and it wasn't difficult to see how much she liked working as a midwife. Many men in the village had wanted to wed her, but Elijah hadn't really thought that she would actually get married.

No man was good enough for her, especially a man like Ivar. His family was very wealthy and he had got used to getting what he wanted. He thought that his father could just buy Cilla for him. No, that wasn't going to happen. Cilla deserved so much better than that. Elijah sighed and stroked her hair.

"It's alright, sister."

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Niklaus staring at them. The look in his eyes was very strange, Elijah couldn't interpret it. Niklaus disappeared in the woods before Elijah managed to react. Elijah knew how attached Niklaus was to his twin and he doubted that his brother was simply going to accept Cilla's marriage. Somehow Elijah had a very bad feeling.

12 hours later

Dead. Henrik was dead. No. No, he wasn't dead. He couldn't be. He would be alright.

"It's alright, little brother," Niklaus murmured. "It's alright. I will take you home and mother will take care of your wounds."

There was no answer, but Niklaus barely noticed that. His brother was fine. Everything was fine.

"You shouldn't have followed me," he murmured. "But that's alright, I am not mad at you. Of course not."

Why had Henrik followed him, why? Niklaus wasn't even sure why he had gone to the woods in the first place. What he had hoped to find? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he hadn't wanted to lose Cilla. He couldn't lose her. She had been his rock and shelter ever since they had been born, no one understood him like her. Her place was by his side, she didn't belong to anyone else.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry, little brother. Hold on, we are almost home. Mother! Mother!"

Esther came running, followed by Rebekah.

"Henrik! What happened?"

Niklaus didn't have any words left; his eyes were filling with tears.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry."

Elijah and Kol were running towards them, they both seemed shocked. Cilla was right behind them, she hurried to help Esther.

"Mother…"

"You stay away," Esther hissed. "This is all your fault."

Cilla's eyes widened.

"Wha-what?"

"Stay away!" Esther shouted.

Cilla backed away, unable to understand. She looked at Niklaus who was crying now. Quickly she wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back in a calming motion. Esther let out a painful scream and hugged Henrik's lifeless body.

"My son… My little boy…"

"I'm sorry," Niklaus sobbed.

"Shh, shh," Cilla tried to calm him, although she was also crying.

Finn had appeared next to Kol and Elijah, none of them said a word. There were no words left to say.