10th century

As Niklaus stood in front of a stone altar, watching a dark-haired girl walking towards him, he could only think about one thing. Why couldn't that girl be Tatia? It wasn't fair. Tatia was the one he wanted. The one he loved. Unfortunately his father had seen that and of course he had wanted to take that from Niklaus.

Elijah wanted Tatia as well and Mikael had wanted to make sure she wouldn't choose Niklaus over his older brother. It wasn't fair. Niklaus didn't want this marriage, but his father hadn't left him much choice. Mikael and the girl's father had backed Niklaus into a corner. They had arranged him and the girl in the woods alone without a chaperone. Nothing had happened, Niklaus had barely spoken to the girl, but her father had demanded this marriage.

If Niklaus would have refused after "ruining the girl's reputation" he would have been banished from the village. Maybe that would have been better than this. Niklaus sighed and glanced at his sister. Rebekah had begged him to agree to this, she didn't want him to leave the village. He most certainly didn't want to leave her, so he would do this.

Kol, Elijah and Finn were standing behind him, but he didn't look at them. Henrik was standing with Esther, he smiled at Niklaus. The whole village was here, celebrating the wedding. There was plenty of food and ale, Mikael had made sure that everyone would remember this feast. Obviously he hadn't done any of it for Niklaus, he had only wanted to demonstrate the wealth of their family.

Niklaus pressed his lips together and glanced at his bride. She was wearing a modest wedding gown and she had flowers in her hair. He didn't think that she was ugly, but she was nothing comparing to Tatia. Brown curls, olive skin, curvaceous body… His bride had none of those. Her hair was black, her skin pale and her body bony. She had got used to hard labor.

That wasn't a bad thing he supposed, at least she was hardworking. Very different than Tatia. Niklaus had always loved her smile and their conversations. His bride however didn't seem to be very talkative and he had never seen her smiling. Kol had suspected that perhaps she wasn't very smart. She and her father stopped in front of the altar.

"Who gives this woman away?" the village elder asked.

"I do," her father replied.

"Do you willingly transfer your power of guardianship and protection over this woman to this man?"

"I do."

Niklaus held out his hand and said the words he was supposed to say, thanking the girl's father for his gift. Gift, sure. As he took her hand, he promised to take her under his protection. The village elder tied their wrists together and said some more meaningless words. Niklaus couldn't really concentrate, he was hoping for this to be over already.

He said the words the village elder wanted him to say, but to him they were nothing more than empty, meaningless words. He didn't feel anything toward this girl, he barely knew her. Yet he was now tied to her. The thought filled him with bitterness as he glanced at his father. Hopefully Mikael was happy now after managing to ruin Niklaus' whole life. Bastard.

"You may now seal your union with a kiss," the village elder said.

Niklaus hadn't really listened, so he didn't react before Kol shoved him.

"You are supposed to kiss her now," Kol whispered.

Niklaus swallowed and looked at his bride. There was no expression on her face; she looked at him calmly with her dark eyes. Alright, a kiss… He leaned forward and touched her lips briefly with his. Everyone cheered. Almost everyone. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tatia. Her arms were crossed and she was looking at him accusatively. Surely she knew that he would have never done this, if he would have had a choice? This girl, Mag, who was now his wife, could never ever replace Tatia. How could he ever be happy without his true love?