continued from here with @lordofthestrix
to call herself a princess had been a very stupid idea, but in her trouble the only thing that seemed sensible to her. a princess would not be hurt, she would not be killed. they might try to negotiate and propose an exchange. perhaps they would even treat her well to earn an advantage and the favor of royalty.
even if you could see clearly that she was not a princess. she was completely out of breath and her heart galloped in her chest with fear and anxiety. her green dress was muddy and torn from the branches of the forest and she was bleeding. trevor had told her that she would find shelter when she reached this hut in the woods. now she had been captured by someone else despite fierce opposition and taken to a place she did not know.
katerina had her arms wrapped around her delicate body, her shoulders slightly raised when she heard this unknown voice that came out of nowhere. it wasn’t klaus or elijah, but that didn’t mean anything. the unknown man undoubtedly knew the two, he seemed to know that she had been their guest, although she had not betrayed them by introducing herself as princess.
she had taken it as a great honor that they had sent her an invitation to a castle, that a lord apparently had an interest in her and was seeking an engagement. all lies and deceit, as it turned out, they only wanted her death, her blood to be more precise.
katerina shuddered as the man introduced himself with a name and revealed that he was just like them. that all of them were just like them. her chocolate brown eyes nervously flickered around, feeling like a rather vulnerable prey that was presented on a golden plate. and indeed, that feeling was only confirmed when she was referred to as 'food'. the man, tristan de martel, let her (or more the others) know that he does not play with his food. could she trust these words? no, because words meant nothing to these creatures of the night. the mikaelsons, the ones she had tried to escape from, also exchanged pleasantries and promises first before they showed her their true intentions, even if not voluntarily. to her understanding, every undead being desires to break this curse. if tristan and his people belong to them, then he might want to kill her as well.
the human flinched as the door fell behind fell into lock and the men disappeared on tristan’s orders. whoever this tristan was, his word seemed to have power, all the more reason not to trust him. he was just like them.
she twitched again as tristan approached her and held her breath in an attempt to make herself invisible; yet her trembling limbs carried her to the place where tristan wanted her. she could hardly stand up anyway, her feet hurt and she had no strength, yet her hands blindly seized her soiled skirts to lift them slightly, as she was instructed to sit at the generous set table. she felt immediately out of place, too dirty to sit on those fine chairs; too weak and afraid to even pay attention to the meal that was offered to her.
"how do you know my name?", she finally asked with a quiet tone, afraid to alarm anyone that may pose a threat. katerina did not know what tristan wished to discuss with her. she did not trust him and his words at all. why is she supposed to trust him when he could just buy time before he cuts her throat?
