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PART ONE

Chapter 1

She felt her stomach churn as she reached the door to his office. That the bar had been closed by a clearly tense and agitated Pam was certainly not a good sign and as she let herself into the office, Sookie was surprised nevertheless to see no less than a half dozen vamps with a pretty, buxom ginger haired vamp. One that looked like she was not in any need for money and there was certainly something regal about her, of that there was little doubt. There was also no doubt that the Authority was by far a more human friendly, fair governing party. Even Pam admitted as much and she hated the fact that it existed. But without it, there could be riots, uprisings. And so the Authority, monarchs and sheriffs remained in secret existence from most humans.

"Ah, here she is, the famous Sookie." said the one vamp, the one she recognized as the leader of the Authority. Jameson Floreon was a shade under five hundred years old and had brought unity and peace under his reign and there was nothing that had given Sookie or her family any reason to not trust him, to dislike him. But he looked grave as he gestured for her to sit down. As she did so, she felt Pam enter the room and also noted that Eric, sitting behind his desk was not even making any attention to look at her. He looked highly angry, as if he were about to snap at any moment. This clearly was not going to be good.

"What can I do for you?" Sookie asked ash the looked at the others in the room. "Have we done something…..I mean, I try to be on the straight and narrow and the worst thing I have done is get a parking ticket and….." she stammered, nerves getting the best of her.

Jameson offered her a friendly smile, though there was sadness in his eyes. "I have come with some news that I think you will not be pleased with….." he sighed as he leaned against the desk. "I bring here Greta, the monarch from Alaska. A recent discovery has shown that there had been a arranged marriage between her and….." he didn't need to finish the sentence. "His maker wanted to ensure that he would be happy, safe in his life even when they had been separated for some time. Apparently Godric was never able to bring himself to reveal the truth but there had been an agreement to give him to Greta here. And in the eyes of the Authority, these two are, for all intents and purposes, married. He is to be her…consort."

Her stomach fell nauseous, the room seemed to spin around her. "How can this possibly be? You Can't force him into this….."

"They can….they threatened your life. And the rest of our families, from Pam to your brother Jason. Jameson, after all happens to be the maker of Greta and he is like a father to her." a gravelly voice spoke up, a voice that was laced with hurt and anger. "I had to sign myself over to ensure your safety and that of everyone else. The Authority is quite backward, stuck in the past at forcing these arranged marriages to be maintained.. Almost archaic, really." a bitter Eric said, still avoiding Sookie's face, which he would have found heartbreaking.

"He is to return to my home with me and help me run the kingdom of Alaska." Greta interjected, her green blue eyes meeting the pained brown ones of Sookie. "I get no pleasure of causing you pain as you have not wronged me. But we must follow tradition-"

"This tradition is bullcrap." Pam interrupted. "Queen or not, you can not force him to leave his life, the life he has wanted…you just….you can not."

"You are getting a good deal from this, your safety, protection…and there will be a monetary compensation coming your way as well." Jameson said, who seemed slightly touched and saddened by the reactions of the family being torn apart. "Traditions must be kept and respected however."

"You are turning him into little more than a slave…..you think any amount of money can make this better?" Pam snapped as the other vamps tensed, bracing for some kind of violent reaction from Pam or Sookie. But they needn't worry, the two women sat where they did.

"We will give you a few moments to….make your goodbyes." Jameson said as Greta tried to suppress the glee she was feeling at landing such a prize. Try as she might to portray herself as a sweet and gentle woman, she was not fooling neither Sookie nor Pam and cast them a smirk as she and her entourage left the room to give the three of them a few moments alone. The door was quickly locked behind the party, ;leaving the three to deal with yet another crisis, arguably the worse they had ever faced.

Chapter 2

"I can not go against them, as much as I want to. They have eyes and ears everywhere and they have to take orders from him or face the true death. And no one would be so foolish as to go against Jameson. I have to go with her to Alaska…I surely want nothing more than to rip all their collective heads off but that would only lead to you being harmed. And if this is what it takes to ensure your safety, it is a price I am willing to pay." he said grimly, Sookie not being able to look at him still. Everything was falling apart.

"After everything we have gone through….after thinking things were looking up and that we could have a life…..she's taking you from me…us…." Sookie said as Pam found herself brimming with a anger unlike any she had ever felt before.

"They can not get away with this, this can't happen…..we can get you out of this, we can find a way, I know it."

"Perhaps you will and I hope you would….but for the time being I have to go, to protect all of you. Eric replied grimly,

There was a silence that was as long as it was painful. They had no other choice but to let him go. "This is not going to be for long." Sookie said, convictions replacing the sorrow in her voice, though the tears on her face was enough to let him know just how broken up she was about it and in fact, a equally sorrowful, rare teary display emitted from him as well. A rare thing to be sure but it was thanks to Sookie he had regained the ability to feel, to show emotions. Make no mistake, he was and would always be, able to inflict devastation and bloodbaths.

"I hate that redhead…I bet she isn't even a natural redhead anyway. Bad dye job I suspect….hopefully you won't have to get a closer inspection, you know…" Pam's attempt at a joke went unheeded as the couple about to be parted against their will embraced for a brief moment before the others rudely reentered the office. The guards flanked Eric, pulling him from Sookie and it was then Greta revealed her true colors, coming off more like the late Nan Flanagan. Caustic, arrogant and unfeeling, she reached to his left hand and plucked off the wedding band he had gotten from Sookie. With a clenching of her fist, she had reduced the metal into a formless blob and held it out to Sookie.

"A parting gift, a souvenir, really." Greta said with a smirk. "But really, this is for the best, isn't it? I mean, he should be with a pure vampire not a freak of nature like you. You do want the best for him, so here it is. But I give my word that your family will be protected and paid well. We had best be off, a long flight ahead of us. Perhaps we can make it home for gazing at the Northern Lights, just like you probably saw when you were in your younger days." she was trying to appeal to his past, the culture he was born from. But he stared blankly at her before speaking.

"I may be going with you…but make no mistake that not matter what…I feel nothing for you and will never do so. You can play these games but I will not be treated as your personal plaything. And should I find out you go back on your word and harm those that I do care about, I would be all too glad to end you even if it means a death sentence for myself."

Greta looked up into his eyes and though she saw nothing but icy hate, she nevertheless forced herself on him, to prove her hold over him, knowing he dared not do anything, what with the threat hanging heavily in the air. And it was then she nodded for her guards, who, with gloved hands, silvered Eric and led him away, swiftly, though they heard the familiar scream from Ginger as they retreated through the club. Of course, they would have to explain what was happening later. But for now, the two women stood motionless, sharing that most unwelcome feeling of hopelessness that they both despised.

TO BE CONTINUED