Disclaimer: All of the following is thoughtfully rearranged from the original works of Charlaine Harris. So I cannot scream MINE.

One of the other questions that's got me worked up from DITF is "Why did Eric need to tell Sookie about zones in such an all fired rush?" and corollary to that "Why had Pam been pushing Eric to tell her?"

This fic also contains spoilers from Two Blondes short. This is the outer limits of my extrapolations – still one degree, but it feels out on a limb more than the others, as information is spread out in snippets all over the books and I'm not as sure as I usually am that I haven't missed something. So I would please ask that if you're going to rebut a point, could you check your books first to make sure your memory is correct? If you rebut from memory and you're remembering wrong or remembering a close approximation, then it doesn't help me at all. I can assure you I've checked my books.

Thanks to Thyra10, who has been chanting Felipe! Felipe! at me during our many talks to push this one along. This is for vikinglover elle who asked me why Eric was so dejected at the end of DITF – my other fic is the micro crisis, and this is the macro crisis. Special thanks to VerityV for a couple of corrections - thank you. :-*

Yay for finally a Pam POV fic! I couldn't rightly see how Sookie would give two hoots about politics, but Sookie hasn't been given as much information as Eric has. Compromise – Pam! :D Contrary to readers, Pam cannot see into Sookie's mind as we can, but I'm going to assume that she knows (because of course she does and much more besides) as much information as Sookie does. But I can fudge it so that Eric just hasn't told Pam stuff yet. :D

This fic has a map! Just for your visual - a best approximation of the zones thanks to the books, along with a map showing casino oversaturation. This is based on a casino saturation map I found on google - about the issues with casinos the United States. Casinos are key to vampire political machinations - praise be to Pam in Two Blondes for that.

You can find the link on my profile, or remove the spaces to parse the URL: http : /oi53 . tinypic . com/t9fuxv . jpg

I'd been telling Eric that he needed to tell Sookie more about the vampire world – more of the world that he'd pulled her into. In the short term, the pledging kept her in Louisiana, but in the long term, Eric had pulled her into a much bigger fight and she may yet pay the price. Sookie had shown in the past that even when it looked impossible from our viewpoint – the vampire viewpoint – she could get in under the wire. We told her all the information about Bill, sent her off and she came back with everything. On Dracula Night, when all of us vampires would have had to stand by watching her slaughter, she staked Dracula. She was not a human I underestimated, and I would not go easy on her.

So far, she'd been pulled into power struggles borne of vampire political contortions - not the desire for her telepathy, but the desire to hurt Eric – the assassination attempts by Charles Twining and Bruno Brazell - on the orders of Hot Rain and Victor Madden. She needed to understand that a far bigger one was brewing. Eric and I had chosen to enter the world of vampire politics - we were creators of our own fate - but Sookie had been pulled into it by...well...us. Now she would have to work so that she could keep creating her own fate, rather than be a victim to it. No one would do it for her, but in order to do that she needed information. Sookie also needed to know that Eric would be under more pressure than ever – he would not be able to handle too much in his personal life – she could not lean on him as much as she might expect. She also needed to know that the price of her marriage was high, and might mean her end.

.*° o O 0 * 0 O o °*.

When it came to territory, one of the first things to think about is the nature of Area Five itself. Area Five is basically the top part of Louisiana – a big wide piece of territory that covered almost the top part of the state. Area Five had twenty vampires in it before Katrina, and after Katrina, quite a few vampires were hanging around. Eric hadn't really fully incorporated some of the refugees into the Area yet, although they were all registered with him, and paid tribute, their place in things wasn't completely settled. Too much had happened, and it just hadn't had time to quite cement.

Area Five was relatively rich, large and covered a lot of territory. It was Eric's job to deal with it, and he was the only Sheriff left from the old regime. As Victor pointed out, Eric's Area was the most prosperous, and a big money earner. Of course, Eric had Bill's database to add in there, making him money, but Eric made money all on his own. He had interests in a lot of businesses in his Area; it just so happened that Fangtasia was the most lucrative of those. Eric spent a good deal of his time working on making his Area more prosperous and he had the marketing books to prove it.

Fangtasia was the public face of his mini-empire, and hid a lot of things. It was effective because it meant that Eric could keep his eyes on vampires, while having a reason to have vampires lurking around. Neighbourhoods didn't like vampires congregating in one area, but if it was a bar, in a commercial area, no one batted an eyelid. The humans who watched us would think nothing nefarious was going on in plain view. A sheriff surely wouldn't want to be sitting at home, holding court in between manicures, and needed to make money – a bar was a brilliant compromise.

Eric was the type of boss that lots of vampires loved both to work for, and to have working for them. There were, from the outside, lots of reasons to keep him alive. For the vampires who worked under him, he provided protection and treated them with honour. That's not to say that he was a caring boss. As Felicia was fond of telling me, he was no softy. Eric kept a firm hand on the reins, and made it clear to his underlings that he was a force to be reckoned with. After what happened to Longshadow, there were no more incidents of stealing from Eric – it just wasn't worth your un-life. Eric paid dearly for it, but it saved him money in the long run – and built his reputation as well.

Eric could not be seen to be too lenient, or too kind. That would show he was weak - and Eric didn't show other vampires he was weak. Otherwise, another vampire would surely see his moment to rise to the position of Sheriff and do away with Eric. That week he was cursed by the witches, it was my job to hold every vampire in line - and I was truly relieved to have him back. If he hadn't returned, then I surely would have been challenged. The only thing that stopped a challenge at all was the fact that witches threatened all of our businesses - and it would mean a takeover of an Area under attack.

While Eric couldn't be seen as too lenient, it also meant that he could not be too cruel. Cruel for vampires is a relative term. Staking Longshadow for stealing was no nevermind. If he'd tortured and shamed Longshadow, even if he'd let him live, then surely he would have caused mutiny in the ranks. It was good that the victim wasn't around to grumble about his treatment and the unfair nature of it. Those jealous of their lives could lose them for crossing Eric. Far better for all of the vampires in our Area to know that Eric's justice was swift, deadly and irrevocable.

Of course, unlike some others, Eric was always very hands-on with his businesses, and his Area. Eric needed to know how vampires were reacting, and also, what they might be mumbling about him. Eric needed to know what was going on, in order to quell any fight for power. Fangtasia provided a way for him to keep an eye on vampires in his Area. By doing bar duty, he heard things from vampires, and kept resentment down. As Eric had told Sookie recently, we all spied on each other. If Eric was a lesser boss, that only created motivation to report on everything that he was doing. If he was a boss that worked hard, instead of just working his employees hard, then the vampires spying on him for others would then be less likely to tell others bad things, but good things would abound.

While I disagreed with him on letting some into our Area, I always went with his decisions. Eric loved to salt away resources for another time. Thalia was one such resource – even if she was almost impossible to manage. Having her in our Area was like having a tethered badly trained pitbull in our yard. If she got out of control, then we would be hard pressed to stop her, but hopefully if push came to shove, we would have a very old vampire willing to take up arms in Eric's defence, just because she was comfortable here. We had Bill Compton and his database of course - which made us a lot of money, no matter that it caused trouble too. Bill took a risk creating it, but he could do the work on it better than anyone. That database pushed us over the line when the takeover happened, even if it did take an effort to protect it.

It was of course, in our best interests to be hard workers. If one didn't work hard, then you might be replaced. Traditional replacement in the vampire hierarchy meant a stake and someone else occupying your chair the next night. It didn't mean you got to quit or walk away easily. What vampire would give you a job and responsibility elsewhere if you were prone to walk away? Not to mention, what would you do for the rest of eternity but work and fight for more money? Eternity is a lot of time to fill. I think I was born for this - working and killing. We all worked – all of us – to be of value and make your way, it meant at least being able to put a dollar figure on your worth so that you were less attractive to kill. It was essentially the vampire way of life.

.*° o O 0 * 0 O o °*.

Area Five is not just that it's prosperous, but it's a long established Area, in long established Louisiana. Louisiana is the primary place for the landing of new vampires, and once was for new humans. The state had been in Sophie Anne's hands for some time. We had recently acquired the territory of Arkansas to add to the territory of Louisiana as well. It was new to our kingdom and has no establishment at all. During the events surrounding the marriage of Sophie Anne LeClerq and Peter Threadgill, every single one of the Arkansas vampires there at the party were killed. Eric himself took care of quite a few, and the rest of the Louisiana vampires made sure that none of the Arkansas vampires lived to tell the tale of that night.

There was a small party left over under Jennifer Cater, who wanted Louisiana as price for the King's failed takeover bid. What few vampires were left after the marriage celebrations of Sophie Anne and Peter were finished off at the Rhodes summit. That included the existing power structure. The nature of the vampires in Arkansas was largely rogue – unless Victor had gotten round to trying to fix the problem. Judging by Eric's workload, I would say not. As it stands now, it has no power structure, and is for all intents and purposes, an empty state with the bare minimum.

There were no sheriffs the night of the Las Vegas takeover – Sophie Anne was too injured up to that point to install new people in her new acquisition, and she'd intended to do that after the summit. Of course, the summit was such a disaster for her power base – she lost her legs and Andre. Sigebert was not made for his skills in politics, and did nothing to hold together the fragile power base. Sophie Anne didn't install new people - she delayed until she had no more time. Arkansas was wide open and that meant that Louisiana was too.

Even if Sophie Anne, and Eric – whose territory bordered Arkansas – had put in more vampires in Arkansas than there was at the time of Rhodes, they still wouldn't have a well-built system that had well-established channels. If anyone was there, if any vampires were there, they were untested, and they didn't have any sort of continuity – not like Eric's Area Five did. The Sheriffs in Louisiana on the night of the takeover had a phone chain with each other – but there was no system of warning in Arkansas. We were alone in the top of the state. That meant that in between the rest of the states and Louisiana, the only real power was…Eric.

Of course, it wasn't set up like that by accident. Eric didn't just happen to hold the most territory in Louisiana, based on nothing more than his pretty face. He'd fought hard for it, and proved to be an excellent manager. Before we had acquired Arkansas, Eric was the stronghold for the top of the state of Louisiana. While Eric held the top of the state against incursions, he needed someone installed in the bottom of the state who could hold his own. Sophie Anne was that power, and now Victor was that power. Power had to be spread out – not concentrated on one place.

Louisiana was a desirable piece of real estate. It was still a major entry point for vampires to the United States – they came in by port, as Anubis Airlines hadn't offered trans-Atlantic flights at this time. All of them came in the ports that landed at Louisiana. We were a state that was known for receiving vampires well – they'd been written about here for years - and we got refugees from all over the world, and all over the United States. Sophie Anne was formidable, and kept other monarchs at bay. No one - that is until Felipe - had dared to take over the state. Felipe took a risk, and it paid off.

Sophie Anne was a brave Queen, and paired with Andre, she was sure to get what she wanted. She'd even managed to outsmart Eric – being able to send her own agent Bill Compton into the Area to steal an asset out from under Eric's nose. Of course, Eric never suspected what he was there for – we both knew that every new vampire was a spy, or served another purpose. That's why Eric couldn't be both too trusting, or too suspicious. It's how it went with those who were without power – for Felicia, Rasul, Heidi, Bill. Power in the structure meant power to control your own life - as much as anyone can.

Sophie Anne always had a grand plan, and she was smart enough to stay a few steps ahead of Eric – blind-siding him with the plan to have a telepath. Of course, we would have snatched her up ourselves. If we'd known about a telepath in the area, we would have had her in our service. If a human – or any supe that doesn't have the force behind them we vampires do – has someone they love, then they have vulnerability, and we can make them do as we wish. If Bill hadn't campaigned for his own position as Area Five Investigator, we might have found a way to kill him off so that Sookie had no protection. Instead, Bill found himself a position, a bit of power, and someone other than Sookie who might notice he went missing.

I can't help but think it was smart not for Sophie Anne to give her only real potential rival the shaft and have Sookie's power all to herself. After all – telepaths can't just read humans – they can read the humans that belong to other vampires. They're not a tool to use just to find out if you've been cheated, but the ultimate undercover spy on all other vampires. She would have been a fool to let that fall into Eric's hands – something Victor and Felipe didn't much like either.

Sophie Anne was formidable – until Katrina, she'd held Louisiana, a rich part of the state, and a mecca for vampires. In terms of dollars in vampire related tourism, it meant a lot. It was where the whole world associated vampires with America, just like witches were associated with Salem. Fangtasia benefited from the notion that Louisiana was a place where a curious human could be assured that they would be able to view a vampire up close and personal.

In order to keep the state in her hands, she needed someone worthwhile in the top part of the state so that they would be a breaker from other states. If Sophie Anne had concentrated all of the power in the capital, it would give the other states and other zones room to move into the state and set up operations. In order to hold the entire state, she couldn't let them get a toehold in the top part of the state at all. It needed to be held by someone strong and old – someone with tactical experience, and that quality valued by vampires – extreme sneakiness. Eric had spies everywhere, and wasn't averse to putting his own ear to the ground to find things out.

Both times Sookie went to other states – Mississippi and Texas – Eric had followed along and used watching his asset as an excuse to be in another state. If worst came to worst, and Eric was caught out spying in other territories, then he could claim he was there to watch over his telepathic asset. Both of those states bordered ours, and bordered Eric's territory. He needed to know what was going on over the border, and what might soon affect him.

In order to have spies in other states, one has to recruit them and retrieve information from them. It doesn't hurt to have a vampire over a thousand years old come to visit and remind you why you should help him, as it were. There is little point in waiting for when you need the information and wanting it. Eric always took the pre-emptive approach if he could, and built up informants for when he needed them. Eric used Sookie's presence as good cover for his own visits to states under different rulers and in other zones.

As I understand it, he was able to be of assistance to Sookie over in those states. In Texas he'd picked glass out of her arm, and in Mississippi he'd given her blood to facilitate the rescue of Bill. But that happened after she got there - and served to preserve his asset working on his purposes – and Eric had no way of knowing that she would indeed need his help. We don't, at this time have any psychic assets – she was just lucky he was on hand, and had his own purposes to be there. Of course, if he'd been found out, he could have ended up landing her in more hot water than she was already in.

When he went over to Texas, he used that opportunity to not only see the telepath that interested him, but to have a peek around Stan's nest and talk to the vampires in situ. Eric could get information from Stan's nestmates, and see what it was that Texas was doing from the top down. When he went to Mississippi, he pumped the informants he had there already for information about Bill's whereabouts, and as I hear it, built up allies in the area.

Eric would go into an Area, and pose as a small time vampire, no one of consequence. I'd done it myself. Make friendly with the locals; get to know the underworld in the Area, the humans who would be willing to spy for their own petty grievances against the local vampire power structure. He'd find out the amount of holdings that the Area had – and do some reconnaissance on the buildings that the Area vampires frequented.

All this information would be collated and put aside to help deal with the sometimes-fraught political situation of the vampire power structure. The abduction of Bill had been a time when we were glad that Eric had the foresight to have spies in other states on hand for when we needed them. We had our own agents go and find out the information, and bring us back the tale of how Bill went missing. The official channels for information were too worried about how it would affect them – we needed less bias and more information.

Eric is perfectly placed for spying and defence. His Area needs to be strong so that the vampires from other states and other zones can't set foot on Louisiana turf. Here at the apex of the state, Area Five borders onto Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi. Arkansas is now the empty territory owned by Sophie Anne, and part of the Amun zone. Mississippi too, is part of the Amun zone. But that just makes Russell another monarch that would love to acquire our state. Texas is in the Zeus zone – and wants in on Louisiana's action too.

Eric was even more valuable in this Area – it's not only a point for launching into our state – it's the point for launching into the entire zone, and into other zones like Zeus, with Texas. As I had told Sookie myself on our trip to the Blonde strip club in Mississippi, the point to all of this was casinos. Our new masters had been chipping away at Russell Edgington's control of the state, as another state that had a lot of casinos. Area Five in Louisiana was a staging point for chipping away at the other states within the zone – which ultimately meant more money for Felipe de Castro and certainly more control.

Of course, at the moment, Texas is having its own issues. After the Rhodes bombing, Stan Davis' control is no longer as absolute as it once was. Joseph, his second, is having a difficult time holding onto power, and Rachel, another vampire was building support to go against him. Of course, we're aware of the power change coming through spies. Texas is a larger territory than Mississippi, and may be less vulnerable at this moment. It would also mean crossing into the Zeus zone – so best for Felipe to stick to one zone at a time.

Russell Edgington, as Eric had observed, was not the hands-on manager Eric was. He didn't notice the same amount of vampires trekking through his Area that Stan did. Russell was hands off – not even reacting that "Leif" was in his Area without knowing who he was, and welcoming me to come into his state to attempt to poach some of his subjects for Felipe at Blonde. Eric told me that Stan immediately noticed an intruder when he was in the Texas nest. All of this was valuable information for our new Masters – in the acquisition of territory and the businesses that went into it. Mississippi was first because it was in the same zone - meaning that Felipe didn't need to take it to the board of Narayana or Amun - just like Peter Threadgill didn't need approval for his scheme. Mississippi was also first on the agenda because it was heavier with casinos.

Felipe and Las Vegas are big into casinos. At this moment, Felipe was challenging the legislation that disputed vampire ownership of these businesses. At the moment, he had to install front men – but I was confident that he would win his lawsuit, and could assume open ownership of those casinos he owned in everything but name only. It was part of the reason for his interest in Sophie Anne's territory – the casinos. When he saw the weakness, he took advantage of that and snapped up a state rich in casinos.

Louisiana has a lot of casinos – per person there are more casinos in Louisiana and Arkansas than perhaps is healthy for the gambling public. There's one in Bossier City, and indeed, it's how we make sure that some of our people do favours for us. Without the casino, Alcide Herveaux would not have been beholden to Eric – he wouldn't have escorted Sookie to Mississippi without our threat to call in the debt if he didn't do the favour we asked of him. Like I said – they have something they love, and we can take it away. For Herveaux it was his father's debt and business – it was no favour he did solely out of the kindness of his heart.

Casinos were big in the vampire consciousness – like they were for mobsters before us. They offered a lot of revenue, and thanks to our status as non-persons, we all had money to invest, that too like the Mafia before us. In the move towards legitimacy, casinos are shady enough for us to be involved in, but effectively launder the money of "investors" like ourselves. Most vampires have plenty of money, relatively speaking. Some of us hire money managers, or go into real estate, or invest it. We don't leave it sitting in investment accounts – we make our money work for us. Eric and I funded the opening of Fangtasia, but the Queen made money from casinos in her state, just like Felipe did.

More importantly, we had money that needed to be turned from illegitimate sources, like stealing and killing, which is how most of us built up our fortunes, into legitimate sources. No vampire who is in a mainstreaming position like Eric wants to be seen suddenly turning up with a bushel of cash on hand. We're not even rightful citizens at this point, and the message we don't need sent to the public is that somehow, through illegal means, we make money. So it all flows into casinos, and we pay taxes, and it becomes legitimate, no matter if the original funds were taken from a murder victim – by neck injury – in 1985.

Oh, we could just turn up with our ill-gotten gains from crime, but the government has such pesky laws, and they take it off you. Proceeds of crime they call it, and they seem to think it's wrong to profit off murder. If you could lie your way out of the proceeds of crime, and any vampire worth his salt could, you still drew attention that you didn't want. The government would go through your life with a fine tooth comb (one filled with deaths and disappearances in your vicinity), and then back taxes for the last one hundred years or so since Lincoln instituted the IRS, and there's suddenly no fortune left.

It was to our advantage that we could draw humans in for gambling and for gawking at real 'live' vampires, and make plenty of money doing it. We could hide illegal profiteering in legal profits, and keep the lot. Of course, as non-citizens, we can't outright own them yet, but we all have human business partners, and we are silent partners, with all of the muscle and cash. Human business partners provide the front for us – and we are their well paid employees and beneficiaries. Felipe's name may not be on the deed, but it can't be denied that he is both muscle and cash in the casinos in his territory. Here in Area Five – Bossier City and Shreveport, it's Eric and his crew.

That money of course, finds its way to Felipe too – Eric may get some of the profits, but he has to pay Felipe a tribute as the King of the state. It all goes through Victor, as his agent, so Eric pays to Victor, giving Victor thousands of reasons why Eric might be a threat, and why Victor and Felipe want more than they currently have. It shows how much money there is where Eric is - and how much they could have themselves, without Eric profiting at all. Eric needs to be seen to be indispensable to the process, or he will become dispensable.

Vampires might not have the same rights as the rest of the population, but money always meant power, and it certainly meant power to break the rules or make your own. Money meant having vampire cleaning crews that you could call in and pay to do your dirty work and cover up the mess you'd made. It meant bribes - because everyone likes money, and it meant debts you could buy so that those who didn't have money would owe you for their problems.

As well as the traditional interests that have always been had in the states that could possibly be resumed by Louisiana, there was also the idea that a ruler from Amun might want to reclaim that revenue, and get Louisiana back. Sure, Katrina had taken quite a bit of revenue from the state, but that would soon pass, and vampires were nothing if not patient. They could build their reputation as a force of good in the community and wait a decade or so for their investment to pay off. All that time to wait for a state to become prosperous, and then the next century safely profiting off what you were making now. Just the sort of investments vampires love.

Eric hadn't gotten around to telling me what news he had gotten from Appius – other than it was unwelcome. Oklahoma was ruled by Freyda, and was another powerful state with a high count of casinos. While Russell Edgington was seemingly content with his mansion of boys, and Stan Davis was barely holding onto power, Freyda had no such problems. She was situated right next to the empty Arkansas, and it would be nothing for her to push over into the state. The first hurdle she'd meet - the first real challenge - was Eric and Area Five.

That would be the same Eric currently squashed between Victor, Russell and Stan - and now possibly Freda. Honestly, there were so many stakes in this territory by all four zones that it would be hard to judge which party would prevail. There were the interests of Felipe de Castro and Victor – in gaining more territory to add to their hefty chunk of Amun – and they could be going for any one of the surrounding states – Texas or Oklahoma in Zeus. Any one of those rulers in turn could want to claim the relatively empty Arkansas, and the rich Louisiana. Eric would be lucky to come out of it alive - and we all relied on Eric to live. If Eric wasn't in the same powerful position he was at the Las Vegas takeover - looking as loyal and rich as he did - they would kill every single last one of us - unless we gave him up and refused to die at his side.

If a state were weak enough to be taken, the other vampire royalty wouldn't have a problem with it. The other kings and queens wouldn't hesitate to take the state if they saw an opening. As long as it didn't jeopardise their own state or zone, then it could be taken. The regents of Narayana didn't want their own states weakened in a battle against Sophie Anne, and the states already in Amun didn't like having a cross zonal influence either. They'd be ready to snatch Louisiana back at any time. New Orleans backed onto a port – there was no state that would attack from that direction. We all lived in the middle of that war zone – the zone for incursion – a place we called Area Five.

.*° o O 0 * 0 O o °*.

Felipe de Castro didn't have any problems with shifting over zones – he'd jumped from Narayana to Amun with ease. The problem was with Victor. I thought that Victor was ready to usurp Eric's position for Felipe, while Eric thought that Victor wanting the position for himself against Felipe. Either way, it didn't mean that Victor wasn't the problem – it was that Victor's motivations were all murky. Neither Eric nor I had any indication of whether he meant to oust Felipe, or to work under Felipe. Until we knew what Felipe thought, we couldn't kill Victor without knowing if Felipe would kill us or thank us.

Truly, either way, it did not matter to Felipe if Eric worked in Area Five. They did not have a special connection. Getting a new vampire into Eric's position was possible – Felipe and Victor had worked together for many years. Felipe had far more of a work history with Victor than he had with Eric. Either way, Felipe certainly wouldn't object if Eric met his end, just so long as all his property was left behind. As long as Felipe was making money, he did not care who was in charge of Area Five. If Victor broke off from Las Vegas, Felipe couldn't make money off the whole of Louisiana, he would get no say over Area Five.

Eric thought that Victor had reasons to overthrow Felipe – and well he might. He might have decided that it was important to break free of his master. We all did - that was the trick to being a master - being neither too confining nor too free, so that you would keep those who worked for you. Apart from being my maker, Eric was my boss for a long time. I didn't want to be under his thumb forever, even if he was a fair boss. I lived in Minnesota without Eric for many years, until he called me to start up Fangtasia. Things changed when we came out for the Great Revelation - it was like a debutante party.

So all masters were eventually usurped, particularly if there was something of value to be had - it was only a matter of time and we all had time. The real issue was whether it was possible to actually do so, or whether you would lose your life because you tried at the wrong moment in long eternity. In Las Vegas, Victor didn't have the resources, but over here in Louisiana, the power balance was on Victor's side. As far as tactical information, here in Louisiana, Victor had killed off all the vampires loyal to Sophie Anne – all except our one (vampire) spy in Victor's Area. If Felipe decided to come and take Louisiana back from Victor, he would decimate the population again – and that's if he's sure he could win the territory.

Felipe wouldn't do that - it would be sheer suicide. That only worked out so well the time Felipe did it because so many of us were killed in Rhodes, Katrina displaced us, and the existing structures were fractured and overstretched. At this time, it was Eric who was overstretched - not Victor. Such a takeover of the entire state wouldn't be possible again, not unless Victor overstretched himself in the face of natural disaster, or one of the two power centres were overstretched. In order for Victor to overstretch himself, Eric would have to be dead, and all of us in Area Five along with him.

Of course, if Victor died, the odds are that Eric would have another new Master. There were too many vampires loyal to Felipe in this State to throw off the chains completely – unless Eric submitted to another monarch in a nearby state. In order for Eric to take power as King, he would need to have some reason and force to take the vampires that existed here. There was no way to do that without alerting Victor – and mayhap Victor would call Felipe in as reinforcement. After all – Victor may prefer to have the backing of Felipe against the dangerous new threat at his back – Felipe would help for fear of losing the state all together.

Eric could find himself having another new Master, but they would probably present some of the same challenges as Victor and Felipe. If whoever decided to take the state next came in, we'd be in the same position - things wouldn't go back to the way they were. It would mean more checks, more balances, and more assessment to see if there was another thing they could squeeze out of Eric. There would be a new period of settling things under the new regime, and they might be worse. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't. Eric and I liked our new masters - they were very forward thinking. On the night of the takeover, the new monarch would certainly force another situation, and some vampires in Area Five would die. Eric tells me that he would tell them all to scatter if he had his time over – and that would indeed save them. But it would never save Eric and I – we had to be valuable, or they may as well kill us and replace us with better vampires already loyal to them.

No ruler would unite out of friendship – perhaps an alliance, but not a friendship – and Eric didn't hold the majority of the power – he would be the betrayer of his oaths, not an equal partner. If Eric worked too closely with a new Master, and the takeover wasn't successful, then Victor would kill him. If Eric didn't work too hard to save Victor in the face of a new takeover, then he wouldn't be seen as valuable. Part of the reason that Eric survived Felipe's takeover was not because he did one or the other – he was loyal up until the last moment he found his oath broken by Sophie Anne's death and then he submitted to his new leader. Vampires would forgive a bit of devious machination, a bit of hedging your bets, but too much and Eric could lose his head.

Eric had his hands full dealing with Victor, keeping all the vampires in Shreveport alive, and out of the clutches of those who wanted them all dead. I doubted that Eric had the discipline to work as King. He needed to be far more ruthless than he was, and more in control of his emotions. He needed to stop caring about hurting or getting his people killed. Eric's style of management relied far too much on having a hands on approach - which meant that if he wanted to rise in the ranks, he would need to trust his lieutenants and leave it to them while he dealt with matters of state.

Of course, that was Eric's resistance - he knew as well as I did that that meant relying on people you couldn't trust anyway. It had meant relying on Bubba and Bill to see to Sookie's protection, and they hadn't done the job as well as Eric felt he could have done it himself. As King, you had to rely on vampires you didn't really trust to protect you - and that didn't work out so well. It wasn't working out for Stan - he could only rely on Joseph, while Rachel was massing her own power fast, and would no doubt kill them both and have Texas for her own. King Isaiah hadn't trusted any vampires enough to be weak - he'd had Britlingens to protect him from harm at Rhodes.

Felipe had Victor as his protection, who may or may not be plotting to steal a big gain from Felipe. Victor was of course, concerned with how much power Eric had. Under a King or Queen that Eric was loyal to, this was a good thing. That meant that as long as he wasn't more powerful than the royal he served, the royal was safe. That had presented no challenge to Sophie Anne – she was better at most of the things she did when it came to Eric. He feared her saltwater vats as much as the next vampire, and he stayed within acceptable behaviour. Eric also stuck to his oath of fealty to the bitter end – he was no betrayer of those he served. She chose him well.

But with Felipe all the way over in Las Vegas, it was something to be concerned about, whether Victor hoped to be a subject of Felipe's or King in his own right. Eric was a challenge to Victor's power – in the rest of Louisiana. In order to hold the state, Victor had to be like Sophie Anne – more powerful than Eric. He'd been given reason to doubt that and that reason was Sookie Stackhouse.

.*° o O 0 * 0 O o °*.

From the outside, Sookie certainly looked like one hell of an asset, and indeed she was. Through being in her favour, there was the power of her fairy kin. Even though they involved her in fairy intrigue, they also provided backup. As Eric had intimated to Victor, kill him and it was nothing - kill Sookie and forces he couldn't imagine would be unleashed. Eric told me about the close family relationship she had with Niall, the only remaining fairy Prince – the superpower of a race of savage beings. According to Sookie, they'd closed the portals, but that could change at any time - portals were made to be opened. If they reopened then Eric, through Sookie would have a potential army of the Fae at his disposal. Victor wouldn't take his chances – he'd want to get her out of the way while the portals were still closed. If they ever opened again, Victor would find himself on the wrong side of the fight.

Eric had told Victor that Sookie obeyed him in all things. Victor tested that – ordering Eric to send her to Mississippi (and our deaths) and she followed through. Certainly, she'd shown that she did blindly obey him by bringing him the ceremonial knife, even if she did protest after it was done. No vampire cared if the human realised after the fact that they'd been duped. We didn't mind letting Alcide Herveaux know we had his balls in a sling once we had his father's casino marker. If Eric told her that she needed to call down her grandfather's forces, then Victor would think that it would be a command that she obeyed, no matter the protests after the deaths of his crew. Victor would still be dead, and his crew along with him, even if Sookie was really mad about it.

Not only was Sookie connected to the fairies, but she was an asset to the two natured as well. To any of the packmasters, vampire business was just that – the business of vampires. As demonstrated on Dracula Night – Sookie transcended that boundary. Colonel Flood and Calvin Norris stood in front of her, rather than let her be sacrificed to the impersonator of Dracula. No vampire would openly help her, and as the two packmasters pointed out, they did not care if a vampire was staked – but for her, they stood up. Sookie had the loyalty of the Longtooth Pack, the Hotshot Panthers and various shifters. While she was not their first priority, Sookie mattered to them. Sookie mattered enough that pack members died in her defence.

Sookie had other supernatural friends as well – those who would not perhaps stand up for her, but certainly a conduit to tap for a vampire who needed to transcend groups. Honestly – there were witches, Britlingens, demon lawyers – all willing to give information to her because they liked her. In a pinch, she could rely on humans and part fae as well. That was the kind of intelligence that was a political vampire's dream. All in the tasty Sookie package.

Eric had also tied Sookie to him – through the bond and through the pledging. She was irrevocably his – and had all the danger that went along with declaring her loyalty openly. If she was no use to the person who controlled the State, then there was really no reason to let her live – Eric could use her against whom he wished. No vampire would give that asset to another to have freely. Eric didn't give Sookie to Sophie Anne, and Sophie Anne didn't let Eric have Sookie – she ordered Sookie to Rhodes and left Eric out of the loop. From Victor's viewpoint, best to kill Sookie, and get rid of the telepath that could hurt you, than let her live in peace.

Victor had noticed her loyalty to Eric as well - and how well Eric and Sookie knew each other the night of their pledging. Their relationship was not one of casual knowledge - Sookie knew Eric well. It was not solely a political alliance with a telepathic asset - and Sookie knew what Eric was - and how cunning and manipulative he could be. She knew him truly - including all of his bad points - so Victor tried an emotional tactic. Victor had endeavoured to drive a wedge between them, but it hadn't worked. Of course, Quinn had paid deeply for breaking the rules - Eric was no softy - but still, it sent the message to Victor that Sookie wouldn't leave Eric if given the choice - not for Felipe, not for Victor and not for a former lover such as Quinn.

Of course, Sookie was such an asset that one had to use the mildest of force on. She couldn't be a brain dead Renfield. She couldn't be forced - not if you wanted the very best out of her. I had never been a telepath, and I didn't know how it worked - didn't care much either. But to find out information, you needed to use mild force and keep her thinking for herself to get the best out of her. It was no use having an asset that only worked in the narrow questions you gave her. It was absolute poison to have an asset who wouldn't tell you the truth too - since no vampire had a way to verify thoughts.

You could brutalise her, but that would never work out long term. Eric knew that there was no point to a "one use telepath" the night he met her - much better to have a long term asset. In order to be an asset, she had to be compliant - and Felipe and Victor knew that. That's why we were all so friendly with her until the moment we decided she had to die. Only foolish, young vampires used outright menace anyway - we all knew we were scary enough to force the situation without using physical force. Physical force is the refuge for someone who doesn't have anything else - like Sigebert. Sophie Anne never used it in an open manner, and when she got wind of Sookie, she didn't get a "one use telepath" either.

Subtlety works far better. It creates loyalty. You don't have an asset who you need to constantly force all the time - you have one that will work on their own - one that will innovate. That in the end, is more helpful than one that just follows orders. An asset that is treated nicely will fight to stay in custody - not fight to leave it. Only a fool would try to force a valuable asset like Sookie to make a choice in her own wellbeing and her master's wellbeing. That only worked with assets that had no pride - and that's something Sookie had in spades.

Apart from her telepathy and supernatural connections – one of the obvious and tangible benefits to having Sookie around, she proved quite beneficial overall to one's question wasn't really why would you want Sookie Stackhouse, but rather why wouldn't you? Bill was tortured for a week to protect her, and then rescued by her. Sookie got to the bottom of the Godfrey conundrum in Dallas and facilitated the rescue of Farrell. That sort of thing made waves - her escapes in other states made for much gossip. Vampires love useful humans - and Sookie was more useful than anticipated - and seen as being owned by Eric.

Eric and I survived Rhodes with minor injuries thanks to Sookie. Her ride out of the hotel on a coffin showed that having a telepath willing to go above and beyond to protect her vampires was worth it. Quite the story to tell as well - no other supe could say the same - that Sookie walked back into a building to wake Eric and save my life. Stan did not fare so well, even though he had Barry. Barry the Bellboy just didn't do the same things that Sookie Stackhouse did – and I was glad to call her a friend – lucky too. I hadn't forgotten what she had done for me, as I told her on the way to Mississippi.

When Sigebert had attacked Felipe and Eric, there was again proof that having Sookie around really mattered if you didn't want to be chopped up into itty-bitty pieces by a half mad warrior grieving for his maker. Where most humans would have run the other way, because she cared for Eric, she saved him. Felipe got saved in the bargain. To have her love and respect – to have an emotional bond with her, and to have her care about you meant tangible benefits. Eric made sure that Felipe knew that she didn't return because she was ordered - but because she cared about him. Even if she didn't care about you, Sookie wouldn't leave you to rot. That was of value to all vampires, who liked life enough to hold onto it for a good long while.

Sookie had survived the attentions of Lochlan and Neave – she was no delicate flower who hid away – she was an asset with some steel in her bones. We all heard the stories of those subjected to their tortures – they had destroyed those greater than one tiny human woman – and she survived. Sookie Stackhouse was no gibbering mess – she lived to tell the tale. Not many would survive such horrors and have a mind left. It was something that Eric feared – that Bill would not get to her before they obliterated the part of her that was uniquely Sookie. But she was strong enough to survive with her mind intact, even if she'd lost faith in the fact that she couldn't die and someone would always save her before it got too bad. It made her more ruthless - and it happened to all of us vampires - made us better killers because we knew what could happen if we didn't act first. I know, from both Sookie and Eric that she still had bad days, but she would always have bad days for the rest of her life – as I had told her, she had changed.

.*° o O 0 * 0 O o °*.

That changed it all – that night that she was taken by Lochlan and Neave. Her night of terror and torture changed our fortunes as well – but only moving up the timetable, rather than creating a new problem. One of the things that probably drove Victor to act was the fact that vampires – vampires supposedly loyal to him and Felipe – let me get to a telephone and call Felipe when Lochlan and Neave had Sookie. None of the vampires who followed Eric would have done that, but he and I appealed to their honour and they did it. They swore to honour Victor, to follow Victor, and even if they had also sworn to Felipe, they still disobeyed Victor. If Victor couldn't trust his people when he was in the same room as Eric, he surely needed to do something about Eric – something that didn't involve letting Eric get away with it.

It may have been the thought of Felipe's punishment – and surely that would have had something to do with it. The vampires under Victor's control feared what punishment would be given to one who lost him a telepathic asset under his personal protection. But Felipe wasn't in the room with them. Felipe hadn't commanded their presence in seizing Eric. They had no guarantees that Eric and I were being truthful - only their beliefs that we were stand-up vampires. They chose us over Victor – and even if he could argue he was working for Felipe, his own crew were disloyal to him in favour of Eric.

That didn't mean that they would side with Eric against Felipe - but they would side with Eric against Victor. Victor needed to be the most powerful one in this state, otherwise Eric would surely bring about his death. If Victor was working with Felipe, Felipe wouldn't appreciate Eric being able to undermine his own control of his people. If Victor was working against Felipe, he needed Eric far weaker than he was.

Eric said that that proved that Victor and Felipe were not working together – that he was willing to have Sookie die in order to get the telepathic asset away from his rival. I asserted that it didn't necessarily mean that – after all, Felipe couldn't use Sookie thanks to the pledge, and letting her die would prove to be a good lesson for the vampire who thinks to dictate his assets to his King. Neither of us could agree, and until we had some indication as to which way it was, we didn't dare make a move.

Victor had already tried to take Sookie out of the picture, and he wouldn't be calling a ceasefire any time soon. On the road outside Eric's house – which of course he had under surveillance – he'd had his agents try to take the two of us out. Going to Eric's house alone was not safe any more. Not for me and not for Sookie. A moment's lack of concentration was all that any of Victor's people needed. If Sookie weren't able to defend herself – as she so aptly did – then neither of us would have made it out alive. I could not have fought the both of them. Eric was too far away to do anything. Sookie had to defend herself – as she always did.

Victor himself was also a real danger to Sookie. It wasn't clear where he was at all times – as Sookie said in her vernacular, he liked to be in the trenches. We didn't know where he was all the time, and Eric plainly didn't have the time and resources devoted to taking care of her every moment of the day. The bare fact of the matter was that they would come for her at Eric's house. Any of the vampires Eric had sworn fealty to could enter his house – Sookie could not stay there, as Victor was able to walk right in. If Eric was at work, that wouldn't work so well for Sookie - even if she'd surprised us in the past. Being somewhere where your death could be hidden was bad - that's why Bruno had attacked us on a lonely stretch of road. If she was in Eric's house, all alone, then she was vulnerable.

Of course, she was vulnerable in her own house, but vampires needed an invitation to get in there - they didn't need one for Eric's house. The solution was not for her to stay by Eric at all times, even if she could handle the usurpation of her life for the rest of time. If she was with Eric – with enough vampires they could attack the both of them, Eric would be distracted and Sookie would die. If not for her friendship with shifters and weres, Eric and Sookie might already be dead in their respective sleeps. Her bonds with the weres in the Area kept them both alive.

While Victor was roaming around, he left his second Bruno Brazell in charge, and Bruno covered up where Victor was. Our information about Victor's whereabouts was patchy and unreliable. It was only a matter of time before Victor decided to strike out at part of what made Eric a threat. He would inevitably make an outright attempt to kill Sookie; if he couldn't have the asset, neither could Eric. Since he couldn't get her away from Eric, thanks to the terms of the pledge, then it was killing. Eric had trumped him, and got to keep Sookie – if he could keep her alive. Victor wasn't about to let that just happen.

Victor had insisted that Sookie go to Mississippi with me, to try to make a case for some double agents to turn to Louisiana. He didn't want to remove Eric from power, but he wanted to weaken his political position, and distract him with the deaths of the only two people he trusted. At the same time, he would be removing valuable assets from Eric as well. When Victor had sent Sookie and I to Mississippi, it was a win-win situation for him – or at least he'd come out even. Even if I hated Victor, I could see that it was a masterful plan with no downsides – if there were no variables. I know, from all my past experience, that Sookie Stackhouse is a variable. But for her, we would not have gained as much as we have now.

If we had failed as Victor intended, Victor still would come out ahead. If we were ransomed back to Louisiana, Eric would lose money and lose face as having tried to chip away at Russell Edgington's control of the state. If we weren't ransomed, Eric might have lost his head and started a war with Mississippi – costing lives and money we could ill afford to waste – all of it Eric's. He'd then have to face Felipe and tell him of how he lost assets, and Felipe would surely take it out on Eric. If we died, then Victor would not be ahead, but Eric would be behind.

If we had succeeded in our mission, then we would get nothing for it but to be the spearhead of the new campaign – venturing further and further into Russell's territory, and not being in Area Five. If we succeeded against all odds, we would be making money for Felipe and Eric would be stuck holding down Area Five and having to watch Victor all the same. I was his second for a reason – he needed someone to rely on – with Sophie Anne's second Andre out of the picture, she didn't last long.

No matter how it turned out, it all turned out well for Victor – if we succeeded or failed in the way that Victor had expected us to, and then all of Eric's concentration would have been on Mississippi. Eric would be concerned with that state, his revenge, his loss of face, or the loss of his core team. Either way, his attempt would have brought all the trouble on our heads – not on Victor's head. But Eric was limited by orders – he had no option. If he refused to go along with what Victor wished, then Victor could go to Felipe with his complaints, and a full sanction to rid himself of an uncooperative Sheriff.

Against all the odds, though, Sookie Stackhouse was the wildcard. We came back from Mississippi, gaining one loyal vampire in the state, thankful to be free of his oppressive bosses – another spy for Eric. Another vampire who'd be willing to keep quiet, shown herself to be good in a crisis, and willing to help out – surely a loyal subject. Eric's ranks swelled by one, and he had another potential ally. Sookie and I were fine – all thanks to her cool head in a crisis and her ability to take care of herself. Alone, I wouldn't have had the concentration thanks to the elf blood to get myself out of the situation. Sookie Stackhouse made the difference – Eric came back richer from a failed attempt at taking control of another state. Thanks to Sookie, Victor had not come out behind - but Eric came out further ahead yet again.

.*° o O 0 * 0 O o °*.

The only thing that concerned us now was how much about the Appius crisis in our Area had made its way to Victor's ears, and how Eric's crew took it. Appius' short visit had wreaked havoc on an already difficult Area. With his short breeze through, Eric and I were on the hook for the trouble. Victor was looking for any way to prove that Eric was incompetent. Appius provided that way. We could only hope that the spies Victor had installed decided that their lot was better thrown in with Eric, than with Victor. All of those management books, all that hands on experience and perhaps the fear that Victor might kill them all, and that they owed their lives to Eric might keep their mouths shut.

That didn't work on Heidi's behalf though - she was new from Victor. We didn't know what she might do about it, and the deaths of Felicia and Bobby Burnham were harder to cover than the deaths of two street punks. Victor would know that something was rotten in our Area, and I could only be glad that we kept a lid on it. Overall, Felicia and Bobby weren't important. But they were two more loyal subjects of Eric's that had survived and no longer did. Appius had chipped away at Eric's power base when he needed it most. All of those vampires who were grateful for their lives no longer considered themselves lucky under Eric doing as Appius wanted.

Again, the wildcard in that situation – Sookie Stackhouse. It was Sookie who took a chance to take down Alexei, letting Eric stake him, putting an end to his trouble. Before it could reach Victor's ears, it was contained and over. It was Sookie who drove Eric, at his lowest point, to stop the rampage of the both of them through our Area and indeed the state of Louisiana itself. Appius was a different kind of wildcard - he only wanted to take from Eric, not give. He took some of Eric's traction, focus, motivation and power for a boy who should have never been turned.

Instead, Sookie helped to make Eric's life easier - doing what Eric would not, and what I could not. Eric never would have gone against his maker's word against his own brother. What Appius wanted, Eric gave him. With Sookie, she gave Eric what he needed, and she did without thought for herself. Appius surely would have killed Sookie for that - Eric would have been punished, but the mere human woman would have felt his wrath. As Sookie had pointed out herself - if I moved against Alexei, I would have been made to pay for it by Appius, and I wasn't even a human woman competing for Eric's affections. Sookie was alive because it all finally played out on her front lawn and Appius didn't survive the night. We owed our lives to her again. When she found Eric, he was hopeless. She pushed him into action again, gave him back his focus and motivation to continue to walk this political tightrope – this borderline.