PROLOGUE
"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed." -GK Chesterton
It was supposed to be best day of his life. He was, after all, marrying the woman of his dreams.
He wanted to think it was love at first sight. But it wasn't. It was lust at first grope. Now, now, before you jump into any conclusions, he wasn't a pervert.
She was.
She was drunk and horny and when she reached for his fly, he honestly felt violated.
He could still see her blood-red cheeks, her pupils dilating when she realized her gaffe. He could still hear her sharp, albeit muffled, gasp when she clapped her hand over her mouth before she broke into a run like someone who robbed a bank.
Truth be told, he never liked her that first time. Not even when he saw her the second time, or the time after that. His instinct told him, she'd be trouble. And his instinct was almost always dead on.
So he started making excuses. She was too short, he'd tell his sister. Too blonde. Too opinionated. Even her pecan pies weren't that good.
It was when she stopped stalking him that he realized what he had been missing. For one, he missed having to bow his head to talk to her - that way he could smell her lavender shampoo.
He wasn't wrong, though. She was trouble in a pretty blonde package. And he was the dimwit who fell for her.
But she was worth it. She was worth all the headaches – okay, the heartaches, too – and he would do everything over again if that meant he could wake up next to her in the next twenty years. (He liked to keep his life expectancy to low considering his line of work and the amount of lard she used in her signature dishes.)
"I, Eric Northman, take you Sookie Stackhouse, to be my wife from this day forward until I find someone better to trade you for." The bones in his fingers crackled when she tightened her grip on his hand. She was clearly not amused. His lips curled into a sly grin before he cupped her veiled cheek with his free hand. "I love you," he whispered. "You've set the bar impossibly high for everyone else. And I promise to be faithful to you. Only you. To tell you when you've had too much pies; to be your mechanic whenever Kit acts up; to do the dishes once a week - twice if you ask nicely. To bring you Ben & Jerry's when you've had a terrible day and to never let you forget what an incredible woman you are from this day forward till death do us part."
She was sobbing by the time he finished. Along with every woman in the room – and Lafayette, of course.
He knew he nailed his part. But it wasn't until she swept her lace veil over her face and threw her arms around his neck to press her lips hard against his that he knew for sure he had delivered one hell of a vow.
Even the pastor, who looked sheepishly away, thought so too as he hurriedly declared them husband and wife. Pastor John skipped the 'you may now kiss the bride' part. That ship had sailed.
It would have been the best day of his life. The beginning of their forever.
Someone had another idea though.
If he had known it would be the last time he'd kiss her lips he would have never let go. If he had known that someone in the crowd was going to take away his happiness in one fell swoop, he would have burned the whole chapel – hell, the entire town - to the ground. He didn't know though. No one told him that death was coming.
A/N: I don't own Eric.
Yep, I did it. I wrote another story and left Chasing Shadows hanging, I am the worst. I swear I'll get back to CS right away. I just have to put this out there. Like CS, there will be flashbacks and oh, yeah, angst too. Plenty. The chapters I've written are all from Eric's POV. Sookie might give her fair share of ramblings too, I just haven't written them down yet. Let me know what you think.
Oh and a big shout out to MsStitcher, LostinSpace, RealJena and Amandagm. These gals are here on ff and they are awesome!
