Disclaimer: Don't own a damned thing...unfortunately. This Story in no way shape or form will acurately represent any of the books, or the show for that matter although I love both. ITS AU
Eric walked into Queen Sophie-Anne's palace, tonight was the Sherriff's Ball and it was rumoured that the Emperor of Europe was here tonight and it had been near five hundred years since he had seen his maker. It was of course a little known fact that he was indeed the Emperor's childe; it was both for his and his Emperor's safety. He saw the Queen at her throne with Sabrina Mathews one of the Sheriffs of the Louisiana territories. She was dressed in a dark shimmering green that really didn't do anything for her, at least he didn't think so, Sabrina turned to see him and smirked. Eric sneered, the very second he had finished with her he regretted sleeping with her. She beckoned him over like some lap dog and much to his chagrin the Queen noticed him to, don't get him wrong he respected the Queen, at one point he was probably the one that gave her the most trust possible for a vampire, but over the years that had changed, the novelty of the queen had worn off on him and he loathed the fact that he was not able to deal with his own businesses without having to go through all the red tape that having a monarch brought. He walked over and plastered his trademark smirk on his face and greeted his Queen, "Eric, it's so good to see you again, I haven't seen you in some time."
"Yes Your Highness, my deepest apologies I have been…busy." Eric replied.
"I'm sure you'll find some more time to visit me…"
"Of course Your Highness, I hear the Emperor of Europe is here tonight…"
"He is staying here actually and should be down in the next hour, I have to say I am deeply honoured that he has decided to grace us with his presence…"
The fanfare started and a procession began with drummers and dancers followed by the Emperor and his entourage. Inwardly Eric sighed with relief with the Emperor here he had a reason to get away from the Queen and the vile bitch Sabrina. After all, it was well documented that he was the Emperor's favourite in all of the America territories. The Emperor made his way to the Queen's throne and she immediately stood up for him to take a seat. "Emperor, I am so pleased you decided to visit us for our annual two day ball!" she smiled at him and he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes well I actually am here to discuss some business with Eric, but I will enjoy all that you have to offer here for a while before we," he gestured to Eric and himself, "head back to my room." The Queen offered him a tight smile, completely loathing the fact that he always came to see Eric, it was the only reason she hadn't had anyone get rid of the Viking yet, he was the Emperor's favourite and did not vie for a royal position.
The Emperor had been at the ball for about three hours before gesturing for Eric to follow him to his room. Once inside the Emperor seated himself on the comfortable looking couch and motioned for his childe to sit. "How can I help you Dominic?" Eric asked the Emperor, in closed conditions he was not required to call his maker by the proper title.
"I actually need a favour Eric…you see I-"
He was cut off by a cry from the bedroom, "Was that a baby?" Eric asked.
"I believe the technical term is toddler…" the Emperor replied, the cry persisted and he sighed, "Nyx!" he yelled and the office door opened and a young girl of about seventeen walked out "You know it wouldn't kill you to get him yourself."
"Yes it would," Dominic fought the urge to roll his eyes at the seventeen year old and motioned for her to get the crying child. "Besides, he is your brother."
"Oh whatever," she mumbled, moving to the room across from the one that she just came out of.
Eric raised an eyebrow at the exchange and listened as she cooed softly to the child, getting him to forget about his nightmare. It got even higher when he heard the child speak affectionately about the Emperor, "I want Dominic," he whimpered and she sighed.
"Okay baby, c'mon," seconds later she was out of the room holding the boy and looking at the Emperor imploringly, "He won't go back to sleep without you," her voice was soft and low, Eric eyed her up and down critically, drinking her in, she was dressed in nothing but a tank top and a baggy pear of sweatpants, her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and her skin was a light brown, but her eyes were what drew him in, in his thousand years of existence, he had never seen eyes quite the shade of green that hers were. A completely unnatural green ,that seemed to almost glow with energy. She handed the bundle in her arms over to the Emperor who sighed and looked down at the boy, "Dominic," he whimpered again clutched at the jacket that was before him.
"Excuse me for a moment Eric," Dominic said, standing up holding the boy, "Nyx, I trust you will keep my guest company."
Her widened almost comically as if realising that there was another person in the room with them, "What?!" she looked over at the blonde and then back at the emperor, "oh right, uh- no problem…just go do your thing with Arik," she sat in the seat that Dominic had vacated and looked at Eric for a moment before he spoke.
"His name is Arik?"
"Hmm- oh yeah, it's Norse, means-"
"Eternal Ruler," Eric finished and she nodded.
They fell into silence before she rubbed the back of her neck a little nervously, his staring really was a little unsettling, "It seems you have me at a disadvantage." He raised an eyebrow and she elaborated, "Not only do you know my name, but you know my brothers, and I don't know who you are…"
"I…am Eric, Northman."
She gave him a soft smile, "You know if I didn't know better I'd probably say that you were a Viking."
Eric fixed her with his unwavering gaze, "Really? What makes you say that?"
"Well for one your name is Nordic, Northman is just a variation of Norsemen, you sound…I dunno…Scandinavian? Maybe Swedish. Not to mention you're a
vampire so its really not that far fetched, I know Dominic doesn't really like to keep company with vampires less than eight hundred…the only thing throwing me off is the lack of a beard, I know Vikings considered it to be a punishment to have their beards removed and you don't really strike me as the type of guy who gets punished all that often."
Eric smirked as Dominic walked back into the room, "I trust Nyx has been keeping you entertained?" he asked waving his hand at her, making her get up.
"Oh yes, we've only been speaking for a minute and she has already guessed my heritage…"
"It is a gift of hers, being able to tell who one is from their name-"
"Well if you two are done talking about me as if I'm not here, I'll be going to bed. Oh and it's not gift, it's called intelligence. Goodnight Dominic," she locked eyes with Eric as he stood up, "It was a pleasure to meet you Mr Northman."
He held her hand and kissed her knuckles, she could have sworn she felt his tongue taste her but didn't make a sound, "The pleasure was all mine," he rumbled and she suppressed the urge to shiver at the deep voice, extracting her hand from his grip she turned and walked into her room, sliding the door shut behind her.
Eric sat back down and Dominic smirked, "I'm glad you liked her."
"Why? What did you want to see me for Dominic?"
"She and her brother are coming back with you to Shreveport-"
"What?!" Eric's jaw clenched, never had the Emperor asked him of anything.
"Eric, it is my duty to protect them, to do everything in my power to make sure that they stay alive, that includes using you," Dominic stopped him before he could speak, "This brooks no argument, you will do as I say."
"May I at least know the reason for this?"
"Of course Eric, I'm not just going to send them with you without you knowing anything about them."
"Well?"
Dominic sighed, "You may not believe it but before I turned you, about a thousand years before actually, I was very much ready to meet the sun," Eric looked at him in question but refused to comment, , "but I couldn't, it's the inherent coward in me, or at least that is what my father would have called it…"
"Surely if you didn't meet the sun it would show that you were brave, strong, you didn't take the cowards way out," Eric said unable to resist the urge to speak any longer.
"Of course not Eric, to many, it may seem to be the cowards way out, but when you have lived a truly full life especially one as long as mine was, the ending of your life should be easy, it should be simple, but I was weak, I couldn't go through with it, I still wouldn't be able to not that I'd want to now…anyway, after several failed attempts at killing myself, I met Nyx's father, by this time I really was walking dead, I had nothing in my life, nothing to accomplish, no one to spend my time with-"
"Why didn't you just make a childe then?"
"And condemn them to a life of darkness of loneliness? I never asked to be a vampire and the first two thousand years were great, but after that, when you realise that making friends is pointless because they die, when you realise the only people you can ever have any sort of connection with are in general vile, lust driven barbarians, you really don't want to bring anyone else into this life …where was I? Oh yes, I was truly the walking dead, I met her father in one of those old den of iniquities, and he introduced me to a whole world that I knew nothing of, to a world that no one knew of, and the people in this world lived just as long as vampires, and their blood! Ah their blood, one of the truly finer things in life, he was my friend, he saved me from a life of misery. And then he really did save, he put his life on the line to save mine when some of his people rose up to destroy the vampire. You've heard of the great plagues of 500 A.D when our people started dropping like flies?"
"Of course, what vampire hasn't?"
"Yes well, that was his people, and they came for me, believing that if hey could destroy someone as powerful as me, they would truly be unstoppable, and they very nearly did kill me. With powers like theirs, it was only a matter of time before they managed too, anyway, when they came for me, Nyx's father, Andor Draconis very nearly got himself killed saving me. So when he was killed a few years ago, along with his wife, I knew that I would have to protect his children."
"And they didn't have any other family?" Eric asked, more than anything he wanted to ask about these powers, but he wouldn't dare, lest Dominic believe that he was only accepting this order to use the girl and her brother.
"Well of course they do! The only problem is that each one of them is being hunted down and I refuse to put them in harms way by allowing them to stay with their uncle, I owe Andor that much." He finished quietly.
"Do they know that they'll be coming with me?" Eric asked.
"They don't that it's you specifically, but they do know that they are leaving."
"May I ask, why the sudden change, if they have been with you for the past few years and have been fine why send them with me now?"
"The people that are hunting them, they're were getting too close in Europe we've had too many close calls, so I'm leaving them here, I trust you will protect
them Eric?"
"Of course."
"Excellent, I do believe it is time to retire," The pair rose from their seats and headed into the 'light tight' room provided by the hotel.
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