PART TWO

Chapter 3

The devastation was, to her slight relief, not as bad elsewhere as they walked towards the palace of Faery. Not that there weren't ruined homes, trees and grass. The place was certainly a mess but she hoped salvageable. And already she was seeing the grass slowly restring itself. But it would take time. And now, the trip were making the trip to the palace what was the only place that seemed undamaged by the magic that had not only spared this realm, by the other as well. And the guards, they were still at their posts and looked solemn, ready for a fight as they saw the three approach. But when she saw who it was, they bowed in reverence, apologizing for their loss. One of the guards, Kevan, led them to the throne room and there in the center of the room rested a crystal urn that reflected every color of the rainbow. And within it rested the shimmering remains of the couples daughter. The altar upon which the urn rested was surrounded by flowers and lit candles, a gentle breeze wafting through the room gave a sense of comfort to the room.

"I know the timing is poor but…there is a question of who will replace her. This realm must have a leader to survive and it is supposed to remain in the family whenever possible. Its written in the rules….." Kevan said slowly. "A leader is needed now more than ever...and there was something else discovered in the rules, something that was not known before. She and Blaze-"

"Blaze!" Jason cried. "Where is he?"

"Here." Auroras widower appeared in the doorway, looking beat and bruised. He approached the three and he too offered his condolences. "She made sure I was out of harms way…she used her power the shield be from stopping her, I thought maybe there could be another way to stop the dark magic being unleashed…..but there wasn't…..and now I am alone without her. Which brings us to a rather unfortunate conversation." Blaze said. "I know this is bad timing but matters need to be tended to….." he led them to a room far removed from the flower filled room where the remains of Aurora were being honored in. sitting at the table, Blaze and Kevan sat across from Aurora's family. "I overheard what Kevan was about to talk to you about and I have to say, it doesn't bring me any pleasure to say what I am about to say. But-"

"Can you just spit it out?" Jason said impatiently as Eric and Sookie nodded stiffly, they too far too stressed to want to wait a moment more for what was about to be said. But if they had only know what they were about to be told, they would have welcomed the drawn out tactic.

"Something your daughter had recently uncovered, she was going to speak to the elders about abolishing it. But she never got the chance…..the rule is that should there be a widow or widower of the one on the throne and there is a next in line that has a claim to the throne…well, it would mean that you and I, Sookie…." Blaze looked away from her gaze. "Its not what I want, but if we are going to save Faery, not only do we need to marry but we have to…..make it official in every way of the word. Otherwise, Faery will wither away as well as every being with faerie blood within them. Meaning all of you, me…" Blaze wiped his face. "Apparently there are some things we had yet to learn about the rule of Faery and unfortunately, if we simply ignore what needs to be done….illness will break out upon all those with faerie blood. Thousands of deaths will be on our hands and-"

"I….I can't…..you are basically family, Blaze, its almost incest in a way, though we share no blood, its creepy, me marrying my daughters husband….to say nothing of this…." Sookie was increasingly becoming more agitated and waggled the wedding band on her left hand. "I can't ignore this…"

"You'll have to….you'll need to break every tie with him for this to work." a voice said and there entered five faerie men who looked to ancient and yet had plenty of energy to them. Reminded them all of Niall, he had been ancient and yet had plenty of fight in him. "We are sorry to ask this of you but ancient magic was put in place centuries ago, magic that can not be broken. Complicates magic but what you need to know was what he just did. Forfeit your relationship with your current relationship entirely for the survival of Faery. And should you decide to sneak in some….alone time with him…..everything will be for nothing and Faery and all those linked to it will wither and die, you and your loved ones with faerie blood included. You will be required to remain in Faery full time as well and not to see him again." the chief of the three elders said,, nodding in the direction of the leather clad Viking. There was some regret in the words of the elder but also urgency. "The price is heavy and we hate to have to ask you to pay it, knowing the struggles you have faced. But you would be a savior to many people and this place itself."

"I need…..I want to talk with him alone…please….may I?"

"Certainly. The elder replied "But we need to perform the ceremony soon….the one severing your ties to him and forging the new one with Blaze within a few hours. Or everything will be lost."

She blinked away tears as she took hold of Eric's hand and led him across the room, out into the hall and to another room, a private one. She paced in the room, pulling her hair in utter frustration. He pulled her close and she knew he was as angry, as grief stricken as she was, though he still tended not to outwardly express such feelings, even with her. But she felt his inner pain, the torment as he patted her hair tenderly. "If I go along with this, I can't even see you ever again and its horrible enough I have to hook up with…him…and if I decide to go back home, I sentence all with faerie blood to death, including you, me, Jason…" she sobbed harder, a sound that caused him more pain than any physical injury could. "We haven't even had the chance to really take in the death of our daughter…." her face was mashed into his chest and though her voice was muffled, he heard every pained word clear as a bell.

"We…..we have gone through worse…we can figure this out." he said, though even his confidence was less than at its best. "I refuse to take this as a final answer…we have two options. I am going to find a third."

Chapter 4

That optimism was outlived as there came a knock on the door. And with her magic within her, she could sense things were declining more rapidly then expected and she felt the realm around her dying, felt those who loved with faerie in them dying. The elder, who she learned had no name, as none of the rest of them did, was revealed to be on the other side of the wall and she took note of his slightly paler skin tone. Noticeable, yes, that was for sure.

"What is your choice? You certainly have the right to do as you wish but we need to move fast…things are deteriorating faster than we thought…." the elder said as the other four joined him, all looking somber and pained for all involved. It was true that they were sympathetic to her and mourned the fallen queen as they all were but action needed to be taken now. And she saw, in the hands of one of the elders, there was a golden knife with a blade that seemed to emit a glow. "Fear now, no blood will be shed, it is merely a tool to break your bond fully so you can then bond to Blaze….depending if you want to go ahead with this. We are so sorry it came to this." the elder said as he put a hand on her shoulder, a gesture than didn't comfort her. But she knew she was stuck. She couldn't risk others lives and her own by refusing. So much more would be lost if she refused. There was only one thing to be done. She shared a pained look to her Viking before looking to the elders as blaze stood awkwardly behind them. "Get this done as soon as possible."

Five minutes later they were gathered in a small, tranquil room where there was a koi pond set underneath a arching white bridge. No one changed their clothes, there was no special décor put up. This was a desperate act that needed to be done ASAP. The first thing she saw as she stood beside Blaze was the golden knife being wielded by the head elder and as he chanted some worse she didn't understand-she had always meant to learn Faerie-she had a inking that Blaze did because she saw him look at her wish sadness and regret. The blade started to glow and a thread of light emitted from her, going over to where her love stood, glowering at the event transpiring, hating being helpless to do anything to change what was happening. And as there appeared a thread of light connecting her heart to his unbeating one, it was a single swoop of the blade of the knife that turned off their bond like there was a power outage. No longer could she feel him nor he her. She was dying inside as she stole a glance backwards at him, seeing his seething anger on his face. She didn't need to have a bond with him to know that he was hurting worse than she could ever imagine. That he hated being as helpless as she was. And five minutes later, the chief elder had declared she and Blaze wed and immediately, things turned brighter again, Faery was restored and so were the complexions of the elders and, she suspected, her own.

Chapter 5

"It is a start but until the marriage is consummated, then it is only a temporary reprieve." the elder spoke to the wed couple, Sookie now the queen of Faery, something she never wanted to be. Looking at her brother and her now ex, Sookie waved a hand and a porthole appeared, revealing the Bon Temps Cemetery where there was a passage that had long existed.

"I…want you guys to get home…after he and I can speak…may we?" she looked to the elders who nodded stiffly.

"Ten minutes…we need to finish this up." one of the lesser elders said, a note of urgency in his voice. "Otherwise this will have been for nothing." he was stopped before he could speak further as Sookie slapped him across the face, tears streaming down her face.

"Do you have any idea what I am giving up for you….for this place…for all our kind? Granted I may be part vamp but I am mostly faerie and I don't need the extra stress that you are putting on me…this has been the worst day of my life, mourning my daughter and being forced into a marriage that I don't want….to say nothing of what is to come next….." she stopped as a hand took her gently and she was relieved to see her Viking-former, as the case now was, looking at her with the start of blood tears in his eyes.

"I don't want them to see…." he said as he wiped away the tears. She took a hand and delicately magicked them away. "I will find some way to help you…to undo this. There has to be a way. After everything we have faced, to have you trapped in a marriage like this to save this place and all faeries….seems like a unfunny joke."

She wiped her own eyes as she thought of what she would need to do next. "That I have to sleep with him…to save everything…everyone…" she shuddered. "Creepy and antiquated and….well I don't really have the words for all of this. I don't…but please…take care of everyone back home and I….won't forget you."

"You sound like you're giving up….saying goodbye…." he frowned. "How can you-"

"I am not giving up…we are going to find a way but I don't see how fixing this is going to happen. But maybe….maybe there is another miracle out there for us….though I don't know how things will go after what I have to go through with Blaze. Can you ever forgive me for this?"

He looked at her for a long moment. "You are making a sacrifice to save your people, this place and your loved ones with faerie blood, me included. That you would do so, that you would pay such a price….I don't like it that is fir certain and it pains me thinking of you with someone else. That is the truth. But you are being brave. Trying to do the right thing and-" he was stopped as Kevan approached.

"I am afraid we need to take the two of them off to finish the ceremony. And I am sorry to say you need to leave. She opened the passage, so we respectfully ask for you and her brother to return to your own realm."

And though he was polite about it, the guard guided Sookie away from the Viking while another guard came and ushered him and Jason to the passage and in a flash of light they were gone, returned home, leaving Sookie to fulfill her promise she had been forced to make.

TO BE CONTINUED