Chapter Three
Once Russell was out of sight, the guards stood down, putting away their weapons; the Magister returned to the club; and Godric, Eric, and Carly returned to ground level.
"May we use your office, Eric?" Godric asked, and Eric nodded in reply.
When they reached the employees' entrance, Godric, with great fanfare, opened the door for Carly and directed her through first.
"Isn't this a violation of protocol, your majesty?" Carly inquired.
"When it is the three of us, I am just Godric, the eldest, and you are the woman, so I shall open your door." Godric smiled faintly, and pointed through the door with more determination.
"Thank you, Godric." At some point, Carly needed to open a discussion with Eric and with Godric about a number of things, least of which were the changes in gender dynamics that had happened in American culture over the last hundred years. As an anthropologist, Carly could observe vampires' assumptions about hierarchy, privilege, and power, but she didn't think such a discussion was worthwhile until Godric had consolidated his power over Louisiana. Even though she was, at this point, somewhere between eye-candy and a secret weapon, she yearned to write about vampires and the ways they interacted with humans. Perhaps more than anything, she couldn't wait until she could paint a royal portrait.
Carly waited to enter Eric's office, because she didn't know whether or not she would be privy to their conversation.
"Carly," Godric motioned for her to enter the office first, "I require your company, Eric's, and the Magister's." Nodding to his progeny, Godric said, "Could you please find him, Eric?"
"Yes, certainly." Eric departed for the front entrance, and Carly watched as he bobbed through the crowd that seemed to move with its own logic. She entered the office, and Godric shut the door behind them.
Carly moved to sit on the sofa, but Godric grabbed her wrist. "Eric will not mind," he said, as he healed the wound on her wrist with a few drops of his own blood.
"Thank you, I appreciate that, Godric." Carly rubbed the now healed wound. "It hurt a lot more than I expected."
"I regret that, Carly." Godric moved around the desk to sit in Eric's chair. "A king should never spill his blood in public. To do so would be blasphemy."
"Really?" Carly wondered if Russell still fed his werewolves his own blood. "What would happen if a vampire fed his blood to people over and over again?"
Godric looked at her with a penetrating stare. "Without feeding from them himself?"
She nodded in the affirmative.
"They would become entirely dependent on him—addicted to him. He would become the center of their universe." Godric went silent.
Carly feared the answer to her next question, but she asked, nonetheless, "What would happen if werewolves drank a vampire's blood?"
"They would become very strong. Almost unstoppable, except for the strongest of vampires, or an exceptional warrior."
Two sharp raps at the door interrupted their conversation, and Godric answered them: "Enter."
Eric and the Magister walked into the office, taking spots on the sofa on either side of Carly. Eric took Carly's hand and squeezed it gently, but then he lifted her wrist to his nose. He inhaled deeply where Godric had healed her. Closing his eyes, he kissed the spot where the wound had been.
"Eric, I presumed you wouldn't mind if I undid my damage." Godric cocked his head to the side. "Have I overstepped my bounds?"
"No, Godric. Carly is part of my family now, so I have no objection if you or Pam have a connection to her." Eric kissed her wrist again. "And I wouldn't want her to suffer any longer than she would need to for the sake of appearances."
"As did I." Eric and Godric seemed to share a moment silently, but Carly couldn't decode it. "Now, to return to political matters. I believe we should expect Russell to be a poor loser and to make some effort on his part to disrupt my reign." Godric's voice was measured and steady.
The Magister nodded, "I agree. I'm troubled that he was satisfied by my 'information' about Sophie-Ann's demise. Primarily, I fear for dear Carly's safety." Immediately after the Magister made this statement, he placed his index fingers against his lips vertically and looked at each of them in turn.
Godric nodded to indicate his comprehension and added, "As do I, Magister."
Carly smiled faintly, and then stroked Eric's cheek gently, saying, "The worst thing he could do to me would be to hurt you."
"I agree, Carly." Godric looked at Eric with a love that was clear to all in the room. "Despite Eric's capability and wisdom, he will not represent our interests to Russell. At this point I will choose an emissary who is disposable. I will choose from among the vampires who worked for Sophie-Ann," Godric spoke with finality.
Eric responded with doubt, "How can you know they'll represent your position?"
"Eric, I do not entirely believe they must represent my position. It might be to our advantage to have an emissary who had other interests entirely. As I examined the records relating to her courtiers, a few names stood out to me." Godric turned to the Magister. "It is clear to me that the authority would prefer centralized control over vampire affairs. Is my intuition correct, Magister?"
"Your majesty," the Magister leaned toward Eric's desk and made a gesture as if he were writing, "I must object to the assertion that the authority would, in any way, abridge the power of the traditional monarchies."
The Magister handed Godric a note, who then handed it to Eric and Carly.
The note read, "Yes, you're right. Some chancellors wish to centralize control entirely. That's why they wanted New Orleans. They also want to spread their power across the globe. Please destroy this."
Godric said, "Thank you for your reassurance, Magister. I am very happy to know that the authority will support the monarchs."
As Carly held the note, which neither she nor Eric wished to tear up, since the Magister clearly suggested that they were being recorded, she thought back to her experience before the bonfire that consumed Christophe and the copies of his paintings. The Magister had ordered their destruction as punishment for his sins, before he was finally freed from his suffering. She recalled how her consciousness traveled through the smoke across the boundaries between Louisiana and Mississippi and how she fed the flames before Russell and his dinner companion. Somehow, she made the flames rise.
As she held the note, she wondered if she could manipulate fire, since her ancestors were able to transform themselves into fire and smoke. She visualized fire rising from her fingertips and, without hesitation, the note was consumed by flame.
Eric jumped to the side and exclaimed, "Carly!"
The Magister crossed his lips again. "Yes, I agree, Carly. I find smoking quite irritating."
"I'm sorry. I didn't think." Carly struggled with a range of emotions—she was proud that she could incinerate things, but she also felt somewhat embarrassed for having made the display without warning the vampires.
Godric smiled broadly and said, "To be honest, Carly, I do not mind whatsoever, although I would prefer that you smoke only among us, unless otherwise instructed."
Eric embraced her and whispered, "You continue to surprise us, my darling."
The Magister returned them to their topic. "You identified a few names, your majesty?"
"Yes," Godric replied. "One, I found particularly notable, although I have not met him. Within hours of Sophie-Ann's demise, he submitted a letter to the authority that was passed on to me that pledged his fealty to the future monarch."
"Do I know him, master?" Eric asked.
"William Compton, progeny of Lorena Krasiki. You may have encountered him at some point."
Eric scowled. "Yes, unfortunately, I have, shortly before Pam's making."
"How would you describe him?" Godric asked.
"At the time, a degenerate. He and his maker were cruel, sloppy, dissolute, even for vampires." Eric groaned and then added, "and Pam hates him. He murdered a number of her..acquaintances...while she was human."
"So my original assessment is accurate?"
"Yes, Godric," Eric affirmed. "I would say he is disposable."
The Magister added, "One other thing that speaks for his appointment, your majesty. He's originally from Louisiana. From the town of Bon Temps, I believe. As I recall from meeting him, he still has descendants there."
Without knowing if Godric knew about Sookie and the light fairies of Bon Temps, Carly couldn't assess whether or not he would recognize the Magister's clear implication—that it would be best to keep Compton as far from Bon Temps as possible for as long as possible. By the same token, Russell Edgington shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Sookie either, so there were some dangers in appointing an emissary who was from her home town.
"If he is familiar with the area, he might have some insights into issues endemic to Mississippi and Louisiana." Godric nodded. "He is in New Orleans currently, and I will compel him to retain his primary residence there. It will not do to have my emissary live in a small town that is inaccessible to me."
The three vampires looked at each other, and Godric nodded to Eric and the Magister. Apparently, Godric knew. Carly began to wonder whether Eric had kept any secrets from him.
"My friends, I believe that our work has concluded. Shall we return to the club for dinner and diversion? I admit that the excitement, and responsibility, stimulates my hunger." All of them stood, preparing to exit. Godric looked over at Carly and Eric. "Perhaps your blood has whet my appetites, but if I wait for Eric to share you, those appetites will go unfulfilled."
Carly took a step behind Eric and said, "I fear so, Godric."
"I will respect your boundaries, Carly, although if you were anyone else, I would have demanded that Eric share you." Standing immediately before his progeny, Godric took Eric's face in his hand, looked at him, and said, "And he would." Godric turned to Carly and said, "Of course, my dear, were you anyone else, I wouldn't be interested."
With that, Godric left the office, followed by a chuckling Magister.
Throughout the charged exchange, Carly had never let go of Eric's hand, nor had he let go of hers. Locking the door behind the exiting monarch and disciplinarian, Eric said, "You are mine, Carly. Please remember that."
"I do, Eric." Carly stood on her tiptoes to kiss him and their embrace quickly escalated to something more frantic. "You're mine too. No one else, Eric."
Pulling back from their kiss, Eric responded, "Do not be surprised if you dream of Godric, Carly."
"You're one forgetful vampire, my sweet Eric." Carly renewed her kiss more passionately until she pulled away to breathe. "Remember, I don't have wet vampire dreams like just any girl." Carly undid the halter at her neck, and let her jumpsuit fall around her ankles. She stepped out of it and directed Eric to the sofa. "Do you want to finish unwrapping me?"
Eric sat back on the couch and unhooked his belt and unbuttoned his shirt. "No, why don't you do it for me."
There wasn't much left for her to take off—just the ridiculously small bikini. Nonetheless, she stretched out her disrobing for as long as she could, noticing that Eric seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable, until his fangs popped out, and he stood to drop his own jeans. He scooped her up into his arms, she wrapped her legs around him, and when he sat back down, she was skewered on top of him. Heaving, she cried out and moaned. Within seconds, they were moving in concert with one another, kissing and biting at each other's lips, drawing blood they both drank up as they moved toward ecstasy.
Carly stopped rocking back and forth, and grabbed his hair. "I want your blood, Eric Northman."
"And you can have it."
Eric stood again, still inside her, and spun her around so that she faced away from him. He bit into his wrist, put it before her, and she began to suck and drink him in. He bit down on her neck and started to feed as they began to rock back and forth again in a rhythm that would end in their climax. But as they fed on each other, Carly felt heat moving up her body. As she looked beyond Eric's wrist, down at her feet, she saw blue flames lapping at her toes, moving up her ankles. Eric was groaning ecstatically and feeding from her hungrily, as she was him. As she reached orgasm, the flames enveloped them both. Eric roared with his own climax, shuddering with its force. When she disengaged from his wrist and looked back over his shoulder, she could see his hair flying in the flames. A smile swept across his face, and he began to laugh. She rested against him and watched as the flames evaporated. Turning back around to face him, she nuzzled against his neck, and let him slip back into her.
"You would kill a lesser man, Carly Michael." Eric laughed holding her tightly while she rubbed against him.
While the flames had been a surprise, she didn't fear them. "Did it hurt?"
"No." Eric didn't seem able to stop laughing. "It was wonderful—I feel—I feel such things with you." He rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. "It's more than feeling alive. I feel joy—ecstasy. Love—Carly. I feel love—deep, universal, divine."
A knock at the door brought them out of their reverie. Eric reached his long arm across the sofa and unlocked the door, while Carly slipped off and covered herself and Eric as best as she could with the blanket that Eric kept on the back of the couch, mostly for her benefit.
Through the crack in the door, Carly saw and heard Godric. "May I have a turn with your sofa, my friend?"
Eric opened the door the rest of the way and summoned Godric, and the young woman who accompanied him, into the room. Carly would have appreciated a few moments to collect herself, but the girl was focused entirely on Godric. Even though she was in full possession of her faculties—he hadn't glamoured her—she only had eyes for him.
Without hesitation, Godric began nuzzling the girl's neck, kissing her ear, and whispering to her. "You do me a great courtesy, Melissa. It's been over a year since I fed directly from a human. I rarely eat."
"Please, Godric, I've wanted a vampire to bite me ever since y'all told us you were real." The girl, with her dyed hair, was heavier, and appeared healthier, than many of the young goth kids who swarmed the bar for its first night open. If anything, Melissa looked wholesome, as if she were just wearing a Halloween costume.
Godric's fangs emerged, and he asked, "Why, my dear? Why do you want a vampire to feed on you?"
"Well," Melissa swallowed, "I think it's only fair." She stuttered, "I mean, I've eaten so many cows and pigs. It's about time that something fed from me." She smiled sweetly at the vampire, who looked so young.
When Carly really looked at Godric, his external appearance, without thinking of him as Eric's maker, or as a 2000 year old vampire, she realized how sweet and young he looked. He could have walked out of any high school A/V club. Certainly, there were smart, clean-cut young boys who spent too much time indoors, too much time in front of computers. Without seeing Godric's tattoos, or hearing his very formal, slightly accented and occasionally archaic speech, he could probably be mistaken for some nerdy, although handsome, teenager.
"Are you willing to give me another gift, Melissa?" Godric pressed against her more forcefully, pulling her close to the lower half of his body.
Melissa's eyes fluttered as she felt him against her. Although Carly dressed hastily, she knew, even without trying to read Melissa's mind, what the girl was thinking at that moment. Certainly, Godric must have been pressing his hard penis against Melissa, who seemed to be at Fangtasia to fulfill some vegan sense of obligation. Without trying, Carly knew that Melissa had only had one sexual relationship, with a high school boyfriend who wasn't particularly interested in intimacy.
"Yes, Godric. I'll give you whatever you want," Melissa said earnestly.
By that point in their exchange, both Carly and Eric were fully dressed, and were almost out the door. Godric called to them suddenly, "Eric and Carly, do you think Melissa is worthy to be my companion this evening?"
Recognizing Godric's request that she go into Melissa's mind, Carly did, and saw nothing there but sincerity, although Carly also saw that Melissa was sad, lonely, and could be hurt deeply if she were discarded quickly. "Melissa would certainly be willing to keep you company, Godric, tonight and in the future. She's trustworthy."
The girl whispered to Godric, "Yes, I am trustworthy. And I like you, a lot."
"Then I shall see you shortly."
"Yes, master." Carly and Eric went back into the club, where they went back up onto the stage—Eric to his "throne," and Carly to her perch as "odalisque" for the club.
All in all, Carly thought the opening night had been a rousing success. As she surveyed the room, she could tell it was at capacity. Guards still crawled all over the roof and hid in the shadows to ensure Godric's safety. The Magister seemed relatively content with the way the evening had progressed—he'd also made it clear that Fangtasia was under surveillance, which she knew would irritate Eric to no end. Russell Edgington showed up and made an ass of himself, which seemed to suggest that he might be easier to provoke into open, and therefore legitimate, warfare. A line still wound around the block as people tried to get into the club before it closed down at 4am. She'd identified a new ability, and she'd enjoyed some strange "change of state" as she and Eric made love. And he'd said, once more, that he loved her.
For opening night of a bar, and the opening evening of a monarchical reign, it hadn't been half bad. Despite the music, which she thought was just horrific, and the swarm of thoughts and desires that swam through the crowd of human minds, Carly drifted off to sleep.
