Sunlight and Ambrosia
Chapter 3 – Season 1 – The Tribunal
Later that day, Anne was just getting into her VW Bus when her cellphone started ringing in her pocket. Anne dug it out quickly and looked at the caller id before groaning as she saw who it was.
"Aranamin," (My Lord.) she greeted in Elfish.
"Lye harya lasto tanya Sookie Stackhouse nae u gurth nae gurthalleth yassen," (We have heard that Sookie Stackhouse was nearly killed by a vampire last night.) the deep voice on the other end of the line told her, getting straight to the point.
Anne silently groaned. "Bill Compton sana he taa' maruvan esse Fangtasia ta hebo he dol ana a ro káno. Ro sinta en he au'," (Bill Compton took her to an establishment called Fangtasia to use her telepathic gifts for his sheriff. He knows of her as well.)
"Sen naa u quell, Arwenamin Andromeda," (This is not good, Lady Andromeda.)
"Im sinta, Aranamin," (I know, my Lord.)
"Uma lye togo mi lin ta thaed le uma le kah-rell? Lle mellon ta mi sinta dol? Luka, innas?" (Must we bring in another to help you do your job? Your charge from years past? Luka, perhaps?) the voice threatened, making Anne sit a bit straighter in her seat.
"Ba, Aranamin," (No, my Lord.) Anne insisted, eyeing someone walking past her car. "Bill Compton meleth he ar' innas u merna lin ta awra he, tanya ta naa mankoi he naa sinome yassen, Erebamin. Ar' Im u he innas estelio lin a he cerir estio nin. He ere' meleth Bill Compton ar' ta naa trasta. Im innas khiluva ta," (Bill Compton loves her and will not allow another to hurt her, that is why she is alive tonight, my lord. And I doubt she would trust another as she has come to trust me. She insists on loving Bill Compton and thus gets her in trouble. I will handle it.)
"Quel. Lye inna naa tíra, Arwenamin Andromeda. Namarie," (Good. We will be watching, Lady Andromeda. Farewell.)
"Namarie," (Farewell.)
Anne snapped her phone shut and threw it on the dashboard before laying her head back, letting out a long and frustrated breath through her nose. Once she relaxed, putting the call from her mind, Anne entered Merlotte's and sat down in Sookie's section for dinner, ordering a large chicken salad, sans chicken. She'd been getting hungry over the past few days but she'd been putting it off for a while now… so sustenance would have to do for now.
She was chewing on a lettuce leaf when Bill Compton walked in with three vampires. The first in the lineup was a blonde vampire, obviously the one in charge and the eldest of the group. He was an impressive and imposing figure, his body very muscular which could be easily seen through his black wife beater. His long blond hair reached his shoulders and his steely blue eyes were those of a predator, watching the room and scanning for the weakest link. The second vampire a tall angry looking woman in a professional looking tan outfit, an eyebrow arched in a near permanent sneer. The last was a large Asian vampire who seemed especially cold just by his expression.
Just by how panicked Bill looked Anne knew what was going on; Bill was in trouble with the vampire law and had come to say goodbye to Sookie. Anne had known from the second Sookie had told her that Bill had killed a vampire for her that it would come to this… she was just surprised that they were allowing him mercy enough to say goodbye to Sookie.
"Bill, what are you doing here?" Sookie asked, coming out from the back as she spotted him and the other vampires. "What are they doing here?"
"Give me a minute and then we'll talk," Bill told her. "Do you know an Anne Weston?"
Sookie nodded, pointing vaguely to the table that Anne was sitting at. Bill nodded at Sookie and headed over to Anne, who was watching him and the other approaching vampires carefully. Bill sat down in the seat across from her, lowering his voice as the people around them quieted.
"I hope you don't mind the inconvenience, Miss Weston, but I need to speak with you,"
Anne nodded her head. "You are being called on that murder charge?"
Bill's eyebrows drew together. "How did you-?"
"Sookie told me,"
"And who is this magnificent creature?" a new voice asked.
Anne and Bill looked up to find the tall vampire standing next to their table, a cocky smile on his handsome face as he watched them.
"My, my, Bill. You certainly keep some interestingly delectable company,"
Bill frowned. "Eric, this is Anne Weston. Miss Weston, this is Eric Northman,"
Anne bowed her head at him. "It is an honor to meet the sheriff of Area 5,"
Eric's golden eyebrow rose towards his hairline. "This one seems much more knowledgeable than the one you keep, Bill. How interesting,"
"Anne," Bill began, drawing her attention back to him. "I will be gone for a while and I was hoping that you and Sam Merlotte could watch over Sookie while I was gone,"
Anne nodded. "Of course. I will watch her,"
"Thank you,"
"Is that it?" Eric asked as Bill rose from his seat.
Bill frowned. "Try to behave yourself,"
"Don't I always?" Eric asked with a grin.
Bill ignored the vampire and left for Sam's office. Eric gestured after him with a nod of his head, sending the Asian vampire after him. After that, he ordered the female vampire to begin handing out fliers and cards for his bar, Fangtasia.
Then he sat down across from Anne, his hands clasped together on the top of the table as Anne placed a slice of cucumber in her mouth, trying to ignore him.
"And I thought Bill had the treasure," Eric murmured, mostly to her than himself. "I can practically smell you from across the room,"
"I apologize," Anne told him in a tight voice.
"Are you gifted, as well?"
"And what makes you think that I would tell you?"
As Anne watch him, the noise outside of their conversation dimmed to nothing and his eyes focused completely on her. She knew what he was doing and found it hard to resist. She hadn't had this hard of a time resisting a vampire since Godric.
"I would appreciate it if you would," Eric purred to her, drawing her from her thoughts.
Anne laughed, surprising him. "No, thank you, Mr. Northman. I prefer to keep my secrets as they are. Secret,"
Eric raised an eyebrow at her, thoroughly intrigued. "So you are gifted… How interesting. You could be very useful,"
"Could being the operative word,"
"What are you?" he asked, getting to the point.
Anne smiled over the lip of her cup. "I would not know what you are talking about,"
"Both you and the girl have blood that smells highly addictive," Eric told her firmly, getting annoyed. "And one or both of you has supernatural powers. You aren't human,"
Anne glared. "Sookie is human with gifts. We are not the same thing-"
"Then what are you?" Eric asked firmly, interrupting her.
"I would not tell you even if you were about to bite me,"
"That can be arranged," Eric growled, pushing the table toward her.
Anne didn't seem shaken by this, just set down her glass and looked him in the eye. "I am not afraid of death, Mr. Northman. I have never been,"
Eric watched the woman, more beautiful that a great many of the women he'd met and slept with in his thousand year existence. She was also very different from any one person he'd met, no fear coming off of her at his threats, an incredible stubbornness about her that he hadn't seen in any when facing him. After all, he was a thousand year old vampire.
After finishing a cucumber, Anne looked up at him with interest. "Tell me, Mr. Northman. What brings you to Merlotte's?"
"Eric," he started out by telling her, leaning back in his chair lazily. "I have some business with Bill Compton and he has some business with Sookie Stackhouse. And Pam," He gestured to the woman with a tilt of his head. "She wanted to see the competition,"
"Vampire bar against family establishment nearly ten miles away," Anne stated, glancing at Pam before she leaned back in her seat, picking at her salad before picking up one of the leaves. "Why have you shown mercy towards Bill Compton?"
Eric frowned. "I haven't,"
Anne laughed, a breezy laugh that didn't hold much humor. "Do not lie. I know the ways of the vampires and you do not make pit stops on the way to a tribunal,"
Eric raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know so much about vampires?"
Anne smirked and leaned forward. "I'm older than I look,"
"How old do you look?" Eric asked with an equal smirk. "I lost the ability to tell long ago,"
"It is rude to ask a woman her age,"
"Then it's a good thing that I'm used to being rude,"
Anne smiled, leaning back into her seat again. "You would not believe my age even if I told you,"
"Try me,"
Bill walked out then, headed towards Sookie when Eric stood, blocking his path to her.
"I take it your business is done?"
"I came to talk to Sookie," Bill hissed at him angrily.
Eric glanced down at Anne as she watched him carefully, practically feeling her silently asking him to let Bill have a few more minutes. Eric finally sighed in defeat, looking over at Sookie where she stood near the bar. "I'll give you three minutes. We have a tribunal to get to,"
Anne quickly paid for her food and stood as they all left except for Eric who still stood in the center of the restaurant, looking over at a man with a bandage on his arm.
"Oh, before I go, a word of advice; We know when a human has wronged us. We can smell it. So do not make the mistake of letting the pretty blond vampire lady on television make you feel too comfortable. We may not have retaliated… yet… but we know who you are. Have a nice night,"
Anne rolled her eyes and followed him out into the parking lot, stopping beside him and his group as they watched Bill and Sookie talk.
"A very fear inspiring speech," Anne murmured to him without taking her eyes off of Sookie. "I assume the three humans who did it will be peeing themselves tonight,"
"That is what I intended," Eric told her before glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "Why do you say humans as if you are not one?"
"Never said I was one,"
"Tick tock, Bill!" Eric yelled at the couple before looking to Anne. "So you admit you are not human,"
"Never said I was,"
"Then what is Sookie?"
"Human," Anne told him firmly.
"When she smells like that do you expect me to believe that?" Eric asked her before turning to the couple again. "Thirty seconds!"
"Do Sookie and I smell the same?"
"No. You smell much more delectable," he told her honestly. "She smells more like the sun and human than you do,"
"That is because she is a special type of human and I am not," she told him, watching as Bill grabbed Sookie by the upper arms, trying to make her understand something.
"Then what are you?"
Anne laughed, almost scoffing at him. "Bite me,"
"With pleasure," Eric smiled as she looked up at him and glared. "And time!"
Anne glared daggers at Eric for splitting the two up as Bill and Sookie ignored him and kissed as if it were the last time.
"If I still had feelings, I would have the chills right about now," Pam murmured as she watched the two, making Anne chuckle.
"Not me," Eric said in the same dull tone. "Bill! Now!"
Sookie pulled away with tears in her eyes and watched Bill walk away from her as Anne came to take his place, hugging Sookie to her as Sookie cried into her shoulder.
"Sookie," Anne whispered, shushing her as she petted her hair and back. "It is going to be alright, I promise you that. It will be hard, it is going to take him a while to come back but it will be alright, I promise,"
After five minutes of Sookie crying, Anne watched her go back into Merlotte's with the intention of heading to Bill's home as soon as her shift was over. Anne trusted Sam to take tonight's shift of watching over Sookie, intending on heading home and getting a good night's rest.
