Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the characters in this story and am not making any money from this endeavor. Don't sue me!

AN: I'll finish Bill's scene next Chapter. I thought a little interlude with the New Orleans gang would be fun.


Chapter 7

Hadley's POV

I change out of my cocktail dress in one of the large public bathrooms in the palace complex as soon as that dreadful concert is over. I brought some comfy clothes and my laptop with me tonight. The music was nice, I guess, but classical isn't really my style. I got bored about ten minutes in. It was a struggle not to bust out my laptop to surf the Internet during the performance. I'm really glad Sophie-Anne promised to play a game with me after that dull concert. Of course, I'm glad she enjoyed it. Andre seemed to like it too. Maybe he'll be in a better mood for a night or two. It's only a little after midnight, so the night is still young and there's plenty of time to do something fun.

Before I do anything else, I settle in one of the many lounge areas near the auditorium for a moment, and log onto my online banking to pay my rent. I'm late again this month, and that obnoxious witch downstairs has been hounding me nonstop, sending me texts during the day when she knows I'm asleep. Sophie-Anne gives me the money for rent, so paying isn't a problem, but I've never been good about punctuality. I served so many detentions and Saturday schools for tardiness in high school because I was never on time, even for tests. Mama always said this tendency would come back to bite me as an adult, but she wasn't counting on me becoming a vampire Queen's pet. I doubt the witch will evict me, since she wants to stay on good terms with the Queen. It's nice to have friends in high places.

After I pay the rent, I go ahead and knock out the utility bills too. I might as well get all this boring stuff done at the same time. I'm sure my chronic late payments have given me a terrible credit score, but I don't know or care how that stuff works. I usually use Sophie-Anne's credit card anyway. I hope she takes me shopping again soon! I know these nights won't last much longer. I can't believe that my beloved is marrying that pathetic Arkansas monarch, who already hates me. I just hope she turns me before she gets married.

I check the time again and find that I'm late to meet Sophie-Anne for our game. I rush out toward the palace's private suites as fast as my legs will carry me. The Queen hates tardiness in most people, but tolerates it in me. I guess that's a sign she really does like me. I can't help being insecure sometimes, with so many vampires in Sophie-Anne's retinue overtly disliking me. Luckily for me, she doesn't pay any of them much mind.

I dash into the parlor that the Queen uses as a game room to find that my lover has already set out a selection of games to choose from. Sigebert and Wybert, who follow her everywhere, are standing by the door like a perfectly matched pair of statues. They aren't especially bright, but I'm fond of the twins, mainly because they are actually nice to me. They nod to me as I enter the room.

"What shall we pay tonight, dearest?" Sophie-Anne asks me. I inspect the games she has out. Let's see, I have chess, Monopoly, Scrabble, Chinese checkers, and Yahtzee to choose from. Perhaps if I choose a game for more than two players, the twins will play with us. Hmm, I can't pick anything difficult if I want them to play.

I pick up the Chinese checkers box. "Will this do?" I ask. The Queen nods.

"Sigebert, Wybert, come and play with us." She says sweetly. Teaching these two a new game can take a while, but it tends to be funny watching them try to wrap their minds around rules and such. They don't generally care if someone laughs at them for being dumb. Their value is in their strength, not their minds, and they are fine with that. Watching them play checkers with each other is hilarious and it often devolves into a wrestling match.

The pair of giant vampires obey their maker immediately, seating themselves in two of the dainty chairs the Queen has pulled up to the table. The poor chairs look tiny compared to their occupants and I'm mildly surprised that they don't break. I take the third chair and begin setting up the board.

"What colors do ya'll want to play?" I ask.

"Red for me, of course." Sophie-Anne says. She always plays red, if it's an option. Vampires love that color.

'"Black." Sigebert requests.

"Blue." Says Wybert.

Of course the vampires asked for the dark colors. I select white for myself and set up the board.

Sophie-Anne snaps her fingers. "Waldo, come take our orders." She commands.

The sullen albino vampire butler scurries in the room and bows deeply to Sophie-Anne. He must've been lurking in the lounge next door, as usual. He likes to stay close to the Queen, probably reminiscing about his short-lived days as her favorite. He casts me a nasty look as he goes by, which isn't unusual. He doesn't even try to hide his jealousy. Pathetic.

"Bring us a bottle of Royalty to share." Sophie-Anne says. I guess she wants to live large tonight; that stuff is usually just for special occasions. I'm a bit surprised she's indulging the twins with it. I hope Andre doesn't come in here to fuss about the cost later. "Oh, and bring us an extra glass in case Andre joins us later. Hadley, dear, what would you like?"

I know Sophie-Anne plans to feed from me later tonight, even after drinking the Royalty bottled blood, so I'll order something sweet. I had a nice steak dinner with a spinach salad earlier to keep up my iron levels, so it's time for dessert now. "I'll have a bag of gum drops and a Cherry Coke, please." Waldo gives me a poisonous look. My good manners are wasted on him.

Waldo bows again and hurries off to get the requested items. Sophie-Anne and I turn our attention to explaining the game to Sigebert and Wybert. They look confused and I can tell that we'll probably have to play several times before they get it. I hope it isn't as bad as the time we tried to teach them to play Candyland and Wybert lost his temper and broke his brother's jaw. At least vampires heal quickly, so there was no lasting harm done.

Sure enough, the twins are trouble almost as soon as the game begins. They keep picking up all of the marbles they jump and removing them from the board, the way they do the pieces in regular checkers. My efforts to explain the right way to play fall on deaf ears. Waldo comes back with our refreshments a few turns in and goes to stand by the door in case the Queen wants anything else. He glares at me.

Sigebert and Wybert seem to really enjoy the Royalty, which puts them into more patient moods. They don't flip the board over or hit anything like they usually do when they lose. They really are like toddlers in very large bodies sometimes. They finally catch onto the rules about midway through our second game.

Andre comes in just after we start our third game. He has the accounting book with him, which is never a good sign. He sneers at my soda and gumdrops. "Ever heard of basic nutrition, Hadley?" He seems to think that I eat nothing but candy all the time.

"Hey, I had a steak and a spinach salad earlier." I defend myself. He wrinkles his nose.

"That stuff smells nasty." He says, eying the gumdrops. "I don't see the appeal. Too much sugar, even for you."

"Glass of Royalty, Andre?" Sophie Anne queries. "Please pull up a chair, my child." He obeys and accepts a glass of the premium bottled blood.

"We really can't afford to have this on a normal night." Andre scolds. "Do you even know how much this stuff costs?"

"Oh please, Andre, this is a special occasion. Have you heard anything else about our telepath?" The Queen soothes.

Andre looks like he's swallowed a lemon. "Compton texted me when he left for the bar. I haven't heard from him since then."

I wonder what Sookie thinks of Bill. I'm pretty sure she's fascinated by meeting a vampire, more so than anyone else in that backwards little town. She'll probably rush home and tell Gran all about him. Gran will be thrilled when she finds out that Compton is a Civil War veteran. I wonder if she'll convince him to speak to her Descendants of the Glorious Dead club. I can't imagine him giving a speech, but he might do it to ensure his success in this mission. I feel sorry for those old people who will have to endure Bill giving a lecture. You couldn't pay me enough to listen to Compton drone on about his human life like that.

"Play with us, Andre." The Queen laughs. "I think you might actually like this game. There's a strategy element. And you can tell us as soon as you hear from Bill." Getting Andre to play a game is harder than pulling a vampire's fangs. He doesn't know how to have fun.

"My Queen, you really should check over these figures. I think someone over in the donor complex is embezzling from us." Andre protests as he opens the book to a page he's tabbed. The donor complex is a set of buildings adjacent to the palace where most of the humans the Queen pays to donate blood for her staff and visitors reside. It's kind of like a college dorm. Andre's been complaining about the ever rising expenses from that sector lately.

"Again with the numbers, Andre? I command you as your maker to join our game and enjoy yourself." Sophie-Anne says flippantly. Andre puts the book aside and sullenly sets up the green marbles on the part of the board closest to him. Apparently even a maker's command can't change his attitude. It is bad if someone is stealing money and the Queen can't be bothered to care, I'll admit. I'd hate to see Andre ruin a night that she's in such a good mood, though.

I hope Sophie-Anne will buckle down and address the issues Andre brings up sometime soon, so that he'll quit bugging us about them. It really is a killjoy to be having a good time online shopping, watching a movie, or playing a game only to have Andre barge in and start babbling about financial nonsense to ruin everything.

The addition of Andre to the game irritates the twins, as he vents his frustration by making caustic remarks whenever they make a stupid move. Andre's such a sourpuss, always killing the fun. I start trying to help the twins by pointing out good moves that block Andre's pieces. Maybe if the three of us work together, we can trounce him, even if he's smarter than the three of us put together. It's an unspoken rule that we always let Sophie-Anne win, because she's such a sore loser.

"Andre, quit being nasty to your brothers." Sophie-Anne commands. Oh dear, he's going to start on me now. The twins look relieved. "And do lighten up."

Andre looks even more irritable at this order. Then his phone starts to buzz. "Oh, Bill is calling me. I'll have to take this." He walks out to the hall as the twins and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief. Sophie-Anne looks miffed that he wanted to answer the call outside of her presence.


Back to Bill and the Rattrays for the next chapter. Pretty please leave a review!