When I walked into the room my shower was supposed to be in it was dark. Suddenly the lights flipped on and all these women jumped out and screamed Congratulations. I couldn't stifle my laugh. Pam had been very busy while I was talking to Andrew. From the ceiling streamers in pink and white were so thick you could no longer see the ceiling. There were round table set around the room with white table cloths and pink balloons in the shapes of umbrellas as centerpieces. There was a buffet table with southern homemade foods on the menu. There were two champagne fountains at the end, one with champagne and one with bubbly blood. Looking around the room I estimated two dozen women present, and in the corner of the room was a table filled with presents. "Thank you, thank you. It is so kind of all of you to do this for me." I said knowing I needed to be gracious.
Pam came to my side and whispered "See I can act human, what do you think?" "It's absolutely you. Thanks." I answered her. "Everyone help your self to food, and then we'll play some games." Pam announced. "Sookie, you start the food line." Pam smiled, she was being a gracious host, and I wonder if she read a book, or just saw this on Dear Abby columns. I went over to the buffet table and filled my plate with fried chicken wings, slaw, fried okra, watermelon, and biscuits. I got a glass of champagne to wash it down. I sat down at the brides table and Pam came over and put a veil made of toilet paper on my head. Once everyone had gone through the line and sat down I realized that Pam and royalty sat at my table. The Queen of Alabama, Iowa, and head of the Hot Springs were pack all females and royalty of sorts. Pam kept up the conversation talking about the new house Eric and I were building, and the large party we were hosting to celebrate our wedding in Louisiana. They all agreed they would love to attend. "Have you picked a dress yet Sookie?" Phoebe Queen of Iowa asked. "No, I've been busy setting up my shop, that between Felipe causing problems, and preparing for the summit, I decided to leave all the wedding preparations to Pam, I'm sure between the two of us we will find the perfect dress." I answered her in between bites. "Are you planning a honeymoon?" Rayanne the were asked. "I don't think with Eric being a new King that he'll be able to get away, but maybe later." I told her.
Pam stood then and said "Ok ladies gather around the bride we are going to play some games. These are old customary games with a little twist for our dear Sookie. The first thing I need you all to do is get out your purses. I'm going to read off a list of items whoever has the most of these items wins a prize." Pam told them. All the women seemed to like the idea of a simple human game even though there were only three other humans present. Pam started going through her list; lipstick, brush, nail file, breath mints. Most of the vampires got out at nail file, but all vampires were out on breath mints. The winner was a pet of the King of Missouri names Patrice; she had a safety pin in her bag. Her prize was a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. The next game Pam had planned was a word scramble of wedding terms. It was completed in 9 seconds by a vampire from Florida who was second in command. Her prize was beauty treatment at the spa a few blocks away. Pam moved onto the next game. This was a question and answer. Everyone had the questions in front of them and they had to write down their answers. Then Pam would ask me the questions and you get a point if you got it right. I was a little nervous because I didn't know what the questions were ahead of time. Pam had me sit in the front of the room and asked the first question "What is Eric's favorite color for you to wear in bed?" I felt the blush rise in my cheeks. "Nude." I answered and crowd laughed. "How many men have you been with prior to Eric?" Pam was getting very personal, but trying to personalize me to the crowd. "One prior to Eric." I answered. "What scent do you wear to attract Eric?" the questioning continued. "Fairy." I laughed and the room did too. "What's your song?" Pam asked next. "Love it a Battlefield." I laughed. I knew where this was going Pam wanted me to get embarrassed or possibly show how little Eric and I knew of one another, but I was going to make a joke of every single answer. At that point Pam realized that no one had a single answer right so she drew a number for the prize winner. They won diamond earrings.
"Now its time for Sookie to open her gifts." Pam said and I stood and headed to the back of the room. I sat down in a chair and Pam sat next to me with pen and paper in hand. I flashed back to the wedding shower I attended for the Bellefleurs. At least here no one would cat call at every gift. I picked up the first gift from the table and read the card. It was from a vampire in Wisconsin. I realized then that each state was represented by one female. No one wanted to not have someone present at the wedding shower of King Eric's bride. I then realized that as Eric's wife I would be required to attend many events such as this for other states. My gift was a pair of bronze candlesticks obviously antique. I went through the process of opening each gift and thanking each person, most gifts were generic household decorative items like vases, bookends, all obviously expensive or antique, ancient even. None my taste, but all I could picture with Eric. These were more for him than me. I understood that now and smiled graciously.
Finally I was down to two gifts. One was under the table and rather large. The other sat in the corner of the table and was thin like a book. I reached for the large present first and pulled it out. It was from Pam. I glanced at her trying to tell if it was going to embarrass me or make me cry. I started to open it I pulled out an painting in a gold frame. When I flipped it over to see what the painting was I gasped. It was us, Eric, Aidan, Adele and I. We were on the couch, we were smiling. Aidan sat in-between us and Eric held Adele tenderly in his arms. I remembered when we were like that but there wasn't a camera present, let alone a painter. I was so unbelievably touched by the thoughtfulness of the painting. "Pam, thank you, I don't know how you did it, but its perfect, it will go right over the mantle." I told her. I'd have hugged her if she knew how to respond to it. She grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "One more." She said and handed it to me. I'd been keeping track of presents with people and there shouldn't have been any left. I looked at the small box curiously. I held it up to listen to it. No noises emitted from it. I opened it up and found a note taped on top of another box. To my wife, who has fulfilled my life more in a decade than the thousand years prior. The room awed. I opened the package inside was a strand of pearls. Simple, elegant, and perfect to my tastes, Eric knew me better than anyone.
The party broke up shortly after that. A waiter brought us a rolling cart for Pam and me to load my gifts. We had the valet pull the car around and we loaded everything into the trunk of the car. Eric and Rasul came out just as we were finishing. "Perfect timing as always after the work is done." Pam commented. "Did you rake in the goods Sookie?" Rasul asked. "I was given a lot of nice gifts I'm sure Eric will appreciate in our new home." I answered. "Did you have fun my lover?" Eric questioned as we slid into the backseat of the car. "I behaved as your Queen should your majesty." I answered him with a grin. "That is not what I asked." He stared me down searching for my answer. "It was fun teasing Pam back after the games she picked out, and it was nice to get to know some of the others I'm less familiar with, but most of all, I loved watching Pam play hostess, she really enjoyed it, and I think she would be an excellent party planner, taking place of the EEE for vampire/human parties." I told him as we pulled into a gas station. "Sookie, do you want anything to eat or drink for tonight or in the morning." Rasul asked before he stepped out to get gas. "I can run in and get it." I told Rasul, and squeezed Eric's hand as I grabbed my purse and slid out the door to walk into the convenient store. I bought some milk, bread, eggs, cheese, and coffee for the next two mornings, and then some Diet Dr. Pepper, and lunchmeat and chips for lunch or snacks. I paid for the food and our gas and then headed back to the car. Rasul took off as soon as I got in. We were back in a few minutes. I put my groceries away, poured me a Diet Dr. Pepper and sat down on the couch. Eric and Pam joined me and Rasul sat in the other chair.
"Are we going to talk about tomorrow's plan?" I asked the vampires around the room. "Sookie, we found out more information regarding the Coast Guard case and its something I'd like to discuss with you." Eric stated leaning forward on his knees. He's removed his suit jacket and unbuttoned the collar on his shirt, I was tired and wanted to do nothing but crawl into bed with him, but I knew I needed to listen. "Go ahead." I told him as I took a sip of my drink. "Andre Dubois is from Louisiana, he was a state record holder in swimming and diving in high school and was recruited by the Coast Guard right out of high school. They paid for him to go to college as LSU where he went to the school of Coast and Environmental studies and they trained him to be a rescue diver. It seems he was the best they had ever seen. He got excellent marks in both school and on the field. When he graduated they offered him a permanent position as a Guardian. He accepted because he had to complete two years of active duty service before he could go off and use his degree to find a job. He was two months off of his time being up when they approached him asking him to participate in some experiments in testing limits in certain locations and conditions. He declined stating that he had no intentions on reenlisting and he'd been offered a job. Three weeks later there was an accident and Andrew was fatally injured. They called in a Naval Officer who was a vampire for years and had him turn Andrew. The rest is as you've already heard. Now if this is all true and I have no reason to believe it's not true, then the Coast Guard had this planed all along. They choose a young man who has already proven he could do the job and they had this planned the entire time. Possibly they even planned the accident. The vampire in me does not see an issue with another vampire who has a useful skill. As King I like the fact that this man resides in my kingdom and can be rented out to other states as needed for a nice sum. However I do not like the stance of the government that he belongs to them, that they made him and therefore are a collective maker and do not abide by the vampire laws. Therefore I can not let this go on, we have to set precedence. However no one from my kingdom is serving as judge. But I have been asked to testify."
"Eric, if the government is allowed to turn any soldier who is wounded during duty, they will soon have an army of vampires, who are trained to the fullest capacity and can be used against civilian vampires." Rasul stated clearly concerned. "Yes, I've thought of that, but I don't know if we can stop it. What we can stop if whether or not we allow the government vampires to be held in our jurisdiction and law, or human jurisdiction and law." Eric explained. "Master I think there is more to it than that. The AVL wants to mainstream, that means the government that means all vampires fall under human laws, that would eventually do away with kingdoms and vampire law." Pam spoke up. "Pam, I don't think that the AVL has any intentions to go that far, only make it seem to the humans we are doing such." Eric corrected her. "Sookie, you are being quiet, what are you thinking?" Eric asked me. "I'm thinking that Andrew will never be allowed to live his own life. If the government wins they will take something he loves, into what he loathes making him unstable and angry. If he comes under your control, you will force him to be at your beck and call and farm him out to other kingdoms for a fee. Either way Andrew's life is not his own. That's wrong on both accounts, you are both taking away his rights and seeing him as an object instead of someone with feelings, and passions, and ideas." I spoke to Eric with compassion for Andrew. There was silence from all after my statement. "What would you suggest?" Eric asked.
I wasn't sure how to answer him. I thought for some time and they all gave me blank stares. "If the AVL wants to make it look like vampires are mainstreaming then Andrew should be allowed to not reenlist. If his two years of active duty are up, then he is released from his maker and allowed to move away from him. He might have trouble getting a job, but that's where his King should help find a place for him that would make him happy. After all a content vampire will be more loyal." I told him. "Well, well, Sookie might make a descent Queen after all." Rasul laughed. "Well she will be a diplomatic one." Pam quipped. "Sookie, your simplistic way of looking at it might be just what is called for in this matter. I will want you with me tomorrow." Eric said as he stood up. "But for now lets go to bed, sunrise will be here shortly." Eric said and reached for my hand. I rose and took his hand and waved to Pam and Rasul. Once we were in the bedroom Eric was on me. He was kissing my mouth as his hands worked to remove my clothing. His passion filled me in a few quick moments. He was getting impatient and once my clothing was off he had my legs wrapped around his waist as he pushed me against the door. He entered me with force. His emotions of the day with winning the trial, getting the kingdom, the business dealings while I attended the trial, all came out in this forceful sex. I knew he needed the release but I preferred the sweet lovemaking to this. He bit down as he released into me. He shuddered and then slowly lowered me back to the ground. No words were said between us he just led me to the patio door. Out on the deck in the woods was a hot tub I had not seen before. Eric took off the cover and we both stepped in. This was the way to end the night.
We couldn't stay in long, but it was just enough to relax me completely. We went back inside about twenty minutes before dawn. We crawled into the bed and laid there holding one another. I felt Eric stiffen as the sun rose and he whispered. "I love you." I fell asleep shortly afterwards. When I woke it was 4 in the afternoon. I didn't have but a few short hours before Eric awoke. I got up and went into the kitchen and made me an omelet, toast and coffee. I called Mike after I finished eating. Aidan answered the phone. "Hi Mom, are you Queen yet." Aidan wanted to know. "Not yet dear, but we won yesterday, and Uncle Eric will be named King of Louisiana tonight." I told him knowing that Mike was probably listening too. "Cool, does he get a crown?" He enthusiastically asked. "Yes, he'll get a crown." I told him. "We'll I get a crown since I'll be like his son too so that would make me a prince right." Aidan's curiosity continued. "No, son, you are not Eric's son, you'll be his step son so that doesn't make you a Prince." I laughingly told him. "Aww man. Ok, well here's Dad, I love you." Aidan said and then handed Mike the phone. "Your majesty, how is your trip?" he said smartly. "Very funny, it's going good, tonight is Eric's coronation, and then we'll have a grand ball afterwards." I told him. "Vampires sure do things decadently don't they." Mike smirked. "Is everything ok there, I haven't checked my email, or messages yet." I asked. "It's all good, nothing that can't wait until you come back." Mike told me. "Ok, it will be really late tomorrow night before I'm home, but I'll try and call you when I wake up." I told him. "All right, see you later." Mike said and hung up.
I did my dishes and then went to take a shower. I dried my hair and set it in rollers and started to do my makeup. I realized that I'd have to take my ball gown with me and dress in something else for today's trials. I finished my makeup and put on my pearl earrings and the necklace Eric had given me. Then I laid out my clothes on the vanity chair and put my gown into a garment bag with my shoes and jewelry. I packed my evening bag and then crawled back into bed with Eric still nude with only my curlers, and my pearls on. In about ten minutes I felt his "gracious plenty" harden against my thigh. He started to kiss my neck and then rolled me to my back and him over me. "What is in your hair my lover?" He asked with his fangs out. "Curlers." I told him. "I see you liked my gift." His eyes moved to my necklace. "Yes, but Pam's was my favorite." I teased him. "What did she get you, something I can tear off of you?" he teased back. "No, she gave us a portrait for our mantle in the new house." I told him as I trailed my fingers along his chest. "A self portrait?" he asked. "No, a family portrait." I told him and then began to kiss his chest. "We did not pose for a portrait." He stated not quite understanding. "You'll need to ask Pam about that, but right now could you pay a bit more attention to me." He growled and spent the next hour paying close attention to every inch of me.
Once we got dressed for the nights events he added his tuxedo to my garment bag. We kissed one more time before Pam came knocking on our door. "We need to leave it you wish to attend both trials before the ball." She told us and was surprised when I opened the door ready to leave. "Don't you look very Grace Kelly." She commented with a nod to my hair do. We headed out the door and Rasul was on the phone. "The trial for Andrew Dubois will be at the same hotel as the ball, but the sports league has been moved to another location due to the number of people interested in attending the debate." Rasul informed us as we got into the car. "Eric, Russell wanted me to inform him on the sports league, but you need me with you, what should we do" I told him. "Do not worry my love, Rasul drop us off at the hotel and then go to the facility with the sports meeting, you will be our representative there." He told Rasul. I could tell this pleased Rasul. Once Rasul dropped us off we headed into the trial room at the Corydon Hotel. It was decorated in an old west motif. I took a deep breath as we waited for everyone to arrive. I was so nervous for the outcome, more so than the night before and I couldn't figure out why until Mike walked in the door.