A/N: This is a super quick update for me, but I had the chapter ready, and a snow day today (and likely tomorrow).

According to my fab beta, chisaii-kitty, this chapter is the bomb. She even deleted her snarky comments in her e-mail because she was so blown away.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

We made our way through the winding corridors that made up the compound until we came to a grand set of doors. We crossed the threshold into the ballroom where light music was already playing. Eric's arm was wrapped tightly around me; telling everyone in the room I was his as well as keeping me upright.

We found Pam sitting at a table speaking to another vampire with a human girlfriend. I listened in on her mind, and could hear she was completely bored. She just wanted to go back to their room and... okay, time to change the channel, enough listening to her. I also noticed how her memories resembled Swiss cheese. There were huge gaps from where her beau must have glamored her.

Eric held out a chair for me and I smiled at his gentlemanly move. Once Pam and the other vampire stopped talking, she directed his attention to us.

"Gervaise, you of course know Eric. Eric this is Gervaise, Sheriff of Area Four. Sookie, this is his girlfriend, Carla. Perhaps you ladies could be friends."

Carla snorted in disgust. I heard her thinking about how plain Jane I was, how I wasn't a proper girlfriend for a former sheriff.

"Oh, Pam, I have plenty of friends. Besides, I'm working tonight. I get to eavesdrop on the staff." I was hoping Pam picked up on the fact I didn't want her sharing my gift with the table.

I suggested to Eric that we start circulating around the room. We started walking, and for the first time in a while, I dropped my shields completely. There weren't many humans in the room so I wasn't bombarded too badly. I finally caught a glimpse of Sophie-Anne and her hubby to be, Peter Threadgill. Beside her was Hadley, who was dressed like a total slut. Andre was lurking in the shadows, looking like a total creeper. His eyes locked on to mine, and I could tell he was trying to glamor me. I just ignored him; flipping the bird, I mean, itching my nose.

There was another vampire stalking along the wall except she had her eyes on Threadgill. I guess she was the female equivalent of Andre, favorite child and sworn bodyguard. The two swords strapped to her back let me know she was not messing around.

We finally found a table full of human employees. Some wore small pins in the shape of Arkansas on their lapel, so figured out real fast who worked for which state. Eric and I struck up an easy conversation with them, Eric carrying most of the verbal portion while I listened in to their thoughts. All of them were several drinks into the evening and easy reads. No one was thinking about overthrowing the government or killing a monarch.

The general vibe I was getting from people was excitement. Some were not happy about leaving their home, or moving to a new state, but they were few and far between. I made notes about what they looked like so I could report to the Queen later. I was going to suggest letting those that were most upset stay in their home state to avoid problems down the road.

The entire time, I felt like I was on high alert. The magic wrapped around me and I'd hold Eric's hand a little tighter, look at those around me a little closer. No one dared come near me. I didn't know if it was the magic or the murderous look in Eric's eyes. Everyone knew him as a fair Sheriff that was fully capable of kicking ass when need be. Even without his title, no one wanted to mess with him or his lady.

I wanted to go back out into the lobby to listen in on those humans too, but Eric noticed that a buffet of human food had just opened up. We headed that way instead, and I piled the food on my plate. Despite my big lunch, I was still hungry and everything looked amazing. We sat back with Pam, Gervaise and Carla, who were now joined by a handful of other vampires. Pam gave a few introductions, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I really wanted to shovel the food into my mouth, but remembered I was in the presence of royalty. A server brought around a tray of goblets, filled with what looked to be blood. Eric took a glass and drank it down quickly; he hadn't fed in a few nights, we really didn't have the time. Pam made a happy noise, commenting on her surprise that the Queen sprang for the real Royalty, not the "blended crap".

Over the next few hours, I checked out every human brain I could find. I wandered in and out of the ballroom, going through the main lobby to listen for disgruntled employees. I was happy to report to the Queen there was nothing major to worry about. I'm sure she would press me about vampires, but there wasn't much I could do to help her there. She'd just have to suck it up. I did what I could with the weres in attendance. Most of the brain signatures were on alert for danger; they must be part of the guard staff.

When we got back to the table, I got hit with a wave of anger and hate. I tried to find the brain it came from and finally located its source. There was a were who was staring daggers at the Queen, a snarl planted on his face. I signaled for Rasul, who was quickly at my side. I let him know to tell Andre about what I'd found. He was off in a flash, and when I looked back to the Queen, Andre and the other guard vamp were at the side of the royal couple.

The were didn't realize how easily they could kill him since the idiot charged the dais, shouting something about her abuse of his pack. The entire party stopped for a moment, watching the poor pup get sliced in half by a sword that was once strapped to Threadgill's girl's back. She was standing over the two halves of the now dead body, bowing before the king and queen.

"I kill to show my loyalty to you, my Master's future Queen."

Sophie-Anne ate that line up, very happy with the little girl's performance. She wasn't impressed by my Southern manners, but absolutely loved the fact this chick sliced a were in half for her. Weirdo.

Rasul was back at my side, an amused look on his face. "Nice catch, Sookie. You've earned your keep tonight. I made sure Andre knew you were the one to notice his discontent."

With that, he was back to the shadows. Once the body was cleaned up, the party was back in full swing. People were dancing, drinking, and laughing as if someone wasn't sliced in two not ten minutes prior. I needed to get out of there, every fiber of my being was telling me so. I was completely disgusted with this society and needed a moment to compose myself. I indicated this to Eric who was glad to escort me back to the room he was sharing with Pam.

I laid down, reaching my arms out to him to tell him I needed to be held. He joined me on the bed, laying down behind me to spoon. He ran his hand up and down my side, finally coming to the plunging neckline of the dress. He let his fingers dance between the textured fabric and my smooth skin, and my body instantly relaxed. He brushed the hair away from my neck, running kisses whenever he revealed another patch of skin.

I knew where this was leading. I also know of Eric's propensity for ripping my clothes off, so I sat up to seductively pull the dress off, tossing it to safety. Eric and I were making out, hot and heavy, when I felt something pulling me back. This magic picked the most awful times to protect me.

I sat up, huffing my disappointment. Stupid Octavia and her stupid curse not letting me have sex with my super hot boyfriend. I was ready to fight against it when the door just opened and Pam walked in. How was Pam intruding on our private time dangerous? Octavia wasn't very specific when she cast the spell.

"Sookie, I never knew you had such a smoking hot body underneath that obnoxious exterior. The two of you need to come back to the party, the Queen's preparing to make her speech and wants you both there for it. You don't need to bother putting your dress back on, dear, you look much better like this."

I rolled my eyes at her before crossing the room to get dressed. I checked myself in the mirror before storming past her, opting not to acknowledge her pinching my ass. Now I knew how Sam felt around Amelia. I walked back to the ballroom with my vampire entourage, stopping at the bar for a gin and tonic before taking a seat.

Sophie-Anne picked up a microphone and started to ramble on about how perfect aligning Arkansas and Louisiana would be, blah blah blah. By the time she had finished her speech, I was on my fourth gin and tonic after having instructed the waiter to keep them coming. I was feeling particularly fabulous and stopped listening to her.

Drunk Sookie is also horny Sookie, as my hand found its way to Eric's crotch. He, of course, wasn't going to stop me, he just pulled me closer with a big smile on his face. I started to nibble along his neck and his earlobe. I heard him growl deep in his chest and he ran his hand down my spine, sending shivers all over me. I was just about to climb into his lap and shove my tongue down his throat when Andre took the microphone.

He went on and on about how it was an honor to join the two kingdoms. He mentioned something about Jade Flowers and their wonderful performance earlier. I must have missed their dance when Eric and I were going at it in the bedroom. Then he said he wanted to read a poem written long ago. Booooring! I wanted to go back to bed with Eric. I could feel his hardness against my hand and knew he felt the same way. Andre started talking in a foreign language, and I started to pick up on some of the words. They sounded so oddly familiar, as if I had just heard them earlier today. Oh wait, I did, he was speaking Latin. When he was finished he looked at me with a smug look on his face, folded up the paper the poem was written on, and went to stand behind the Queen once again.

I was called out of bed for this? I downed my fifth G&T and announced to the table that Eric and I were going to hump like bunnies. I may have mentioned something about how well endowed Eric was, since Carla looked him up and down with new interest. I walked over to her, nearly tripping in my heels and got in her face.

"Hey Bitch! I am sick and tired of everyone walking all over me, taking whatever they want. That is my vampire, my bonded, and you can't have him. I love him and he loves me and we're going to live happily ever after, so fuck off!"

Alcohol really loosens my tongue, it seems. Pam was hysterically laughing, blood tears falling down her face from her exertion. Gervaise looked like he wanted to drain me and thankfully Eric was of his right mind, dragging me away from the party.

"She's such a bitch. I read her thoughts and she wanted to fuck you! She needs to learn that's my job! She's such a slut, I bet she's never told anyone no before. You wouldn't fuck her or drink from her, would you?"

We were back in Eric's room and he sat down on the bed, holding my hips. His lips looked so kissable, I wanted to just eat him up.

"Sookie, Lover, you know I would never touch another. Now I believe you've had too much to drink. You should lay down and rest."

"I don't want to rest, I want to mess around. Don't you want me?"

"Every moment of every night, but not when you're in this mindset. I won't take advantage of you."

"Oh, I'm more than willing." I pulled my dress up over my head, falling over, landing flat on my ass, tangled up in my clothes. Eric scooped me up quickly, placing me on the bed, kissing the bruise that was currently forming on my rear.

"Lover, please, just rest. We'll make love once your head clears a bit."

"Hey, hey Eric? What did you say the other night? You said something in a silly language that I don't know."

"Min älskare?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"It means 'my lover' in my native tongue."

"How do you say 'I love you' in Viking?"

"It's Swedish, not Viking."

"Whatever, teach me."

"Jag älskar dig."

I tried it a few times, with his gentle coaching. I watched his lips and tongue as he spoke, but that just turned me on. After ten failed attempts, I just gave up.

"That's too hard. I'll stick to English."

"It's the meaning behind the words that counts, dear one."

I continued to drunkenly ramble for a little while until the buzz wore off and I got tired. I curled up along his side, resting my head against his chest.

"I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute."

Next thing I remember was the splitting headache rocking my brain. I groaned, curling myself into a little ball to block everything out. I hadn't had a hangover in a very long time; I forgot how bad they sucked. My groaning must have roused Eric from his downtime.

"Lover, are you in pain?"

"Hungover. I drank too much."

He bit his wrist, holding the bleeding cut out to me. I latched on, taking a few draws of his sweet, ancient blood. I placed a kiss on the healing wound and as soon as my head hit the pillow, it felt instantly better. The good feeling quickly spread through my body, making me feel way better than before.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly six. Sunrise is within the hour. I should walk you back to your hotel."

I stretched and went to get out of bed to find my dress. I was stopped with a pair of hands wrapping around my waist, pulling me back against his chest.

"I didn't mean right away."


We made our way down the block, pumps in my hand. The street was clean enough; I didn't really mind being barefoot. Eric dropped me off at the front door of my hotel room. He kissed me lightly but repeatedly, letting his kisses build momentum until we were making out like teenagers yet again. He pulled himself away, a certain amount of sadness in his eyes.

"I need to leave now to get back to the compound before the sun rises. I can't wait until I rise tomorrow night back at your home in Bon Temps. I'll be so glad to put all this behind us. I love you, Sookie."

"I love you too, Eric. I'll be counting down the minutes until sunset."

He walked away at human speed so I could watch. I loved when he made little gestures like that. I slid the card through the reader, hearing the electronic lock release. I made my way into the room quietly, to not wake Sam. I could hear his snores, which let me know I succeeded. Too bad the heavy door slammed shut behind me. He jumped out of bed, ready to shift or attack the intruder when he realized it was only me. He ran a hair through his extra messy hair, clutching his chest.

"Jesus Christ, Sook, you scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry! I didn't realize the door would close on its own."

He sat down on the bed, bringing the sheets around his waist to cover his boxer shorts. I never knew Sam to be shy, he's a shifter for crying out loud! He must be acting polite for my sake.

"How was the party? I guess it was fun if you're just getting home now."

"Nothing spectacular. A few people not too thrilled to be moving. Pam said I would be reporting to one of the human staff in the morning. He'll be meeting us here for breakfast downstairs at about nine. Then we get to go home. I think she said the van would be here around ten."

"Sounds good to me. The sooner the better."

I dug in my bag for clean clothes, sneaking away to the bathroom to change. I ran a brush through my hair, trying to tame the snarls. I made my way back to the main room, noticing Sam had turned on the local news. I sat down on the other bed, watching passively. I felt the same way Sam did, I just wanted to go home.

"Amelia called me. She wanted to say that she and Octavia, with a few other locals cast a spell over the apartment building. I think she just didn't want us to worry about her."

"I'd feel terrible if she got hurt because of us. I'm glad she's got her own form of a security system in place. We should stop by on our way out of town so I can drop off her clothes. I wouldn't feel right taking them."

"Sounds fine to me. I don't think she'll complain about having to see either one of us again."

Breakfast with the Queen's aide was uneventful. He just wanted to know what I heard, writing everything I said down in full detail. It was nice to be around people who believed in what I could do wholeheartedly. Growing up, I faced so many people who thought I was insane. It was a new experience to talk to people who took my gift seriously.

After we ate, we went back up to the room to pack. We checked out just as the Anubis van pulled up. Sam and I basically ran out of the hotel lobby to pile in. We made a quick detour to Amelia's and then were on the open road heading back to Bon Temps. We talked for a little while so I could give Sam a full report from the party. I left out the part about me getting blitzed and cursing out the Sheriff's girlfriend. I liked knowing Sam had some level of respect for me. We both started dozing off, and fell asleep minutes after each other.

The first stop in Bon Temps was Sam's trailer. He wanted to get back to the bar as soon as possible to relieve Terry of his post as acting manager. Sam reconfirmed the fact that he was the greatest boss ever; he gave me the rest of the day, as well as Monday, off. I needed some rest after all the insanity of the weekend.

The van went to my house next. The driver unloaded Eric's coffin, wheeling it into the house. I instructed him to leave it in the spare bedroom, so Eric wouldn't be completely out of sorts when he rose. I tried to give him a tip, but he insisted that Pam had covered everything. By the time they reached Shreveport to drop Pam off, it would be full dark and she would settle the bill.

I went about cleaning up the house until sunset. I decided to surprise Eric with some sexy lingerie. As soon as he rose, he was going to devour me, and I was looking forward to it. As the sky began to get dark, I heard a loud crash from the spare bedroom. I was just across the hall, lying on my bed in nothing but a red lace teddy so I didn't know how effective I would be at helping him.

I crossed my room, opening the door to the spare bedroom slowly. Eric was staring at everything, just like he did when we were in his houses. I said his name quietly, knowing I wouldn't have to shout to get his attention. It was the last thing out of my mouth before Eric had his hand wrapped around my throat, holding me a good foot off the ground pressed against the wall, growling menacingly.

"Sookie?" He slowly released me, letting me fall gently to the floor. "Is this your home? Why am I here? Why do I feel your emotions so acutely?"

Oh. Shit.

*ducks, hides* Review please, let me know what you think! Next chapter will be the first appearance of Eric's POV.