9.
~Sookie~
Godric's house was bigger than a train station. Bobby told me on the flight down that the estate was once a Polo Club in the 20's. There was a lot of natural light and what Bobby called stylish symmetry. He assumed I didn't know what that meant. The trophy room was still there with cross beamed ceilings and large murals. The floors were Italian marble and the interior of the house was painted in sage green, light taupe and white. As we drove up the long winding drive, we passed a heavily staffed guardhouse. The grounds were lush green. The most breathtaking part was the large reflecting pool I saw to the rear. That was probably beautiful at night with the moonlight shimmering off of it. There was a pool and a pond on the estate.
If Bobby thought the term "fish out of water" one more time when he looked at me, I was going to punch him in his stupid smug face. He was glad Eric had brought him along because apparently there was no way I could have handled traveling with him alone. He didn't look too difficult to me. Bobby had seen to all the arrangements. I had to admit, it was kind of creepy traveling with a coffin. But everyone who had come in contact with Eric treated the resting vampire like the coffin was filled with pure gold. Bobby was disappointed he didn't have to fight anyone. It seemed that in addition to being "efficient," he was heavily armed and a well-trained fighter.
It didn't change the fact that he was an asshole though.
He wondered for the hundredth time what Eric saw in me; why I was so god damned special that Eric had threatened him with cutting off a finger for each nasty thing he said to me. I wondered if this was the perfect moment to tell him I was telepathic, but again decided I'd have a better moment. It was too bad that I couldn't conjure these electric shocks Eric was so fond of. It would be nice to throw a few thousand megawatts through Bobby the Butthead over there.
The room we were given was bigger than both Eric's room at Fangtasia and at his house. I wondered briefly if this was "his" room. Bobby had told me that Godric had a vampire lover Liam who always took care of guests and played host. Bobby was enjoying showing off how much he knew about Eric versus how little I did. Godric and Liam had been together for a few centuries it seemed. I grinned a bit and wondered to myself if Eric considered Liam something of a stepfather. I got the feeling it didn't really work that way in the vampire world, even if that was how I kept track of this cast of characters in Eric's life.
When I commented on what a grand house it was for a vampire, that's when I found out that Godric was the King of Texas. Okay, that Eric could have told me. So did that make Eric some kind of prince? He really was the Prince of Darkness. I chuckled at that and Bobby thought, again, that Eric was tangled up with a crazy chic and wondered if he'd lose a whole limb if he said as much to Eric.
"If you're not thinking that you landed quite the catch, you should be." Bobby said haughtily.
"It's not about money for all of us."
"Obviously."
I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow at him.
"Well, it is. Are you saying it's not?" He was such a snob.
No, I wasn't; but he didn't have to be such a dick.
"I think we'll be okay." I hissed. I opened the bedroom door and indicated it was time for him to get out. Eric didn't say anything about Bobby staying in here too, so he was on his own.
"If you need anything, Miss Stackhouse, I'm right across the hall." He said formally.
"I won't." I replied. "Eric will be up soon."
"It's just barely four o'clock. He won't be up for hours. Do you want me to show you how to work the television?" He was thinking about when Eric was up at 4:30 and how odd it was, but he dismissed it as a fluke. After all, he knew Eric better than me and Eric didn't rise until the exact moment dusk began and that wasn't for another hour and 48 minutes.
"No. I will be fine." I assured him. And if I wasn't, I sure as hell wasn't going to him for help. I'd rather sit here and bleed, or starve or have to pee.
I slammed the door behind him, huffed over to the bed and plopped myself down. Damn this thing was soft. I kicked my shoes off and stretched out. This was the most comfortable bed I had ever laid on. I wondered how much this mattress and comforter cost. I could imagine myself sinking into it at the end of a long shift. It would feel like heaven. Just as I was starting to think of Eric with me in this nice big, comfy bed, my eyes drifted shut.
~Eric~
I popped out of the miserable travel coffin and checked my watch. 4:15. Damn. I was going to need to rethink my schedule to make the most out of this extra time I was gaining. My eyes scanned the room and fell on Sookie sleeping in the bed. It struck me as odd that she would be taking a nap at this time of day, but then again, she was a breather and not accustomed to keeping up with the hours a vampire did. She was used to late nights and sleeping later in the morning, but not the kind of hours I kept.
Not to mention I was taking blood from her. She assured me that she was following my dietary instructions, but when it came right down to it, she was a breather and had different health requirements. Another blood exchange would make her stronger. I wondered if I could talk her into it. That would be the second time and she never really said what she thought about being fully bonded. I didn't think she really understood what it meant.
I didn't know how long she had been sleeping and was hesitant to wake her. It would be a late night for her. I looked over at the wall of shelves lined with books. I supposed I could read for a little while, but I didn't really feel like doing that. There was a home theater system in here as well, but I wasn't interested in watching t.v. either.
I strolled over to the refrigerator in the room. Liam would have stocked it with blood for me. This was considered my room and Liam kept it ready, convinced I could return to the nest at any moment. Liam was flamboyant, not to the extent that cook at Merlotte's was, but he was quite the hostess. I was confident Martha Stewart could not find fault with his hospitality.
I sat down on the pristine white couch in front of the fireplace, drank the blood and watched Sookie sleep. I really wanted to wake her up. Why drink synthetic blood when she was right there?
I dropped my head back, propped my feet up on the coffee table and began to count her heart beats.
That's when I realized I was bored out of my mind.
I supposed I could summon Bobby and get the report from the trip, but I didn't want him in here when Sookie was sleeping. And I certainly didn't want him in here when she woke up. I assumed by now he had told her Godric was King. I didn't tell her that. I probably should have in hindsight. She was probably pretty shocked.
Godric rose just before dusk. I stood up and crossed the room just as I felt him get to the door. There was a light knock and then it swung open. Frankly, I'm impressed he knocked. That was a courtesy to Sookie, who was sleeping anyway.
I bowed when he walked in. "You've been up for a while," he noted.
"Yes."
"We have much to talk about."
"Yes."
"How long were you going to wait to tell me?"
"Not much longer, I swear."
I would have moved to him then, but Liam swept in. "Eric! The Prodigal Son returns." He stepped right up to me and kissed both of my cheeks. "Where's the one causing all the upheaval?" Liam stepped back and looked toward the bed. "Oh. My. A woman." I rolled my eyes. They knew I preferred women. He moved to the side of the bed and crouched down to get a better look at Sookie's face.
"She'll be terrified if she wakes up and sees you in her face like that." I hissed. We all had dropped our voices to a level that wouldn't wake her. Hell, she wouldn't hear us if she was awake and paying attention.
Godric joined Liam, though he didn't crouch down like Liam did. Please, Sookie, please don't wake up right now. She'd never recover from the fright. "She is responsible for the change," he said simply. "She is very beautiful."
"Isn't this an odd time of day for a human to be sleeping?" Liam asked standing back up. He looked concerned; he was probably one step away from calling the court doctor. Liam was prone to dramatics.
"Yes, but she's had quite a few days of stress and the trip probably tired her out." I replied.
"She's not the only one." Godric replied, looking pointedly at me.
"No," I admitted pressing my fingertips to my forehead. Godric looked at me and smiled. "What?" I asked him. He was trying my patience. "What is so funny to you?"
He shrugged. "I have finally seen everything."
"What the hell does that mean?" I snapped.
"Eric!" Liam chided appalled. "Do not speak to your maker so. Do not speak to the king so."
Godric waived him off. I was Godric's only child. What's more, I was over a thousand years old. I was afforded a certain amount of leeway. Someone else might have lost their tongue for snapping at the king.
"You have finally found love, Eric." Godric smiled. "What I have been feeling from you is love, you idiot."
A child could have knocked me flat on my ass. "No," I denied, shaking my head. "It's too soon. I care about her, yes. Stop looking at me with that grin, sire." Of course, he didn't. "There is still a lot I don't know about her."
"Tell me what you do know."
"Now?" I asked incredulously. He raised one eyebrow at me. Yes, of course it would be now. "She is telepathic."
"Really?" Liam looked back down at her, obviously impressed. "Does she hear you?"
"No. She can't hear vampires. I am also positive she is part fairy."
"Yes, I can smell it." Godric nodded.
"Really?" Liam said again.
"That goes no further than this room." Godric said sternly. Of course, I wasn't the one he was talking to. "None of the others can know that."
"A fairy." Liam sighed and then inhaled deeply. "I cannot smell it."
"You are too young still." Godric replied.
"Her father carried the Brigant name."
"That is problematic." Godric said. "I wonder if Niall knows of her."
"Somebody does. Last night I smelled fairy outside the bar she works at. I followed the trail and it went right back to her house. It was very strong. She wants to meet a fairy. She is not fully convinced she is fae. But there is energy in her that comes out when she is aroused. It is the most…stunning thing I have ever felt."
Oh God, Liam was gushing. "Eric fell in love with a telepathic fairy from Louisiana! Now I have seen everything. It's so romantic!"
"She also dreams of me."
"Oh!" Liam clutched his chest and I rolled my eyes.
"No, she has seen things I've done while I was doing them, like she was watching in real time. She was able to relay a situation back to me with perfect detail."
"I can't stand it! Wake her up, Eric." Liam demanded. "I want to meet her."
"No, let her sleep." Godric contradicted. "She needs her rest, especially if she is to keep up with Eric. Liam, go talk to Robert. I'd like a special dinner tonight. The four of us, nobody else."
"In the solarium, I think." Liam nodded.
"Wherever and whatever you would like, dearest. I leave it up to your good judgment." Godric replied. Liam nodded and left the room on a mission, closing the door behind him.
"Your anxiety is misplaced, my child." Godric said as soon as Liam was gone. "I have no wish to see her harmed. Quite the opposite, actually. How can I wish harm upon someone who has brought you this kind of joy? There may have been a time when I would have been jealous of someone that has captured your attention in this way, but that has long since passed. I do not wish to see you suffer."
"I do not believe it is love; at least not yet." I certainly couldn't deny it was something. But love?
"This is God's work." Oh crap, here we go.
"God does not save the likes of me."
"Maybe he's saving her." Godric countered. "Maybe it is her he is helping and through that, she's saving you."
"It is a nice thought, Godric, but…"
"I have been in this world a lot longer than you have. God reveals himself in mysterious ways."
"Or not at all, in some cases." I replied, looking back to where Sookie still slept. I was an eternal cynic, but I liked the idea that Godric was offering. She has changed me; that much I could not deny. Whether or not it is enough for me to alter the way I live my life remained to be seen. I found it unlikely she had that much influence over me at the moment. But I supposed I could see how she might one day. After all, I have been consumed with everything about her for the past four days.
I did not believe in God. Vampires were godless creatures. Godric had never given up on a divine power and we had gone round and round for centuries over the issue. I finally gave up and agreed to disagree.
"Bring her down when she wakes." Godric ordered. He crossed over to me and put his hand on my cheek. "It is good to see you here, Eric. We will talk to the fairies and we will keep her safe."
He left the room then and I walked to the bed and looked down at her. I thought about what he had said. There was no denying she meant a great deal to me. I did like the idea that we found our way to each other for a reason, even if I did believe that reason was a load of crap.
When she slept, she looked like an angel. When she was awake she looked like an angel. If I hadn't tasted her myself, I would have thought she might be a different kind of fae. But an angel just would not be sent to me. There was nothing to save me from and if there was, I had done nothing to deserve saving. If anything, it was I who was to look after her.
I stretched out on the bed up against her, bent down and kissed her neck. She smiled and rolled to her back.
"Wake up, my beauty."
"I love this bed." She said huskily, opening her eyes.
"Are you well?"
"Just tired, I guess. How long have I been asleep?"
"I rose at 4:15 and you were sleeping then."
"What time is it now?"
"6:30."
"Wow, that's some nap." She said blinking quickly.
"You obviously needed some rest." I replied, kissing her again. "We will be having dinner with Godric and his companion, Liam, tonight."
"The king?"
"I know I should have told you that. There was a lot to have to tell you in a very short amount of time and I just hadn't gotten to that one yet."
"I suppose what with the vampire queen trying to kidnap me and me supposedly being part fairy, you hit the big stuff first." She sighed. "Still it was a bit of a shock. Does that make you some kind of prince?"
"No, not really. Although you will see I am treated differently." I smiled. "Though I was in my human life."
She certainly wasn't expecting me to say that. She did a double take and I think she was more surprised by that bit of information than she was about the part-fairy bit. "An actual prince?"
"My father was a Viking king." The memories of my last days as a human came flooding back. That wasn't something I allowed myself to think about often, but as I still hadn't avenged my family, it was not something I would allow myself to forget either.
"You're very serious all of the sudden. What happened to your family?" She asked quietly. This was one of the many reasons I could see myself in love with her. She wanted to know about me and I wanted to tell her. Even Pam didn't know everything about me.
"They were murdered; I was spared; Godric turned me a few days later when I was tracking down their killer." I said simply.
"Were you married?"
"No, though I had fathered a few children. Promiscuity is something I've always indulged in. My father had been hounding me for quite some time to take a wife. He was faithful to my mother and I was not ready to give up all my lovers for just one."
"That's pretty honorable of you, Eric, considering how many men have affairs on their wife."
"In my defense," I grinned. "None of them actually asked me to be faithful to them."
"Oh, well, that makes all the difference." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "It's a good thing I got that out there right away."
"You are probably more than I could handle at the moment anyway." I teased.
"So really I'm doing you a favor then?"
"You could say that." I kissed the tip of her nose in response to a huff. "Up you get now. Liam and Godric are anxious to see you awake."
"Awake?" she asked sitting up. "Were they here?"
"Yes, lover. They were here exactly at dusk."
"I wasn't doing anything embarrassing like drooling on the pillow or anything like that, was I?"
"No, you looked beautiful. Even Godric said so." She blushed and looked away. I just adored that. I didn't know any women that blushed. "But Liam is very excited to talk to you."
"Why?"
Because they believe I am in love with you and up until recently most of us thought that was impossible.
"I don't know; I told him you weren't all that interesting."
She picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it at me. "I don't know what to do here, Eric. This is very much not my element. How do I act? How do I dress? What do I talk about?"
"I don't understand." I frowned. "You act and dress like Sookie. I will admit that the house and its contents are…expensive, but that should not affect you. And it will not affect the way you are received by the others, nor how they treat you. Believe me you will be treated with the utmost respect."
"Because I am yours?"
"Yes." I said simply.
"What if someone else thought I should be theirs?" She asked as she rifled through her garment bag and pulled out a long flowing white dress that was sure to cause me headaches this evening.
Clearly that was something that I needed to explain, since that is not the first time she has expressed concern about something like that. "Believe it or not, vampires do have a code of ethics and typically stick to them. However, hypothetically speaking, if someone did decide that they wanted you for themselves they could challenge me for you and it is a fight to the death. Bear in mind, it would be unlikely they would win. And no one would do that here because they not only respect Godric too much, but they also fear him.
"This brings me to something else I've been meaning to talk to you about."
"What's that?" she asked as she twisted her hair on top of her head. I momentarily lost my thought. "Eric?"
"A second blood exchange. It will make you stronger and easier for me to track."
"In case someone hypothetically snatches me?" She said. I really did adore her. "I guess so."
"Are you uncomfortable with that, lover?"
"I'm uncomfortable with the whole situation, Eric." She sighed. "But I trust you. I'm going to take a shower now and you stay in here, buddy, or we'll never get out of this room."
I didn't know what the problem with that was, but I let her saunter off into the bathroom anyway. I had a lot to think about. Godric and Liam thought I was in love with a mortal who trusted me; a woman who knew what I was and arguably what I was capable of. She was intelligent enough to be afraid of Bill Compton, but she was not afraid of me or anyone associated with me for the simple reason that she trusted me to keep her safe. And that was a lot of responsibility to carry.
But I wanted that responsibility I wanted that responsibility because Godric and Liam were right. I was in love with Sookie and I had been since the first moment I laid eyes on her.
