Chapter 10
Sookie's POV
Eric and I spent the last month solidifying our positions as monarchs of Lousiana and Arkansas. Eric had decided to send Clancy to Arkansas as his liaison. Clancy seemed to have many issues and sending him to a place of few vampires and little power was perfect. There he got to feel important and it kept him off of Eric's last nerve. Maxwell Lee was promoted to manager of Fangtasia and Thalia was made head of our personal security. Thalia was very pleased with her promotion and did a very good job. Pam was made our second in command. She was quite pleased with her position. She did not waste one second in ordering us all more appropriate attire for royalty. Apparently the designer clothes she had been getting us were rags and she had not wanted to upset Eric by telling him the $1,500 tie was not the best out there.
My display of power at the Summit and my generous warning made me a shoe in for queen. Not only were vampires willingly swearing fealty to me but some Weres had shown up out of the woodwork to swear fealty as well. A Were and a shifter pack both came from Arkansas to meet their new queen and to swear fealty. Two Were packs and half a dozen lone shifters swore fealty to me also. Eric said it was not mandatory that Were packs swear fealty because they were not bound by vampire law. So, this was the first step in our unification of the supernaturals. These were packs had placed their trust in me by submitting to my law and will, based on a show of strength. I show them trust as well by hiring from the packs that have sworn fealty for royal daytime security and security for the royal grounds.
We moved from Shreveport to New Orleans. We opted not to keep the over the top royal compound. Instead we purchased and made minor renovations to a condo building downtown. One whole floor was a service floor for laundry, cleaning, maintenance, and the kitchen. Another whole floor was the security hub. We kept several floors of condos to use as suites for guest and those that live here. We had all of them made light tight and upgraded with digital fingerprint imaging for entry access. A feature any visitor is sure to appreciate. A few floors were made into conference type rooms for meetings and two floors are made for entertainment. They are connected by a large ornate staircase and designed to hold royal affairs such as balls or weddings, maybe. I made Eric add a pool to the roof. The top floor is our suite of rooms; I loved the sun and water, and am pleased that I get to them both so easily. His pool was what I would miss most about Shreveport, though we did not sell the house there. He said I liked it too much for him to sell it. Plus I had thoroughly warded that house and the magic was strong there, it would make a great safe house if ever one was needed.
We had just settled in at our New Orleans condo when Eric received a call from Texas.