Sookie's POV
Some people might not think much of my life, but I like it, thankyouverymuch. So I was feeling pretty wary of meeting the vampire who thought she could yank me out of my life in Bon Temps just because she had a whim.
I'm still going to be polite, darnit. Gran raised me to be a proper Southern lady and I'm going to do her proud. Unfortunately, Gran's lessons hadn't extended to behavior in front of royalty, so I was just going to have to improvise tonight.
The security guards the Queen had in place outside of her palace reminded me of the guards around the President in movies and on West Wing. The guards were large, bulky men in black suits with ear pieces and sunglasses. I reached into one of their minds and found a big blank spot. As expected, the Queen surrounded herself with vampires. I wondered what she did about daytime security.
It was evident the Queen was not up to taking any chances. Her security process was so elaborate. It consisted of a protocol conducted in a locked and guarded room with four armed guards and several video cameras rolling as we were made to pass through metal detectors and imaging scanners. By the time we were finally cleared and escorted to the meet the Queen, I'd already forgotten my nervousness.
"So here is the Sookie Stackhouse whom I've heard about so much," the Queen's tone was so sarcastic, she might as well have been giving a rave review for Gigli or Battlefield Earth. She slowly scanned me from head to toe and her leer made me feel dirty. Behind her stood two giants of men, almost identical in looks, who must have each been about 6'10".
I glanced over at Eric and found he was down on one knee, his tall frame bowed over. Not exactly sure what the protocol was, but I was sure I didn't want to offend someone with so many large guards, I did the best half-curtsy I could manage in my gown and heels. Carefully I bowed my head and said respectfully, "Your Majesty."
I looked up when she chortled, "Oh you Americans, you wouldn't know how to act around royalty if your life depended upon it." The last few words were spoken with a warning tone and with her fangs descended as she eyed me threateningly. Eric began to stand and I followed his lead and stopped bowing. I straightened my frame and looked at the queen uncertainly.
"It's very nice to meet you, ma'am. You have a very beautiful home." She really did. The gilded ceilings, detailed paintings, and heavy velvet covering every window made the room look like what I expected a palace to look like.
Well, maybe the Queen of England lets some sunlight into her castles.
The Queen merely looked bored and didn't bother responding to my comments. I glanced over at Eric nervously; I was quickly discovering just how in over my head I really was. Thankfully, Eric began to speak.
His voice didn't have the cool arrogance I'd come to expect from him when he was around other vampires, and it wasn't the soft yet strong voice he'd used around me since Godric's passing either. No, the voice he spoke with now was subdued; his body language made him look subservient as his head was slightly bowed down and his shoulders slightly hunched.
"Your Majesty, we are here as requested. How may we be of service to you?"
Just then there was a loud crash as double doors to the room were dramatically flung open. In walked a short vampire with closely cropped white-blond hair who must have been turned when he was just 16 or so. He was followed by three tall guards each pushing one of three metal tables tilted at a 45 degree angle with a human strapped spread eagle to each one.
"Ah, yes! The nightly draining!" The Queen's voice had such excitement and delight to it-like she'd just been told that a tv show she was addicted to was going to start a new season months earlier than promised.
The teen vampire bowed deeply and motioned for the three tables to be placed in front of the Queen. Eric moved to the side of the throne swiftly and I quickly scurried after him. The stench rising from the tables was horrible and their clothes were in tatters. The three men must have been kept in squalor for days, if not weeks, on end.
The Queen rose from her seat and began walking about the tables, weaving between them and occasionally running her nail across a part of the men's exposed skin, drawing blood and then lapping it up. The Queen nodded to the guards and each of them picked up needles attached to empty blood bags. Then they inserted the needles into small veins at various places on the prisoners' bodies.
The smile on her face as blood began to slowly fill the bags was bone-chilling and a shiver of disgust ran down my back. Eric gripped my hand tightly and shook his head at me.
"Don't," his deep voice growled at me at a low volume that hopefully no one else could hear. It took all of my willpower not to scream out in protest of the men, but I was scared to death of the Queen-even more so now. I learned at that moment that I'm a survivor first and a humanitarian second.
"Northman, have you heard of the latest in our punishment for drainers? Andre thought of it himself!" She winked at the teenage vampire. "By hooking them up to an IV every third day or so, they don't die of dehydration. Then we also infuse them with half the volume of blood that we drain from them each night. They can literally last for weeks that way!
"Probably the most delightful part of the torture though has to be that they know that one of them will be set free. We've found that gives them a will to live so that we get to torture them even longer."
"That is," Eric's subdued voice paused for a moment before continuing, "most imaginative, your Highness."
"Yes, it is, isn't. Now where was I? Oh yes, the reason you and that blood bag are here."
A feeling of cold horror continued to wash over me and I could barely concentrate as the Queen continued.
"The King of New York claims he wishes to form a favored alliance with Louisiana. He thinks we should band together after we each suffered our own disasters-Katrina and the stock market crash. I don't trust Denzel further than a human girl could throw him, but I want to find out what he has up his sleeve before I reject his offer. I need her to attend all of the social gatherings and meetings where humans will be in attendance. I wish to see if she can actually deliver what I have been told she can do-and if she's of no use to me… Well…"
I looked up from the floor to look at the Queen and her two large guards and blurted out without thinking, "I need Eric with me at all times."
The Queen arched an eyebrow as she evaluated me and Eric looked taken aback. I like to think I'm a strong, independent woman, but the truth of the matter is I was in a strange land full of vampires who scared me down to my left pinky toe. I looked at Eric with pleading eyes; I didn't know what he could, or would, do if something happened, but I knew I would at least feel safer with him nearby.
At this point, I was willing to take the illusion of security over being left alone with the creepy Queen and her scary entourage. I girdled my strength internally and looked the Queen right in the eye, as I came up with a quick-and hopefully believable-excuse.
"It would, uh, make everyone suspicious if a human were to attend all those events by herself, and since I already know Eric, I can concentrate on reading minds instead of worrying about acting natural with someone who is a stranger."
The Queen looked skeptical, but finally nodded in assent.
"The King is expected to arrive shortly. There's a small welcoming reception being held in the ballroom, start scanning minds for useful information there." The Queen then turned her attention back to the three metal tables and a maniacal smile washed over her face again.
If I could have run out of that room at vampire speed, it would not have been fast enough for me.
Eric's POV
As we walked away from Sophie-Anne's throne and to the ballroom, one of Godric's last lessons rang loudly in my mind.
Let's be honest, we are frightening. After thousands of years, we haven't evolved. We've become more brutal, more predatory. I don't see the danger in treating humans as equals.
"I am sorry you had to witness such…savagery."
"I just feel so, so helpless," Sookie's Southern accent rang out. "It's one thing to know that torture is going on in the world. But to witness it first hand and not be able to do anything to stop it…It's just worse than I could even imagine.
"I feel so ashamed of myself that I didn't stand up for them. That I didn't try to free them, or argue with the Queen to release them."
Tears started to well up in Sookie's eyes, and I gently cupped her cheeks in my hands and tilted her face to look at mine.
"You did what you had to. If you had said something, I'm not sure that the Queen would have spared you-even with your talent. She is unpredictable, and at times unwisely rash."
Sookie's beautifully sculpted face grew wet as tears poured down her cheeks. I felt utterly helpless and pulled her into an embrace, pressing her face against my chest.
"Please stop crying, Sookie," I begged her. At that moment it felt like I would do anything if it meant her tears would stop.
She pulled away, sniffling a bit.
"Promise me you'll try to convince the Queen to let them go."
I looked down at her grimly, once again cursing my weakness for this human. It would be costly, but I knew I would-for Sookie.
"I will try."
A small smile lit up her face and she looked down at my shirt.
"Oh no! I've ruined your shirt!" Her comment made me laugh because a ruined designer shirt was nothing in comparison to what she was asking me to do for her.
"Well, you'll have to make it up to me by allowing me to have one dance," I teased her, hoping that I could keep a smile on her face and her mind away from darker things.
Blood rushed to her face as she smiled awkwardly and nodded. I took her left hand in my right and placed my free hand on the small of her back, counted out the time and joined the waltzing crowd. Sookie followed me skillfully, and looked elated as I whirled her across the ballroom floor. We moved as one body as I spun, dipped and led her around the room.
One couple nearly collided with us; they were clearly still learning to dance and awkwardly apologized before counted out when to begin dancing again. Rather than chance another couple running into us like that again, I floated us a little bit off the ground. I gazed right into Sookie's eyes and it was a few minutes before she even noticed we were off the ground, a bit surprising considering her feet hadn't been making contact with the ground for some time, but I suppose mind-reading was a bit distracting.
"We're floating!" Sookie gasped.
"Oh yes." I smiled in return. " I thought you might like a better view of the people you are reading."
She nodded, blushing once again and I forced my fangs to not slide into view. She smelled so delightful and I longed to taste her blood. Patience, Northman, she will be yours soon enough.
We spent most of the evening in each other's arms. We were silent most of the time as we danced; Sookie concentrated on reading minds and I concentrated on Sookie.
By the time the reception began to wind down, I could tell that she was exhausted. An announcement had been made an hour or so before that the King had been delayed and wouldn't arrive until tomorrow night. I thought that was odd, but Sookie didn't find anything unusual in anyone's thoughts so I kept my suspicions to myself.
As we walked back to our hotel in the warm night air, I was glad to learn that Sookie's memory of the torture she'd witnessed had been temporarily forgotten. The reception had delighted her and she rambled on excitedly about how extravagant and beautiful everything had been.
The joy in her twinkling eyes had me riveted, and so when a large silver net was thrown over us, I was caught completely off-guard.
A/N: Much love to my beta, SouthernLady23, by whom I stubbornly snuck this highly revised chapter. All mistakes are mine and mine alone!