Ew, it's been 16 days since my last update. I got a little writer's block but it's broken into pieces now. Sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoy.
Shout-out goes to erin1705 for being the first to review the last chapter

I can't believe I've made it to 90 reviews already! Incredible and humbling.
Thanks (as always) to the lovely & amazing islandvampirelizgurl, my beta.

Chapter Eleven- The Story

EPOV

'Think about something else...' was all I could keep repeating in my head. What on earth had I gotten myself into? Over a millennia old, and here I was in the queen's parlor trying to will away a massive erection, like some stupid teenager.

Realistically, I knew I should have been anxious or nervous, but there was something about Sookie that made logic fly out the window. She wasn't even in her usual body, and she still managed to turn me on more than anyone I've ever known.

I had been ready for all hell to break loose when she yelled at the queen. My blood was boiling in my dead body and I could have ripped her brunette head off- literally. But when she actually apologized- Sookie, apologized! - it took me by surprise. The look on her face was one of absolute contrition, and I had never seen it before. She knew what she had done, and at that moment, I couldn't be angry with her. Annoyed, yes, but angry?

And fuck, if there isn't anything as sexy as her calling me master. As soon as those words left her lips, I knew there was no turning back. I could have fucked her right there on the couch, in her enchanted body and everything. Sure, lots of humans have called me master in the past. When Ginger does it, it makes me wish I still had the ability to vomit. But never did I expect Sookie to use that title, or to sound so sincere. I almost believed in that moment that she was fully submitting to me.

Maybe the girl just has more self-preservation than I give her credit for, because it sure worked in stopping my anger. Even though we had pressing business, I had been hoping the queen would take me up on my suggestion of a private room, where I could explore more of this submissive side of Sookie.

Unfortunately, it appeared we were going to have to get back to business. The queen had been in such a good mood earlier that I thought getting information out of her was going to be simple. Now, with her extremely pissed off, it was going to take a ton of flattery and cajoling to find out what we needed.

At the moment, Sookie and I were sitting on a sofa in her waiting area. This was part of the queen's punishment- make you wait forever just to have the chance to talk to her. I knew better than to let it get to me; I've had to jump through more ridiculous hoops than this. However, I had never before been forced to sit next to such a delicious smelling part-fae for this long and not be able to touch her. Sookie (or 'Sara', rather,) was on the queen's naughty list, and it would not do to show her any affection at the moment. She was just sitting there, picking at her fingernails in the most anxious way. Hopefully she was running over in her mind what she did wrong, and wouldn't be so stupid next time.

Curiosity was raging through me to know what had set her off like that. Yes, Sookie has been known to act before thinking, but the stakes were pretty damn high here. She had seemed calm and in control up until the point when she saw that human's face. Perhaps the human had been thinking something that disturbed Sookie? It was possible, but I am usually accurate in reading human expressions and Hadley hadn't seemed upset or unwilling. The only other option was that Sookie recognized the human from somewhere, although that didn't explain why she would scream at the queen.

It appeared I would have to be content without knowing, as there was no way to question Sookie without other vampires in the palace overhearing. I sat back against the wall, and thought about what tactic of flattery to use on the queen.

SPOV

This was torture. It was like when Gran had me go to my room until she could figure out what to do with me. Jason was usually in trouble more often than me, but I still remembered that feeling of waiting for your punishment. A mixed feeling of guilt and dread churned in my stomach and I wished I had eaten more than that Blue Hawaiian.

I had yelled at the queen, and she did not seem happy. I knew Eric wouldn't let anything happen to me, but I worried that my mistake would cost us our entire mission. Would Sophie-Ann even tell us anything after this? Coming to the palace had been my only idea of how to get to the bottom of this fairy stuff. If the queen rejected Eric's questions, I'd be back at square one.

Nervously, I picked at Sara's overgrown cuticles and listened to the silence of the room. It wasn't as large as the other rooms I had seen in the palace, but it still loomed over me. The floor was marble, as well as the walls and even the bench I was sitting on. Clearly this was not the waiting room for the queen's more favored guests. There was little to look at on the walls except for dark abstract paintings. Directly in front of the bench was an ornate wooden door, through which I expected the queen was... doing something; maybe playing solitaire on her computer just to mess with us.

Even worse than the waiting was having to sit next to Eric and not know what he was thinking. I thought I could sense his disappointment. Here he was, sticking his neck out for me, and I go and ruin it. What if the queen didn't believe his story about the fairy and the shovel? What would she do to him? I resolved to do whatever it took to make it up to him. I looked down at my hands and tried not to cry. Think about something else! Deciding to focus on anger instead, I thought about why I had behaved so poorly: Hadley.

After seeing Hadley's picture in Bill's file, I had guessed that she was somehow involved in this, but I never realized she would be so intimately connected with vampire politics! In my imagination, I had pictured her being tortured by Lorena or some other evil vampire to spill all her secrets. Or, maybe she had gotten so desperate for drugs she sold information about my ability! Hadley had done lots of awful things, but at the time I had sort of understood her motivations. Drug addiction is an illness and it makes you do things you never thought you'd do. Now, I didn't necessarily forgive her for stealing Gran's money and other stuff, but I at least could see where she was coming from. But what I saw today was no desperate drug addict willing to do anything to get high. When I saw her tonight she looked happy and healthy, and her mind certainly didn't tell me she was being forced into anything! My heart dropped at the thought that my own family had willingly sold me out. Why was I cursed with such thoughtless family members?

After a good thirty minutes of sitting in that stupid parlor, Charlie appeared through a nondescript side door. He was still wearing his tuxedo and gave me a disapproving look.

"Sheriff, Her Majesty will see you now."

Eric stood up to his full height and I followed suit. He strode to the door, but Charlie got there first. He opened the heavy-looking door with a flourish, and I could peek inside. Instead of a desk or any sort of office-type furniture, it looked more like a woman's bedroom- only without a bed. Sophie-Ann was lounging on a fainting couch, looking much more ladylike than earlier, in a crisp white blouse, a long flowing scarlet skirt, and a black blazer.

The queen glanced at me with a scathing look. "Just you, Northman, I think I've had enough of your human's opinions for tonight."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Eric replied humbly. I was a bit surprised- according to our story, I had been present during the fairy attack. This would have given me a reason to attend the meeting between Sheriff and Queen, and I would have been able to hear the queen's answers myself. It looked as if Eric was changing the script a bit, and I really couldn't blame him. I had promised to follow his lead and obey, and I had failed. Still, I was disappointed I wasn't allowed in the room with them. I would just have to trust Eric would tell me the truth later when we were alone.

Before entering, Eric turned to me with his hand out. I stared at him dumbly for half a second before realizing he was staring at my purse. Oh! Of course he would need the proof hidden in there, and I wordlessly handed the bag containing the iron spade over to him. Without a word, Eric walked through the doorway, and Charlie closed the door after him. Before I could say anything, Charlie disappeared through the side door, and I was completely alone.

I wanted so badly to listen in at the door. The only thing keeping me from pressing my ear up against the wall was knowing that the vampires inside could hear my heartbeat- and I had gotten in enough trouble already tonight! I would have to be content to sit and wait. Which was hard.

I settled in on the uncomfortable bench and closed my eyes, running everything over in my mind. So far, the trip to New Orleans had been a bust. Bill hadn't come near me, and I didn't even know if he was at the Palace for sure. If he was, wouldn't he have come by now?

After fifteen minutes of driving myself crazy with worry, I heard a human mind coming down the hall. I could hear that the person's mind was nervous, and was thinking about me!
Not wanting to give away my ability, I crossed my arms and tried to appear nonchalant.

In a few seconds the door opened and in walked my cousin Hadley. This time, however, I didn't react by screaming. It was still strange seeing her in the palace, and looking so happy and healthy. She had changed into a simple velour sweatsuit like I've seen Arlene wear, and I guessed her earlier outfit was likely covered in blood.

I sat very still- although I was wearing a glamoured body, we were still family, and I didn't want to take the chance that she would recognize me. Besides, now that I was pretty sure she had betrayed me, I didn't trust myself to get too close to her without slapping her face.

"Hey," she said, entering the room. "I brought you something." I noticed she had a brown paper bag in her left hand, and she held it out to me from a distance. Taking it from her, I instantly recognized the familiar smell of french fries.

Opening the bag, I saw she had brought me a cheeseburger with fries. I looked up at Hadley confused.
"I love a good burger," she explained, "So the queen had a diner installed on the human floor. I thought you might be hungry."

I nodded gratefully and began to stuff my mouth with fries. I hadn't realized how hungry I was! It had been all day since my snack with Amelia, and my body was just now deciding to tell me about it.

"Thank you," I said between bites. "My name is Sara."

"Hadley," she said, with a little wave. She didn't sound suspicious, so I suppose the glamour was working. Besides, it's not like she knew me all that well anyway. I relaxed a tiny bit, and unwrapped the cheeseburger.

Hadley sat down next to me, and the food must have taken the edge off my hunger because I didn't physically assault her! I gave myself mental points for being so in-control.

"You made Sophie pretty mad," she said after a few minutes of silent eating. I didn't trust myself to speak just yet, so I just stared back at her. "You must be new at this vampire stuff, huh?"

"I'm learning," I said. As much as I wanted to get away from my traitorous cousin, I realized I could get some information out of her- assuming she was still a hopeless gossip, that was. "Master Eric didn't think I was ready to come here just yet, but I insisted. Seeing as I was involved with the fairy attack and everything..."

Hadley's eyes widened in surprise and she leaned forward. "Fairy attack?" She gasped. "In Louisiana?" She seemed extra concerned, which just cemented my theory that she knew about more than just my telepathy- that perhaps she knew we had fairy blood in our family as well. I had to get her to start talking.

"Yeah, did you even know there were such things?"

Hadley shook her head. "Not at first, but being around vampires you kind of pick this stuff up. I've never seen one in person, though. What are they like?"

I nodded and bit into another fry. "It was really scary," I said, which wasn't much of a lie. My last encounter with the fae really was scary! "We were at my house in Shreveport when it appeared. Luckily, I had some iron gardening tools, or who knows what would have happened."

"Well what did happen?" Hadley asked.

"I've never seen a fairy before either, but one just showed up out of thin air in my backyard! He was all glowy and tall. He started yelling about some person named Sookie, and when Master Eric refused to answer him, he attacked!"

"What exactly did the fairy say?" Hadley said, completely focused on me. "Are you sure he said Sookie?"

I was about to respond when the door flew open. Though she was only an inch taller than me, the queen's frame looked imposing standing in front of us. I could spot Eric sitting on an armchair behind her. As usual, his expression was a complete mystery to me.
"I'm glad to see you two are getting along," she said icily.

Aw crap. Apparently, the two vampires had been the ones eavesdropping! Luckily, a peek inside Hadley's thoughts told me she wasn't too worried. My cousin must have been pretty confident in her abilities, because I would have been terrified!

"Just hearing all the news from Shreveport, Your Majesty," she explained with a smile.

The queen stared at her for a few moments and I thought I saw Hadley's smile waver for a second. Finally, she spoke. "Well, I suppose you two humans might as well come in anyway. I just finished telling the Sheriff about your fascinating family."

Hadley stood up and made her way over to the queen, swinging her hips. Ugh, did I look like that when I walked? I hoped not. She stopped to wrap her arm around Sophie-Ann's waist and kissed her neck. The queen smiled and seemed a little more relaxed with her lover by her side. Maybe Hadley did know what she was doing!

I stood up, unsure if the queen meant for me to follow.

"Come on, girl, I won't bite." I wondered how many times she had said that, and how many times she kept her promise. Still, Eric was on the other side of that door, and I knew I'd be safer by his side.

The room was darkly feminine, with the emerald fainting couch I had seen earlier. The two women took their seats there, while Eric remained in one of the matching armchairs. I sat down next to him, and chanced a nervous smile. His mouth was in a firm line, but I received the slightest of nods. Sophie-Ann had said that she told Eric about my family. I wondered if that meant he knew what I now did- that my cousin had betrayed me.

"Well Northman, I've explained to you about the last year. Thanks to Hadley, I have heard your human's version of the events, and they match up. I suppose I can include you now on my future plans."

"Before we go into that, I have a few questions. I do not understand why you thought you couldn't trust me, Your Majesty. If only you hadn't kept me in the dark about Compton's mission..." Eric's voice was a careful mix of curiosity with a tiny bit of anger. I wondered what he meant by Compton's mission, but I assumed it had something to do with me.

"It wouldn't have worked," the queen said, sounding exasperated. "Based on Hadley's information, the Stackhouse girl wouldn't have gone for you. She was a little Southern virgin, all about family, and Bill just happens to fit that type. Can you imagine if I'd sent you after her? She'd have run screaming in the other direction."

"You underestimate my seduction techniques," Eric said in a sexy voice. The queen seemed a bit entranced by it, and I realized that she wasn't exclusive to the ladies. Great, another woman for Eric to flirt with! "I agree Compton may have appeared to be the correct choice, but look where it got you- a dead telepath. I can assure you I would not have failed as he did."

"I'm not so sure," Sophie-Ann replied, sounding thoughtful. "Bill did everything I told him to at first- he made sure she was injured enough to exchange blood with him right away, established a dependent relationship, and ingratiated himself with the rest of the family. I still think I was right to choose him."

I mentally told myself to breathe. I was beginning to sweat and my heart was racing, but I hoped the vampire would assume it was nerves at being alone in the queen's office. All my fears were being confirmed- that Bill was indeed sent to secure me for someone else's gain. It sounded like it was the queen, and not Lorena as I had wondered that ordered his involvement. And what she said about me being injured enough to need blood- it brought me right back to the horrible Rattrays and what they did to me. Even though I heard it directly from the queen's mouth, I still could hardly believe it- that Bill allowed me to nearly die just so he could have control over me. Suddenly, I wished I hadn't eaten that burger, as my stomach was rolling in disgust.

"And this new fairy problem?" Eric inquired. "Do you intend to send Compton in to take care of this as well?" Oh, right. The queen had mentioned a future plan. I assumed it was what Jessica had told me, about securing Jason for the queen now that I was apparently dead.

The queen twirled the blood-covered shovel in the air and sighed. "I don't know, Eric. Ever since the girl disappeared, he hasn't been as enthusiastic of a subject as he was. Besides, you killed the fairy, right? There's not much more for either one of you to do."

"Your Majesty, while you are well aware of my fighting abilities, I have to admit that this was an ideal scenario. There was only one fairy, mostly unarmed, and I happened to have an iron weapon nearby. I cannot predict whether there will be another attack, but it is unlikely it will be so simple next time. It's been over a year since the telepath disappeared, and they are still looking for her. Not to mention now a full-blooded fairy has been murdered by a vampire, and I really don't see this ending any time soon."

"Well, I'm not giving up hope that Sookie is really dead- Bill says she is, but there's no evidence. His childe is placed in Bon Temps, monitoring the situation. And in the meantime, there's another Stackhouse that Hadley told us about." Although my mind was working overtime trying to process everything the vampires were talking about, I still kept a mental eye on Hadley's thoughts. I gathered that she wasn't very worried about Jason. In her view, life with a vampire was a great opportunity and she had no qualms about sending Bill's vampire child after him! I really couldn't believe her selfishness.

Eric nodded. "Jason, her brother. He came to see me after the telepath's death." Apparently, Eric wasn't going to mention that Jason also helped saved his life at the Fellowship of the Sun! I guess that would have been a little too much. "He does not seem to have any supernatural abilities."

"No," Sophie-Ann said, putting her arm around Hadley, "And neither does my girl here. I was having Bill keep tabs on him just in case he ever did show an ability. Now, however, I see a much better use for them."

Eric raised an eyebrow. "Which would be?"

Grinning, the queen leaned in. "Leverage."

Hope you enjoyed! I'm sorry there was no Bill in this chapter, I know a lot of you were expecting him. He's just hiding from me, I hope he'll show up soon!