11.

A/N: It's a little fluffy, but I was in the mood for fluff, before the time comes when Sookie sees a different side of her man…

~Sookie~

"These flowers are beautiful," I sighed as we entered an expansive glass solarium. They must have spent a fortune on a room like this, between the plants and the lighting that perfectly accentuated them without causing too much glow to miss the stars above.

"This is my favorite part of the house." Liam smiled. "These are all flowers that bloom only at night and close up during the day. There are Evening Primrose, Moon Flowers, Night Bloom Water Lilies, Casablanca Lilies, along with a half-dozen others. No one is allowed in here but the king, myself, and the prince, of course."

"The prince?"

"Eric."

"He said he isn't considered a prince!" I exclaimed.

"He isn't, technically, at least he isn't recognized as one by the Authority. That is my pet name for him." Liam smiled mischievously. "But he was one in his human life and the way he flits in and causes destruction and mayhem and then leaves without a care in the world…well, if you've ever met a real prince, you'd recognize Eric immediately for one. Not to mention, Eric always seems to get his way in the end."

"He's very creative." I murmured in agreement.

"That's one word for him." Liam muttered in return.

I liked Liam. He was very vibrant and I felt like I had his full attention. No one approached us during the duration of the tour and I was grateful for that. It gave me the chance to get the lay of the land and get semi-comfortable in my surroundings without the pressure of making small talk. He did introduce me to the human staff, who were all very indulgent and accommodating. I wasn't used to people serving me and it was hard to adjust to. No one knew what I did; no one knew what I was; they knew only that I was Eric's human. I could be an heiress or I could be a waitress, it didn't make a bit of difference.

I was dying to know Liam's story, but I didn't know if it was considered vampire-polite to ask that kind of thing. I didn't know how old he was or where he was from. He sounded like he was from this country, but then again, Eric usually did too.

"I think I'm going to make a dayroom." Liam continued. "Sophie Anne has one. It would be the size of this, but the lighting simulates sunlight so closely, you'd swear you were standing outside in broad daylight. She has a pool. I don't know if I'd want a pool. What do you think?"

"Pools can be fun." I stumbled on my words. I wasn't expecting to hear the Louisiana queen's name.

"I could put plenty of day lilies in there. It would be a nice compliment, don't you think?"

"Whatever you put your mind to, dearest, turns out beautiful."

I jumped at the new voice behind us. Liam didn't seem surprised at all. When I turned, Eric was standing there with another vampire that didn't look more than 16 or 17. I knew right away it was Godric. If the energy surrounding Eric and Liam wasn't enough, the fact that Liam had listed him as one of the only other ones allowed in that room would have tipped me off.

"Eric, please bring Sookie back, and often." Liam beamed. "Godric, Eric's Sookie is absolutely delightful. She has the perfect temperament for the prince." I caught Eric rolling his eyes.

"Godric, as you know, this is Sookie Stackhouse." Eric said, moving to my side and extricating me from Liam's side. "Sookie, this is Godric, the King of Texas and my maker."

"It's very nice to meet you." I smiled. Everyone seemed to be looking at me. I turned and whispered to Eric, "Am I supposed to bow or something?"

"You are doing fine." He smiled and kissed my temple.

"Miss Stackhouse," Godric finally spoke to me. "You don't know how long I have been waiting to meet you. You have caused quite a bit of…excitement."

"I'm sorry; I've been disruptive."

"According to Eric, that is hardly your fault." I refrained from demanding what he was going to do about it.

"You have a beautiful home."

"It keeps Liam busy. He's always changing something."

"No matter when we come back, lover, I promise you, it will be very different." Eric replied, running his hand along my back in an effort to calm me down. "We are creatures that rarely change and so Liam tends to change everything around him to compensate."

"Oh I see. It's pick on the young one time. See if I let you in the dayroom, Eric." Liam huffed.

"Let's sit." Godric offered. He waved his hand to a small table intimately set behind us. "We vampires can stand here for hours and not get tired. I would have Ms. Stackhouse comfortable."

The small table was elegantly set with candles and white linens. There was only one spot that had a full place setting at it and I was suddenly self-conscious that they would be watching me eat. But there were other settings of crystal bowls and goblets.

Two humans all but popped out of the plant life. One served the vampires blood and myself an ice water, while the other asked if I liked seafood. They seemed satisfied when I said yes.

I began to feel more relaxed about being the only one eating when I saw that there are apparently likewise various courses of blood. I don't know what changes about it, but they did switch from bowls to goblets through my meal. Things changing at the table made me more relaxed. The appetizer for me was, according to Liam, fennel-crusted big eye tuna, "smoked" Fingerling potato coins with Nicoise olive vinaigrette. This was followed by Chipotle seared diver scallops with Jack cheese-yellow grits and a spicy smoked tomato butter. It was, of course, amazing, if not a little more fancy than I was used to. I didn't know what half those words meant.

"Sookie, I understand from Eric that you are very talented." Godric said and I nearly choked on my water.

"Eric seems to think so." I replied. "But this so-called talent has always been a hindrance to me growing up. People didn't understand it and didn't want to be around me because they were afraid. I didn't understand it and I didn't know how to control it. It is still very difficult for me to channel."

"Does it run in your family?" He asked. "The telepathy?"

I realized Eric must have told him about everything for him to be specific to the telepathy. I wasn't surprised. I was hoping a vampire as old as Godric had encountered someone like me before.

"My gran said that my grandfather had it." I replied and I noticed that Eric and Godric glanced at each other. "I'm not sure if anybody else had it before him."

"And your cousin is Queen Sophie Anne's human. Is she related on your mother or father's side?" Godric continued his line of questioning.

"My father's."

"What happened to your parents, if you don't mind my asking."

"They were driving home and their car broke down on a bridge and there was a flash flood and it killed them. Jason and I were real young then and we went to live with my gran. She raised us."

"And has Hadley or Jason ever shown signs of being magical like you?"

"No. No, not that I know." I squirmed a bit. It was still new to me to even discuss the telepathy out loud and with anybody who didn't get uncomfortable about it, much less these new powers or whatever that seemed to have emerged since I met Eric.

"I'm sorry to ask so many questions, Sookie." Godric smiled. "I'm just trying to learn more about your family so that we can better idea of what is happening with you."

"I understand." I nodded quietly. "I apologize. I'm not used to being the center of attention and I've spent my whole life trying to blend in and be like everyone else that I tend to get uncomfortable when I'm the subject of discussion."

"Sweetheart, you will never blend in in this world and you were not meant to." Liam piped up.

"Liam." Godric gave him a pointed look and Liam fell silent. "I have been in contact with the fairies tonight, Sookie. I think they will meet with you. I think they have to at this point. But it may take a day or two to make arrangements. Eric does not want you to go alone and vampires are deadly to fairies. The fairy that I believe you will meet with can mask his scent, but still it is precarious. You will be safe though. The fairies do not want to hurt you either."

"Does the Queen of Louisiana?" I whispered.

"I don't believe so, no." Godric replied. "Sookie, telepaths are very rare. You are a huge asset to any kingdom for that alone. But a telepath with fairy power? That is like striking gold. It's the brass ring, if you will. I know you don't understand our ways, but any vampire monarch would attempt to do what Sophie Anne has tried and she really is not that bad, she can be reasonable."

Eric looked sharply up at Godric. His hand slid over mine in my lap. "It's not what she wants, sire. She wants to be left alone."

"I understand that, my child. But she will not be. However, there must be a compromise that can be reached. Maybe the answer is with the fae. We might be able to use that as leverage. The point is, Sookie, we can keep you safe, but you will not be left alone."

I sighed heavily and nodded. "I guess I knew that. I just don't understand why there is this sudden interest in me. Everything has happened at once. I've always been telepathic, but all this other stuff started when Eric showed up. I've never dreamed about anything that was really happening and I've never shocked anybody and everyone always stayed away from me. I may not have been living life in the fast lane, but it was my life and I liked it."

There were a few moments of silence around the table before Liam spoke. "I don't think it could be Eric specific, could it?" He mused.

"Hopefully the fairies will have more answers." Godric said.

What Liam said got me thinking though. I think it was Eric specific but not necessarily for any magical qualities we might possess together. The shocks and light show came when I was sexually aroused. So, in my opinion, and I had nothing really to base this on since I had very limited knowledge of fairies, was that might happen no matter who my sexual partner was. However, I couldn't explain why I dreamed of what Eric was doing when he wasn't with me. That was a connection I could not explain.

"Sookie?" I shook loose of my thought. Eric was calling my name and by the look on his face, he had called me more than once.

"I'm sorry. Were you saying something?"

"You looked lost in thought."

"I've been given a lot to think about."

"I know the feeling." He said with a slight smile. He stood up and held out his hand to me. I put my hand in his and rose with him. "Sire, if you don't mind, I'd like to…"

"Take Sookie upstairs and hide in your bedroom the rest of the night?" Liam jumped in. "I think we understand that, right, Godric?"

God bless that obnoxious little vampire.

"It was nice getting to know you, Sookie." Godric smiled. "Rest well."

"Thank you."

Eric wasted no time tugging me out of the solarium and through the house. There were still people milling about, but he ignored them. Unfortunately, I could not ignore their lewd thoughts as Eric dragged me upstairs. They assumed we were going upstairs to have sex and I highly doubted they were far off the mark.

However, Eric surprised me when we got to our room. He tossed me a sweater and then led me out onto the balcony. It was peaceful out there. The balcony was actually the size of a patio, with seating and more of Liam's night-blooming plants. Eric lived quite the pampered life when he was here, I thought.

"Come here." He said, walking over to a chair that was up against the house. He stepped up onto it and then offered me his hand again.

"We're going to scale the side of the house?"

"Something like that." He smiled back. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"No." I scowled at him and popped up onto the chair. The roof actually wasn't that high up from where we were and he easily boosted me up. He swept me up and carried me further up. It was pitch black up here and we had only the light from the moon and stars to see – well, I had limited light. Eric could see in the dark.

When he found a spot he liked, he sat down and gestured to me to sit in front of him.

I settled down between Eric's legs and leaned back against his chest. "This is nice. It's quiet up here." I sighed.

"Look up, lover." He whispered. When I did, I gasped. It was the clearest night sky I had seen in a very long time. The black night looked littered with diamonds. I leaned my head back on his shoulder to support my neck as I craned up to see everything he began pointing out. I felt him cross his legs underneath my knees. "There is Cassiopeia, the Queen; Cepheus, the King; Virgo, the Maiden; Hercules, the Hero; Orion, the Hunter."

"All the players in our game."

"All live together in peace in the heavens."

"Do you know all of them?"

"There's Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Big and Little Bears; Aquila, the Eagle."

"Who else?" I smiled.

"Perseus and Andromeda."

"And what is their story?" I asked as he slid his hands to my stomach and linked his fingers.

"Andromeda was the daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus. She was very beautiful. The Queen bragged that she was more beautiful than the goddesses. The goddesses were naturally insulted and went to Neptune, the god of the sea. In retaliation, Neptune ordered Cassiopeia and Cepheus to sacrifice their daughter to a sea monster and she was chained to a rocky shore."

"That's awful!"

"Well, it would have been, but for Perseus, the son of Jupiter and Danae. He happened to be passing by and saw the beautiful maiden chained to a rock. He fell in love with her at first sight. As legend has it, he was so stunned by her beauty he nearly fell in the ocean. He caught himself at the last moment and called out to her, 'You should not be wearing chains such as these; the proper bonds for you are those which bind the hearts of fond lovers.' Andromeda, being raised right would not speak to a man. She began to cry. Perseus slayed the sea serpent and then he married the princess."

"What was he doing in the sea? Was he in a boat?"

"No, he had just killed Medusa and he was returning home. Perseus could fly."

"Men will do virtually anything not to deal with a crying woman."

"That, dear one, is the God's honest truth." He chuckled into my ear.

I looked back up into the sky at the princess and her warrior. They were near the king and the queen. I had to hand it to Perseus; I'm not sure I'd want to spend eternity living that close to my in-laws. The stars seemed more beautiful when you knew their story. I found myself longing to become part of them.

Which was precisely when I realized I was becoming part of them.

We were no longer sitting on the roof. In fact, when I looked down, I couldn't even see the roof. All I saw was inky black. Somewhere in Eric's story, he had levitated us up. Of course, I instantly freaked out. I clutched his forearms, yelped and slammed my eyes shut.

"We've been up here for quite some time, lover; suddenly, you think I'm going to drop you?" He kissed my neck, then whispered, "Open your eyes." I did, but my breath was coming in ragged gasps. We were really high up there. Slowly, he lifted my arms straight out. He slid our fingers together and we turned in a slow circle. All around us were stars.

I don't know how long we were up there for. We stayed there until I shivered with the temperature drop. I was sure Eric was used to flying a lot faster, but he took his time, no doubt in deference to me. The bedroom was dimly lit. I was happy to see that big comfy bed again, but reluctant to end the most perfect moment of my life. Not only had I been a part of something miraculous, but I also realized I was head over heels in love with Eric.