So We Meet Again

Here is the second part to the story. Our long suffering queen will finally meet the man that was promised to her many centuries ago. I hope that you all enjoy.


When Eric arrived for his sit down with the queen, the party was in full force. He'd never seen the royal residence looking quite so festive. Even the former queen's coronation wasn't quite as exciting. To be fair, the only one having fun that night was the queen. Though he'd been to the royal residence on several occasions, they had never been visits of pleasure; only of necessity. His last visit was just that.

The humans had taken Sophie Ann during her daytime rest. Sophie Ann hadn't been taken by mere amateurs. They'd gone so far as to become a part of her security team. Once they were in, they went about their plan. The traitors had killed all of her loyal guards and the twin assassins as they slept. When the sheriffs had been called to the residence the night Cataliades and Bill discovered the queen gone, the placed looked as if a massacre had occurred there. Bloody bodies were everywhere.

Cataliades called all of the sheriffs to the royal residence in order to get the scent of the humans that had taken Sophie Ann. Since it was discovered that the humans that had taken Sophie Ann were from Shreveport, it was up to Eric to find them and bring to were to be taken to him because he had a way of making the humans speak when they didn't want to. And bring them to Cataliades he did.

That was the night Sophie Ann's child took over. He knew then that she was a spoiled brat with the way she screamed and wailed. When he heard her screams of loss, he dreaded the idea of meeting her …temper tantrums, pouting, babying, pampering. He just knew that she was going to take the final death of her maker out on the vampires in her retinue and there was nothing that he could do about. But from the looks of the crowd, he was wrong.

Eric let his gaze fall over the room. Leaning over to whisper to him, his child, Pam Ravenscroft, stated, "Do you see what I see?"

"Humans," he replied.

"And fun. Everyone is having fun." Shaking her head, Pam added, "Sophie Ann would have never allowed this. She would have drained every single human her for even being in the same room with her without her permission."

"And tortured the vamp that brought them."

Pam looked around the room and caught the eye of one of the human guests. Still holding the man's gaze as she talked to Eric, she said, "We can meet with her and then leave. Bill didn't say that we had to have a sleepover." Pam dropped her fangs on the man and he almost reach his climax right then and there. Placing her hand on her maker's shoulder, she said, "Let me know what you decide to do. I'll be over there."

Eric was soon standing alone. He watched his fellow sheriffs as they enjoyed themselves. He couldn't help but be surprised at what he was seeing. Normally, vampires are not quite as sociable as they were on that particular night. They were laughing and talking. They never acted like that when they were in the presence of Sophie Ann. If they were gathering for a meeting, they had a meeting …not a party. But tonight …

…they weren't being unsociable. They weren't standing off to the side with their lieutenants and whispering. They weren't plotting against one another. They were actually drinking chilled and flavored bloods. They were actually being civil to one another. They were dancing and talking with one another as if they were old friends. They were even talking about what it was like when they were human with their humans.

"Eric," Gervais called out. "It's nice that you have finally arrived to have your one on one meeting with our new queen. You're late but she won't mind. She's nothing like her maker. She is quite a …delight. You have met her, yes?"

"I have not," Eric replied.

Gervais laughed again. "Delightful …she's quite delightful. I don't even think she'll mind your attire."

Eric wore his jeans and black t-shirt. "It was last minute."

"She won't mind. She won't mind at all. Have you met her?" Gervais asked again as he patted Eric on the back.

Now that surprised Eric to no end. Gervais has never had anything nice to say about anyone other than himself or his ditzy human Carla.

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her just yet. I must say that for you to describe her as being delightful, she must have really impressed you."

"There you are, you disobedient vampire! It's about time you put in an appearance!" Cleo exclaimed. "You would know how great she is if you had arrived when we were told to. We were all concerned that she would be just like her maker but she's not. And guess what, Eric? We don't have to pay her tithes as Sophie Ann used to ask for. We only have to make sure that our areas are kept up to her expectations. That is what we have to use our money for.

"She said that since she is queen and she has her area and her queendom, she has more than enough. We only need to report to her once a month and appear for all meetings that she or Bill calls in the future. Can you believe it? We are no longer under the rule of a tyrant. We have all sworn fealty to her and we actually wanted to this time." Cleo grabbed her human and kissed him deeply in front of everyone.

"Good thing too," Gervais added. "I think that we are right for a takeover. From what I've heard, the surrounding vampires ARE under the impression that the new queen is going to be ripe for the pickings. We can't allow that. We will stand with her."

Again, Eric was surprised. They were willing to fight and die for this new queen. This is too good to be true.

"There is one downfall, though," Gervais announced.

Eric looked smugly and said to himself that he knew that she was too good to be true.

"We're expected to treat the humans with respect. She is seriously into mainstreaming but what would you expect? Bill is her second and she looks human."

The smug and arrogant feeling was soon gone.

"Eric," Arla Yvonne called out. She was smiling at him as she walked over to join the other sheriffs. After kissing his cheeks in her regular French greeting, she spoke to the late comer. "I'm glad that you could attend. Why didn't you tell us how charming our new queen is?"

Eric looked quite surprised by the question. "Why would I know her?"

"Well, for one she lived in your area for quite some time and secondly, she has the same …"

"Northman," Bill called out; thus abruptly putting an end to Arla Yvonne's sentence. Behind him was Mr. Cataliades walking along in his same leisurely stroll.

"Compton," Eric replied.

"I need to speak with you for a moment."

Ignoring Bill, Eric greeted the daemon lawyer, "Desmond."

"Eric, it is always a pleasure."

"Come with us," Bill ordered.

As the vampires and daemon walked away, the sheriffs and lieutenants watched them. They couldn't help but wonder what was going on but not for long. They were having too much fun to care.

Once Eric, Bill and Desmond were outside and standing in the gardens and away from prying eyes and alert ears, Bill and Desmond each looked at Eric. Desmond spoke first.

"We have to go, Bill and I and we have a favor to ask of you. We're only asking to be polite but you know this already. The reason you've been pulled out here is because we need for you to stay behind and watch the queen. She cannot be left alone. As you may have already heard, the area is ripe for a takeover and she is the target. All of the sheriffs are staying tonight but in different quarters. Only Bill and I know where they will be sleeping. You will be with the queen."

Eric couldn't help but notice the look on Bill's face when Desmond said that. If Eric didn't know any better, he'd think that Bill was jealous. That brought Eric pure elation.

"My nieces, Diantha and Gladiola, are here but they, too, are in hiding. We need you because of your age and your power. With the powers that you and the queen have combined, if anything does happen, both of you will be able to handle it. Are you up for it, Northman?"

Eric had never been one to give in so easily but for some reason he wanted to do it. He wanted to be there with the queen. He couldn't let them know it. He had to make a fight or they would think that something was wrong. He couldn't disappoint those that knew his so well. "I don't even know her. She lived in my area for quite awhile from what I gather. She never introduced herself. She never worked her share at Fangtasia. I was her sheriff before she was my queen and she never made herself known to me. And now you ask me to leave my area and babysit."

Bill was beyond angry. "Because she was the child of the queen, she owed you nothing. We were nice enough to ask you but as her second, I order you to stay her until we return. I've already informed each lieutenant in attendance to go back to their areas this night. They will pretend as if their sheriffs are indisposed and they will handle anything that arises. We also have the help of Herveaux's pack and Merlotte's shifters. They're scattered throughout as well."

Eric dropped his fangs on Bill.

"Really, Northman? Do you want to play this game? We both know that you're going to do it. So do it."

A feeling of total skepticism rolled through Eric. All he could think was that this couldn't be happening. By the victorious look on Bill's face, Eric instantaneously realized that Compton and Cataliades asking him to do this was not happenstance. They had this planned the entire time. The meeting with the sheriffs was just moved up so that they could be here to look after their new queen. Eric was pissed at himself for not realizing that something was up in the first place.

"She's out by the koi pond," the daemon and the vampire told Eric. "Go to her."

Before Eric could protest any further, Bill and Desmond were gone.

"Fuck," he grumbled. Eric didn't want to babysit the spoiled child of the now dead Sophie Ann. He kicked at the rocks and the blades of grass as he walked in her direction. When he was only a few feet from the pond, his nostrils flared and his memory came to life. Moving in a blur, Eric was standing just a couple of steps from the pond; allowing the trees to hide him from her sight. Again, he closed his eyes and the scent from centuries ago washed over him.

"It couldn't be," he whispered.

Her back was to him but he knew that it was her. As he did those centuries ago, he ducked behind the tree and hid from sight. He watched her as she gripped her gown, as to not trip, and strolled under the moonlight. He'd never seen a more beautiful vision in his life. She looked like the fairy princess from the fairy tales of old; delicate and gossamer. All she needed was a magic wand and tiara made of the rarest crystals and diamonds. Her body was lithe and strong but looked delicate to the touch. She moved with total gracefulness. Her back was in full view of the moon. Her breasts were barely covered by the bodice of her dress. Her arms and shoulders were bare. Her neck was beautiful and beckoning to him. The white fabric of her gown against her skin made her look even more human. Her blond hair looked silvery under the moon. She looked beautiful. He only needed to see.

"Please turn around," he begged. When she shuffled along, he got his wish …almost. All he could see was her silhouette and there she was. It was his bride to be.

He stood up quickly but didn't move. He couldn't. He was rooted to the ground.

Sookie knew that he was there. She could sense his mood. He was surprised and elated. Happy and afraid. Vampire men are no different than humans. A small smile played across her lips. While walking around the koi pond and staring at the fish, she introduced herself. "You must be the elusive vampire sheriff from area five. I'm glad that you could make it. I'm your new queen. My name is Sookie Northman."

All he think was that she took his last name. She loved him. She took his last name.

"Yes, I am. Forgive my tardiness."

At the sound of his voice, she stopped moving. She let her hands grip the fabric of her gown tightly. This time, Sookie couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She lost all function in her knees and almost dropped to the ground.

In a flash, Eric was holding her close to his body. She smelled the same as she did the last time he saw her. She smelled of the North Sea. She still smelled of summertime and sunshine. She smelled like the woman he'd fallen in love with so long ago.

"I am the sheriff of Area five. My name is Eric Northman."

Sookie slowly turned around and there he was. She spent many days and nights looking for him and she could never find him. And here he was …in Louisiana. He'd found her. She placed her hand on his face and stroked it. "My husband," she whispered.

Eric touched his mouth to Sookie's; their arms going around each other. They drowned in the softness of each others mouths. They moaned against the others lips. There were no words that needed to be spoken. In over a thousand years, it was as if it was the day of their wedding. Time had never passed for them. The thrill of the other's touch as if it was going to be their last kiss, was all that they knew. It was all that they wanted to know.

"So, we meet again."