A/N: Not much to say except thank you to everyone who's been reviewing, favoriting and alerting! I really can't tell y'all how much I appreciate knowing that you're enjoying the story! And to thank my beta, Sheknitsnicely, who is the rockingest beta EVER!
Disclaimer: I don't own them Alan Ball does although things are not looking good for him after the first day of testimony where the Prosecution was able to produce damning love letters written by Mr. Ball to one Bill Compton, promising to promote the second banana character to leading man in exchange for 'services' rendered.
As Eric catches Ulrich and Idonea up on all the gory details of the last couple of weeks, starting with Antonia's curse and finishing up with our current predicament, my mind starts to wander. Quite unexpectedly I find myself thinking back to Russell's words from just a few nights ago about the road not taken and all the seemingly little decisions that change the course of our lives. Crazy as a cracker barrel or not, Russell did manage to live three thousand years before meeting his true death, so I have to assume that he must have come to some kind of clarity about the workings of free will versus fate and yet, as I think back over the last several years of my life, I'm not sure if I've had too many of those crossroads moments.
I suppose I could have let Mack and Denise have their way with Bill the night he came into Merlotte's to check me out, but the truth was that he put on that show to lure me out. If I hadn't 'rescued' him, he would have gotten out of that mess on his own and tried to get me to give up my secret in a different way. So Vampires coming into my life was always a given from the moment Hadley opened her mouth, or her legs I guess, to Sophie-Anne. There wasn't anything I could have done to prevent that.
Same deal with getting rid of the Vampires. Once they knew what I was, they never would have left me alone. It's probably only Eric and Bill's unexpected feelings for me that prevented me from becoming their Queen's slave. So again, little decisions, but none of them mine, and if I know Eric not really his either, since I can't imagine him wanting to fall in love with anyone if he were given the choice. What we both feel, we feel maybe more despite our wills than because of them.
I could have chosen to let Bill rot in Jackson, but given that Russell was only interested in Bill to get to me, staying home instead of going to Mississippi wouldn't have kept him from trying to get me. I could have left Eric on the side of the road when he had amnesia, or chosen not to give in to my feelings for him. I could have chosen Bill after the dream that Claudine gave me or decided to walk away from both of them and be alone, but even if I had we'd still be in this mess.
Looking at Eric, still enumerating all the different ways in which we're screwed, I begin to feel like free will, or at least mine, doesn't count for very much. Maybe as messed up as this all is, I'm meant to be here, with him, fighting against the world for our chance to live life free of all the little decisions that other people make that keep putting us in danger. Deciding to love Eric, no matter what, feels like the one moment in my life where the choice that meant something was mine and, looking at this man who fell in love with me as much against his will and better judgment as I fell in love with him, I can't help but feel like I finally got something right. Just like that night that Claudine came to me in my dream, I realize that I could have taken my one meaningful decision and used it to give myself an easier life, a safer life, but even with all this crazy surrounding us, I'm glad I didn't. Fate or free will, I'd rather be here with him. I'll always choose to be with him, no matter what.
"And I thought you picked the wastes of Northern Louisiana because you were looking for a little peace and quiet." I come back to the conversation to hear Ulrich respond, with an ironic chuckle, after Eric finishes telling him everything. Looking over at me, Eric just smiles soft and true, his love for me shining out in the dim light of the library.
"Well, you know how it is when you start hanging around with Fairies." He replies, his head cocking to the side slightly to indicate that I'm the Fairy in question.
"Funny, my life was quiet as a sleeping lamb until people with fangs starting popping up in it." I reply, the disgruntled note in my voice totally belied by the sappy smile on my face. "You wouldn't trade it for the world." I say to him confidently, knowing from the bottom of my heart that, despite the crazy, he'll always choose me too.
"Not a single second of it." Eric answers. The surprised laugh from Idonea brings Eric and me out of our little world of teasing and dopey, kissy face making.
"It would appear not." She says lightly, clearly more exhilarated by Eric's story and the prospect of a good fight than worried by it.
"So as I understand things," Ulrich begins, "King Bill," Ulrich pauses momentarily to snicker slightly at the sound of that, "is dead as the Authority decreed. They believe that you are dead as well and that your bonded was murdered by your own hand. What of Pam?" He asks. Eric grimaces.
"She was not a part of their warrant so I hope that they will simply believe she's gone to ground after my demise. However, we cannot rule out the fact that they might be looking for her as well. If they are though, it is not with any great urgency since we were able to leave Louisiana without problems." Ulrich nods at that.
"You should know that the Authority named Bill's successor last night. They've given Louisiana to Peter Threadgill." Pam makes her first contribution to the conversation, at that point, by sighing in a dramatic, put upon way.
"He's not that bad." Eric says, shrugging. The look of confusion must be pretty evident on my face, because Pam turns to me and gives me the run down.
"Peter Threadgill is the King of Arkansas. Eric is right that he's not that bad, per se. But he is an Authority ass kisser and notoriously lazy when it comes to keeping order in his kingdom. Being so close to him we're always having to clean up the mess when his ill-disciplined subjects venture into our territory. Sophie-Anne entertained the idea of a marriage with him at one point, but the negotiations came to something of a standstill after her impromptu marriage to Russell and subsequent untimely demise." Yeah, I can see how being forced to marry Russell and then being assassinated would put a dampener on someone's wedding plans.
"The fact remains that, without the Authority to keep order, there will no longer be room for weak monarchs such as your late King Bill. That may very well work to your advantage though Eric, if you decide you wish to return to Louisiana. Threadgill might welcome you back, regardless of your involvement in eliminating the Authority, simply to count a sheriff of proven strength among his assets." Idonea chimes in.
"What exactly are your dear adopted sister's plans for a post Authority world?" Ulrich asks, clasping his hands in front of him and scowling at the mention of Ilina. Eric only spreads his own hands out in an elegant gesture of uncertainty.
"I haven't yet had the opportunity to ask. Our decision to join this little scheme was not based on sound post-revolution planning. Sigmund hasn't been very forthcoming, but then I suppose it's not a surprise to anyone that he isn't the brains of this little insurrection." Ulrich just nods his head, rising from his chair and walking fluidly to the Library doors.
"Let's bring him in then, shall we, and see what, if anything, he will be willing to share with us." Ulrich speaks quickly and quietly to a guard standing on the other end of the doors and, just minutes later, Sigmund and his two goons come striding in.
"Majesties." He intones with a great deal of respect, bowing low at the waist to both Ulrich and Idonea.
"Sigmund, so lovely to see you again." Ulrich says flatly, the expression on his face clearly showing that it's not. "I have asked you to join us so that you can shed some light on the plans you have for ridding us of the Authority." Sigmund seems slightly taken aback at first that the pleasantries are so quickly over and the interrogation has begun, but after a moment he seems to get his head in the right place and nods solemnly.
"There is not much to tell, Majesty. We plan to rid ourselves of the Authority and hand complete control back to the monarchs, where it has always belonged. It is the monarchs who should have supremacy in their territories, not this band of power hungry dictators." He answers as if he's reciting a speech he's worked hard to memorize, maybe one taught to him by Ilina to sway said monarchs to their side.
"Clearly, of course, my question is simply how. It is no secret that we have never been fans of the Authority and, given the fact that they have blatantly attempted to harm the child of my child and those that are his, I can say that my patience with them has reached its limit. I find myself therefore inclined to lend support to your cause. However, you cannot fault me for wanting to know what your plans are, if indeed there are any, before committing myself." Ulrich says it all in a reasonable tone, as if we're talking about what they plan to serve for dinner tomorrow night instead of who we're planning on killing.
"Ilina, myself and those of us within the Authority have the complete and total confidence of the members. We will use this trust to our advantage. They will all be gathering in the next week to make plans regarding troubles they are having with several of the American monarchies. As at any time the members are gathered, they will have the enforcers there for the sake of security. During the meeting we will give our allies access to the compound and kill them all in one strike." Sigmund says, his voice confident. Ulrich simply nods.
"Your plan seems…sound. Eric tells me that you've gathered quite a force already. I am willing to add my own fighters to yours but I have to wonder, Sigmund, why you specifically are a part of this fight? You have worked for the Authority for many decades, have you not? Being employed by them has been quite profitable for you. Why are you so willing to…bite the hand that has so generously fed you?
We know each other only a little, but I can't believe that you, of all people, are that concerned with the general well-being of your fellow Vampires, oppressed by the Authority as you say they are, to risk your existence to free us all. After many centuries dealing with your masters, I have to wonder if this isn't all some elaborate scheme to root out treason among the monarchs. It would not be the first time the Authority has played such a game. They know that Idonea and I have no love for them. If they wanted to come after us, threatening Eric would be a most effective way to force my hand." Ulrich's tone continues to imply that we're all just discussing the weather - nothing big, nothing important happening here - but his distrust is apparent. Sigmund bristles at first, clearly struggling to determine whether or not Ulrich does indeed deserve his honesty, before he seems to come to some decision.
"What you say is true. The Authority has often entrapped those it wishes to be rid of. But I am being truthful with you. I am not one to believe myself more than I am, and my lack of… intellect is a secret to no one. But if I should meet the true death in this endeavor, then it will be happily so." Sigmund seems to want to leave it at that, but for some reason I feel compelled to speak.
"Why?" I ask. I'm not sure if this is one of those occasions where you're not supposed to speak until spoken to, because literally every head in the room turns towards me at that moment except Eric's, since he must know me just that well by now, but I've never been one to keep quiet and I'm not going to start now. Sigmund looks at me a little incredulously at first, but then I notice his face seems to soften as he takes in the way that Eric is sitting close to me, our hands entwined on Eric's knee, almost as if he knows what it feels like to touch someone that way: with love.
"They took something from me I can never have back and I have waited a long time to find those who could help me have my revenge." It's the first time I've heard Sigmund speak with anything like passion or conviction and I'm startled.
"What happened?" I question again, not able to stop myself. Sigmund's soft expression disappears in an astonishingly quick moment to be replaced by a gaze so full of anger and grief that I feel a little frightened by it.
"They killed my woman." He bites out from between clenched teeth. "She was a Werewolf. As they will no doubt tell you," he gestures contemptuously at Ulrich, Idonea, Eric and Pam, "Weres and Vampires do not mix. They are considered animals and we are superior to them. At the time I was the second of my Sheriff, a Vampire who I served loyally and who I believed to be my comrade. I confided in him about our relationship, believing that he would…understand. He did not and, instead, went to the Authority. The Magister they sent agreed with my Sheriff that our relationship was profane and, when it was discovered that we had shared blood, he felt the only way to rectify the situation was to exterminate her. They put her down like the animal they believed her to be, as I watched.
It took me many years to convince them that I had…repented of my sin and that I offered my service in earnest to atone for my mistake. And, though it flayed me to my very bones to do so, I have served them unswervingly ever since, in an attempt to make them believe in my loyalty. I waited decades to find those like Ilina who could help me exact justice for her death.
Ilina also served them faithfully. She enjoyed the power and position as much as I pretended to, but that changed when Godric met the sun. She is not one to care for others, but she cared for him, deeply, and believes the Authority is to blame for his decision to end his existence. With her help, we found others who would join us and she now believes we have enough support to make a stand. The Sheriff who betrayed me is now a member of the Authority and I have given Ilina my sword in the hope that, when the time comes, he will be at the end of it."
When he finishes, Sigmund just stands there with a look of defiance on his face. It's clear that he doesn't really care if Ulrich and Idonea join the fight at all, but he must know now, after his conversation with Ilina, that she wants it. And so after a moment where he seems to get himself back under control, he adds one last thing.
"Eric, they care nothing about what happens in backwoods Louisiana. They wanted you and Compton out of the way to take your woman. Ilina was correct when she said that, if they continue to exist and find out that she still lives, they will never stop coming after her. Fight with us, and convince them," he gestures to Ulrich and Idonea, "to fight with us too. Many of the monarchs may be petty and vain and power hungry, but one rat in each house is better than two." With that, Sigmund turns and, without waiting to be dismissed, begins walking towards the double doors.
"Wait." It's Idonea who speaks this time. Sigmund walks back to Idonea, giving her an obligatory bow and waits to hear what she says. "You have our support. I will send men with you when you leave tomorrow night," Idonea says the last as she looks hard at Ulrich, clearly telling him without words that the decision is made, "but I have one condition." Sigmund nods his head. "The men that I give you will be under the direct command of Eric. Is that understood?" Sigmund bows once more.
"Completely, Majesty." With that, he turns again and walks out without another word.
"I had no intention of letting Eric and Pam go into this alone." Ulrich says after the doors have closed again, a look of contrition on his face.
"I know dear." She replies, patting his hand in a gesture that almost seems patronizing. "Now, I think your bonded looks tired and hungry, Eric. Why don't you retire and enjoy the rest of your evening and Ulrich and I will make the necessary plans." Eric inclines his head towards her and rises out of his chair, holding out his hand to help me up as well. We both say goodnight and leave Pam with them, happily catching up on all the latest fashion trends with Idonea as Ulrich's eyes go a little glassy.
When we're back upstairs in our room, I see that someone has left another tray of food at the little table in front of the fireplace. Sitting at it, I lift the lid and find another wonderful dish of southern comfort: chicken and dumplings with a little side salad. Pouring a glass of sweet tea, I dig in as Eric starts a fire.
Once it's going nicely, he takes the other chair at the little table, watching me eat and playing with the little butter knife that was on my tray. We sit in companionable silence for a little while, coming as close to sharing a meal together as we probably ever will, until I'm mostly finished.
"Do you believe him? Sigmund I mean." I ask, taking a sip of my tea. Eric looks up from his contemplation of the knife and I can feel him really thinking about his answer.
"Last night I would have said yes, if for no other reason than that I wouldn't have believed Sigmund capable of pulling off such a deception. However, if what he said tonight is really true and he has been lying to the Authority for decades, I will have to give him more credit from now on both for cunning and for deception.
Still, I do not believe that even the Authority would go through all the trouble of putting together such an elaborate ruse merely to get Ulrich and Idonea to commit treason. They are very powerful and they have ruled this kingdom since well before the Authority existed. It is simply not in the Authority's best interest to attempt to play with them. Doing so would very likely not end well for them. It's why, despite the contentious nature of the relationship, the Authority has mostly left Scandinavia alone all these years. The Authority makes no problems for Ulrich and Idonea and, in return, they allow the Authority to continue to play God with everyone else and pay lip service to their edicts. Unless someone with a very skewed sense of reality is suddenly calling the shots, I simply don't think they would do it." I nod at him, but I'm still worried.
"But wouldn't killing you be the sort of thing that would kinda rock the boat?" Eric smiles at me when I say that, and I can tell that he's appreciating my thinking through every angle with him.
"Perhaps, but Ulrich and Idonea did not involve themselves after Godric's death. Though the Authority was not directly responsible for that, no one would have blamed them for seeking vengeance. Godric was the master of his own destiny and so am I. If the decisions I made caused the Authority to sentence me to death, I do not believe that Ulrich would have sought revenge for it. Ulrich has always let Godric and I stand on our own two feet. He and Idonea have only ever involved themselves when their help was asked for. No, I believe that Sigmund is telling the truth." I guess we're pretty much still in the situation we were two nights ago. We really don't have any choice but to take the intentions of those around us at anything other than face value.
I never realized, until I started hanging with Vampires, how much of a disadvantage normal people have. If I've ever whined about anything in life, it was the fact that I never got to have illusions about other people. When my Gran would say "oh so and so is such a wonderful person" I was able to tell her, without a doubt, that they weren't and why. When girls in school use to tell me they wanted to be my friend, I knew that they were only saying it hoping that, by hanging around with me, they'd get my brother's attention. When drunken frat boys came into Merlotte's planning on skipping out without tipping me, I knew it and didn't feel a bit bad about spitting in their beer. I've always known exactly what everyone was really about, and I always hated it. It's one of the reasons I like Vampires so much: they give me the chance to feel normal. But right now, I'm not digging being just as much in the dark as everyone else always is.
Not being able to rifle around in Sigmund or Ilina's brains to find out what their true intentions are is frustrating and just plain scary. While it's normally wonderful not to hear someone's every incessant, annoying and probably blood thirsty (considering these are Vampires we're talking about) thought, I'm seriously thinking I'd sacrifice a little of that peace just to know that we aren't going to get screwed over again.
"What are you thinking?" Eric asks me, and I realize that I've been silent for quite a while now.
"I'm wishing that I could tell you for sure whether Sigmund is being truthful." I say. Eric just smiles softly at me, putting down the butter knife and standing. Taking my hand, he pulls me to stand to and takes me into his arms.
"We'll make do, Sookie. I promised you that I would not let anything part us and I won't. We will make it through this and we will be victorious when it's over. After all, you and I have a date in a hundred years in my office at home. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm extremely obsessive compulsive when it comes to making my meetings." With that, Eric pulls me flush against his body and brings his lips down on mine.
With so much trouble and anxiety swirling around us, with all the stress and turmoil we've been through in the last few days I feel like I just need one moment where there's nothing but Eric and I enjoying how much we enjoy each other.
Pulling back out of his embrace, I kick off my shoes, loosen the tie to my dress and take that running leap I'd been thinking about all afternoon onto the bed. It's every bit as soft and bouncy as I thought it would be and, if I didn't have other things on my mind right now, I might get off of it, walk to the end of the room and take another couple of running jumps. Shelving that thought for later, I decide to take my dress completely off instead, tossing it onto an armchair by the bed and kneeling on my knees in the center of the fluffy mattress, crooking my finger and beckoning my Vampire to me.
Eric smiles wide, a look of total hunger coming over his face, and begins stalking slowly to the bed, shedding his clothes as he goes. By the time he's in front of me he's completely naked, his huge, beautiful body backlit by the fire and glowing in the room's soft light.
I feel almost frozen in place as I watch Eric climb up onto the mattress and begin to advance on me on his hands and knees, his eyes bright and gleaming predatorily as he does. I'm not in the least bit afraid of him, but something tells me he'll like this whole thing more if I try to get away from him and so I begin to move backward on the bed, still on my knees, as he comes closer and closer to me.
When my back hits the headboard, I end up landing on my butt on the pillows only to feel a large cool hand wrap itself around my ankle and pull, dragging me back to where Eric is now kneeling in the center of the bed.
For one long moment I just lay there, Eric kneeling in between my spread legs, and look at him. Just the sight of him makes me feel hot and wet and achy. The soft, low light in the room catches the gold flecks in his hair, making him look like the naughtiest, dirtiest angel that ever fell from heaven. It shimmers on his pale skin, highlighting every hard muscle and defined cut along his arms, chest and torso, all of them calling my eyes down to his erection, which juts out long, thick and hard, wanting to be admired and worshipped for its pure perfection, just like the rest of him. Who am I to argue with that?
Lifting up into a sitting position, I let my hand wrap around his base and watch his surprised intake of unnecessary breath as he realizes that I'm not in a teasing mood tonight. We have so much trouble still ahead of us, I just want to bring him pleasure and feel the pleasure he brings me in return.
I begin to stroke him, but only at the base as I sit up farther, moving my mouth slowly closer to his tip, letting him see as I wet my lips and open wide. Our eyes lock just as my tongue comes out to flick his head, and his in drawn breath turns into a pained hiss. I know he can see the triumph in my eyes, as I wrap my lips firmly around his head and slowly begin to suck his daunting length into my mouth. I love doing this to him. I love the feel of him and the taste of him, but most of all I love how much he loves it and how wild it makes him. He's never more mine than when his cock is in my mouth.
As I begin to move my mouth up and down on him, my lips meeting my hand on every down stroke and then pulling away so that I can scrape him lightly with my teeth as I pull back up, ending with a gentle nip right at his head, I feel his hands start to roam my body, one of them coming up to fist into my hair, not forcing anything right now, just sort of hanging on for the ride really, and the other stroking up and down my back until he finds the clasp of my bra.
I feel myself moan as his hand undoes the clasp and begins to pull it off of me, letting it hang from one strap in the crook of my elbow because, no matter how much he wants to put his hands on my breasts right now, he won't do anything that takes mine off his dick.
The hand that's not in my hair begins to palm my breasts, moving from one to the other to weigh and knead them both before beginning to pinch my nipples roughly. The pressure is just this side of pain and, for some reason, it turns me on more than I could have ever imagined. I start moaning non-stop and the vibration of it must feel wonderful on his shaft because, without even realizing it, Eric's hips begin to move subtly, driving his cock farther into my mouth each time I come down on him, and out almost to the tip every time I pull away. Finally, I just stay still and let him take control, letting him fuck my mouth and enjoying every second of it.
After only a few deep strokes, Eric lets out an almost pained sounding roar and comes, spurting his cool cum down my throat over and over again. I take it all, savoring the taste of this just as much as I do the taste of his skin.
When Eric comes back to himself he looks down at me and the sight of me, naked except for my soaked panties, sitting on the bed with him between my spread thighs, his cock still in my mouth, must turn him on all over again, because the next thing I know I'm flat on my back, my poor little panties being ripped from my body and my Viking's golden head moving with absolute, single-minded focus against my pussy.
This time, it's me who can't help but take a fistful of his hair as my hips start to lift off the bed, pushing my pussy into Eric's mouth and fucking his face as surely as he did mine. I'm so wound already from sucking him off and feeling him play with my tits that it only takes a few hard sucks of my clit and a single finger pushing into me for me to fall off the edge, screaming Eric's name and grabbing the bed sheets to keep from ripping out his hair.
As I try to get my head back together, I feel two strong arms wrapping around me and hauling me up. I barely have time to register that Eric is kneeling on the bed again and that he's pulled me onto his lap before I feel his cock, hard again already, pushing against my cleft, splitting my pussy open and driving inside of me.
I can't help the sob of pleasure that escapes me as I feel Eric start to plunge into me and it's all I can do to wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, resting my crossed ankles against his ass, feeling it flex, as he pumps into me in short, hard thrusts.
"Oh God, Eric, so good, so good. I…I need…bite me please!" I say, without thinking. It must take Eric a moment to register what I've said because I feel him pull away and thrust back into me one more time before he stops and looks at me. I don't know what to do, I'm terrified that I've ruined the moment when I realize that, even though they're still very tiny, he did scratch me with them earlier in the night without meaning to. Running my hand along his lips, I kiss him hard and wiggle against him, hoping to make him start moving again, as I whisper breathlessly in his ear. "Cut me with them."
Eric looks at me, stunned, for a single second and then I see an expression of total lust cross his face as he opens his mouth and brings his top teeth down onto my shoulder. Angling his head just right, Eric scrapes the sharp little point of one fang against my skin and cuts a red line from my shoulder to my neck.
I cry out again at the sensation but don't pull away. Instead I take one hand and fist it into his hair again, forcing his head down onto the cut which he begins to suck and lick as his hips start to move again, impaling me over and over until the feeling of him fucking me and drinking me causes another orgasm.
The sensation of my pussy squeezing him brings Eric too, and he comes right after me, muffling his shout of pleasure against the crook of my neck and using his arms to band around me, pressing me flush against him, my breasts crushed against his chest, my nipples scraping his skin, as he pumps erratically a few more times, before collapsing with me onto the bed.
We just lay there together, me breathing hard, my arms and legs still wrapped around him as Eric licks my wound closed, cutting his own tongue with the small points of his new fangs, and healing it with his blood.
"Traveling seems to agree with you, lover." He chuckles after a little bit, still licking my skin for no other reason than that he likes the taste of it. I just laugh a little in return.
"You agree with me." I say after a little while. "I've never had so much sex. I didn't think anyone could have this much sex and live, quite frankly." Suddenly Eric isn't lazily licking my shoulder anymore, he's gently but purposefully nipping up the side of my neck.
"Mmmh, trust me lover, the Human body is an amazing thing. You'd be shocked at what it can endure." Just then, Eric closes his teeth around the lobe of my ear and starts flicking it with his tongue as his hands begin to wander over my body again.
Turns out he was right. The Human body is an amazing thing and, apparently, the body of a mostly Human Fairy is even more so, as Eric ends up proving to me five more times, in five more positions, all over the room before I finally pass out from the most blissed out exhaustion I've ever felt.