21. Abduction
Rhiannon immediately demanded that the children and Andrew be taken to her old cabin in St. Croix. They took them to Tallahassee, where they checked into a vampire hotel under assumed names. They chartered a private airplane and took them to St. Croix the next night. Then, Rhiannon and Eric returned to Louisiana.
By the time they arrived back, there were police cars in the driveway of their estate. A short, wiry fellow approached them as they got out of the car, his badge exposing him as the Captain of the area's State Police.
Rhiannon stepped in front of Eric and took the papers. He gave her a furious look, but she winked and he stood down, though he did so with arms crossed and a glare.
"Officer, this 'warrant' is issued by the Corporate State of Louisiana, for the Corporate entity named Eric Northman. See the all capital letters? That indicates a corporation. As you can see, this is private property. You passed the No Trespassing sign at the entrance, yes?" At the man's nod, she continued, "Then, as you can see, no such corporate entity resides here. Now, I will thank you to take your corporate papers and depart according to the No Trespassing sign."
She handed the papers back to him. "Since Louisiana does not have a duty-to-retreat law, and because you are here in service of a Corporate Entity rather than in pursuit of the law as laid out by the Constitution of the United States, I respectfully ask you to leave immediately."
He shifted uncomfortable. "It's my duty to serve this warrant on these premises, Ma'am."
"We do not consent to any search. Without proof of probable cause, and without criminal charges, this warrant is unlawful, and it is to be served upon the person of one Corporate Entity named Eric Northman. Such a corporate entity does not exist, and does not reside at this address. Additionally, the minor children listed on this unlawful seizure notice are those of Corporate Entities as well. These Corporate Entities also do not exist. Thank you, and good night."
The police left.
"What was that?" Eric demanded.
"That, my dear, was me protecting our children. Those are not officers of the law, those are servants of the corporate State of Louisiana. That was not your name, it was the name of a Straw Man, a dummy corporation."
Later that night, Nan showed up. To Rhiannon's fury, she was as tickled as a bear's ass sitting on a feather.
"This is perfect! Do you have any idea what this will do for Vampire rights? Children! The humans love children!"
"I will not allow them to be used in your schemes," Rhiannon told her.
"You, will not allow?" Nan snarled the at her, ejecting her fangs. "You will do as you're told, or you will face the True Death."
Rage roared through Rhiannon, and the only thing that saved Nan was Eric. He laid his chin on her head from behind her, his arms around her.
"We will go to their courts, but we will not surrender our children. If they find in our favor, all will be well. If they do not, then we will go to ground. We have already removed the children from their range of influence," Eric informed her. "But there will be no so-called 'protective custody' nor foster care."
Nan glared at Rhiannon for a few more seconds.
"Very well," she told Eric at last, unwitting saving her own life with her acquiescence. "Play nice, though," she told Rhiannon as she left.
Rhiannon picked up the grand piano and threw it against the wall of the castle so hard that the wall smashed with the piano with an enraged snarl. "I hate that woman!"
"I would never have guessed," Eric answered, his voice droll and one eyebrow lifted. "I liked that piano, you know."
She waved her hand dismissively. "I'll get you another."
He grinned. She huffed. He raised an eyebrow again. She crossed her arms. He blinked patiently. A smile played the corners of her lips. He grinned again.
"Oh, fine," she said. "I'll play Nan's game. But I'll do it my way!" She leveled an index finger at him.
"Whoa," he said. "Don't shoot. I'm unarmed."
"My love, many things you might be, but 'unarmed' is never one of them."
He pulled her against him and snuggled her close. "I meant what I said. If we lose this kangaroo court, we'll go to ground. I will never let them have our children any more than you will. But Rhiannon?"
"Hmm?"
"Let me deal with Nan, please. You take care of the court stuff and I'll deal with her," he told her.
"But-"
"Please? You're a little... hot-headed." He kissed her on the forehead.
She pulled back to glare at him. "I am not-"
He tilted his head toward the crushed piano, dangling out of the mangled wall.
She rolled her eyes, but confessed, "Okay, maybe a little, sometimes."
"I've lost count of how many pieces of furniture we've replaced now. At least you've quit uprooting trees." He grinned and headed for the door.
"You're not funny, Eric!" she yelled after him. She could almost see his grin as he flitted away towards Fangtasia, even though she wasn't out there to witness it directly.
"Smug bastard," she said affectionately.
Two nights later, a summons to court was delivered. This time, it was in her new vampire name, Sharon Moore. Rhiannon sighed. It was all capitalized, of course.
The court was to be held at night, in three days. It seemed they wanted the children sooner, not later. She immediate wrote a short letter to DCH, requesting Discovery of all items and articles in their possession relating to the case.
Three days later, she arrived at court, her hair freshly dyed red, wearing a dark blue power suit. Eric stood beside her all in black.
After the judge entered, Rhiannon was called, "The Court now calls Sharon Moore to the stand," the bailiff said.
Rhiannon stood up and walked to the front of the audience area. "I will remain here, on United States soil," she stated.
The judge, an older woman named Rose Albright, told her, "You refuse to enter the Court of Law?"
"I refuse to enter the court of Admiralty Law," Rhiannon told her.
The judge shook her head. "Are you Sharon Moore?"
"May I see the document in question, please?" Rhiannon asked.
The judge nodded and the bailiff showed her the paperwork. She held it up, "I am a vampire. The person on this paper is a corporate entity. No, this is not me."
"Your name is not Sharon Moore?"
"I am called by Sharon Moore, but I am not a Corporate Entity," Rhiannon replied. "According to the vampire rights amendment, am I legally entitled to a fair and speedy trial?"
"You have not been charged with anything, Ms. Moore. This is a custodial hearing."
"Can you please tell the court whom you represent?"
"I represent the State of Louisiana," Judge Albright answered.
"The State of Louisiana is a party to these proceedings. Can you please state, for the record, the legal definition of a conflict of interest?" Rhiannon asked her.
"Pardon me?" the judge drew up to her full, very short, height behind the podium.
"Conflict of interest: a situation in which a person has a duty to more than one person or organization, but cannot do justice to the actual or potentially adverse interests of both parties," Rhiannon stated. "Do you, or do you not, accept money from the State? Does this not make you a party to these proceedings?"
The judge stared at her. "Are you questioning my integrity?"
"I am questioning your legal qualifications for holding this 'hearing'," Rhiannon replied. "It is no more personal than you questioning my ability and right to parent my own children."
"Do you realize that I could have you held in contempt of court?"
"What will happen to me if you do?" Rhiannon asked.
"You will be arrested. It will be a very long time before you see your children again." She tapped a pencil on her desk in agitation.
"Let the record show that I have been placed under duress with threats of unlawful kidnapping and incarceration of my person by agents of the State of Louisiana, a party to the proceedings."
The judge's face contracted into a grimace of pure loathing. She stood up. "I don't have to put up with this," she snapped, and walked out.
Rhiannon ignored the shocked whispers behind her. "Let the record show that the captain has abandoned ship. As a sovereign, I take command of it. Let the record show that I dismiss this case with prejudice."
She turned to Eric. "Let's go."
They walked out, and Nan came up behind them. "What the hell was that?"
"That was the law in action," Rhiannon replied. "I was a conspiracy theorist before I was turned. Actually, though, I'm a little disappointed. I didn't even get a chance to use Sui Juris."
"What?"
"One who has all the rights to which a freemen is entitled; one who is not under the power of another, as a slave, a minor, and the like." Rhiannon elaborated.
"No, I mean, what were you doing? You were supposed to be fighting for vampire rights to children."
Eric cut in, "Nan, you're seeing this all backwards. Sharon just fought for the rights of humans as well as vampires. We can use that to the advantage of the AVL." He took her arm and led her off toward her car, and Rhiannon shook her head.
As if she would have played the circus Nan wanted, with her children and Eric's future at stake. Rhiannon left to call Andrew on the satellite phone they'd left with him. She spoke only briefly, keeping the call short and hard to triangulate. She refused to take any chances, and the case had gone mainstream already, all over the world.
Immediately after it, the human Mass Media began reporting on it and Rhiannon watched it. They stated that the case was dismissed on a legal technicality and could not be brought back to the courts. Nothing was said of what really happened, and Rhiannon sighed. Of course not.
But Nan went on the offensive. She sat Eric down and let him speak—an excellent choice given his natural charm and sophistication.
"You're right," the Eric on the screen in front of Rhiannon said to a hidden, behind camera Nan, "it was a case about a vampire's children. But it was more than that. It was about the American legal system. It was about the right of all parents.
"As the government increasingly intrudes of the lives of Americans, more people are losing their children for illogical reasons that have nothing to do with gross negligence or even abuse."
"Eric," Nan asked him, "some people will state that vampires should not have children. What would you say to them?"
"I would ask them why, and I'm sure they'd have various reasons. The first one to address would be the belief that children cannot thrive with parents who are only awake at night. Yet our children are not only happy and healthy, but they are well taken care of. We spend several hours a day with them—more than the average middle class working American, in fact. So far, their development in motor skills, social development, and intelligence has been outstanding by every consideration of each factor." Eric stated.
"But there have been rumors that you had other people raising your children. Is there any truth to this? And how does that effect their emotional development?"
"We all have others raising our children. Schools, day cares, preschools, babysitters, relatives. Rare indeed is the child that lives in a vacuum with only parents to raise them. If we are to start taking away children that do not get enough 'parent time', we will have to remove all children who are in boarding schools, and the President's children, as well. Who has less time for his kids than the President?" Eric's charming smile and chuckle reflected the absurdity of the idea of removing Presidential offspring simply for lack of time with a parent.
"But you are not biologically related to these children. Many would use this as an excuse, wouldn't they?" Nan continued.
"Adoptive parents are not related to their children. Are they any less parents than anyone else? If we begin to allow biological connection to be the single factor in parenting, then we arrive at a new problem. Step parents who adopt their spouse's offspring would become non parents. Adoptive parents would become non parents. Our already overloaded foster system would be flooded with 'parentless' adopted children from all over the world. Such an argument is as absurd as the idea that any parent not with their child twenty-four hours a day should lose their child."
It was clear that they weren't finished, but Rhiannon clicked the TV off. Although she had won, she felt a deep, abiding misgiving. Something was terribly wrong, she thought, but she didn't try to place it. It was probably residual discomfort from the whole experience.
It took a solid week for people to get bored with 'dismissed on a technicality', so they brought Andrew and their children home.
To Rhiannon's great joy, the children were thrilled to see her. They got to stay up late the night they arrived, which didn't hurt, either. There were s'mores and ice cream and new stuffed animals. There were cuddles and kisses and grubby little hands. There was Lief, running full speed for the forest, naked.
Eric dragged him back and wrestled his clothes back on him to the combined sounds of wailed protests and smothered giggles.
They asked Andrew where Stephanie was the next day. It was a difficult day and evening for them all.
But the days passed and life settled back into a routine. Eric hired mercenaries to stand guard around the estate. Weeks turned into months, and Autumn came. With it came Halloween, and it was Rhiannon's joy to take her children on the annual candy trek for the first time. Her unease did not diminish, despite the relative tranquility of their life.
It was a week after Halloween, when all the photographing and playing and laughter had died back down to a normal level that Rhiannon and Eric woke up to a silent, dark castle.
A quick inspection found no sign of Andrew of the children, nor of anything amiss. Rhiannon checked the garage and found the Escalade Hybrid gone from its slot. She told Eric of it, and his face reflected the concern that Rhiannon felt.
"He wouldn't be back this late without a note or without telling the guards, at least," Eric stated.
Rhiannon sighed with relief. "I'm so glad that you think so, too. I can sense Andrew, but I think he may be unconscious."
"Go find him, I'll go find the children," Eric told her.
They both flitted away towards Shreveport. Rhiannon found Andrew in the Escalade with what was clearly a horse tranqulizer dart hanging from his shoulder. Fury rose in her with a stabbing viciousness that she searched for something to take it out on.
Andrew was lucky to be alive with a horse tranquilizer in his system. He would not awaken for a very long time. She picked him up and took him home, dropping him in his bedroom.
Then she went out and ripped apart one of the patio tables and its umbrella. Eric couldn't complain about that. Not as much as the piano, anyway. And being mostly metal, the patio table had been curiously satisfying, also.
An hour later, Pam and Eric arrived. Pam dumped Taima into Rhiannon's arms with a look of angry disgust at Eric. Then she flitted away.
Eric, to Rhiannon's gratification, looked as livid as she felt.
"Mabel and Stephanie?" Rhiannon demanded.
Eric nodded. "They almost made it onto the airplane. I stopped them on the concourse in line for boarding." Fury radiated from him in cold waves. But unlike Rhiannon, he did nothing to show his rage. He stood calm and unruffled.
It was unnerving, and Rhiannon felt an unaccustomed frisson of fear run down her spine. Eric's anger had always been, in its own way, far deadlier than her own.
She didn't ask what he intended to do. She would doubtless not approve.