Unfortunately it was Pam who found me crying. Not so much crying as weeping; sitting behind a large fern on the terrace behind the throne room, wiping my nose on my sleeve because I didn't have a tissue. I'd tried my best to cry silently, but she must have heard a muffled snuffle because I could hear her footsteps clack-clack unerringly over to where I'd hidden. Then there was a short pause while I covered my eyes and pretended to be invisible before the leafy plant was yanked back and Pam thrust her face into mine. I braced myself for some smart remark, but none came. Instead she pulled a lacy handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to me. I took it with a shaky smile and moved over to make some space on the ledge. She sat down beside me, wobbling on her high heels as she sank down.

"You did very well," she said and, awkwardly, placed an arm around my shoulders. Desperate for some comfort, I leaned my head on her shoulder. She patted my head with a half-hearted, "There, there."
It had been a rather intense evening. My first appointment was with Eric's counsels, three grey, grim vampires who advised the throne of Louisiana on all matters legal. I was asked to sit opposite them in one of the smaller conference rooms, while Eric paced up and down behind me. They made me tell my story from the beginning, taking notes, their faces immobile. Their questions were direct; they cut any rambling on my part short, asking me curtly to be more specific, more exact. They took notes on Hraefn, Gunnar, Marie – nodding at each other when I described her. Then they asked me about the nature of my interaction with the male vampires. Who had fed on me? (I could hear Eric hiss behind me). Whose blood had I had? (He stopped pacing, out of the corner of my eye I saw him pretending to stare out the window.) Had I been ... excuse the indelicate question, ma'am ... had I been, ahem, raped?
"No," was my whispered answer.
I glanced over at Eric and he was studying me. I know he was trying to figure out whether I was telling the truth.
"Forgive us, then, for posing this question, but you do understand that it is all a matter of protocol," one of them said, the only woman of the three. "Was there, eh, consensual sexual relations?"
"No!" I said.
Every vampire in the room stared at me, a kind of vampire lie detection test, and I did my best to stare back. At times like this, the stress of the situation triggers a sensory overload: I smelled Eric's seasalt skin, the smell of leather, of horse, from the female counsel. And one of the other vampires smelled of food, of onions and garlic. And when I breathed deep, as I was trying to calm myself down, I smelled the sunlight and forest of Hraefn's skin.
It was too much; I felt ill.

But before I could excuse myself, Eric said, "That's enough. That's all you need."
And his legal team was dismissed. They gathered their papers and left the room silently.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his face a picture of concern.
"Grand," I said sardonically. "Just fine."
I automatically leaned against him, my head on his chest, the flat of my hand stroking his chest. Normally, he would've drawn me in closer, rubbed his nose in my hair, dipped down to brush his lips against my forehead. But not today. He gave me a quick squeeze and released me, patting my back. I opened my mouth to say something but the door opened and the counsels returned.
"This would be easier if we could glamour her," the female counsel said.
"She can't be glamoured," Eric said shortly. "Though you're welcome to try."
"You're not welcome to try," I snapped. "Just tell me what to say."
Because I knew how this went. This matter would be regulated internally by the Vampire Council and I would be coached for the police. So they drilled me: visiting friends, abducted by rogue vampire when I went for a walk in the garden. Held in a motel for two nights.
"But I crossed two state lines," I said. "I was in two motels."
"They'll be glamoured," the female counsel said. "A modified report will be filed at the case will be laid to rest. Ad acta," she added in Latin, to emphasise the point.

I shrugged. This was no longer my problem, I was merely a pawn in a larger game and I was being given a script to memorise. When the police arrived, I sat down with the female counsel – who still hadn't bothered to introduce herself – and with Officers Jimenez and O'Grady, who asked me to give them an account of what had happened. I stuck to the text and it was evident that the two officers did not believe a word. Officer Jimenez eyed me up and down, her face set in a grim sneer, but Officer O'Grady managed at least to keep his countenance neutral.
"Was there any foul play? Rape? Fang rape? Gang rape? Torture? Forced ingestation of blood?" Jimenez rattled off.
I shook my head. Denying everything, as I had been instructed.
"In words, please, Ms Kennick," she snapped.
"No, there wasn't."
She looked at me coldly. "Any relations of the consensual kind?"
"I don't see what this has to do with it – " the female counsel interrupted.
"It helps us form a bigger picture," O'Grady said.
"Our Queen Consort and the King of Louisiana have a very loving and devoted relationship," the counsel said in a low voice. "I find it is being undermined by this line of questioning and I am not entirely sure how it is relevant."

I stood up, dizzy.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't feel well, I need a glass of water."
I walked over to the table where the refreshments were arranged and poured myself a glass with shaking hands. I heard a scuffle and when I turned around, the counsel had Jimenez in a chokehold, her collar pulled tight around her neck. She was glamouring O'Grady in a low voice, leaving him with a stunned look before she turned to his partner. In less than a minute, the two officers were sitting, docile, opposite her. She called me over and handed me a piece of paper with the official version of events written on it. I read it out and the two officers nodded. Then I signed it and handed it over to Officer O'Grady. He stood up and shook my hand.
"We will do our best, ma'am," he said in a friendly tone. "But chances are this fellow is hundreds of miles away by now."
"I know," I said, "but thank you, anyway."
Officer Jimenez didn't give me her hand. The counsel had wiped her short-term memory but not her long-term hatred.
"Ma'am," she said curtly and left with her partner.

"That part is settled," said the counsel, shuffling her papers. "Now we just need to find the men who took you and instigate proceedings against Texas."
"And Ohio," I said, rubbing my neck where he'd bitten me.
The counsel looked at me pityingly. "Of course," she said smoothly. "But you must bear in mind that feeding on another vampire's human is a minor crime compared to an assault on a monarch."
"I am the Queen Consort," I reminded her.
She paused her paper shuffling to look at me. "Are you, though?" she asked in fake puzzlement.
I bit my lip and left the room, cutting through the store room behind the throne room, out through a side door and into the chilly night. I found a large potted fern and sat down on the ledge of the balustrade behind it, looking up at the stars and satellites, feeling a wave of helplessness and disorientation rise within me.

And that's where Pam found me, half an hour later.

"There, there," she said again and I felt her trying to wriggle out from underneath me, probably afraid I'd leave tear or snot stains on her Chanel.
"Don't worry, Maggie," she said. "The Vampire Council will take care of it now. And if Eric plays his cards right, there might even be some of Texas's territory for him."
She all but rubbed her hands in glee. The vampire kingdom of Texas was wealthy; the vampire kingdom of Louisiana was not.
"Great," I said in a sniffly voice.
"Were the police mean to you?" she asked, a teasing undertone to her voice. The closest I could expect in the way of pity from Pam was gentle mocking, as opposed to outright scorn.
"It's Eric," I whispered. "One of the vampires forced his blood on me and now Eric has ..."
I took a breath.
"... rejected me."
"Rejected you?"
"He's all ... fraternal towards me," I said, finally.
Pam studied me, her brow furrowed. "Hmm," she said. "Fraternal."
She nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Eric is very protective," she said. "Now that you're back, I think he fully realises how close he came to losing you. This is his human side. Luckily, we don't have to deal with it that often." She paused. "And he's very territorial, which is his vampire side. It stands to reason that he does not like the idea of another vampire sampling his human."
"It wasn't my fault," I hissed.
"I know," she said. "And he knows. It doesn't stop him being a jerk, though."
She shrugged.
"However, I do recall one occasion in the recent past in which Eric also had another vampire's human take his blood, against their will," she said insouciantly. "It bothered that vampire a heck of a lot as well."
"Really?"
"How do you think he managed to get that dumbass fairy waitress?" she asked. "She was all but betrothed to Compton but Eric managed to inveigle some blood into her system and that was the beginning of a long and really stupid Sookie Stackhouse drama."
Pam rolled her eyes. "So, yeah, pot calling kettle black, et cetera, et cetera. Typically Eric: it's okay when he's doing it but he gets majorly pissed off when the tables are turned."

She stood up, held out a hand and pulled me to my feet. Taking the handkerchief off me, she wiped my face roughly and pinched my cheeks.
"Look sharp," she said. "He'll get over it. Just give him a chance to tear that vampire into pieces and he'll feel so much better."
Something clunked inside me and I realised that I really didn't relish the prospect of Eric tearing the dark-haired vampire limb from limb. I thought about telling Pam, then stopped.

She brushed down my clothes and said, "You know what I used to tell my girls at the whorehouse? Get out there and perform."
She spun me around and smacked me smartly on the bottom.
"Get back in there and perform," she said smartly, pointing at the throne room. "Eric will come round. In the meantime, stop moping around like a wet dishrag and be a fucking queen."
"Okay," I said reluctantly and we walked towards the door.
"Do you really think he'll tear the vampire who abducted me limb from limb?" I asked.
Pam shot a glance at me – curious, cautious.
"I know this for sure," she said. "And he will take great pleasure in doing so. Why?"
"No reason," I said. "I was just wondering if it was hyperbole."
"Nope. And he'll probably do it in public to set an example, too," Pam said firmly. She stopped and peered down into my face. "I know you've had this vampire's blood," she said, "but you need to detach yourself mentally from him as fast as you can. This is going to end ugly."
I nodded firmly, murmuring, "Of course. No problem, sure."
It'll be his undoing, I thought miserably, remembering Gunnar's words.