Chapter 36

POV The Queen(!)

I have somewhat absently monitored the telepath until now. Honestly, I thought very little of her, confident that Eric's interaction with her would either bare fruit, or reveal her as incompetent. Tonight her visit to Hadley has shown me that perhaps I should be watching her more closely.

She stands before me now, face blank. I cannot tell if it is a mask, hiding some greater intelligence, or if she really is just another cow in the herd.

How she handles herself here will give me some idea.

I let them stand in silence as I consider what brought them here. I did not expect Eric, but he may be useful. My suspicions were first roused when the communiqué from Dallas came directly from Stan. Usually when loaning out personnel, one of the minor underlings will write a quick note with the payment, and that is that. What I received was a lengthy letter from Stan, a vampire I have known for over four-hundred years; who is generally a vampire of few words, if any.

Stan wrote two paragraphs detailing the efficiency and competency of the human telepath, requesting that he be informed of any major changes in her terms of employ in the future. Stan is not easily impressed. Stan is especially not easily impressed by a human. Telepaths are rare. I have met only one, in the seventeenth century. She had been driven mad with it, and was locked away for the duration of her life by the church.

Needless to say, this has formed my impression of telepaths as somewhat tragic, insane creatures. The woman before me is rather contradictory to that impression. Overly confident, calm.

She still isn't speaking. Perhaps she is more clever than I thought; or simply bull-headed. I tell her so.

Her response makes me smile. She is a spit-fire, just like her cousin.

What I have seen this evening is in sharp contrast to what Eric has reported. Bill's reports have been entirely positive, but he claims the human rarely exhibits extraordinary telepathic ability. Eric also pegs her as useful, but nothing to lower fang over.

Eric is a good sheriff. The danger is that he is too good.

He could easily have taken the thrown of any of the states long ago, but purports to want a simpler existence. Many a vampire has claimed to want a simple life right before reigning down devastation and destruction in a massive grab for power. I trust Eric to a certain extent, but I am beginning to wonder if his interest in this human isn't more than it seems.

She may be a powerful tool; a tool fit for a queen.

Or perhaps, he is thinking, for a sheriff? Something tells me Eric has not been entirely forthright in his assessment of her. For example, this business with the maenad; why not report her involvement with the maenad before? I thought perhaps a first he was covering up having to pay her extra funds; perhaps she used the event to extort money. But no, it turns out she did it out of good will. She has the makings of an excellent servant: clever, loyal and reasonable. She would be easy to mold; she would be a great asset indeed in my coming nuptials.

Andre shifts infinitesimally to my left. Andre; dear Andre of course wants to chain her up in the basement, or bond her right away. My little turtle dove Andre, so impatient. It is why he will never be king. He cannot see into the motivations of others; he cannot command by anything but fear.

I hold power over my subjects through love. Love is a bond much stronger than hate or fear or even blood. Love is the reason Eric is no threat to me. Not matter how he is respected by his subordinates, they will never feel loved by him. They will never love him. They will never risk everything for him.

If she is correct about Waldo (which I have no doubt she is), she will have impressed Stan, stopped a maenad and saved Hadley, my little jewel.

Yes, it would be useful to keep her close. I will give her a home, provide her with everything, and eventually she will be mine.

And she will love me.

Sookie POV

I've got nothing.

All I can think to tell the Queen is the truth.

Well, the truth will set you free, right?

"Thank you so much for the opportunity." I begin. Eric shifts slightly next to me. "To be perfectly honest, I would be happy to work for you, and offer my services whenever you have the need. That said; I have a life that I am living. I have friends and family in Bon Temps. I have a house to maintain and a cat. I like my life, and I plan to continue to live it as it is." Okay, so maybe mentioning Tina was a little over the top; but I am grasping at straws here.

The Queen looks like she can't believe what she is hearing. Andre steps forward and begins to say something (probably 'You will bond with me now!'), but the Queen holds up her hand to stop him.

"I do wish you would reconsider, Sookie." Oh lord, using my name is pulling out the big guns.

I brace myself to reject the offer again, when Hadley appears at the Queen's feet. To me it looked like she came out of no where, but none of the vampires around me seem the least bit surprised. Hadley is kneeling, not saying anything, but I shift to see her face and can see trails of milky blood running out of her eyes.

The Queen's hand shifts from its raised position to stop Andre, to tilt Hadley's head up. She continues to cry silent red tears. They seem to be having some kind of silent conversation, until Hadley blurts out: "And now you're replacing me with her! My own cousin!" Her arm zooms out to point perfectly at me even though she is not looking at me and I am behind her.

The Queen actually looks distressed for a moment, before pulling Hadley up to sit in her lap. It's a very strange image. Not only because the Queen looks so much younger and smaller than Hadley, but because it is so intimate. I look away.

She shushes Hadley quietly until she's calmed down. "You are not replaced. You could never be replaced." Hadley shakes her head a little and says something about 'husband.'

The Queen's face sets, and I can see her body stiffen.

Awkward as it is, I see a chance to make my case. "Hadley, you are not being replaced. This is just business. I work as professional telepath now, and the Queen is just offering me a job."

Her head comes up and she glares at me. "She wants you live with her! Do you know that she shuffled me out to that apartment after having me live here for over a year?! All because she's engaged to a pompous--"

The Queen hisses and Hadley stops. "I will not explain again the importance of the marriage Hadley." Her harsh tone is tempered by wrapping her arms around Hadley again. "It is not a romantic marriage. You are too young; it is more like a business deal, I have told you this; and your cousin is not taking your place."

I take a step forward. "Hadley, she only offered to have me live here as incentive to work for her. What the Queen doesn't know, is that she doesn't have to try to bribe me, or win my loyalty through grand offers or subterfuge." The Queen shifts to look at me; actually, everyone does.

The truth will set you free…

"The Queen has done so much for you, and her people have been really great to me. I am already loyal to the Queen, and to the state of Louisiana. As long as my contracts are followed, and I don't feel threatened, I will gladly work for her, and do my best for her. Telepathy is based greatly on comfort and focus. I am comfortable living in Bon Temps, and working on a contract basis. I have told the Queen this, and I am sure she will honor that." My tone is comforting, but firm.

There, now if the Queen forces me to do anything, not only will she be violating my contract with Eric (which states that I am only working for him unless another contract is formed, which I suppose is what the Queen was trying with her 'personal telepath' contract), but I've convinced Hadley that any move at me other than with absolute professionalism will be a confirmation of some kind that the Queen is abandoning her. And yes, I do consider myself loyal to the Queen in a way. She is a good Queen, and she loves Hadley. I hope she listens.

The Queen nods at me once and turns back to Hadley. "You see, even your cousin knows that I would never abandon you. This business about Peter must stop."

Hadley still looks like a pouty two year old, but she gets up and wipes her face. I think I catch Andre rolling his eyes, but a second later he's as statuesque as he was before.

"Well, I came here to talk to you about tomorrow, so I'll just wait in your sitting room." She doesn't look at me as she quickly leaves through one of the many ornate doors.

The Queen is looking at me again, and again I wait her out.

"You seem to know your cousin well, for not having contact with her for years."

I shrug. "Even as a child Hadley needed a lot of attention." Try all the attention, I think.

"And this 'loyalty' of yours… forgive me if I do not believe you."

I smile. "I don't expect you to. I just tend to follow my instincts. You love Hadley, which I don't think many vampires would allow themselves. Eric trusts you, and I trust Eric. I honestly don't feel very trusting of him," I say pointing to Andre, "and would prefer to never be left alone with him, but the fact is that you don't have to believe that I won't betray you. I am a professional. We will work through contracts that protect us both."

The Queen looks me up and down again, but this time it is not a calculated assessment, but open curiosity. "Are you human?"

My smile widens. "I'm a telepath."

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

Next up: The Eric/Sookie confrontation! Dun dun duuuuuuun!