To say Erik and Karin were surprised would be a significant understatement, I felt Erik approaching through the void of his mind, as well as Karin beside him. They were staring at the house in bewilderment. It was amusing to note that we could see them through the windows to the backyard, but they couldn't see us, or they were so shocked they didn't move.
I went outside and walked right towards Erik standing back a few feet to ensure that Karin was fully under control, I did notice that blood smattered the front of her clothing so her first feeding didn't go as smoothly as we all wished it.
"Erik." I waved my hands in front of him and he shook his head slightly before looking directly into my eyes.
"What happened? What is this?" He motioned towards the house.
"My grandfather came and helped us with the property. It is a Fae home but in English country cottage style. It was magical wards surrounding the property line and within the house itself."
"What kind of magic lover?"
"Come in and let me show you around." He took my hand and I lead them on a tour throughout the property, Karin was following him like a shadow, but I could tell she was intrigued with all the changes. "The windows in each room are warded with Fae magic, this means it allows sunlight into the rooms, but it will not harm you. Whilst you both go into slumber throughout the day It's more a safety precaution." They both smiled at the thought of sunlight touching their skin again.
I showed them the doors towards the basement and Karin went into her room to begin exploring the different areas, I lead Erik back upstairs towards the living room and sat him down on a couch. "Erik, I have something to tell you."
"What is it lover?" He was looking at me with such a serious face, it made my heart flutter. "Your little heart is beating like a hummingbird, do not worry lover whatever you have to say I'm here for you."
"You remember my guard?"
"Preston, I remember his name was?"
"That's him. He's come back, he helped me fight away a pack of wolves when Karin was turning, we both stood guard over the both of you. He feels a similar pull to what I feel for you towards Karin."
"Do you believe he and Karin are mates?"
"Potentially, but as her maker I wish to discuss with you what the future plans entail."
"I do not think it's wise to have a newborn vampire and a Fae mating in any capacity, Is he still around?" Preston popped into the room; Erik growled before he realized what had happened then managed to control himself at the last moment. Preston sat opposite us, I sent my mind out to his and gave him a mental slap.
"You're a fucking idiot Preston, newborn vampire in the house, don't you think a little warning is a fucking smart idea?" He had the brains to feel a little ashamed of his actions.
"I apologise Princess, please forgive me." He smirks as he apologizes, all I do is roll my eyes and return to sitting beside Erik.
"Preston Erik has some questions for you, you will answer truthfully and without prejudice." He nodded and turned towards Erik directly.
"How do you feel towards my child Karin?"
"I feel a strong urge to protect her and get to know her. Beyond that I am not sure."
"If you were to meet her, how can I guarantee you will not kill her? The Fae and Vampire communities aren't known to get along."
"I Have been given permission by Niall to pursue a relationship with Karin, what kind of relationship we have will depend on her."
"What relationship do you speak of?" Karin's voice sent a chill down my spine, I hadn't even heard her come in.
"Karin child, come sit down beside me." I got up from my spot to allow Karin to sit beside her maker, it was a sign of respect to her and to Erik, but also so Erik could grab her before she launched herself at Preston if she lost control. She took my spot and I sat beside Preston.
"Karin, you do not know me. I am Preston Pardloe, I am a member of the Royal Guard in the Fae realm. Originally Susannah and I were raised together in the palace, although she was raised as a Faery princess and I was a mere guard assigned to her care. When Susannah won champion status in Fae, I petitioned the court to be her guard in the human realm Earth.
We travelled together throughout the world for many, many years. We became much like siblings in a way, there was once hope that we would become mates to one another, marry and produce offspring. When Susannah felt the pull of Erik when he was still human, I knew that it wasn't meant to be. I still tried don't get me wrong, the princess is a beautiful Fae woman, more beautiful than any other Fae or human woman I've met or seen. We fell into bed together once, and after that moment I knew that she wasn't for me. We tracked Erik across the globe spanning years, and when she found him, I was hurt in a million different ways.
You see prior to meeting Erik it was just me and Susannah travelling and experiencing all the world had to offer us, when we met Erik as a human and Susannah was searching for him it didn't feel real. It felt like I wasn't losing anything because we were still travelling together just her and myself.
So, when suddenly, I didn't have her to myself I felt a piece of myself rip into a million pieces. So, like a spoilt child who had their toy stolen I ran back to Fae and sulked. Through my whole time in Fae, I felt like a part of me was missing, but I didn't know what. I kept pondering and watching Susannah and Erik through the portal and when I saw you… Well, it was as if my whole world came to crashing stop. I begged and pleaded with the court to allow me to return to Earth.
So, I did, I came on the night of your turning and guarded your resting place from any harm, it's when I realized that I wasn't angry at the princess for not falling in love with me or replacing me with Erik. I was angry at myself for already planning my escape into Fae, to miss the opportunity to meet you."
"That still does not explain why you think you have some kind of ownership over me." She sneered.
"I do not think that at all Karin, I merely wish for the chance to meet you and form a relationship with you if that's what you want."
"Then you should have asked."
"What do you think I'm doing? You think it's smart for a Fae to come up to a newborn vampire and go 'Hey buddy, want to be friends?' You're an idiot if you think that's a smart idea." I looked between the two foes with my eyebrows touching my hairline and mouth agape, Erik was mimicking my expression.
"How fucking dare, you, you-you-you Faery prick!" She growled.
He stood from his chair practically seething. "Vampire bitch!" She got in her face yelling. Erik and I finally came to our senses I grabbed Preston by the arm and took him outside whilst Erik calmed down the vampire newborn.
"What the fuck Preston?"
"She just made me see red, I poured my god damn heart out and she just tore it out of my chest and ripped it to pieces." He complained.
"She's not even a day-old vampire Preston, you're being monumentally stupid right now. Go back in there and apologise I will NOT tolerate a royal Fae guard behaving in such a childish way. I am so disappointed in you." I went back in the house and made Preston sit down beside me, Karin and Erik entered and sat opposite us, the tension seemed to leave the room. Although I had to elbow the Faery prick to get him to talk.
"I apologise Karin, it seems my temper got the best of me." She just stared at him until Erik elbowed her whilst shooting a glare her way.
"I accept your apology." She said in way of finalizing the conversation, I hissed at her causing a shocked look to come across her face. "And I apologise as well, it seems my transformation has come with extreme hormonal and personality changes. I must admit I did not expect such a drastic change to the way I react, and you didn't deserve that. I would like the chance to have a friend in my new life."
"Then I'm sure we can work towards a comfortable friendship." He smiled warmly and they nodded in acceptance to one another.
"Thank god you two have calmed down enough, if I knew having the two of you would be like having unruly twins I would have said no, now Karin go into your bedroom and prepare for sunrise, Preston you have a bedroom upstairs, make yourself scarce. I do not wish to see either of you for several hours." They both vanished at the speed of light, Erik moved beside me curled me up in his arms and softly chuckled.
"My Valkyrie is terribly frightening when she's annoyed, I was afraid you were about to banish me as well." He kissed my forehead softly.
"Well, we do have to break in our new bed." I turned to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck, and kissing him deeply.
"Then my lover, shall we go into our room?" I nodded and together we went into our basement bedroom and fell into one another's arms, pushing, pulling, kissing, nipping, biting one another into pure orgasmic bliss.
This was how the rest of the year continued for us, I would wake around 9-10 AM after spending a large portion of the night in Erik's arms. Preston and I would eat breakfast together, work around the garden we'd planted several cherry trees, many rose bushes and started looking to create mini lakes on the property for the aesthetic. Erik and Karin would wake at first dark they were still both quite young and were unable to fight the coming dawn or rise before the sun had fully set.
Once they woke, they both travelled for hours into different towns to hunt for their dinners, the rule was always they couldn't bring any humans into the property, there was no torture or dinner games or entertainment on this land. Also, a rule of thumb was to not kill their meals if possible, only humans who truly posed a threat to our way of life would be killed, it was reasonable.
Erik would train Karin in the ways of fighting but did not trust Karin to fight either Preston or myself whilst she was in her infancy first year as a vampire, whilst I wasn't terribly happy with it since I think she'd be phenomenal with our training as well as Erik's it was ultimately his decision to make, he was her maker after all.
The roles in the house remained the same as that day however, Erik and I were the 'alphas' of the household, our rule was final and it was law, Preston and Karin did not rank above or below the other, they were merely the same. However, Preston would always mean more to myself just as Karin always meant more to Erik, but we agreed that one another's safety and happiness was paramount to our own.
It was an odd situation to be in that's for certain, and when Erik was finally noticed by the Vampire King it brought a different kind of test for us completely.
"Susannah, Preston can I see you in the living room?" It had quickly become the area for our 'family' meetings, Preston and I popped into the living room and sat on the couch, both vampires had gotten used to our transporting every place we went when we weren't with them.
"What is it dear?" I noticed the set of his shoulders was rigged; Karin was the perfect impression of a statue.
"The vampire king of England has requested my presence; I am not certain what it is for, but we are to leave tomorrow night." I nodded, Preston did as well.
"We will attend with you."
"How do you propose you do that?" Karin questioned.
"I will appear as a Raven perched on Erik's shoulder, Reafan is my name in that form, Raven's are a part of Viking culture, they symbolize magical creatures but can also be a sign of war. We discussed this before wet met you believe it or not." I smiled at the young vampiress. Her lip twitched slightly before she went back to her statue like appearance, Erik said it was like teenagers they just went through a 'phase'.
"I will remain here; however, someone should stay on the property to ensure it's safe." We all nodded, between Preston and Karin no one needed the added drama.
"We will be gone for maximum two nights and two nights only. If it's beyond that I will send Karin back to this residence and only Susannah and I will remain." The plan in motion we started packing our bags, well Erik and Karin did… I wasn't going to have the ability to wear clothes and worse case I would be able to bring clothes to my location with a mere thought. We spent the night together discussing the potential chances that something could go wrong, it always came down to Preston translocating to us if I sent him warning, or me going to him and bringing him back, between the two of us we were a formidable army.
We arranged for a horse drawn carriage to take us to the fort in Yorkshire, it wasn't so far from our home, but it was far enough for my liking, but only just. Before we had even left our home, I hugged Preston tightly to me and warned him to be on his best behavior and remain on guard. I transformed into my black raven and perched myself on Erik's shoulder, nestling into his neck and coat to keep myself out of the brisk wind.
Karin was dressed in a rather formal looking dress, it was completely black but was quite thick, it had brocaded gold throughout the fabric and the lining of the dress, it was just enough to catch the light from the candles on the coach.
It had a rather low waist but the neckline when to the base of her neck covering all the skin, I could tell the way the fabric sat it had quite a skirt to it but was pinned up on the back of her waist to keep her from tripping over it, the sleeves came out from the elbow, but I noticed the inside of the sleeves had black fur lining. She had a soft silky fabric covering a large portion of her hair, but tied in with her dress somehow, it made her white, blonde hair stand out completely, but her eyes caught my attention more than once. She looked like nobility with the way she was dressed, I was thankful that we'd begun teaching her the ways of court and vampire court so soon after she was turned, these lessons would be instrumental tonight.
Erik wore black clothing as well, his doublet reached about his waist but hugged him like a second skin, it was open on the chest, but he had a stark white shirt underneath. His hose or rather pants as we call them in Fae went just underneath his doublet and were fashioned with lace to keep them firmly attached to him, he had the standard codpiece keeping his oh so gracious plenty hidden away from prying eyes. Rather than having a cape as was the fashion he opted for a clean black leather jacket he'd had for many years, it was lined with fur to keep the presence of warmth for humans, but luckily it kept me snug as we rode along. Eric braided his hair in the typical Viking tradition.
We had agreed that Karin and he would make it appear as if they were lovers for the court to keep unwanted attention away, whilst I glared at Karin the entire time, we were discussing it I understand the practicals of such a situation.
Preston and I were to do the same in Fae, the less the Fae know of our vampire connections the less trouble we will be in, well this is what we tell ourselves, and what my Grandfather and Niall tell us as well.
I must have dozed off after contemplating my situation because before I knew it Erik was rubbing my neck waking me up. "Reafan it's time to wake." I nipped his finger in frustration at being woken up and he merely laughed. "See Karin, even the bird is annoyed with me." She smiled warmly this time, she was going to appear to be the oh so loving mate of her sire and not the statue she favors at home.
I Stretched my wings and shook a few times to ruffle my feathers, I remained on Erik's shoulder, however. When I looked around me after Erik got out of the coach was the fact the castle or fort or whatever this place is seemed to be rather dark, even at nighttime. There were two vampire guards at the gate, and each nodded at Erik and Karin before they opened the gates and ushered us inside.
A young vampire was waiting inside and hurried them in. "Good you dressed accordingly. His highness is waiting for you." The woods inside were the darkest wood I had ever seen, it was almost black with the knots of the wood only slightly lighter, everything was draped in the deepest shades of reds I had imagined, even the hallway rugs were the colour of blood. I nestled closer to Erik and saw him look sideways at me with a look of concern and then reassurance.
He kept pace with the young vampire and Karin fell in line behind him, but only a step behind him, her eyes were darting to every corner of the hallway around her and inside any rooms we passed, guards were stationed every few feet as we continued into the residence of the vampire king, it was obviously top-notch security in this place, I did start to doubt my plan but remained confident this was nothing beyond a meet and greet.
We stopped at a wooden door that was larger than our house, the little vampire turned to Erik and looked at me. "No pets inside sorry." I glared at the vampire, almost daring him to try and take me from his side.
"I'm sorry Reafan goes everywhere with us, she has been with me many years now and I would hate to see you lose fingers trying to pry her from me." Erik smiled politely but his stance betrayed how he truly felt. The younger vampire stopped coming towards us with a hand outstretched almost seeming to rapidly think through his next moments of life.
"The king does not allow pets inside."
"You mean he does not allow animal pets inside, I'm sure human pets are just, fine right?" Karin muttered, and Erik smirked at the thought.
"Regardless Viking, we will need to remove your Raven from you." I looked him dead in the eyes, I sent my mind out to his and slowly changed his thoughts towards me from thinking of me as a silly animal that the Viking is way too attached to, to simply being that of acceptance and how he really thinks I'm quite a beautiful bird. "You know what, I'll allow it this once. If his highness is displeased, you will deal with the consequences." Erik merely shrugged in response.
We were allowed into the room and that's when I saw him, King Arlo. I'd heard about him some time ago, how long ago I couldn't even begin to try and remember. He was an okay king, was fair enough to his subjects but did not prescribe complete loyalty from his subjects. The thought "whatever suits me more" comes to mind. He would sell your soul if he could get something better in a heartbeat. The king was on a large throne and had two smaller thrones slightly behind him, a woman dressed completely in white and gold in similar style to Karin was on his left and man on his right. The man had the darkest red hair I'd seen in years, he was a giant man with shoulders broader than his chair was wide it made the sword next to him seem even more impressive.
The king got up from his throne and came towards us with a giant smile plastered on his face. "Viking! It's a pleasure to meet you!" I flew off Erik's shoulder and perched myself on a statue of a knight on the side of the room, the King watched me with curiosity but did nothing.
"King." Erik bowed, followed shortly by Karin.
"My king." The king ushered them up.
"please, please. We're all friends here. When I heard you were in the area Viking, I have to admit I was very curious to meet you." He almost clapped his hands together in his amusement, if I were in my natural form, I'm sure I'd be looking at him with strong skepticism.
"King, it's an honour to meet you. I'm afraid we haven't met before so I'm not sure why you would be curious to meet me." Karin was keeping his flank secure and refused to let down her guard, good on baby vamp.
"Well, you see Erik I met your maker many centuries ago." Erik froze slightly, the king noticed it before he could hide it though.
"My maker is here?" I looked around the room and didn't notice Ocella but that didn't mean he wasn't here.
"Yes, he was very angry at having lost you for over a year." He tsk-tsked to Erik as if he were a small child, I felt my feathers puffing up at the slight.
"I'm here my son." I zeroed in on the new voice entering in through the giant doors, he used all his vampire speed to come in, otherwise I'd have killed him the moment he strolled in like a lazy brat. I sent a mental communication to Preston to appear beside me invisible to vampires, it didn't take him long to appear, so I knew I'd have back up.
"Master." Erik was forced onto his knees, subservient to his fucking maker, Karin followed suit completely unsure of what to do.
"Oh son, I thought I'd sworn you off the weaker sex many centuries ago?" I bit back a snarl; I didn't want to fight him here. I'd prefer him to take Erik and Karin elsewhere so I wouldn't have a massive mess to clean up, or repercussions. Erik didn't answer him, and Karin was glaring at the floor. "Pity, losing a child can be devastating." That's when I saw a stake in Ocellas hand, I flew off my perch and appeared in front of Karin as a Fae warrior.
Ocella hissed fangs barred. "I thought you would be dead by now Faery." The king decided to stay us of the fight, his eyes were wary of the weapons strapped across my body and the essence of pure Fae I was exhibiting.
"Appius. Livius. Ocella." I sneered his name as greeting. "King, if you wish to live you will remain out of this fight." He merely nodded and motioned for his guards to step down.
"Do not engage, we do not want another war with the Fae." His guards came out of offensive and two even closed the doors to stop escape, they watched with much excitement of the impending battle.
"I will kill you Fae; I will drain you of every drop of your blood and I will do it in front of my child. I will desecrate your body before you turn into dust, just so I can break him. Then I'll ride out my pleasure inside of him, and then do the same to his wench." I dropped the silver capped teeth from my gums and smiled wildly, I watched Appius shiver for a second before glaring.
"Not many have witnessed a Fae's silver teeth and lived to tell the tale."
"I will be one of them though."
"You may live tonight that's true, but it will be because I wish to inflict such extreme tortures upon you that it'll last lifetimes."
"Why would a Fae bitch want to be with a vampire anyway?" He growled, this obviously stumped him, it was not common for the Fae to intervene in anything beyond their own interests and world.
"I met a boy many centuries ago, he was surrounded by family, by people who loved him and were completely loyal to him. He was a complete man whore and even snuck into a full Faery's bedroom in the attempts to seduce her. He was courageous in battle, he led with determination, bravery and even mortally wounded his sung of his death and hopes of his brethren to win the fight. I watched over him that battle, prepared to assist him to Valhalla to be with his family in honour. You took that from him, you dug out his tattoos over years, you took away everything that belong to him and tried to unmake the man his great father raised him to be.
You see the Fae believe that every soul is worth saving if they wish to be saved, we enjoy watching the humans live, learn, and adapt to their surroundings, the technology they embrace and create. I was drawn to him in a way that not even I can comprehend Appi." He sneered at the nickname. "Do you remember me from that night?"
"You missed me if I recall."
"You ran like a bitch; you saw me coming for you with the aim to kill. I would have killed you that night, I would have made it quick, painless, nothing. Instead, now I will strip you of your skin and make you eat it." I bit out the last word.
"So, the little Fae didn't get to fuck the human whore, how sad." He made crying motions towards me; the king looked shocked at the sheer audacity of the man.
"King, this is a grudge I've held for many years and has no bearings on you or yours, will there be repercussions if I kill him?" He looked to the giant man beside him and they seemed to communicate using their maker-child bond.
"No. We are agreeable if we can watch." I nodded, stepping towards my intended target I took out my favorite daggers, Appi flinched when he saw they were silver, but his hands were like claws stretched towards me.
"Ready to die Appi baby?" I mocked, earning a dangerous growl from his chest in response, this was going to be my battle of a lifetime I just knew it.
AN:
I am SO sorry about the time it's taken to upload this.
I am currently working a lot more than I normally am, and whilst COVID is definitely a thing right now I'm taking all the shifts I can.
I've also had a little bit of a writers block since I had to work, or it's simply I'm over-worked. Spending a day watching movies with hub or reading has really helped.
So I know I left it on a cliffhanger, Appi Baby, oh how I want you dead.
Susannah is getting a wee bit jealous over Karin which I think is reasonable at the moment because she's waited over 200 years for Erik to come back, she gets him for like what a night and here's this new kid on the block taking all his time and energy instead of her. It's hard being in relationships sometimes, even when you're a powerful bad ass shape-shifter, teleporting, immortal Faery.
Swearing is starting to become a more common theme, so if you're sensitive to swearing, it's probably not going to be your favourite story sorry. I'm going to bit hitting the more lemony side of the story in the next 2-3 chapters, but fingers crossed for the next chapter. Please let me know, do you find this Erik too much of a wuss or Sookie too strong? I'm trying to find a good balance between the two by showing Erik changing after coming out from under control of his maker whilst also being a maker himself (the books did say he made mistakes with Karin that he learnt from for Pam) but also Sookie going from 100% over-confidence to learning about give and take in a relationship and what insecurities come with a relationship. Because believable mythological creatures need to be realistic right? Please remember to leave your love, comments, PM's and reviews because I'm a sucker for love.
Again, sorry if the timeline is weird as, we're in about 1250-1300AD so 12th century give or take.
We did have a time-jump of 12 months in this story line, I have an end-goal in motion but it ls going to take a while to get there for the story to kind of make sense.
Special thanks to my long-term readers, you know who you are.
Cookie (How good am I remembering without having to go back through reviews?), perfecta999, MsNorthman *stilljealousofthename*, DRH25, bttrflybelle, wynsel-goa, Jwarden & Nicole1977
To the guest who left the review, I'm really sorry you don't like Preston and Karin together, could you let me know what you think about this relationship dynamic?