A/N: Howdy! If you follow some of my other stuff, expect a Best Served Cold chapter tomorrow or Thursday. I've started on 4 of that and will start on 24 of CTD right away. :)

Chapter 23

Eric stepped to the side. The queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne LeClerq, walked through the door, followed by her child and lieutenant, Andre. Trailing behind was the queen's youngest child, Hadley. She looked both wary and excited, and she bit her lip after smiling at Eric. He gestured at the living room furniture. "Please. Have a seat."

The dread felt like a rock in the pit of Eric's stomach. This was obviously not a social visit. Pam looked (and felt) every bit as concerned as he was.

Pam nodded at the queen. "Your Majesty. Andre. Hadley. May I get you some blood?"

"No, thank you, Pam."

Hadley opened her mouth to speak and Andre shot her a warning look. She closed her mouth and sat on the couch in a huff, folding her arms. The queen sat next to her, and Andre on the other side. Eric and Pam took the club chairs.

The queen didn't waste time on pleasantries. "Bill Compton tells me that Sookie Stackhouse is staying here."

Shit. But there was no way for him to deny it. "Yes, she is. But she isn't well. She's at rest."

"She was the vampire recovered from the drug den?"

"Yes. She was The Leech's last victim." He didn't mention that she was also the only victim.

"Hmm…" The queen pretended to think for a minute or two, tapping her bottom lip with her finger. "Tell me, Eric, if I have this right. Sookie was found in the same house that she lived in when she was a human? Hadley's grandmother's house?"

Eric felt Pam plead with him to do something but, of course, they both knew that he couldn't. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"She was declared dead ten years ago, just a year or two before her mother seemed to come into a lot of money. Right around the same time The Leech started taking over the market. And then, a few weeks ago, right around the time you started hunting her, Michelle Stackhouse just disappeared..."

Pam and Eric were frozen.

"Bill mentioned that he told you most of this more than a week ago. Did you think that Stan wouldn't let him speak to me? Or did you just not think at all?"

He hadn't. Sookie had gone missing while they were in Dallas dealing with Bill, and he had been out of his mind ever since. He absolutely should have anticipated this. As a matter of fact, had he been thinking properly — or at all — he would have gotten their stories straight and called Sophie-Anne days ago. But now they were here, off-balance, with a pissed off queen and no way to talk strategy or compare notes.

Sophie-Anne looked at Eric pointedly. "Bill told me that you weren't remotely surprised about any of it. Even the part about my child being her cousin. And that she's a telepath. Surely, Eric, it shouldn't come as a shock that this would be information that I might like to know."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Forgive me."

She lifted her hand as if to say that it was nothing. "An oversight, I'm sure. All is forgiven. Just pack her things quickly. I would like to get back to New Orleans well before dawn."

Eric and Pam looked at each other, and then back at the queen. "Your Highness. She is in no shape to live in your compound. Crowds would be out of the question. She is wary of everyone and terrified of male vampires. I have been staying at Pam's since we found her. She is much more comfortable with me now, but that took much work, and was done on her terms. She would never come to trust her captors. Dr. Ludwig said that she may never heal emotionally."

"Hadley?"

Sookie had come upstairs so quietly that nobody had heard her over the tension in the room. Hadley was up and had her arms around her cousin in less than a second. Sookie smiled a little and hugged her back. They had never been close, but they were the only family each other had left. And they were both dead. Sookie held her a little tighter, and Hadley clung to her a little. When Sookie saw Andre over Hadley's shoulder, she froze.

Even though his eyes were blue, it almost seemed like they were her master's eyes — cold and dangerous and malicious. Reptilian. Terrifying.

She hadn't ever been able to disconnect when she was with her maker. The pain was usually enough to overcome her fear and keep her present. If not, he would command her to stay lucid, and she would be punished. But when she was free to escape, she did, and her eyes glazed over. Hadley pulled back and looked at her. "Sookie? Are you ok?"

She didn't answer, and Pam went to her. "It's alright, Sookie. I'll take you back downstairs." She picked Sookie up and carried her back to bed. She was happy for the excuse to leave for a few minutes and collect herself and try to think. And seeing first hand how damaged Sookie really was couldn't hurt.

Hadley sat back down next to the queen looking concerned and confused and a little lost. Andre looked at Sophie-Anne. "I suppose we could keep her isolated. There's a suite on the third floor that's empty. We could contain her there and bring her out when we need her. We could keep her rooms stocked with TrueBlood and then supply a donor every other day. That should be sufficient. And Hadley could visit, of course. I might even stop in now and again, myself. I'm sure she would get used to me eventually…"

Eric pushed the anger that he felt building back down. He needed to stay level-headed if he had any hope of saving her from this. Even more isolation might crush her. And to have another rapist take the place of her maker would likely break her completely.

He was out of options. The likelihood that he was going to be able to keep her maker a secret had dwindled away to nothing. He was either going to be largely indebted to Salome for killing her child or to Sophie-Anne for keeping the secret.

"Your Majesty, please. Let me fill you in." He said a silent apology to Sookie for breaking her confidence, but keeping her safe and free was much more important. He told them almost everything, from her childhood and death to today. He left out their kiss, of course, and her… and their feelings for each other.

When he was done, Pam was standing at the top of the stairs looking miserable and wringing her hands. Andre looked bored. Hadley's face was streaked with blood. "I knew that she was unhappy, but I had no idea… Since she was twelve years old?"

Eric nodded at her.

Sophie-Anne had been rapt through the whole story. "Mickey? Salome's child? And he was responsible for the drug ring?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. And I know that he had the right as her maker to treat her as he pleased after she was turned, but beating and raping and bonding to a human child, especially one who couldn't be glamoured… He put us all at risk."

"Yes. And I don't approve of torture for torture's sake, even if I would never intervene in matters between a maker and child. Unless it affected us all, of course."

Eric hoped that maybe the tide had turned in their favour. At least a little bit. "Like draining them and selling their blood, for instance?"

"Yes. Just. I know that Salome has been very upset, looking for the one who ended her child. But you are the Sheriff and he was a V dealer in your area who was threatening your life. It certainly sounds like a righteous kill to me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I will take care of Salome."

Eric felt something in his chest loosen a little bit.

It didn't last long.

"But I'm afraid that Sookie Stackhouse must come with me, regardless. We will make her as comfortable as we can. Andre will keep his distance." She gave him a stern look. "But she must be kept safe and available. I am considering a marriage to Arkansas, and I need every advantage I can get."

If Eric's heart still beat, it would be pounding now, but he was able to hide his anxiety. "What if she moved into my New Orleans safehouse? She would be close by, and I'm sure we could come up with a way to keep her as comfortable as possible when you need to use her talents. The rest of the time, she would be safe and have the illusion of freedom. She wouldn't run; she's far too timid for that. Pam could stay with her."

"Why not you?"

"I am needed here, Your Highness. My duties as Sheriff..."

The queen stood up and Andre and Hadley followed. She raised her hand. "Pam can take care of Area Five. If Sookie isn't going to stay at the compound, I want you in New Orleans protecting her. You said that she trusts you now. If Peter is planning a takeover, it might be safer to have her housed elsewhere, anyway. She will have to come to the palace to read the minds of the visitors from Arkansas when they arrive, but we should be able to keep the two of you secluded. We'll work on the details later. I will be expecting you both in the city tomorrow night."

Eric and Pam both nodded back, and the queen and her children left.

Eric looked at Pam. "I had no choice."

"I know. What's done is done. And it's likely for the best. Sophie-Anne looked sympathetic. But this is going to be very traumatic for Sookie."

Eric sighed. "I did what I could. Come with us for a few nights. Clancy can take care of things while you're gone. I think it would help with the transition."

"How long will this last, Eric? A week? A year? Until the queen marries Arkansas? Forever?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I will find the right moment to ask. But I have no leverage here. She is doing me a huge favour by coming down on my side with Salome and another for not punishing me for keeping Sookie a secret."

The law was on Eric's side, of course, for all of the reasons that Sophie-Anne had listed. But sometimes that didn't really count for much. Especially when the queen could just as easily come down on the other side.

Pam smiled at him. "Go on back to my place and get packed. We'll meet you tomorrow night in New Orleans. I'll drive her down in my car. Sitting in a confined space with you for several hours might not be the best idea."

He gave her a wry grin. "Good point. I'll see you both then."

On the way back to Pam's nest, he went over everything that had happened that night. He hated it when he was on the losing end of things. He'd been outranked and outplayed and outstrategized. He was incredibly pissed, both at himself and at the circumstances that they found themselves in.

But he realized that a small part of him was perfectly happy that he was going to be locked in a house with Sookie for some indeterminate period of time.

Later, as he packed his belongings to go from one temporary home to another, he realized that maybe he was just a little bit pissed off and a lot more pleased than he was willing to admit.