A/N I'm going to keep this short by saying enjoy and leave me some love after:)

Less than ten minutes later Eric was dressed and strapping his sword to his back along with a belt that matched my own. I prayed that we wouldn't need our weapons, but I had a feeling that we would.

When we were ready to go I sent a little power over us to hide our weapons from others eyes, then I wrapped my arms around Eric's waist as tight as possible and put all of my focus on the farmhouse. I focused harder than ever before and in seconds we were in the backyard.

I quickly let go of Eric who was still trying to get his bearings back and focused on the surrounding area as far as I could with my telepathy. I could sense at least a dozen minds in the surrounding woods, but I could tell they were focused on the front of house where the driveway was and not the back. We definitely had the advantage at least for a moment. Their minds seemed clearer to me than before and I could tell that the majority of them were from Nevada and Mississippi. They were here for me already and they were going to use my Gran to get to me, but there was no way that I was going to let that happen.

"Eric." I turned back to him and I could see that he was a little green around the gills. I wanted to make him feel better, but I caught on that the Weres had heard me, so I had to play it cool. "It's okay baby. I know that meeting my Gran for the first time is a bit overwhelming, but you'll be fine. She is going to love you." I step closer to Eric and spoke in barely above a whisper hoping I wasn't heard. "There are at least a dozen minds in the woods around the house. Most of them are from Nevada and Mississippi, but there are some from around here and a couple from other states. I can read them clearer than before. They are here just to observe unless given the order otherwise."

"Lover, we need to lose our weapons, they might come after us if they see them on us."

"I already took care of it. We can see them, but no one else can. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Lover you amaze me."

I smiled up at him, and then turned my focus on the house. I opened my mind and found Gran's thoughts, but I also found four voids in the house as well. "Eric, there are four vampires inside with Gran." I couldn't sense any other voids nearby, so I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. "There aren't any outside the house anywhere, at least none in my range."

Eric lifted his nose to the air and inhaled deeply. I could feel his irritation, but also his slight relief through our bond. He took my hand and placed a kiss on it. "Lover, are you ready to meet our impatient queen and her children?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down a bit. I knew that it could have been a number of other vampires inside, so this was somewhat of a relief. I knew there was no point in delaying, so I gripped his hand tighter and led him to the back door. "As ready as I can be, let's go inside."

The four voids and Gran were coming from the living room, so going in the back door gave us a few extra seconds and hopefully any advantage that we were going to have. Mentally I kept telling myself that everything was going to be fine. Eric would never let anything happen to me, to us. That thought gave me pause for a second. It wasn't just me that she was after anymore whether she realized it or not. Even though my baby, my son was no bigger than a grain of rice, he was still my baby and if she thinks she can get her hands on him too, she's got another thing coming. All of my fear in that moment turned to anger. I was pissed and I let that fuel me in whatever we were about to have to do.

I stepped into the living room with Eric by my side just as Gran looked up. She saw me and she had a huge smile on her face. "Oh Sookie, my sweet, sweet girl." She stood up, came over and pulled me into one of her special Gran hugs. I didn't realized how much I'd missed them until just now. "I have missed you so much."

"I missed you too Gran."

"I want to hear about all that you've been up to, but first come and see who's come home at last."

I was puzzled for about a second before I noticed who Gran had been sitting next to. "Hey Sookie."

I knew that my jaw had hit the floor, but I managed to pull myself together fairly quickly. "Hadley, is it really you."

"It's really me cousin."

I took a step towards her to get a hug when I heard her fangs click down followed by four more sets clicking down. My cousin was a vampire now and she was with the Queen of Louisiana. This was in no way good.

I looked at whom I assumed was the queen and she definitely wasn't what I was expecting. She looked a lot younger than I imagined, but I could feel the power coming from her. She wasn't nearly as old as Eric was, but she was still a force to be reckoned with. Too bad now, so was I.

As Hadley calmed down and retracted her fangs, Sophie-Anne, Eric and the two others whose names I didn't know also retracted their fangs, but there was still a tension in the room and a shit load of tension was coming at me from Eric through our bond. I sent him as much calm and reassurance and love that I could and that seemed to help a bit, but in this situation he was just going to be tense no matter what.

When Hadley was settled down, Sophie-Anne focused on me with a sickeningly sweet smile on her smug face. "Miss Stackhouse, it is an absolute pleasure to finally meet you at last. My Hadley has told me so much about you."

"I wish I could say the same, Your Majesty, but that is just not true. I would be much happier right now if you were still in New Orleans."

She looked me in the eye and I could feel her trying to push her will at me. "I'm quite sure that I'll be able to change your mind."

"You can stop trying to glamour me, it doesn't work."

"Alright, I guess we'll just have to do this the hard way then. Sigebert, Wybert, take her."

Before they could move, my big, strong, Viking was in front of me growling at the three of them. "NO! Sookie is MINE!"

She looked at the two of us closely and inhaled deeply. She tried to hide that shock that she felt, but she failed miserably. "You two have bonded already." She looked up at Eric. "You work quickly Sheriff. Now this makes things even more fabulous. Eric Northman, as Queen of Louisiana I order you and your bonded to come to New Orleans immediately. She shall heel nicely with you as her master."

I had to try really hard to suppress the growl that tried to escape my lips. I loved Eric with everything in me, but we were equals. Eric was quick to squeeze my hand and send me reassurance and love before he spoke. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, fuck the fuck off Bitch. My bonded and soon to be wife by the knife as well as by human laws is not my submissive, she is my equal and does not 'heel' to me. And there is no way in hell that either one of us is going down to New Orleans with you. I will end you and your lap dogs if I have to, but I have no desire to be king, even if I would have the most beautiful queen at my side." He lifted my hand to his lips and I couldn't keep the smile off of my face.

"My god, you actually care for a human Eric. That is so beneath you."

"Loving someone is never beneath anyone. It makes you a better and stronger person." I could see that he was getting ready to reach for his sword, but I couldn't, I wouldn't let him do something that he didn't want to do. I just had to think of something, good thing I'm quick when it comes to things like that.

I put myself between Eric and the queen. "Your Majesty there has to be some kind of compromise that we can come to. I know that I want to stay here with Eric and my family and I know that you don't want to meet the true death, so what could we do that would make everyone happy?"

She snarled at my words. "I should end your precious Viking right now for treason and drag you kicking and screaming to New Orleans whether you like it or not."

The thought of anyone, least of all this little bitch, putting even a finger on my Viking made my blood boil. I could feel the power building inside of me and there was nothing that I could do to stop it and in all honesty, I didn't want to stop it. This bitch needed to know just who the fuck she was dealing with.

I looked into her eyes as my whole body began to glow and vibrate with power. I could see the fear in her eyes and I got a sick sense of pleasure from it. "Listen you little bitch, you may have been appointed queen of this state, but I am royal by blood and by birth. If you or any other regents even think about laying a hand on me or mine, you will regret it. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes your highness." Yet again another thrill shot through me at her words.

"Good. Now I want you out of this house and I want you to spread the word to all the other regents that Eric Northman and anyone with Stackhouse blood running through their veins is under the protection of the Brigant family. This is the one and only warning that I am giving. Next time something like this happens, head with roll, literally." Without another word she grabbed Hadley and her lap dogs and zipped out the door at vampire speed.

I knew that the Weres had heard what I said and I followed their minds as they started disbanding, hopefully taking my warning with them.

I followed all of the minds until they were out of my range before I pulled my power back in using the last of my strength and blacked out.