Authors Notes:

Just a couple of quick things and I will let ya'll get on to the chapter. First thank you all so much to those of you who took the time to send your kind words and well wishes for my health to return quickly, it means a lot to me and I really appreciate it. I am feeling a ton better, my back is still killing me but we can't have it all. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thought and ya'll were sending a ton of positive thought my way, so thank you.

I am half tempted to sit and apologize to ya'll for getting these chapters up a day late, but I am not gonna, this is me resisting that urge. I will however say stuff happens. It took me awhile to get them written and then I had to send them off to my beautiful editor, who has a life outside of helping me, so things happen. I am kind of behind on all of it, typically I have the chapters for the following week written and sent off to Catie the day I post the new ones, but because of being sick and the pain in my back I fell behind. I will try and get back on track, but there are no guarantees. I have a little one that I take care of and as seriously as I take my writing, it is hard for me to make the time. So, if I am late next week, just know it's because of all these things and not because the story is dead, far from it, I am actually almost done with the next chapter in The Dance. I should have more time to write in the following week though because my daughter is going on a little vacation, which will give me more quiet time to get my work done.

Anyways, as always thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my story. It means the world to me and I always love hearing what ya'll have to say, good, bad, or indifferent. So hit the little green button and tell me what you think, point out a favorite line, and maybe a song or two that popped into your head while reading.

Tons of love from the west coast,

Lilli

Chapter 11

*** Sophie Anne's PoV ***

Hadley's long fingers stroke through my hair as I feed from her femoral artery. Her delicious blood courses its way through my veins and I revel in it. I must admit it is handy having a part fairy pet, who is just lying around and waiting on me hand and foot. Hadley isn't horrible as lovers go, but her blood isn't the one that I have been wanting so desperately. From what that rat Compton tells me, Sookie's blood tastes a hundred times better than Hadley's and that is something I am looking forward to beyond measure. Not to mention the fact that Sookie is going to be extremely valuable in other ways as well, her blood will just be a delicious bonus.

Just the thought of owning Sookie, possessing Sookie, making her mine in every way, makes me pull that much harder from my pet's wound, and she writhes beneath me with the action. Of course Hadley and Compton have both told me that Sookie is not a lover of women. I honestly couldn't care less; Hadley was not a lover of women when I found her, beaten, broken, addicted to foreign substances, and homeless. What I want I get, and I want Sookie Stackhouse. It is only a matter of time before I have her.

As if reading my thoughts, Hadley says, "Do ya think Sookie will like it here? When she comes to live with us, I mean."

I must have lost my mind in the thrill of my bloodlust and thoughts of owning Sookie, because I do something I never do, I speak without thinking my answer through first. "I don't really give a fuck if Sookie likes it here. When she comes, she will be mine and nothing she says or does will change that. I will own her in every way. What do I care about the wants or desires that she has? When she comes I will have her in my clutches and I will never let her go." I wipe the blood from my chin that has dribbled down in my excitement of the moment.

Hadley looks at me with huge blue eyes, shining with tears. Jesus, doesn't this girl understand the way of our world? She has been living in my palace for almost two years now. It seems a little ridiculous to me that she hasn't figured it out yet. "What… what do you mean? You don't care about what she wants? What do you mean you will have her in every way? You are not talking about fucking Sookie are you? You… you… you can't do that! I won't let you!"

I grab Hadley's long blond locks and pull her towards me, making sure she is looking me right in the eye. "Hadley," I say speaking quietly yet precisely, "what is it that you think you are going to do to stop me, hmm?"

I smell the stink of fear rolling off her and I almost laugh. She is obviously afraid, but the tone in which she is speaking to me is trying to convince me otherwise. "I… I will tell her Sophie, I swear I will. How could you do that to me?"

"How could I do what to you my pet?" I furrow my brow at her.

"How… how could you just cast me aside for Sookie? I thought you loved me! That is the only reason that I told you about her in the first fucking place! You don't care, you never fucking did. I am so stupid! You betray Sookie, you betray me, is there anyone you even remotely give a shit about? You are a cold hearted, evil, conniving, cunt! I gave up everything for you!"

I slap her face and she flies backwards landing with a loud thump against the large solid wooden headboard. "What did you give up Hadley? Before me you had nothing, were nothing. You really thought I loved you? I should pat myself on the back for getting you to believe that I was capable of such a weak and idiotic emotion. You are nothing more than a feed and fuck to me. A very delicious feed and fuck, but nothing more than an over-rated happy meal for me all the same. Did you really not notice that I pass you around like a common whore? You have been a reward to all who have done me any kind of service since you have been here. How can you mistake that with love in any way? You're pathetic."

Hadley's miniature frame, looking even smaller when framed by the enormous headboard, shakes wildly. It almost reminds me of convulsions that I have seen people endure in the past. Whether her shaking is due to anger, shock, fear, whatever isn't really clear to me, but my words have obviously hurt her deeply. "I will warn Sookie, I swear it and if you try to stop me, I will stake your ass myself."

"Really," I say raising a eyebrow at her as I walk across the mattress as easily as if I was gliding across a solid floor. "Well my pet, it will be awful hard for you to do much of anything from inside a cell. GUARDS!" Rasul, Sigbert, and Wybert pour into the room, looking left and right for hidden dangers that lurk in the shadows. "Take her to the torture chambers and chain her to a wall."

All three of my guards look at me astonished and in clear disbelief, because Hadley has become a favorite amongst them; she just has this way about her and they all seem to end up loving her. "Do as you Queen commands," came a cool voice from behind them. All three stiffen slightly recognizing that voice. Andre, my first child, must have decided to investigate the disturbance in my room.

The guards nod their heads and make their way to Hadley. I have to give the girl some credit though, she tries to fight them off the best she can. She slaps, kicks, bites, and scratches at them as she tries to get them to release her from their hold. As she is drug from the room, she screams loudly, "How will you gain Sookie's trust now, you retarded, hair dye using, trailer trash, bitch?" The only answer I have for her is my scream of outrage as I slam the door shut behind her.

Of course, she is right, how could I be so stupid and make such a simple mistake? "She is right you know," Andre whispers against my neck and kisses me lightly.

"I know," I sigh. "I will just have to find another way to gain the girl's trust."

"We have a problem my Queen," he says as his kisses work their way down my neck and across my shoulders.

"Mmmm and what would this problem be?" I ask in a husky reply.

Andre slides his muscular arms around my ribcage, squeezing me tightly against him, letting me know that he had things on his mind other than affairs of the state, and recalcitrant part fairy girls. "Do you really want to know?" he asks, nipping softly at my ear.

"Not really, but is it important or can it way for an hour or four?" I giggle softly.

Andre pulls the flesh of my neck into his mouth, rolling it around softly and nicking it occasionally with his sharp fangs. A breathy moan escapes my lips and he releases my flesh with a loud, wet pop of sound. "No idea. Compton wouldn't tell me what was so important that I needed to interrupt your meal for the night, just that he had to see you post haste," he says, continuing our conversation as if it had never been interrupted by his attempt to seduce me. Well, it isn't like he has to try very hard to have his way with me, but that isn't the point.

"Ughh, Compton, how I loathe my interactions with that man." I writhe my ass against him, pressing his firmness into my soft flesh. A growl curls through the air, and vibrates down my spine. Andre throws me onto the bed bending me over the edge, so that my ass is presented to him like a prize. "Did he bring the girl with him?" I ask, panting slightly as he probes me with his fingers roughly.

"No," Andre growls and slaps my ass hard and quick; I think he is trying to dissuade me from this topic. "I asked him about the girl and he became, disconcerted, almost fearful and then demanded that he see you that instant, your feeding and fucking be damned."

"Wait, what!" I say grabbing his hand and pulling it away from me. I spin around to face my child.

Andre sighs in frustration, running his fingers through his short brown hair, a terrible human habit that I have never managed to break him of. "I tried to question him my Queen, but he refused to answer. I even threatened torture to get the information that he had come to tell you out of him, and he just laughed at me. I have to admit I have never seen him so… reckless before. He has always had a nice healthy dose of fear in him, whenever it came to interacting with me, or any of us for that matter, but it's like he has lost his mind. He is acting as if he has nothing to lose so why bother being afraid."

I begin to pace back and forth across the room, trying to discern what could put Bill in such a mood. "Whatever has him like this does not bode well for us. Andre get me a dress, we must deal with him, something black just in case. I don't want blood stains ruining my lovely clothes." I turn to him and he is standing next to me with a large smile on his face and holding out a beautiful black silk dress that ties at the waist like a scarf.

"Already done my Queen." I nod to him in appreciation. That is the thing about Andre, he always anticipates my wants and desires before I have even formulated them in my mind.

I stand in front of my mirror, I suppose by some standards it would be considered overly excessive seeing how it takes up an entire wall of my bedchamber, but I feel like it fits both my personality and this room perfectly. Besides, it has quite a few hiding spots throughout it, hiding away various devices, and important paper work. Not to mention the fact that I have a secret light tight, fireproof room behind one of the hidden mirror doors, just in case of emergency. I make sure that my hair is perfectly quaffed and my dress wrinkle free, as I turn this way and that checking out my appearance in the ornate mirror. "Let us go and deal with this worm," I say assured that I look perfect.

I stride from the room, feeling the cool metal of my dagger rubbing every now and then against my opposite thigh; a girl can never be too careful. When I enter the throne room, I am shocked by what I see. Comptondoesn't just look scared, he looks completely fucking dejected. Oh this can't be good. "Compton," I say in my most commanding voice, as I stride across the room and gracefully take my golden throne. "What is so important that I have been ripped from the arms of my morning entertainment?"

"Your Majesty, I bring news most heinous," he says as he debases himself completely in front of me, his nose actually touching the cool marble beneath him. FUCK, this isn't good.

"And that would be?" I question coolly, never showing for one moment that inside I am almost panicking with what could be so horrible that has him behaving in such a way.

"Well… it's just that… well… I…" He stumbles over his words trying to come up with a way to break whatever bad news he has to me, as delicately as possible. He pushes his frame further into the marble flooring beneath him. How that is even possible I am not entirely sure, but the worm manages to lower himself further.

"Spit it out Compton NOW!"

"I… well I…" he starts to say when he is interrupted by a cackle of laughter coming from the doorway that leads out into my night blooming garden.

Looking up I see who is responsible for the interruption, Nan Flannigan. Fuck, her being here can't be good. If I could blanch I would have because her being here means only one thing, something went extremely wrong in Dallas.

"He," she points dramatically at Bill, "fucked up in monstrous proportions," she says, looking at me with a small smirk curving her red painted lips. She looks down at Bill and her smirk turns into a sneer of malice. FUCK, FUCK, FUCK. Not only has he messed something up so badly that he has become nothing more than a sniveling worm at my feet, but somehow he managed to piss off Nan, and by extension The Council.

"Whose shoes did he piss on and what do I have to do to help remedy the situation?" I ask, trying to sound as cool and collected as possible.

Nan's head snaps back to me and her smirk returns in full force, but it isn't just her being smug. No, it is a clear you are standing at the gallows and I am the one holding the leaver smile. "Oh, I don't think there will be any fixing this. What do you think Billy?"

Bill shakes his head in the negative, without uttering a syllable, and rubs his disgusting nose back and forth across my pretty tile. "What has he done?" I demand, letting my anger start to get the better of me. "I want answers and I want them now!"

Nan crosses her arms across her tiny frame and slowly glides the rest of the way into the room, her silver spiked heels click clacking in an ominous tone across my floor. "Well, let's see where to start. He kidnapped Miss Stackhouse from Godric's nest in Dallas. He assaulted her on the way back to the hotel and dragged her through a lobby full of humans who witnessed her clear distress. He beat and raped Miss Stackhouse further after reaching the hotel room. And then, after Miss Stackhouse had asked for protection from Godric and Eric, he demanded that I return her to him, even though it is one of the oldest rules in our history that if a human asks for protection from an older vampire and it is accepted that the other vampire step aside. OH! And he refused to answer my questioning when he was the one who requested I hear the case in the first place. But the icing on the cake," she says winking at me, "is that he revealed that you had designs on Miss Stackhouse to become part of your personal household and that you were going to do whatever was necessary to insure that you owned her. As if she was nothing more than cattle."

Nan shakes her head slightly at me, and I fight every instinct within me not to stake her, Bill, and anyone else who gets in my way. My body shakes violently with my suppressed rage at the shit that had occurred while in Dallas. "I am so disappointed in you Sophie Anne. I would have thought someone as smart, ruthless, and politically savvy as you are would know better than to undertake such machinations. It doesn't matter how pretty the human bauble is, you cannot and will not behave in this manner. We set forth a new set of rules before we decided to tell the humans about our existence, you know this, you were there when we drew up the agreement, and you signed the thing, accepting the fact that if anyone, including yourself, broke these rules you would be punished."

"And what is the punishment you have decided then?" I ask, forcing my voice to not quiver. I know that with a single word this stupid bitch could end me, and not just my political career, I mean literally, maim, torture, final death, end me, permanent no coming back, done.

Nan takes a step closer to my throne, and therefore me, looking me up and down as if she is appraising me, weighing my value, before passing judgment. "I have already rendered my verdict. It really is too bad, because I think," she says, cocking her head at me as if she were some large bird of prey zeroing in on her nightly meal, "that if I had waited it would have been much… harsher. You obviously do not deny your actions and you should be made an example for all others." She sighs in regret. "Ah well, there is always next time." She winks at me again and I think my hair would catch fire with the burning rage that has built up inside of me.

"Just get on with it Nan!" I growl at her.

A small tinkle of laughter pours from her lips, reminding me of wind chimes or bells. Ugh how I hate that sound. "Very well then, but haven't you ever heard that it is never as good if you rush the foreplay?"

That's it. I am going to slap her, or stake her, or no, no better yet, I will tear her limb from limb and mount her to my head board. Andre places his hand on my shoulder, and he rubs soft concentric circles to help sooth me, and most importantly keep me from doing anything stupid. "Just get it over with Nan," I say exasperated by her games.

"Aww you're no fun anymore Soph." I grit my teeth. I hate it when she calls me that and she knows it. Which is precisely why she does it. "Very well kill joy, my judgment is this. Sookie retains her protection from Godric and Eric, she is theirs, period, no debating and no trying to steal her away from them, end of discussion." I smirk slightly. It doesn't matter that she is Eric's. I would have liked to have her myself, but Eric is one of my most trusted and, more importantly, obedient Sheriffs. He would always do what I commanded, as his queen; her staying with him would not be a non-issue.

"Oh Sophie, as old as you are haven't you heard the phrase don't count your chickens before they hatch? Second, Eric is no longer a Sheriff of Area Five. I took Godric's position away for a mistake that he made, which lead to the deaths of multiple humans and vampires. Eric will be taking over the position of Sheriff in Dallas. Bill is no longer allowed to ever set foot in Dallas again, or he will meet his final death. Also he is never allowed to be in the same state as Sookie again or he will meet his final death. Sookie is no longer a resident of the great state of Louisiana, she will be living in Texas from now on, and she is under the protection of The Council so if anything, and I mean anything, happens to her I will hold you personally responsible. Now that brings my ruling to you. You are never to approach Sookie without her consent. You are never to be in the same state as Sookie without her consent. You are going to be held personally responsible for Bill and his actions from here on out and if he violates any of my rulings, I WILL throw your child ass off of your throne. Oh, and you are to deal out physical punishment to Bill. I have a feeling that you will come up with far worse for him than anything my mind could have imposed."

Nan taps her chin lightly, pondering her lovely little judgment. I am barely containing myself at this point and I want to seek and destroy anything and anyone around me for this monumental cluster fuck. "Am I forgetting anything? Hmmmm," she says lightly. "Oh yes, and you cannot and will not harm any of Sookie's friends or relatives that remain here in Louisiana. That includes your little pet Hadley."

My mouth falls open at that little bomb she just dropped. Shit. How the fuck did she know about that? I narrow my eyes at Compton, thinking he had betrayed all of my inner workings to this bitch. "Oh don't blame him, he did betray you during his little tirade about the injustices of it all, but no he didn't say anything about Hadley."

"But how?" I ask before I can contain myself.

Nan laughs loudly, one of those full belly laughs that little kids would hear from the lips of Santa Claus. Except this Santa has fangs and a thirst for blood and gore like no other. She would never hesitate to rip your throat out and smile while she is doing it. "Well you know how it goes, a little of this, a little of that, and I am not a fucking retard. You severely underestimate me. I have met the girl, on previous visits, and you have passed her around your court to every vampire who needed a meal. Did you really think that they would not brag about her? And of course it helps that Hadley loves to brag; she goes on and on about her beautiful telepathic cousin Sookie, to anyone who is willing to listen. It isn't that huge of a leap. Plus I looked her up in public records; technology is such a wonderful thing. Don't you agree?"

My fangs pop out, cutting open my lips in the suddenness of the action. I am already pissed beyond words at Hadley and now, NOW I can't even do anything to punish her. I have to send her away unscathed, whole. All of this, because of Compton. "Well," Nan says clapping her hands together and rubbing them back and forth, "my work here is done. I will see you around Soph. Bye Bye." She stretches out the last e in bye into a sickly sweet melody of sweet happiness. She waves at me slightly and out the door she goes, never looking back.

I take a deep, unnecessary breath, readying myself to unleash the torrent of my anger on the fuck up Bill Compton, when Nan sticks her head back in. "Oh one more thing Soph. If we, and I by we I mean me and The Council, decide that your punishment of Bill is too, hmmm lenient, you will be receiving a severe, torturous, punishment from me. I really hope you don't go too easy on him, it would be such a shame to ruin that pretty little skin of yours," Nan says, practically purring at the idea of having me to torture at her whims. I almost shudder at the thought of being left in Nan's quite capable hands. Few vampires ever survived her loving attentions and those that did where either insane, or scared for life. Nan winks at me, blows me a kiss, and leaves just as abruptly as she came. I can just make out her laughter echoing through my peaceful gardens as she makes her exit into the night.

I finally let my brewing anger turn from a small wind into a harsh gale. I jump from my throne and throw it across the room, where it shatters into hundreds of pieces. "How could you be so monumentally moronic Compton? You have ruined everything, EVERYTHING. All my plans, years of hard work, all flushed down the toilet for WHAT?" I pace like an enraged panther, back and forth, forth and back in front of him. Just watching, waiting patiently for the right time to strike.

Bill just lies there and shakes from head to foot, not daring to say a word, clearly in fear to provoke me further. It doesn't matter though, no matter what he says he is done. "Well," I say tapping my foot perilously close to his head, "what do you have to say for yourself?"

"She provoked me."

"She… provoked you, is that what you said?" I laugh harshly. "SHE PROVOKED YOU!" I turn to Andre who is standing in the same spot I had left him in, directly next to where my throne should sit. "Did I hear him correctly Andre? Did he say she provoked him?"

"I believe he did my Queen."

"That's what I thought," I say turning back to Compton. "What could she have possibly done that could have provoked you into sheer stupidity?" I ask and kick him as hard as I can in his ribs. Bill flies several feet across the room, clutching his undoubtedly broken ribs, and moaning.

"She…" he gasps in pain, "she exchanged blood with Eric and Godric, after the bombing." His voice sounds raspy and I can hear a soft hiss and wheeze of air coming from him. I definitely punctured a lung with that kick. Yay for me!

"You idiot." I kick him again. "I don't give a fuck if you walked in and she was sitting on Northman's face having her pussy eaten, you fucked up beyond belief." I kick him again and he flies further away from me. "You spineless," kick "stupid," kick "childish," kick "fool." Another well placed kick to his sternum and I feel it break under my heel. I manage to maneuver him into a corner of the room and he is balled up like a baby, clutching at his body and whimpering pathetically. "You are pathetic," I say and spit on him. "I will have your balls for this. I am going to cut them off and have them mounted in my rings. I will pluck your eyeballs from your skull and have them turned into a necklace. I will pull your fangs from your pathetic, betraying mouth and wear them as earrings. I will pull your intestines from your body and turn them into lingerie. I will cut off your fingers and toes one at a time and turn them into my crown fucking jewels. Do you have any fucking idea the damage you have done?"

I whip my head around and look at Andre. "Knife," I say, smiling at him sweetly. He simply nods and strolls over to me casually, as if it was just another day and he was on some monotonous errand. He slowly unsheathes his knife from his boot. Compton's eyes grow large and his skin turns ashen, and I think if he could be sick he would be.

Taking the knife in hand, I kneel in front of him so he is forced to look me in my eye and not at my feet. "I am going to skin you alive and use your worthless hide as a rug, and all of this is just going to be warming up," I say sweetly. Bill starts to whimper again, rocking back and forth. "Actually," I say, rolling my neck back and forth, preparing myself for the hours of fun ahead. "I have something even better in mind." I look up at Andre and bat my eyelashes at him lovingly. "How long did Ivan manage to keep that one vampire alive, after he skinned him and then sealed him up in the barrel?"

"Hmmm…" he says, a wicked smile curving his lips. "I think he managed for oh, one hundred and fifty years, before the body finally gave out. Although there wasn't much left when it finally did die."

"You see Compton," I say, sing-songing my voice sweetly, "Ivan is what you would call a specialist. He has one particular method that I have always wanted to try, but you know how these things go." I laugh loudly and his body flinches just slightly. I lean into him lowering my voice as if we were sharing intimacies. "It isn't like I have vampires volunteering to be tortured on a regular basis, and this method is… well… let's just say, an extreme measure," I purr at him.

"First," I say taking the tip of my knife and placing it softly at his throat, "you skin the worthless piece of vampire flesh, starting the cut here," I poke just below his clavicle, "and ending here." I gently run my knife right down his middle and stop directly above his pubic bone. "Then," I roll my hips suggestively, getting more and more excited about the idea of getting to inflict this pain, "you slowly," I gasp slightly, "peel the skin away from the flesh, with small, sharp, cuts." My head rolls back and I moan slightly.

Andre growls behind me, becoming just as excited as I am by the thought of torture; and not just any torture, but watching me inflict that amount of pain on someone always gets him excited. I can feel myself getting wetter by the second and my excitement is building higher and higher to the point of where I know I am going to cum right here in front of Compton, as I describe his inevitable fate to him.

"After the body is completely devoid of all its flesh, you submerge it completely in saline solution." Another sharp moan is pulled from my lips, I am so close. "Do you know what we do next traitor?" I ask Bill, in a low breathy whisper.

"N… n… no" He mumbles, his voice quivering in terror.

"You add a tablespoon, no more no less, of sulfuric acid." I moan at the thought of hearing Compton's screams echoing off of my torture chamber. "It is not enough to kill you, but it is just enough that it slowly eats away at your body a tiny bit at a time. I have heard that in the end all that remains is just the brain and heart. Which if you think about it, is all that is really needed in order for a vampire to survive. Can you imagine, mmmmm, slowly being eaten alive one delicious bit at a time."

"I have heard that the process is quite excruciating before you get to the point of just being a floating brain in a barrel though," Andre says, his voice sounding husky and deep. "Mmm…yes. And also, you can prolong the process if you take the meat sack out of the barrel every now and then and allow them some time to recover. It can go on for eternity."

"How…mmm…wicked," I say, smiling up at Andre and coming as close to loving him as I can possibly achieve. "Take him away."

Andre strikes like a snake as he snatches Bill up off of the floor and drags him towards the dungeon. "No, my Queen, please don't do this. You don't want to do this," Bill pleads with me.

Long after his pitiful pleas stopped echoing around the room, I smile and say to myself, "Oh but I do want to do this and I will love every second of it."

I slowly make my way down into the hidden dungeon area that resides beneath my palace, and stop in front of the large wooden doorway. I unlock the door, the loud clanking of the key in the lock, rings through my ears, protesting that I am about to release this prisoner. Standing in the doorway, my eyes scan the room, seeking my prey, until finally I see her, huddled in the corner in a pitiful heap. "Get up," I say coldly.

I watch as Hadley rises to her feet and stares me in the face defiantly; oh how I want to play with her as an appetizer and then move on to the main course of Compton. "Go," I say, nodding my head out the exit.

"Wait… what…" she says, clearly confused by my command.

"Did I stutter? Go. Leave my palace, leave my area, and never return. I don't ever want to see your face again."

"But… but… where will I go? What will I do? I have nothing. What about Sookie? I can't just leave here and let you turn her into your slave Sophie Anne."

"Little girl, be grateful that you have been granted a pardon. If it were up to me there would be no such mercy, but my hand was forced by a higher authority. Rest assured that both you and your beloved cousin are safe from my clutches, as well as any other member of your family. So go, get out of here before I decide to take the risk of killing you anyway, and damn the consequences."

"But, what will I do Sophie? Please, if you have ever had any love for me, at least have the decency to buy me a bus ticket, something, anything to help me leave," Hadley says, begging me and looking quite pathetic. I almost sigh out loud; I wanted her to beg, but this is definitely not the scenario I had envisioned when that occurred.

"What do I care what you do? Just go," I say shaking my head at her. She nods her head at me, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, and walks out of that cell on her own two feet.

When she reaches the bottom of the staircase she stops, just for a moment, not looking back, not even looking up at her awaiting freedom, she just stares off into nothing, and says in barely a whisper of breath, so low that I can hardly even make it out, "I love you Sophie." And that was it. She runs up the stairs away from me and out of my life. I have one brief flash of pain, guilt, remorse maybe, before I crush it like a bug. Swinging my hips seductively, I walk towards the main event of the evening. Tonight is definitely looking up.

*** Outside the Palace Hadley's Point of View ***

I run, I run as fast as my little human feet can carry me. I run from the only life I have ever been truly happy in. I run away from her. I know she is planning on hurting me, but somehow, someway I managed to come out on top of it all. I have the feeling it has more to do with Sookie, then with Sophie's love for me. She said someone forced her hand and that she had to let me go. And although the rational part of my brain knows that Sophie doesn't care and was going to torture me, the irrational part of me is still screaming in pain at her loss and her betrayal.

I am not paying attention to where I am going because I run smack dab into a large granite wall of muscle. "Easy there princess. Where are you going in such a hurry? Ah princess what's wrong, you are shakin' like a leaf," Rasul says, his warm drawl washing over me and easing my nerves slightly. I find an unexpected comfort being wrapped in his arms and I break down completely, sobbing and mumbling the whole horrid experience into his chest.

"Ah honey, it will all be okay," he says wrapping his long cool fingers around my chin and forcing me to look up into his electric green eyes. Then he does something I never would have expected from him, he kisses me. It isn't forceful or overly passionate, with promises of sex, but it was sweet and soft and kind, almost loving. I would never have expected something like that from him. He has always maintained a distance from me, not that he wasn't always kind to me when we saw each other or we spoke, but after the first time Sophie Anne had "gifted" me to him, he had held me at arm's length.

"Here," he says, as he reaches into his pocket and hands me a set of keys. "Go to my house, you know where it is right?" I nod, too confused and astonished to respond otherwise. "Good," he smiles at me softly. "Go there and wait for me. I will try and get a few of your things from here and I will meet you there in an hour. I know where Sookie is, and I have a few favors in my pocket from various supes out there. I will take care of you, I promise. We will catch a flight out of this hellhole tonight and we will do it together." He squeezes me gently in his large muscular arms and I am truly grateful for the comfort.

"Umm, Rasul, it's not that I am ungrateful or anythin' but why are you doin' this for me?"

He just smiles a crooked little smile at me, winks, and says, "Oh I am just a little sweet on you, and you are just the sweetest little thing in every way." He winks at me again and I feel my face flush with embarrassment. "Now go, I don't want anyone to find out that I am abandoning my post."

"Be safe," I whisper to him and he brushes his lips against mine.

"I will. See you soon." I nod and run into the night, feeling more sure of myself than I had ten minutes ago. My future is spread out before me with an infinite number of possibilities and for the first time ever, it looks really promising.

*** The Queen's Chamber's Sophie Anne's PoV ***

My fingers glide back and forth in small absentminded strokes over my new Bill skin rug. I told that fucker I was going to skin him and I did, oh I did that and so much more. The skin beneath my fingers is still soft and supple with its freshness, not yet haven taken on the dry harshness of leather. Spread out here before the fire it will eventually dry out, but for the moment it is serving its purposeas a place to lay and fuck my child, bathed in the blood of my enemy.

The skin sticks to my body sporadically wherever my tattered remains of clothing had have not been torn away in the heat of mine and Andre's passion. The blood spilled by my rigorous session with the traitor acts like a kind of glue, which causes Bill's discarded skin to cling to me like my own.

I feel Andre's fingers gently stroke through my matted hair, the remnants of offal and gore causing it to clump together in large dread like tangles. If I manage to get all of it out without cutting my hair off I will be surprised. Not that it really matters if I cut my hair off, it will grow back almost immediately, but the interim time between cutting it off and re-growth always irritates me.

I stare into the roaring fire, allowing the seductive movements of the flames to hypnotize me and calm my overworked nerves. I say in a hushed, morose, monotone voice, "I have lost everything tonight."

"You have lost nothing my queen."

"Oh but I have Andre. I lost my fairy pet, I lost my telepath, I lost my best Sheriff and with him the largest money maker in my area, I have lost my best spy, I lost my dignity to Nan when she caught me in my machinations, and I almost lost my life and still might to be perfectly honest. I think Nan is just looking for an excuse to end me. My entire kingdom came tumbling down tonight, all because of one dumb little southern girl."

"We will find a way to bring her home to us my Queen. We will find a way to right all of the wrongs that were done tonight. I swear it. All that you lost will be restored, it is just going to take time," he says kissing my nose lightly. "Come on, let us shower and wash Compton's vile blood from our bodies." He pulls me to my feet and leads me into the bathroom. Soon, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, I will own Sookie Stackhouse and have one Viking's head on a platter. I just have to figure out a way to get past the Roman.