Disclaimer: I do not own the Sookie Stackhouse characters. I just enjoy wondering what if . . . so below is Chapter 11. Enjoy!

SPV

I was in the Royal Library studying the Annuals of Faery when Ian busted through the doors. Mánus and Callan immediately went on alert, but when they noticed it was my Uncle, visibly relaxed.

"Dear Niece, you have studied enough. It is time for you to have a little fun for a change," my uncle declared.

"What kind of fun are you talking about Ian?" Somehow, his idea of fun and my idea of fun sounded like two different things. I enjoyed the library. It was my favorite place in the whole Palace. I could spend the rest of my life studying the history of my fairy kin, even with my life probably being much longer than I originally thought.

"You have not seen much of Faery. You always stay secluded in the Royal Palace. It is time you go out with us," replied my uncle.

Although Ian was my uncle by birth, Fintan's son, something I just recently found out, he felt more like a cousin. He was seventy-five years old and considered a mere babe in Faery terms. He was the closest relative to me in age on my fairy side and very much a rake, not unlike my brother Jason. Everyone indulged his carefree nature especially Niall.

"Ah I don't know, Uncle, I was just at the most fascinating part of the tale."

Úna, my great-great-grandmother and Niall's mother was gifted with being able to shift to any shape. She tried to scare off her suitors by assuming grotesque shapes. One time she would be a great horse, with the wings of an eagle, and a tail like a dragon, hissing loud and spitting fire. Then in a moment, she would change into a little old man with a lame leg, with a bull's head. Then into a great ape, with duck's feet and a turkey cock's tail. None of the shapes she took scared off High King Finn who bravely faced her. When she realized that he would not run in terror she then changed into her true form, that of a beautiful fairy; tall with long blond hair and clear blue eyes; they fell in love. She became his Queen and co-ruled over Faery until she went to the Summerland.

"You have plenty of time to devote yourself to study. Now you must enjoy life. Go Niece and get dressed or will I have to summon Grianne myself!"

With a pop, I looked down at my maidservant Grianne who asked, "Do you need my assistance Princess?"

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I left my quarters dressed in a party dress and accompanied by my faithful shadows, Mánus and Callan, both of whom were dressed down from their usual royal armor. My dress, a Charles Worth original, was a purple cocktail dress. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and had a very short-layered skirt. The bodice was covered in pearls and diamonds embroidered in a floral pattern that trail down onto the skirt of the dress. It showed a little more skin than I was normally used to, but my body was more tone than it had ever been, thanks to my training with Mánus and Callan. I also wore silver stiletto heels that set off my outfit perfectly. Grianne had styled my hair in a very simple do. It was left down and straight with the top pulled back with my great-grandmother Einin's hairpin.

As I entered the receiving room, I saw my Uncle waiting patiently and with him was Preston. I was a little surprised to see him. Preston immediately jumped up from the settee that he was sitting on and bowed to me.

"Please Preston, none of the formalities." As he rose from his bow, I saw his eyes dilate with lust and I gave him a big smile and a nod in greeting. I felt beautiful.

"I hope you do not mind that I invited Preston, Dear Niece," Ian said.

"Of course not, the more the merrier," I responded happily.

"Shall we, Princess," Preston said as he extended his arm for me to take. "Let's get the show on the road!" I said as I linked my arm with his. At my statement, my Uncle Ian, Preston, and my guards looked at me in confusion and I giggled at their cluelessness. "Let's go," I corrected while laughing at each of them.

As we stepped out of the castle, I stopped and saw an open carriage flanked by Ian's dragon guard. It was not the carriage itself that startled me but the fact that it was not being pulled by horses but by two winged unicorns.

"Oh my, I can't believe it, unicorns!" I exclaimed, "They're beautiful," I said in awe.

"Actually, they are Pegasus'. They belong to the Royal House of Sky Fae and are very magical beings. Our clan depicts them on our Royal Crest. By your reaction, you would think that you never seen one before," Ian said in false exacerbation and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Uh, we don't have Pegasus' back home," I said with emphasis on the word Pegasus, "just in . . . fairy tales . . . oh, well that makes sense." I guess I was having a blonde moment, but who could blame me.

The Pegasus' were pure white and looked very sturdy. Their horns were white as well with very pointing ends and a glittery aura around them. I gently began to rub one of them. His muscles twitched under the weight of my hand.

"Well aren't you just the most beautiful thing," I said to him and began to mumble other nonsense words in its ear. It seemed to preen as I continued to whisper to him. It didn't have that horse smell as I would have thought; but rather, smelled sweet, just as sweet as my fairy kin.

"Hurry along Niece, we do not want you to miss all of the fun," my Uncle said as he stepped into the carriage.

Preston put his hands around my waist and boosted me into the carriage. It had been a long time since a man had placed his hands around my waist and I shivered at his touch. He gave me a little smile and sat across from me in the carriage.

The dragons changed to their reptilian form and took to the air. This was the first time I had seen my guards change. Callan was the largest of the four dragons and was all black with red eyes and large leathery black wings. Mánus, on the other hand, was a deep midnight blue and had an incandescent shimmer to his scales also with red eyes. I ran my hand over the scales on Mánus head as he leaped into the sky.

I looked at my Uncle and asked, "Well now, who's going to drive the carriage?" Then Preston and him laughed. They laughed so hard that I think I even saw tears in Ian's eyes. I guess this time the joke was on me because I had no clue to what was so funny.

The next thing I knew, the Pegasus' took off at a run. I let out an oomph as I slipped off my seat, clumsy much, but then Preston caught me. I looked into his eyes and was entranced at how beautiful they were. They were huge and tawny with little flecks of gold. "Pretty," I said and blushed as the words escaped my mouth. He smiled and helped me back in my seat. The Pegasus' continued to build up speed and then all of a sudden, the carriage felt weightless. I looked over the side of the carriage and let out a yelp; we were flying.

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As we traveled over the streets of Faery, we passed over the Willow Forest that Preston and I had traveled through to get to the Palace. We also flew over a small town with faery beings of all shapes and sizes. I was surprised that the streets were so busy at night. We were greeted with bows and curtsies from everyone as they recognized the Royal Carriage. I definitely had been missing out by keeping my nose in a book reading instead of experiencing Faery for myself.

The carriage began to slow and descend back onto the road.

"Oak Public House," my Uncle said with a flourish as he gestured around with his hand.

Mánus and Callan along with Ian's guards also descended from the sky, taking on their regular form as they did so, and we exited the carriage.

What in the Realm was my Uncle smoking. I didn't see a house at all. What I saw was a gathering of fairies dancing, drinking, and singing. There were glowing groups of pixies floating through the air in beautiful patterns. Fraoch zoomed to me and gave me a quick kiss. I think I also felt his little tounge flick out and then he zoomed off laughing in glee. There were garlands of fragrant flowers magically suspended in mid air with more pixies intermingled within to provide additional light for the gathering.

I assume Preston caught on to my confusion as he clarified for me, "This is Faery's version of a Pub."

"Alrighty then," I said and laughed at my own obtuseness.

The crowd gave Mánus and Callan a wide berth as they began to clear a way for us through the crowd. When they noticed that Ian and I were from the Royal House of Brigant, they began to bow and curtsy as was custom. We eventually reached a table and sat down.

A goblin popped to our table and said in an old gravelly voice while bowing, "My name is Pooka. How can I serve you?" I looked around the table in question and then back to Pooka, our troll waiter, and shrugged, "I don't know, this is my first time here. What do you recommend?"

"We have my personal favorite tonight, wolf pie with salted biscuits" My face turned green at the thought of eating wolf pie. Alcide, who I once considered boyfriend material, along with the entire Shreveport Pack, turned into wolves on every full moon; not to mention Preston, who was a wolf from the Deer Killer pack, from Baton Rouge.

My Uncle then answered for me, "She will have a goblet of faery wine and I will have the same." Faery wine sure sounded a heck of a lot better than wolf pie. I nodded in agreement to Pooka while at the same time trying to fight back the bile that was threatening to come up. I looked at the others to see what weird concoction they would order but they decided on faery wine as well; all except for Callan who stood stoically on guard by our table watching the crowd. Pooka bowed and with a pop, he was gone.

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I sat taking in the view and sipping on my wine. It was quite good actually. It was dark red liquid, a little thicker than wine from back home, a little sweet, and surprisingly a little spicy. There were brownies who were dancing with trolls, high fairies dancing with other high fairies, and others dancing with elves. I even thought I saw a satyr dancing with a mug frothing over with green foam.

"Would you like to dance Princess?" Preston asked in a courtly fashion. "I would, I love to dance!"

Preston grabbed my hand placed a warm kiss on the back of it and led me to the center of the crowd. There was an upbeat tune playing and I got lost in the music. The music along with the combined energy of the crowd was stimulating. I began to twirl and twist around Preston. He reached for me but I twirled away. I did this over and over again while giving him a coy smile. He leaned his head back and laughed at my antics; his long brown hair blowing in the breeze. Wow, he was stunning. I eventually let him catch me. He pulled me tight up against his body and began to slowly sway with me although we were dancing to a fast song. "I finally got you," he whispered in a husky voice. My breath caught at his words and at the double meaning. We were so close that when I looked up, our lips were close to touching.

Then my Uncle decided to sidle up to us at that exact moment, interrupting our near kiss. He had a goblet in one hand and a fairy in the other. The fairy was very beautiful, like most fairies. She had long dark hair and bright blue eyes and looked at my uncle with infactuation. Ian was a bit tipsy already and he flashed me a big smile,

"See Sookie, my Niece, I told you that we needed a night out," he said; slurring in speech.

The fairy that he was holding onto dropped to a deep curtsy and said, "Princess, it is an honor to meet you"

"Ah . . . you too," I said in response. Although at the moment I was a little perturbed at the interruption. I also was still not use to anyone bowing to me and especially not in public.

She smiled and then my Uncle dragged her away to some dark corner no doubt, knowing Ian.

"Would you like another drink, Princess" Preston asked. I started to say yes when suddenly I felt heat radiate all throughout my body. It started as a dull pain and then began to intensify. I looked at Preston and then started screaming.

This chapter was a little longer than usual. I got a little carried away. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it! As always, please review.

I borrowed the idea of Queen Úna from an Irish Legend that I discovered called The Legend of Knocksheogowna and added my own spin to it.

I also posted a picture of Sookie's dress on my profile.