"What? No! I want … I don't want … What's wrong with the three of us …" Kris cried out, looking between Pam and Eric.
"I have a home in northern Scotland, Perthshire," Eric said.
"But the three of us will be going, right?" Pam nodded and Kris relaxed. "Where is Perthshire?"
"North of Stirling, where I used to split my months. Winters here between September and January are perfect because there are three hours of daylight, and over there I stayed from January to March."
"Where were you from March to August, the Antarctic?"
Seriously he replied, his eyes narrowed, "No, the South Pole."
"Oh."
"Eric, stop teasing her. Kris, it's in Pitlochry, a beautiful area. His manor sits on the hillside overlooking the valley with a lake. In the dead of winter it's even more remarkable."
"Why can't we just stay here?"
"For two reasons," Eric began, looking at the blazing fire. "My home has six bedrooms, plenty of space, less cramped than here. Pam and I haven't quite worked through the logistics yet, but we've discussed bringing our children from Bon Temps to the manor house."
"I thought you said … nesting wasn't good."
"True, but Eric and I have bright, caring children. It might just work out. We won't know until we try. If it doesn't work out, you and I will leave."
She didn't want to leave Eric, though she had no idea why. She didn't even want to worry about whether she'd get along with Tara and Willa. "Will I have my own bedroom?"
Eric and Pam looked at the other. "Yes and no. You will have a bedroom, but Eric has a basement. We'll have to set that up to keep you safe when you change to saber, just until we know how things will go."
"Can I pick out the wall color and curtains and furniture?"
"No," Eric replied sternly.
"Yes, Kris," Pam answered, looking at Eric. "I'll pay for it."
"What am I going to do with all of my things back home?"
"I'm working on that now," Eric said. "We'll get them to my home, minus the furniture. They will be sold—"
"No! The coffee table, that's an antique! It's been—"
"I know, honey, it's been in our family for two hundred years. I remember it fondly."
"Well." Kris stood and walked to the door. "I guess I have no choice." The door closed behind her.
"She took that well," Eric commented.
"No, she didn't," Pam said as she, too, stepped to the door. "I'll talk to her about the school."
Walking outside, she saw Kris sitting on top of a snow bank, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. Getting her thoughts together, she walked over to her and sat down beside her.
It was a moment before Kris said, "It never dawned on me I'd be leaving my home, my friends." Her voice was strained.
"No, it isn't. The adjustment period sucks, knowing what you can and cannot do. But it gets easier."
"That's hard to believe."
"Well, it does."
"What else did Eric want to tell me?"
Pam was surprised. "What makes you think he did?"
"I noticed the look in his eyes. When he's avoiding something his forehead gets all creased, and he wasn't looking me, wasn't keeping eye contact."
Smiling, Pam said, "He is easy to read, isn't he? But yes, there is something else. Malte's grandfather is the Head Master at the Diomheir Beinn Sgoil in Moulin, only five miles from Eric's manor. It's a school for full-bred sabers and sabers that have been changed to vampire."
Kris shot a death glare at her aunt. "You're sending me away to a fucking boarding school?!"
"Don't use that tone with me, KrisLyn. And I never said that. We're only going to speak with Vilgot, if he'll see us. Malte needs to set up a meeting first. The option is there."
Kris jumped off and put her hands on her hips defiantly. "Whose option, Pam?" she spat angrily. "Yours and Eric's or mine?! I have no fucking say in the matter?"
Pam had very little patience and enough of Kris's tone and anger, and she wasn't going to have it. She picked up Kris gruffly by the shoulders and threw her against the wall of the cabin, though she made sure it wasn't harsh. Barring her fangs, she said, "KrisLyn Beaufort! You will learn to keep your anger at a minimum with me!"
Kris eyes bugged open, and she knew she had stepped out of line, and she didn't dare say a word.
"For your information it will be your decision whether you go there or not. But the way you are acting right now—"
"Pamela, put her down," Eric said calmly, letting the front door close behind him. "That's not necessary."
Pam looked at Eric furiously then let go of Kris's shoulders, stepping back a few feet. Kris stayed against the wall guarded, her body beginning to shake.
Eric approached Pam and asked, "May I speak with her alone?"
"No, you may not."
Gently he put his hand on Pam's forearm, his eyes pleading softly. "It's important."
"You have half an hour," she said firmly then flew off.
Eric turned to Kris and put out his hand; she simply withdrew further against the cabin. "Kris, please. I'd like to talk with you."
"Then talk, Eric," she snapped. "I have nothing to say."
He sat on the same snow bank she had been on minutes earlier, though he didn't look at Kris. "Just over a thousand years ago I was injured in battle and knew I was going to die. Godric had watched the fight. He came to me and drained the men I fought beside for two years before he changed me against my will."
Finally he looked over at her, and the expression on her face touched him deeply; her eyes were blood red, though no tears fell.
"I was not the most obedient child, certainly not one Godric had hoped for. It was decades before I realized that everything he did for me, everything he taught me was because he saw something in me that he admired, a strength and goodness that I'd be damned if I ever saw. Change is never easy, Kris. All you can do is take one day at a time, learn from your mistakes and try not to get yourself staked."
Then the tears Kris had been holding back fell down her cheeks, mixing with the eye makeup; she didn't bother to wipe them away. "That explains it," she whispered quietly.
"What?"
"The look of pain in your eyes when you look at me sometimes. Your empathy for me and wanting to help me. It explains what I'm feeling towards you."
He frowned. "I don't understand."
Slowly she walked to him, got on one knee before him and put her hand on his knee. "You and I are similar in a lot of ways, Eric. Neither one of us wanted to be changed, but it happened. We both had our human lives planned out, sort of, but that was taken. We were both angry. Both of us have no family, we are alone now."
"You have your Maker. I don't." Eric fought to keep his own tears hidden.
She shook her head. "Yes, that's true, and I was sorry to hear you lost him. But you do have Pam, and you do have me."
He peered down on her, smiling faintly. He didn't say a word but wiped the tears on one cheek. She closed her eyes and tilted her head toward his hand.
Looking back at him, she said, "I'm scared of what's going to happen with me, and I see the same fear in your eyes with your own future. But we are family now, Eric. We understand each other. We need each other. That's why I slept at your feet last night."
"So, you want me, huh?" he asked, grinning sheepishly.
"Oh, my god! That's not what I'm saying!" she sputtered, hitting his shoulder as she stood up. "You are the most—"
Kris was stilled when he stood and placed his hands on her face gently, their eyes locked on the others'. Wiping away the bloody tears from both cheeks, he said softly, "You are very wise for one so young. I couldn't have put it better myself." He kissed her forehead tenderly. "I don't think I'll have to worry about you."
Pulling back, she said, "No, you won't, but Pam sure will."
He laughed. "That is very true."
Suddenly a wet ball of snow smacked Eric on the side of his head. Kris jumped back and looked around for Pam, the obvious assailant.
"How dare you, Pamela!" Eric screamed.
Kris took several steps back so she wouldn't be hit by accident. She looked through the trees and treetops to see if she could find her. She didn't see her but saw the incoming ammunition and jumped back further.
His threat was met with another snowball to his upper thigh. "You were dangerously close to my manhood, vampire!" Kris burst out laughing. "You think that's funny, do you?" Eric asked angrily.
Before Kris could react her face was wet and covered with snow, as Eric had scooped an arm full of snow and chucked it at her. She threw her hands in the air then feigned crying, covering her face. "You. Ruined. My makeup," she whined.
Eric bought it. He was by her side in seconds. "Kris, I—"
"Cover me, Pam!" Kris screamed as she ran toward the ten-foot tall snowman she'd built and hid behind it.
One snowball after another came flying from the woods until Pam ran out and squatted down beside Kris. They both laughed and waited for the onslaught they were expecting from Eric. There was nothing. Kris slowly and carefully poked her head around the shelter but couldn't find him. "Pam, I don't see him," she whispered.
Without a response, the top two layers of the snowman came down on Kris and Pam, covering them almost to the tops of their heads. Screaming, they ran out and shook the snow off of them. Their new clothes were completely soaked, and Kris's hair was ruined.
"Eric Northman, that was the dirtiest … Where's your chivalry?" Pam asked.
"He has none!" Kris answered but then she laughed, which made Pam laugh, and last but not least, Eric joined them.
It was the bonding the three vampires needed.