Mab, Queen of the Fae looked down at me from her throne. Her expression gave away nothing nor were there any words to be heard in her head. Either I wasn't capable of reading her thoughts or she was capable of keeping her mind totally blank. Either way, it left me feeling uneasy. I gulped trying to urge the tightness in my throat to leave me before I spoke. I bowed my head. "Your highness."
She continued to stare at me for what seemed like a long moment before she spoke. "Sookie… I trust you are prepared to follow through and keep your word." She looked the way she did the very first time I saw her. Her natural fairy self with pointed ears and sharp teeth remained hidden behind the façade of curly red hair and frosty blue eyes. I nodded.
"Yes. In exchange for the safety of my daughter I will do what you ask. I only have one other request."
"Oh?" She looked at me now like I had three heads. Her expression was no longer void. Instead it was screaming, Do you really have the nerve to make another request!? But, I had to. If I was going to do as she asked there had to be one more stipulation.
"Yes, Your highness. Please forgive me. I'm very grateful for what your doin for me and Laila but if I'm gonna be turned, the one who turns me becomes my maker. You know that gives them a certain amount of power over me. I can't trust just anyone with that kinda control over my life. I promise I'll do exactly what you want. I'll lead your war… but I need my maker to be Eric."
She glared as if she was about to argue with me but I cut her off before she could open her mouth. "Eric is the only vampire I ever met who was willing to let me make choices for myself regardless of how he felt. If I'm gonna get a maker to release me after I'm made that's my best bet."
She rolled her eyes then turned to focus on me. "I hear your thoughts Sookie. I SEE your dreams. Don't imagine for a single moment that I'm a fool!" I jumped back at her words as if they actually stung.
"I can't control my dreams! It's Eric's blood. It may have been 100 years out there but only a year has passed here…"
"Enough!" She snarled. Her tone suggested I should shut up, so I did. She rose from her seat and started to slowly pace the floor in front of it. I kept my gaze on my own toes. She approached me and raised my chin with one hand so my eyes were forced to meet with her eyes. She stared into my eyes as if she were trying to look deep inside me.
"I believe it's true… I believe that Eric is your best chance at being released after being made…However… I need Laila to stay here while you look for Eric."
"What!? I can't! I.."
"I won't have you distracted by those glimmering blue eyes! I need you to remember that your loyalties lay here with your people and your daughter." She smiled wickedly. "Understood?"
My eyes welled up with tears but I nodded in agreement. What else could I do? Six years ago when we first learned about how the Hep V virus had mutated, the government felt confident that they could get it under control with the military and the help of the healthy Vamps… but it was only a matter of time before the world population became 1/3 Vampire, 1/3 Insatiable, (the name the infected Vamps acquired) and 1/3 Human or living because that included wares and shifters.
Many of the Vampires started locking themselves away in quarantine in hopes that the virus would eventually die out. It was better to slowly desiccate than to become infected… but as the human population continued to dwindle it was getting harder and harder to make it through each day… We were completely cornered when Sindri came for us.
"Yes, I understand."
"Excellent. The adoption ceremony will take place this evening. Until then you are dismissed. Spend some quality time with your child. She'll be in Sindri's care until you return."
I nodded and started back toward our suite. I still don't fully understand how the adoption ceremony will work but because of my royal lineage, however small it might be, I will become a child of the queen and one third of her powers will transfer to me. That will probably be a thousand times more than any fae power I've ever had before. I pulled the double doors open with both hands and once inside I closed them behind me, leaned against the doors and let myself slide into a seated position on the floor.