"Are you alright?"

No one made a sound except for me, and pieces of brick fell around the barely moving body of the brunette woman. My fangs retracted as I turned to face the blonde woman who remained in an obviously uncomfortable position. I reached out and grasped her elbow preferring to frighten her as little as possible; there was no doubt in my mind that she was terrified as is. I smiled in encouragement, willing her to be unharmed.

"Are you alright?" I asked again as she gripped my shoulder to steady herself. She wouldn't speak and I peeked at her throat, making sure her vocal cords had not been damaged.

She nodded eventually but her voice was tentative, "I've seen better days."

There was a sudden surge of anger that wasn't my own and I turned to find that the brunette was seconds from lunging at me. I shoved the blonde towards the man she had been defending and braced myself, just in time to be knocked off my feet and sent across the room and into one of the couches. I hit the back and tumbled over it, landing in a heap on the table that was in front of the couch.

I had not expected her retaliation, but it pissed me off nonetheless.

I'm totally going to get my ass kicked for this.

I ran at her, my shoulder collided with her chest and she was knocked into a crowd of people. My fangs were bared and I paced in front of the blonde and the other Vampire like a lioness protecting her young. I refused to look at anyone except the scantily clad brunette in front of me, and I could feel eyes boring into my skin and it made me cringe because I knew exactly who was staring at me.

"You stand no chance against me, kid," the brunette snarled at me, "I'm older than you."

I straightened and flashed my pearly whites at her, "If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I'd be a very rich woman."

She sneered at me and my eyebrow rose in amusement, "you may be older than I, but the fact of the matter is that I hold Authority over you, and you're walking on a thin line as it is."

She threw her head back and gave a wild laugh; I was not impressed with her level of disrespect and I turned my head a fraction towards Daimon, nodding slightly. Suddenly he was behind her, his hands wrenching her wrists behind her and she hissed in surprise, "What the fuck is this!"

I sauntered over and got in her face, "you're under arrest, Lorena."

"Under who's orders? I demand to know what the meaning of this is!"

"The Queen of New York insists," I stated hearing the clink, and then the hiss of her skin burning off because of the silver handcuffs.

She tried to lunge at me but was held back by the throat, "there is no Queen," she snarled.

"The King was sentenced to the True Death by Nan Flanagan three days ago, I am his replacement."

"But," I began, turning around to face her again. The surprise was apparent on her face, "I don't think of this as an arrest, I think of it more as… payback."

I grabbed her chin in my hand, yanking her down to my height and spoke coldly to her, "two hundred years ago you came into my home, how you did it, I really don't care but you drained the blood of my brother and sister and by your mistake, left me alive. They were eight years old, helpless and for a year I lived with the guilt. My family hated me, because of you."

She stared into my eyes- hazel into blue-green, and slowly, recognition dawned on her face, "I remember you. I thought you were dead."

"The King may have let you off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, Lorena but I however, have made it my obligation to deal with those who have broken the law. You, sweetheart, have done so multiple times. I am arresting you for the murders of six innocent humans; I will not tolerate the theft of mortal lives, especially in such a brutal way. I have seen the bodies, Lorena, and even I was sick to my stomach."

"It's in my nature…"

"You have had years to better yourself," my voice rose, "and you have failed to do so. There will be no leniency for offenders, and the penalty for killing a human is the True Death. You have killed six; it's a shame that I cannot kill you six times over."

Daimon chuckled and yanked her towards the exit and I called out to him, "she will remain in my Nest until I return. I will deal with her then, and if she tries to escape…"

He gave me an expectant look, patiently waiting for my verdict.

"Kill her."

҉

"Did she really kill your family?"

I set the bottle of Tru Blood on the bar counter and sighed deeply as a hand rubbed gentle pressure on my shoulder. Evelynn took the bar stool next to mine and looked at me pointedly, I knew for a fact that I was not leaving this spot without answering her questions, even if she asked too many.

"Yes," I spoke grimly; the red thickness coated the inside of my mouth and my lips. Almost like peanut butter, to put it in human terms.

Her small hand squeezed mine, "that's horrible." She spoke with such sympathy that it made my heart ache with the memory of that night.

"Death is not horrible," I said painfully, "but living with guilt is an entirely different story."

I did not look at her for fear of her attempts to pry more information out of me. Thankfully though, she chose not to press the matter but instead decided to voice a similar question to Daimon's previous one.

"Why are we here, Clara? Obviously it wasn't to haul that witch back to New York."

I tossed back the last mouthful of Tru Blood and wiped my mouth, "do you want the Truth or a Lie?"

I received a sharp glare and I patted her knee, "I don't know."

There were days that my progenies were more mature than I was, but granted that they were only fifty or so years old they were expected to act like children more than adults. Today was not one of those days where Evelynn's maturity exceeded my own.

"What the hell kind of answer is that, are you telling me that we were dragged away from home for your entertainment. GOSH CLARA I WOULD LIKE THE TRUTH FOR ONCE!"

Evelynn's voice was shrill and huffy at the same time; it was a groan and a tone of belittlement all at once.

"I assure you my dear; this is anything but entertainment for me."

"Let's go home then, Daimon might not do anything stupid if we leave now."

I was about to open my mouth and answer when my name was called, twice. I looked around but no one was paying attention to us and I turned back to Evelynn, "Did… you hear…?"

"I heard nothing."

"I swear I just heard…fuck," I growled, my head turned to the ceiling and a frustrated sound came from my lips, "goddamn, I was hoping to bail before…shit."

It was not a request this time, but a demand by a pair of voices. Voices that I had learned very quickly not to defy.

I couldn't even try to ignore the urge to go, it physically hurt me to resist, like a weight was crushing down on my shoulders. I knew it was a mistake to pull down the walls I had placed around myself; those barriers had been the only things keeping me sane. I've known for years that if I were to tear the barricades down I would never get them back up; I was stuck, trapped… I was forced to feel emotions that were not my own, obligated to sort out theirs as well as mine, and my emotions gave me enough problems as it is. Resisting was futile and I knew it, but I was still stubborn and turned my back on the direction that I was itching to go in. Irritation blossomed at the pit of my stomach and it quickly swelled to my heart, this was not my irritation. Soon it evolved into anger and I heard my name being called for a final time. This time I was forced to my feet and I gave my progeny an apologetic look.

"I must go, please see your brother off and tell him to come straight back here when he's dropped Lorena off. I don't want him to dawdle."

Evelynn knew that this was not a tone she should argue with and merely nodded before disappearing around the corner of the bar. I passed a bill towards the bartender and disappeared before he could give me change. I knew of the back room where the Sheriff of Area nine was located, just semi out of the sights of his guests but not so much that the Sheriff couldn't keep an eye on them.

When I entered the room there were two less bodies than I had expected, but two more than I had the desire to see. The tall blonde was crouched at the Sheriff's side, they spoke quietly to themselves and I cleared my throat for their attention. Of course I wouldn't put it past them to know that I was already there, but I just had to be the center of attention.

"You called?"

The two looked up at once to find my figure propped against the door frame, my legs and arms crossed and a slightly bored expression crossed my face. If I had been chewing gum, I would have just popped my bubble for punctuation.

There was a blast of wind and the blonde was in front of me, his frame loomed over mine and his icy blue eyes bore into my own, he was clearly intimidating.

"What took you so long?" He growled, his weight shifted to the other foot, arms crossing to match mine.

I shrugged him off, moving to press by him when he grabbed my arm and slammed me into the wall out of sight from everyone else and I glared at him, my tone touching icier waters, "I was having a drink," I blatantly expressed and when he didn't release me I sighed, "with my progeny, Eric."

"You know, this really isn't what I had in mind for our reunion," I stated, giving his hand that still held my arm a pointed look, "violence is never the answer."

Suddenly I had a snarling Vampire in my face and I winced at how small Eric Northman made me feel.

"Incoming," I muttered before calling out a warning, "Evelynn…"

"LET GO OF HER!"

"What did you do? Call in the midget army?"

"Eric," I growled at him and then turned to the seething girl to my right, "Evelynn, knock it off. I'm fine."

"Release her."

The three of us looked up to find the Sheriff on his feet, Eric immediately let go of me and Evelynn moved to block me, "how dare you?" She scolded Eric while attempting to mimic the stern look that I usually had on my face when I was dealing with incorrect behaviour. She failed miserably though, not very often was I even able to get Eric to back down with a look, only Godric was able to do that.

"It's been a while Clara," Godric spoke with an even tone, eyebrows raised slightly.

I remained silent, while Evelynn lingered in front of me. I pulled her to my side, keeping my hand firmly on her wrist, making sure that she would stay there.

"Too long," Eric agreed and I shot a brief glance at him before pushing Evelynn away.

"Go."

"But…"

I shot her a stern look and she flinched away, it wasn't very often when I pulled the Maker card on her or Daimon, but it worked wonders when I really needed it to, "I said go. Now."

She stood there with a frustrated look on her face and planted her hands on her hips, "are you not going to beat him down for manhandling you like that?"

My patience was running thin and I spoke quite heatedly, "Sweetheart, A) I cannot do that considering I am not in my jurisdiction, B) That's kind of difficult considering he's about five times my age, and C)," I paused, "he is my Maker. I therefore cannot reprimand him considering it has no hold."

"He's your maker!"

I heaved a great sigh and finally revealed something about myself that I never wanted to,

"Godric and Eric are my makers."