A/N - True Blood and SVM characters belong to Mrs. Harris, Alan Ball and HBO. Original characters and storyline are mine. Your response to this tale that I have spun keeps me smiling all day long. Thank you for your reviews, feedback and alerts. Now a bit of information regarding naming conventions. Specifically in regards to Appius Livius Ocella. Being allowed to call Appius, Ocella is like Charlie Brown allowing you to call him Chuck. Ocella is a pet name or a nick name, the permission to use normally granted to the closest of friends or family. Eric has earned that right, and it is the name he now uses. Which is why I've used Ocella instead of Appius to identify the Magister in Eric's point of view. Remember, all it means is that he is Chuck instead of Charlie. Some light use of foul language ahead.

Chapter 12

Scene 1 - EPOV - Tightrope

I watched as the door closed behind Bill and Sookie, confident any attempts on Bill's part to cause problems would be handled by my people. I turned my attention back to Ocella when he began to speak.

"The Authority is not pleased with the attention the Monarchs from this area have garnered lately, especially since Edgington's antics cost us the passing of the rights amendment," Ocella admonished. "Then we have the death of the former Magister, Magnus and a Queen who is guilty of pushing her blood to the human and were populace. A grievous offense not only because the blood is sacred but because the human drug enforcement agency is now aware of the addictive and healing qualities of our blood. We do not need human's poking their noses into our business!" Ocella snarled.

"The Queen had nothing to do with the sale of vampire blood. Northman is the guilty one." Andre protested just as I expected he would.

"Eric is only guilty of waiting too long to report his Queen's antics to the Authority. He obeyed the orders of his Queen to disperse the blood, admirable if not foolish in this instance." Ocella snapped at Andre. "Tell me, just how does Sophie-Anne plan to deal with the potential revelation of the shifter community to the humans? Or did she think the human agencies investigating the 'v' epidemic would not discover oddities like the burrow of Hotshot or trace some of the shipments to the fight clubs?"

"I am sure the human's will not discover the shifters. They have refused for centuries to see what is right in front of their noses, this will be no different," Andre said with disdain. "They will tire of hitting dead ends in their investigations or something else will grab their short attention span and all will be back to normal."

Ocella's lips twisted with scorn, "Because of Russell's television debut, humans are roaming the streets looking for opportunities to catch vampire killing humans. Flanagan has spent hours in the studio's rebutting hundreds of YouTube videos for the past few weeks. The number of drainers in this area alone has increased a hundred fold. Medical agencies are asking for vampire volunteers willing to let them test their blood, not to mention lucrative offers from drug companies. Human's are opportunistic when they scent blood in the water, and thanks to your King and Queen, there is plenty of ours to scent."

"The Queen will deal with any further incidents, you have her word," stated Andre.

"See that she does, or she will no longer be Queen," Ocella warned. "It is only her faithful service in the past that allows her to remain on the throne."

"Eric anything else you need to inform the Queen about before Andre leaves us?" Ocella asked obviously done debating with Andre.

"A word of warning about a coven of witches that also includes shifters heavily involved in the 'v' commodity. We destroyed a partial coven recently. They should be reeling from the loss of one of their lieutenants and a powerful witch but still pose a hazard. They are being assisted and possibly supplied by vampires not from this area." I announced deciding that placing a few cards on the table in front of Andre could possibly be advantageous.

"Ah yes," Andre purred, "I believe you had a personal investment in the swift and discreet handling of the incident. I am delighted to see firsthand that rumors of your...decrepitude were false."

I said nothing, waiting patiently for Andre to get the hint and leave so that Ocella and I could have a private conversation before dawn. My attention was caught by the text Pam sent me about taking Sookie to the house.

Andre used the interruption as an excuse and stood, "As much as I would like to continue our discussion, I must return to the Queen immediately for a debriefing. She will be quite upset the Telepath will not be returning with me." My eyes flashed a warning. "The Magister has spoken Eric, your claim will be honored," he said sardonically before bowing to Ocella and leaving.

"Sophie-Anne is foolish to give him so much power. She may find her child lusting after her throne," Ocella stated after Andre left before turning to me. "So Eric are you ready to be King?" he surprised me by asking.

"Not in this century," I denied adamantly. "I have no interest in becoming such a large target." I was mentally reinforcing the declaration with a 'Hell no'.

"So instead you create a permanent bond with a mortal telepath. You trade one liability for another. She is undoubtedly beautiful, is she worth becoming your Achilles heel?"

"She is worth it, in ways you could only imagine," I whisper as memories of the last few days flood my mind.

"Then she will have my personal protection, outside of my duties as Magister," he announced firmly. "I will not have you seek the sun like your maker if she dies."

I was startled by his announcement. I never realized Ocella held me in such a high regard. We were close, yes, because of his relationship with Godric, but not close enough to meet more than once every two or three centuries. The last time I had seen Ocella was when he came to Godric for help with his newest child. Ocella had managed to turn the teenager Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia while his family was being slaughtered around him in 1918. Either the turning had gone wrong, or the hemophilia the young man suffered from as a human affected the blood magic, for the boy went mad some twenty years ago, slaughtering hundreds of humans and risking our secret.

The boy's affliction was slowly driving his maker insane through their bond. While he still had control of his own urges, Ocella contacted Godric and asked for his assistance. I was visiting Godric at the time and both of us went to Greece, where Ocella was living to help him. We were able to send the boy to his true death and clean up his mess, but it took a few years for Ocella to return to normal. Godric actually gave him some of his blood to help him heal. Because of my help, Ocella allowed me to drop the formalities and use his personal name. This is the first time we've talked since then.

"I have every intention to be around at least as long as you have," I teased Ocella who I suspected was older than he admitted.

"I feared your Maker's yearning for the sun may have tainted you. I am glad to see I was wrong," Ocella admitted catching my eyes. "When I heard 'Death' had left this earth I feared the Norseman would soon follow. The two of you were always close. Instead I find the Viking pup taking on the 'Raven' and stirring up trouble in Louisiana," he said brusquely.

"Russell killed my family when I was human. Godric and I searched for him for centuries. I could not walk away from the opportunity." I snarled standing to pace around the room. 'The Authority would do nothing. Russell needed to be stopped."

Ocella watched me roam the office like a caged beast. "So you let a council of vampires, less than a few centuries old goad you into taking on a vampire thousands of years your senior without waiting for back up? You should have called me then! If Thalia was not addicted to the American news we would have been left in ignorance!"

"I could wait no longer!" I exclaimed. "I had to use the resources I had available before they were taken away."

"You mean the Telepath and your pathetic Queen," he scoffed. "So you were successful and Russell met his true death."

I growled knowing Ocella would not like my answer, "He is contained, it was the best I could do."

He was surprised, "You gave Nan his fangs as you were instructed. The Authority took this as proof of Russell's demise. You could not end him?"

I hesitated anticipating Ocella's reaction to match Sookie's and Pam's. "Godric appeared to me and asked me to spare Russell's life," I revealed waiting for the storm to fall.

Ocella stared at me with narrowed eyes. 'I will pretend I did not hear your lips speak such foolishness." He sighed, "I will have to report the truth to the Authority. You will have to show me where he is so I may judge for myself he is no longer a threat."

"As you wish," I bowed to him with no little relief before taking my seat. "I am happy to have Thalia and the others at my back right now, thank you for sending them. But of all positions, I never expected you to end up as Magister."

"I owe fealty to no one, you know that. Besides, you refuse to take the throne how else could I put Sophie-Anne in her place?" he explained shrugging his shoulders with a wry grin. Then he asked me, "You recovered all of your blood and your child is well?"

"Yes," I admitted. "Thanks to my weak little telepath." I finished with a cocky grin.

He snorted, "Yet this wondrous creature is still human?"

I sobered immediately, "She has no wish to join our world. I will honor her choice."

Ocella stood and left me with a warning, "You may feel differently when she lies in your arms dieing."

I thought of his parting words as I locked the bar and headed home. Sookie's mortality weighed heavily on my shoulders, I was well aware of the risks. I also believed that over time she would change her mind. Not only because she was such a survivor but because things were different now. As a vampire she would have many more opportunities to help others if she so wished. She believed her God would forgive Godric and grant him access to Heaven If my visions had any truth to them then Godric did find his peace. So why should Sookie only walk the earth for decades before spending eternity in her heaven, when she could spend centuries with the same result?

I laughed. I admit that my philosophical and religious arguments were a bit weak. But one had to use whatever tools one was given to win a debate. I just had to keep her safe and be patient. The patience would be the easy part.

When I arrived at the house I found Sookie asleep in my bed wearing one of my shirts. I showered then eased into bed next to her nudging her awake with kisses. She was so sweet, so addictive. I had accepted taking several more weeks if not months to win her heart. Never had I thought to walk into such a scene set for seduction as I had the other evening. When Sookie makes a decision, she does so full speed ahead.

She roused and we spoke for a bit, as it was so close to dawn. Now that I had her I refused to do anything but savor our time together. She was tired so I urged her to rest, talk could wait for later. I watched her sleep and felt the echo of Ocella's words roll through my mind.

Scene 2 - SPOV - Promise Me

Is there anything better then waking in your lover's arms? Not if your lover is Eric Northman. Right now Eric was showing his appreciation at finding me in his bed at sunset.

"Oh yes I can get used to this my lover," he whispered as he nibbled my neck.

My body was writhing with pleasure but a small part of me still felt insecure. I reached for him, urging him to look at me while I asked, "Eric I need to know if I am only a blip on the Northman radar before we both get used to this." How long before, like Yvetta, I find myself dumped on the side of the road when he tired of me? There were so many sophisticated women out there vying for his attention. How could an inexperienced barmaid hope to keep it for long?

Eric stopped his ministrations and stared at me with a frown on his face, "You are having second thoughts? You regret yielding to me?"

"No!" I exclaimed I would never regret letting him into my bed, not now. "My only regret is having refused you for so long." He rewarded me with a brilliant smile followed by a cocky grin. I took a deep breath and pressed on before I let him resume his seduction. "I need you to promise me that you will tell me when you start to get bored." My eyes shifted no longer able to hold his gaze. "So that I can be prepared when you replace me."

I was expecting him to feed me platitudes, maybe stroke my ego a bit. I was not expecting the surge of fury which rolled over him and through to me.

His fangs dropped and not from arousal when he hissed at me, "You still doubt me, us! You believe I would treat you like a fang banger or a blood whore?"

I feared that my answer would only make things worse, so I remained silent. What was there not to doubt about a thousand year old alpha male tiring of my company. The human men barely gave me a moment of their time, and look at Bill, he had to be forced to seduce me. Lorena only had to twitch her nose once for him to leap from my bed.

Eric snarled and rolled away from me, stepping into his jeans. "We are bonded Sookie. You know my feelings for you," he said over his shoulder. "But it does not matter how I feel or what I say. Hell, it makes no difference what I do."

When he turned back to me I gasped at the harshness of his face, the coldness in his eyes. The bond was silent now, he had blocked it.

"When you look at me all you can see is Bill. How he hurt you, betrayed you, left you when you needed him the most for another woman." His voice is empty. He walked to the closet and grabbed some of my clothes and threw them at me. "You cannot trust that I would not do the same."

I beseeched him, "Eric I don't think you are like Bill at all!" Yet was that not why I asked the question in the first place, did I not fear Eric would walk away from me just like Bill?

"And that Sookie is a lie. Get dressed, Pam will drive you home."

"Eric, I ..." I tried again to explain, to make him understand.

For a moment his eyes warmed and my heart filled with hope, but then they hardened again. "You forget I can feel you too. Right now you are regretting your honesty, trying to back track and pretend that the question was not asked."

At this second he was the mind reader, the tears rose and began to flow from my eyes. I could not deny the truth in his words.

"I will not shirk my duty to protect you. You will have someone monitoring your safety twenty four seven. You will also be provided for as vampire law requires. My day man will take care of the particulars. Good night Ms. Stackhouse." He turned and walked away without looking back.

I had hurt him, badly. I flew from the bed and dressed faster than I ever have. I raced upstairs, waiting impatiently for the last door to slide open only to barrel into Pam.

"What the fuck have you done Sookie," she growled at me, fangs bared.

"I just asked him for a promise!"

"Well it must have been a fuckin doozy, what was it?" she demanded grabbing my arms.

My nose was so plugged that I had to gasp for air while I tried to answer, an added difficulty since she was shaking me like a ragdoll. "I asked him to promise he would tell me when he started to get bored, so that I would not have to watch when he replaced me."

She stopped shaking for a split second and said with incredulity, "You have got to be fuckin kidding me." She gave me another hard shake to emphasize her words, "He has been fighting every vampire instinct he has which is demanding he turn you so he could keep you at his side forever. But no, you think you are too good for our world. He risks everything he has built and his very life for you." My teeth are rattling now. "For God's sake he loves you, you stupid girl." She pushed me away with disgust.

"He's never said he does!" I yelled right back at her when I could breathe.

She retorted, "Have you?" Her words striking with deadly accuracy.

"No," I answered honestly.

"Come, I need to get you home and then back to Fangtasia before he destroys the bar like he is currently destroying his office."

I was quiet on the drive home, mulling over everything said.

"Do you hate me now Pam?" I asked dreading her response.

She did not answer right away. "I think we forget just how young you truly are," she sighed. "No I do not hate you. I want to take you over my knee and spank you until you cannot sit down." I sputtered. She ignored me and continued, "I would not take pleasure from it but I do not think you would survive if I tried to knock some sense into you instead."

We were sitting in my drive way now. I reached for the door, preparing to leave. "Thank you Pam. I appreciate the ride home."

She beat me to my back door. "Sookie I need you to take my next words seriously."

I nodded, "Ok."

"If you cannot fully accept Eric as he is. If you have to keep measuring and testing him against some fictitious perfect man, human or otherwise. Then let him go. Stay away from him, for both your sakes." She was dead serious. I could see it in her eyes. "I am still your friend Sookie; let me know if you need anything. If you do decide to take the risk I will help you."

The tears began to fall again and I flung my arms around her in a hug, "Thank you Pam," I whispered.

Scene 3- SPOV - Regret

I had plenty of time to think about that night. Eric was true to his word. Bobby Burnham showed up Sunday morning with a pile of paperwork for me to sign. Eric had made a contract for my services as a telepath where he would act as my agent. If the Queen or anyone else demanded my services, they would be have to pay for my expenses and lodging as well as for the guards that would be required to go with me, this was on top of a obscene hourly wage.

From Eric as my bonded, I received a bank account where a monthly allowance would be deposited. The amount would be a minimum of ten thousand dollars a month to be increased as my needs changed. When I had cooled down from that bit of news, Alcide showed up on my doorstep with a bunch of contractors. He had been instructed to fully secure my home. I objected, vehemently.

"It doesn't matter Sookie," Alcide said completely uncomfortable being caught in the middle. "Everything is paid for already, in spades."

"I suppose you can't just tell him you did the job and keep the money?" Ok, I admit that was a dumb thing to ask of him.

"Are you really that stupid Sookie?" he asked me in disgust. "I like breathing."

"Just get it done then Alcide," I said giving in to the inevitable.

When the contractors were finished my house was protected from fire, theft, flooding and hurricanes and probably a speeding bullet. Ok, it's a bit of an exaggeration, I think, since they had also installed iron reinforcements in various places so that a fairy would be mighty uncomfortable trying to pop in. You wouldn't know it from looking at the house though. The doors and shutters were still the only obvious changes. Even the security panels were hidden tucked away inside various bits of molding.

I returned to work at Merlotte's, working double shifts whenever I could. I never heard from Eric and despite leaving my side of the bond open nothing came through the bond from him. My only comfort was the connection still humming in my mind.

I spent Thanksgiving with Jason at his house. He didn't say anything about the shadow following me, Thalia, my ever present evening guardian. Nor did he ask me anything about Eric or vampires in general. We talked about Sam and Tara and the rest of the town. When he told me about a couple of odd phone calls from people asking for me and described the odd man who showed on his door step one evening, I decided he needed to know about our hidden relatives. The man he described as tall and good looking with a slim and muscled body sporting a riot of long dark hair sounded an awful lot like my fairy intended.

I started to tell him by talking about Gran first and how much she met to me, to the two of us, then asked him if he hadn't thought it a bit strange, how our mother had acted around our father. I told him about Fintan and Gran, about her wish for children. I told him about how and why our parents were killed. I told him how the fairies had sought me out when I displayed a bit of magic, and the reason they left him alone for now being he had yet to show any special abilities. I explained our heritage was one reason I had no blood type. Before he could get all grumpy over not getting any attention, I told him what happened to me in the land of the Fae. I showed him my scars and explained in explicit detail every bit of their torture.

He was quiet for a long time and then he pulled me into a hug, rocking me while I cried for all we lost and could have been. He promised he would not tell a soul about our secret. He only argued when I gave him a check, drawn against my vampire allowance, to use to secure his house from intruders of the supernatural type. I even gave him Alcide's number.

Pam called me every night, giving me all the Fangtasia gossip. All but news of Eric that is. She visited once and for the first time I got the whole story on how vampire politics really worked. I learned about the Authority and the Magister's. I learned how a Sheriff is chosen and how the Monarch can be removed at the whim of the Authority. I learned that the division of the areas and states did not always obey human boundaries. Some states had been combined into one vampire territory, while others had been divided like California and Florida.

Pam told me I need to be informed for my own safety. I could not remain ignorant of the life I was involved in, especially if a vampire from another state requested my services. She taught me court etiquette and the differences between the Old World, Europe and the other Countries, and the New World which was North and South America. I absorbed everything like a sponge. To understand Eric I had to understand his world and the politics he had survived for a millennium.

The only friend I couldn't spend time with was Tara. She was still incognito. The only thing keeping Lafayette from filing a missing persons report was a letter he found stuffed under the cushion of his couch. She had told him not to follow her or search for her. She needed to disappear and start over away from all the supernatural baggage and her psychotic family.

While my telepathy had made her uneasy Tara had been my best friend growing up. She tolerated my quirks better than anyone else. Now I wished my brother hadn't been so blind to her love for him. Maybe they could have been good for each other. She wouldn't have run to Eggs and Maryanne then, or used Sam to forget about Jason. She ran away to get away from it all, instead of staying and letting her friends help her through it. I wryly thought to myself, Tara had pulled a Sookie.

I was pretty good at that, running when things got uncomfortable, blaming others for my faults. I was so self righteous about my beliefs, despite having them challenged multiple times. I had taken lives in defense of my own, or defending those I loved. I would kill again if it would keep someone safe. My faith in God had never wavered, but I never granted the same faith to those I claimed to love.

It was two weeks before Christmas, a very special holiday for me. I was done arguing with myself. I missed Eric. I needed him, and it was time I admitted that I loved him, all of him. I had to take the risk he could reject me because of the pain I had caused, but he was worth fighting for. He was the one who had persistently pursued me despite my refusal, could I do any less? No I could not. Eric Northman would be mine again before Christmas.

My mental alarms fired off precisely when I lifted the phone to call Pam. A quick scan showed a void speeding toward the back porch. Since the void I knew as Thalia was not in swift pursuit I figured it had to be a friendly.

My heart was beating frantically when I threw open the back door before they could knock, hoping against hope it was Eric.

The last vampire I expected to see would be Appius Livius Ocella, Magister, standing on my back porch wearing a t-shirt stenciled with a peace emblem, ragged jeans and flip flops.

"Little girl," he drawled. "We need to have a serious talk."

Call me foolish, I invited him in.