A/N: Here we have Sookie's POV and honestly, this chapter possessed me in a totally unhealthy way. I was all kinds of nauseous getting through this. I do want to explain something upfront. While Sookie is a smart girl, she doesn't have the centuries of experience that Eric and Felipe have in the art of deception. She is aware of that, but she is also overconfident in her abilities, after having decades of reading humans. Keep that in mind before completely vilifying my girl. Storiesforevy is my savior for her encouragement and pre-reading this for me. So not my characters, but they're on my messed up trip. Enjoy.

SPOV

I woke up and felt dirty. I ran my hands over my skin and I was naked and in dirt. Eric wasn't near me. I tried to feel for him with my mind but he wasn't there. I felt for my makers bond and pulled as hard as I could. This was not right. This was very, very wrong.

I could feel my maker getting closer. Thank fucking God! I couldn't think of an explanation as to why I would be in the ground, but I knew he would have an explanation for me. I clawed my way through the earth to get to the surface.

I came up and saw that the room was surrounded by silver bars. I didn't recognize any of this. I knew that Eric didn't have a chamber like this, at least not that I knew of. A hunger that I hadn't felt in weeks burned at my throat. I needed to feed, badly.

I rinsed myself off under the small shower and dried off with a towel that was left there. I curled into a ball in the corner of the cell, as far as I could get away from the gleaming bars. Just being surrounded by them made me shudder and feel weak. My maker was getting closer. I needed him like nothing I had ever felt before.

Felipe entered the hall between my cell and others that were empty. "Sookie, it's good to see that you have risen well. I imagine you are hungry, yes?"

"Where's Eric? Why isn't he coming to me?" I asked weakly. I needed to get away from all of this silver.

"My dear, Sheriff Northman has accepted his punishment for an unauthorized turning and gone back to Louisiana. He was... shall we say, fined, for his transgression and the payment was you."

"No. He would never do that. I want to see him," I cried, but I knew in my heart it was true. He had left me here.

Felipe donned a pair of gloves and asked the Were guard that I hadn't noticed for the keys. He unlocked my cell and handed me a floor-length robe. "Cover yourself and after you feed, I will explain the change in circumstances." I wrapped the silky material around me and followed him to his chamber.

Right after we entered, Sayuri, the Asian donor I had fed from the other day entered. She bowed to the king and walked to sit next to me. "I know that you're hungry, Sookie. Feed," he encouraged me.

I couldn't argue. I swept the girl's thick black hair away from her neck and my fangs dropped down at the feel of her pulse speeding up and the smell of her blood just under her skin. I stroked her cheek to calm and soothe her before licking over her artery and biting. Fuck, her blood was good. The warmth burned a trail down my parched throat and I could feel strength returning to my muscles and senses. I lost myself in her taste.

"Sookie, stop." Although my hunger was nowhere near abated, my head popped up and I stopped. I ran my tongue over the wounds to seal them and turned questioningly to His Majesty.

"You would have drained her, my dear. I needed to stop you." I looked at the girl and she was paler than porcelain and her eyes were glazed.

"Shit. That's never happened before. How did you stop me?" I asked.

"My maker's command, Sookie." He looked at me with a smirk and a gleam in his eye. "You are too valuable to be ended, so I modified my usual punishment, just for your special case. I had one of my loyal guards enter your suite with the sheriff," he said, wrinkling his nose in distaste, "and take your body to the cells, where a hole had already been prepared for you. Once the sheriff made his choice, I drained you and replaced his inferior blood with my own, the blood of a king. So now you are my progeny. The sheriff never deserved a gift such as yourself."

"But... I can't believe he would just leave me here. No. He wouldn't. I want to call him. Does he know what happened?" I gasp, trying to figure out what the hell has happened.

"Oh, my dear. You need to realize that I hold his existence in my hands. If he does anything that even just slightly irritates me, I can make his existence more miserable than it already is. He knows that I have that kind of power over him and he didn't even attempt to challenge me when I told him. He knows better. He's been sent back to that backwoods little shithole knowing that you are mine. Now my dear, do you have any questions before we continue, because I have several things I need to ask you."

Shit, I had so many questions my head was spinning. Eric had just given me up without a fight? I didn't have the slightest idea what the hell was going on, but I had no choice but to obey my new maker, which was a fucked-up concept if I'd ever head one. I didn't even know that could be done. Rather than confuse myself further, I just shook my head at the questions, but asked for another donor. I was really hungry. Felipe smiled indulgently and called in Tatsuo. He said that the boy is Sayuri's younger brother. He hadn't been in the group of donors that I scanned when Eric and I arrived at the palace, so I took his hand and listened. "Your Majesty, how long has he been at the palace?"

He smiled. "He just arrived the day before yesterday. His sister's blood is so delectable that I thought another of the same vintage would be good to have on hand."

I shuddered briefly, wondering if any of the Louisiana vamps that tasted me had thought of my brother in the same terms, at least, before he became a part-time panther. "Has anyone here fed on him yet?"

"He was a gift to welcome you to the palace as my child," he said with a smile. It was strange how I didn't think he looked predatory anymore. But, then again, he already had me.

"He has... Your Majesty, he's thinking in Japanese, but would you have any idea what banpaia uirusu is?" I asked, trying hard not to butcher the unfamiliar words.

"Kuso," the donor spat, and his eyes started darting around. The Japanese in his brain became intermixed with random words of English. The king tried to rouse the boy's sister, still dazed and weak on a chaise lounge off to the side. When Tatsuo saw what was going on, he tried to forceably remove himself from my grasp. Yeah, like that was going to happen. I could hear the king whispering and repeating the unfamiliar phrase to Sayuri, who turned her head slowly and shot visual daggers at her brother before whispering back to the king.

Standing, he stalked slowly toward the boy, who suddenly looked frightened and my nostrils were filled with the smell of urine. "Vampire virus. I believe our new donor here is carrying sino-AIDS. You are a marvel, my child. Very well done." He paged for a Were to have to boy taken to a cell and tested, then rang for one of the donor's I had previously scanned. While this one didn't smell as appetizing as Sayuri, I could make due and slake my thirst. I felt my other hungers start to take over, but I couldn't. Not with the king. I couldn't do that to Eric.

"My dear, I know what you are feeling," his accented voice broke through my haze. "The sheriff gave you to me. I have no doubt that he is already indulging in the buffet of fangbangers at his beck and call and that loathsome little bar of his. I, however, am here for you, ready to... ease your suffering... in any way that I can." He looks at me with a leer of pure lust and I had to try to hide my internal shudder. While he was a very attractive man, I still had my human morals and wouldn't give myself over to my baser impulses. I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to control myself.

Felipe nodded and sat down next to me. "I need to know more about you, my dear. Let's start with the gifts that have transferred, shall we? We have established that you still have your wonderful telepathy. Let's see how you do on the two-natured." He called in the guard from the hall and seemed to wait with baited breath.

I see the mountainous man enter and gasp unnecessarily. "Quinn?" I whispered. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed bitterly. "I was forbidden from entering Northman's area, thanks to you. I still had debts that I needed to pay to His Majesty here, so I'm stuck on guard duty until I'm paid off... or until my mom fucks up again. Which ever comes first."

"John, I know you don't think I made the right choice..."

He cut me off. "I know you didn't, Sookie. He paid a fine with you. Is that what you call putting you first? Is that how that motherfucker returns your love? By using you as currency? It was all over the palace how he just left you here within minutes of waking. And he fucking turned you weeks before he did that. You let yourself get suckered by his pretty face and what did you gain? A new home and a king for a master. Hope your happy with your choices, because I'm ecstatic that I got out of your life while the getting was good."

I heard nothing until I touched his arm. Then I could hear and see everything as though I was watching a movie, seeing everything play out as he imagined it and I recoiled from the violence. It would do no good trying to correct his assumptions. The point was that I could read him as clearly as a regular human and nodded to the king. He waved his hand and Quinn left the room with a snarl.

For additional proof, three more Shifter guards (big guys who turned into a bear, a wolverine, and gorilla, which was really hard not to laugh at) were presented for reading. As soon as I touched them, I would be flooded with their thoughts. I passed those tests with flying colors. Now the part I was scared of.

"Tell me dear, when Northman presented you, could you read me during my questioning?" His voice sounded as though he were asking me, but the tone was clearly a command.

"Yes, sir. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone else of the gift, not even Eric's first child." It was hard to speak in such impersonal tones, but I wasn't able to do much else.

"I want you to try reading me now," he asked softly and took my hand.

I was assaulted with images and thoughts. I tried to concentrate and focus, straightening out the jumble. It was like another movie. I saw Eric stride into the throne room where Felipe was feeding on a male donor that was from the cleared group. "Where is my child, Your Majesty," he asked.

"You knew the punishment when you turned her, Sheriff. The punishment is loss of the child. I have her in a holding cell. You can consider her loss as a fine for your transgression or... we may be able to come to some other agreement," the king responded calmly.

"What do you want? I must have her back," Eric asked, his cool blue eyes calculating.

"Take over as Regent for Louisiana and she's yours."

Eric balked, his face a mask. "I don't want it. I like having my little slice of the state. I never wanted regency or royalty. I won't do it."

Felipe sat back in his throne and templed his fingers under his chin. "Those are your choices, Sheriff. Become Regent and have your child returned to you, or leave her here and return to your little backwater bailiwick. It's entirely up to you."

Eric turned and walked out without a word. I see him getting into a car with his bags and leaving the palace.

I let go of the king's hand and feel tears dripping down my cheeks. He just left me here. He loved his privacy and little slice of authority more than he wanted me. How could I have been so fooled by him? I thought he loved me without limits, but I had been so wrong.

The king looked at me with pity in his eyes. "My dear, you see he had a choice. He gave you up. I am sorry that you had to pay his price, but aren't your fortunate that you no longer have to bow to his command. I am a good and generous maker who will give you everything your heart ever could and ever will desire."

"What... what about my brother? My friends and my family? Do they know I'm here?" I stammered.

"It was the sheriff's responsibility to notify them. Sookie, dear, it is too dangerous for you to return to Louisiana and I cannot have your relatives in the palace if you want to keep them safe. A clean break is best. Trust me."

He'd been around for close to eight hundred and fifty years. I had no choice but to trust him with survival; he'd been able to stay around for that long. I wanted to ask him about a change I'd noticed about my ability.

"Your Majesty, I do have a question. When I was here with Sheriff Northman, I could hear you easily, but I haven't been able to read anyone so far without some sort of physical contact. Is that normal, for gifts to change depending on the maker?"

He smiled indulgently. "No vampire knows what gifts, if any, they will rise with. Some of them are passed down from maker to progeny; others appear out of nowhere. Focus and see if you are able to read anything from me without touching me."

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could feel his "void" as I'd referred to vampiric minds in the past, but I could hear nothing. I felt his hand touch my bare shoulder under the robe and was inundated with his thoughts. All of them were of he and I... doing many, many things. None of them clothed. Just feeling his lust had been difficult, but manageable. Seeing the acts made my core pulse and I immediately felt guilty. He removed his hand and asked me to open my eyes.

"My dear, do not feel ashamed of wanting pleasure, especially not with your maker. My goal is to teach you how to survive. But why live a pleasure-less existence? You are mine now. Let me take care of all of your needs."

His voice was seductive, but I couldn't turn off my heart. Although he had left me here, used me to pay a fine to keep from being named fucking Regent, I still loved Eric. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I can't. I just can't do that," I trailed off in a whisper.

He patted the covered part of my arm in a gesture of understanding. "I will always be here for you, Sookie. As your maker, it's my honor to do so. Let me take you to your new suite and you can have some alone time to get acclimated to your new situation. Also, when we're alone, you can call me Felipe. 'Your Majesty' is for my inferiors."

I followed him down a series of corridors until we reached a series of rooms that were much more richly appointed than others I had seen. He opened a door to what would be my new rooms. I was speechless at the grandeur before me.

He had done some kind of research and found the styles and colors I liked. It was too much to be coincidence. The king sleigh bed was make of lightly stained oak. The bedding was navy with a belle quilt in shades of red and blue. The carpet was a deep wine red and the furniture in the sitting room all coordinated, but looked comfortable. I walked into the attached bathroom and was stunned even further.

My tub would have easily be classified as a small pool and the shower could have encompassed my entire bathroom in Bon Temps. The tile had radiant heat so my feet would never have to touch a cold floor. There was even a towel warmer between the bathtub and the shower.

"Your Maj... Felipe. It's beautiful. Thank you," I said sincerely.

"You're welcome, my dear. Your comfort here is important to me. Tomorrow, I will send you out to go shopping for clothes and other needs since you only have what came with you from Louisiana." Again with the wrinkled nose. "Take some time for yourself, Sookie. Explore the palace at your leisure. I do have only one rule." I waited with baited breath. I knew there would be a catch.

"Do not make any attempt to contact Sheriff Northman, his progeny, your family of any relation, or any friends in Louisiana. This is for your own good, my dear, as well as my own. I don't like feeling your sadness. This is a clean slate for you to work with. Have a good night," he added as he left the room.

I dressed in some yoga pants and a t-shirt I had intended to wear on the flight back to Shreveport and decided to explore. I found the library and was impressed that the number of first-edition classics that Felipe had, many of them signed. A few more turns and I also discovered the donor rec room where the palace donors relaxed and socialized. I met a number of Nevada vampires that worked for the king and noticed immediately that I was treated with a high level of respect. Being the king's child had more than a few perks.

I took some books from the library and returned to my suite. Laying on the bed, I immersed myself in bygone eras through written word and my own imagination. When dawn arrived, I fell into my day-death in complete comfort on my cushy new bed.

I rose with confusion, the previous day's conversations and revelations rushing over me as I regained consciousness. I made my way to the donor room for a meal and made sure to read the boy before I bit into his neck. He was delicious. The king met me as I left.

"My dear, here is what you need to go shopping. Feel free to buy to your heart's content. I want you to be comfortable here and I have told Miranda not to let you leave any store empty handed." He handed me a black American Express card and I felt my eyes go wide. I had heard of these. There was no limit on them. I thought it had been some sort of urban legend of the poor. I saw a pretty redhead with pale green eyes approach the king's side and she smiled at me.

"I'm Miranda, another of His Majesty's progeny. It's nice to meet you, Sookie. Let's make this card smoke, shall we?" she asked, taking my sleeve-covered wrist and leading me to a Ford Excursion. "My usual car is a Porsche, but I have a feeling we're going to need the cargo room."

She took me to the strip and a few malls. We spent the hours between sunset and almost dawn hitting stores and boutiques, purchasing everything I would need as the child of a king. I didn't consider it as being "kept", because I did nothing to be considered a mistress. I also knew Felipe had a reputation to uphold as king and I would need to fit the image as his child. Everything spent was an investment. It was the only way to keep the guilt away.

I missed my bond with Eric, though. I missed the connection that I thought we'd had. I missed his wicked sense of humor, so much like my own. I missed the way that he just got me. I knew that once he left, Felipe couldn't have left him as my maker due to that bond. That seemed like common sense, for self-preservation. But I didn't understand how he could have left me. He had worked so hard to convince me over years and months that he loved me, only to leave me when presented with a challenge? It didn't make sense.

I tried to ask my new "sister" Miranda about it, only to have her mouth close tightly. She was more than happy to gossip about the palace vamps and the love lives of the donors like they were her own personal soap operas, but she was strangely mum on the topic of our shared maker, or anything she may have seen the Area 5 sheriff do or not do during his short visit. I wasn't stupid enough to try to grab her hand while I tried to fill idle time with questions. She would be expecting that. I wanted to catch her unaware.

Never, in my life, had someone been able to lie to me in their thoughts. Their thoughts would double behind the lie causing some kind of overlap or echo, but everything I read from Felipe rang sure and true and it broke my heart a little, because I just couldn't understand.

He was never less than loving and understanding toward me, helping me understand my new talents and how to shield myself when forced with physical contact. I knew that was in preparation of the night he felt I would inevitably come to his bed, but I kept waiting for my heart to heal from the Eric-shaped hole that was left there when he gave me up.

Months and years passed. Time really did seem endless when you weren't faced with the mirror showing the aging of your body and those around you were either as ageless as yourself or replaced once they were no longer visually appealing. It must have been about three or four years when Felipe called all of the Las Vegas vampires that either worked or lived at the palace together for a short meeting before beginning our night.

"I will be away from Nevada for about a week, attending to some royal business. Miranda will be leaving with me, so I will be leaving Cameron in charge." A dark, swarthy man of obviously Pacific origins bowed deeply. "I expect you all to give him the same respect as you would give me. I must attend to packing and we will be leaving at first dark tomorrow."

I bowed as expected and went into the kitchen. I wasn't able to find anything I either wanted to do or was qualified to do in any of Felipe's many businesses, so I offered to cook for the donors. It wasn't in public, and it was a skill that, although I didn't eat food anymore, was a soothing and familiar activity and I enjoyed it.

While I put together some dinner for the night's donors, Felipe summoned me to his suite. It wasn't uncommon for him to want to talk to me about my nightly plans. He was, in all honesty, a very kind maker, never forcing anything upon me that wasn't for my own good. I bowed when I entered and took a seat in the corner of his private sitting room.

"Sookie, I want you to take some time for yourself while I'm away. You work hard and have earned some time to have fun. You have earned my trust and I want to treat you." He opened a safe in the wall and pulled out a long thin envelope. "You have expressed an interest in travel. While I have to attend to my tedious royal business, I want you to take the opportunity to explore the destination of your choosing, These vouchers can be redeemed for the first-class international flight of your choice. Look over the Anubis options for the next days flights. Paris, London, Tokyo, Athens, Istanbul... anywhere you want to go." He forwarded a website to my phone that would direct one to the highest class, vampire friendly hotels and attractions of any area. I kissed his cheek in thanks before I went to check flights.

I hadn't thought to use my shields. A heavy, white embossed card floated through his mind, engraved with gold ink.

Freyda, Queen of Oklahoma announces her marriage to Sheriff of Area Five, Louisiana, Eric Northman.

Followed by coronation as King-Consort of Oklahoma and Queen-Regent of Louisiana.

It went on to list times, addresses, and dress code. All I could feel was the shattering of what was left of my heart. He had left me with Felipe because he didn't want the power and responsibility of regency or royalty. Now he was going to be ruling, at least in some part, two fucking states? That MOTHERFUCKER!

I made my way out of the king's suite, but bypassed my own room. I took off running until I was in the desert, the same spot where Eric and I had held each other for the last time; the last time that I could have considered him mine. I yelled in rage at the sky and felt myself come off the ground. It was the first time since Eric left me that I had a truly all-powerful, all-encompassing emotion and I laughed bitterly. I let the rage take me over a little more and I gained height in the air. The angrier I got, the more I rose. "Way to fucking show me, huh, Eric?" I screamed to the empty rocks and sand below me. "Give me a gift for all fucking eternity and not hang around to show me how to fucking use it!"

I forced myself to calm down and slowly lost altitude. Once the soles of my feet met the ground, I took of running back to the palace. Screw planning a flight. I would go to the airport with Felipe tomorrow and take the first flight Anubis offered out the the fucking country. I would look for accommodations while I was on the plane to where-ever.

But I had spent over three years in a celibate state, mourning my loss of Eric. No more. He certainly wasn't denying himself; why should I? He had no sense of fucking loyalty... why the fuck should I? I was going to make up for lost time.

I entered my suite and pulled open my closet. I still had a love of cute lingerie, even if I had no one to wear it for. It also tended to last longer as it was no longer being torn from my body at every available opportunity. Nope. Not going to think about that or him. It was my turn to have fun without strings. I pulled out a purple lace teddy with a matching satin robe. I slid on black seamed thigh-highs and black and purple peep-toe "fuck me" shoes. I fluffed out my hair and played up my eyes with some eyeliner. I might have looked like a hooker, but I looked like a fucking expensive one and I was going to give my maker a happy man before he left to see my ex-husband marry his new fucking wife. I just wish I could see his face when he gets a whiff of me on Felipe.

I walked confidently down the hall, back to the door of Felipe's suite and knocked lightly, although it was pointless. He had Sookie GPS as my maker and he knew where I was and why I was there. He opened the door with a grin and escorted me in, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Japanese translations courtesy of random English-Japanese website:

banpaia uirusu - vampire virus

Kuso - shit

A/N: Like I said... this was rough. I SWEAR I have a plan, but there is a LOT of hell I have to put them through to get them there. I'm actually kind of sweaty and nervous over this, but the detail was necessary so you know where Sookie's mind is and why. I NEED to hear your thoughts on this, because I am close to worrying myself sick over this one. Possession is a terrible thing.