A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

I'd like to apologise if my last story suffered because of the way I was feeling, I'm really sorry if it wasn't up to my usual standard.

I'm a lot more positive about this fic.

Also if you think I've forgotten anything please don't hesitate to tell me…

Chapter 4: Surprise

Vlad played with the edges of his paperwork, he couldn't believe there was this much involved in making Erin Queen. He wasn't just saying that, he honestly couldn't believe that there was this much paperwork. He refused to sign anything though, he was the one in charge and as far as he was concerned he wouldn't need any of this after Erin was Queen. He was taking the time to memorise most of it in case they wanted to know why he hadn't bothered signing it.

He was making clip notes as he went so he wouldn't forget any of the outrageous conditions they were trying to enforce. Heirs seemed to crop up alot; they'd wait until they were ready.

He placed the last page of the documents on the pile and relaxed. He stretched out his hand; he winced as his knuckles cracked at the position they'd been forced into for the past few hours. He stood slowly, his leg banging against the table as he tried to turn the chair, he really should have got it oiled by now.

"Any luck?" She asked him softly, this reminded her of the days of *the* book. They'd all agreed not to mention the name of it ever again.

"All finished." He smiled at her.

Robin had heard the bang and looked at his friend, "If you'd been mated as soon as you proposed all this could have been done by now." Robin reminded him, trying to help by making Erin feel less nervous.

Ingrid put her finger up into the air, stopping him completely and pulling out of Bertrand's grasp to do so. "Actually Erin couldn't have been Queen."

"Why not?"

Bertrand continued Ingrid's explanation, Ingrid smiled up at him. "Because Erin couldn't be Queen until she turned eighteen, she's four months younger than Vlad, she would have had to be crowned within one hundred days of the mating ceremony."

Robin concentrated, his one eye closing slightly as he tried to work it out.

"Three and a half months." Vlad supplied.

"By law any titled position can't be inherited or given until the heir is eighteen. For men *and* women."

Vlad stretched slightly, he hated sitting hunched over the desk for hours but it needed to be done. The door to the room creaked open slowly and something shuffled into the room, Vlad usually wouldn't have cared but something caught Vlad's eye. He looked at it with a look of pure horror on his face. "What's that?" He watched as Renfield placed something on the side.

Erin looked up at Vlad as she heard those disgusted words. Vlad was angry about something, what she couldn't tell with her back to the door.

Renfield glance back towards what he'd placed on the unit. "Mistress Erin's crown."

Erin turned fully to look at it, it almost matched Vlad's in decoration if it could be called decoration, the only difference was that it was smaller and had smaller bones. The thought of having the bones on her head made her feel faint, she knew Vlad hated his own crown. He tried to disguise his disgust but he could never hide it from her. He only wore it when he had no other choice but to.

"Erin is never wearing that!" Vlad protested loudly, he would never force her to wear that.

Erin placed a hand on his arm, "Vlad…" She looked at Vlad, trying to stop him from getting worked up. "What's it made from?" She asked Renfield softly.

Renfield looked at it proudly, "Chicken, pig, ocelot and badger bones."

Erin's jaw dropped, if she could turn paler she would have. It wasn't as disgusting as the fact Vlad's was made from the first victims of vampires but it was still awful.

"Erin won't be needing it." Vlad told Renfield lowering his head making Renfield tremble. Vlad could be terrifying more than when he was at eighteen.

The Count decided to step in, "Vlad, Erin needs a crown to be your Queen…"

"She's not wearing that!"

"She'll match you exactly. I thought you wanted to be equal."

Oh no, the Count wasn't going to use his own words against him, he wasn't going to get around him like that.

Vlad rolled his eyes, "This has nothing to do with Erin being my equal, I'm the one in charge and I have been for three years. Erin just isn't wearing that!" He told them firmly, his fists clenching. He was twenty-one, everyone seemed to think he was still the future leader he was at seventeen.

The Count looked at his son, this was an inevitable part of Erin becoming Queen. "She'll need one Vlad!"

"SHE'S ALREADY GOT ONE!" Vlad roared at them, the whole room shaking with his anger. He suddenly calmed and went rigid. Everyone went quiet at his words.

"Erin has a crown?" The Count asked Vlad seriously, they'd just gone to all this hard work to get her a crown and she already had one.

Vlad glanced down at his wife before looking back at the others, sadness in his eyes. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. He managed to hiss out, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

With those words he stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him making them all wince. The force he used caused the door to open again and bang against the panelling.

Erin followed him with her eyes sadly, "The Council have been pushing him lately, trying to get him to pass certain laws before he disbands them." She pushed herself to her feet, she peeked in the direction Vlad went. "I'll go after him."

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

There was only one place that would house a sulking vampire in the manor. Vlad never holed himself up in their room, he hadn't hidden in his room since he lived at the school. Instead he preferred to stay out of the way in the training room.

The shutters were closed, plunging the room into darkness. No light was switched on. Erin knew he was in the room. With a sigh she clicked her fingers and immediately the lights turned on. She saw him, his feet flat on the floor forcing his knees up as he propped his back against the wall. His left hand resting on his neck playing with his mating claim mark, reading a thick book, he didn't need the lights on to read. It would have worked if they still lived in the school but she knew him too well when he sulked.

Erin sat in front of him, resting on her knees. She could be patient. Vlad stubbornly continued to 'read' his book before her presence became too much for him. He set the book down gently to the side of him.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He whispered to her. He'd managed to hide it from her for the last few weeks and he'd only had one more day to go as well until his family in their usually typical way had spoiled it by making him blurt it out.

"I'll pretend to act surprised." Erin teased him, making him snort. Erin crawled across to him and sweetly kissed his lips. Vlad responded briefly before pulling back. He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap with a slight squeak from her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he shuffled forwards slightly.

"Its not the same." He answered.

It was still a thoughtful gesture, "Vlad…"

He cut her off shaking his head, "I just wanted to surprise you in a good way for once. I know you hate surprises." He said watching as her mouth opened, "But I just wanted your crown to be a surprise for you."

"I found out about it a day early Vlad, its still a surprise to me." She traced his jaw line with her finger. "So?" She asked, hanging the word in the air as a prompt.

"So?" He looked at her adorably confused, repeating what she'd just asked him. For some reason he only ever used that expression around her.

"Are you going to show me or wait until tomorrow night?"

Vlad sighed, he might as well show her now. Erin wasn't the type to go snooping, he trusted her like that. Vlad glanced over her shoulder towards the shelf, it wasn't like the ones in his former training room. These ones were clean.

"Come." He whispered to it. Erin turned as she heard a shuffling noise. She watched as the books on the shelf split and shuffled closer to the ends, revealing a large black box standing on it side. As soon the books were out of the way the box flew into Vlad's hands. Looking down she realised for the first time that the box was made of the finest velvet.

"You kept it in here?" She asked.

"You don't come in here when you don't have to." He shrugged as if it were obvious. Outside keeping up with her regular training (and seeking out one sulking vampire) she never entered the room, Bertrand had put her off entering the rooms for life when she was seventeen. "This was the place you'd be least likely to stumble across it, and the least likely place Dad would snoop." His father enjoyed searching the manor for anything new that Vlad had acquired desperate to know what his soon was up to now he didn't have daily contact with him.

Vlad held the box out to her. It was quite a large box, but it wasn't a deep box. She was curious now to see what it contained. The thought of her having a crown had gone over her head, she'd never though she needed one.

Erin opened the stiff lid, it creaked until clicking fully open, the catch stiff from disuse. If she were still mortal she wouldn't have been able to do it. There was a thin layer of jet-black silk covering what it contained and with trembling fingers she pulled it back to reveal what was underneath.

Erin gasped at the site. Her fingers shook even more frantically as she pulled the platinum circlet from the box. The metal was cool to touch, even cooler than her skin. Engraved around the circlet were eight representations of Vlad's Grand High Vampire crest, each one perfect and clear to see. A diamond had been inserted underneath the feet of the dragon to represent the rock it rested on. The circlet was two inches wide and would rest upon her head perfectly.

Vlad looked at her nervously as she studied it. He wasn't sure if she would consider it too ornate. "Do you like it?" He asked her quietly, he knew she didn't like to wear gold besides gold would blend in with her hair.

"Its beautiful." She breathed; her fingers delicately traced the crests. It was beautiful and perfect. It wasn't flashy and it didn't stand out. It looked regal, exactly what Vlad had hoped for.

"I've had it made since your birthday." He'd had a local jewellers engrave and make it from scratch. He didn't trust his kind with something like this. The moment they saw the crest they would know what it was for and he didn't want it splashed across the papers what it looked like.

"You kept this from me for two months?" She couldn't believe it; Vlad would have usually caved by now he was terrible at hiding things from her.

Vlad shrugged like it was no big deal, Erin kissed him fiercely. No one had ever given her something so beautiful before – not counting the scars on her neck that bound her to him for the rest of her unlife.

The box slid off her lap as she pressed herself closer to him wanting to get as much contact with him as possible.

Vlad clutched at her back as she arched into him, he ran his hands up and down her back, tracing patterns through the cotton there. He nipped her lip forcing her to open her mouth, sliding his tongue inside. Erin's fingers fisted in his hair in response.

Erin pulled back as she remembered she had the circlet clutched in her hand. She didn't want to damage it. She reached for the box that had fallen off her lap. Vlad ran a hand through his hair trying to undo the knots she'd created. Erin couldn't quite reach the box but she didn't want to move from Vlad, he extended his hand and the box flew into it. She lovingly placed Vlad's surprise in there for safekeeping.

She wasn't going to wear it until Vlad officially placed it on her brow. That would make wearing it for the very first time more meaningful for her and a memory she'd always treasure.

Once the box had snapped shut she looked at her husband shyly. "Thank you."

He traced her cheek, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Always." He answered grinning at her, before pulling her close once more and capturing her lips with his.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

No one else had seen the crown and nothing else about the subject was brought up as they sat around the table, going over everything for the final time that they'd need for Erin's crowning.

There was only one problem – from the Count point of view – or rather one thing missing from the ceremony that spoiled it in his eyes. Vlad and the others couldn't have cared less but the Count refused to let it drop until he'd irritated everyone with it fully.

"Four years ago you could sacrifice a peasant to celebrate and show respect." The Count grumbled looking at Robin deliberately. Robin was still as jittery as ever, jumping back and rummaging through his pockets looking for one none existent clove of garlic. When he found none, he crossed his fingers in a sign of the cross hoping that would work instead.

"He wouldn't dare." Erin assured him, "Vlad wouldn't hesitate in setting an example." That was a little bit of a lie, Vlad would try to find a loophole before he was forced to slay the Count but his father didn't need to know that. Vlad grinned agreeing with Erin.

The Count gulped and looked away, he wasn't sure Erin was bluffing or not. Suddenly that muddy spot on the wall seemed very interesting.

"Things have changed in four years, slayer and breathers aren't on the menu anymore."

Wolfie looked up at his older brother, "And you can't sacrifice a vampire anymore like last time to show respect." He added helpfully in case the Count tried to pull that trick again.

Vlad scrunched up his face in complete confusion. "What are you talking about?" Wolfie looked up from his book, the conversation had been boring so he'd only kept half his attention on it – it made the time pass quicker.

"When you had to show respect to Dad he wanted you to burn a vampire." Wolfie had taken to calling the Count 'Dad'; he was the closest thing he'd had to a father figure. The Count protested at first but had quickly grown used to it. "You need to show respect for Erin, but this time you can't because you haven't done the paperwork for it just like last time."

Dawning flashed over Vlad, while panic and fear flashed over Ingrid's. Ingrid looked at Bertrand and he squeezed her hand tighter. "That was a Carpathian Feast. A Carpathian Feast is different to a Coronation Feast, there's no sacrifice."

Wolfie looked confused, he couldn't remember much about Vlad's. "Is it?" His comment made Vlad chuckle.

"Yeah, you fell asleep at mine." Vlad told his brother, ruffling his hair making Wolfie pull back out of his clutches. "It was boring anyway." Vlad remembered it all too clearly – unfortunately. The official meeting of the clan chiefs, the dancing and the feast. He shuddered he'd been put off certain foods for unlife after that.

Wolfie nodded in understanding, looking back at his homework. The Count had insisted on him bringing it with him. His next comment was casual. "So Ingrid hasn't conned Dad into sacrificing a vampire this time?"

"No she ha…"

It took a few seconds for Wolfie's comment to sink in.

And a few more for the reaction…

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

Thanks for reading.