First, I needed a couple of drinks first to write this. :P Second, I took creative license with Norse mythology. There's some evidence in the historical record for some of this, other parts are presumed or made up. On with the show.
It's paradise. Paradise in the Dark Ages. Who knew. I look deep into eyes as he pushes deep inside me.
"Ohhhh", I gasp and as I feel him lengthen inside me.
He keeps my gaze with his arctic blue one, smiling every time I arch my back. He brings me to orgasm again and again sooo painfully slowly. He doesn't take his own ease, just watches me, smiling.
"My King", I cry out with a big smile.
"You're so full of it", he laughs, and kisses me.
"Come for me, baby. I want your warmth inside me", I growl into his ear, and with a gasp, he does everything I said.
Everything is perfect.
It wasn't very feminist of me. I know I'm a strong, capable, intelligent ,modern woman. I know, and I think the whole village knows, I'm strong, capable, and intelligent. But modern? Not in this place. There were no modern contrivances, like a TV, movies, telephones, internet….nothing to come between us. Just hard work that made us so tired all we wanted to do was cuddle and sleep every chance we got.
Right now I would have been perfectly happy to just live here and have his babies forever. And I found myself wishing every time he exploded, warm and alive inside me, that we could have another baby. But I knew it was not to be.
"I wish we could too", he whispers.
"I thought I was the telepath", I say.
"I don't have to be a mind reader to know what you're thinking." He kisses my forehead. "Nothing on earth would make me happier. To keep you warm…" I cuddle closer to him. "Despite the snow falling outside. To protect you." I could feel his strong arms around me. "To keep you safe. Well fed", he chuckles warmly against my ear, squeezing my slightly more voluptuous hips. I mock hit his arm. "You've already made me so happy, given me the only thing I ever wanted. I would like nothing more than to do this, and be here with you, forever. As long as the next baby is a girl who looks just like you."
We're both crying. It was not to be. Either I would die- and my throat was closing up fast, I could barely breathe anymore-or, Eric would find a way and we'd go back to our lives. And he would be dead again. Either way, there would be no more babies for us. Either way, there was a good chance we'd lose the one we have.
He pulls back and looks at me, like he's memorizing me.
"Eric, what's going on?"
"I guess I need a little reassurance right now. Look what you've done to me. Will you love me the rest of your life?"
"Eric…what's going on?"
"Will you? Promise me." He says.
"I promise, the easiest promise I've ever made. But you're scaring me."
"Never be scared, min kärlek. You have no reason to fear ever again, you're mine."
I fall into a hacking fit, and he pushes water my way. "Drink, min kärlek."
When it happens, this is where I want to be. It might be overdramatic to announce "I want to die in your arms", but it's how I feel. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. But I couldn't tell him that right now. He would explode into anger and fear, or give me that sanguine smile and tell me everything was going to be okay. The second frightened me more.
"I love you", he whispers. "Tell me you love me."
"I love you", my brown eyes boring into his blue ones. "Eric…."
He pulls me so close, I can barely breathe, and kisses me over and over. "Forever?" he asks.
"Forever."
"Kiss me, Sookie, kiss me, kiss me…." He pulls me into a kiss so passionate, it's a good thing I'm lying down.
"Sleep, min kärlek." He says.
I must have nodded off because I wake up without him. E.J. is sleeping peacefully nearby.
I'm up and dressed.
I peak outside and hear the men discussing how to defend the village as the Danes come closer. They're whittling sticks to have sharply pointed ends. They would be stuck in the dirt to face outward to slow the Danes.
It's a good time to go into the throne room and look for whatever the hell he's always reading.
Not on the table. Stuck between the chairs.
You're losing your touch, Eric, that was easy to find. There are several pages stuck together. There's a parable about… The Blót. Some kind of sacrifice…I need someone to help me with this who knows what he's talking about.
"Ysgar!"
He's standing outside with the rest, but runs over to the door.
"My Queen?"
"Can you answer some questions for me about a Viking story?"
"I will do my best, Majesty", he says, including his head.
"What is the blot?" I ask.
"Blót", he corrects. "A blood sacrifice."
"Sacrifice of what?" He's nervous , and it's freaking me out.
"You have to understand this ritual hasn't been practiced for many generations. Many. Since the City faded away, and our people could travel south."
I could only presume the City that faded away was the fall of Rome. Okay, so about 500 years ago.
"Sacrifice of WHAT?" I press.
"Animals", he says. "Before they were eaten."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"Goats, sheep, pigs…and horses. But in the past, it was something else, and near here the idea was taken far more seriously than our neighbors to the west or south. It also involved….human sacrifice."
"What?!" I gasp.
"It was a long time ago, Majesty…."
"But, for some reason, Eric is interested in it now. Tell me about it."
"People sacrificed their own children, Majesty…."
"I don't believe it", I said, aching to hold my baby safe in my arms.
"In one case, 9 years went between sacrifices, and on that day 99 people were sacrificed all at once."
"Oh my God…." I start.
"Majesty, it was a long time ago…."
"Stop saying that! Why would anyone do such a thing?!"
"Why is any religious ritual practiced? Why do we bless the antler horns?" he asks.
"That's different!"
"Long ago, it was not, Majesty."
"Why would Eric be interested in it?" I ask.
"Something happened that stopped the human sacrifices, and animal sacrifices were carried on to commemorate it….the ultimate sacrifice. A King. A King who went to Valhalla to save his family."
No, no, no, please, please….
I'm shuffling the pages together, and something else falls out. I open the page up.
A letter. For me. My heart rate jumps.
Sookie mine,
I knew if I left this here you would find it. You're endlessly curious. By now, I am likely already gone. This is my last word to you. I can't bring myself to tell you good-bye, and if I did, I know you would never let me go. And I couldn't bear to leave. I'm taking part in a sacrifice called The Blót. Rest assured this is best for everyone.
When I said you would never truly understand my world, I meant it. Here in this frozen landscape, death is around every corner. Where food is scarce and the winter is long. Here where life is so precious, love is measured in sacrifice.
You are familiar with the basics of magic. A life pays for a life. I've found a way to save our son, to set you free, and to save the entire village. No one need die this time.
Knowing and loving you has been the greatest privilege of my 1,000 years,and I will take your love with me into the afterlife where it will never die. You are mine forever, whether we are together or not. I know you intend to be buried, but I don't think Jesus would mind if you were cremated, and then we may see each other again, as you are a Viking's wife and one of us. It is my fondest wish.
I love you. Tell our son how much I love him. When my men come to tell you what happened, you will not want to be here anymore or dream anymore. Everything will be okay.
Good-bye, min kärlek.
Your loving husband,
Eric
I can tell his hand was shaking as he wrote it. Terror so deep shoots through my body, that I think I'm going to be sick.
"Your Majesty?!" he yells. He knows.
"Where do we start looking?"
"He had his men drag a small longship, a karve, to the beach, in case when the Danes arrives, the women and children can get away fast", he says.
"That's not what it's for."
"Majesty?"
"Help me! Run!"
Every second it takes to get there, every moment is a moment he may not have. I curse my own legs for being too slow.
"Eric!"
He's standing there on the karve, floating just off shore.
"Sookie, no! You weren't supposed to get here this fast!" he howls.
"Eric, get away from there, come back, we're talk about this, we can find some other way, let's talk about it."
"I love you, Sookie. Tell our son how much I love him", he sobs
"Eric…."
"Shhhh, I found a way. It's a life for a life. I can save our boy, and you can leave together. You'll both be safe."
"Are you crazy?! Do you think I could live a day without you?" I scream.
"You'll have to. We both know how strong you are."
"No! We'll come up with some other way, any other way, but now matter what happens, you may never, never, EVER leave me", I cry looking into his eyes.
"You'll be here forever", he says, patting his heart, "I'll take this love into the land of my ancestors where it will never die. I'll sit at my father's table again."
"My King!" Asgar shouts, "You are not some besotted bed slave going to join her master. You are a King, and this is not your decision to make!"
"A blood sacrifice hasn't taken place in centuries. I'll save my wife and child, and bless the village for generations. You will not have to worry about the Danes this time", Eric reassures him. Ysgar misses the "this time."
"Ysgar, you are the new King."
"No, you cannot do this…"
"Accept this with humility", Eric says, "I will stand in the Hall of Warriors, and hope I meet their worth."
"Eric!" I scream.
"You're mine. This is my job. Taking care of our child is yours. Ysgar, get her out of here! Now!"
But I slip through his fingers. Pure adrenaline driven by consuming love is a powerful force.
Eric raises a knife, with a beautiful ivory handle, into the air, and brings it down, slashing the veins in his right arm.
"No! Eric, Eric!"
That precious arm. It was holding me just hours before. I have to bandage it, I have to stop the bleeding. He could be fine, I just have to stop the bleeding.
"Baby!"
"Odin, VITTNE mitt slaktoffer!" Eric cries out.
"Take her away", he wails, but I fight Ysgar with every breath. "Don't let her see this! Obey me!"
"Take her away", Eric screams again, "cover her eyes."
Ysgar can do nothing for Eric at this point but obey his last wish. He tries to cover my eyes, but it's too late. Eric drops the torch. The karve immediately bursts into flames.
I can hear his screams of agony, but they fade as his body burns. I see it all, until my mind starts to shut down.
I can't think, I can't speak. My life just went up in flames.
I plunge into the water, swimming toward the little longship. I'll save him or I'll die with him. The closer I get to the ship, the hotter it is. Flames flash up wildly to burn my face before a wave splashes the wood and soaks the flame out.
I feel strong arms around me, tugging me toward shore. "Think of your child, Majesty", Ysgar is screaming in my ear.
He drags me onto the beach. I'm just kneeling in the sand vomiting and crying. I have to go back and stop him. I have to rewind this dream. I squeeze my eyes shut, and then open them. His men are on the beach now, screaming, sobbing. And looking at me with hatred.
I can't stand this dream. This is a nightmare. The pain is greater than I can handle. Wake up, Sookie, wake up.
And my eyes pop open.
I'm lying on our bed in my old farmhouse in Bon Temps.
Next to me, where my husband used to be, is a pile of ash.
No, no…"Eric, Eric…."
Go back to sleep, I tell myself, Sookie, go back to sleep, and you'll be back there. Warm and safe in his arms, but this time you'll know, you'll know what he intends and can stop him. Fall asleep, fall asleep.
But it's not that easy. Then if I can't have him back, I'll die. "Die, die, die…" I keep repeating, but I can still hear myself breathing.
Then a sharp cry breaks the silence.
"E.J.?!"
He screams again. I want to fall asleep, bring him back, lose consciousness. I pick up some of the ashes and hold them tight against me. My love.
But the sharp crying is cutting through my senses. I may have lost everything, even hope, but ultimately I suppose it's instinct that makes me get up and get my son.
He's so beautiful. Still wrapped up tight in warm furs. I can still smell…our life, our time…on those furs.
It's hard to make decisions. I lay my son down next to me. I know he's hungry, but I don't want to breathe anymore. The thirst….whatever I felt asleep is nothing compared to it now. I can't think about anything else. I'll dream. I'll die. Fine. But I just need some water first.
"Sookie! Where are you?" The yell coming through the front door isn't the voice I want to hear. Sam.
I pray to go away, and so I slip into blissful darkness._
Before anyone starts sending me mail bombs, I adore Eric, and this is NOT the end of the story. This is where the story was leading me, and I could only follow. This is canon for Eric, he tried to die for her many times already. It's tragic now, but stick with it.