AN: Thank you all for the reviews and alerts. Big thanks to my beta (and huge Chuck Norris' fan) keiman and kei for fixing my mistakes.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN TRUE BLOOD OR SVM. MOST CHARACTERS WON'T BE MINE. THEY BELONG TO HBO AND CHARLAINE HARRIS

Chapter 4

With a Visit

SPOV

The trip was surprisingly pleasant and comfortable despite its length. Undoubtedly, travelling in a private luxury jet was doing its magic on me. A plain sedan picked us up at the airport and drove to the old city where we were invited into an apartment house. It was really beautiful with its high ceilings and rich wallpapers but somehow I was disappointed. In my head I pictured Nawoja as a grim evil bitch living in a castle on the edge of a cliff. Bright colors and such a relatively modest place wasn't fitting well in my imagination. The pictures of her, that were shown to me by Preston, were equally disappointing. The queen was petite, dark blonde and looked rather young. I would say that she no older than her early twenties. In addition, she was smiling every time her picture was taken. She simply didn't fit my expected Cruella de Vil figure. It was ridiculous, I know, but deep inside I have already decided that I will not like her. She had skinned Eric alive after all.

I have received three texts from my vampire so far. Each one was sweet and full of sexual innuendoes. Once more I cursed Niall and his idea of me being the one to collect the charms. I would much rather have stayed with Eric and my Gran than travel across the world.

At the airport in Warsaw, we were greeted by a beaming demon girl whose mind was silent and smile forced. She has been accompanying us since then. One look at her face told me that she was terrified and my intuition was whispering that it wasn't me she found scary. The hour that remained to the sunset I spent with a demon, whose name was Anna, and with Preston, drinking tea and eating cookies. Not terrifying and ominous at all.

My cup stopped halfway to my lips when I sensed a vampire's mind approaching us. I could tell by the size of the void that it's someone old and I gulped unintentionally at the idea of already meeting Nawoja. I haven't put myself into bitch mode yet.

When the vampire appeared in the doorway, I almost dropped my teacup. Damn, he was moving fast. And damn, he was one handsome devil. He was standing two feet from me, his dark green eyes watching me intensely. This vampire looked… distinguished. It was by far the best word I could find to describe him. He could be in his mid thirties yet when he turned around, he fitted in perfectly with the antique décor of the room in that sharp grey suit he was wearing. When I stared at his face, I realized that there were deep wrinkles in the corners of his eyes that told me he likes to laugh. Or at least, he did it a lot when he was still in human form.

"I apologize if I…" The vampire snapped his fingers and frowned. It looked like he was searching for the right word and I felt a small smile appearing on my face. Somehow, his confusion put me more at ease.

"… startled me?" I suggested and he smiled at me broadly.

"Yes. A bad habit of mine, I'm afraid. Princess…" He bowed, taking my hand and raising it to his lips. I hurriedly stood up, causing some disturbance. For a second he looked bemused by my abrupt movement but he collected himself very fast. I, on the other hand, was cursing my lack of grace. "I am honored to meet you." I felt a blush creeping across my cheeks when he kissed me gently on my palm, his eyes not leaving my eyes for a moment. I was not used to dealing with stuff like this - Eric was literally the only male who has ever tried to charm me. "My name is Świegniew but for the sake of easier communication… "There was his smile again. "… please call me Slavi. Everybody does."

I was grateful that he had some kind of pet name that was possible for me to pronounce. I had heard about him from Preston. He was the oldest child of Nawoja. There was more gossip about the two of them than their supernatural community could handle. Some people claimed that Nawoja turned him just few years after being turned herself because Slavi was her lover during her human days. Some claimed that he was not her child but her blood brother. Others claimed that he is much younger than Nawoja and that all of the other stories were just rumors to give Slavi a higher rank in the vampire world. No matter how old he was, no matter why Nawoja turned him, he was her favorite and her most trusted servant. It was a good sign that it was him the Queen had sent to me.

I needed a second to clear my throat when he gently massaged my hand which he was still holding. "Sook… I mean Susannah Brigant."I caught myself at the last second. Clearly, according to Preston, my everyday name, Sookie, in Polish sounded like some kind of a curse***. Nonetheless, it could have caused laughter and as a princess, I did not want to be laughed at. "You probably knew it though."

"Of course." Was his smooth answer.

"I am actually curious, does your name mean something? I mean, your full name."

I had a chance to maintain some small talk and I decided to jump into the opportunity. Names were a rather safe topic after all.

"Actually it has many forms, it was evolving during the centuries but as to putting it into English… It would sound something like the All-Rage." Suddenly names didn't seem like such a safe topic anymore. " Almost like some Jedi," he added with a wink a moment later.

I smiled politely and thanked him when he helped me to sit back down."I need to apologize that my Queen isn't present yet. Her negotiations with King Helvik are being prolonging longer than we suspected."

I felt some annoyance in my belly. It was demanded that I travel across the whole freaking world and yet, she couldn't find some time for me. I swallowed my outrage though and smiled again. "Maybe there's a chance to skip a meeting with the Queen?" I suggested bitterly and Slavi raised eyebrows at my badly hidden sassy tone.

"Maybe. Although she is very eager to meet you, Princess. She would be… upset, if such an opportunity would be denied her."

Something in his tone told me that 'upset' is not an adequate description as to what she would be. One glance at Anna and the panic that showed on her face told me that 'furious' or 'murderous' would be a more fitting word.

"Well, then…" I offered with a soft smile. "… I hope someone will keep me company during the wait." In my mind I apologized to Eric for my innocent flirt with this vampire.

Slavi laughed and to my utter shock he leaned closer and kissed my cheeks. To be precise, he kissed me three times. So very European. "I will be honored to keep you company, Your Grace." He offered me his outstretched hand and I hesitated for just a second before I accepted it.

I glanced at Preston who nodded to me almost unnoticeably. I decided to at least trust him and I walked outside with Slavi. "Tell me Princess, what is your opinion of this modern art?" he began a few minutes later escorting me to the big room on second floor. We were in the gallery and there in fact, were hanging some modern pieces of art on the walls. Inwardly I groaned – I hated modern art. I had no idea about abstractionism and all of this kind of stuff. I will just make a fool of myself…

"Well, depends on what are you asking." I answered, trying to sound at least a little sophisticated.

"Pardon me if I sound like a simpleton… but I personally find it primitive. It looks like a hundreds of years of painting evolution gone to Hell. We are getting back to the level of drawings on cave walls of prehistorical times." He sounded absolutely outraged and the way he was looking at the picture of colorful straps was telling me he deeply hated it. I stifled a giggle but I had to made some sound because he looked at me with question.

"God, I hate it too…" I admitted and we both burst out laughing.

"Then, let's skip it, shall we?" He offered me his hand again and led me to a different part of the building. "There is a small orangery in the back. We will have to pass by some offices but it's worth a longer tour. My Callistemon citrinus has just bloomed and I am very curious of your opinion."

My conversation with Slavi was going quite smoothly. As I suspected before, he really was a fan of a good laugh and this smile never left his face. We were just passing the open door to one of the rooms when I stopped dead in my tracks. For a second I thought I saw that there was someone very familiar here but that couldn't be. There was no way in Hell…

I frowned and boldly put my head into the room. Slavi allowed me and I swore I even heard him snort. A redheaded vampire raised his head from a bag of blood he was drinking. The second our eyes crossed, he was up and running towards me. Before I got a chance to blast him with my light though, Slavi was next to him holding the young vampire by his neck.

"Miałaś go nie spuszczać z oczu!" growled Slavi at the vampires who appeared next to him. This girl took a step back when the vampire who had been so carefree and all smiles few minutes ago, was now one of the most terrifying persons I've ever met. The All-Rage my ass…

She mumbled something that was surely an apology and yanked the vampire back into the chair. He was still watching me like I was a blood fountain.

Slavi collected himself very fast and was again smiling at me. "Newborns, they are all so impulsive. I am truly sorry."

I only nodded. I knew that this particular vampire was a newborn. After all I had only seen him few months ago at some red carpet event.

"What's Chuck Norris doing here?" I asked, utterly dumbfounded. I looked at the young vampire again. Yep, definitely Chuck Norris. Or some kind of clone of his.

"That's an equally funny and tragic story actually. I think we should continue this outside though. Your scent is driving him crazy."

I only nodded, still watching one of Gran's favorite actors sitting there with his fangs down. What the Hell?

"Be careful, Aga," said Slavi to the vampiress. "He stands faster than you can run."

I felt my mouth hang open at Slavi's joke. Really? "Don't worry. I know that under his beard there is no chin, just an additional fist." The vampiress named Aga answered smoothly and Chuck Norris growled at both of them.

"Oh come on! Cheer up!" exclaimed my escort but this actor wasn't very amused by their banter.

I waved shyly at him when Slavi dragged me outside but Chuck Norris didn't look at me. "I can't believe it…" I murmured when we were heading down the corridor. "How?"

"A vampire from Houston or Dallas turned him last month." Slavi told me and opened another door. "It's against the rules created by the Authority."

"What do you mean?"

"They forbid the turning of famous humans, even now, after the Great Reveal. Lucky for Chuck, my Queen is a huge fan of his."

"Really?" I felt myself cracking a smile. The vampire rolled his eyes.

"She was so very furious when that vampire turned Chuckula…"

"Pardon?"

Slavi laughed at my expression. "Oh, just his nickname. Count Chuckula is Aga's favorite nickname. I personally opted for Chuck the Biter." The vampire put his finger under my nose. "He bit me there when we were smuggling him."

I had to shake my head. They were smuggling Chuck Norris who was turned by some vampire because Nawoja is a fan. Then a different and much less amusing thought struck me. "Did he want to be turned?"

We walked in silence for a moment and eventually Slavi shook his head. "He wants to be back with his family…"

I stopped and turned to him. He was smiling a little but I saw some sadness showing in his eyes. "Would you allow him?"

"I don't know…"

"Why so?"

"My Queen wants him?" he shrugged.

"And she will keep him like some trained pet?" I allowed some accusation to sneak into my tone.

"If it's what she desires."

We were measuring each other for a long moment. I almost felt sick. Forgetting about the fact that he was a pretty famous actor, he was a man that was killed and turned against his will. Next, someone wanted to kill him again just because he was killed in the first place. Now, he is away from his family and being joked about by some vampires from the other side of the world.

"I think it's not fair," I said coldly and I was opening my mouth to tell Slavi more about what I thought about such politics when a different vampire appeared next to us. He bowed to me and whispered something to my guide.

"It looks like you will have a chance to discuss this matter with the Queen herself. She is waiting downstairs." All of the boldness I had felt a minute ago had vanished completely. I only nodded stiffly and allowed him to lead me to the stairs. "Princess…" I stopped, hearing Slavi's tone which was full of warning. "Mother is a good person. She has a soft heart but she can be very… hot headed at the same time. Please, try not to anger her. She will not allow anyone to disrespect her decisions."

I raised my eyebrows at his forewarning. "I will remember." I promised simply.

"Good." He smiled with relief. "Moreover, I think she will like you."

"Oh really?" I asked with a snort.

"Yes." Slavi opened the door for me and winked at me. "You both have a bitchy bone in your bodies."

I felt my mouth opening at his jab but he was already striding away, leaving nothing but a swish of air of himself.

"Enter!" I heard a sharp commanding voice from behind the door and I mused over my 'bitchy bone'. Surely I will need it!

AN:

*** 'Sookie' sounds in Polish like a translation of word "bit**es". When usied in a sentence it can cause some laugh or at least loud "WTF?".

Miałaś go nie spuszczać z oczu! - I told you not to let him out of your sight!

I decided to split the visit in two shorter chapters, instead of one really long.

Till next time and please, leave a review!