Eric

Chapter III

I'd sent Bobby in search of Niall and it didn't take long to set up a meeting. It would be easy if he would use a phone and save me a trip but the Sky Prince chose a restaurant on the West coast. It was his first available time to meet, so I took it. I knew I would have some trouble getting into the area and I wasn't wrong. The first indicator that I was going to have a confrontation with someone from the vampire king of Los Angeles was the length of time it took me to clear security.

Under normal circumstances I was waved forward, my guards simply slid past undetected and that was that. The stalling at security allowed for Sarah, the lieutenant of Los Angeles, to meet me at the airport.

"Eric," she greeted. She was standing casually in front of the car that was meant for me. I knew she wasn't alone. In the crowded airport parking lot there were four vampires spread strategically about. Batanya and Clovache made their presence known. It drew them all out into the open and there were ten of them total.

"Sheriff," I greeted. I was irritated but it didn't show in my tone or my body language. "You are here to waste more of my time with a very lengthy recitation of the areas rules, I presume?"

Sarah shrugged, "That was the plan. Since you know that the longest version would still get you out of here in time for whatever has brought you west."

"Ah…so you'll also insist that I repeat said rules just so you can be certain I understand them?"

Another shrug, "Yeah, after which I am to invite you to spend the day at royal court."

"That seems counterproductive," I observed.

Another shrug of her dainty shoulders, "Orders of his Majesty."

I got into my car and she followed. True to what she'd said I was detained for an hour listening to bullshit. She did spare me the trouble of having to repeat what we both knew I understood. It was partly because of my growing irritation in this closed space and I suspected the twitchy fingers of my bodyguards didn't help either.

"By the way, how is Illeta?" she asked nonchalantly.

I looked up from my phone then with a questioning glance. For one thing Illeta resided close to her area so if she really wanted to know she could find out with ease. As far as I knew she was not someone she dealt with. They also weren't friends. I interpreted her words as a threat. It didn't seem logical considering who Illeta was. Anyone that would directly threaten either of us had to be looking to unleash hell on earth.

"I know that Ramon did not ask you to threaten me," I was genuinely curious. "Did he?" Maybe he had it had after all been brought to my attention that I was giving my kind too much credit in terms of intelligence.

"No," she said with a nod of her head. "Still thought I'd ask." With that she exited the vehicle and I was finally free to go.

The car was pulling out of LAX. Thoughts of Illeta were still on my mind. It has been almost twenty years since I actually saw her. Technology was allowing us to be further apart but remain in touch when needed. I wasn't worried about her per se. I just didn't know the workings of the area in which she lived. I called her assistant.

"Can Leta see me tonight?" I asked.

"Good evening Mr. Northman," Marcus said. "I will be happy to help with that if I can." There were a few moments where I heard him breathing and tapping at the keys of his keyboard. "I am sorry sir, she cannot. Perhaps she will be willing to cancel…"

"That is not necessary," I said. "I was in the area, that's all."

I didn't think any more on the words of the sheriff. The restaurant that Niall had specified came into view. It was tucked into a nice corner just off Hollywood Boulevard. There was nothing that told me why he chose this location. It didn't look as though it served blood or anything fairies favored—whatever that might be.

While they lived a very long time Fae were not immortal. Niall was my age from what I could gather, which meant he could very well be older. He looked to be of seventy human years. The marker of age was punctuated by an elegantly embossed cane that rested against his left leg. He, like me, was dressed in an immaculately cut suit. We both had blonde hair that was worn longer than that of most men of this time but that was it for similarities.

"Norseman," he said with a nod of his head when I took a seat.

"Sky Prince," I greeted.

He looked on either side of me and I knew he sensed the presence of the guards just as they had sensed the ward that quartered off this section of the restaurant. If not for the Britlingens I would not have been able to sense where he was. The ward also prevented me from catching his scent, which was good. Vampires were as fatal to fairies as a drunk was to a bottle of premium alcohol.

"You reached a decision," he prompted, as if this conversation hadn't suffered a three hundred year lapse.

People thought vampires were bad. It was because few had tangled with a fairy. Anger a vampire and you were liable to be bitten. With fairies anything could happen. They might gift you with a pair of shoes that made you the best dancer in the world. They wouldn't tell you the shoes were stuck to your feet and you were probably going to be dancing until your legs were reduced to stumps.

The best way to handle a fairy wasn't to force a yes or no answer. They were good at addressing those. I used oblique open ended statements to cover as many bases as possible. Niall knew this about me and it dragged out our conversations, turning them into verbal chess matches.

"It is tentative upon an explanation," I replied.

"I covet your name," he said.

"There are things you want from me other than my name."

"Your wealth and status," he replied without pause. His face didn't change from the speculative expression he wore while shuffling beets around his plate. "I find that for a creature my age I don't have many friends. A concept you understand. In short, an alliance in blood between you and me."

His words had just made up for the hassle that this entire trip has been. He wanted an alliance. While I didn't need the power that came from one I did want a wife that had some power of her own. With this I was getting the only thing I cared about. Anything else would be a bonus. I now had an advantage, at least it appeared so. Good as I was I would never fool myself into thinking he didn't have something to gain outside what he stated but I didn't have all night to pry.

"The alliance is agreeable to me but it will not be in blood," I said. "But in marriage, if that can be settled then we may discuss what I desire in return."

We exchanged nods as I rose to my feet. He didn't answer but I hadn't expected him to. I was exiting the booth with him still poking curiously at his beets.

My next stop that evening was Minnesota where I had an appointment with the Ancient Pythoness. Using the word appointment might not have been apropos. She had summoned me after my inquiry into the old law. She was the one vampire I couldn't afford to piss off. I needed her backing and so I was on my best behavior when I arrived at her lodge style home on the shores of Lake Superior. She was on her porch in a rocking chair staring at the driveway. She looked deceptively frail with her mane of wispy white hair and pale, unseeing eyes.

"There are many grievances against you," she began before I even greeted her. That wasn't at all a good sign. "How do you plead?" she continued.

"Am I on trial?" I asked calmly.

"Would you prefer to be?" she said turning her head to me.

"No, your grace that is not my preference," I replied bowing.

I didn't raise my head until she motioned me forward. It didn't bear wondering how she knew my head was bowed. Wordlessly, I took the vacant seat beside her.

"I know nothing of these grievances. I have committed no offense." I told her.

She said nothing as she continued to gaze out into the night. The silence between us was broken by the sound of her rocking in the chair. It felt alien to simply be doing nothing but burn moonlight but that was what I did. I knew better than to speak out of turn. I already had two strikes in her book before I arrived.

"You ask me for something that I cannot give," she finally said. "I do not have such power."

"Respectfully, I disagree. I ask you to enforce the laws and customs of our kind," I replied respectfully. "That and that alone is your charge."

"Death walks soundly at your side Erick. Misery, suffering and pain shadow your steps and taint your every word. Everything you touch, you destroy."

I knew my reputation. I'd created it. I'd lived it and I'd survived it. She might be psychic but all she was doing was telling me my past. If she was looking to impress or shake me she failed. Sure I lived forever but I didn't want the end of time to find me here. But out of respect I swallowed my impatience. It took a few more moments but she got back on topic.

"Forcing a royal to allow you residence in their state knowing they have just cause to shun you, such a thing seems punitive to whomever you choose," she continued.

"Dura lex, sed lex." I said, fighting the urge to shrug as to display my inconsequence.

The royals that were worried about me setting up shop in their territory should have spent the last summit discussing that law and other important matters instead of Leta and me. I was working within legal perimeters and if they didn't like it was their problem.

"Very well," she said with a nod. "In this matter the law is on your side."

~00000~

"This came for you," Bobby said holding out a manila envelope.

The parcel reeked of fairy. Batanya intercepted it and after a quick but thorough inspection she opened and handed it to me. Thankfully the first page listed a phone number. That would save me some hassle in future communiqués with Niall. The rest of binder held pictures, names, and demographic information on available young women.

"Do you maybe want to be alone while you do this?" Clovache asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No and could you two please," I said, passing him the folder. I didn't have to see their faces. "Pick out any that were born in Oklahoma, Texas, or Louisiana."

I returned to my computer. The end of the quarter meant scrutinizing statements of over a dozen corporate accounts. I didn't have the time but it needed to be done now. Just before dawn I had all the prospects narrowed down to four women. I tried to look at them subjectively as a man looked at a woman but I felt nothing. They all were part fairy and so held more allure than most mundane humans. That might be something to look forward to but I couldn't drum up anything akin to desire.

I couldn't believe the lengths I was going through for peace. Becoming a public figure was a source of annoyance but marriage was another. It was as far as I was willing to go though. Anything more and I would give these regents reason to fear me, not my past and name alone.

"Send this to Lilly and Bard Reeds," I said passing Bobby the finalists. "I want to know everything about them and everyone around them."

Once I got the results of background checks back from the best investigators in the country I would make my decision. That was the easy part but with any luck the negotiations wouldn't take too long. Then I could be left in peace by both vampires and humans to conduct my affairs.