Thank you all so much for your reviews, and for being so nice and supportive.
A big, big thank you to you all :D I studied a bit so that helped me very much in understanding how times were back in those days, for Vikings. And seeing Eric's flashbacks in his Viking human days, he seemed like the womanizer, so that's how he'll be at first. But he'll learn to be a lot nicer and faithful.
It means a lot to me to get such a lovely and encouraging response for you all, and I hope you enjoy this one :-) When Godric and Eric are talking, the Italics are there to mean they are talking in their language that Sookie doesn't know. Hope it isn't terrible.
Chapter Three
Knowing that the men had made bets about the leader bedding her didn't put Sookie at ease.
She didn't exactly want the man to have her, at least not yet; and she was determined to do everything within her power to make him not to, if she could help it. The closest she had even come to it, was when she was at year thirteen of age, where one of her closest friends, Ben Warlow, laid a quick, sloppy kiss on her lips in her Kingdom. When duties that were expected of them had finished, they had ran off to play in the gardens like they always enjoyed together. Ben was chasing her around and she was running, hoping for him not to catch her. Everything had been playful at first, until he had cornered her by a tree, and gave her a quick, sudden kiss that had turned her stomach in shock.
He was one of her dearest friends, and she hadn't felt anything when it happened. When her Grandfather had found out, he had told the pair very sternly not to play together ever again and he made Sookie stay with him most of the time during the day, overlooking his work as ruler of the Fae Kingdom. She hardly saw Ben again after that one time and assumed it was because her Grandfather was purposefully keeping the boy extra busy.
It was the one and only kiss she had experienced from a boy.
She was going to have a hard time getting used to living with the Vikings. In her Kingdom, she hardly had to travel more than up a sloping staircase to reach her bedroom. Her Grandfather didn't believe in animals being captured and used by the people; They were used sparingly and were treated like the people along the Kingdom with respect. To treat them otherwise, would have been considered slavery. There was no such things as pets in her Kingdom, and horses were free to move around the sparse, green land uninterrupted by people.
Her Grandfather and most of the Faeries believed in peace, but it was hard when there were different people invading into their realm every month or so. Most of the Fairies preferred dancing and being merry, over having to be led off into a battle. But when it was necessary to protect and keep their lands, they fought hard and brutally and used their Faery magic sparingly.
Weapons in her Kingdom were mostly used as decorations on the walls, not for actual warfare unless it was seriously required. Seeing all these men now with weapons of axes and swords at hand came as a real shock to her, but Sookie ultimately understood all about survival. They had a different way of not only speaking, but living compared to her kind, and if Sookie wanted to survive she would have to learn how to adapt to their ways, and quickly.
"Do you always have these horses with you?" she asked the boy curiously, when an uncomfortable silence grew on them. If she had this kind boy here with her, she was keen to learn about their way of living immediately.
"We had to rent them," the boy answered. "Usually we don't mind travelling on our feet, but it was a long way into your realm. It would have taken us over a weeks long walk on foot to reach you; Time we didn't have. We set off to your realm three days ago. It's a long journey to where you live."
"It took you three days?" Sookie was shocked that they would have even gone to all the trouble. "Did you have to camp out here for three nights?"
"Two nights," he corrected her quietly. "We are finding somewhere now to rest for the evening, 'til morning. Then we'll continue back home on horse again."
"Weren't you all cold?" she asked anxiously. Sookie was used to spending her nights comfortable and safe in her bed, with a hearth just meters away from her bed and a fire burning kindling to keep warm. "Weren't you scared about sleeping out here? What if wild animals try attacking?"
"Then we attack them back," he said simply, gesturing towards his axe that was shining in the moonlight. "In all two nights we had found shelter and slept under the stars, we didn't have to face any wild animals. With a fire going, they tend to stay out of our way. You'll be safe here. You don't need to be frightened, and if they do intend to attack us, we'll protect you."
Sookie wasn't so sure about that; She had never slept on ground before, where it seemed to her so risky, especially in these parts of the lands, where there would be wild animals at every corner. She always had the hard stone walls of her Kingdom and its protective magic to protect her. It was another thing she was going to have to get used to.
When they had obviously found a good resting place for the night to their liking, the men put all their horses together and some went off to find some branches to light a fire. She was pleased that the young boy stayed beside her and didn't leave. It was growing darker and Sookie heard wolves howling forebodingly in the distance somewhere not too far from them.
"Where is it that we are heading to?" she asked quietly, mainly to distract herself from what was going on.
"Eric has a home," the boy answered. "A modest little Öland farm where he was raised."
"Is it a lot different there compared to where I grew up, in my Grandpa's Kingdom?"
The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment, as he looked past her at something in the trees. His dark eyes seemed to glow at her. "I know not nearly enough of how you live to say," he said gently. "But hopefully, you will find that our ways of living aren't so different to yours after all. Hopefully, you will find comfort in that."
When the men at last safely returned through the thick bushes, some were carrying sticks in their arms, while some were carrying what looked like dead squirrels in their hands. When Eric entered through the bushes, she saw that he had something big and heavy slung over his shoulder, and she gasped. It was a big black thing with antlers and she was surprised by how much strength he had. Then he threw the animal on the ground, brought out a knife, and started sawing the skin and hairs off.
Food and fruits in her Kingdom hadn't been hard to come across; There was plenty of it in bundles. This was another thing she was going to have to get used to. Minutes later they had a nice fire going, and wild animal meat was being cooked. The smell of it cooking filled her nostrils and her mouth was watering as she sat by the boy on the short grass and hard land, watching all the men anxiously.
Eric sat on the other side of the roaring fire, listening to his men intently as they talked in their language. He had his sword out and he looked to be polishing it, or admiring it; Whatever it was, Sookie couldn't be completely sure. She noticed he kept silent and didn't talk to any of the other men, but he would smile slyly at something they were saying, as if amused. She really wished she could understand them. She caught him looking her way now and then, but she made sure she kept her eyes on the fire instead.
"I'll be back," the boy said, excusing himself from her presence.
She watched apprehensively as he walked around the fire to kneel at Eric's side, and she saw him muttering something softly in his ear. When Eric looked annoyed at something the boy was telling him, Sookie saw their eyes turn to her and quickly she lowered her own back to the skinned meat cooking and browning away.
"What do you think of her?" Godric asked Eric at his ear.
Eric turned his eyes on the girl, and he really looked at her. She was pretty, he supposed, especially in the white dress. But he had seen many prettier girls back at home, there were servants that could have rivalled her beauty. She seemed cautious and shy of him and it was obvious she took him for nothing more than an unintelligent brute.
"I think nothing," he muttered under his breath. "I feel nothing. I'm too pissed off."
"Why? Because she has foiled your plans of bedding every woman you can?" Godric teased, and when Eric shot him a hard look of warning over his shoulder, he found the young boy grinning broadly. "You have to agree that it was a very wise move played on the Faery King's part. He must have truly wanted peace if he gave his precious Princess away to a complete uncouth bastard like you."
Eric found no offense in his young friend's words, but amusement. He laughed along with him, knowing fair well how much of a bastard he was, and feeling no shame in it. He enjoyed being a bastard.
"Do you think you'll have her tonight?" Godric asked, his mood abruptly changing into seriousness.
Eric sighed heavily and instantly he felt troubled. He looked at the girl through the bright flames, and saw how tense and unsettled she was of her surroundings. Would he be having her tonight? By the looks of her, apparently not. Which was a shame, because he could have used a nice, naked warm body to lie next to, particularly of the female kind.
"Godric, look at me," he said, shaking his hair out of his face. "One kiss and I'll be between her legs in no time. Wherever I go, women always want me to fuck them."
"Not so in this case," Godric said. "She's not like us. Where she come from, its different from how we are. You should consider yourself lucky you have such a pretty, kind little wife to have. Make sure you treat her well."
"You remind me of father," Eric said sarcastically. "Do you remember what I told you, of the last thing my father wanted for me, back at home, Godric?"
"Yes. To be betrothed."
"Do you remember what I told him?"
Godric knew well what he had told him. He smiled softly. "Soon."
"Aye, soon," Eric agreed, pleased that he had remembered. He made himself smile at Godric, but it wasn't a sincere one. "Soon is not today, brother. Nor is it tomorrow."
"But soon is now, sitting over by the fire."
Eric returned his gaze to the girl, but said nothing in response.
The truth was, he was annoyed. The girl was going to be nothing more but a burden, on both him and his men.
He was perfectly content with how his life was before; Where he could do whatever he pleased, see whomever he pleased, and live a bachelors life, in fooling around with servants and other women that had caught his eye. Before his parent's deaths, the very last thing they wanted of him was for him to comport himself into the ways befitting of a King, and marry. He supposed if his deceased warrior King father, Ulfrik, was up there now, in Valhalla, looking down upon him from where he sat in his golden throne with his crown atop his head, he would have been happy and laughing his ass off over a few indulgent mugs of mead at how fate had turned out. His beloved mother Astrid, too.
"When are you going to tell her you speak English?" Godric asked in a low voice. Instantly Eric felt better. He felt cheerful, and a laugh got caught in his throat.
"Probably never," he said stiffly, returning his gaze back to his sword. "I like pretending to act confused and seeing the look on her face."
"You are just as bad as we were when we were children," Godric said disapprovingly. "Maybe even more so now. I bet your mother is looking down on you, calling you a heathen."
Eric laughed. He could envision that perfectly himself. Even as a younger boy, he had a penchant for mischief. Many times his mother would shout at him, calling him a little naughty heathen, but he could tell she meant the name in admiration. When he was a child, he would often deliberately forget his duties and go run out to the North Sea instead. He would spend hours on the sand, playing like a young boy does; building high towers and only returning when it was past dark. He would have always gotten into trouble by his father, but his mother didn't mind his naughty, insolent ways so much. If anything, it only made her adore him even more.
"I like being bad," Eric said, with a grin.
"Obviously," Godric sighed, not at all impressed. He rose to his feet and patted his older friend on the shoulder companionably, before returning to the girl.
Eric watched the pair with mirth in his eyes. Then when he saw the wild boar he had slaughtered was ready for feasting on, he called out to his men and the meal began.
He particularly enjoyed watching Sookie, Princess of the Faeries, struggling with her meat. She didn't have a knife on her to tear the meat apart like every one of his men and himself did, and her face, her lips and around her mouth especially, got all dirty and slick from the natural oils in the meat. His men found it just as enthralling as he did, and they didn't bother hiding it.
"She's not much of a Princess anymore, is she?" One of his men, Igor, laughed jovially. "We have corrupted her already, and Eric hasn't even so much as touched her yet. You still want her, Eric, with all that meat juice on her face?"
"Leave her alone," he commanded, with a slow smile.
"I wouldn't mind having her," Another one of his men said. "Truth be told, I could use a woman's body since all this travelling we've done lately. Imagine her breasts as they pressed against you while you were near her. I bet they'd warm you up real fast, wouldn't they?"
Something broke inside of Eric then at the man's words. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was an uncomfortable and entirely unpleasant feeling. Quickly, he lost his appetite and flung the leftovers of his gristly meat into the fire.
"Don't think you're having her," he heard himself telling the man without his control sternly. "She was gifted to me, and she'll only be mine alone." Furiously, he got to his feet and walked away across the fire towards the girl, leaving Igor and the other men staring after him in alarm.
"What was all that about?" Igor asked nervously. "Do you think he's gone soft on her already? Usually he never goes soft on them."
"I just think he wants to fuck her, that's all," one of the other men remarked unconcernedly, with a massive shrug.
Sookie was lost on what to do. Her hands, her face, everywhere, felt disgusting from the rich juices of the meat.
She was tempted to wipe her hands on her white gown, but then realized it would have only stained it. She went to look over at her husband-to-be, finding him gone. But then he made himself known to her by stepping closer to where she sat in the fire-light, and the determined expression on his face and glistening away in his eyes disturbed her. Was this the part where she was expected to go off with him and consummate their union, now that she had eaten? She stared up at him, uncertain. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, so she looked the boy's way for help. He was too preoccupied with eating his food and tearing it apart into thin slabs with his knife to give her any assistance.
Being cautious not to touch her gown with her greasy hands, she stood. He took her hand and pulled her along with him towards a tree that kept them hidden from all of his men, and the panic builded up inside of her again. He was luring her away, probably for some privacy so he could have her.
He didn't say a word, not in his language or otherwise, as he guided her up against the hard bark of the tree that was resting behind her. He put his large hands on either side of her, his fingers fiddling with the fabric of her dress, and Sookie closed her eyes tightly, praying it to be over as quickly and painlessly as possible.
She felt him run his calloused knuckles down the side of her cheek and she opened her eyes to look up at him.
She couldn't make much of his expression out in the dark of the night, but the moon made his skin appear silvery and his long hair a pale, light grey. Sookie reached her hand out and brushed the matted tendrils of hair out of his forehead with her fingers and he leaned into her palm, clearly revelling in her timid touch. She brought her hand slowly down to his warm cheek and over the sparse, short hairs that had grown over it. Then with bright alertness shimmering his eyes he brought his own hand up again and slowly ran his fingers around her chin, over the line of her lips. She really wished it was easier to communicate with him.
"I... I wish I knew how to speak to you," she said uneasily. "It would make this so much easier. I wish I could learn about you, but then I... can't."
"Sookie," he breathed deeply, and she was shocked by how easily and naturally the name seemed to come from him.
Her heart swelled with relief. "Oh, yes," she said. "I'm Sookie." He must be a fast learner, she thought. It definitely made it easier.
Hope you enjoyed this one? :D Of course, it's a bit silly, but I hope you won't mind. Sookie will put her powers to good use next chapter and will give Eric a shock :P
Thank you all so much, I loved reading your reviews and am so grateful for every alert. It means