Hey guys, I'm so sorry I have taken so long to update. I've had some issues at home, my mother is sick so I've been worried about her and putting updating off for a while, but she's better now so I'm getting back into this. Hope you enjoy this one, and that you are all well and happy. Sorry if it isn't very good and that the pacing is quite slow! I'll pick it up next chapter. They finally reach Oland, or as Pam says in her words "The windy shithole." Hehe.

Thank you all so much for being so kind. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Chap 11

Stunning Eric, the Fae princess moved closer to him until the entire length of her small body touched his through her gown while her arms wrapped around his waist tightly to deepen the kiss.

His lips slowed against hers in shock, and he felt his forehead crease in confusion. Last thing he was expecting was for her to willingly allow him to kiss her; no less that she would enthusiastically be kissing him back, He at the very least was waiting for the moment she reeled back in offense and slapped him for it, only she had him surprised in doing the complete opposite.

She had warmed up to him more than he thought possible, and so had he for her in return. It was not very smart of him; He was only just inviting himself to more pain and grief in the future, had she become the next person he lost in life.

The shock permeating his body slowly fizzled out and confidence took its place. Not wanting the moment to go to waste, he ducked and bent his knees so that the height difference between them would no longer hinder progress. He took full advantage of her receptiveness by bringing his arms down so his large hands clamped around her waist and he held her as close as two human bodies could get. He felt her hands curl and cling to the fabric of his tunic as she leaned into him and parted her soft, warm lips and taking it as an invitation, he slid his tongue into her mouth, hearing her make a gentle whimpering noise in response. The libidinous sound made him want to go further with her, begin to do other purely carnal things...

Suddenly he found himself wishing neither of them were wearing clothes. Pesky irritating clothes, always getting in the way.

Sookie discovered all over again that she liked kissing him. She did not mind it at all, with the Viking leader Eric Northman.

She particularly liked and enjoyed the way the short hairs on his chin scrubbed up against her as their lips moved together. The hilt of his sword dug against her and she felt her breasts heave against him. She enjoyed the way he smelled of earth and nature and sweat, reeking of masculinity, and the way he felt. Most of all, she especially liked the way he used his hands to rub her sides, up and down, up and down in desperation, as if he was unsure where else to put them. She sensed the fierce strength he possessed in those large, coarse hands herself, and yet how he used them with her was so tender and gentle. Careful.

As their lips met, his dry chapped ones to hers, it was as if she was being whisked away into another world. Flashes of what he was thinking slashed through the sensations she was feeling; Flashes of herself, him, his desires. His hands came up, fingers tangling through her hair, visions of a ship sailing a windy shore and battle cries.

The kiss seemed to go on and on, until Sookie slowly became aware of what was happening around them.

It was not just them two, trapped in a private moment together. She heard grunts and heavy yawns, and grew instantly self-conscious. She pulled herself away from Eric, flustered and flushed all over. All the men had finally awoken from their sleeping and she noticed most of them must have watched.

Godric, grey eyes heavy-lidded from sleep, was sitting up and staring directly at her amusedly.

She found she could not quite meet his eyes, so she looked away instead.

When she glanced up at Eric fleetingly, she saw he appeared just as affected as she felt inside over their kissing, perhaps even more so than her.

He was watching her intently with oddly large pupils, paying no mind of their onlookers, who were rising from their sleeping positions while stretching. She heard Eric swallow and then she saw him lick his lips to moisten them. As she glanced down, embarrassed, at her toenails in her sandals and not at him, she could hear his breathing was quick and shallow in rhythm. She felt breathless herself.

She was greatly pleased she was not the only one reacting to it that way.

"How long now until we reach your village?" she asked after a moment in a weak voice, still not daring to meet his eyes again. She tried to ignore her heart, which felt as if it was fluttering with wild abandon in her chest.

"Not long now." His voice sounded strange and different to her ears; The pitch sounded deeper and lower, somehow. More appealing to her. "We'll be there before nightfall."

She nodded wordlessly, trying to regulate her breathing. Once she trusted herself to speak a bit more, she finally answered, "Good." She was pleased her voice sounded normal, unlike his. "I would like to finally see my new home and meet all the people who live in it." She felt uncomfortable and unsure of what to say next. What more was she supposed to say after a kiss like that?

Eager to feel like herself again, Sookie turned away from the man who was to be her husband and focused her eyes on the horses again. She felt instantly better at the sight of them and the animals had a calming effect on her for some unknown reason. Inhaling in a deep breath, she made to move towards them, lifting her left hand in the air, ready to pat and greet them.

She was stopped when she felt Eric's hand come across her shoulder and when she turned back around into his direction, she felt her heart go uncontrollably wild again as he cupped her chin in one of his hands and brought her gaze up so she had no choice but to meet his eyes reluctantly.

She felt her stomach muscles clench when he deliberately moved his shining eyes down her body, drinking her body in for her to see.

"Don't worry," he whispered after a moment, his eyes trailing upwards to meet hers again. She noticed and saw clearly the way the corner of his mouth lifted haughtily. He was clearly pleased about something. "I enjoyed it also. It is nothing to be ashamed of."

Sookie felt her eyebrows dip, taken aback by his bluntness.

Then, using his words of before, she said, mocking him, "Oh, don't flatter yourself."

He enjoyed her saying that also, and he let her know by laughing softly.

Sookie was surprised yet again by how mere laughter could transform a man's face and make him seem less severe and scary. Her opinion on him was definitely improving, and she could not help herself from crumbling and actually smiling back at him at the pleasant sound of his laughter. Something told her laughing was probably not something he did all that often, especially not with how heavy-hearted and vengeance-orientated he seemed over his parents deaths.

"Yes, that is good," she murmured approvingly.

That only made him sober up quickly and Sookie instantly regretted saying it. He looked her over blankly. "Good? What is?"

"You laughing and smiling," she admitted. "Even if it is over me and something I've done. You don't do it much, do you?"

Obviously something about her pointing that out made him feel uncomfortable, because his face darkened in annoyance and he turned away from her quickly. Their conversations and pleasantries with one another was done, when he stepped away from her and addressed his friend Godric in language. He did not talk to her again after that, or no less throw a glance her way as he and his men prepared for the journey on horseback to their village. He felt strangely cold and distant to her as she climbed on the back of his horse, and when she had wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on to him for balance and support, she felt his spine stiffen through his thin tunic over her touch.

What had she done wrong? She wondered, feeling irritable herself. Why was it so easy for her to offend this man and get on his bad side?

When she searched through his mind telepathically for any explanation or logical reason, she didn't find any. Even his mind was somehow closed off and difficult to read or make any sense out of. After several minutes of being inside his head as he urged the white horse to start to a quicker gallop, she gave up the attempt altogether and closed her own off so she didn't have to hear any thoughts but the ones belonging solely to her.

The vast sky, which had been a bright clear blue in the morning, had started growing darker and cloudier in color. The sun had disappeared, blocked behind a set of clouds and the air around them felt as if it was getting colder and colder by every passing moment that went by.

As they reached the grasslands, a gust of wind picked up and blew unpleasantly through her, chilling her and cutting through the sheer fabric of her gown.

She felt relieved then that Eric had been so kind enough to give her his furs earlier, because the top half of her shoulders felt warm and cosy wrapped in it. A shudder rippled through her and she unthinkingly huddled more into Eric's back for warmth, nestling her chin in the crook of his shoulder.

She caught a glimpse of the side of his face and as he stared ahead in the distance while his long golden hair blew across his back, she couldn't completely be sure what to make of his expression.

All she knew was that he still felt cold and distant to her somehow. So much for actually starting to feel as if they were capable of getting along...

Moving closer towards his ear, she spoke loudly over the wind, "Have I done or said wrong?"

Watching the side of his face carefully, she saw the barely perceivable shake of Eric's head that he gave in response.

"What makes you think that?" Even his voice sounded frigid to her. She was certain she wasn't just only being paranoid.

"Well, I don't know. It's kind of hard to explain. I just get this... feeling that I have?"

"No." His head shaking was more visible to her that time around. "You've done nothing. You've just made me realize that you're right."

"Right about what?"

"Right about what you said, how I don't as much any longer," he explained to her, not sounding at all pleased with having to admit it. "I don't feel joy as much anymore. Not when I know that the ones that did what they did to my family are still out there."

"But what if you're wrong?" Sookie asked, nuzzling her chin against his shoulder. "What if there was not any person responsible for what had happened to your family? What if the wolves were just hungry and they set on your family by coincidence? Isn't that what wild wolves do, after all?"

She felt it as Eric pulled at the horse to slow it down and he turned slightly to look back at her. His eyes searched her face quickly. "Is that what you think? That the wolves were simply doing what they do by nature? That they slaughtered my family just for a feed of meat?" He sounded disbelieving and his eyebrows rose at her.

"It happens, doesn't it?"

"It does. But not to my family. Have you seen any wolves slaughter and then take off with a precious crown? Is that nature?"

"No. I suppose not. Not if they took your father's crown."

"Exactly."

She thought that over for a moment inside her head. "And what will you do, once you finally catch the ones responsible?" She didn't exactly want to know, however at the same time, she did. She was curious.

"What do you think I'll do? I will kill them, of course. I will make them pay. It is something I have always wanted, right from the moment it happened." Sookie felt nervous by the rage in his eyes over the question. His voice was filled with an awful amount of hatred.

"Then you've been waiting long to at last get your vengeance, haven't you?"

Eric didn't answer her, probably because he felt he did not have to. Sookie already knew the answer the instance she asked the question.

"You won't rest or be completely happy until you've succeeded, will you?"

Eric did not answer verbally on that question either, but his expression told her what she needed to know.

She laughed nervously. "I haven't met a man like you before," she admitted uneasily, "And I don't mean that in either a good or bad way, exactly. You are just so... filled with hatred and consumed by this idea of making these people suffer for what happened."

"And you would not be the same in my position? You would do the same, you would feel the same as I do.. and you know it."

His blunt words startled her. She wondered for a moment what she would do. And then she had her answer.

"I don't think I would," she breathed uncertainly. "Think about that for a moment: You and your men have been responsible for killing a lot of my kin. If I felt the same as you do, I would not be here and you would not be breathing like you are now. I think that tells you that no, I wouldn't do or feel the same as you would. I think hatred is such a... negative emotion. In fact, I pity you for living as long as you have like this."

"You pity me? Me?" Eric's tone was bitter and it unnerved her. "Why? Why pity me?"

"Because this is no real way to live," Sookie said confidently after a moment. "At a certain point, you have to learn to let go and move on. Only then can true happiness be found."

Eric laughed, surprising her. "Faery bullshit," he said wryly. "That sounds like Faery bullshit to me."

His words angered her.

"It isn't bullshit and it has nothing to do with Faery,' she replied irritably. "You've let your grief and anger over the years destroy and consume you. You aren't that same man you used to be; that carefree boy who would laugh and play in the sand near the sea. You have forgotten what it is like to laugh and be free."

Eric laughed at her words again, but it sounded feigned and forced to her. "I do laugh and smile. See? I am now. I am laughing and smiling at your bullshit Faery wisdom."

"It isn't bullshit," she insisted again. "And you know it is the truth."

"Besides, how did you know I played on the sand as a boy?" He demanded defensively.

"I hear you. Did you forget? Your thoughts told me so."

Eric replied boldly, "Then perhaps you shouldn't listen and keep out of my head?"

Sookie snorted. "It isn't as easy as you think it is. Many of us struggle throughout the years to close our minds off to other minds, and it is never as easy as it seems. Even my Grandfather hasn't quite accomplished it yet. It takes a lot of willpower and constant practice to master it completely." She shivered at the sudden change in the air and tightened her arms more securely against him. "I think it's coming close to storming," she said, observing the murky clouds above them.

"We don't have long. We've just got to cut through the woods and take a shortcut. We should be there before the storm arrives."

Sookie felt relieved by that news. She could feel goose pimples running down her legs. Only the top half of her felt warm and snug, thanks to his furs. She could only just imagine how cold he was feeling, since he had given them to her. "Your furs are warm, I'm sorry to have taken them from you. What fur is it?"

"Wolf," he said in an emotionless manner, in a way that told her it ought to have been self-explanatory.

"Oh, of course." It did not come as any surprise to her, but it did unnerve her. "The very same creature that killed your family. Of course."

"We have made it a new game," Eric went on carelessly. "If any of us come across a wolf, we must kill it. Whoever kills it and brings back the carcass get a generous reward in return." While Sookie could somewhat understand even his hatred towards a mere canine since a pack of them had slaughtered his family, she couldn't understand why the men would make up such a game. Wolves were not a creature she had come across many in her Kingdom, but she knew they were territorial and could be dangerous, especially when hunting in packs. "Speaking of which... over there."

She followed his eyes and could only just see the outline of something small and white in the distance, lingering around by the opening of trees which were probably where they were planning on cutting through to get to the village as a quicker route.

It looked small and defenseless to her, a pup; as far as Sookie could tell. Judging by the look on Eric's face, the excitement glistening there in his eyes and the way he moved to draw his sword out, she saw that she was quickly going to become an onlooker to their unpleasant game. She knew the Vikings lived a different life than the way of her Faedom, but still she could not understand why animals would be killed for sport.

In her Kingdom, no such games existed and most of her kind had learned to treat any animals with respect.

Confirming her fears, Eric shouted at all of his men, using his sword to gesture towards where the poor animal was.

Most of the men looked excited and rearing to go, to win the challenge, and Sookie watched with distaste as a few of the men kicked at their horses and rode forward past them to capture the animal with their spears and knifes ready at hand. Sookie knew then that the animals fate had already been sealed when she observed three of the men circling the wild animal, who backed off in white blur. But it was trapped, the men had succeeded in cornering it, and she was not looking forward to seeing it being treated inhumanly and without the respect her Kingdom usually shown the animals.

As Sookie and Eric drew nearer on the horse, she saw that it was only a tiny wolf pup, like she had suspected.

The wolf pup could hardly stand straight, no less defend itself from the men, who were talking quickly in excited voices and laughing challengingly in their language. The wolf's head was too big for its body, and it whined in a heartbreaking way as it reared back on its hind legs defenselessly.

When one of the men slid off their horse and approached it, Sookie had had enough.

Ignoring Eric's protest at her, she slid off his horse and approached the small wolf herself, ignoring the man that gave her a hard look of warning to stand back so he could kill it.

The wolf gave a tiny whimpering noise as it backed away from the man and before Sookie lost courage, she got behind it and scooped the wild animal up into her arms, holding it close. The wolf was shaking violently and his white fur felt straggly and wet. Alcide, she decided she would call him. Alcide the wolf. The men got even louder with their talking then. She had ruined their game, and she knew it.

"You will not hurt him," she spoke up determinedly, eyeing all the men in outrage. "He's just a baby. He's done nothing wrong, to any of you." She was cradling the small bundle of fur close to her chest, as if it was her child and not an animal, and she knew the wolf definitely meant no harm then, as it lifted its head and sniffed and licked the side of her chin curiously. "He will be my pet," she said, working to make her voice strong and firm. "He will be my pet and you won't kill this one. He's just a baby, after all..." She lifted her eyes and met Eric's desperately from where he was, still mounted on the brilliant white horse, hoping for both his permission and affirmation.

If he agreed, then the other men could not do anything about it. Eric just only had to back her up on this, and show his support.

She waited hopefully, watching the indecision on his face. It all came down to him and his word.

While Eric could not help but admire her spirit, he would rather die than have that thing that had killed his family in his village.

"No," he finally said after a moment, shaking his head vehemently. "It is too dangerous. I can't have that. Give the thing to one of my men so that they can receive their reward later."

"The thing?" She repeated incredulously, tightening her grip on the wolf.

Her throat tightened and she felt close to tears if she did not get her way.

"The thing has clearly lost its mother and it doesn't know where else to go. I won't have you killing it. Not this one. This one belongs to me." She stared Eric down steadily. "You kill it and I will never forgive you. This marriage between us will never work then." Sookie didn't know she could be such a manipulative and vindictive person, until then. The words that came out of her in her heat of anger surprised her but she knew it would be the case if he did not let her keep the wolf as her own. She continued desperately after a moment, ignoring the tremulous nature of her voice, "Please, he's just a pup, I can teach him to be good. He won't hurt anyone in your village if I just teach him. He can learn to love being around humans and to see them as not prey. I can make him, please."

She resumed watching Eric's face hopefully as he glanced away from her thoughtfully.

He peered around at all of his men, who were obviously confused and disappointed by the change of their game due to the girl invading. She kept her eyes on Eric's face, gauging his expression. He bit down on his bottom lip and turned his gaze on her again while the animal squirmed in her arms. When it lifted its head to lick her face again with its warm tongue, she let herself laugh happily over it and saw the way Eric looked close to crumbling and giving in to her request.

He wanted her happy, and she could tell as much by his thoughts.

She was winning this game, and she knew as much.

Eric confirmed it a moment later by sighing loudly and at last sending her a curt nod. When he explained in language to his men what was happening, she knew by his tone that he was not at all happy but he was relenting regardless. She felt a strange sudden wave of tenderness infect her over the man. As she climbed back on his horse again behind him with the pup squirming and shaking away, she let him know by leaning over and finding his cheek.

She bestowed a lingering kiss on his cheek in gratitude and when he leaned back to look at her, he inspected the tiny creature in her arms skeptically. The pup was trembling with its ears erect as its white eyes gleamed back at him in a somewhat cautious way. Ugly wild beast, Eric thought to himself bitterly. If it hadn't been for her stopping them, the thing would be dead and bloody on the ground, as it rightly should be.

"The fact remains it is dangerous, having that thing near the people in my village," he told her sternly. "I will let you keep it, but you must know that you are in charge of it. You must keep it away from any people and if it hurts them, then it is on you. Control the thing well and keep it away from any cattle."

"I will, I promise."

As they all started again through the woods, Sookie felt as if she was bursting with joy as she looked at the tiny animal in her arms. She had never been allowed to have a pet before, especially not in her realm, so the fact that she could have one now was the most exciting thing in the world to her. She only hoped she could control it well and not have it harm or bite any of Eric's people. She was confident she could train him well, though.

She was going to have a husband and a pet. Two firsts for her, and it was going to take some time getting used to. The husband part of it all, anyway.

It did not take long for them to reach the farm village of Öland.

Reaching the green opening of the trees, it cleared until a short while away up a hill Sookie saw some houses in the distance enclosed by fences. There was no large palace with heavy stone walls or no feeling that the air around her was protected magically. But it felt like home to her, all the same. The further they went towards the houses, the more she could hear animals in their stalls. Horses snorting, goats, cows. The wind, which grew heavy and vigorous, smelled like saltwater to her and she presumed the sea was near.

As she took her new homestead in with a mixture of curiosity and wonder, she heard Eric ask her, rather anxiously, "What do you think?"

"How do you say home in your language?" she asked him.

"Hem."

"Hem, then. It looks like hem to me."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter? Again, I'm so sorry for taking so long.