Everything was finally in place for a war. Sookie had the local Were pack, Thalia, Godric, Eric, Pam, and a good number of other ancient vampires, willing to help the cause. She also had a local witch coven willing to ward against the possibility of incoming Fae. One of the perks Sookie had from spending so much time around vampires, was that they had grown to trust her, even respect her—she had made many friends over the years, and it showed when she asked for assistance.
After a few days in the mortal realm, she was finally able to have some time with Eric—where they weren't having to organize a war. Eric was sitting in her living room, drinking a True Blood, watching her as she paced around nervously—they would be leaving for Faery in a couple hours, before the sun came up for the morning.
"Sookie, sit down," Eric said, motioning to the seat next to him on the couch, "you need to relax."
Sookie sighed and relented, crossing the living room, and plopping down on the couch next to him. "I'm scared," she told him honestly. "I'm more afraid for my people than myself. I want to give them a better life, and I think this is the only way to do it. But what if we fail, and we cause more misery and violence in the long run? What will their deaths have been for?"
Eric looked at her carefully, and could see the years bearing down on her. Sookie's appearance was sometimes deceiving. She wasn't as young as she looked. The only way you could see her age was to look in her eyes, or listen to her speak. She had the slight accent of a long dead language in her voice.
"Sookie, I think, regardless of what happens, this was the decision that needed to be made. It wasn't going to get better on its own."
Sookie simply smiled a little, and nodded her head, leaning in for a hug, and Eric happily obliged. She was one of three beings he would embrace willingly. The romance they felt for each other was long simmered down, and the hug was friendly—comforting.
They broke away from each other, and Sookie stood up from her spot on the couch when she sensed Godric's void approaching the house, along with those of the other vampires.
"It's time to go."
They arrived in the fae palace, and immediately went to Sookie's quarters.
"Okay," she said, addressing the vampires behind her, "the sun in Faery will not affect you, so you don't need to worry about being burnt. However, you will still get the bleeds if you don't rest at some point—you just won't feel the same pull at dawn. I keep True Blood stocked in the kitchens. There should be plenty. If I catch anybody feeding on an unwilling fae, you will be executed—swiftly. No trials, no juries."
The vampires all nodded their understanding, and she led them each to their appointed rooms. Eric and Pam shared one, Thalia had her own, Godric shared Sookie's, and the other lesser known vampires were left to decide amongst themselves who would share with who. As everybody was left to unpack their belongings, Sookie headed to her throne room to address her people, and speak with Raegan.
"Your Majesty," Raegan said, bowing, as she approached the throne room, "the people are getting anxious."
Sookie nodded, working hard not to fidget. Even after 2000 years, she hadn't learned to control her nervous habits. With a deep breath, she pushed open the doors, and prepared to speak with her court.
As she walked in, there was a collective murmur. Instead of being dressed in her usual royal gown and tiara, their queen was dressed for battle. She wore traditional fae armor, made of leather, almost like a Norse shield maiden. There was nothing fancy about it. Seeing their queen dressed for battle, quickly answered many of the questions the faeries had about the coming days.
"My people. I come to you, because we are at war. We are at war with the Water Fae, and we will be until their line of power is destroyed. There will never be peace while we are divided. In the coming days I will be launching an invasion into their kingdom—there will be no time for formal training. I have always tried to be a fair and just queen, and as such, I would never make you fight in my war, forcefully, but I ask each man and woman if they would be willing to fight by my side, to keep the realm safe. Are you willing to make the realm safer for your children, and their children, and so on? Because as long as the Water scum are around, it will not be safe. My people, I ask you if you would be willing to fight not for me, but by my side, as my equals."
As soon as she finished speaking, the room went silent, and she sat nervously, waiting for the reaction. What she got, though, was more than she ever could have wished for. One by ome, the faeries dropped to their knee, and bowed their head. And from her throne, she saw the collective blue glow that was their light, coming from their hands, showing their allegiance to their queen. She smiled, and sat back, knowing that she had the people on her side.
The next days went by quickly. There was the distribution of weapons and armor, and also strategizing with the fire daemons. Everybody was on the same page, and ready to attack. Sookie had a large army, many of which were already skilled warriors, and the vampires, though few in number, were a force to be reckoned with.
Sookie was dressing in her armor when Godric entered her room. Before she could even say anything, he pulled her in and kissed her. This time, it wasn't as sweet—it was demanding, and she couldn't help but give in and kiss him back with the same ferocity. They broke apart eventually, her panting, and him smirking.
"I want you to remember what I said," Godric said, looking down at her, "I will turn you if I have to."
She nodded her understanding, knowing there was no use fighting him on the issue. She would take measures to make sure it didn't come to that. She finished dressing, and tried not to worry too much about the coming day.
The faeries and vampires all teleported to the agreed meeting spot, just outside the walls of the Water Fae city, in a dense forest patch. Once everybody was assembled, Sookie gave out her instructions.
"I want as little collateral damage as possible," she told her army, "I want to finish the king. My revenge is long overdue. I want the less experienced fighters to patrol the city. Try to stay out of the fighting as much as possible. My more experienced warriors, I want you clearing out their army. Do it swiftly. I don't want to have to deal with them inside the palace. My vampires, I want you to stay with me. We're going to take out the king's guard, and try to get the king isolated. Daemons, stick with the experienced warriors, and help take out their army. I have no doubt that the king knows we're coming. He has a great deal of spies in our walls, so stay alert."
When she finished speaking, the army let out a collective battle cry, and moved forward to their assigned locations. Sookie led the army, along with Godric and Eric, and when they stormed the gates, havoc struck.
The king had definitely been prepared, but not prepared enough. The archers he posted on the walls stood little chance against her flying vampires, and equally deadly fire daemons. They barely had time to shoot before they were turning to dust and ash.
The army continued to move forward, the sound of battle and clashing of swords ringing in Sookie's ears. She cut her way through the army, warrior after warrior turning to ash at the end of her sword. Focused as she was though, she didn't notice the large Water warrior come up behind her. He brought his sword down fast, close enough that she heard the whoosh in the air, but when she turned around, she saw Godric, covered in Faerie blood, ripping out the man's throat.
She nodded at him, and still continued forward. The smell of blood and clashing of swords becoming almost unbearable. Finally, she and her vampires reached the palace doors, and she used her light to blast them open. As she suspected, there was a heavy king's guard posted in the palace, and she resolved herself for more bloodshed.
As she moved forward, she felt herself growing more fatigued, but knew she couldn't stop. She was so close to the king, and she knew once he was dead, they would be done. The war would be over. As they finished clearing the outward parts of the palace, she pulled her vampires aside briefly.
"I need to do this alone," she told them, breathing heavily, "I need to kill him. And I need to do this alone."
"Sookie," Godric started, but was cut off.
"I can handle it. I can kill the rest of them. There aren't that many of them in his rooms."
The other vampires merely nodded, and backed away, towards the entrance of the palace. Godric waited back.
"Sookie, I'll stay close. I'll send the others to check on the rest of the army."
"Thank you," she whispered, grabbing his hand. And then she was gone.
Eric and the others went back in to the city to see if anybody else needed help. Their army was for the most part intact, but there were still heavy losses on both sides. Even for a vampire his age, the smell of Faery blood was almost maddening. He shook himself out of his haze, and motioned for the others to follow him.
They split up when they reached the center of the city, and went to help the remaining fae. They just needed to last long enough to kill the king, and round up the rest of the Water warriors for either surrender, or execution. He smiled wickedly, and returned to the task at hand. If there was anything Eric was good at, it was fighting.
Thalia, on the other hand, fought alongside the Daemons with a grim determination. She was the type of vampire who usually waited for conflict to be brought to her. She had left behind the life of carnage that she had led before. She just had to carry the on the façade.
She was pulled from her reverie, however, by the scream of Gladiola. She sped over to the girl, and saw she was bleeding heavily from a wound to her abdomen. Without even thinking, she tore into her wrist, and held the bleeding appendage up to the girl.
"Drink," she hissed, pushing her wrist further into her mouth, hoping it would be enough to save the girl.
When Sookie entered the king's chambers, she found him sitting in an armchair, sipping a glass of some sort of liquor. She paused seeing this. He had obviously been expecting her arrival, so what was he doing?
"Cahal," Sookie said, stepping forward.
"Susannah," he said, acknowledging her, "it seems you've won."
She was taken aback at this. "I haven't won until I decimated your cities, and have your head on a spike!" she spat back at him.
He chuckled softly, and stood up. He had a few hundred years on Sookie, and she could see the age on him. He was still a handsome man, though. He began walking toward Sookie, and she raised her sword.
"Oh, put that thing down, girl," he said, motioning to her sword. "You know, you should really thank me. If not for me, you would still just be a princess, living a poor life, with a husband who was too weak to even protect you or your daughters. Without me, you wouldn't be queen."
"Shut up!" she yelled, raising her sword more.
"I heard, that your girls barely even fought back. You were too busy training yourself, you didn't bother to teach them to protect themselves…and your grandfather. I quite liked him. He had to die though. You were all supposed to die. The Sky Fae were meant to be my people."
With that, she lunged at him, but he deflected her easily. "You're letting emotion cloud your judgement, Susannah. I've heard how excellent of a warrior you are—prove it to me."
She steadied herself, and raised her sword again, ready to deflect his blow. But it never came. Instead, she heard the sound of footsteps, and the door crashed open. Her heart sank however, when she noticed instead of her own people, it was a group of around ten king's guard, surrounding her.
"Susannah, it's very simply. You surrender now, and you can be executed swiftly, or you can fight, and I promise you, it will not be nice."
Sookie raised her head, and looked him in the eye, "If I die, at least I died trying to kill you," she said, and then spit at the ground by his shoes.
The king's guard then attacked. She cut them all down, but she was drained. She was fatigued, and she needed this to be over. She was regretting sending her vampires away, more than anything in that moment.
"it's over, Cahal," she said. She then moved forward, and ended him quickly, removing his head.
She had a brief moment of relief, but not before she felt the knife in her back, and everything went black.