Spellbound
Here is the 2nd chapter of the week. I want to thank y'all for the reviews, favorites, and the alerts. I really appreciate that y'all understand that we are getting there.
The characters belong to Ms. Charlaine Harris but the idea is mine.
The children were sitting at the dinner table with their mom when they heard the whistling. They looked up and at each other and smiled. The whistling always excited them. They knew what it meant. They were anxious to jump up from their seats and take off running to see him but they knew the rules. They aren't allowed to get up from the table until they are excused. The boys kicked their little legs back and forth. They giggled loudly. They wiggled in their seats; their little bottoms bouncing back and forth. Their mother tried to hide her excitement but she failed. She was just as excited as they were. Her husband was home.
After taking a bite of her lunch, she looked at the boys and smiled. "Du är ursäktad," she said. ("You are excused.")
The boys were off and running. It was beautiful to see them running across the yard. There happy giggles were musical and soothing. She didn't know that he was due to come home but she was so glad that he had returned. He'd been at sea for several months and when the boys saw their father, it was as if it was Christmas all over again.
The sounds of Eric's sons' voices filled the air as they yelled out, 'Pappa är hemma! Pappa är hemma!'' filled the air. ("Daddy's home!")
The smile that spread across Eric's face was the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen. His eyes held only love and compassion. He bent down with his arms open wide and his boys jumped into them; never wanting to let him go.
"Jag har saknat dig, mina söner," he said to them. ("I've missed you, my sons.")
"Stannar du den här gången?" they asked him. ("Will you stay this time?")
"För så länge jag kan." He kissed the blond heads of his sons. ("For as long as I can.")
Eric hugged his sons closer to his body. The sound of their childhood was the best welcome home present that he could've received. He tickled them as he could wait no longer to hear the full sounds of their laughter. The feel of them climbing over his body and kissing his cheeks made him even happier. This was what home was supposed to be. His wife and children were his reason for staying alive. When things seemed grim during times of war, the visions of his family made him fight even harder to make it home.
She looked out across the yard and watched her boys playing. Eric was on his knees and he was ready to put the tickle monster back in action. Their sons' little legs began waving back and forth in the air. Eric's laughter filled her heart. She closed her eyes and relished in it. She wanted to hold onto this memory forever. She loved seeing them play with their father. It didn't happen very often but when it did, it brought joy to her heart.
Upon opening her eyes and seeing them enjoy themselves, the little girl of yesterday made an appearance. She knew that she had to get dinner prepared but it would just have to wait. She wanted to join them. She jumped off of the porch and ran to them.
As she ran across the yard, the thought of her husband holding her and loving her as only he could, made her run even faster and harder. When she'd reached him, her heart was pounding in her chest. She was filled with anticipation. She was laughing just as loudly as they were; until he looked up at her and she saw his face.
When the laughing man looked up at her, she stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't know that man. It wasn't Eric. She looked down at the boys and they weren't hers. The boys from before were gone. These boys weren't blond and they didn't have blue eyes. They were brunettes and had green eyes. They were looking at her and they were the ones that were laughing and playing. This wasn't her family.
The man reached out to her. "Join us," he said.
Sookie shook her head no. "Vem är du?" she asked. ("Who are you?")
"I'm your true destiny."
Sookie's eyes opened. The whistling and happy man from the beginning of her dream was resting on the pillow beside her and holding her hand. He was watching her. He didn't say anything. He reached over and brushed the hair from her face. When she looked into Eric's eyes, the Eric from her dreams was with her. The Eric that she fell in love with was by her side. The stranger that she married was gone.
Sleepily, she said, "I know your face." She let her hands move lovingly over his jaw. She traced his lips with her finger. "I know you."
"You do," he whispered.
His voice brought her back to reality. She was not the woman that was in her dreams. The little boys were not her children. It was Eric's family that she was seeing. She had seen into Eric's memories. Her hand was no longer caressing his face. She no longer saw the man from her dreams. The Eric that she'd fallen in love with had been replaced by the man that was trying to win her back. It was the man that didn't love her when she wanted him to. Her heart ached for the Eric from so long ago; the Eric that she believed to be gone from her forever. The vision of the man and the children; they were something more.
"Are you feeling better?"
She didn't answer him. "You didn't go to the bar."
"No."
Eric stared deeply into her eyes. He noticed that she didn't answer his question. That could only mean that she wasn't feeling any better. Since the night she fainted he had been trying to feel her through the bond but there was nothing there. They shared blood frequently and there is no reason that the bond should be weakening after only a couple of days. Something was wrong and she didn't trust him enough to tell him what it is. She was hiding it from him. He knew that she wasn't going to willingly share it with him.
"Have you closed the bond to keep me from knowing what's wrong?"
Without missing so much as a beat, she said, "That has nothing to do with it though I have closed it. You know that. Since we've been married you haven't wanted to know what I was feeling. You don't want to know what I'm feeling now." With a small chuckle, she said, "I sure don't want to know what you're feeling. I've had enough of that. The bond is useless. There is no need for it."
Eric stiffened at her words. "You can't mean that."
She meant it. There was nothing else for her to say about the bond. "It's done," she said. She moved on the earlier subject. "Have you been to the bar?"
"No."
"You've been with me the entire time?"
"Where else would I be? You're not well. I'm not leaving you."
A faint smile played across her lips. "You could have gone to the bar."
"I need to be here."
"I appreciate that but it was not necessary," she replied.
Stiffly, Eric said, "It is obvious that you don't need me but I deemed it necessary to be here. I've also done something else that you may view as unnecessary but it is done. I've called Dr. Ludwig. She will be here to see you in a few days."
"I don't need a doctor."
Eric knew then that she was hiding something from him. He didn't need the bond to feel it. He could see it. "You need to see Dr. Ludwig. You're of fae ancestry. You don't get sick. You don't almost faint. Your glow isn't supposed to fade. Your eyes don't go dull. They're not supposed to be lifeless." He suddenly became shy. "I don't want to lose you."
Sookie didn't respond to his last sentence. She acted as if she didn't hear him. "I know how you like to keep busy. You've never been one to lie around. I can call Claudette. I know that she'll let me stay with her until I feel better. You don't have to stay home because of me. We don't have any marital obligations to attend to. There are no pressing appointments that I have and I know how important the bar is to you. You can leave me." She removed his hand from her face and placed it on the bed. She patted it gently before folding her hands underneath her head. "It won't upset me if you go."
Eric was insulted by her words. There was no need for her to turn to Claudette. "Do you think that I am not capable of taking care of you? If you distrust my capabilities, I can hire a nurse. I can get the staff to stay over until further notice but I will not leave you here alone without being looked after." He definitely didn't want her to go Faery. He was going to do whatever he needed to do to keep Fintan away from his wife.
She quickly shook her head. "None of that is necessary, Eric. I can't take them from their lives and I'm not going to take you away from yours. I just don't want to keep you from anything important."
She wanted to throw in the name Freyda but she held her tongue. What would be the point? He wasn't going to tell her anything about Freyda no matter what she's said.
Firmly, Eric said, "This is important. You are important. I am not leaving you here alone."
Sookie knew that when Eric used that tone, that there was going to be no arguing with him. She's heard him use that tone during many summits and meetings. When he made a decision and if he felt that it was the best decision, there was no changing his mind.
"Did you close the bar?"
Settling into his spot, Eric said, "No. Pam and Clancy are running things tonight. I trust that they can handle it. They've done it before. Who do you think I left in charge when we would go out of town for the summits?"
"I have no idea. You've never shared that information with me before." The look on Sookie's face was blank. "I know nothing of Pam or Clancy. I know nothing of your business. I just know that you run a bar that you use to mainstream with the humans. So forgive me if I don't know who you leave in charge when you go out of town."
He'd put his foot in his mouth once again and he was tired of the taste of his boot. It was as if no matter what he said or what he did it was never going to turn out as he wanted it to. He kept saying the wrong things.
"It's okay," she said. "It doesn't matter anymore."
He didn't like the sound of that but he was not going to let that one sentence determine the future that he has with his wife. The fact that she was allowing him to lay in bed with her was reason alone for him to believe that he still has a chance.
"Eric, are you there?"
He looked at her and apologized. "I was daydreaming. Forgive me. What were you saying?"
The blank expression remained on her face as she sighed. "Never mind," she said. "It doesn't matter." It wasn't the first time he'd ignored her. She was sure that it wouldn't be the last. She was about to turn her to back to him but he reached out to stop her.
"Don't do this," he begged. "Tell me what you were going to say."
Sookie lay on her back and looked up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question that she was going to ask him. If he didn't hear her the first time, it may be for the best that she doesn't repeat it. She rolled her head to the side and looked at him. If he wanted to hear it, she was going to let him hear it all.
"Since we've been married, you've never gone out of your way to be especially nice to me. I hate being so cynical but this attention that you're lavishing upon me scares me." She paused for a brief moment. "It's almost as if you're a child that's about to lose a toy that he has tired of; a toy that has been thrown to the side and forgotten about. It's only now that you face the reality of losing said toy that you decide you want to keep the toy."
Eric was slighted by her words. "I've never seen you as a thing; a toy for me to play with."
"Your previous actions tell me something different."
"I was oblivious to what was before me."
"But now you're not?" Sighing, Sookie added, "Understand that I'm not angry. I just want you to know why it's so hard for me to accept this sudden interest that you have in me. You say that I'm beautiful and you tell me how important I am to you. You don't go to the bar because I'm not well. Since we've been married, I've wanted you to be this attentive to me but you weren't. I was nothing more than another woman to you. Now you expect me to fall in love with you all over again without pause."
Eric stood up from the bed. He was no longer offended by her words. He wasn't angry. He was something more. "Never have you been just another woman to me. You've never been my toy. You've always been my wife. You hold the highest position in my life." His eyes were filled with anger and the anger was not aimed at her. He knew that it was he that has caused her to feel the way that she does. It was no one's fault but his.
"You speak such easy words," she replied. "You never showed me. You never told me. I was led to believe that I was nothing to you but now I'm everything to you. Why did you make me feel that way? Useless? Unloved and unwanted? I gave you all of me and everything that I had to offer. But in return, you gave me heartache and pain. Why would you do that?"
Eric was soon kneeled down at her side with her hand in his. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her about Fintan. He wanted to tell her how Fintan had shown him how she can manipulate others with a simple touch, a glance, or a smile. He'd seen the angriest vampire suddenly cower at her feet with only a smile from her. She had the deadliest packleader of the New Jersey werewolf pack wrapped around her little finger all because she placed her hand on his arm. He wanted to tell her how easy it was for him to believe Fintan's lies. He wanted to tell her that he'd seen it himself how she can make the most powerful supes bend to her will. He wanted to tell her that she couldn't blame him for thinking the way that he did. It was her grandfather's fault. He was the one that ruined their marriage. He was the one that destroyed their relationship.
Eric wanted to tell her all of those things but he couldn't. He didn't want her to think that he was placing all of the blame on her grandfather. And that's what he would have done. She would tell him that he had a choice in what he wanted to believe. She would tell him that he didn't have to believe Fintan. He should have trusted her and her love. And she would be right. He didn't have to believe Fintan. Eric knew deep down why he was so willing to believe what he'd been told. He was afraid.
Before meeting Sookie, he'd never had the need to relinquish his will to another. It was easier for him to believe that she was making him do it than for him to believe that he needed her more than he needed blood to survive. So until the time was right, he told her the truth but in the simplest of terms.
"Because I was prideful and foolish," he said. "I was weak and I was wrong. It has never been you or anything that you've done. You've been an outstanding wife. You're an incredible woman."
"Then why?" She looked down at his hands as they held hers. "Do I embarrass you? Is it because I'm more powerful than you are?"
"Never," he said as he brought her hand to his lips. "Never," he repeated.
"Are you ashamed of me?" she whispered.
Eric moved in closer to Sookie. "I've never been ashamed of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud that you are my wife. Sookie let me explain something to you. Vampires have never needed or wanted for anything; especially not a companion. That's what we use the humans for; sex and food." He moved in closer to her and said, "For me, it was true no longer. I had to make them all believe that I didn't need you. I had to make them think that you were no more than a contract with your people. They had to believe that I was sleeping with the fangbangers. I had no choice. They would have used my weakness against me."
Sookie was trying to understand his reason but she didn't. His reason was foreign to her. Her grandfather married a human woman and the fae didn't like it but their grumblings didn't keep him from loving her. They didn't feel that it was fair to the bloodline for a member of the royal family to marry a human and bring her into the fae realm. She didn't deserve the power or the life that comes with being a member of the royal family. She was human. Her grandfather didn't care what his kin thought. He wanted what he wanted and he got her. Only their love mattered. Why couldn't Eric do the same for her? Fintan made sure that Adele was respected by all fae. He has never excluded her from his life. She has always been by his side.
"My grandfather married a human and our people didn't approve of his love or devotion to her. He stood by her regardless of what they thought so by that logic, your explanation is moot."
That angered Eric; to be compared to a liar like Fintan Brigant. "I am not your grandfather."
She looked at him as if that was the most tragic revelation she'd ever heard. "That I know," she said sadly. "Why have I never been allowed to be a part of your life? Why have you never allowed me to be personal with Pam and Clancy? I only wanted to know them because of what they are to you. I wanted to be a part of their lives because you were."
In his mind, he was protecting them. He didn't want them to be manipulated and toyed with the way that he believed Sookie had done him. He didn't know what to say to her so he said the next best thing. "I apologize for that. I was wrong."
She was hesitant in asking him the next question because she knew the answer to that question too. She needed to hear him say it though. She had to hear him say it. "Has Freyda ever met them?"
His eyes dropped to his hands. She'd gotten her answer.
Sookie took her hand from Eric's. He looked up at her; sadness had filled him once again. She stared at him for a long while. Maybe Eric had the right idea all along; to keep their lives separate. It was going to be hard to do but it had to be done.
She yawned and said, "Thank you for staying with me but I'm really sleepy. Would you mind closing the door behind you when you leave?"
"It's not what you think," he started.
"It never is," she said with a smile. "I would like to rest now. Will you close the door behind you when you leave, please?"
Eric said yes as he slowly stood to his feet. "I will. Do you need anything before I go?"
Smiling as she shook her head, Sookie said no. "Goodnight."
"You may not believe me now, Sookie but you are my first priority. You do hold the highest position in my life. I just wanted you to know that. Goodnight," Eric replied as he closed the door behind him.
Once he was gone, Sookie buried herself deep into her covers. She closed her eyes and sighed as she settled into her bed. Tonight had been a productive one. Even after all that had been said and done, she and Eric had a civil conversation. She didn't get the answers that she wanted but that was okay. She'd learned two things about herself tonight. She learned that she is proud of the decision that she has made to live a happier life and though she didn't want to do it, she also learned that she wasn't afraid of facing a future without Eric. They would be just fine.