I was sitting at the table in the parlor with Renee, Shannon and the Sheriff of Area Five, playing poker. I could feel the weight of the question I wanted to ask. It hung over me like a thunder cloud. I looked at the Sheriff with stormy eyes. I wanted to reach over and shake the answer out of him. But he was not the only one I wanted to shake.
I hate sounding like Sookie, but I was actually pretty fed up with being left out of the loop, particularly if we were going to be dealing with Vampire problems and trying to have meaningful relationships with these people. How can you do that when the players seem to be changing their positions. Eric looked cool as a cucumber, studying his cards til he happened to look over at me.
"What?" he said. I hesitated and then, I thought no, why should I.
"Screw this...Eric, why didn't you and Bill tell us he had become the effing king of Louisiana! That is messed up!!!" I declared.
"Please, don't hold back Aslinn, be frank," said the Viking.
"I would really like to give the both of you a piece of my mind," I answered tersely. Eric looked up at Renee and shrugged as if to say, 'hey, it wasn't me.'
"Well, the mind is the largest sex organ, so I would enjoywhatever...part of you...you give to me," he said, fiddling with his cards. "I call."
"Aces and Eights," said Renee as she began to pull the sizable pot of Eric's money toward her. "Come to momma baby, she needs a new pair of shoes."
"See, you distracted me," said Eric, smiling that implacable Mona Lisa smile, wrinkling his nose just a fraction to do it.
"Don't give me any of your smarm Eric. It might work on doe eyed telepathic waitresses but it does fuck all for me," I said. Eric sat back and looked at me.
"Articulate as ever Aslinn, you never mince words, I like that," he said. "As to why Bill and I did not tell you, you will have to ask him."
"Oh don't worry, I plan to," I said.
"I never worry Aslinn," he said.
"Did Michael know?" Eric's eyes raised to a point somewhere behind me and I knew my Barrister was there behind me. I looked up. "Did you?"
"Yes, I knew, at the very end, but I knew," he said.
"Son of a..." I swore.
"Bill!" said Shannon, leaping up from the table to greet the Vampire in question. Shannon had finally consummated her sister wife-dom to Bill just recently. She hugged and kissed him and then went to heat him a Blood. He walked over and kissed Renee and then came over to do the same to me. I pulled away from a bit. Eric made to get up.
"Don't you dare buster!" I said. "I want answers from the both of you."
"Perhaps we should convene a meeting," said King Bill.
"As you wish...your majesty..." said Eric in a soft mocking tone which implied 'enjoy it while you may Bill Compton'.
I got up and walked over to one of the big overstuffed chairs and sat down. I was mad at both Vampires. I had not made up my mind about Barrister. Fairy and Raki sat down by Eric and Renee and Vi and Shannon sat near Bill. Westexan came and sat by me. She was a bit diffident about the things she had seen and she was trying to make up her mind about whether she liked them or not. Pam came in and sat on the other side. She gave me a smile that said...'We're girls now,' and I just looked away. I gave her my "Don't Help Me" look and she just smiled wider. Sugar and Butter and Minnie and Sweet and Linzy and Lina and Aolani sat on the other couch, across from Eric.
"I suppose I should begin by apologizing to you for keeping the fact I had ascended to the Throne of Louisiana from you," began Bill. "Nan Flanagan requested we keep this a secret."
"But we are your friends, we could have used this knowledge to help Eric and the rest of us get out of trouble with the Authority for killing those Vampires," I said.
"Believe me, my position did negate what was going to happen," he said. "I know it looked very desperate but I knew nothing would have happened to any of us, including Eric. The trial was a test, to show the authority you are humans of value. Eric and I have repeatedly expressed your superiority and they simply needed evidence."
"And Michael knew?" I asked.
"Not until the very end, when Eric gave his statement to the Authority," said Bill. "We knew your gamble would work."
"And what if I hadn't had that big idea?" I said. "They had already sentenced you, all of you."
"We had faith in the Council," said Eric. "I trust you with my afterlife."
"Don't be mad Aslinn," said Jessica. "We knew you guys could do it."
"So, did we prove your point?" I asked.
"You did, and we need the council's advice once more," he said.
"The Fae...can they move in and out of this world?" asked Pam.
"There is no reason to believe they can't," I said. "She only closed the one portal."
"And the witches?" asked Bill.
"The witches are a real Vampire problem," I said. "They are practicing necromancy."
"It's simply talking to the dead, isn't it?" asked Fairy.
"No, there are two types of communication with the dead. You can be a psychic sensitive and the dead freely communicate with you. Then there is necromancy and that is forcing the dead to speak to you," said Aolani. "It can lead to all sorts of things: hauntings, possessions, other things."
"Can you and the witches protect us?" asked Bill.
"The more involved in this coven you become, the more danger you will be in," said Aolani. "If you are not careful with how you deal with this coven, the more danger you will be in."
"Advice heard," said Eric.
"Look, Eric, for lack of a better word, you guys have 'good' witches in this group willing to do whatever we can to protect you," said Aolani. "But all our good intentions are pretty worthless if you don't do as we say. These witches are under the influence of a 'bad' witch, Marnie. The other witches look to me to be fairly innocent, particularly our friend Lafayette."
"Are they Wiccans?" asked Bill. "I confess I am a bit confused."
"Wiccans are fairly peaceful. They are a nature religion. Not all Wiccans are witches, not all witches are Wiccan," she explained. "A lot of covens use the word Wiccan as a short hand term."
"Are you ladies Wiccans?" asked Eric.
"Perfect case in point, Eric. All religions have some supernatural or magikal factor in them. I am a Wiccan. Aslinn, Renee, Fairy, they practice a form of very ancient Christian Craft, something the mainstream Christian religions disregard or simply call miracles. Jessica is practicing just pure witchcraft, for lack of a better way of explaining it. She is a peculiar thing, she is a Vampire studying the craft, so she has no religion per se. Let's just say she is spiritual and drawing on her own supernatural energy."
"That is how they can harm us," said Bill.
"Yes," I said. "You, Eric, Pam, Jessica, are all creatures of the supernatural, you are pure magikal energy and witches do their work by manipulating energy. They can harm you, they can possess you, they can steal your light."
"That is what Claudine said about Vampires and Sookie," said Linzy.
"All creatures, Vampire, Weres, Shifters, Fae, us, we all have a light," said Aolani. "The concept of light is not simply fae."
"It's our souls," I said. "The thing that makes us who we are."
"Have you forgotten Aslinn?" asked Eric. "I am dead, I have no soul."
"I have had just enough out of you," I said. "One cannot define the living sentient self based on the beating of a heart. Trees do not have a heart, yet they live. The water does not have a heart and it is a living thing that covers 2/3 of the planet. So don't give me that...I am dead, I don't have a soul bullshit!!!" Bill looked at me. It was a discussion we often had when we chatted about their place in the universe. I don't know if they liked being considered souless, or if they simply believed the hype thrust upon them, or they simply saw it as a human frailty they were well rid of.
Butter looked around, trying to find a topic. "So, what about Sookie's brother," she said.
"Jason will have to work out his own problems with Hot Shot," said Bill."The community is certainly a blight on Bon Temps."
"It's not their fault," said Westexan.
"I know, but honestly, what can I do?" he asked.
"Nothing," I said. "They are more closed off than the usual were or shifter community."
"And Tara," said Raki.
"Or Toni, whatever the hell name she is going by these days," said Linzy.
"What are you going to do abut Sookie's house?" asked Violet.
"There is nothing much to be done about Sookie's house. The house is mine...and so is she," said Eric, snicking out his fangs. Bill gave Eric a very unloving look.
"What are you up to, Jessica," asked Michael.
"That is none of your business," she said, looking at me.
"Jessica!!!" said Bill.
"Oh don't bother," I said. Michael had not been spending so much time with her as he had, though I knew she paid Pam a visit from time to time...which was fascinating because I knew Pam was not ordinarily interested in men, but she seemed to be enjoying Michael's company. "Keep your hair on Jess."
"Sorry Aslinn," she said.
"I'm sorry too," I said.
"Well, what about that baby of Arlene's," asked Fairy. I gave her a look of gratitude. "Is it really a devil baby?"
"That remains to be seen," said Aolani...
No comments:
Post a Comment