A/N:
I woke up to a small shock this week when my story “Let Women Vote” was deleted from Fanfiction dot net because they claimed it broke the rules. I didn`t understand anything because that story is not about sex or violence at all but a couple of hours later the story was restored. Apparently it was the word “vote” that had their bot spitting out the story and then later they found that “vote” wasn`t such a bad word after all.
I know several other stories have been deleted because of curse words in the summaries and there`s a lot of anger and frustration among writers right now. Some even talk about boycotting this place.
I`ve decided to stay here for as long as they will have me but I`ll probably post elsewhere as well. We`ll see what the future brings. I just hope this doesn`t discourage too many people from writing and reading fanfiction. Fanfiction should be a lot of fun – not a lot of frustrations.
I want to thank Suki59 for betaing this chapter even if she was sick. A lot of hugs!
Eric didn`t come back to his house until after we`d all gone to bed. He`d gone with his queen and I had gone with Jason, Claude and Tara to Eric and Pam`s house.
After the initial hugging of Pam and her offspring we had dinner and went to bed. There was an awkward moment when I realized that we hadn`t discussed sleeping arrangements. Pam and Claude were sharing their bed, and had been for a while now, but did Tara expect me to sleep with her so that Eric would have to share his bed with my brother?
Tara and Jason had shared his bed back home but they`d both been in a state of sorrow and had needed the comfort they could offer each other. This was not the case anymore. Not entirely, at least. They both had a sad look in their eyes when they thought no one was looking but they also seemed determined.
I felt a little tingle of guilt because I`d left them alone at the blot. It wasn`t that I thought Tara couldn`t look after herself but Jason was a womanizer and how would she react if he threw all his charm at her? Or when he`d eventually leave her.
Only … he had been treating Tara with a degree of respect I`d rarely seen in him. And if they`d been close to one another, she`d been the one to initiate it just as much as Jason had.
Then I realized that it wasn`t necessarily that I was worried about Tara – or Jason for that matter. Whatever happened, or didn`t happen, between my best friend and my brother was up to the gods and if Frøya wanted two people to be together, then who was I to stop it?
I looked at Tara and then at Jason and came to the conclusion that if they wanted to keep sharing their bed then it wasn`t my business what they chose to do in that bed.
And with that I crept under the covers of Eric`s bed and waited for him to return from his meeting with his queen.
When I woke up the next morning it was to Eric sitting down on the bed, trying to pull off his boots. He looked like a sack of rocks, his normally square shoulders rounded and his head hanging low.
“What happened?” I whispered.
He never looked at me, only took off the rest of his clothes and rolled down to lie next to me. Before I could repeat my question he was asleep.
He looked terrible, his skin gray and his eyes red. A night with no sleep would explain some of it but I had a nagging feeling something was wrong. Very wrong.
I kissed his brow and got up to get water and start breakfast.
Eric only slept until breakfast was ready. Then he got up and joined the rest of us around the table. The little sleep he`d had had given him a little color in his cheeks but he still looked awful.
He was grumpy too. His scowl had us all eating in complete silence. Even the kids just shoved their food into their mouths and ran outside as soon as they were done.
“What is Alcide to you?” Eric asked all of a sudden.
“Excuse me?” I asked. I may have had a little edge to my voice.
“Is he your lover?”
“Where did that come from?” I stared at him and he stared back. “I have one lover and that`s you.”
“Why was he groping you, then?”
Not wanting to have that conversation I got up to leave the house.
“You can`t trust Alcide, Sookie!” Eric shouted just as I opened the door. “He may be working for Felipe.”
“Eric,” I said in the coldest voice I could muster. “Do you see Alcide anywhere here?”
Eric looked away and I walked out.
What was wrong with him? When he`d found Alcide groping me he`d also seen what state I was in and he hadn`t complained back then. He`d seemed pleased about seeing me again.
Why was my relationship to Alcide, or lack of the same, something for him to get angry over now?
I met Bill of the Long Silences while I was walking furiously towards the meadow where we worked out. I hadn`t really planned on training now but I was carrying my sword and I noticed Bill was carrying not only his normal sword but also two blunt swords. He`d also brought a sack.
We nodded at each other and when we came to the meadow both Bill and I put our swords down and grabbed a blunt sword each. And then we started fighting.
The sun was high in the sky and we were both breathing hard and wet from sweat when Bill made a motion to stop our fight.
“I need a break,” he panted.
I was glad he`d stopped us because I was exhausted. We threw ourselves onto the grass, drank some of the water Bill had brought in his sack and ate some bread and cheese he also pulled out and shared with me. We chewed on it and just enjoyed the sun and the silence.
After a while we got up again and started working out. As always, I preferred to use my body and my sword instead of having to discussing things or thinking them through. Give me a sword and an enemy and I`m a happy woman. Even a blunt sword and a friend could cheer me up, apparently.
But as I grew more and more tired and Bill gave me less and less of a fight, Eric`s question about Alcide popped up in my brain. Why had he asked me about Alcide now?
Bill and I took another break and went to lie down in the grass.
“When do you think we`ll have a real battle?” I asked, wanting to make conversation instead of leaving my brain to think about things I didn`t want to think about.
“Soon, I`m sure,” Bill said. “You are more than ready for it.”
I grinned at the unexpected praise. “Thank you. You are too.”
“I hope to be able to make a difference.” Bill looked very serious.
“Me too.” After a while I turned to look at him. “Do you know how many supporters your queen has? And how many are going to be on Felipe`s side?”
Bill shook his head. “She has had a few bad surprises lately.”
“People she thought would fight for her have turned their backs on her?”
Bill nodded. “Eric didn`t manage to convince as many at the blot as Queen Sophie-Anne had … hoped for.”
I sat up. “It seemed to me that he had a lot of people listening to what he was saying.”
“They may have listened but when Rasul tried to make them commit themselves to battle, most of them declined.”
“Really?”
Bill nodded.
I lay down again and took a deep breath. Did the Queen doubt Eric? He`d implied that she didn`t trust him before the blot. Was he in trouble?
I tried to put all the little bits of information together and make them fit but ended up standing up instead.
“Are you too tired for another round?” I asked Bill.
He laughed. “I can certainly see why Eric is attracted to you if this is how you treat him in bed.”
And with that we were swinging our swords and jumping back and forth again. Bill was a good warrior and we could laugh when one of us tried to trick the other one without succeeding.
I had my back towards the village when Bill`s eyes left me and stared at something behind me – which I, of course, used to my advantage and “killed” him with a marking of my sword to his neck.
When that something came closer I knew it was Eric but I was enjoying my little victory too much to want to turn around and acknowledge him. And maybe I didn`t want to be like one of those puppy-dog wives who would drop everything if her husband was close by. The last time I`d seen Eric he`d accused me of cheating on him with Alcide.
I jabbed Bill in the ribs to indicate that the fight wasn`t over and he held his sword high again. We fought while I felt Eric move closer. Actually, I heard him because he made so many noises to make me turn around – noises that only made me square my shoulders even more and keep my back turned just the way it was.
Yes, it was childish but then I`d never claimed to be any good at pleasing people. Especially not men. Gentler women would have thrown their arms around Eric`s neck and kissed all his worries away but Eric hadn`t chosen a gentle woman for his wife.
I blocked out Eric to the degree that I was surprised when I felt a sudden pain on my arm.
“AAAUU!” I shouted and finally turned around. “What are you doing?”
Eric glared at me, the sword he`d slapped my arm with hanging low.
“I wanted your attention.”
He made me think of Jason – when he was younger. Much younger. I started to laugh.
“What?” he said, narrowing his eyes.
Bill apparently didn`t want to get caught up in anything so he quickly grabbed his swords and started to walk away. He didn`t get past Eric. Not with the blunt sword he`d fought with me, anyway. Eric grabbed it straight out of Bill`s hand and threw his sharp sword to the ground.
“You wanted to work out?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. Eric really wanted my attention and now he was getting it.
“Sure,” I said, well aware of the fact that I`d worked out all day and Eric had … I had no idea how Eric had spent his day but probably not in a swordfight. My muscles didn`t agree with my casual voice.
But in battle you can`t tell your enemies that you`re tired and ask them for a break. This wasn`t battle but my pride made me raise my sword and take a swing at Eric.
I wasn`t really angry with Eric. Not angry like I had been when he`d left me. But I still fought him tooth and nail.
If I was tired from having worked out all day, Eric was tired from something else. Lack of sleep, perhaps. The mark his sword had made on my arm was soon avenged and Eric glared at me. I wasn`t the only one with too much pride for my own good. Eric refused to acknowledge the pain the flat side of my sword had inflicted on his shoulder.
As always, pride comes before a fall – and it was Eric`s pride that had him fall backwards after he made a daring attempt at surprising me with three or four jumps in all directions. A small mole hole in the ground had him tumbling over and I was on top of him before he managed to get back on his feet.
Eric made a sound when all his air was pressed out of him from the fall and my body landing on top of him.
“You`re dead,” I said with a grin. It was always a pleasure to beat Eric. It even made me forget the incident this morning.
“Yeah,” he mumbled and I knew he meant it more literally than I had.
Instead of asking him what he meant, I followed my instinct. Which was completely controlled by my lust, it seemed. After all, I was straddling Eric`s magnificent body.
I bent down and kissed his neck. It was an entirely selfish thing to do but when I pulled back slightly I noticed from the glint in his eye that Eric wasn`t opposed to the idea of me having my way with him. Maybe my selfishness would do him some good too?
His hands grabbed my butt and I leaned down again, this time to kiss his mouth, though I wasn`t sure who was kissing whom when Eric practically devoured my mouth, his pelvis grinding against me.
“Oh, Sookie,” he whispered and started pulling at my clothes.
I cursed my pants and wished I`d, for once, worn a dress, but it didn`t take me long to get naked and Eric seemed to be in a hurry too. And right there, in the middle of the meadow, I straddled him again and impaled myself on him with a groan. Or maybe it was Eric who groaned?
Both he and I stopped moving, the feeling of him inside me so exquisite that we didn`t want to ruin the moment. Then Eric`s thumb glided over my nipple and it was like a secret sign. With Eric`s hands on my hips, I let myself slide up and down on him. Up and down. Up and down.
Eric`s face was so focused and yet so peaceful as he lay there, his brows furrowed and his blue eyes on me. His mouth was slightly open and if I were to describe him in one word, that word would be “lustful.”
But my mind was not on words or descriptions. My mind was on the increasing pleasure taking place between Eric and me – and inside me. I increased the pace and Eric`s hips moved higher, harder.
“Oh, Sookie,” Eric said again; this time his voice was strained.
He was close and so was I but this wasn`t a battle. Or a race. This was Eric and me moving together, enjoying the pleasure we gave each other and the pleasure we took from each other.
And with one last flick of my pelvis, combined with Eric`s pushing himself deep inside me with a loud groan, I came so hard I had to brace myself against Eric`s shoulders so I wouldn`t collapse onto him. But my arms were like willow branches and I fell onto his chest anyway. Eric`s hand landed on top of my back and his other hand held onto my butt. Little shivers ran through the both of us and we had a unintelligible conversation made of sounds of pleasure and enjoyment.
“Oh, Sookie,” Eric said with a sigh, and he sounded very content.
I was too.
A/N:
Scandinavian names for the days
Anaman had a great suggestion for this A/N. She suggested I write about what our weekdays are called. I`ll do the Norwegian names but the Danish and Swedish are almost the same so it won`t make that much of a difference.
“Why the weekdays and what do they have to do with the Vikings?” you ask. You`ll see 
Monday = Mandag
Mandag means “Moon day”. This is apparently the same in both German, French and Spanish. Monday is the first day of our week and has been since 1973. Before that Sunday was the first day of our week.
Tuesday = Tirsdag
Tirsdag means “Tyr`s day” and is named after the Viking god Tyr. He was the god of war and the one who decided who won or lost a battle. Tyr was very brave and only had one hand because he was the only one who dared feed the Fenris wolf.
Wednesday = Onsdag
Onsdag means “Odin`s day” and is, of course, named after the one-eyed leader of the Norse gods, Odin.
Thursday = Torsdag
There are no prizes for guessing this one. Torsdag means “Thor`s day” and is named after the god of thunder – the all mighty Thor who was a bit smarter than he`s portrayed as in various Hollywood movies *cough*.
Friday = Fredag
Fredag means “Frøya`s day” and is named after the goddess of fertility (fits well on a Friday, huh?) and love. This must be the day to hit on people – love and babies are almost guaranteed.
She was also one of the goddesses of war and death, which might explain some of the bar fights on Fridays.
Saturday = Lørdag
Lørdag is a newer version of the old word “laugardagen” which means “washing day”. This was the day you washed yourself and your clothes.
So maybe you should not go looking for love on a Friday unless you like them in their natural hmm stink.
Sunday = Søndag
Søndag comes from the Norse Sunnudagr which means “Sun day” – like the English Sunday.