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The Virtue Of Sin	By : camp30 Category: S through Z > Southern Vampire Views: 9864 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not have any right to the Southern Vampire novels, nor doI do not have any right to the character created by Charliane Harris and I make absloutly no money from this fiction

Chapter List
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Hours passed after her bath. Sookie listened for the sound of his tread in the hall for she knew it so well by now she could have picked it out even if there had been a hundred people coming down the hall. She lay in a shaft of moonlight like a butterfly with its wings pinned. Her dreams were her thoughts since she didn’t fall asleep for a very long time.
Eric awoke and stood over her. She’d fallen asleep only an hour before. For a long time he watched her breathe in and out. Then against his will he cradled her in his arms and laid her in his own bed and kept her in his arms. Like a dragon with its gold he seemed. A massive beautiful beast curled around its treasure.
Sookie awoke pressed against his massive chest. Her back stung where her bandages met his hard flesh. She slipped from under his arm and tensed when he stirred and relaxed when he did.
For a long moment she gazed at him, her eyes traced his face and body and then she ran from the room. A servant was standing in the hall yawning. This was unexpected and Sookie froze.
He straightened up when she appeared “Mademoiselle is there any way I can be of service?”
Sookie donned her title for one of the first times in her life “To begin with you can address me as Countess,” she said imperiously. The servant blanched “Forgive me Comtesse,” he bowed deeply and Sookie brushed past him.
He followed “I was told to in no uncertain terms that you were not allowed to be unaccompanied unless the Duke was in your presence,” he stammered behind her.
Sookie turned halfway to her chambers “And why is that?” she was curious the reason he would give for holding a noblewoman hostage.
The servant hands fluttered about like two injured birds. “I was told that you are soon to marry His Grace and that your safety was paramount to him.”
Sookie smiled wanly “Indeed. Well as you can see, I am safely inside and unharmed. Leave me,” she waved her hand in a regal manner.
His young face became drawn with confliction. “But I am not to do that, His Grace was most adamant.”
Sookie sighed and went into her room “Very well come in here and see to it that there are no brigands under the bed and depart.”
The servant followed her in and when he was bent looking under the bed she knocked him out with a candelabra.
She felt remorse almost immediately and leaned down to check his pulse. He lived. There was no time to pack any of her meager belongings and they would only slow her down. Quickly she changed into a warm dress and her cloak.
Sookie moved down the hall and was grateful when it seemed that no other servants were about. That meant that it was at least three hours before dawn if not more. Now that she had lived the life of a servant’s for several weeks she knew their schedule.
She needed money for passage to Wales and with that thought she came to his study. His desk had three locked drawers and she used a letter opener to pry them open. One held his opium pouch and pipe. The other held a lock of faded hair wrapped around withered rose petals.
The last contained what she needed. But her face fell as she counted the silver; there couldn’t be more than ten pounds here. It was a goodly sum she told herself tucking it into her pocket.
That done she opened the back door and headed to the stables. There was an old man whose snoring could be heard from the top loft. She saw a glimpse of his gray bearded face and his wrinkled hand dangled down.
She quietly saddled a white mare and clambered on it. When she emerged into the world she calculated that it was at least five hours till dawn. She mused that it was quite odd that Eric had gone to bed so early and that he had not stirred upon her awakening.
Sookie glanced up at the constellation called Old Mother and sighed “Thank you Mother Mary,” she whispered as she nudged the horse into a gallop down the long drive.
She was a competent rider though growing up in a convent she had had little reason to do so. Sookie’s memory and sense of direction served her well and she went unerringly toward the harbor where their ship had docked.
The Countess knew that it was a long way there and that her chances were slim of arriving without capture. Some part of her regretted leaving him and she despised herself for her strange feeling.
Sookie galloped down the coach rutted roads ducking branches. It seemed her whole life had led to this moment. Perhaps she had always been a prisoner. As a woman what choice had ever been her own? Except perhaps this one.
The heavens had not yet begun to lighten. There was time yet. The air still smelled of pine and earth and she knew that she wouldn’t feel secure until salt from the sea misted the air. A great heavy fog rolled in and obscured the path.
She thought of him. His dark gold hair and his eyes so cold and evil, his full mouth curved into a smile. She shuddered and heard her horse making a labored sound. Reluctantly she slowed it into a canter.
If her mount should die of exhaustion she would of course feel shame but more importantly any hope she had of escape would be lost.
She heard a rushing sound to her right and directed the mare towards it. It was a river and in the dimness it looked clear. Without dismounting she let the animal quench its thirst. After it was finished she allowed it to munch some grass.
Back to the road she went slowly picking up the pace. The mare was fatigued but seemed to have caught a second wind.
The Duke was having a rare night. The kind he dreaded. The kind that almost never came because he drank heavily to avoid them. He was trapped in dreams that unfolded one after the other. He could not awaken.
At noon Sookie caught the scent of salt and fish and smiled. Eric awoke and gasped. He was covered in a cold sweat and he was alone. Instantly he knew. He knew that she was gone, not just from the room but the house.
Eric pulled a shirt over his head and strode from his chambers. Quickly he put on his boots. He went to her room and knew when he opened the door that it was useless. He saw his servant Edward lying crumpled on the rug. Blood was matted on his head and Eric crouched down to check his pulse. It was slow and labored. The Duke didn’t care even a bit if he would live. He had failed him.
He absently kicked him and the young man moaned and tried to sit up. Eric whirled from the room and stormed down the stairs “Get the fuck in here,” he called.
He heard pounding footsteps scurrying into the foyer. Ravenheart’s eyes swept them coldly “My betrothed has vanished while all of you slumbered like the lazy beasts that you are,” he thundered.
They knelt cowering and he scowled “All men in my employ are to accompany me in my search, if you are short of mounts borrow them from neighbors,” he left the room and went to his study.
The locks were broken on the drawers and he resisted the urge to trash the room in his rage. “So you are now a thief,” he murmured.
Sookie was still hours from the shore and snow began to fall and her breath showed in the air. The vapor was heavy still and several times she nearly took a wrong turn. It seemed that the sun had never risen. It was dark and foreboding and she shivered pulling her cloak tighter.
Her back ached and when the wind battered her she nearly screamed from the pain.
Her mount was completely exhausted as she’d ridden it to near death. Foam gathered from its mouth. Sweat lathered its body. She dismounted and stroked its neck. “Go home,” she said in its ear.
Sookie sighed and turned from the beast and made her way down the road. Behind her she could hear the horse’s slow retreat back the way she’d come. She was alone and without even a dagger for defense. With only ten pounds to her name. She reminded herself sternly that it was more than most people made in a decade.
But would it be enough to see her safely back to her father? And would her sire simply return her to Eric? She pushed the thoughts away and nearly yelped when she heard the rattling of a coach behind her.
For a long moment she considered what to do. It seemed unlikely that Eric would come after her in a coach; it seemed far more likely that he would be riding. Why this was so she didn’t know. She realized that she had almost no hope if she didn’t take the chance.
So she stood on the shoulder and when a strange carriage that she’d never seen approached she waved her arms frantically and called out “I am the Countess Mayfair and I request succor.” Behind and on all sides of the carriage were armed men dressed in livery.
The coach came to a grinding halt and the six white horses neighed and snorted in confusion. A small window shade lifted and two eyes peered out. “Laurent see what this is about,” an old voice quavered at the driver.
The driver was an ancient man whose coat and tails were stiff with starch. “Ask her what her business is,” the voice commanded. Laurent climbed down from his perch. “What is your business?” his voice was even more aged and faded than that of his employer.
Sookie put her gloved hand to his arm and peered up at him “I have been abducted and have escaped. I ask that you give me leave to travel with you to the nearest harbor.”
It seemed neither had heard her introduction saying who she was because the concealed person inside the carriage spoke “She sounds well-bred Laurent inquire about her lineage.”
He did and Sookie told him and he shouted her answer to his employer. The door sprang open and Sookie entered. Inside was thick with shadows and an old woman sat alone on silken pillows.
Her garb was rich and elegant her features still beautiful but in a tragic way. Her face was a grotesque mockery of her youth. Her eyes however were bright blue and quite aware. “So you’re the Countess Mayfair, eh?”
Sookie nodded settling in across from her “Yes My Lady,” she replied softly. The old woman was taking in her clothing, looking for signs of quality. She seemed to approve. “I am the Duchess of Canterbury, and I see that there was no exaggeration about your beauty,” she extended a long gloved hand to her and Sookie took it.
The Duchess took her hand back and began to stroke a toy poodle that rested in her lap. The old woman eyed her sniffing “So tell me who has abducted you my dear, perhaps we can set things to right.”
Sookie glanced nervously around the interior as if he was listening “The Duke of Ravenheart My Lady,” she whispered.
The Duchess’s eyes sparkled and she smiled languidly “So the rumors are true,” she stroked her dog behind his ears. “He is my nephew you know, his father was my brother.”
Sookie moved to push open the coach door and the dog began barking wildly and the old woman spoke “Calm yourself young lady,” she snapped.
Sookie turned to look back her hand still upon the handle “What will you do with me?”
“First off sit back down,” she ordered in a voice that was long used to getting its way. She leaned down and opened a basket that rested near her feet. From it she pulled a container that held little cucumber sandwiches. She began munching on them after Sookie refused to partake. “Forgive me child, I am old and must keep up the strength of my blood with little repasts.”
She chewed and seemed to be deep in thought “Now as to your question,” she peered out the window of the coach and a soft dark laugh grew in her throat. “There is no love lost between Eric and I,” the Duchess twisted from the window and regarded Sookie with her keen eyes. “However he is family and blood is blood.”
The color fled from Sookie’s cheeks and she gasped. “Please Duchess I beg you,” she beseeched.
The old woman’s cold blue eyes glimmered wickedly “There is no bond on earth as strong as family and his father was my little brother and quite dear to me,” her ancient eyes held a cold calculating air.
Sookie began to hyperventilate “Please if there be any mercy in your heart please do not hand me over to him,” she gasped out.
The Duchess’s eyes narrowed “I wasn’t finished speaking young lady!”
The dog in her arms yelped as she gripped it tight “Now as I was saying it would be the honorable thing to do to hand you over but it would also be amusing to thwart my nephew,” she was quiet for a second “He will get you in any case but..” she trailed off and Sookie sagged with relief.
“I will take you to the harbor and will pay your passage to Wales. That is where your people hail from is it not?”
Sookie nodded and gave her a tremulous smile as the Duchess ate another small sandwich. “My nephew is most ruthless and he is widely considered to be the most evil man in England,” her voice held a strange note of pride and Sookie shivered in revulsion but she kept her face blank.
Slowly the Duchess chewed swallowed and wiped her mouth with a monogrammed napkin “It’s also agreed by nearly everyone that he is the most beautiful man in all of Britain,” she seemed pleased about that and saddened all at once.
The Duchess fell silent after that and dozed for rest of way to the harbor.
When they arrived the Duchess awoke and commanded Laurent to see about procuring a ship for her journey. She handed him a handful of gold. Her eyes rested on Sookie “Goodbye my dear and when he comes for you don’t fight him; the trick is to get him to marry you.”
Sookie tried to smile at the old woman but it died on her face “Thank you ever so much Duchess,” she closed the door behind her and walked to the harbor to find the driver.
The old man had found a ship that was departing in an hour’s time to Ireland. He’d paid her passage and he bowed stiffly at her before pivoting back toward his Mistress. Sookie heard the great procession began its loud way down the road.
The Captain was a handsome man but she saw when he smiled that his teeth were rotted black. “Hello Countess,” he scratched his head in confusion “Where is your trunk?”
Sookie explained that she’d left in haste and hadn’t brought any of her belongings. “This here is a poor ship and there’s only one cabin but I’ve been paid handsomely to give you the run of mine, name’s Captain Leak.”
He led her to a rough little room and stood in the doorway watching her sit on the bed “Now yer not to be leaving this room unless you haft to, the men are hungry for the likes of you.”
Sookie gazed back at him and nodded “Yes Captain Leak,” she said meekly. The door closed and she took in the meager contents of the room. It contained a small table with two chairs one of which had only three legs. The bed she sat on was nothing more than cloth stuffed with straw and the coverlet was rough spun wool that scratched her palms.
Eventually her weariness got the better of her and she dozed.
The Duke of Ravenheart galloped down the road with his servants all about him on palfreys and plow horses armed with cheap guns. Eric had had them accompany him merely for punishment. He had no need of their assistance. His sharp eyes found the outline of his horse’s particular shoes which bore the mark of a raven.
He was furious with the Countess and wondered idly if he would kill her when he caught her. This had gone beyond a mere defiance. She had stolen silver and a mount from him. Some part of him felt oddly betrayed as if she had loved him. He told himself that was foolish. How could she when he’d treated her so despicably?
Sookie was in a ballroom surrounded by mirrors. Eric was reflected in all of them. Suddenly his voice echoed through the vast room “You have stolen from me Countess,” he called out appearing suddenly in front of her.
He was dressed in crimson and black looking beautiful as always. Would his face never cease to thrill her? He moved slowly toward her with the coiled grace of a predator. His reflection marched alongside him like illuminated shadows and her stomach fluttered as he pushed her against the wall.
His hands wrapped around her throat “Did you think you could steal from me and live?” his voice was soft and oddly seductive. He bent his golden head and captured her lips in a brutal kiss while he crushed the air from her.
She awoke and cried out from fear and longing.
Eric was hours away when the anchor lifted and the wind filled the sails of the ship. Heavy on the earth lay the mist that seemed supernatural in its thickness. His men rode on either side of them holding lanterns to cut through it.
At a certain point his stolen horse’s tracks reversed and he was confused for a moment until he understood. “She’s on foot, she couldn’t have gotten far,” he told his menservants.
The seventeenth Duke of Ravenheart arrived at the harbor around the midnight. He sent his men about to question the Captains of the vessels. They returned to him and stared fearfully up at him “You’re betrothed the Countess has left hours ago Your Grace,” the bravest one stammered.
His ice blue eyes narrowed and he dismounted standing like a mountain above the smaller men “And did you find the name of the ship that bore her?”
His French groom Pierre nodded “It was “The Cold Maiden” Your Grace and she was headed to the emerald isle.”
Eric scrubbed his palm over his mouth and sighed “You will accompany me,” he said to Pierre. He turned and addressed the others “Return home,” they bowed and he heard the soft plodding of their horses down the road.
The Duke went down into the mean harbor and hailed the one most likely to be the Captain in the ship that his groom had said was departing with the morning tide. “I am the seventeenth Duke of Ravenheart and I will pay you a generous amount to take me to Ireland,” he said walking up the gangplank where filthy sailors were loading bag and barrels.
The Captain chewed his tobacco and spat at Eric’s feet. He saw the towering beast of a man narrow his eyes “How generous?”
In the end since the original destination had been England in any case the Captain took fifty pounds. He of course tried to get more and Eric had smiled and said “I am in fifth in line to the throne of England and I know the royal dungeons and their various instruments well.”
The Captain nodded “So I hear,” even an average captain of a modest ship had heard tell of the Duke. He was evil and it was rumored that he was assassin for his cousin the King. The lower you go in society the rougher and darker rumors get sometimes.
The sun began to lighten the sky before showing its brilliance and the captain stood at the prow next to the Duke “What is it you seek?” he was beginning to see what the fuss was about. Why people were afraid to even whisper his name. His eyes were evil and a shadow of insanity lingered there. He turned towards the captain like a flame quickening “I seek a girl that belongs to me,” the captain shivered at the dark possession in the Duke’s voice. The sea was black with long trails of pink as the sun rose and the “Devil’s Own” departed and the wind was with them and filled the many sails till a great creaking filled the air.
A long distance away back in the shadowed forest upon the King’s road; an old woman with his eyes cackled as dawn settled over the land.
An: I don’t know if this is the right version to this chapter or not, I’m drunk so who knows. This chapter has been posted especially for Mis. When I wrote this story I would sometimes do like five or six versions of it before I published it. So if it doesn’t make sense PM on FF.net and I will try to find the right one.
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The Virtue Of Sin