“Yes, they’re quite ready as Caemorn has been making themuncomfortable,” Balthazar laughed and then he was wrestling with the loving bear skeleton again.“Gods dammit, Bone Bear, I will convince there werewolves that you’re prey if you don’t quit it!”Balthazar threatened.
The Eyros Vampire was already well inside by the time that Grayson and Ryder reached the top of the stairs.
As Caemorn closed the doors behind them, he said, “A strategy question, Grayson.”
“What is it?”Grayson asked as he stared at the glowing soul gems above their heads that must contain hundreds of trapped souls and were being used simply to light the foyer.
“When should I tell Balthazar that I am not controlling Bone Bear?”Caemorn asked.
Ryder frowned.“If you aren’t doing it then who is?”
“Balthazar is, of course.It’s his latent Kaly gift coming online,” Caemorn answered.
Grayson’s eyes widened.“And he doesn’t know?”
“Seemingly not, though I am not keeping it a secret exactly.Not that Balthazar enters my mind and pokes about, but still, he seems to have ignored this line of inquiry,” Caemorn answered with a slightly furrowed brow.
“No one is so blind as the man who does not want to see,” Grayson murmured.“You’ll know when to tell him.It’ll be the moment he figures it out himself.He’ll be ready to hear it then.”
Caemon inclined his head.“Wise words.Let us see what our prisoners have to tell us.I wonder if we will be ready to hear them.”
Playing Roles
Caemorn led them deeper into the Kaly Palace.The first room they entered reminded Ryder of the nave of a church.It was a long, rectangular room with nearly floor to ceiling stained glass windows.Also, like in a church, the windows appeared to tell a story, but not the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
In the first window, it showed the Immortals with Daemon behind them greeting humans.The humans looked entranced, likely thinking the Immortals to be godlike beings.The story continued to show the Immortals turning these humans into Vampires as Daemon watched on, eager and excited.Then it was Daemon’s time to turn a human into a Vampire.His first fledgling.
Ryder paused at this next window, feeling his body grow tense.The human gazed up at Daemon with love and trust and worship.Daemon held the human in his arms with that beatific smile on his lips that were stained red.
“Ryder, is something wrong?”Grayson asked, then made a sound as he saw the window too.
Silently, the two of them went to the next window.The human had died, but had not resurrected.Daemon was prostrate.One of the Immortals–Eyros, he thought–held him in his arms, but he could not be soothed.The next window showed this human joining countless others who were entombed in sarcophagi.Too many to count.Daemon stood, head bowed, shoulder slumped, expression deadened.
“He was devastated.He watched all of us make our Children and he was barren,” Grayson murmured.“It was torture for him and us.He sank into a depression that it seemed he might never emerge from until…”
The next showed Seeyr–her silver eyes revealed–speaking to Daemon and the others.There was something in her eyes that told him she was speaking of a vision of the future.Daemon no longer appeared listless or apathetic but brittlely hopeful.
“This is when Seeyr told Daemon that if he should go to sleep when he woke his true fledgling would be alive,” Caemorn murmured.
“I remember.You objected,” Grayson said.“But you had to have known that Daemon could not go on.”
“I selfishly wished him to be satisfied with us,” Caemorn answered.
“Were you satisfied?”Ryder asked him.
“Yes, I only made Children because you all did.I would have been just as content–perhaps more so–if there had only ever been the 11 of us,” Caemorn answered.
Ryder couldn’t imagine that.While he was finding friendships with the Immortals that looked to be capable of being long and deep, he wanted more people to be part of their pack.There was safety in numbers and also joy.But he knew the Kaly Vampires rarely interacted with each other.They had loose Houses, but even Masters and Children parted from one another as soon as possible.It was the complete opposite of what Ryder wanted and Weryn remembered.
Yet the Weryn now are a group of strangers pretending to be pack.Isn’t it better to be honest that there is no real connection between people than to lie about it?
“Where are the other Kaly?I know you don’t stay here often, as Balthazar needs you but–”
“Balthazar needs me,” Caemorn repeated that sentence as if he were trying it on for size.“Yes, Balthazar needs me.The others are here.”
“Aren’t they at least interested in what you’re up to?”Ryder asked.
“They are, undoubtedly, scrying on us right now,” Caemorn answered, seemingly not aggravated that his people were spying on them.
