“Show some of it to me then. Prove it,” Kaly demanded.
Eyros lifted an eyebrow. “I agree with Kaly, which is already turning my stomach. But if you want us to believe in this great future, show us a part of it. Show us what we’re suffering to get to.”
Seeyr sighed. She studied both of them for long moments then nodded. She extended one hand towards Kaly and the other to Eyros. They each took her proffered hands. But it wasn’t she who would be able to put the images inside of his mind, but Eyros, so Kaly offered his hand to the other Immortal. Eyros stared at it for a moment before taking it as if touching a deadfish or something else slimy and cold. All three of them closed their eyes.
At first, Kaly saw nothing. He was about to say something when the worldshifted. The room had long tables with stone tops and dark wood. There were bubbling alembics, half a dozen mortars and pestles with ground herbs and bone in them, vials filled with fluids of every color of the rainbow, basically everything that would make up one of his labs. And yet… This place did not feel like the Kaly Palace with its walls of windows showing tall trees, comfortable furniture in warm woods and glossy metals. There was an openness yet coziness to the space. He couldn’t quite identify it.
“Caemorn, are you sure I can do somethingthisadvanced?” A young man’s voice had his head snapping over towards the sound.
The young man was tall, muscular and incredibly handsome with dark, wavy hair and purple eyes.
Purple eyes… This is the king’s fledgling!
The young man’s lean figure was clothed all in black. Black pants that encased long legs. Boots that were only laced half-way up. A cashmere sweater with a v-neck that showed off the tops of his pectoral muscles. He stood at one of the lab tables. Before him on a silver tray was a dead crow. Kaly could tell from the way the young man’s mouth tightened that being so close to something dead was disturbing him.
No, not disturbing him. He is sad. He feels pain that it has died. An innocent creature in his mind.
“Julian,” he said in a voice he did not recognize and yet it feltright. It was male, too. A rich timber, but slightly lower, huskier than Julian’s. And he heard an unfamiliar tone in it. A desire to soothe and comfort. “You are more than capable of reviving this bird.”
Julian swallowed. “But what if I make a mistake and–and hurt it?”
Kind. Yes, he is kind. He is not a Kaly Vampire, but he has the gift. He must have all the gifts due to Daemon’s blood. We weren’t certain that would be the case, but…
He stopped himself. This young man was not an experiment. He was the king’s fledgling. And he was taking lessons from Kaly himself.
But he called me Caemorn. I don’t understand… Does he not know it’s me? Am I pretending to be someone else just to get close to him?And a treacherous voice asked,How could Daemon allow me near him after all I’ve done?
“I would suggest then merely reanimating it,” Kaly said.
“I don’t want to puppet it either. That seems disrespectful. If it can be brought back then it should be. I’d like to only puppet those things that can no longer live,” Julian answered.
“This poor creature couldn’t tell the difference between Balthazar’s glass walls and free air. It broke its neck. It had many years ahead of it absent such an accident,” Kaly said.
Julian let out a breath between his teeth. At that moment, another young man with blonde hair, silver eyes and a green scarf around his neck came over. He had two soul stones in his rather elegant hands. He flipped the stones from finger to finger, forward then back again, before enclosing them in his palms.
“The crow’s spirit is still here, Julian. You’ve called it already,” this new young man said.
“You are supposed to be practicing calling your protective spirits to you, Christian,” Kaly found himself saying in a slightly repressive tone, but there was good humor in it too, which did not make sense.
A student not doing exactly as he’d asked? He would have them on the floor with their blood staining the wood or stone!How dare such a one waste his precious teaching moments with the Vampire King’s fledgling?
“I have been, but I keep seeing the crow dancing around on the table by me. I can tell it wants to go to Julian, but he isn’t calling it over,” Christian explained. “I know you want him to make the decision to reanimate and then call the bird, but…”
“But?” Kaly asked, not sounding angry.
There are no buts! I am the one that makes the rules! You do as I say! You do not question me–
“Julian needs to know that thebirdwants to be reborn,” Christian answered. “He doesn’t want to selfishly bring it back just for himself. Or to control it to do his bidding. Not even in training.”
Julian looked over and smiled. “I don’t know that I understood that I felt that way. But, of course, you knew.”
“Your thoughts were running in a powerful stream out of you. I’m afraid that I couldn’t help but listen,” Christian answered with a shy smile.
“You know you have my permission to always listen,” Julian told him. “You’re my best friend.”
Julian clapped a hand on Christian’s slender shoulder.
Christian’s smile became wry. “Yes, and as such, I should be just as cognizant of honoring your privacy. But since this was about something that was holding you back…” Christian shrugged. “I just thought I’d say it.”
