Page 45 of The Vampire King's Gift

Christian frowned. “Vampires aren’t allergic, are they?”

He thought about lying, but said, “No, they are not. You and your inquisitive mind. I cannot make up anything without you questioning it.”

“No, I suppose you cannot. You know that I value knowledge too much,” Christian said.

“And I value you,” Balthazar confessed softly.

Christian smiled so beautifully then. Arcius was beaming with unabashed tears in his eyes while Fiona looked on thoughtfully.

“Come, Eyros,” Daemon said as he drew even with them and started leading them towards Solace. “We can tell our fledglings we love them ever so much more out of the swamp.”

“Yes, I would like to dry out. I believe there is mud between my toes.” Balthazar picked up one foot and there was so much suction that he almost lost his shoe altogether. “I really did not dress appropriately.”

“Only hip waders would have helped,” Arcius said and patted Fiona’s shoulder to take the sting from his words.

“Uhm, why aren’t the monsters going back into the swamp?” Balthazar asked as he realized the creatures were keeping track with them, following after them towards the Spire.

“Because they are coming with us to show my children the natural order of things,” Daemon answered blithely.

“You don’t think they are going to cause a panic or anything like that, do you?” Balthazar’s eyebrows crawled up into his hairline.

“Oh, I imagine they will. But not until people actually realize that they are there. They have other things on their minds.” Daemon tilted his head towards Solace.

Balthazar saw flames rising. Caemorn must have gotten them to build a bonfire to welcome the king. Of course, he would do something dramatic like that.

“Well, Caemorn’s ready to welcome us,” Balthazar said bitterly.

Daemon let out a delighted laugh. “Oh, Eyros, you do not understand what’s happening at all, do you? You are being jealous for no reason.”

Balthazar warmed slightly at the king’s conspiratorial tone. He was still the favorite then.

“It is just that Caemorn has gotten a bonfire ready for you and arranged a crowd. I thought he would fall flat on his face,” Balthazar admitted. “Maybe I hoped he would.”

“I thought so, too,” Fiona added with a rueful look. “I really believed that everyone hated him, and given half a reason they’d turn against him.”

Daemon looked between them with a smile on his lips. “That bonfire isn’t to welcome us. The crowd intends to roast Caemorn alive on it.”

MADNESS

Julian shouldn’t have cared when Daemon told them that Caemorn’s fate was to be burned alive in a bonfire. His stomach shouldn’t have lurched. His heart should not have started banging against the inside of his chest like a drum. A mix of adrenaline and alarm shouldn’t have flooded his mouth. But it did.

He killed my parents! He admitted it without a moment’s hesitation! He acted as if not killing me was some kind of success story!

Julian knew that Vampires didn’t see mortal lives the same way that he and Christian did. Most of them–like Caemorn who was 1000 years old–were too far distant from the humans they once were. And if Julian were honest, did he mourn when a cow died? Or a chicken? Or any other food animal if they weren’t a pet? No.

He could make thousands of distinctions between humans and the animals they ate versus Vampires and the humans that they consumed, but those were distinctions that only those who had just lost their mortality would likely understand. In some ways, Vampires were no longer human beings. No matter that Vampires came from humans and could not exist without them. It was like a caterpillar and a butterfly. They were simply too different.

But whatever is happening to Caemorn is because of his own actions!Julian reminded himself.I didn’t sic these people on him. They’re going against him because of the actions and words he took and said as Preceptor. And Daemon warned him that it would be dangerous. He even knew it would be dangerous. He’s reaping what he sown.

And yet, Julian did not feel happy about this. In fact, he felt awful about it. He doubted his parents would be happy with him either. He wasn’t like Caemorn. He didn’t allow people within his orbit to be hurt if there was anything he could do about it. No matter who they were or what they had done. It wasn’t for him to judge them forever.

He remembered clearly watching the firstLord of the Ringsmovie with his mother where Gandalf scolded Frodo for wishing Bilbo had killed Gollum when he’d had the chance so long ago. The wizard had made clear that everyone had a part to play, not to mention that it was far easier to say someone was deserving of death and making that happen, while it was almost impossible to bring back those that deserved life. His mother had been nodding along to that line. Julian had scoffed at it.

“You think it’s bunk?” His mother had asked with a slight smile on her lips.

“Pretty much. I know that Gollum stops Frodo from keeping the ring in the end, but that was just… I don’t know. A coincidence,” he’d answered her with a shrug. “Or because the author determined that. It wasn’t real life. Real life doesn’t work that way.”

“No, you’re right that real life doesn’t work that way. It can be quite a bit crueler. But the thing is,” and here she’d paused for a moment, gathering her words, “life is precious, and when we think that it would be better to take it away from someone, we need to be very careful about that. Because it diminishes the entire world when we do so. It diminishes us.”

---