Page 26 of The Vampire King's War

He didn’t mention Fiona as Wyvern as he wasn’t sure whether Kaly knew about her yet, and it was better to keep her true identity as a surprise for as long as possible.

“I see Daemon’s darkness,” Kaly said, which seemed strange for this Immortal to care about as darkness appeared to be his stock in trade. Christian pushed his senses closer to the “pressure” of Kaly’s mind. The words that Kaly spoke next were interspersed with strange images, images from another place, “You have no idea the power he wields. [He saw spears appearing in mid-air and then flying toward him. Thrusting into his body. Blood. Blood.] He has been starved for millennia yet see what he can do. [Christian could not feel the pain. The spears--glass and razor sharp--disappeared. Kaly--not a woman--another form--was restored. And then the spears were back.] Imagine what he will be like when he is at full strength and nothing can stop him.”

“He was at full strength in the past. You blame him for not using that strength,” Christian pointed out.

Nausea racked him and he was using all his strength to keep himself from throwing up. He reminded himself he wasn’t in a body. He had no stomach, esophagus or mouth. There was nothing inside of his spirit. Nothing to vomit up.

“He was stronger then, true. But he was distracted because he could not make a fledgling,” Kaly answered. His face was pasty pale. Sweat dripped off the end of his chin. “It grew upon, like an obsession, over time and so crippled him.”

Christian had to give him credit for keeping on his feet. The world was starting to sway for him.

There is no world. No floor. No ceiling. No nothing. I have no body here.

“Now he has Julian. But why do I have a feeling you will criticise him for allegedly being distracted by having a fledgling now.” Christian let out a soft laugh that was filled with bubbling sickness.

More images came: More spears! I keep seeing them. They don’t stop! And crazed laughter and… Balthazar?!?

“In a way. You see he will use that strength to keep Julian safe. At all costs. That makes him more dangerous rather than less. No longer distracted. No longer crippled. But desperate to keep one tender young man happy,” Kaly mused as he was shocking steady despite being tortured. “What will he do with the world to mold it into a place that will delight Julian?”

“Julian doesn’t need the world molded to be delighted.” Christian wiped cold sweat from his own forehead. “He finds happiness in most things. Even after you had his parents killed, he still found beauty and hope in the world.”

Kaly would have noticed his distress if not for being under so much of his own. “And that’s what brought you here, isn’t it? You were looking for the Harrows.” Kaly’s pale eyebrow lifted even as his lips trembled. “Clever.”

“Caemorn helped me with the idea,” Christian said, wanting for some reason to lift up Kaly’s fledgling. To show Kaly that Caemorn was more than a puppet.

“Caemorn is my fledgling. Of course I picked someone clever,” Kaly said, claiming all of Caemorn’s good qualities as his own doing. Christian wondered if he claimed the bad as well. A strange light appeared in Kaly’s silver eyes and his voice almost became wheedling and strained, so strained, “Do you know why you are a Speaker to the Dead?”

Christian strove not to frown. He merely shrugged. “Luck of the draw, I guess.”

But Kaly shook his head and that platinum hair glimmered in the low light of the gem. “No, there was no luck in it. Do you know of Roan Tithe? Balthazar’s Master this time around?”

Of course, he knew of him. Christian studied that almost impish expression on Kaly’s face. The moment the idea came to him it must have appeared on his face in some way.

The spears are back! Dear God, when will they end?

Kaly nodded even as his face was bloodless and his lips kept writhing back from his teeth in agony. “I realize you’re aware that I can inhabit any body I like. I enjoyed Roan’s. You know what’s odd? I didn’t realize who Balthazar was all that time. That he was my old nemesis Eyros. I just knew I hated him.”

Christian swallowed. Nausea roiled him. “Were you… were you inhabiting Roan’s body when you turned Balthazar?”

“Oh, yes. And that’s why I think you are a Speaker to the Dead. It was a mixture of my bloodline and Eyros’ that created you,” Kaly told him with a tremulous smile.

“And the other Speakers before me? How did they come about?” Christian asked, curious despite himself and the world spinning like a top.

“I’ve been having my fun in the other Bloodlines from the beginning. Though I haven’t bothered myself to do it, I bet if you followed up from fledgling to Master, you’d find that I was always a part of that unique Vampire’s history,” Kaly sounded quite pleased with himself. “There have been anomalies in the other Bloodlines, too, which likely can be attributed to me.”

“You sound so proud.” Christian’s vision was blurring. Or so it seemed because the facets of the gem were moving.

“I am. I am proud of all I’ve done.” Another tremulous smile and more sweat pouring down Kaly’s face.

Can he even see me any longer? His voice seems distant.

“You should be grateful to me for what I’m doing,” Kaly murmured.

Is he even talking to me? Or someone else?

“Which is?” Christian prompted.

“Showing him that there are consequences when he rules unwisely… or seeks to abdicate responsibility.” Kaly’s eyes narrowed and it appeared he was seeing something else, not just Christian.

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