Kings2009

King Vesper Abaddon:
[speaking to David through the prison vent] Are you *really* not gonna eat any of that? I can smell the meat from here... oh, shame to waste steak.

[he tosses a string with a hook through the vent, and David attaches the steak and sends it through]

King Vesper Abaddon:
Aaah... thank you. Mmm... The girl?

David Shepherd:
The king's daughter.

King Vesper Abaddon:
Oooh - not bad.

David Shepherd:
Doesn't matter; the king, in all his wisdom, set me up to die any minute.

King Vesper Abaddon:
That was my idea; sorry about that, David.

David Shepherd:
You know who I am?

King Vesper Abaddon:
Oh, I know lots about you. You gave me back my mind. I was asleep for a long time; I talked to weevils in my mash, filled books with garbage - and then you came, rose like the sun, and outshone the world's brightest star. And then he came to me, and I told him - heh, I told him to blot you out, bring back the night, to turn into me... and he listened! And in helping him, I got my mind back. At some point he'll realize that I was up to no good, and boy, will he be mad!

David Shepherd:
Who are you?

King Vesper Abaddon:
I... am the king.

David Shepherd:
[dismissing the idea as a prisoner's delusion] You're a prisoner.

King Vesper Abaddon:
I don't suppose they tell in school of Vesper Abaddon?

David Shepherd:
Only about his atrocities.

King Vesper Abaddon:
Hmm - interesting fellow, with his faults. If he were alive, he'd probably tell you that there is nothing to be afraid of in death... Were you loved, David?

David Shepherd:
I'm not sure.

King Vesper Abaddon:
You were; I saw. That's someone whose heart will die when you do. It's lucky - even if it was just skyfire-fast... Since I owe you double, let me give you a parting gift - your obol coin in the mouth:... It is always better to be loved than feared. Some of us made the mistake the other way, and it does not go well. Die loved, you die happy.

David Shepherd:
I'd rather live miserable.

King Vesper Abaddon:
I like you!