"The great King of Kings gave me another divine revelation," Hope said. "He said that I'm the master of the Whateley family."
"That sounds very much like the truth," Old Whateley replied. "If he told me so himself, I'd of course obey."
What a shame. Hope thought.
If he wasn't the master of the Whateley family, his position in the family would become very awkward.
Hope didn't know why Old Whateley was rambling on and on to him.
But Old Whateley had already spent more than enough time visiting a dying patient. Next, they should talk about Wilbur.
Old Whateley coughed twice and cleared his throat. Lavinia never did that, so Hope figured it was one of Old Whateley's habits. Perhaps it meant he was about to say something serious.
Old Whateley said, "You haven't told me about your ability."
"What ability?" Hope asked in surprise. Wasn't Wilbur the important thing?
Old Whateley picked up the Bone Spikes again. "This. You fused them together."
"If I tell you, what do I get out of it?" Hope asked.
Old Whateley replied, "Hard to say. I won't promise you anything. Of course, even if you don't tell me, there won't be any harm to you. After all, I'm just an old man who's about to die."
An old man who was about to die, speaking through someone else's body with a strange spell from a thousand meters away...
Hope didn't trust the claim that "there won't be any harm" at all... Old Whateley kept saying he loved his daughter, but he must have had a hand in Lavinia having a child with the King of Kings.
Hope quietly scooped up a handful of dirt, but soon set it down. He'd been considering throwing dirt in Old Whateley's eyes to block his view