Halfway down this hall they turned right along a second hallway ; this one covered in ancient frames holding scrolls and papers in the ancient tongue , of which Slavic was a distant grandchild . At the end of the Hall of Knowledge , they turned into a third hall , which was brightly lit and was nothing but shelves - columns and columns of stone shelves . On these shelves sat the skulls of the deceased vampires whom the council deemed necessary to have terminated . There were thousands of them and Viken always found this hall rather sinister . I will never understand why they keep all these skulls on display . It ’ s gruesome to say the least , he thought as they walked along the Hall of Victories .
“ We keep them as a warning to our enemies and as a reminder of all the lives we have had to destroy . It gives us balance , in a way ,” Lord Frost told him , still walking .
“ You ’ re doing it again , Traishen . You know I hate when you read my thoughts .” Viken spoke sternly , as if correcting a difficult pupil .
“ Forgive me , My Lord ,” Traishen said in a mocking tone . “ It is a habit taught to me by my grandfather and it is a hard one to break .” He smiled at Viken then stopped at a small , simply carved door with a glorious garden scene of animals and plants . Traishen placed his hand on the center of the wood , which glowed blue momentarily and then the lock clicked open .
“ Funny ,” Viken remarked , stepping past him into the room , “ I thought your grandfather taught you to only use that technique when necessary .”
“ You would know . You knew him quite well , didn ’ t you ?” Frost followed him through the door , closing it as soon as he was in the room , setting the lock in place again .
Viken turned to Traishen and hugged him . They stayed that way for several moments , like longtime friends who have not seen each other in years . After they parted , Traishen walked 42