"Trial? Truth? The boy?" Gavner was bewildered. Glancing down at my hands, he spotted the vampire marks on my fingertips and his jaw dropped. "The boy's a vampire?" he shrieked.

"Of course," Mr. Crepsley frowned. "But surely you knew."

"I knew nothing of the kind!" Gavner protested. He looked into my eyes and concentrated hard. "The blood is weak in him," he mused aloud. "He is only a half-vampire."

"Naturally," Mr. Crepsley said. "It is not our custom to make full vampires of our assistants."

"Nor to make assistants of children!" Gavner Purl snapped, sounding more authoritative than he had before. "What were you thinking?" he asked Mr. Crep-sley. "A boy! When did this happen? Why haven't you informed anybody?"

"It has been nearly a year and a half since I blooded Darren," Mr. Crepsley said. "Why I did it is a long story. As for why I have not yet told anyone, that is simpler to answer: you are the first of our kind we have encountered. I would have taken him to the next Council if I had not run into a General beforehand. Now that will not be necessary."

"It certainly will be!" Gavner snorted.

"Why?" Mr. Crepsley asked. "You can judge my actions and pass verdict."

"Me? Judge you?" Gavner laughed. "No thanks. I'll leave you to the Council. The last thing I need is to get involved in something like this."

"Excuse me," I said again, "but what's this all about? Why are you talking about being judged? And who or what is the Council?"

"I shall tell you later," Mr. Crepsley said, waving my questions aside. He studied Gavner curiously. "If you are not here about the boy, why have you come? I thought I made it clear when last we met that I wanted no more to do with the Generals."

"You made it crystal clear," Gavner agreed. "Maybe I'm just here to discuss old times."