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AFTER BREAKFAST, MR CREPSLEY and me went to shower, since ere filthy from the trek He said ouldn’t wash a lot while ere here, but a shower at the start was a good idea The Hall of Perta Vin-Grahl was a huge cavern with ether to the right of the door The water fell froh up into a vampire-made pond and flowed to a hole near the back of the cavern, through which it disappeared and joined up with other strearound

"What do you think of the waterfalls?" Mr Crepsley asked, raising his voice to be heard over the noise of the running water

"Beautiful," I said, ad water "But where are the showers?"

Mr Crepsley grinned sadistically and I realized where ere meant to wash

"No way!" I shouted "The water reed, slipping off his clothes, "but there are no other bathing facilities in Vampire Mountain"

I started to protest, but he laughed, walked to the nearest waterfall, and i at the vaer to wash, and I knew he’d ling free of e of the pond, tested the water with my toes - yowch! - then leaped forward and surrendered myself to the flow of the second waterfall

"Oh, man!" I roared with ice-cold shock "This is torture!"

"Aye!" Mr Crepsley shouted "Now you understand why so few vampires bother to hile at Council!"

"Is there a law against hot water?" I screeched, furiously scrubbing my chest, back, and under my arms in a hurry to finish with the shower

"Not as such," Mr Crepsley replied, stepping out of his waterfall and running a hand through his short crop of orange hair, before shaking it dry like a dog

"But cold water is good enough for nature’s other creatures of the wilds - we prefer not to heat it, at least not here, in the heart of our hoh, prickly towels had been laid out close to the pond, and I wrapped ot out from under the waterfall For a few minutes I felt like my blood had turned to ice, but then my sensations returned, and I was able to enjoy the war," Mr Crepsley co hih secretly I kind of enjoyed the originality of the pri, I stared at the rocky ceiling and walls and wondered how old the Halls were I asked Mr Crepsley

"Nobody knows exactly when vampires first came here or how they found it," he said "The oldest discovered artifacts date back about three thousand years, but it is likely that for a long ti vampires

"As far as we know, the Halls were established as a pero That is when the first Princes rown since then There are va out new roo work - no mechanical equipment is allowed - but we have plenty of tied froe had spread He had told the Princes that the night of the Vampaneze Lord was at hand, and the vampires were in an uproar Theyon the word to those who hadn’t heard, discussing it hotly and o out and kill all the vampaneze they could find

Mr Crepsley had promised to take me on a tour of the Halls, but postponed it because of the coht be traitated vaht This was no tiot back tova up hammocks He offered to find new clothes for Mr Crepsley and me if anted We thanked him and accompanied him to one of the storerooms to be outfitted The stores of Vampire Mountain were full of treasures - food and blood vats and hidden weapons - but I only got a brief look at these; the young vampire took us directly to the rooms where spare clothes were stored, and left us alone to pick whatever we liked

I searched for a costume like my old one, but there were no pirate suits, so I chose a broeatshirt and dark pants, with a pair of soft shoes Mr Crepsley dressed all in red - his favorite color - although these clothes were less fancy than the ones he nor his cape that I realized how similar his dress sense and Seba Nile’s were I mentioned it to him and he smiled "I have copied many of Seba’s ways," he said "Not just his way of dressing, but also his way of speaking I did not always use these precise, ether the saht "

"You ht end up like you one day?" I asked, alar so serious and stuffy

"You h I would not bet on it Seba commanded my utmost respect, so I tried hard to copy what he did You, on the other hand, see I say"

"I’rain of truth in his words I’d always been stubborn I admired Mr Crepsleylike a pushover who did everything he was told Sometimes I disobeyed the va attention to what he said!

"Besides," Mr Crepsley added, "I have neither the heart nor the will to punish you when you make mistakes, as Seba punished me"

"Why?" I asked "What did he do?"

"He was a fair but hard teacher," Mr Crepsley said "When I told hi close attention to my vocabulary Whenever I said ’don’t’ or ’it’s’ or ’can’t’ - he would pluck a hair from inside my nose!"

"No way! "I hooted

"It is true," he said glumly

"Did he use tweezers?"

"No - his fingernails"

"Ow!"

Mr Crepsley nodded "I asked hier cared to copy hi what one starts After severalthe hairs ripped froed the I recorow back"

"What happened?"

Mr Crepsley blushed "He began plucking hairs from an even more tender spot"

"Where? "I quickly asked

The vampire’s blush deepened "I will not say - it is far too eot Seba by himself and asked him, he chortled wickedly and toldour shoes on, a slender, blond vaed into the roo by the door, unaware of us, until Mr Crepsley called to him, "Is that you, Kurda?"

"No!" the valanced over his shoulder "Larten?"

"Yes," Mr Crepsley replied

"That’s different" The vaot closer, I saw that he had three small, red scars on his left cheek They looked so to run into you I wanted to ask about this Harkat Mulds person and his ed "I have only heard the ru to us about it on our way here" Mr Crepsley hadn’t forgotten our promise to Harkat

"Not a word of it?" the va on an upturned barrel

"He told us the e was for the Vampire Princes only," I said

The vampire eyed me curiously "Youabout" He shook my hand "I’ froroaned "As soon as word of the Little Person and his e circulated, everyone ran to me to ask if it was true"

"Why should they ask you?" Mr Crepsley inquired

"Because I know more about the vampaneze thanhow much more you’re expected to knohen you move up in the world"

"Gavner Purl told ratulations," Mr Crepsley said rather stiffly

"You don’t approve," Kurda noted

"I did not say that"

"You didn’t have to It’s written all over your face But I don’t mind You’re not the only one who objects I’m used to the controversy"