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"Then they are looking for him?" Paris asked

"No We faked his death They buried him They think he is dead"

"That ht," Paris murmured "But why blood him in the first place?" When Mr Crepsley didn’t answer, Paris turned to me and asked, "Darren? Do you knohy he blooded you?"

Hoping to bail the vampire out of trouble, I said, "I found out the truth about hiht have figured that he had to make me his assistant or kill me"

"That is a reasonable excuse," Paris noted

"But not the truth," Mr Crepsley said, and sighed "I was never afraid of being exposed by Darren In fact, the only reason he discovered the truth about me was because I tried to blood a friend of his, a boy his own age"

The Hall erupted into controversy, and it took the barking Princes several minutes to quiet the vampires When order was finally restored, Paris resu, more troubled than ever "You tried to blood another boy?"

Mr Crepsley nodded "But his blood was tainted with evil - he would not have ht," Mika said angrily "You tried blooding one boy, but couldn’t; his friend found out, so you blooded him instead?"

"That is about the sureed "I also blooded hi the full truth of our ways, which was unpardonable In th before blooding hith of character when I did"

"What drew you to the first boy - the one with evil blood?" Paris asked

"He kneho I was He had seen a portrait ofthe name of Vur Horston He asked to become my assistant"

"Didn’t you explain our ways to him?" Mika asked "Didn’t you tell him we don’t blood children?"

"I tried, but" Mr Crepsley shook his head h I had no control over ardless, if not for his foul blood I cannot explain why, because I do not understand it"

"You’ll have to coument than that," Mika warned him

"I cannot," Mr Crepsley said softly, "because I have none"

There was a polite cough behind us and Gavner Purl stepped forward "May I intervene on my friend’s behalf?" he asked

"By all means," Paris said "We welcos up"

"I don’t know if it can do that," Gavner said, "but I’d like to note that Darren is an extraordinary boy He made the trek to Vaht a bear poisoned with va the way I’hts ago"

"We have" Paris chuckled

"He is bright and brave, wily and honest I believe he has the s of a fine vampire Given the chance, I think he’ll excel He’s young, but younger vah the ranks You were only two years old when you were blooded, weren’t you, sire?" he asked Paris Skyle

"That’s not the point!" Mika Ver Leth shouted "This boy could be the next Khledon Lurt and it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference Facts are facts - vaerous precedent if we let this pass without taking action"

"Mika is right," Arrow said softly "The boy’s courage and ability are not the issue Larten acted poorly in blooding the boy, and we must address that"

Paris nodded slowly "They speak the truth, Larten It would be wrong of us to ignore this You yourself would never have tolerated such a breach of the rules were you in our position"

"I know," Mr Crepsley said with a sigh "I do not seek forgiveness, ainst Darren The fault is mine, and I alone should be punished"

"I don’t know about punishment," Mika said uncoing your good na on reed "But what option have we? He did wrong - we "

"But we must address it mercifully," Paris mused

"I ask for novanorance I expect no special treatment If you decide I am to be executed, I will accept your verdict without complaint If-"

"They can’t kill you because of asped

"If you decide Ie you care to set, and die e," Paris huffed "We reserve challenges for those who have not proven the is not in question"

"Perhaps," Arrow said hesitantly, then lapsed into silence A few seconds later, he resuaveour old friend or soiling his good naer at e for the boy"