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intimate experience for both participants. Repeated feedings over time create a more personal relationship almost by default. It isn’t a requirement, though, if that’s what you’re asking. I do know partners, both now and from the war, who have chosen to keep their relationship purely functional. That does seem to require a conscious decision and constant diligence, however, so we’re careful to make it clear to our seminar participants the very real possibility of a magical partnership bringing them a life partner.”
    “Forgive me if I’m being overly inquisitive, but are you…?”
    Raymond smiled. “In this context, I’m the director of l’Institut, but in Paris, I am the Consort of the chef de la Cour. Yes, our relationship is personal as well as professional.”
    Raymond didn’t mention the brand on his back, but Jean’s hand found it unerringly, covering it with a casual touch that Raymond knew was anything but casual.
    “I feel like I should start taking notes already,” Martin said. “So much information!”
    “We thought you might like to sit through this week’s seminar as a participant,” Raymond said. “It’s the quickest, most organized way to cover all the material we have at the moment. Once you’re up to speed, we can discuss the areas of research already going on at l’Institut as well as those we’d like to develop, and you can decide where you’d best fit in.”
    “That sounds like a reasonable plan,” Martin agreed. “All my training doesn’t do me any good without a base of information to draw on.”
    “Were your rooms to your satisfaction?” Jean asked. “We’re fairly remote, so we try and have space available for everyone here.”
    “They’re wonderful,” Martin said. “I’ve met madame Naizot and her daughters, and they all made me promise to let them know if I needed anything.”
    “They are most efficient,” Raymond said with a smile. “L’Institut has become the largest employer in Dommartin, much to the delight of the locals who no longer have to drive to neighboring towns and cities to work. And it would seem dinner is ready. Would you join us at the faculty table?”
     
     
    A FTER dinner, the wizards, for the most part, retired to their rooms, leaving the vampires to start their first session, a history of the partnerships.
    “Would it be all right if I attended that session?” Martin asked Raymond.
    “I suppose, but you’ll have the same information in your session tomorrow.”
    “Yes, but I won’t hear the questions and answers that were important to the vampires,” Martin explained. “I know how wizards think. I need to learn how vampires think, what their culture values and discounts.”
    “You make us sounds like some foreign species,” Jean said with a laugh. “You will find we aren’t so different from you.”
    “No offense intended,” Martin apologized, flushing at being called on his insensitive choice of words. “I tend not to think before I speak. Vampires have a longevity humans, even wizards, can’t come close to attaining. You’ve seen things we only studied in books. You have a culture that reflects that, whether you think about it in those terms or not. I want to see those values reflected in the conversation. It will help me understand and perhaps avoid other gaffes later.”
    “I don’t see why it would be a problem,” Raymond said, “unless you think the vampires will be uncomfortable with Martin there.”
    “No more uncomfortable than they already are being here,” Jean replied. “One quick lesson about vampires, Martin. They are far less trusting of their own kind than of outsiders because outsiders can’t do much to them. Another vampire, on the other hand, is always a threat as much as an ally.”
    “They call it le Jeu des Cours,” Raymond added, “a constant game of one-upmanship to keep their status. Only Orlando is outside of it because of his relationship with Alain.”
    “What is special about