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him? Other vampires have partners.”
    “Other vampires don’t have Avoués,” Jean replied. “It’s an extra bond between them that has nothing to do with Alain being a wizard. It’s a vampire custom whose origins have long since been forgotten. Orlando is the only vampire in France, as far as I know, with a publicly acknowledged Avoué. For as long as Alain lives, Orlando is exempt from le Jeu des Cours.”
    “You’d think more vampires would have one,” Martin commented, “if the advantages are so great.”
    “So is the cost,” Jean replied. “An Avoué cannot be turned. A vampire and his Avoué cannot be separated for more than a few days while the Avoué lives. It can be a challenging life.”
    Martin’s busy brain needed no more than that to see the irony of the bond: a lifetime together followed by an eternity of separation. “The vampires are leaving. I will see you at breakfast.”
    Jean and Raymond shook Martin’s hand and let him follow the vampires to their first meeting.
    “Impressions?” Raymond asked when they were alone.
    “He’ll have to learn to curb his tongue if he doesn’t want to offend his subjects,” Jean said, “but he seems an interesting and intelligent man. What did you think of him?”
    “He reminds me of myself ten years ago,” Raymond replied, “all eager enthusiasm and lust for learning. He was spared the horrors of the war that stole some of that from me, although I was never as gregarious as he is. I was always too lost in a book.”
    Jean chuckled. “I’ve never noticed that about you.”
    Raymond grinned. “You’re more interesting than any book.”
    Jean’s tender smile left Raymond weak in the knees with the desire to pull his vampire across the courtyard and up the stairs to the abbot’s quarters, where they could be alone and reaffirm their bond, but responsibility nagged.
    “We should call Adèle and figure out what we’re going to tell Denis,” Raymond said with a sigh of regret. Jean had fed before they left Paris to return to l’Institut, and even if he hadn’t, their Aveu de Sang gave him the ability to go longer between feedings than other vampires.
    Jean must have sensed his conflicted emotions, because a surge of lust and longing swept through their bond. “There will be time for us after we’ve seen to the new vampire,” Jean said aloud, leaving Raymond to extrapolate the rest.
    “I’ll call Adèle,” Raymond said. “You should call Denis so I don’t do something to cause you to lose face in le Jeu des Cours.”
    Jean’s hand settled on Raymond’s back, guiding him out of the main building toward the abbot’s lodge. His Consort had promised to support him in any way possible, but despite nearly two years of association, Jean doubted Raymond fully understood how much his mere presence at Jean’s side added to Jean’s status within his Cour and with the other chefs de la Cour. The chefs de la Cour would not normally meet for another twelve months, but Jean knew having a lover, a partner of Raymond’s status, would only help when that happened. And if it happened early because of the weekend’s events, Raymond’s presence would be even more beneficial. “I’ll call him, but you have only ever added to my standing. Will you be able to go to Autun to get him if he wants to join us?”
    “Yes, as soon as I get off the phone with Adèle,” Raymond said. “If he wants to go, tell him I’ll be there in ten minutes. That should give me time to make the call and change into something warmer.”
    The late September days were still warm, but the temperatures dropped at night, making Raymond’s short-sleeved shirt too lightweight for their evening’s outings. Jean would not be bothered by the temperature until it got far colder than this, and even then, his sensitivity would never match Raymond’s. His vampire nature saw to that.
    Letting Raymond go change, Jean went into the office they shared and searched out Denis Langlois’s