He looked cool and collected and charming as if he’d never hacked anyone to death or kidnapped anyone, or threatened to kill my son if he didn’t get his way.

“I can well understand if no one wants me to do more than be a quiet prisoner here,” he said. “But I will give my blood to the young couple if they will accept it. And maybe this can go towards my forgiveness by this group.”

Viktor and Rose waited on me for my response. And I, after looking intently at Rhoshamandes and Benedict for a long moment, noting the dazzling equanimity of the former and the obvious abject misery of the latter, said yes to this if Marius and Pandora approved, and if Viktor and Rose gave their consent.

Understand, I could hardly believe myself that I was doing this, but the Prince was in charge now and the Brat Prince was no more.

The motion carried, so to speak.

“I am sorry from my heart,” said Rhoshamandes, with amazing calmness. “I have truly in my long life among the Undead never sought conflict even when others thought I should. I am sorry. I lost my own fledglings to the Children of Satan rather than make war. I ask the tribe to forgive me, and to accept me as one of its own.”

Benji was staring at him with fierce narrow black eyes, and Armand was looking up at me from his chair with slightly raised eyebrows, and Jesse merely looked at him coldly, her arms folded. David had no discernible expression, but I felt I knew what he was thinking even though I couldn’t read his thoughts.

What precisely are we to do with this one if we don’t accept him back into the tribe? And what danger is he to anyone if we do?

Well, as I saw it, he was no danger. If he was not accepted, well then, he might become a danger, especially if others took this to mean that he had been “proscribed” like the ancient enemies of the dictator Sulla, who were then free game to be murdered by their Roman brethren. I was no Sulla.

I listened quietly for the voice of Amel, conscious that I wanted very much to know what he had to say. All had changed between us so totally that he was no longer even the specter in my mind of the old Voice. But if I had underestimated the complexity of all this, I did want a hint of that now.

In the silence, I heard his faint whisper. “I used him. Can we not be thankful that he failed?”

“Very well,” I said. I turned to Rhoshamandes. “I say your apology is accepted. You are a member of this tribe. I can see no threat from you now to anyone here. Who disagrees with me on this? Speak up or forever be quiet.”

No one spoke up.

But there were tears in the eyes of the regal, ashen-haired Allesandra when I said this and Rhoshamandes nodded and took his seat. I’m not sure anyone but I caught Everard’s sharp personal glance to me and the confidential negative shake of his head.

Benedict looked confused, and so I directed my remarks to him.

“You are now once more in good standing,” I said. “Whatever you did, and why ever you did it—all this is now closed.”

But I knew this was small comfort to him. He’d live for years with the horror of what he’d done.

It was by that time almost 4:00 a.m., and sunrise would occur in slightly over two hours.

I stood silent at the head of the table. I could feel all these eyes on me as fixed and probing as ever, but I felt most keenly the scrutiny of Seth and Fareed, though why I wasn’t sure.

“We have much to do,” I said, “all of us, to establish what it means for us and for all those blood drinkers out there the world over that we are now one proud tribe, one proud People of Darkness, one proud race that seeks to prosper on this Earth. And as it has fallen to me to rule, by invitation and by unique selection, I want to rule from my home in the Auvergne.

“I live now in my father’s castle there, almost fully restored, a great stone edifice including as many comfortable chambers as this amazing house in which we’re gathered now. And I will be your prince.”

I paused to let the point be absorbed, then I went on.

“Prince Lestat I will be,” I said. “That is the term that’s been offered to me over and over in one form or another, it seems. And my court shall be in my castle, and I invite all of you to come there and help forge the constitution and the rules by which we’ll live. I will need your help in deciding a multitude of questions. And I will delegate to those of you who are receptive various tasks to help us move to a new and glorious existence which I hope that all the blood drinkers of the world will come to share.”

Benji was now close to tears. “Oh, if only this were being recorded!” he declared. Sybelle told him to be quiet, and Armand was laughing silently at him but also motioning for him to restrain himself.

“You may report my words in full whenever you wish,” I said. “You have my express permission.”

With a subtle gesture he opened his spiffy little jacket to reveal an iPhone peeping out of his inner pocket.

“Marius,” I said, turning to him. “I ask that you write for us all the rules by which you’ve lived and prospered for centuries, as I’ve never found anyone more ethical in these matters than you are.”

“I’ll do my best with this,” said Marius.

“And Gregory,” I said. “Gregory, you who have survived with such astonishing success in the mortal world, I ask that you help to establish a code by which blood drinkers can effectively interact with mortals to preserve their material wealth as well as their secrecy. Please give us the benefit of all you’ve learned. I have much to share on this and so does Armand, but you are the past master.”

“I’m more than willing,” said Gregory.

“We must assist the most befuddled fledgling out there in obtaining whatever papers and documents are required to move from place to place in the physical world. We must do our best to halt the creation of a class of desperate vampiric tramps and marauders.”

Benji was beside himself with excitement at all these proceedings. But he was shocked when I turned now to him.

“And you, Benjamin, obviously you must be our Minister of Communications from now on; and wherever in the world I am I will be in communication with you here at your headquarters every night. We must talk, you and I, about the radio program and the website, and what more we can do together through the internet to gather the lost sheep in the Blood.”

“Yes!” he said with obvious joy. He lifted his fedora in salute to me and it was the first time that I’d seen his adorable little round face and cap of curly black hair for what they were.