Lawrence Van Alen is the grandfather, guide, and mentor of Schuyler Van Alen. He is wise, gentle, and powerful, and becomes the head of the Blue Blood clan. He is living in exile at the beginning of the book, having separated from his wife, Cordelia, to investigate the return of the Silver Bloods. He knows a war is coming, and it is a war the Blue Bloods are horribly unprepared for.
