Tangled Webs

glowing.»
    She wasn’t even inside yet and the place was already scraping on her nerves and temper. The sooner they fulfilled their obligation and could leave, the better she’d like it. “Has anyone else arrived?” she asked the caretaker.
    “No, Lady,” he replied. “You and the gentleman are the first.”
    “What time is it?” she asked Rainier.
    He called in a watch, opened the cover, and held it in the light for her to read.
    Somewhere in the house, a gong sounded.
    “What’s that?” Surreal asked.
    The caretaker shrugged. “Nothing that concerns the likes of me.”
    Rainier closed the watch and vanished it.
    The gong sounded again.
    Some kind of clock? Frowning, Surreal stared at the street. Where in the name of Hell were Lucivar and Daemon?
    “Well, shall we go in?” Surreal asked Rainier.
    “Oh, best to wait for the whole party,” the caretaker replied.
    “Won’t be as much fun if there’s just the two of you.”
    Since she wasn’t expecting to have fun, that wasn’t an incentive to wait.
    “How many were you expecting?” Rainier asked.
    “Only twelve people per tour,” the caretaker said.
    “Twelve people were invited?” Surreal asked.
    The caretaker shrugged. “Was told only twelve to a tour.”
    They stood outside, waiting. To give herself something to do, Surreal pictured a straw dummy of Falonar—and thought she deserved a lot of credit for picturing a straw dummy. Then she pictured herself throwing lovely, shiny knives at the target.
    The third time she got to one hundred, she huffed out a sigh.
    Rainier must have taken that as his cue to do something.
    “What about them?” Rainier asked, tipping his head to indicate the children.
    «No,» Surreal said. «I don’t want to be responsible for them. I’m not a Sceltie who enjoys herding idiot sheep.»
    «Tomorrow they could come here on their own, so by letting them come with us tonight, we’re nothing more than token escorts,» Rainier replied. When she hesitated, he added, «Do you want to be done with this family obligation or not?»
    Put that way…«Yeah. All right. Fine.»
    “How about if seven of them come on the tour with us?” Rainier asked the caretaker. “That would make nine in the house and enough places left open so the others can join us when they arrive.”
    The caretaker shrugged.
    «I guess ghosts are as good with providing information as you are with adding,» Surreal told Rainier. «When Sadi and Yaslana arrive, that will make eleven, not twelve.»
    «I was assuming the High Lord was also invited.»
    «Mother Night, I hope not.»
    A flash of amusement along the psychic thread, but Rainier kept a straight face as he turned toward the children. “All right, then. The seven oldest of you may come with us.”
    The next few minutes were filled with arguing, bartering, and negotiating.
    Rainier said, «I thought this would be the simplest way, since the younger ones will be able to come on another night.»
    Surreal studied the group of children as if she were at an aristo party. «Nothing is going to be simple. You’ve got a dominant cock and a bitch who’s the dominant female among this group. But not all the children here follow those two, so cock and bitch are trying to ignore your age requirement in favor of having their followers tour the house with them.»
    Rainier didn’t respond to her assessment directly, but his sharp whistle got the children’s attention. Within moments, Rainier had eliminated the younger children, selected the six oldest—three boys and three girls—and was about to toss a coin to decide between the two remaining children when Surreal gave him a psychic tap on the shoulder.
    «One more,» she said, looking at the boy lingering on the other side of the fence. Not like the others. This one was an outsider who might be included when another body was needed for a game, but he wasn’t someone any of the others would include for any kind of treat.
    “What about it, boy?” Rainier said, holding up a copper. “We could do a second coin toss for the last spot.”
    A hesitation. Then the boy looked at the other children and backed away, shaking his head.
    The crest side of the copper won the toss, and the fourth boy joined the others.
    “This way now,” the caretaker said, opening the door but carefully staying outside.
    An odd sensation as she passed through the doorway, as if the threshold required more than one step. Maybe it was all the illusion spells that had to be