The confused silence that followed was so obvious that even Pick was moved to explain himself. “Sometimes when strangers such as you seek me out in the way you have done, it is because they think I am Pluto.”

“Pick, let me set you at ease, as far as that sort of thing is concerned,” Corvus said. “We are well informed, even by the extraordinarily high standards of the landed nobility of Calla. In particular Prim and I have both seen remarkable things. I think that between us we have a clear-eyed view of how matters stand. Let me assure you that none of us would ever make such a gross error as to confuse you with the long-exiled member of the Pantheon known as Pluto.”

“I have met him, though,” Pick offered, in a mild tone of voice that would not ordinarily be used to deliver such remarkable news.

The next silence was even longer. Apparently not even Corvus could offer a comeback. It was left to Mard—in some ways the most naive, and most content-to-be-naive, member of the party—to respond. “Wow! How’d that work, since Pluto is in exile up in the sky, and you live in the Land? Are you one of the old souls of First Town, who knew the Pantheon before El hurled them out?”

“Not quite that old,” said Pick. “I did live in First Town for a brief time before Egdod blew it up, and saw the Pantheon from a distance. But by that time they had already grown remote from the doings of common souls such as I, and Pluto of course was ever the least sociable of the Old Gods.”

“By process of elimination, then, your claim is that you met Pluto . . . after he was exiled? You traveled up to the Red Web?” Lyne was the one to ask this, and he did so in a skeptical tone.

“Yes and no,” said Pick. He crossed his arms and looked Corvus straight in the eye.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Corvus. “Let’s go.”

“We’ve only just begun to hear Pick’s story!” Prim protested. “We can’t just walk away from him now.”

“They’re coming with us,” Corvus explained.

“Where do you imagine we will be going in one another’s company?” Pick inquired.

“Oh, you know,” Corvus answered.