“No need,” said Gremt under his breath. “We know what evil is. And you know what it is.” He looked up at me. They were much alike in their demeanor, Teskhamen and Gremt, but then that made perfect sense—that all these years Gremt had been modeling his manner on that of Teskhamen.

Magnus was changing again, the flesh appearing to fade like an image in an old photograph, and in a silent shimmer I saw the old one, the narrow beak of a nose, the hunched shoulders and wrists of knobby bone, before he recollected himself and became the smooth handsome one again.

“Be what you like, monsieur!” I said to Magnus, leaning towards him. “Yea gods, don’t hold on to any certain image for me.” I meant to be helpful, kind. I wanted to thaw the ice.

But he turned and glared at me as if I’d made some unforgivable transgression. His eyes were narrow, and if he’d been a blood drinker still, he might have blasted me with his anger even without directing it. As it was, the anger made him all the more brilliant. I could see the faint tracery of blood swimming in the whites of his eyes. I could see his lips trembling. Does a ghost feel all of this?

Teskhamen rose to his feet.

“Prince, I’m going to leave you now with these two. Again, we are glad you’ve come.”

“Don’t go,” I said. “I want to talk to all of you. Look, I know I’ve offended you and disappointed you.” I didn’t wait for them to respond. “It’s been six months since you came to see me at Trinity Gate in New York,” I said. “I promised you I would meet with you, invite you to Court. I promised, but then so much has happened. And I’ve been negligent, and I’m sorry. I came here myself to tell you this. And Amel wanted me to come, urged me not to put it off any longer. I couldn’t bear the thought of sending some messenger or formal invitation. I came here because I am sorry for not coming to you sooner.”

This clearly caught all of them off guard. I had definitely roused the interest of Gremt though he did not seem at all content. And a sadness came over Magnus’s illusory features of which he did not seem to be in control.

What was wrong here? Something was wrong. There was a cloud over this group, a cloud that had thickened before I’d ever come to the door.

Only Teskhamen remained smooth. He was seated again.