“I’m not,” said her mother. “From what you’ve been telling me…” She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t trust any of them. Not the Clan, not even the one you bedded. They’re all—they sound like—a bunch of vipers. They’ll screw you as soon as you think you’re safe.”

“Ma.” Miriam began to blush. “Oh, I don’t trust them. At least, not to do anything with my best interests at heart.”

“Then you’re smarter than I was at your age.” Iris pulled on her gloves.

“Give an old lady a lift home? Or at least, back to the woods? It’s a cold and scary night. Mind you, I may have forgotten to bring your red cloak, but any wolves who try to lay hands on this old granny will come off worse.”

Pawnbroker

It’s no good,” said Miriam, rubbing her forehead. “All I get is crossed eyes, blurred vision, and a headache. It doesn’t work.” She snapped the assassin’s locket closed in frustration.

“Maybe it doesn’t work here,” Brill suggested. “If it’s a different design?”

“Maybe.” Miriam nodded. “Or then again, it’s a different design and it came through on the other side. How do I know where I’d end up if I did get it to work here?” She paused, then looked at the locket. “Maybe it wasn’t real clever of me to try that here,” she said slowly. “I really ought to cross over before I try it again. If there’s really a third world out there, how do we know there isn’t a fourth? Or more? How do we know that using it twice in succession brings you back to the place you departed from—that travel using it is commutative? It raises more questions than it answers, doesn’t it?”

“Yes—” Brill fell silent.

“Do you know anything about this?” Miriam asked.

“No.” She shook her head slowly. “I don’t—they never spoke about the possibility. Why should they? It was as much as anyone could do to travel between this world and the other, without invoking phantoms. Would testing a new sigil not be dangerous? If it by some chance carried you to another world where wild animals or storms waited…”

“Someone must have tried it.” Miriam frowned. “Mustn’t they?”

“You would have to ask the elders,” Brill offered. “All I can tell is what I was told.”

“Well, anyway,” Miriam rubbed her forehead again, “if it works, it’ll be one hell of a lever to use with Angbard. I’ll just have to take this one and cross over to the other side before I try to go wherever its original owner came from. Then try from there.”

“Can you do that?” Brill asked.