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under these circumstances I couldn't help but be pleased to see her.
    "Charming as always, Ravirn. Your absence must be sorely felt at your grandmother's court."
    "Alas, I think not. While Lachesis has some fondness for me, it seems to be in inverse proportion to my proximity. I suspect that my manner charms less than my nature offends."
    "Speaking of which," said Cerice, shifting from courtly circumlocution to businesslike directness, "you have a major problem."
    "Oh," I replied. The change in gears was jarring.
    "Look, I know family politics calls for a lot of polite nonsense and frills before finally broaching the real subject for conversation, but you just don't have the time."
    "All right, I'm willing to dispense with formality. I was dying to ask you how you happened to be in this particular DecLocus at this exact moment anyway. I thought you were home."
    "I was until twenty minutes ago."
    "But—"
    She cut me off smoothly. "Yes, I know. The net's down. I hacked into Clotho's mainframe and used it to open a single-use one-way gate."
    "That must have been a cast-iron bitch."
    She smiled. "It wasn't that bad. You're not the only competent coder in this generation. But I didn't call to exchange hacking tricks. I called to let you know you're in hot water all the way up to your eyeballs."
    "How hot?" I asked glumly.
    "Atropos wants your head."
    Sweat popped out along my brow line. But over an open link I didn't dare talk about what was going on. Also, as much as I liked Cerice, on this topic I didn't dare trust any of Fate's children. Besides, there was no way she'd believe the truth.
    "That's not news," I said, leaning back in my chair and trying to look relaxed. "Atropos has always held a special, black little place in her heart for me. It's because of my hacking. She writes lousy security algorithms, then blames me when I demonstrate it to her."
    "Ravirn, don't be more of an idiot than usual. We both know she's security-mad. Her firewalls and program killers are better than either Clotho's or Lachesis's. But you're an egotistical bastard, and Atropos is the only opponent you think is worth your effort. Unfortunately, you haven't the wit to crack them without leaving a calling card of some kind so you can gloat about it later."
    "Well, yeah, but…" I wanted to defend myself, but the only argument I had was one I couldn't make.
    "But me no buts. As I said, you haven't the time. Not after you crashed the whole net. That wasn't smart."
    "It wasn't actually my intention."
    "Intention or not, that was the result, and it's given Atropos the opportunity she's been waiting for. The net wasn't down five minutes before she showed up at Clotho's demesne. They called council, and when Lachesis arrived, Atropos demanded your head. Lachesis apparently has some attachment to you, because she absolutely refused to hear of it. Unfortunately for you, Clotho sided with Atropos." Cerice paused and cocked her head to the side. "Though I think that might have been as much to see how well you operated under the pressure as anything. She seems to have a soft spot for you, though I can't imagine why."
    I felt a rushing sensation in my head. I had known, in the abstract at least, that something like this could happen, but I hadn't really believed it.
    "I'm screwed," I whispered. And I was, in more ways than one. My credibility had just been irrevocably shattered. I had to get that spell crystal. Without it, any accusation I laid against Atropos would never be believed. My grandmother would just assume I was seeking revenge.
    "Yes." Cerice nodded. "But not quite totally screwed. Atropos couldn't cut your thread without unanimous agreement."
    I let out a tiny sigh of relief.
    "But with the net crashed and Clotho backing her, Atropos was able to get Lachesis to allow a proxy assassination attempt."
    "Who?"
    "Moric, Dairn, and Hwyl."
    "All three?" My relief vanished. "Just for little old me?"
    "Lachesis only agreed to one attempt. Atropos didn't want