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We trail from one enormous room to another The roos are all high overhead (a few don&039;t even have ceilings, but open up to the sky), the walls so far apart that you could fit a couple of good-sized houses between thes, but the few pieces I spot - chairs, a statue, a dry fountain - are all ets hotter the further in we hat their clothes, trying to breathe ain, starts to tie it round his waist, then just du from the heat

Lord Loss doesn&039;t look back Glides silently, s after Cadaver and Art It&039;s hard to contain rab my brother But I can&039;t This is Lord Loss&039; home I have to respect his rules I&039;m not sure what he&039;d do to me if I didn&039;t, but I&039;m certain it wouldn&039;t be pleasant

We enter a room filled with chess sets perched on webby pillars Ordinary sets, like you&039;d find in any toyshop The pieces in different positions on the various boards, as if ga played on them before we arrived

Dervish freezes when he sees the chess sets He takes a few steps away fro around the room Then looks at Lord Loss with an entirely new expression "You!" he croaks "I know you now You&039;re the one who"

"Yes," Lord Loss says, pausing to look back "I knew you were a Grady as soon as I suised But I didn&039;t wish to announce myself, in case you had not heard ofbut Beranabus cuts in "This is not the time to have a discussion about your family&039;s curse"

"You know about the curse?" Dervish says sharply

"Evidently"

"And you know about?" He nods at Lord Loss

"I&039;d heard the rumours"

The rest of us look at each other blankly, no idea what this is about Only Nadia pays no attention, still aze fixed on Lord Loss

"We could play a gaerly "A practice match A chance for us to test each other, in case we ever have to play for real"

Dervish glances at the chess boards, then shakes his head "That will never happen I won&039;t have children I refuse to subject them to the curse, to have them live in fear as I have"

"Noble intentions," Lord Lossnever Perhaps circuainst you Maybe your brother will reproduce"

"If Cal has kids, he&039;ll account for them himself," Dervish says stiffly

Lord Loss inclines his head slightly, turns and carries on, further into the castle, out of the roo over his shoulder at the boards like a er than the rest A huge spider-shaped throne in the centre, ain woven fro in place of candles or light bulbs Objects fro, a tennis ball, walking sticks, the skeleton of soe animal, toys, more chess sets, scattered bones A portrait of Lord Loss on the wall behind the throne, painted in the style of Vincent Van Gogh

Lord Loss glides to the throne, over the legs which jut out of its base, up to the seat which is set in the body of the spider He lowers hi upon his subjects Cadaver sits on one of the legs to the left of the throne, playing with Art, holding hi him

The demon master raises a hand to stop us about ten or twelve feet away from the throne Seneral "What do you think of my humble abode?"

"Not what I&039;d choose," Beranabus says He nods at souests?"

"Meestures at a knife, which rises froled hand It&039;s not like the knives in our kitchen at home - this is more of a s at Beranabus "You should recognise this It was yours once"

Beranabus&039; face is stone "I&039;m not interested in the past or your rabs for it, but Cadaver flicks it away before e with the blade

"Tell me what you are interested in," Lord Loss says "Tell me why you have come and risked my wrath You know uninvited visitors are not welcome, that I am entitled to kill you all if I wish - and probably will"

He waves at the walls Looking up, I see the deh hich I hadn&039;t noticed before They cling to the walls, growing in nu us Several block the doorway through which we entered

"I&039;ve been insituations," Shark h the walls?" Dervish asks "They&039;re only webs"

"Magical webs," Sharmila corrects him "Built to protect Lord Loss fro able to force a way through"

Beranabus ignores the de calmly at Lord Loss Points at Cadaver and says, "We want hiesture