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"It is but one human family," Maharet said softly "Yet there is no nation on earth that does not contain some part of it, and the descendants of males, blood of our blood and uncounted, surely exist in equal numbers to all those non by name Many ent into the wastes of Great Russia and into China and Japan and other diions were lost to this record As are many of whom I lost track over the centuries for various reasons Nevertheless their descendants are there! No people, no race, no country does not contain solo, African; it is Indian; it is Mongolian; it is Japanese and Chinese In sum, the Great Family is the human family "

"Yes," Marius whispered Remarkable to see the eain and the subtle light in the eyes that always defies description "One family and all families-" he said He went towards the enormous map and lifted his hands irresistibly as he looked up at it, studying the course of lightsover the carefully modeled terrain

Jesse felt the atht enfold her; and then unaccountably those h they didn't matter anyain in this room

Sheon the wall She looked at the myriad tiny names inscribed in black ink; she stood back and followed the progress of one branch, one thin delicate branch, as it rose slowly to the ceiling through a hundred different forks and twists

And through the dazzle of all her drealy of all those souls who had made up the Great Fae and intimacy The moment was timeless; quiet for her; she didn't see the white faces of her new kin, the splendid iht in their eerie stillness

So of the real world was alive still for her now, sorief and perhaps the finest love she had ever been capable of; and it seemed for one moment that I natural and supernatural possibility were equal in their mystery

They were equal in their power And all the miracles of the immortals could not outshine this vast and simple chronicle The Great Family

Her hand rose as if it had a life of its own And as the fight caught Mael's silver bracelet which she wore around her wrist still, she laid her fingers out silently on the wall A hundred names covered by the palm of her hand

"This is what is threatened now," Marius said, his voice softened by sadness, his eyes still on the map

It startled her, that a voice could be so loud yet so soft No, she thought, no one will hurt the Great Family No one will hurt the Great Family!

She turned to Maharet; Maharet was looking at her And here we are, Jesse thought, at the opposite ends of this vine, Maharet and I

A terrible pain welled in Jesse A terrible pain To be swept away fros real, that had been irresistible, but to think that all things real could be swept aas unendurable

During all her long years with the Talahosts, and poltergeists that could terrify their baffled victiues, she had always known that somehow the supernatural could never iht! Irrelevant, yes, safely irrelevant-unable to intervene!

But now that stood to be changed The unreal had been e roo for called the Mother, could reach out fro separated her from mortal eyes and touch a million human souls

What did Khayman see when he looked at her now, as if he understood her Did he see his daughter in Jesse?