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old bone. Massive shoulders led to apelike arms. His wrists were as big as my thighs and hung on a level with his ankles. Broad, spade-shaped feet sat at the end of legs so short it was hard to tell whether he had knees.
    The glare he directed my way suggested he was assessing my potential nutritional value. In any other company he would have been terrifying. With my great-aunt to measure him against, I found myself wondering how much I might be able to get for the ivory of his four-inch tusks.
    He extended one thick, three-fingered hand to Atropos. On his palm lay a slender crystal. An eight-sided cylinder about two inches long and half an inch thick, it was a green beyond emerald with glints of gold in the depths.
    "What is it?" I asked, though I had a suspicion.
    "I call it Puppeteer," she said, picking it up. "It's an extremely sophisticated spell embedded in a memory crystal."
    She tossed it my way. It tumbled slowly through the clear fluid, and I was able to catch it easily. Closer inspection revealed that the gold I'd seen from a distance was an incredibly complex, three-dimensional latticework running like a tracery of veins through the body of the stone.
    "It's beautiful," I said. "I knew you were without peer as a coder of spells, Madame. I hadn't realized you were an artist as well. This is magnificent. I've never seen anything so intricate."
    "Lamentably, beautiful is all that it is at the current time." She sighed then, and it seemed a very strange thing to hear Fate sigh. "There is a flaw in the spell, one I haven't been able to find."
    "I think I begin to see."
    She nodded. "I think you do. Lachesis's reports of your growing abilities have been quite glowing. The independent corroboration I've gained as you hover around the edges of my security implies that she is not far off in her estimate of your skills."
    "You want me to find the flaw."
    "I do."
    "How do my grandmother and Clotho feel about this?" I held the gem in front of my eye and peered through it at her.
    "I haven't discussed it with them, but I think they will see the value of my ploy once it's in place. Free will is such an inconvenience." She smiled coldly. "You should see good value as well. With a tighter grip on the reins of destiny, I shall be able to reward you quite handsomely."
    "That does sound nice," I said.
    Actually, the thought of what Atropos might do once she'd gutted the concept of free will was a waking nightmare. But I was dancing on the cliff edge, and when I looked into the gulf I couldn't see a bottom. I had to be very careful if I didn't want this to be my last conversation. Though she couldn't cut my thread arbitrarily, there were more straightforward ways she could make an end of me.
    "Good then," said Atropos. "It's settled."
    "Actually, I'd like to have a brief word with my grandmother. Of late she's been most critical of how I've been using my skills and time. I shouldn't want to do anything like this without getting her permission first. You understand, I'm sure." I handed the stone back.
    "Don't try my patience, nephew. You'll find it isn't very deep."
    "I would never try your patience, Madame. I'm a wiser man than that, but I must give my first loyalty to my grandmother. So, if you'll excuse me, I do have midterms to study for."
    She made a grabbing gesture, and seemingly from nowhere a glowing strand appeared. She strummed it lightly, and my bones vibrated like a plucked harp string. I realized she was holding my life thread. It made my skeleton itch. "It would be a shame if I had to tie this in knots. There are many things worse than death, young Ravirn. Remember that. I'll let you go this time. But only for a very little while. You will help me."
    I bowed again. "In whatever way I feel I can, of course."
    "Weasel words won't help you. Nor will my sisters. I am not yet ready for this to reach their ears. Since you have spurned me as Cassandra spurned Apollo, I think I will give you something of the same gift he gave to