Author's Note

I do apologize for how long it took to get this out.

I also apologize for the false posting. It was a false publication where I was trying to do an edit on my phone and failed miserably.

Once I got rolling on this chapter, it became a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoy reading it.

10. Was this Really Necessary?

Edited byTuxOKC.

Rachnera Arachnera needed sleep. The past twenty four hours had been an understated chain of events allowing for no such luxury. She knew she was not the only one exhausted (though Lucifer looked none the worse for wear) as the Lord and Lady of Shimmering (What exactly were their lordly titles, anyways? Baron and Baroness? Duke and Dutchess?) looked like death warmed over. They sagged into each other at the table, speaking to each other in hushed tones. It was easy to see the love between them, though Rachnera was convinced Sunrise was a tool. Winter put up with her husband because she did love him.

The stallion’s grip on his belief bandits were responsible for the missing foals had crumbled away after seeing the changeling that had been disguised as his mother-in-law. The reveal had shattered several misconceptions he had. Had there been some sort of obsession? Rachnera thought the unicorn had been trying to prove something. She sleepily wondered why.

Everything was stupid. There was no rhyme or reason to what was going on. There was no strategic value of the village as it was up in the hills and far removed from proper civilization. Unless that was precisely the reason why the changelings had chosen this village and the Diamond Dog colony to pick on.

Predators normally sought prey they could hunt with minimal effort, so as one herself, it made a sort of sense.

The little gray pegasus was none the worse for wear after her harrowing ordeal with spider silk. Her name was Derpy Hooves and once she got over the entanglements with both Rachnera’s webbing and the Peggy-turned-changeling, the pegasus turned out to be quite an adorable little thing. It was her first day at her new job as a parcel and letter carrier (mailpony) as she explained through her asymmetrical golden eyes and honest (if confused) smile.

It was noted the former letter carrier, a cranky old pegasus with creaky wings had been close to retirement. Derpy was both proud and sad to say she was his replacement. Daddy was just getting too old to do his job and had gotten clumsy with age. Rachnera held her tongue as what she had witnessed in the village hall could have been heritage at work.

Lucifer and a few other ponies, including a pair of Diamond Dogs helped to pick up the letters that had been scattered everywhere. The minotaur brushed off Derpy’s cap and placed it back on her head.

A tentative peace had happened while the mailmare was collected and put back together. Sunrise Shimmer was visibly upset and shaken as the unconscious changeling was taken to the cell previously occupied by Rachnera. The guards were doubled and Winter assured she and Bright Luster would put proper wards up to keep the creature inside.

There had been an uproar, a moment of panic when Peggy was revealed to be a changeling. Needless to say, seeing one measly looking bug horse thing did not impress the Diamond Dogs. The older ponies who had years of listening to local tales and legends could not decide if they should be excited or go into full blown panic mode. After all, the mare they all looked up to was not the pony they thought she was. The question of when was asked and often amongst themselves. The Diamond Dogs were not only looking at the ponies with suspicion, but lingering doggie eyes feel upon their own and there was worry.

Both parties filed out of the hall (there was only so much silliness and drama they could stomach), leaving Fargo and Fungo (now unbound, thanks a couple of absent-minded swipes of Rachnera’s sharp fingertips) sitting at a table with Sunrise and Winter. They seemed to be getting serious about some sort of peace between the Diamond Dogs and the ponies. Bria was fussing over the mailmare, who appeared to be fine. There was a great deal of concern for Derpy’s eyes, but the pegasus shrugged it off with a smile. The minotaur cow was plucking bits of web from the pegasus’ mane. Lucifer stood at the door, arms crossed over his massive chest as he patted his beard. A contemplative look was etched on his bovine face as he stared out into the morning.

“I’ve got something here,” Derpy muttered, snout deep in the mailbag, muffling her voice. “Letters to deliver. Let’s see. Credit card application. The latest ‘Noble Nobles’ magazine. Bills...” She plucked out a mouthful of letters and placed them on the table in front of Sunrise Shimmer. “You’ve got a lot of bills, mister. Oh, this is from Canterlot. Royal seal, too! Must be important, I think.” She wore a cheerful smile.

“That’s not how you address a lord!” Sunrise sputtered in indignant rage. His bad evening had transitioned smoothly into an even worse morning.

Derpy ignored him, already rummaging through her bag again. “Letter from one Sunset Shimmer addressed to Winter Shimmer,” she said with an envelope in her mouth.

Winter smiled and plucked it away with her magic. “Thank you.”

Derpy returned the smile, flicking an ear as she went back to her bag. “I’d have them out sooner, but I kind of dumped everything with all that silly string you guys put up in here. Having some sort of party, or something?”

Rachnera smiled, “Something like that.”

The mare popped her head from the bag. “Who is Rachnera Arachnera?” Derpy asked.

The arachne held up a hand. “That would be me.”

“Letter for you!” An envelope was tossed at her.

The liminal accepted it with a confused expression, glanced at the writing, and smiled. “Thank you.” She turned to Winter, as trying to talk to Sunrise did not seem like it would be a productive endeavor. “Do you need me for anything else? If not, I’m going to bed. All of the excitement has worn me out.”

The unicorn looked up from her husband, an ear flicking. “What? Oh, no, not really. I think some rest would do us all a lot of good. When you get up, I’ll have either Bria or Lucifer tell you what’s going on. I’ve got a lot to think about and lots of questions for the prisoner.” Her eyes became flinty.

“‘kay,” the arachne mumbled and headed out. She nodded and gave a half hearted wave to the minotaur. “G’nite.”

“Rest well,” he replied with a grave nod.

Rachnera stumbled to the inn, asked (mumbled, rather) Bria (who had followed) where her room was, crawled up the stairs on clacking legs, down the hall, through the door, and went straight to the bed. There she tossed the letter on top of the covers. Without thinking (or looking at the bed), she made her own bed, a hammock, and removed her clothes. Crawling into it, she waited for darkness to overtake her.

...and waited…

...and waited…

...and waited…

“Fuck me sideways,” Rachnera groaned.

As she lay in her silk hammock, Rachnera found sleep to be an elusive prey. She admitted to being too tired for slumber. On the same note, she was also too exhausted to even move. So, she swayed in her spinneret-woven bed, staring blindly at the door and silently begging for the sweet embrace of sleep. There was a tug on one of her legs.

She looked down and saw Random looking up at her. He was sitting, his stubby little pony tail wagging on the floor. “Hi,” he whispered loudly. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No,” Rachnera yawned. “I’m awake. What are you doing in my room? I’m naked.”

The colt shrugged. “I don’t wear clothes, either. Momma and Daddy are fighting and I don’t have anywhere else to go. I miss my grandma and I hope she’s okay. Can I sleep with you? I feel safest with you. Changelings won’t go near you. They’re afraid of spiders, like what Grandma always says in her stories.” His eyes rimmed with expectant tears.

“Fine,” the liminal relented, flicking a wrist. Silk whipped from her fingers and fell over the colt’s withers. She reeled Random up. He gave a surprised squeak and his legs flailed as he was pulled up into Rachnera’s grasp. Arms were wrapped around his barrel and he was snuggled into his favorite spot.

There was a letter the mailmare (heh!) had given the arachne. A letter had indeed been dispatched yesterday and official-looking correspondence had been sent to Lord Shimmer. A second one had been addressed to Rachnera, much to the confusion of the local lord. The problem was Rachnera could not read the local language, which made sense. She was only able to understand and speak the local language because of the pendant. Her eyes fell upon the letter, which was still in its envelope on the bed where she had tossed it.

“Random?” she asked, “how’s your reading skills?”

He shifted, blinking and fixing his eyes on her. “I can read,” the colt. “Why? Can’t you? Is it a learning disability? Is it because having six eyes makes it hard for you to see right? Do you see too good?”

She giggled and ruffled his mane. “No, silly, I can’t read your language.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Learning disability!” Rachnera huffed with a smile. “What a thing to say!”

“I didn’t mean it! Honest!”

Flicking a wrist (and without looking), Rachnera snagged the envelope on the bed with her webbing and jerked it up and into her grasp. Her nails made perfect letter openers and this one, though it was alien, opened like any others. Blowing it open, she plucked out the letter, finding the parchment to be thick and heavy. The lettering was precise and had been written organically, which meant no typewriters were harmed in the creation of this bit of correspondence. It was rare to see letters of an official capacity written by hand, or in this case, hoof. Though she could not read the writing, she could appreciate the beauty of the other-worldly calligraphy.

With another flick of the wrist and application of her silk, she flipped the light switch on (she was pleasantly surprised to see electrical lighting in the inn). Tickling one of the colt’s ears, she gave him a wry grin.

“I know you didn’t. Now,” she held the letter out for him to see, “what does it say?”

“Um,” he said, squinting, “I’ll just read it out loud.”

“That would be the idea.”

He blew a short raspberry at her. “Dear Rachnera Arachne. That’s you.”

She rolled all six of her eyes.

“It pains me to hear a being such as you has been brought to this world against your will,” he read the words slowly, some of them rolling over his tongue as if not sure of the taste. “Rest as...ash,” Random scrunched his brows as he squinted.

“Assured?” Rachnera offered helpfully.

“...assured you are not the first liminal from another world to come to ours. Though the occur...ranches?..”

“Occurrences.”

“...occurrences are rare, they are not as rare as some would think. Unfor...unfortune...ately? unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done at this time. I have been able to reach out to your world and as of yet have been unable to contact the government agency res...res..pon...sible for overseeing Host Families and the liminals ass..igned to them.”

“So, they know?” Rachnera arched a brow. To say she was surprised might have been a tad of an understatement.

“What’s that mean?” Random asked, looking up from the letter.

“Your princess knows of my world,” the spider woman replied, with disbelief. Shaking her head, she smiled at the colt. “Nevermind that for now. I’m sorry I interrupted you. Please continue. You’re doing very well.”

Random hiccuped and blinked. Rachnera was wondering when this was going to come and was surprised it had not come sooner. “Is Grandma gonna be okay?” he asked with a trembling lower lip. “They wouldn’t hurt her, would they? She said lots of bad things about them. She-she told stories…” There were sniffles and tears began streaming down his furry cheeks.

Rachnera hugged the poor little guy, her heart melting. Sure, she was a cold blooded huntress who enjoyed practicing her art of Shibari on her housemates, but even a spider had a soft spot for vulnerable children. Adults were fun to play mind games with, but children required a certain touch, soft and delicate. At least, that was how she viewed it. Perhaps one day she would even grace the world with a child of her own.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” she assured him in her most soothing, motherly voice. “We’ll find out why all of this is going on.”

“Promise?” he sniffled.

“I promise,” she whispered in his ear. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a good day.”

“Okay,” Random murmured, closing his eyes. He promptly fell asleep.

An eyebrow twitched. Rachnera deadpanned. Oh, sure, of course you would fall asleep at the snap of the fingers!

Having the colt in her arms served the purpose of having something like a massively upgraded teddy bear. Random served the purpose he had not intended and Rachnera fell asleep wondering what else was in the letter.

Ah, well, tomorrow would be a better day.

Alarm clocks weren’t supposed to be painful and annoying. There had been a noise, an unwanted voice, and it would not stop. Something shook her world and the image of Honey faded away, which put her in a sour mood. If it was Miia, then there would be a reckoning.

“Um, Miss Spider?” There was something hard poking her in the side of her second abdomen. “Miss Spider, could you please wake up?” The voice in her foggy mind was familiar and bovine. There was another poke.

Random squirmed in her arms, making a little annoyed sound as he snuggled closer to the liminal. “G’way,” he mumbled through his muzzle.

Cracking three eyes open, Rachnera focused on who was poking her. “Stop that,” she said irritably, finding her hand on a broom handle and snatching it away. “That’s annoying.”

“My husband interrogated the prisoner this morning,” Bria said, backing towards the door. She was wearing a smirk. “The poor thing sang like a bird when he brought out the rope and made a noose.” A lustful sigh followed. “Anyways, there is breakfast downstairs and it’s going to get cold.”

“Why the broom?” groaned Rachnera with a sleepy yawn.

“I had been trying for the past five minutes. You were out like a corpse.”

“Sorry about that. I was very tired.”

Bria squinted her eyes and pointed. “Young Master Random has taken a shine to you. You’re already a part of his herd.” She chuckled.

“Herd? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rachnera asked, a bit more awake and curious.

“Ponies make herds,” the minotaur said as if it was as simple as that, “it’s part of their social structuring. Herds can mean many things, but I am not at all surprised he considers you a part of his. Foal herds are pretty innocent and more for security. Random there is about as innocent as you get when it comes to foals. He doesn’t make trouble on purpose, he minds his elders most of the time, and he cleans up after himself. His curiosity gets him into trouble, as well as his belief strangers are just friends he hasn’t met.”

“I figured as much,” Rachnera smiled. “All right, I’ll be down in a moment. I’ll bring sleepy head here with me.”

“Please do,” Bria nodded and closed the door behind her.

Rachnera then spent the next few minutes scratching Random between the ears until he woke up. “Breakfast is waiting for us,” she told him as he groggily came to wakefulness.

“Food?”

“Yes. Get up. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.” She rolled off and dropped to the floor, the tips of her legs clacking against the wooden floor. Reaching up into the hammock, she plucked Random from it and set him down. The letter had fallen to the floor, she noticed. Picking it up, she set it on the bed.

She put on her top and the two then went downstairs to the common room. Bria and Lucifer were waiting for them, as well as Winter Shimmer and Bright Luster. The two mares were already eating and seemed halfway through their meal. Breakfast appeared to be some sort of porridge, with bits of spiced apples and nuts added.

Random could smell it and his nostrils flared as he hurried to his mother’s side. She smiled and nuzzled him, then ushered the colt into a seat next to her. Bria appeared and put a bowl filled with his breakfast in front of him. He dug in with gusto, forgoing utensils and just sticking his muzzle in. The minotaur cow shared a laugh with the two mares as they watched him.

Winter’s smile faded when her eyes lifted and beheld the form of Rachnera Arachnera taking her place at the table. “Good morning,” she said politely. “I see my son found comfort with you.” Her voice hinted at jealousy.

“So he did,” Rachnera agreed. There was no point in trying to antagonize the mare, though the frosty reception was understandable, even if the liminal felt it was not her fault. She dug out the letter Random had read to her last night. “He read part of this to me before becoming upset about his grandmother.”

“Why would he do that?” Winter asked.

“The pendant lets her understand and speak spoken Ponish, not read it,” Bright Luster piped up. “If you don’t mind me asking, since it came with Princess Celestia’s Royal Seal, what does it say?”

Rachnera passed over the letter in question. “Here. You can read it yourself and tell me what you think.”

Bright did just that. Rachnera was served breakfast by Bria, who was thanked. She ate, finding the porridge to be quite tasty. “I had no idea the Princess knew of your world,” she said with wide eyes. “She’s sending somepony within the next day or two to pick you up and take you to Canterlot. Apparently this is a very big deal to her.”

Rachnera swallowed her spoonful. “Oh? That is very good news. Does she know of what’s going on with the village and the dogs? She might be interested to know there are shenanigans going on around here that are playing hell with her subjects.”

“We’ve asked the mailmare to stay overnight so we could send a more formal request for help,” Winter said as she fawned over her son. “We have a major problem that we just don’t have enough hooves to take care of. My husband is bent on going on some last stand foolishness against impossible odds and it’s got me at my wits end.”

The liminal winced, thinking of Merrow’s mother. “Yeah, that might not be a good thing to have to deal with,” she conceded, then took another bite of breakfast.

“I’ve put up with it for a dozen years,” Winter said with a sigh. “It’s usually something easy to deal with. I have no words to describe some of my husband’s obsessions.”

“Insanity,” Rachnera chirped with a shrug.

“Yes, I know.”

“Daddy is crazy, sometimes,” Random said, looking up from his bowl. “He’s always talking about our family and its history with this land.”

Winter smiled at her son. “Yes, well, Daddy thinks the Battle of Shimmering and the near extinction of his family line that day is such an amazing topic to obsess about. I am so glad you didn’t turn out like him.”

“Battle of Shimmering?”

Winter nodded. “Five hundred years ago, there was the largest battle ever fought on Equestrian soil around here. The ruins in the middle of the forest was once the city of Shimmering. The minotaurs led by their Black King razed it and slaughtered its citizens. The day after that, Princess Celestia led her army against his in a battle that took a few days to be fought. It could be said it was a victory for the Equestrians, as the minotaur army and its Black King were driven from the field, but the losses were staggering on both sides. Lord Shimmer and his retainers were all slaughtered in the vanguard, and his wife and her household were killed when the city fell. Only a single colt managed to make it and he and his line lived in Canterlot until Sunrise decided to take up his family’s mantle and move out here to reestablish the duchy. That’s more or less the abridged version of the history around here. Out there, there are thousands of unmarked graves where soldiers were buried where they fell.”

Rachnera let out a slow whistle. “And your husband is obsessed with his family’s tragedy from that day five hundred years ago?”

The mare grimaced. “He’s been wanting to restore his family’s prestige. The village here produces wine and around the anniversary of the days of the battle, there is a festival for a week during the last days of summer. We get quite a bit of tourism and a lot of minotaurs like to make a pilgrimage here to see the battlefield for themselves.”

“The villagers enjoy it,” Bright said with a grin. “The calves always are the most curious!”

Bria came up to the table. “Lucifer asked for you to see him when you are done eating.”

“He’s over by the same cell you were put in,” Bright said to Rachnera.

“Did he say anything about the interrogation?” she asked Bright.

Winter spoke up, “Indeed. The changeling was very forthcoming. Something about an aversion to pain, but he did confess to knowing where the foals and pups were being held.”

“It doesn’t sound like he’s in a hurry,” Rachnera noted with a frown. “Anything about Peggy?”

“She’s with them and unharmed, according to our prisoner.”

“Good. Then let’s not waste any more time.” Rachnera pushed herself from the table. Smiling at Bria, she proclaimed, “Breakfast was wonderful! Thank you!”

“Bright, if you could please watch over Random?” Winter brushed her son’s mane out of his eyes.

“Can I come?” he asked.

“No, dear, I need you to take a bath and stay with the other foals until Mommy can take care of things. This won’t take long.”

“Awww!” he whined.

The changeling, as it turned out, was far happier to see Rachnera than he was to be in the presence of Lucifer. “I’d rather be eaten by you than listen to all the ways he wants to skin and mount me like some trophy!” he begged.

The liminal did not know if it was an insult or a compliment.

“Just tell us everything we want to know and I’ll think about it,” she told the trembling, horrified, and traumatized changeling. Which, in hindsight, might not have been a very nice thing to suggest. But, she reasoned, what the changelings had done was terrible, so she felt justified.

“I already told him everything!” he cried, pointing a holed foreleg at the minotaur. “They’re in the wine cellar behind the Shimmer home!”

Sunrise was shaking his head, sputtering incoherent words under his breath. His wife had to stick his snout into a brown paper bag as he hyperventilated.

Rachnera turned to Lucifer. “Wine cellar?”

“Yep.”

“Foals and pups are there?”

“Yep.”

“Expecting trouble?”

“More than likely, though I’m not sure if it’s the sort of trouble anycow is ready for,” he admitted as he tugged on an ear.

Anycow?

“Well, let’s get this over with.”

It was a wine cellar dug into the side of a hill, the arched opening was large enough for a pony to walk through. The cellar itself was impressive, with rows of huge wooden casks lining the room stacked four high. On each cask was writing, showing what field the grapes had come from, as well as the year and month the wine was made, and the name of the family who owned it. The fluorescent lighting was low and sparse, giving the sense of firelight without the flickering. The cool air was dry and was stirred by small, slow turning fans hanging from the ceiling. There were a few cobwebs in the corners here and there.

Rachnera had to crouch and hug her second abdomen to the floor to avoid hitting the ceiling with her head. Ahead of her was Winter and Sunrise, their horns providing more light for the room. The guards (which were no more than villagers in armor, Rachnera discovered) had fanned out and were poking around the casks. There were only three of them and they were unicorns.

Leaving a trail of silk behind her, the liminal was not sure what to expect. The changeling had insisted this was the place and now had a massive man cow honing an ax in front of it. The would-be imposter seemed to be young, but was reluctant to volunteer any information. He (or she) insisted Peggy was unharmed and was being prepared for transport to the hive. Changelings don’t harm their victims nor, the creature assured, would they resort to cold blooded murder. Upon revealing that much, the poor thing clammed up and fainted when Lucifer began running a thumb over the edge of his woodcutting ax.

Reflecting back to less than half an hour ago, Rachnera had then sensed they were dealing with a child and mentioned her thoughts to the old minotaur. He shrugged, put an odd iron ring on the changeling’s horn, and took a whetstone to his ax. “Wife needs wood for cooking,” he had explained. “Don’t you worry about this little...thing. The ring negates magic. Works on unicorns and should work here. If it doesn’t, I’ve got a little insurance.” A grim smile followed.

There was the possibility of walking into a trap. Though the arachne was not a soldier by any stretch of the word, she was still an apex predator and excelled at ambushes. It did not take a genius to figure that out. Having seen the common sense capabilities of some of the ponies, Rachnera had taken steps to keep the bungling at a minimum. It wasn’t that they were bad at dealing with threats, but rather an observant Miss Spider realizing ponies were so used to peace and prosperity that when said threats showed themselves, naive decisions were made.

Sunrise had warned them to stay within sight of each other. He had ignored Winter’s suggestion of keeping everyone in groups of two. Rachnera flashed some silk in her palm to the mare when she gave her an exasperated look. Flicking her wrists, she attached them to the unicorns fanning out and kept tabs. If anything were to happen, she felt a quick yank on her silk would pull them to safety. That was the hope. Of course, she never bothered to let the others know. There was too much chance of protests and things about personal space and whatnot.

There was a room in the back, a place where wine was tasted and sampled. The group worked with deliberate slowness, their steps muffled by silencing magic. Rachnera was there to bring her quick binding skills. There was also storage for unused wine bottles. They were stored in wooden crates, with a couple open while others were stacked up on top of each other and to one wall. There was still nothing and the gloomy lighting was putting the guards on the brink of spooking.

They stumbled across two changelings at the other door and asleep at their posts. Rachnera moved in and had them bound before they could be startled awake. She even took care to stuff silk into their mouths so they could not cry out and bit them with her paralyzing bite.

She ignored the looks of horror and disgust the guards gave her. Lucifer just shrugged and moved the newly acquired prisoners aside. He gave the arachne a lopsided grin. Winter and Sunrise gave her blank looks before moving to the door. They listened at the door and paused for a moment with their ears pressed against the wood.

“You’d better go in first,” Lucifer whispered to Rachnera, “the changelings have this fear of you on sight, kind of like the aura of fear I can put out.”

The mare and the stallion nodded. The guards fell back, dragging their captives with them.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Winter said to Rachnera. “Try not to kill anypony and subdue as fast as you can.”

“Whatever,” Rachnera replied as she pushed the door open. She had been expecting more from the changelings and this was too absurd to even comprehend. This was horrid security.

What she saw was even more confusing once she stepped into the room.

There was a small, circular table. Around that table were several foals and Diamond Dog pups. There was tea set out, with all the cups and saucers and little spoons. There were scones on little plates served to each guest. At the center was a teapot, with a tin of sugar cubes and a small carafe of cream. Rachnera could see each child had a strange green glow to their eyes and they were all gawking up at her without comprehension.

“Hey!” a little voice cried out from the table. It was a dark little bug horse, thinner than the ones that had been captured. She had blue harlequin eyes that were wide with indignation as her wings buzzed in her irritation. Her horn was longer than the other changelings, curving up from the center of her forehead. Her ears were long and floppy and her round face was framed by a wispy sea green mane that hung over one shoulder in a tail bound by a fluorescent green bow. “You weren’t invited to my party! Royalty and guests only!”

Peggy ambled up to the little changeling, her eyes also glowing a strange green. “Would Her Highness like me tae dispose of yon riff-raff?”

“My Highness would!” shouted the imperious little creature. “Where are my worthless Royal Guard? This interruption of my tea party is unforgivable!”

“What the actual hell is going on here?” Rachnera demanded. “Who are you?”

“I am Her Royal Highness Atalanta, Crown Princess of the Changelings, Daughter of Queen Chrysalis of all the Changeling Hives and these are my newest subjects!” declared the little changeling with arrogance. Her imperious mood shifted and her expression became hopeful. “Do you want to be my friend, too? I can always use more friends!”

“Like them?” the liminal pointed at the gathered ‘friends’ of the proclaimed princess.

“Every Royal should have her own court. Momma says so! You can be my vizier! You’re also a spider and Momma would be really impressed if I showed her I got a spider to do my bidding!”

“Shall I prepare our new guest a spot of tea?” Peggy asked helpfully.

“Mother!” Winter cried out from behind Rachnera. “You’re alive!”

“Who is this?” demanded Sunrise as he surged in front of Rachnera. “What is going on here?”

“This is not what I was expecting,” Lucifer observed from the door. He was hunched over so he could fit his massive bulk. “At least we found the missing children.”

“Shall I make room for yer guests? Me daughter and me ungrateful an’ pompous son-in-law have joined us, as well as Lucifer Heavens the minotaur.” Peggy glared at Sunrise.

Princess Atalanta’s stance faltered and she slumped a little in her seat. “Parlay?” she asked, waving a little white napkin. “Momma will be so disappointed in me.”

Rachnera covered her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “How in the hell does any of this make sense? I should have stayed in bed. Life was so less complicated when I was still in bed.”