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The silence suggested maybe I’d pushed the matter too far. Under the table, my fingers began to trace one of the Infernal symbols I’d prepared on the way here. Then I heard that buzzing in my ears, just for a second, and the tension vanished.

‘Our parents, actually,’ the eldest said. ‘We are older than we appear.’ He started to look sheepish– in the sense of being mildly embarrassed, not that he was turning into an actual sheep, although I wouldn’t have put it past them.

‘Your motherandfather fought the mages’ war?’ I asked.

He nodded. ‘Against each other.’

Corrigan roared with laughter, so loudly I wondered if he was about to start conjuring thunder right there in the banquet room. ‘Now there’s a marital argument I would have liked to have witnessed!’

‘Their powers were on a scale beyond those of any other wonderists,’ the youngest said, defiance clear in his voice.

His reaction sparked my interest, because it had just occurred to me that the longer we were here, the more like normal humans the Seven Brothers were behaving.

‘Their conflict tore at the walls of reality, leaving behind millions upon millions of tiny fractures.’

‘The red soot,’ I said.

One of the brothers nodded and I realised that he was the only one left who hadn’t spoken yet. He traced a finger along one of the red veins on his cheek. ‘The attunement of which my brother earlier spoke is to those fractures. It is for this reason that our magics were weak, unfocused, until the Pandorals sensed our presence beyond the veil and chose to bless us with the magics of their realm.’

‘And in return, they want you to save them.’

‘A small price,’ he said, spreading his hands. ‘Would any of you refuse it for abilities such as ours?’

Other than turning unwilling animals into two-legged servants and murdering wonderists with apparent ease, I wasn’t entirely sure what the full extent of their powers were, but I was willing to assume they were formidable.

‘So now that the plane of reality from which you derive your magic is collapsing, you want to bring the Pandoral beings here to save them?’

‘The Pandoral plane is the smallest of those connected to the Mortal realm,’ explained the youngest. ‘In terms of physical space, it would be no larger than this keep. Only three hundred conscious beings reside there.’

‘And they want to move into the Blastlands?’

‘Within the territories covered by the desolation,’ he agreed. ‘Only here can the soil produce crops that will sustain them. The very thing that makes the desolation untenable for human beings gives them a chance at new life.’

‘What about those who already live here?’ asked Galass. I noticed she was keeping a steadying hand on the little jackal, who was looking like it was time to jump off her lap and start ripping out the throats of the brothers. ‘Will you force them from their homes?’

‘Not if they wish to stay,’ replied the eldest brother. ‘Our patrons are not cruel. Should the citizens of Mages’ Grave choose to remain, they may do so. The Pandorals wish only to live in peace.’

‘So, on their behalf, you wouldn’t mind agreeing to a pact that the Pandorals would never expand their territory?’ I asked.

Again I heard the buzzing in my ears and all seven heads bobbed at once. ‘Agreed.’

‘And you’ll recompense the townsfolk for any inconvenience their new neighbours cause?’

Not even a buzzing this time. ‘Happily.’

Aradeus started to speak, but I cut him off. ‘Well then, friends,’ I said, my chair scraping the floor as I rose. ‘Sounds like all of this was just a simple misunderstanding.’

Galass stood next, gently placing Mister Bones on the floor. ‘We will speak with the townsfolk and explain the situation. Perhaps a pact between both sides might be possible.’

The brothers looked at each other for the first time, then rose to their feet. ‘We would be amenable to such a pact. The previous delegations who came were intent only on killing us outright.’ He gestured to the bloody consequences of those attempts. ‘We hoped perhaps that this gruesome display might help the next delegation to reconsider.’

I had to admit, there were worse reasons for dangling the massacred corpses of your enemies in front of your visitors.

‘You’d have to make certain concessions,’ I warned. ‘We’ll expect the local townsfolk to have a say in the management of the territory, to make sure their ancestral rights are preserved.’

‘No one likes a noisy neighbour,’ Corrigan agreed.

As before, the brothers nodded their assent to our demands. Pretty soon we were all standing. I stuck out a hand. ‘To peace, then?’