"Maddie!"
Danny saw Maddie go completely rigid just before Joanna - Princess Joanna, who was second in line for the throne after Matthew - slammed into her.
Joanna was a few years older than Danny's parents, and very pretty, in a sort of faded way. Her hair was a slightly-graying strawberry blonde, and every part of her was thin in a way that spoke of chronic worry.
"Thank all the ancestors that you've gotten here safely. If something happened to you, too, I don't know how I'd stand it, after everything else." She pulled back, tears glistening in her eyes. "Do you know what happened? No one will tell me anything, but I don't know if it's because they don't know, or…" She trailed off.
Living so far away, and with Maddie intent on not getting involved in the family business, Danny didn't know the details of family drama. Maybe he could have at least gotten the outsider perspective from tabloids, but that seemed… wrong. However, even he could do a little math and figure out that Joanna had only been seventeen when she had Eugene.
The rest of the family not trusting her was… not reasonable, but not without a reason, even if that reason was twenty-six years old. Mostly, though, he'd always felt that it was sad.
"I don't know, either," said Maddie. "Are you the only one here, or…?"
She looked around the foyer, as if expecting more family members to appear out of thin air. In her defense, the foyer was rather large and had many expensive-looking pieces of furniture and art in it.
Also, there were ghosts there. Two of them, a man and a woman. Watching.
Danny caught the woman's eye, and watched her twitch in surprise. She tilted her head sideways, her braids swinging, the edge of her gown twisting like smoke, and pressed her hand against her chest, slowly, deliberately, as if asking a question.
Can you see me?
Danny debated the merits of responding, but… He didn't think he could pretend not to see them the whole time he was here. He nodded, minutely.
The ghost frowned, deeply, and backed out of the room, through the wall.
"... Sir John is in the hospital for shock, and we're still waiting on Alicia," finished Joanna, wringing her hands. "But except for Eugene and I, I don't think anyone has slept for well over a day, so they're all in bed. I'm worried about Matthew, honestly. I think the Assembly is going to bully him."
"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Maddie, who had stepped back out of Joanna's hug range.
"I hope you're right," said Joanna. "I really do. He's not made for politics."
From Maddie's expression, she clearly didn't agree. "Joanna–"
"I know what you're thinking, but those are businesses. It's different."
"Hm," said Maddie, noncommittally.
"Oh, and you're all probably exhausted, too." For the first time, Joanna acknowledged the rest of the Fentons. "Your flight was just as long as mine, but I couldn't calm down enough to rest."
Maddie nodded. "I can understand that. Do you know where we're staying, while we're here? Which rooms we're using."
"I think everyone just took what wasn't already occupied. Lewis and Leo are sharing, though. I think with their sister missing… I mean, if it was Matthew, I'd be beside myself." She swallowed. "Maddie?"
"Yes?" said Maddie, with forced patience.
"Are you going to try the Trials? Or are– I suppose Jasmine and Daniel–"
"No," said Maddie. "You know how I feel about that– that nonsense."
"But the ancestors–"
"Ghosts are no one's ancestors," interrupted Maddie, sharply. She clenched her jaw. "Six of the most protected citizens of Avlynys are dead–"
"Maddie," Jack tried to interject.
"-one is missing, and I'll bet you anything they were poking around some ill-advised ritual when it happened, making nice with soulless abominations pretending to be 'ancestor spirits.' I warned them, after Mom and Dad–" She cut herself off and shook her head. "You'd think they would have learned! That they would have listened. Maybe then they wouldn't be dead, too!"
Mr. Kynbaz entered the foyer, an attempt at a smile on his face. "We've got all your luggage in your rooms if you want to–"
Joanna ran out of the room crying. Mr. Kynbaz stared after her for a minute, then fixed a disapproving gaze on Maddie.
"It's the end of my shift, Princess," he said. "If I stay up much longer, my effectiveness will start to drop. You know how to contact me."
Maddie gave a brief, imperious nod, and exited through the door opposite the one Joanna had run through. Jack
Mr. Kynbaz looked conflicted, but in the end, he shook his head. "Stay safe, Master Daniel, Miss Jasmine." He left.
Jazz sighed. "Great. So. I'll make sure that they don't…" she trailed off. "You know what I mean."
Danny did know what she meant. Jack and Maddie could find trouble anywhere. Or make it.
"Will you look after…?" she tilted her head toward the door Joanna had run through.
"Yeah," said Danny. He took one last look at the ghost man, and went to look for Joanna.
Should he have told Jazz about the ghosts? Yeah. Maybe. But he was coming off an eight hour long flight. He was tired.
He stepped into a hallway lined with landscape and still life paintings that were probably worth thousands of dollars - or maybe they were just random. Danny didn't know anything about Martin's choice in decorations.
The ghost woman from earlier stepped out of the wall, making him jump. She pointed down the hallway, then flew away to point at a specific door. Feeling cautious, Danny approached.
"Anything you wanted to tell me, or…?"
The ghost pointed at the door again.
Well. If it was booby-trapped, he'd probably survive.
He opened the door.
Behind it, was a well-appointed and spotless kitchen. And Joanna. Who was still crying, even while attempting to make a pot of tea. She seemed to be having trouble with the lid on the kettle.
"Here," said Danny, "let me help."
"You don't have to."
"I can at least boil water," said Danny, taking the kettle from her. "Why don't you, um, sit down?"
Joanna blinked tearfully at him. "Alright," she said. "Thank you." She sniffled. "I know no one much cares for me. They think I'm irresponsible and untrustworthy, and Maddie and Alicia have been nice about that, but ever since her parents died, she's been so angry about ghosts. I understand it, but…" She looked at Danny beseechingly. "The people we've lost watch over us. Isn't that something we should embrace? Isn't it a comfort?"
"Um," said Danny. "I don't– I haven't really thought about it, too much."
"Oh," said Joanna, disappointed.
"I guess I don't…" He chewed over his words. "Mom's never really talked about what happened to her parents," he said. "Do you… know anything?"
"Oh," said Joanna again, wiping away tears, "well, they didn't die at the same time. It was… Are you sure you want to hear about this? Now?"
"I don't know when else I'd learn about it, honestly." Something about the way everything was going right now made Danny feel doubtful that they'd be visiting Avlynys all too regularly in the future.
"Alright, well… I was pregnant with Eugene at the time, so I never really got all the details. Uncle Leon was taking the Trials, and there was an accident… It really was an accident, not- not– Some people said it was a sign of the spirits' disfavor, but it wasn't. I think it was something about, um, construction materials that hadn't been put away properly." She nodded. "Yes, that was it. We're always fixing things, you know. Someone had left construction things in Andyr, and Leon had run into them… Because the Trials are supposed to take time, no one went looking for him until it was too late."
"Where's Andyr?"
"The tunnels beneath Kyr Argyn," said Joanna. She managed a very watery smile. "There's a legend that you can use them to get to the other islands, even. I'd say I'm surprised you don't know about them, but I can't blame your mother for not wanting to talk about it. They're supposed to be haunted. The ghosts… I suppose you don't want to hear about that, either? You and your sister were very adamant that you didn't believe in them when you were younger."
"I don't mind," said Danny with a shrug, glancing at the other ghosts around the room.
"Well, they're supposed to be closer to things down there. Not that Uncle Leon got very far." She shook her head. "Then, Aunt Maria walked off a cliff."
Danny startled. "She killed herself?"
"I don't know. She'd been saying things about seeing Uncle Leon… I think Grandfather hoped it was a real vision, really his ghost, but… In the end, I think she was just too lonely, without him." She shook her head. "A terrible thing to do to Alicia and Maddie. I wasn't surprised when they decided to stay in America."
Every part of that story was suspicious on so many levels, made worse by even more silent ghosts starting to show up. Danny wanted to scream.
"But Maddie was convinced that some kind of shape-shifting monster had- had stolen Uncle Leon's face and lured her mother over that cliff. I know spirituality isn't for everyone, but Maddie's doing more than rejecting it, she's…" Joanna trailed off, seeming to remember who she was talking to. "I don't mean anything bad by it."
"It's okay," said Danny, starting to look for teacups or mugs in the kitchen's numerous cupboards. He decided to take a risk. "I know not all ghosts are bad."
"That's a relief," said Joanna.
"You don't think anything like that happened this time, though, do you?"
"Everyone's been telling me they can't even figure out a cause of death." She stared at the teapot. "For six people… it has to be poison, doesn't it? Or some kind of miniature bullet. I… can't believe it was a ghost. Our ancestors would protect us, if nothing else."
The ghosts around her nodded.
"Right," said Danny. He found the teacups and took two out. "Do you… know what they were doing when it happened? When they… died?"
"The tea is here," said Joanna, lifting a package. Once Danny took it, she answered his question. "They were doing the planning for the Moon Masque, I think. Martin… Martin had been texting me about it."
"Moon Masque?"
"You haven't been here for one since you were little, have you? I forget… A masque is a kind of costume party, but there's a performance, too, and choreographed music and dancin… A bit like a pageant."
"Like a Christmas pageant?"
Joanna lifted a hand and tilted it back and forth. "Somewhat. It's mostly a tourist attraction, now, but the Trials touch on it, too. Vivian was thinking about taking them–"
The kettle began to whistle, and Danny quickly took it off the stove.
"Do you know who else was there, at the… planning session? Meeting? Conference?"
Joanna giggled a little, but it was still very watery. "Half of Myrgyn was probably there, between planners, nobles, and contractors. It's a big thing." She slumped. "It probably won't happen now. There's a lot of things that won't happen now."
Yeah. Even when someone came back as a ghost, it wasn't the same as being alive. Danny sometimes, when everything was hard and terrible, felt like he'd rather have died in the portal… but the truth was that he'd been incredibly lucky. Life - and the opportunities that came with it - was precious.
He poured the tea into the cups. Joanna took hers quickly.
"I think," she said, "that I had better get some rest myself. Maybe then I won't burst into tears at Maddie, hm?"
"It wasn't your fault," said Danny.
"I don't think it was anyone's fault," said Joanna. "Except whoever…" She trailed off, shaking her head hard. "You'll be alright down here alone?"
Danny wasn't alone at all. "I'll find my way to a bed when I need to."
"Alright, then," said Joanna. "I'll see you later."
Danny watched her go.
Now to solve the haunted house problem. He turned to look at the ghosts. "Hi."