Next table is crowded by a family: a mother and six girls, all of whom look of an age and exactly alike. As if they were born in a litter. They point and stare at her. One dashes over, stretches on tiptoes, and looking up into Julienne's face demands, "What are you?"
"She's a human," the mother says. "When you grow up, Lan, I'll teach you to lure and capture your own."
"But Mother, there's one right here, can't we start now?"
"Don't be rude, my heart, this one's been claimed." The woman considers Julienne. "I don't want to impinge on another's ownership. You're happy with your demon?"
Julienne hurries through her food. When she tries to pay she's informed that dollars aren't accepted. "Black pearls," the antlered server tells her, "are in fashion."
She glances at his feet, expecting h
