"Given who built the Castle, it probably seemed like a wonderful idea at the time," she said, dryly. "My ancestors were not nice people." She shook her head. "No adults in Mechanicsburg would let their children into the Castle unless they were summoned by the Castle itself, or the Heterodyne. Might have been different when my uncle and father lived there, but I frankly doubt it."

Of course, even by the standards of her world, Mechanicsburg was not even remotely normal.