“Sorry—thalergy is life energy; thanergy is death energy,” Pal explains as he follows Darlington into the next room. “Thalergenic planets mostly produce thalergy, though they produce thanergy as well. Everything dies, after all. On thanergenic planets, like those in the Empire, it’s the reverse. Necromancy requires thanergy, so I have less to work with here, literally.”

When he sees the fireplace he grins. “Perfect.” Without further ado he approaches it, lightly running his fingers over the mantlepiece. He never likes to make assumptions about an object based on necromancy alone, but he knows almost nothing about the aging of wood or styles of architecture on pre-Resurrection Earth, so he can’t say much about it by observation alone. He rests one hand on the stones of the hearth and explains, “The Sixth House specializes in psychometry. We’re trained from an early age to read thalergenic and thanergenic signatures on objects to determine their age and other characteristics of their history. Rather good skill for a librarian— Hmm.”

He’s not getting much. A trace of age, yes—two hundred years? Three hundred? But other details remain out of his grasp. Dozens of people must have laid their hands on the fireplace over the years, but it’s like they’ve blurred into the background.