I enjoyed this! It's a little novelette that mixes up clockwork spiders and vampires, which is a frankly appealing combination that I'd like to see more of. Unfortunately I think this is a one-off story, though, which seems a bit of a shame, as it could have been the start of a fun series. I liked the imagery in particular (those spiders!), and I liked the main character. I even enjoyed the antagonistic vampire emperor, in the sense that he was an interesting character even if he was a horrible one... and he thoroughly earned his deserts, here. (I don't know what it is about child vampires that is so creepy, but creepy they are: Claudia was the best thing about Interview with a Vampire, and the child emperor here is very much of her disturbing type.)