“Either way, it is no good for us,” Ryld added. “And I was just beginning to enjoy not being under any matron mothers’ thumbs.”
“Well, then . . . which is it, good masters?” Pharaun asked them both. “Out the window or to a dinner party?”
Ryld and Valas looked at one another.
Finally, Valas sighed, “Dinner.”
“Very good,” Pharaun said, “but before we go, I want to spend a few moments in contemplation of my grimoires. I have a feeling I might be in need of some arcane fortitude before the night is over.”
“Yes, I think that’s wise,” Valas agreed. “Ryld and I could stand a bit of healing magic, if there’s any to be had.”
“Why don’t you two go search the priestesses’ room and see what you can turn up?” Pharaun suggested. “I know Quenthel had that wand, but she’s likely to have kept it with her. There might be a potion or two, though.”
The scout nodded, and he and Ryld slipped out of the room.
Pharaun opened up his haversack and pulled out his spellbooks, which were conveniently on top. That was the thing he truly loved about his magical carry-all. Whatever he needed always seemed to be on top. He sat down to peruse the pages.
The wizard could not recoup all of the incantations he had cast during the course of the day, as he would need to spend several hours resting before his body had recovered sufficiently for that, but he had wisely decided to hold off on committing the full compliment of spells to memory that morning, so he had an opportunity to choose four or five that would best suit the occasion.
Now, Pharaun wondered, what sorts of magical wizardry would be particularly useful for a dinner party?
He settled on his choices and began to study.
Nearly an hour later, the Master of Sorcere looked up at the sound of the two other males reentering the room.
“Ah, perfect timing,” he said. “I think I’m ready to go. Did you have any luck?”
Ryld answered, “It took a bit of rummaging, but we managed to confiscate two potions from Quenthel’s belongings. That’s one more thing we agreed that you get to tell her when we see her next.”
Pharaun chuckled, “Well, I must say, the draughts did you a world of good. You’re certainly much more presentable than you were a mere hour ago. Are we ready, then?”
“I believe so,” Valas replied. “We did a quick surveillance of the inn, and it appears that our escort is alone. Nothing suspicious about him so far.”
“Then I suggest we leave at once,” the Master of Sorcere said. “I’m starved, and I fancy a taste of something better to drink than the swill we purchased last evening.”
Ryld and Valas exchanged looks, and the three of them found their way to the common room. The drow who called himself Zammzt was there, waiting patiently, but the look on his face told Pharaun that he was beginning to get a little nervous.
Probably wondering if we gave him the slip, the wizard thought. Worried about what he’d tell the matron mother when he had to report back that we wouldn’t cooperate.
The stroll to the House would have been pleasant, Pharaun decided, if the streets weren’t plagued by the occasional angry mob. Twice, the four of them had to make a quick dash down a side street or float to another level to avoid being engulfed in a tide of troublemakers. At one point, Pharaun thought he’d have to blast a way through the throng with a bolt of lightning or a ball of fire, but it never came to that. In order to keep up with them, Valas was forced to transport himself by way of an extradimensional doorway. This from an item Pharaun had, until then, been unaware the scout carried.
“You know,” he said as they moved into the highest levels of the city, where the most lavish of the nobles’ manors were located, “I quite seriously doubt we should remain for the full evening.”
“What, you think the city is growing too dangerous?” Valas asked wryly. “If we had given it any thought, we might have considered packing our supplies and bringing them with us.”
Pharaun slowed a step, thinking, but then he proceeded, saying, “You’re right, but if the situation warrants it, I can return for the goods myself later.”
The four drow arrived at last at House Melarn, an impressive bulge in the upper reaches of the city. The whole of the thing was stacked above the level of the street and also hung below it, and it covered an area two or three blocks wide and just as deep. To Pharaun, it looked like a massive cyst of some sort, which, he supposed, had been the intent of the architects who’d fashioned it.
The food and spirits had better be worth it, the wizard thought, sighing as he followed the others inside. Right now, it just looks like a prison.
Aliisza loathed the form she’d chosen for herself, finding it ugly and without civility. Oh, certainly any orc who spotted her would have thought her beautiful, but the alu-fiend considered the race repulsive as a whole. Still, it had its advantages.
At the moment, that advantage was that Pharaun would not recognize her. Following the wizard and his two drow companions through the web streets of Ched Nasad, being led by a fourth drow—whom she found to be rather unattractive—Aliisza didn’t want her lover of earlier in the day to spot her. As well, she found it easier to avoid notice as one of the baser creatures rather than as one of the dark elves. The drow citizens might have outnumbered the rest of the other races combined, but they appeared to be fearful of being alone in public, and though Aliisza certainly didn’t fear for her own well-being, she thought it best to draw as little attention to herself as possible.
Besides, she found that she could overhear more interesting conversations if she was not in dark elf form. The other beings tended to stall or whisper whenever they saw any drow about, but they were not so mindful of their words when it was just an orc, beautiful for her race or not. Aliisza could certainly understand why.
There was talk of rebellion or of invasion everywhere she went. Half the inhabitants seemed to think the crisis in the City of Shimmering Webs was an opportunity to end the drow reign once and for all, while the other half believed that someone else was already in the process of doing just that and that everyone already living there would pay the price for it. One thing was constant, whatever other opinions were revealed: Everyone blamed the dark elves for their problems.
It was the drow, she heard, who had angered Lolth. She had turned away from the city, leaving it to fend for itself. Others said that Lolth had grown weak and ineffectual from the complacency of her worshipers, and this had allowed other deities to overwhelm her when she wasn’t expecting or prepared for it. The most intriguing rumor of all, of course, was the tale that seemed most recent. Spreading like wildfire, it claimed that the matron mothers had discovered a traitor in their midst, one of their own who had collaborated with a high priestess from beyond the city to bring Ched Nasad low.
There were a dozen variations on that story. The traitors consorted with demons, the traitors were actually demons in disguise, the traitors were stealing from the city, the traitors were preparing to attack the city. . . .
Aliisza had little doubt about the veracity of the story, for she suspected that the high priestess must be Quenthel. Somehow, the Menzoberranyr had been apprehended in the middle of her little scheme, the one Pharaun regretted mentioning. She was curious about Pharaun’s role in the rumor, or the portion of the story that included a matron mother. The alu-fiend wondered if Pharaun had been swept up in the events or if spending the afternoon with her—she shivered with delight at the memory of it—had allowed him to stay clear.
Even if he hadn’t gotten entangled in the matron mothers’ schemes thus far, he was bound to eventually. She knew this with a certainty born of having seen the political machinations of her own kind drag even the most unwilling creatures into its webbing. Pharaun would have a part to play in the unfolding events, as much for his inquisitive, forceful nature as for his relationship with the priestess he so casually followed.
Regardless of what the wizard wanted, he was in the company of a strange
r, someone obviously of a noble House by the insignia on his piwafwi, and he didn’t seem to be under duress or coerced. Perhaps he didn’t know what was going on. Aliisza would have to puzzle on that some more. One thing was certain, however: The effect the rumor was having on the populace was not good.
Aliisza knew she shouldn’t care if Pharaun had been apprehended. Theirs had been a relationship of mutual satisfaction, no more, no less. He was a pleasant diversion from Kaanyr Vhok, and she knew she would return to the cambion, had always intended to do so. Pharaun knew this as well, and the fact that he wasn’t bothered by the informal nature of their “chance meeting” in the streets was what had made him so delicious.
But the alu-fiend did care, at least enough to consider whether or not she should figure out if he needed her help. She supposed she simply wasn’t quite ready to give him up.
She also knew that that wasn’t the only reason she hadn’t yet returned to Ammarindar to report to Kaanyr Vhok all she’d discovered thus far. Perhaps it was the multitude of sights and sounds in the city that attracted her still. Perhaps it was the exquisite feeling she got whenever creatures of the race she chose for her disguise— whether it be dark elf, orc, or yet some other species—admired her form. It had been too long since she’d experienced that. She also wanted to see events unfold in the city. She sensed the tension in the air, and she wanted to witness the violence, the chaos, should something come to pass. Ched Nasad was more than ripe for such a thing. The place was literally buzzing with energy, with anticipation.
The four drow she followed moved casually, yet they always seemed to be adjusting their course to avoid the largest crowds, and they never tarried near side web streets or alleyways. It was clear to Aliisza that they were moving warily. More than once, they magically bypassed the worst of the crowds, levitating or using the magical doorways that both she and Pharaun employed from time to time. They led her into the higher sections of the city, and soon it became apparent to Aliisza that she would have to either stop or change shape in order to continue unhindered. There were going to be few orcs that high in the cavern, and she would draw attention to herself in her present guise.
Changing back to the drow form she’d used earlier, she followed the four dark elves farther, until they arrived at a large noble House, which they entered.
Aliisza found a quiet spot atop a building on the opposite side of the street and settled down to wait.
chapter
ten
Khorrl Xornbane knew that his fidgeting was a bad sign, but he couldn’t help it. He and his clan had been hiding and waiting for so long he could hardly stand it any longer. Hiding several thousand duergar was never easy, but trying to do it in the middle of a city full of drow was taking its toll on his nerves. He was thankful that the waiting was almost over.
Until then, the fighting had been relatively easy and pain-free. Ambushing the matron mother and her retinue in the storehouse had been almost too simple. She obviously trusted the other matron mother far too much, and it had cost her. He wondered if anyone had discovered the bodies of her soldiers and advisors. They would, soon, he knew. The smell would lead someone to them.
Khorrl and his duergar were inside the manor itself, out of sight in an unused wing of the place, in a barracks where no soldiers were currently quartered. It was driving Khorrl mad. His sentries had not reported anyone even coming near the halls where he and his boys waited, but if anyone found them, the plan was ruined.
“Captain.” An all-too-familiar voice came from the shadows at the edges of the storehouse.
Khorrl felt his heart begin to race with anticipation. Zammzt stepped from the shadows, a wry smile on his face.
“So?” the duergar asked.
“We’ve gotten the word,” Zammzt replied. “It’s time for you to go to work.”
Khorrl rubbed his hands together in delight. At last. He began going over the plan in his head once more as he issued orders, and Zammzt faded back into the shadow from which he’d emerged.
The real fighting was about to begin.
Faeryl was fast growing bored with all of it. She wished the matron mothers would simply see things as her mother had laid them out so carefully, declare House Melarn treasonous and dissolved, and permit House Zauvirr to rise to a position of prominence so that Ssipriina could sit on the Council. But of course, there was the prerequisite squabbling that had to take place, first. Faeryl supposed she would care a whole lot more if she stood to gain more, but her mother would still be ordering her around—and getting ordered around in turn, even if it was by someone other than Drisinil Melarn.
There’s always someone using you as their footstool, Faeryl thought, no matter how high you reach. Even Triel Baenre was forced to nod her head in subservience to the whims of Lolth, and it’s possible that the Dark Mother herself has been forced to—
“Faeryl, stop wasting our time with your idle fancies, and pay attention,” Ssipriina Zauvirr said, snapping Faeryl out of her thoughts.
“Sorry, Mother,” the younger drow answered, chagrined. She focused her attention on the conversation at hand, for at least the matron mothers were no longer talking as one.
“I said,” Inidil Mylyl declared, emphasizing the word to make sure everyone in the room understood that she was put out at having to repeat herself, “that hearing the tale in its entirety once more would go a long way toward clarifying just exactly how this managed to happen right under our noses. Perhaps Faeryl can indulge us for a few moments more to explain this.”
Faeryl groaned inwardly. She had already explained herself three times to the first matron mothers to arrive. They had not been happy with several parts of her story, so she was going to have to tell the whole thing once more for those matron mothers who had chosen, for whatever reason, to arrive late. Of course, they were the most powerful drow in Ched Nasad, used to keeping others waiting and daring anyone to question them on it. She felt queasy as she crossed to the center of the room.
“Yes, of course, Matron Mother Mylyl,” she said as politely as she could.
Compared to the collection of nobility in the room, House Zauvirr was still inconsequential and could be held accountable for everything Faeryl had done and said up to that point. Embarrassing one’s own mother in front of her superiors was no way to climb to a higher position within a House, and the ambassador knew that both her tone and her explanation had to be handled just right.
“For the sake of understanding,” she continued, “let me start by saying that House Zauvirr represents House Melarn in certain business interests, and I represent House Zauvirr’s efforts on behalf of House Melarn in Menzoberranzan. I serve—or did serve, rather—as the ambassador to Triel Baenre herself. When the difficulties arose, they were, as you now know, experienced in Menzoberranzan as well. Concerned about this and the lack of caravan traffic between the two cities, I petitioned Matron Mother Baenre to allow me to return here in the hopes of finding out what was wrong.
“Triel refused, and in fact, effectively placed me under house arrest, for what concerns I never found out. She eventually imprisoned me when I tried to leave on my own. While I did not wish to damage the relationship between our Houses and House Baenre, my loyalty and concern lay solely with my own family and those families we serve here in Ched Nasad. I was ordered put to death for treason, but thankfully, the execution never occurred.
“Triel changed her mind at some point, choosing instead to forgive me whatever sins I supposedly committed. She assigned me to journey with her sister, Quenthel Baenre, and several others here to Ched Nasad to reestablish trading and to determine if more information was available concerning the, uh . . .”
“Child, we all know that Lolth has vanished. You don’t have to tread around the subject.” It was Matron Mother Aunrae Nasadra, the uncrowned queen of Ched Nasad, leader of the most powerful House in the city. Faeryl swallowed as Aunrae added, “Get to the point.”
The ambassador nodded and continued. “Menzobe
rranzan had suffered an uprising, a slave revolt supported by outside forces. Containing it consumed a substantial amount of the sisterhood’s divine resources. Matron Mother Triel sent the group of us here to find out if Lolth’s disappearance was limited to Menzoberranzan or felt across all tribes of drow, but she also wanted Quenthel to procure any divine magic she could lay her hands on here. Quenthel and Triel had apparently rationalized that since House Baenre held part ownership in Black Claw Mercantile, anything the storehouses stocked was her city’s by right. Once I was able to covertly relay this to my mother via my brother and his magical contacts, we worked together to set a trap and catch the Menzoberranyr in the act. It was only when we all arrived at the storehouse that we discovered Matron Mother Melarn was actually aiding the visitors. My mother confronted both of them together, and Matron Mother Melarn tried to escape.”
When she finished, Faeryl realized she was out of breath from rushing through the rest of her explanation. Matron Mother Aunrae had that effect on everyone.
“Drisinil was killed, cut down trying to flee,” Ssipriina added, drawing attention back to herself. “I would have done whatever I could to spare her if I could have reached her in time, but it was too late, and my own magic is too weakened to stave off the passing.”
“So you conspired to allow them to sneak into the city, going so far as to mislead a city patrol?”
The matron mother who asked this question was Jyslin Aleanrahel. Her features were sharp, almost fierce, and her reputation as a malicious, greedy drow who found fault in every action was legendary. Faeryl had never liked her, but she was hardly in a position to show that sentiment.
“They have no doubt been sent to spy on us,” Jyslin continued, “and their supposed story of reestablishing contact here was simply a falsehood meant to keep you off-balance. I daresay the males still loose in the city are sending sensitive information back to their superiors even now, especially if this wizard is as capable as you alleged before. I might have expected you to be a more clever girl and keep them out of the city, but I suppose that’s too much to ask.”
R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen: Dissolution, Insurrection, Condemnation Page 55