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Kaanyr Vhok, the half-deh balcony over the old dwarven foundry and watched his arreat smelter had once been the heart of the fallen realm of Ammarindar The cavern was i pillars carved into the shapes of dragons, glowing red with angry firelight and the lurid radiance ofof hammers and roar of kilns at work filled the air Dozens of hulking tanarukks, bestial fiends bred froht have lacked the skill and enchantments of the dwarves who once worked there, but Kaanyr Vhok&039;s soldiers possessed a cunning instinct for theof deadly weapons infused with dark lore

Kaanyr himself fit the infernal scene well Tall and powerful, he had the stature of a strong-thewed huiant His skin was red and hot to the touch, and his flesh was hard enough to turn a blade He was strikingly handsoh his eyes danced with olden breastplate and carried a pair of wicked short swords made from some derinned fiercely with delight as he looked out over the gathering storm of his army

"I now lead nearly two thousand tanarukk warriors," he said over his shoulder, "and I have just as iants at th, my love"

Aliisza allowed herself a s herself to the demon prince&039;s side Like Kaanyr Vhok, she too possessed demonic blood In her case, she was an alu-fiend, the spawn of a succubus and sos as smooth as black leather sprouted from her shoulder blades, but other than that she was dusky and seductive, voluptuous and inviting, a half-demoness whose allure few mortal men could resistShe was also clever, capricious, and very skilled in ic, and therefore well-suited to be the consort of a demonspaarlord such as Kaanyr

"Menzoberranzan?" she purred, tracing the filigree of his arertip

"Of course There see in Ched Nasad, after all" Kaanyr frowned, and his gaze grew distant "If the dark elves are without the protection of their spider goddess, and unable to govern their interreatness I have always coveted Having er for so a city of drow appeals to ht," Aliisza pointed out "The Men-zoberranyr I spoke with in Ched Nasad suggested that his own city had suffered a significant slave uprising, sponsored by soht in Ched Nasad would not have left the city to whatever House hired thear firebombs hadn&039;t worked so well, I suspect Clan Xorn-bane would rule Ched Nasad now"

"Or I would," Kaanyr said He narrowed his eyes "If you had re-ported the situation toar were exhausted fro each other"

Aliisza licked her lips

"You would have lost whatever forces you brought into the city," she replied "Your tanarukks could have endured the fires, of course, but the collapse of the city streets destroyed everything in the cavern Trust me, you missed no opportunities in Ched Nasad"

Kaanyr did not reply Instead, he disentangled hihtly over the balcony rail, descending to the foundry floor The warlord had no wings, but his deh effort of will Aliisza frowned, and followed behind hi updrafts of the rooood, she reflected If the warlord ever tired of her, he was certainly capable of having her killed in so There was nothing of which he was not capable, if his tehted beside a sandwithover the pour Kaanyr squat-ted down by the white-hot h to cause him discomfort, and after a ers and brushed theh

"Good iron," he said to the tanarukks "Carry on, lads"

He straightened and continued on his way Aliisza fluttered to the stone floor and fell into step behind hi that troubles ar betray the House that e the whole city? Was it simply a dispute over pay? Or did they intend froar Steelshadow behind it? Did the prince of Gracklstugh send his mercenaries to Ched Nasad to destroy the city, or did Clan Xornbane do that for so up beside hiardless of anyone&039;s intentions The great Houses of Ched Nasad are dead, and there aren&039;t , for thatwhether the duergar of Gracklstugh plan to attack Menzoberranzan next," Kaanyr said "I have ath here, but I do not believe I can take Menzober-ranzan unless the dark elves are reduced to utter chaos and helplessness If the duergar mean to march on the city too, my opportunities are limitless"

"Ah," Aliisza breathed "You could sell your services to the dark elves, the gray dwarves, both, or neither H"

"And the price I co, and my proximity to Menzoberranzan, but it depends on the in-tentions of the gray dwarves" The half-dehter "I would not care to findand united dark elf city with no allies at hand"

"Why do I get the feeling that you&039;re about to send uorously around Kaanyr, halt-ing him as she reached up to turn him toward her "I&039;ve only just coirl," Vhok said with a smile "Yes, I h, you won&039;t have to creep about and stay out of sight You will call on Horgar Steelshadow, the Crown Prince of Gracklstugh, as ray dwarves intend to attack Menzoberranzan If they do, let them know that I would like to join them If they don&039;twell, see if you can&039;t persuade them that it&039;s in their best interest to destroy Menzoberranzan while the dark elves are weak"

"The dwarves are not likely to confide in me"

"Of course they won&039;t want to confide in you However, if they do intend to attack, they will see the advantage of gaining , the fact that I a to ally with theood, so you need not worry that they&039;ll stand up for the drow"

"Envoy " Aliisza murmured "It sounds better than spy, doesn&039;t it? I suppose I can carry your e for you, my sweet, fierce Kaanyr, but maybe you should provide me with some special incentive to hurry home, hmm?"

Kaanyr Vhok circled her with his powerful arms and nuzzled the hollow of her neck

"Very well, h I sometimes wonder if you are utterly insatiable"

A desperate hour of flight froe fro shell of a square tower they found a sand-choked stair de-scending into cool, lightless catacombs beneath the city Buoyed by their find, the dark elves slipped through acolonnades of brown stone, finally holing up in a deep, disused gallery that showed no signs of recent use It was a cheerless and desolate spot, but it was free of blinding sunlight andmonsters, and that was all they needed

"Pharaun, prepare your spells quickly," Quenthel co up the chared, you and Valas keep watch on the far archway, over there"

"Unfortunately, you must keep your watch for soesture "I was ready to study my spellbook earlier, when I&039;d had some time to rest in the courtyard of the palace above, but the poor hospitality of our laued I must rest for some time before I will be able to ready my spells"

"We&039;re all tired," Quenthel snarled "We have no time for you to rest Prepare your spells at once!"

The snakes of her whip coiled and hissed in agitation

"The exercise would be pointless, dear Quenthel You must keep our enemies away from me until I have recovered frored ruood a time as any to punish hiressions"

"Stupid creature," Pharaun snorted "Slay ht-blasted wastelands within a day Or perhaps you have sud-denly acquired a knack for the arcane arts?"

Jeggred bristled, but Quenthel silenced hiloth stalked off to take up his watch at the far end of the long, dusty cha in a juhed and trotted off to join him

"Ready your spells as fast as you can, wizard," the priestess said, deadly anger tightly contained in her voice "I have little patience left for your wit Give Halisstra your lightning wand in case we need spells of that sort to repel another attack"

It was a measure of his true exhaustion that Pharaun didn&039;t even bother to seek the last word He turned to Halisstra and dropped the black iron wand into her hand with a sour smile

"I suppose you kno to use this already I&039;ll want it back, of course, so please try not to exhaust it completely They&039;re hard to make"

"I won&039;t use it unless I have to," Halisstra said

She watched as the wizard found a shadowed spot beside a large coluainst the cold stone, and she tucked the wand into her belt Quenthel co Pharaun as if to ith pushed hi back toward the reatsword as he did so

Halisstra started to follow, but Danifae said, "Shall I keep watch here, Mistress Melarn?"

The girl knelt on the dusty floor between the wizard and the priestess, the dagger thrust through her belt She looked up at Halisstra, her expres-sion blank and perfect, the picture of an innocent question

The Melarn priestess repressed a gri one no longer had the strength to force her submission, and she suspected that Danifae would later exact a difficult price for continued compliance Danifae watched serenely as her mis-tress considered the offer Halisstra could feel Quenthel&039;s eyes on her too, and she steeled herself against glancing at the Baenre priestess to er to defend yourself - for now," Halisstra allowed "Your vigilance is not required Do not presuain"

"Of course, Mistress Melarn," Danifae replied

The girl&039;s face was devoid of ehtful look in Danifae&039;s eye as she co hold? Halisstra mused

In the heart of House Melarn, surrounded by the full strength of her eneical co Things had changed, though Danifae&039;s care in how she addressed her mistress in front of Quenthel did not escape Halisstra&039;s notice Without her House, her city, to invest Halisstra with absolute dominion over what she called her own - her life, her loyalties, and possessions such as Danifae - any or all of those thingsas hollow and as brittle as a rotten piece of bone

What happens when Danifae decides to test the bounds of her cap-tivity in earnest? she wondered Would Quenthel perirl, or would the Baenre intercede simply to spite Halisstra and strip her of one more shred of her status? For thatHalisstra herself as a battle captive?

The girl studied Halisstra from her lowered eyes, de?" Ryld asked He stood in the

"Yes, of course," Halisstra said, barely repressing a scowl

Deliberately turning her back on the servant, Halisstra followed Ryld back out to the tunnels leading to their refuge For the h Danifae could not remove the silver locket froth, and effort The moment she touched it, the enchant-idity until she abandoned the attempt Nor could she ask someone else to remove it for her, since the ue would freeze in heras the locket encircled her neck, Danifae was co her own life to save her e well, but Halisstra had no intention of re the locket in the presence of the Menzoberranyr - if, in fact, she ever did

She and Ryld took up positions in a small rotunda a short ways down the tunnel, a dark and open space froe under careful observation without being seen them-selves Folded in theirpiis,they were virtually indistinguishable from the dark stone around the ambition that burned in every drow heart, any drow of accomplishment was capable of patience and iron discipline in the performance of an im-portant task, and so Halisstra and Ryld set theilant silence

Halisstra tried to empty her mind of all but the input of her senses, to better stand her watch, but she found that her head was filled with thoughts that did not care to be dismissed It occurred to Halisstra that whatever became of her fro , and ruthlessness The displeasure of House MelarnIf she desired respect, she would have toto be feared in its place All because Lolth had decided to test those oddess House Melarn of Ched Nasad, whose leading fe had poured out blood and treasure upon the Spider Queen&039;s altars, had been cast down

Why? Halisstra wondered Why?

The ansas cold and empty, of course Lolth&039;s machinations were not for her priestesses to understand, and her tests could be cruel indeed Halisstra ground her teeth softlyand tried to thrust her weak questions out of her heart If Lolth chose to test Halisstra&039;s faith by stripping her of every-thing she held dear to see if the First Daughter of House Melarn could win it back, the Spider Queen would find her equal to the challenge

Care to talk about it?Ryld&039;s fingers flashed discretely in the sophisti-cated sign language of the dark elves

Talk about what?

Whatever it is that troubles you So to concern a male, she replied

Of course It never is

Their eyes met across the small chamber Halisstra was surprised to find Ryld&039;s face twisted in a curious expression of bitter resignation and wry a to as-certain whatup a conversation

He was very tall and strongly built for a male - for any dark elf, really - just as tall as she was herself His close-cropped hair was an exotic affecta-tion in drowsociety, a strangely ascetic austerity for a race that delighted in things of beauty and personal refines with one another, but not in their groo Most males in Halisstra&039;s experience preened theuile Pharaun virtually epito very different

You fight well, she offered - not an apology, not to aYou could have let me die in Ched Nasad, yet you risked yourself to save reement You led us to safety, and we helped you escape

Yes, but I had discharged ain by that time There was no need to honor yours