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Halisstra and Ryld played two ga board the weapons ah Halisstra pressed hih she could tell early on that she was playing a n that the la place
Ican&039;t believe they haven&039;t followed us,Halisstra reauess The lamias were careless of the lives of their slaves, and perhaps do not have enough left to do a proper job of searching the city for us Ryld smiled coldly For that matter, we slew a few lamias, too Perhaps they&039;re not very anxious to find us
As long as they leave us be, Halisstra replied
With thesava ga her interest, she realized that she was dreadfully hungry They&039;d eaten a thin breakfast before sunrise froht from Ched Nasad, but Halisstra was certain that the day was drawing down Drow could stand privation better than ilance had left her physically exhausted
I&039;oing to slip back to the camp and break out some stores Stay alert
The weapons master nodded, and whispered, "Hurry back"
Halisstra rose and wrapped herpii close around her The hall was still and dark, as it had been for hours She stole quietly back to the cham-ber where the others waited for Pharaun to ready his spells, using all the stealth she could muster She could hear softvoices ahead, Quenthel and Danifae conversing quietly in the ruined gallery
A dark shadow flitted across Halisstra&039;s heart When she thought about it, there were few things she wished Danifae and Quenthel to speak about
I should not have left them alone, she chided herself I let Quenthel order me about like a male!
Deliberately, she crept closer, a silent shadow in the darkness She could see Pharaun sitting wrapped in a blanket, deep in Reverie as he leaned against the wall, his eyes heavy and half-lidded Quenthel and Danifae sat close together, turned a little away froe in which Halisstra stood
"What do you think you will do e return to Menzoberranzan, girl? Do you think soh station awaits your mistress there?" Quen-thel said, her whispers scornful and acidic
"I do not know, Mistress," Danifae said after a long tiht that far ahead"
"Orcswill You have been thinking hard from the moment I laid eyes on you in the audience hall of House Melarn In fact, I&039;ll even hazard a guess as to whatabout your return to House Yauntyrr in Eryndlyn, with Halis-stra Melarn as your battle captive"
"I dare not entertain such a thought - "
Quenthel laughed cruelly and said, "Save your innocent protests for soirl You still have not answered my question Why should I take you and your mistress back to Menzoberranzan?"
"It would be ht have an opportunity to deive me the opportunity to serve"
"I see you do not presume to answer for your mistress this time," Quenthel snorted "So I should reward your faithless insolence by shield-ing you in House Baenre, when I know that you are nothing more than an opportunistic viper ill abandon her ethe best andour people My mistress and I - "
The vipers of Quenthel&039;s whip hissed and cracked close by Danifae&039;s face, silencing her
"I think," said Quenthel, "that I irl who lacked the strength to keep herself fro more than a useless or-nament to me - or you are a very patient and very clever little sycophant, in which case bringing you intoat Danifae "Perhaps I should simply advise Halisstra of this conversation I doubt your mistress would be pleased to knoin a hand-ative, Mistress," Danifae said, bowing her head "You may do as you please with me I can only place ain from her submissive pose, and licked her lips "In captivity I have co of the nature of pohat it means to hold absolute power over someone else If I am not to wield that kind of power myself, then all that re-mains is to place s, too Halisstra Melarn is my mistress, but only at your pleasure When the time comes that you choose to consider the matter, I pray you will allow me to demonstrate my more useful qualities and earn the chance to live as your slave You, more so than my mistress, understand the exercise of power"
"Cease your irl," Quenthel said She stood sly above the kneeling girl with a smile on her lips "I told you once that I can see past your pretty face Besides, an appreciation for the uses of silence is only one of the virtues I find endearing in those I take underyou, Mistress," Danifae ainst Quenthel&039;s thighs, eyes closed, entwining her ar to earn your favor I beg you"
Quenthel&039;s snake-headed scourge curled and teased Danifae&039;s silver hair The Mistress of the Academy stood in silence, the saently raised Danifae&039;s chin with one hand, she bent down to look closely into her eyes
"Understand this," Quenthel said in a low voice "I know exactly what you&039;re doing, and you will not win this game The women of House Baenre are s of House Melarn Savor every heartbeat, foolish girl, because in the instant you no longer aled herself and walked away, resu across the dusty chamber Danifae rose and moved to the saracefully and co herself to wait
Halisstra exhaled quietly in the shadowed passageway,forcing her knotted limbs to relax She had not realized how tense she had becoht
More than once in the girl&039;s long years as her servant she had used Danifae&039;s beauty to secure favors If she called Danifae to account for pre-su to address Quenthel in Halisstra&039;s absence, she was certain that she kne the girl would respond Danifae would claiard for Halisstra by feigning the attenuation of her loyalty to House Melarn, a plausible excuse to approach Quen-thel under the circumstances Under such a scenario, Danifae could clai Quenthel what she wanted to hear, in order to measure whether there was a place for her and her mistress in the powerful priestess&039;s House She would ies, and ask Halisstra to take her life if her actions had somehow displeased her noble mistress
On the other hand, did it not seem equally likely that Danifae&039;s ap-proach to Quenthel was unfeigned? If thethat held her captive, she would need Quen-thel&039;s approval, or else her freedoht co hbornpriestess prevented Danifae froe After all, if Danifae claiuarantee it, the Baenre irl for her presu the drea more than an instant&039;s dark pleasure
Only a day before, Halisstra would have described Danifae as one of her most prized possessions She was not only held to an unbreakable loyalty, but she served also as a confidante, perhaps even soically compelled They had shared ether Danifae had been eager to follow her into her self-i to share her trials and continue her servitude Of course she would have paid a terrible price had she reht, but had she been too eager, perhaps?
"Here I stand, afraid to confront or discipline my own handmaid," Halisstra breathed "Lolth has cast me low, indeed"
With her coldness locked away in her heart, Halisstra carefully retraced her steps She wasn&039;t hungry anymore, but it was necessary to allay suspicions She turned around, and advanceda slight scuff of her boot soles against the sand-covered stones to whisper through the dead, still air of the chamber She would let Quenthel and Danifae believe she had heard nothing, but she would watch both of them closely fro the grand palaces and jagged stalagmites of the Qu&039;ellarz&039;orl, draped in a hoodedpii He wore aas a well-to-do coh plateau of Menzoberranzan&039;s haughtiest noble Houses It was a thin disguise, as anyone taking note of his confident step and rakishother than a noble drow hihborn nito Certain spells at his coht have sufficed to offer him almost any appearance he could think of, but Niuises were often the best Most drow houses were guarded by defenders ould note the approach of souise required a otten
He passed a pair of Baenre ar in the opposite direc-tion The noble lads eyed him with open curiosity and not a little suspi-cion Ni rakes glanced back over their shoulders at him once or twice, but contin-ued on their business Baenre boys had become hesitant to start trouble unless they were certain of themselves Nimor took an extra turn or two on his way to his destination anyway, just to make sure they hadn&039;t taken it into their heads to follow him With one last double-back to clear his trail, he turned to a high walled palace near the center of the plateau and approached the fortresslike gate
House Agrach Dyrr, the Fifth House of Menzoberranzan, clambered in and around nine needle-like towers of rock within the bounds of a great dry race-ful wall of ada Flying buttresses, bladelike and beautiful, linked the natural towers to those wrought by drow, a narrow cluster of minarets and spires in the center of the compound that rose hundreds of feet above the plateau floor A railless bridge spanned in a single elegant arch the sheer chase and approached openly Near the far end he was challenged by several swords wizards
"Hold," called the gate captain "Who are you, and what is your busi-ness with Agrach Dyrr?"
The assassin halted with a smile He could sense the ht suddenly take it into his head to utter some truly inappropriate answer
"I aents," he said, bowing and spreading his arms "I have been suoods"
The gate captain relaxed and said, "The master told us to expect you, Reethk Vaszune Corand reception halls and high, echoing charach Dyrr castle The captain showed hi room, elaborately furnished in exotic corals and limestone rendered in the motifs of the kuo-toa, the fish creatures elled in soh to bespeak the House&039;s wealth and taste, the rooance
"I auard cap-tain said
A moment later, a hidden door in the opposite wall slid smoothly open, and Old Dyrr appeared The ancient wizard was decrepit indeed, a rare sight for any elf, let alone a drow He leaned on a great staff of black wood, and his ebon skin seeht, cold spark burned in the old wizard&039;s eye, hinting at reserves of am-bition and vitality that had not yet been tapped cohted to see you again so soon, Master Reethk," the an-cient drow said with a dry, crackling voice "Have you perchance obtained the things we discussed?"
"I believe you will be satisfied, Lord Dyrr," Niuard captain, wholooked to the old wizard towith a sesture and spoke an arcane word, encapsulating the cha blackness that hissed and iveone, if I take steps to ensure that our conversation re see our kind"
He shuffled to an ornately carved chair and lowered hily careless of the fact that he bared the nape of his wattled neck to Ni
"A sensible precaution," Nimor said
The old one reckons- unlikely - or very confident If he has such confidence inisolating himself with th, or I do not have theone," the old wizard said, "and you do not have the measure of hed again, a wet and rasping sound "Yes, your thoughts are known to h carelessness Now, take a seat We will dispense with this foolishness and discuss our business"
Niesture of acquiescence and took the chair opposite the old wizard With so away his darker secrets in a place he would not exahts Instead he concentrated solely on the matter at hand
"You have no doubt heard of the unfortunate demise of the Matron Mother of House Faen Tlabbar?" the assassin said "And her daughter Sil&039;zet, as well?"
"It did not escapecouncil What possible action did they hope to exhort from the other matron rief," Nimor replied
He reached slowly into a pouch at his side, allowing the wizard to note the deliberate nature of his motion From the pouch he withdrew a plat-inum brooch, worked in the barred double-curve symbol of Faen Tlabbar and crowned by a dark ruby Nimor placed it on the table
"The ed to pocket as a keepsake for you I hope your scrying shield is good, Lord Dyrr No doubt the Tlabbar wizards will be seeking that eic at their disposal"
"Half-witted children fuo I&039;d forgotten more about the Art than that whole house full of wizards had collectively deciphered in all their years of training"
He reached out one near-skeletal hand for the brooch and weighed it in his hand
"I am sure you have a means to confirm the authenticity of the brooch," said Nimor
"Oh, I believe you, assassin I do not think you have cheated me, but I will examine the issue later, just to be certain"
The wizard left the brooch sitting on the table and leaned back into his chair Ni, thin finger on his staff, a satisfied smile on his face
"Well," the old wizard said finally, "in our previousI required that you demonstrate toan enemy of my House, and I suppose that you have done exactly that You have won my ear So what is it that the Jaezred Chaulssin want of House Agrach Dyrr?"
Nilance at the wizard Dyrr was very well informed indeed, to know of that name Very few outside of Chaulssin did In fact, Ni it up when he had first ap-proached the ancient lord He wondered what clues he had left for the wizard to decipher, and whether Dyrr could be pere
"Do not be hasty, boy," Dyrr cautioned hi that I did not already know I have been aware of the House of Shadows for quite a long time"
"I am impressed," Ni empty boasts" Dyrr pointed at his own te wild guesses Long ago I discerned a pattern of activity that spanned a nureat cities of our race and inferred the existence of a secret league between seely weak minor Houses, each renowned for the skill of its assassins, each reputed to be governed by its males, each a secret ally of the others These families that otherould have been devoured by their ah the convenient and violent deaths of any eh I find it ironic that any particular House of the Jaezred Chaulssin must, by definition,be considered the blackest sort of traitors to the city unfortunate enough to host the loyalty to your House above loyalty to your city is not a particularly egregious sin, of course, but to acknowledge a tie of loyalty to a House in another city all together, that is so entirely different, is it not?"
Nimor kept his mind carefully empty and said, "You seem to know all our secrets"
He studied the wizard carefully, trying not to let the calculations he performed in his ive much to kno your brotherhood orders its Houses, where your true strength is held, and who rules your society You name yourselves after the city of Chaulssin, which fell into shadow nificance of that appellation"
He knows lanced up sharply at the old wizard, realizing that Dyrr would have noted that thought The ancient aze and inclined his head The assassin regained the e the subject
"For the sake of our friendship, I respectfully submit that it would be best for all involved if you did not do anything with your knowledge that would draw it to anyone else&039;s attention We feel quite strongly that our secrets are best left that way"
"I will do as I wish However, I do not wish to incur your enmity I think it would be inconvenient to have the Jaezred Chaulssin as my enemy"
"It is not merely inconvenient, Lord Dyrr; it is invariably fatal"
"Perhaps In any event, I will keep your secrets"