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Vhok resuain absently caressing his consort, this tiently down her ribs, which were exposed through the lacing of her shiny black leather corset She sighed in delight but forced herself to stay focused

"There&039;s more I listened in on a conversation when they stopped to rest One of the another, who looked like a priestess"

"One of the "

"Not just any female He referred to her as &039;the Mistress of the Acade her own

"Oh, really," he said in a tone so intrigued, he never noticed that his move nearly ed to maintain her balance, but she was forced to stand to avoid looking silly She glared at the caood One of the highest drow priestesses in all of Menzoberranzan is trying to sneak incognito througha wizard run his mouth at her No caravans for more than a month, and now this This is too much fun!"

Kaanyr turned to face Aliisza once lare, hecocked his head in confusion

"What? What&039;s wrong?"

The alu fumed, "You have no idea, do you?"

Kaanyr spread his hands helplessly and shook his head

"Well, then I&039; to tell you!" she snapped, and turned away fro, and it sent shivers down her spine He was angry, just as she&039;d hoped "Aliisza, look atone arched eyebrow rise questioningly He had risen fro with his hands on his hips

"Aliisza, I don&039;t have time for this Look at me!"

She shivered in spite of herself and turned fully around to face her lover His eyes smoldered and made her melt She pouted just a little, to let hi chastised, but she was finished playing the gae softened a bit, and he said, "Whatever I did, I&039;ll et back over there and find out what&039;s going on See if you can get face to face with them and &039;invite&039; them to pay us a visit But be careful I don&039;t want this to explode in loth are part of this group, then the rest of theed close, to hem them in, but don&039;t waste too many bodies on an all-out attack But also don&039;tthem back Also, don&039;t - "

Aliisza rolled her eyes, feeling a little insulted

"I&039;ve done this a time or two before, you know," she interrupted, her voice thick with sarcasm "I think I knohat to do But"

She stepped closer to Kaanyr - into hi her ar around the back of his calf She drew herselfclose, let her body press against his, and continued

"When I&039;m done with this little task," she said, her voice s to tend tomy needs for a while" She leaned up and nibbled on his ear, then whispered, "Your teasing is working too well, love"

Triel didn&039;t like brooding, but she caught herself doing it frequently of late This tiain, she was suddenly aware of the faces of the other sevenat her expectantly She blinked and stared back at the to recall the words of the conversation that had droned hts She could re more

"I asked," Matron Miz&039;ri Mizzryiven to other courses of action, should your sister fail to return?"

When Triel still did not respond, the hard-facedaround somewhere in there today, aren&039;t there, Mother?"

Triel blinked again, jolted fully back to the conversation at hand by the Mizzryht to be instead of on the eoddess&039;s presence should have been Other courses of action

"Of course," she replied at last "I&039;ve been giving that considerable thought, but before we delve too deeply into alternatives, I think we o snorted "Have you been listening to a e&039;ve said in the last five er have We exhausted so ht - ht,I say - be able to withstand another ood battle, putting down another slave rebellion would be wasteful, when it&039;s only a denstone deter, brutish , even as forward and tactless as she usually was, to put words to the crisis they all faced

"If they aren&039;t already aware," Zeerith Q&039;Xorlarrin interjected, glossing over Mez&039;Barris&039;s unfinished thought "Even now, one oran ar poison into the ears of the lesser creatures down in the Braeryn or the Bazaar, voices belonging to those clever enough towe must consider and discuss"

"Oh, yes," Yasraena Dyrr said contemptuously "Yes, let&039;s sit here and discuss; not act, never act We are afraid to venture forth into our own city!"

"Bite your tongue!" Triel snapped, growing ry not only at the direction of the conversation - suggestions of cowardice froh Council! - but also at the ridicule, the unusually open vitriolic nature, of the other matrons&039; words Ridicule directed at her

"If there is one aer sit on this Council Are you one such, Yasraena?"

The ri, and Triel realized it was not merely because Yasraena knew she had overstepped herself It was the matron of House Baenre, supposedly an ally to Yasraena&039;s house, that was ad this stern lecture Triel intended it as such It was tie, to remind the other matron mothers that she still sat at the top of the power structure and she would not tolerate such insubordination fro around her, ally or not

"Perhaps Matron Q&039;Xorlarrin is right," Miz&039;ri Mizzrym said quietly, in an obvious attempt to steer the conversation in a new direction "Perhaps we should consider not just who knows, not just who ht be allying together against us If even two or three of the other nations coht trail off, and the other drow in the cha its obvious conclusion

"We need to knohat&039;s going on," she continued, "at the very least Our spy network aar, the illithids, and other deep races has not been best used of late or perhaps isn&039;t as strong as ould like But what&039;s in place should be funneling more information back tous about the intentions of potential threats"

"Oh, it should be doing more than that," Byrtyn Fey said Triel raised her eyebrow in slight surprise, for the voluptuous matron mother of House Fey-Branche did not often find interest in discussions so far removed fro for possible weaknesses a those weaknesses, setting potential allies against one another, and perhaps, it should be on the lookout for dissatisfied eleht even consider a new alliance"

"What, are youwith outsiders? Who is there to trust? No matter hoe approach such an alliance, the s froh uproariously or trip over the to spread the news"

"Don&039;t be dense," Byrtyn snapped right back"I kno fond you are of the straightforward, brutal-truth , but there are better,an ally into your bed Potential suitors need not know about your shortcos until after you have partaken of their char able to defend our own city fro to try to hide," Zeerith said, frowning "Our own char to blind such potential suitors from the truth Still, the idea has merit"

"It is i her thick ar the discussion "The risk of discovery by our enenified, and the rewards are certainly not worth it"

"Spoken like a hag with few to share her bed," Byrtyn said suidly to ure was plainly visible through the sheer fabric of her shi to convince herself that she&039;s better off without theasped at the insult, but Mez&039;Barris only narrowed her piercing red eyes, staring daggers at Byrtyn

"Enough!" Triel said finally, interrupting the glaring contest between the twois pointless, and it&039;s beneath us all"

She looked pointedly at both Mez&039;Barris and Byrtyn until both of the and turned their attention back to her

If only Jeggred were here, the ht

Triel wondered briefly if she should be disturbed that she was once again wishing for the draegloth&039;s soothing presence in the face of such adversity It was so often of late, and she feared what it syrown to rely too much on external protection rather than her own abilities She feared that it was a weakness, and weakness was definitely so she could ill afford in the current climate

No, she corrected herself, not just now, not ever

But the need for allies, however brief and volatile such alliances tended to be, were a necessary part of her life

Maybe Byrtyn is right, she thought Maybe that&039;s what Menzoberranzan needs: an ally Another nation, a race from the Underdark, to aid the noble Houses until this crisis has passed

Triel tightened her jaw and shook her head softly, determined to banish such silly notions from her mind

Nonsense, shetold herself firest city in the Underdark We need no one We will prevail as ays have, through cunning, and guile, and the favor of the goddess Wherever she is

"I know very well the state of things in Menzoberranzan," Triel said, looking eye to eye with each matron mother present "The crisis we face tests us - tests usHouses in all the city&039;s history - but we cannot let it get in the way of resolute adin to squabble, the moment we do not show a united front to the other Houses, to Tier Breche or Bregan D&039;aerthe, is the moment we show it to the rest of the world, and by then all is already lost

"For the ti, we continue to show patience Discussion of ways to deal with the crisis is welcoain inclined her head toward the two estions for neays to explore what has happened to Lolth, but there is to be no more of this talk of fear or cowardice, and no more of these insults That is the behavior of foolish males or the lesser races We conduct the business of our Houses and our council as we have always done"

Triel made certain to catch each and everyintently into each pair of red eyes in turn, wanting to ensure that everyone present got herface

Slowly, one by one, the other , to acquiesce to the Baenre&039;s de power always requires such a delicate touch, Triel reh priestesses went their separate ways, returning to their hoorously, you just end up breaking it on the slave you are trying to goad