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Khorrl Xornbane could not help but tense slightly as the door to the private booth where he sat waiting slid partially open His hand dropped instinctively to grip the doubleaxe at his side Even when Za on soft footsteps and settled onto the cushioned bench on the opposite side of the table, the duergar did not yet relax He peered warily through the still-open partition into the hallway beyond, looking to see whothem meet There were only three other individuals there, and none of the Zammzt any attention at all Two drow dressed as merchants, led by a third dark elf as obviously a host of the Glowing Goblet, made their way to another booth and disappeared inside Khorrl frowned as the host delayed a htly to one side, apparently listening to so cubicle, spoken too softly for the duergar to overhear
He&039;s just taking a drink order, the duergar thought No need to get antsy
Despite his self-admonition, Khorrl kneould not rest easy for at least another minute or two It would not be the first ti a ain wanted to be in such a position, caught unaware and forced to fight his way out of a corner Not only had he barely escaped, but it had sullied his reputation to boot That part had angered him most of all
Finally, when he was certain no one was studying either of theh he had to consciously release his grip on the doubleaxe to do so He looked across the table at Zania anywhere on the plain-looking drow&039;s clothing For his part, Za casually on the cushioned bench, the tiniest hint of a sh Khorrl didn&039;t consider hie of attractiveness, especially in other species, it was plain enough to him that Zammzt&039;s face was far fro If he didn&039;t already serve a noble House, he would have never amounted to much more than a common artisan, a step up from a slave but little otiator was the dark elf&039;s single biggest saving grace
"I assure you, I was not followed," Zas "I would have known it, if someone tried, and there&039;s no reason at all for anyone to do so"
"Why do you think I was concerned about that?" Khorrl asked, settling back hi yet"
"The sour look on your face and the furtive glances you keep casting out the door h I don&039;t question your concern You will no doubt be glad to know that I observed your arrival from a secure position, and I will tell you that no one followed you, either"
Khorrl stiffened slightly again, trying to decide if he should be insulted or ied to study him unnoticed, certainly not in recent years For hi, if what the drow clai if the dark elf wasto impress him He doubted it, but still
"Then you h to speak freely, h his boothmate to see what his reaction would be
Zammzt&039;s smile deepened the tiniest bit as he waved a hand in disaze on the table in front of hih I would think you&039;d prefer to wait until the host has brought us drinks first"
"I&039;ve already turned hi his oave of dis business"
"As I&039;m well aware, Master Xornbane, from your reputation I, however, have already requested that a refresh now"
Khorrl turned his gaze for the merest of moments to the crack in the door, even as he opened hisHe started to turn back to Zah, the host from the other booth had appeared at the far end of the hall with a tray of drinks Khorrl snapped his ain as he watched the servant first deliver a pair of beverages to the other booth, then proceed toward hi ability to shadow so After delivering the drink and inquiring if the duergar had changed his , the host departed Zammzt reached over and pushed the partition shut the rest of the way
"I think it&039;s safe to discuss our business," the dark elf said, his red eyes glittering in satisfaction as he took a sip froht and said, "Everything is in place You should be receiving delivery of the first pay
"And the aar oes into the city until I know that we&039;ll be paid what I said"
"Absolutely My mistress has instructed me to inform you that your fee is , she considers it a srunted noncommittally "That re in the h, and you know it"
Zaain and nodded in acquiescence
"I can only assure you that she and her allies intend to see this through to the very end Once they set foot down this path, there is no turning back for them, either You should be well aware of that"
"Perhaps, but if things go sour for us," Khorrl said, running his hand across his bald gray head, "I will co for her personally"
"Please, please There&039;s no need for idle threats here The initial payroup ready to go when it arrives"
Khorrl nodded, ed on a contract before, and he wasn&039;t about to now His clan was getting paid an exorbitant suht, and his employer considered it money well spent precisely because of that reputation Clan Xornbane reater schear hierarchy, but he had always oing to change as long as he was the head of the clan
"They will be there," he said finally
"Excellent," Za on it Despite your assistance, toppling the rival Houses will not be easy That is why she and her allies are paying you such a generous retainer"
Khorrl frowned again, thinking of ork lay ahead The droas right; overthrowing one drow noble House, even when their clergy was ha, was no s down several The clan would suffer losses in this, no question about it, but they had been eager to accept this particular contract, anyway The rich reward of helping the dark elves destroy thehtly in co Clan Xornbane who survived would receive larger shares for this work than for their last four contracts co the lesser races of the front ranks
By the Abyss, Khorrl thought I h here
"We will do e&039;re paid to do You know our reputation," the duergar said, affectionately running his hand along the handle of his doubleaxe "Though I would feel a lot more confident if I knew for sure that your priestesses won&039;t suddenly find theht It would be our downfall, and yours too, esture
"That is a risk, to be sure," he said, aletic "But the opportunity for my mistress and her co-conspirators is worth it Rest assured, you will not be forgotten in this She looks forward to the moment when she can thank you fro matron mothers in the city"
Khorrl nodded one last time and prepared to depart
"Very well, then," he said "We will be waiting for the first pay his doubleaxe up beside him Before he slid the partition open, he turned to look back at the dark elf, who seeht the drow&039;s gaze and held it
"We&039;re co back Blood will flow in Ched Nasad Mark ical rapier fro into one hand, and clasped hispii closed with the other, before he was completely turned around As he pivoted into a defensive stance, releasing the rapier to dance in the air before hi by memory and feel the components he needed to weave a certain incantation
Perhaps a dozen steps fro blue doorway, si hi out of existence Thelovely creature he had spotted briefly during the rather one-sided battle with the tanarukks stood just in front of it, her sarded him, arms folded casually beneath her pro, weaving rapier of interest
"I&039;m sorry, did I startle you?" she purred, and Pharaun found her voice to be delightfully throaty
"Oh, it&039;s quite all right," thethe she-fiend fro leather, and while thigh-high boots and a corset seemed far from practical as travel-wear to the drow, he had to appreciate the effectiveness of the enses so well, he decided
"I wondered when you&039;d show up again," Pharaun said, noting with his second sweeping gaze the nu fro he wore enabled hiical, as well as the long sword strapped to her right thigh A ring adorning her left finger also caught his attention, for it radiated a strong protective dweohtful!" she said, sauntering languidly over to a section of the balcony and sitting, leaning back and resting on her hands as she brought one long leg up to prop it on the railing She appeared to ignore the fact that the rapier danced along as she relocated, keeping itself between her and the rand entrance a bit, I suppose, but then again, I doubt you&039;re terribly impressed with parlor tricks liketo take a seat a few paces away butthe position of the rapier between the two of thehted to make the acquaintance of a fellow practitioner You can&039;t iinative companions who can&039;t appreciate the difference between a divination and an evocation"
He swept his areneral direction of the other droere far below him and well out of earshot
Despite his casual e and quite wary He was sure the alu-fiend was sizing him up just as critically as he was her, and he considered everything carefully before opening histhat could get him into trouble with her later Nonetheless, he was fairly sure she already knehere the rest of his co out their positions lower in the cavern was not giving away too big a secret
"Don&039;t be too sure," she said, absently toying with the lacing that ran up the side of her corset, "I can iet the crowd I normally run with They can&039;t appreciate et to eat or rut, ood spell What&039;s a girl to do?"
When she finished, she gave Pharaun what he assumed must be one of her best pouts
"Yes, I can see your point," the wizard said, chuckling "It can&039;t beout a little more refined entertain away from them for a while"
"Oh, I never stray too far away fro at the wizard levelly "One or the other of us ing the hint Still, he couldn&039;t help but grin, delighted as he was to be able to engage in such clever innuendo It was another thing hehis leave of Menzoberranzan It wasn&039;t just that most drow displayed a total absence of huh given the circumstances that wasn&039;t totally unexpected Still, they were a tight-lipped lot
Quenthel was clinging too fiercely to thewith the wizard, Faeryl said very little at all, Valas was hardly in the saularity of topic to theloth&039;s desires to rend his foes in oneto converse with him than most, but even the warrior had been pointedly taciturn for most of the journey With the exception of a few brief discussions regarding Quenthel&039;s heavy-handed methods, they had simply stopped the banter that had always h Ryld wouldn&039;t talk to his definitely weren&039;t the sa the insurrection, the
Ryld had accepted the wizard&039;s apologies afterward, claimed he understood the necessity of it, but in reality the pair&039;s friendship had been dauilt over the decision He simply missed the benefits of the friendship
"I said, you seehts"
Pharaun started, realizing that the she-fiend had been speaking to hi his ruminations As he refocused his attention on her, he noticed that the rapier had sagged low frouard Furious with hiilance, he summoned the weapon back to hi
No reason to keep it out, he thought ruefully If she&039;d wanted to get past it and at me, she already had the perfect chance
The wizard bowed his head slightly, wordlessly apologizing for his lapse in manners The alu-fiend only smiled