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It sounded as though Quenthel was growing indignant, and Pharaun struggled to find a way to explain his point in a way that wouldn&039;t sound insulting

Faeryl saved hiht think we&039;re here to spy on them," she said

Pharaun had to suppress a mild chuckle It was, after all, the exact reason Triel had claimed when she imprisoned the envoy back in Menzoberranzan It was a reasonable argu with the an

"With all due respect, Mistress," Faeryl interjected, "do you think you would react well to a high-ranking noble arriving in Menzoberranzan and insisting upon seeing you? During this ti Pharaun was relieved that thehigh priestess was at least willing to contemplate the idea

"Even if they didn&039;t think ere spies, they certainly would consider our visit to be highly unusual and would strive to keep an eye on us," the iven the , but ould also be absolutely unable to find out anything Once we deters here, if it&039;s really your intention to lay claioods stored in the Black Claw Mercantile storehouses and take them back to Menzoberranzan, why draw undue attention to yourself? Were you planning to ask the matron mothers for them, first?"

Quenthel scowled at Pharaun as if the very idea of asking perhtfully hers was preposterous It was exactly the reaction he wanted

"Faeryl," the wizard persisted, "even though the goods are rightfully the property of House Baenre and House Melarn, do you foresee Matron Mother Melarn - indeed, any of the other Houses - letting them out of the city?"

Faeryl smirked

"Absolutely not," she answered "I&039;m not certain how happy my own mother will be to hear about your plan" She se The less you tell, the better your chances are of succeeding"

"Your argugest? Hoe enter unnoticed?"

"As traders, Mistress," Faeryl suggested, "members of the Black Claw Mercantile company Triel said herself that ere here to check on House Baenre&039;s financial interests, as well as to discover hoidespread the problem is, so it&039;s the truth, from a certain point of view"

"We don&039;t look verya little in front of the rest of them "Perhaps Pharaun should use a spell of illusion to uards are equipped to watch for that They employ detection spells and devices to notice if you&039;re trying sneak past theuise of illusion It&039;s not necessary, anyway You&039;d be surprised at what kind of bodyguards a wealthy trader would hire to protect her I auards that you&039;re escorting nia, we shouldn&039;t have any trouble, but you nized"

"Would you hire the likes of hired

Faeryl frowned and said, "He could be a problem"

"Leave that to me," Pharaun said, "I have a couple of tricks up et the draegloth past the patrols and into the city without the as he cooperates, anyway"

Quenthel looked at Jeggred and asked, "Can you stay quiet and not try to tear the throat out of anyone?"

Jeggred regarded the high priestess askance but nodded

"I am capable of subtlety when it is necessary, Mistress," he ruht

"Very well," Quenthel said after a nito Renia and try to lookcommon"

Everyone except Faeryl doffed their House brooches and began to stow as many of their finer accoutrered, "do what you htly in size, so that you aren&039;t so, uht-foot-tallcreature "You don&039;t e, but at a subtle gesture from Quenthel, he nodded acquiescence

"Good," Pharaun continued "Then, I&039;ll cloak you with a spell designed to , and if you will don yourpii, pull the hood up, and stay in the back, we should get past thereed

"All right, then, here we go," Pharaun said, pulling a pinch of powdered iron froan to shrink until he was no taller than any of the draw

"Good," the wizard said, beginning the second spell

When he was finished, he stepped back and said, "Now, draw thatpii around you to hide as h you&039;re injured," Quenthel commanded "Keep your head down like you&039;re tired"

"Yes, good idea," Pharaun agreed, genuinely impressed "We&039;re all just road-weary merchants, ready for a hot bath and comfortable bed"

"Not a moment too soon," Valas said, his voice low "I see a patrol up ahead"

Pharaun peered ahead into the distance and saw a large contingent of drow, so down the road in their direction They were fanned out across the width of the road, so there would be no way to avoid them

"Just remain calroup began walking toward the patrol, with Ryld in the back, pretending to support a liuess at how ht We should have little difficulty getting past these sentries We&039;re just drow, trying to reach a drow city Why would we be any trouble to theroups drew close to one another, the patrol loosened weapons and slowed down, obviously preparing for trouble One, the leader, Pharaun presumed, stepped forward a few more paces and held his hand outstretched before hiroup to slon "State your name and business here"

Faeryl moved forward, past Valas, to come to a stop a few paces from the leader

"I aotiator for the Black Claw Mercantile" She reet a good look and take it, if he wanted "These are eant or whatever he was stepped forward and took the insignia, then passed it back to an underling while he scrutinized Faeryl and the others, in turn

"Caravan? What caravan? No goods have entered or left the city in six tendays, at least"

Faeryl nodded and explained, "Yes, I know We are just recently frooods we had in an attack along the way" She tossed her head back toward Ryld and Jeggred as a way of indicating her wounded coestion that they weren&039;t really important The drow soldier in front of her peered over her shoulder for a brief moment, then nodded and returned his attention to her "We wish to give our report and enjoy so weariness creep into her voice

Good, Pharaun thought Tell theh of the truth to sound reasonable, without ad

"Attacked by what?" the leader asked

The second-in-conia back to him with a curt nod Apparently it had passed muster, for the patrolman handed it back to Faeryl

"What business is it of yours?" asked Quenthel sourly "Do you alwayscaravans this way?"

"Tanarukks," Pharaun said, stepping forward and placing his hand on Quenthel&039;s arm "She hates tanarukks She&039;s been in a bad ood deepstroke will do her wonders"

The Master of Sorcere could feel her bristle, but at least she didn&039;t pullaway from him Beside her, the snakes of her whip stirred, but they didn&039;t flail about as Pharaun feared they would

The patrol leader glaredat Quenthel for a moment but finally nodded and said, "We make it a practice when the city is - " he stopped hi more, then turned back to Faeryl - "Youany &039;civilization&039; to enjoy"

With that last bitter comment, he turned and ap so that the entourage could pass through

Faeryl nodded her thanks and motioned for the rest of them to follow her, then they were past the patrol and alone on the thoroughfare once again Pharaun could see that the envoy was troubled by the patrol leader&039;s words He had to ado ofher arotten that he still grasped her and was steering her along

"My apologies, Mistress," Pharaun said, bowing slightly "In light of the situation, I thought it prudent to try to sh, it was good You drew attention away fro "We got through the Now, let&039;s see just how bad it is inside the city"

It wasn&039;t long before the group had reached the gates of the City of Shi their masquerade as bruised and battered uards there and found themselves inside

It was chaos