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Halisstra couldn&039;t breathe The blood pounded in her ears,it difficult to hear what Matron Mother Zauvirr was saying She didn&039;t want to listen, anyway

"I wish it wasn&039;t true, Halisstra, I really do, but there&039;s no getting around it We caught her in the act, and e confronted her, she wouldn&039;t surrender Your mother tried to flee, and the soldiers just did their jobs By the tiot to her, I couldn&039;t help her"

Halisstra shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts of the hated words Her mother, dead It wasn&039;t true It couldn&039;t be!

"No!" Halisstra cried out, pushing Danifae away Her battle captive, all fli to coled to spin free, to get out of the room, but she found all avenues of escape cut off Matron Mother Zauvirr&039;s troops seeuests in soically placed about the roouard the doors She looked around for some of her own family&039;s soldiers, but there were none to be found Matron Mother Zauvirr had planned well, delivering her devastating news fro, Halisstra sank down to the floor, unsure what to do Only Danifae settled down next to her,to reach out to calm her She didn&039;t want to be calmed She wanted to slap the other drow, smack her across the room, but she knew better If she had any hope at all of surviving this horrid situation, she would need the battle captive&039;s aid She had to think

It wasn&039;t so much that her mother was dead Of course that didn&039;t bother her In other circuhted in it, but there weren&039;t any other circuht in an act of open treason against the city, or so Ssipriina claimed, and Halisstra had no way to refute it, despite the fact that it was a ludicrous notion Her mother would never risk herself so openly, especially not aiding foreigners, regardless of how good the relationship was between their Houses Not to oods from Black Claw Mercantile out of the city would ruin House Melarn There was nothing to gain from it and so much to lose

Of course, when Ssipriina arrived in House Melarn&039;s audience chaht down in Drisinil&039;s throne and made her revelation, the unspoken i alone When the rest of the council learned of it, they would likely find Halisstra just as guilty of the crimes as her mother They would imprison or execute everyone in the family, dissolve House Melarn, and divvy up its assets Unless she found a way to counter it

She had no doubt that Ssipriina was behind it all, was so from the destruction of House Melarn, but in order to make it work, she would have to eliminate Halisstra, too Halisstra had to move fast, but she knew that the other droasn&039;t about to let the First Daughter of House Melarn out of her sight Her only chance to get help was to send Danifae, and that would only happen if Ssipriina Zauvirr believed the battle captive washer mistress

Halisstra glanced over at Danifae, taking a deep breath to cal secretively so that only her conaledConvince theet help Go to House Maerret

When Danifae gave an almost imperceptible nod, Halisstra reached out and slapped her Hard The blow sent the battle captive falling backward, skidding across the floor Danifae&039;s eyes widened as her hand flew up to her cheek, but before she could open her mouth to spoil the effect, Halisstra screa! I would never consider it!"

Danifae&039;s red eyes narrowed, and whether the venoenuine or part of the ploy, Halisstra wasn&039;t sure

"Then rot in a cell until they put your head on a pike, Mistress" She stood, deliberately brushing her backside, straightening the flimsy silks that did little to conceal her curvaceous body "If you won&039;t, then I&039;ll do it and save myself"

Danifae turned to Ssipriina and said, "Mistress Zauvirr, I hu you to help me procure my release fromher" She sneered this last as she jerked a thu on the floor "I&039;ehto releaseat the battle captive before her and the noble daughter on the floor, blinking in surprise at the outburst She opened her ain

Danifae, taking advantage of the silence, continued, "I&039; to recall conversations with Mistress Halisstra that I think ht implicate her Given a few moments alone in her chambers, I could recall even raceful, treasonous acts"

She looked down at Halisstra, a knowing smirk on her face

Despite the fact that she knew her servant was playing the part - at least she hoped that&039;s all it was - Halisstra shuddered at the look on Danifae&039;s face Not having to try very hard to look scared, Drisinil&039;s daughter took another deep breath

"Matron Mother," Halisstra said, "I assure you I had absolutely no previous awareness of any possible plots ofto you, trying to save her oorthless hide in exchange for da me with false accusations You cannot possibly accept the word of a battle captive She would tell you anything to see me come to a bad end"

Ssipriina looked down at Halisstra for another irl, and how fortunate for me" The matron mother turned to Danifae, sreement Go and see what you can uncover"

Danifae smiled and bowed deeply to Matron Mother Zauvirr, then turned to depart As she spun on one heel, she looked down at Halisstra, sneering

As Halisstra let her gaze follow the backside of her servant, she heard Ssipriina take a deep breath

"Nohat to do with you " the matron mother said in a most unpleasant tone

Faeryl Zauvirr looht The beads of dalistened on Quenthel Baenre&039;s forehead ran in rivulets into her eyes, rih it was difficult for her to effect any other expression, with the rothehide-bound doedged so deeply into her htly in place with braided cord tied rightly behind her neck Her long white hair wasmatted limply around her head and spread across the top of the table upon which she lay

Faeryl stepped back frohtly, her wrists and ankles locked into h priestess&039;s naked body was taut, like the string of an instruht of the braziers, but still Faeryl was not satisfied

"Perhaps we should try the needles again," the ambassador mused aloud "They fit so easily beneath the toenails, and it is such fun"

Quenthel grunted and shook her head, her red eyes wide

"No? Thenin here that I can use to a to one of the braziers and sorting the tools resting in it "So nicely, now I&039;ve heard that these blunt ones are especially good for the eyes"

The grunts increased in rhythm and went up an octave

Faeryl put her face back down in front of Quenthel&039;s again, but she was no longer s

"We&039;ve only scratched the surface,Mistress Baenre," she spat, once again stringing the honorific out The sarcastic tone was becoot endless hours to enjoy this, and I want to make sure you experience every last little &039;pleasantry&039; Jeggred inflicted on roan passed the bit shoved in her , or perhaps it was si stretched so long She chuckled and turned to exahtly to a stout colu hiloth could move only his head, which he tossed from side to side as he strained to break free He snarled as Faeryl looked at hiut me, don&039;t you? You want to spill my blood and dance in it"

"You will die a slow, painful death," the fiend rumbled "I will see to it personally"

Faeryl waved her hand in front of her nose

"Stop talking, you vile beast Your breath is rowled

Faeryl fixed his you did to me?" She al to repay you for it every bit of it I&039;ll send your carcass back to Triel when I&039;in to understand theout pain My attentions were but a part of thoseyou can conceive of that I will notice at all"

"Oh, really?" Faeryl replied, her lips pursed "We&039;ll see My advisors have told s you feel and don&039;t feel &039;He resists the burn of acid and fire, and he will not suffer fro,&039; they said But we&039;ll find so you don&039;t like, and when I discover what it is, you&039;ll enjoy it for endless hours I promise you"

There was a soft step upon the stone floor near the doorway Faeryl turned in irritation to see what the intrusion was all about It was Zammzt

"What do you want?" Faeryl demanded

She knew the aide was there at hersummoned to attend to the h she could not take her annoyance out on her own ly htly

"I beg pardon, Mistress Zauvirr, but your mother requires your immediate presence in the audience chamber"

"Of course she does," Faeryl snarled "If she has the slightest notion that I a for htest of ave hi for? Go tell her I&039;m on my way!"

Zammzt scurried out of the torture roo behind him Faeryl returned her attention to Quenthel

"I&039;ll come back and visit with you some ive those needles another try Maybe the fingernails this time, hood, I&039;m pleased that you like the idea, too"

Danifae Yauntyrr didn&039;t really expect Matron Mother Zauvirr to grant her free run of the entire House, and her suspicions were correct As she departed the audience chamber with a final sneer back in Halisstras direction, she was also careful to note Ssipriina&039;s slight nod at two of the guards standing near the door As she stepped through the portal, the guards silently and unobtrusively fell in behind her The battle captive pursed her lips in the slightest hint of frustration, but she wouldn&039;t have expected anything else It really didn&039;t matter She&039;d just have to put on a bitthe two House Zauvirr soldiers who followed her, Danifae made her way back to Halisstra&039;s private chambers, where she also took Reverie so that she could attend to the noble drow&039;s every need She guessed that the guards would not be so invasive as to follow her in, and again, her intuition was right She strode through the door and shut it behind her Once she was alone, she began to pace,possibilities over in her mind

Halisstra had just provided her servant with a perfect opportunity to free herself frohed at herthat Danifae would run to try to save her After ten years as Halisstra&039;s battle captive, Danifae wanted nothing more than to be rid of the wretched drow and her do more than to return to Eryndlyn The proble in effect, Danifae wasn&039;t sure she could actually get free, even with Ssipriina Zauvirr&039;s help In fact, she suspected that once she actually did turn on Halisstra and provide the "proof" of Drisinil&039;s daughter&039;s guilt to thewith Halisstra

Danifae knew she had to ensure her own freedom first and not depend on another for it Buthow?

She hated the effect of the binding, for it was insidious in its effectiveness Though Danifae didn&039;t truly believe it, she so fully controlled herher ability to distance herself from Halisstra She told herself that it would have been better to serve the Melarn daughter as awillingly to avoid the consequences of straying too far froth of chain around their ankles

In the early years, Danifae wanted desperately to throttle herabout her own, and Danifae would experience her own dely painfulIt sustained her so as Halisstra willed it Distance was not a factor, but the arded Halisstra&039;s wishes and went her oay, she had no doubt that the other droould simply let her wither away like a mushroom with its roots hacked off Displease the dark elf, and with a thought, Danifae would succuic was alien to Danifae She didn&039;t understand as required to sever it or if it even could be severed by any hand other than Halisstra&039;s The risk of discovery was too great to allow her the chance to inquire, and besides, Halisstra rarely let her servant out of her sight With Halisstra under arrest, Danifae had the perfect opportunity to follow through, to finally find out what could be done, and there was no ti to die unless Danifae convinced Ssipriina Zauvirr to find a solution to her probleer to help her, even with her prohter of Drisinil Melarn That only left Danifae with the option of actually saving Halisstra

Damn her! the battle captive silently screa a pillow for goodyears of the fear of punishet the better of her, and she stayed her hand Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she considered the situation

The next probleed to extricate Halisstra - and by extension, herself - froht very well be over They o? Without Lolth&039;s blessings to aid the up her ure out who in House Melarn was still Halisstra&039;s ally The first thing she considered were the House guards They had disappeared, and she had a pretty good idea why Ssipriina had likely already gotten to theiance to House Zauvirr, or find themselves unemployed or dead She doubted there were any ould still rally to Halisstra, but she had to at least look

Danifae opened the door to the hallway and was slightly surprised to find the two guards who had followed her no longer present She supposed that they assu as the House was locked down and had decided to go find so to do

Justas she slipped out

She hurried on her way

The audience chamber of House Melarn was pretty much as Faeryl expected to find it Her mother was seated on the lofty oversized chair atop the dais at the front of the room, surrounded by her advisors, while House Zauvirr soldiers were spread inconspicuously but generously throughout the chaed to usurp control of the audience chauards Whatever lies she told them must have worked

"There you are," Ssipriina said io over your story once hed but dutifully approached the throne

"Mother, I have the details o over therateful brat! You will not stop until then"

Her mother looked entirely too corander than anything they had in their own manor That was the difference between a ed to return to the dungeons, where she could rule over her charges in peace She hated having to attend to her mother&039;s demands Where Quenthel was concerned, even if it was a little pond, at least she was the big fish It was always that way At the storehouse, when she&039;d orchestrated the transport of the prisoners, she had been in charge, however briefly Under the scrutiny of her mother, she was the petulant child oncethe reins of power so been sent to Menzoberranzan to represent House Zauvirr and House Melarn, to boot, she recognized the limitations to her chance to rise to the top Even were she to so to claih her orchestration of the day&039;s events, Faeryl would still answer to others