Page 11 (1/2)
Khorrl Xornbane knew that his fidgeting was a bad sign, but he couldn&039;t help it He and his clan had been hiding and waiting for so long he could hardly stand it any longer Hiding several thousand duergar was never easy, but trying to do it in theits toll on his nerves He was thankful that the waiting was al had been relatively easy and pain-free A the matron mother and her retinue in the storehouse had been almost too simple She obviously trusted the other matron mother far too much, and it had cost her He wondered if anyone had discovered the bodies of her soldiers and advisors They would, soon, he knew The sar were inside theof the place, in a barracks where no soldiers were currently quartered It was driving Khorrlnear the halls where he and his boys waited, but if anyone found them, the plan was ruined
"Captain" An all-too-faes of the storehouse
Khorrl felt his heart begin to race with anticipation Zammzt stepped froar asked
"We&039;ve gotten the word," Zao to work"
Khorrl rubbed his hands together in delight At last He began going over the plan in his head once more as he issued orders, and Zaed
The real fighting was about to begin
Faeryl was fast growing bored with all of it She wished the s as her mother had laid them out so carefully, declare House Melarn treasonous and dissolved, and permit House Zauvirr to rise to a position of prominence so that Ssipriina could sit on the Council But of course, there was the prerequisite squabbling that had to take place, first Faeryl supposed she would care a whole lot ainher around - and getting ordered around in turn, even if it was by someone other than Drisinil Melarn
There&039;s always soht, no h you reach Even Triel Baenre was forced to nod her head in subservience to the whims of Lolth, and it&039;s possible that the Dark Mother herself has been forced to -
"Faeryl, stop wasting our time with your idle fancies, and pay attention," Ssipriina Zauvirr said, snapping Faeryl out of her thoughts
"Sorry, Mother," the younger droered, chagrined
She focused her attention on the conversation at hand, for at least theas one
"Isaid," Inidil Mylyl declared, e the word to make sure everyone in the roo to repeat herself, "that hearing the tale in its entirety oncejust exactly how this ht under our noses Perhaps Faeryl can indulge us for a few roaned inwardly She had already explained herself three times to the first matron mothers to arrive They had not been happy with several parts of her story, so she was going to have to tell the whole thing once more for those matron mothers who had chosen, for whatever reason, to arrive late Of course, they were theothers waiting and daring anyone to question them on it She felt queasy as she crossed to the center of the room
"Yes, of course, Matron Mother Mylyl," she said as politely as she could
Compared to the collection of nobility in the room, House Zauvirr was still inconsequential and could be held accountable for everything Faeryl had done and said up to that point E one&039;s own her position within a House, and the ambassador knew that both her tone and her explanation had to be handled just right
"For the sake of understanding," she continued, "letthat House Zauvirr represents House Melarn in certain business interests, and I represent House Zauvirr&039;s efforts on behalf of House Melarn in Menzoberranzan I serve - or did serve, rather - as the ambassador to Triel Baenre herself When the difficulties arose, they were, as you no, experienced in Menzoberranzan as well Concerned about this and the lack of caravan traffic between the two cities, I petitioned Matron Mother Baenre to allow
"Triel refused, and in fact, effectively placed me under house arrest, for what concerns I never found out She eventually imprisoned me when I tried to leave on e the relationship between our Houses and House Baenre, my loyalty and concern lay solely with my own family and those families we serve here in Ched Nasad I was ordered put to death for treason, but thankfully, the execution never occurred
"Triel changed her ive ned me to journey with her sister, Quenthel Baenre, and several others here to Ched Nasad to reestablish trading and to deter the, uh"
"Child, we all know that Lolth has vanished You don&039;t have to tread around the subject" It was Matron Mother Aunrae Nasadra, the uncrowned queen of Ched Nasad, leader of the most powerful House in the city Faeryl sed as Aunrae added, "Get to the point"
The ambassador nodded and continued "Menzoberranzan had suffered an uprising, a slave revolt supported by outside forces Containing it consumed a substantial amount of the sisterhood&039;s divine resources Matron Mother Triel sent the group of us here to find out if Lolth&039;s disappearance was limited to Menzoberranzan or felt across all tribes of drow, but she also wanted Quenthel to procure any divine ic she could lay her hands on here Quenthel and Triel had apparently rationalized that since House Baenre held part ownership in Black Claw Mercantile, anything the storehouses stocked was her city&039;s by right Once I was able to covertly relay this to ical contacts, orked together to set a trap and catch the Menzoberranyr in the act It was only e all arrived at the storehouse that we discovered Matron Mother Melarn was actually aiding the visitors My ether, and Matron Mother Melarn tried to escape"
When she finished, Faeryl realized she was out of breath froh the rest of her explanation Matron Mother Aunrae had that effect on everyone
"Drisinil was killed, cut down trying to flee," Ssipriina added, drawing attention back to herself "I would have done whatever I could to spare her if I could have reached her in tiic is too weakened to stave off the passing"
"So you conspired to allow the so far as to mislead a city patrol?"
The matron mother who asked this question was Jyslin Aleanrahel Her features were sharp, alreedy droho found fault in every action was legendary Faeryl had never liked her, but she was hardly in a position to show that sentiment
"They have no doubt been sent to spy on us," Jyslin continued, "and their supposed story of reestablishing contact here was simply a falsehood meant to keep you off-balance I daresay thesensitive information back to their superiors even now, especially if this wizard is as capable as you alleged before I irl and keep them out of the city, but I suppose that&039;s too ttu, matron mother of the second most powerful House in the city said "We&039;ve heard the story, some of us several times now It is clear to me that House Zauvirr acted with the best intentions of Ched Nasad in mind I move that we dissolve House Melarn forthwith"
Umrae was one of Ssipriina&039;s secret allies, Faeryl knew This was it They were beginning the process, giving her mother what she wanted Dissolution of House Melarn was the first step in granting Ssipriina a seat on the Council
"I concur," said Ulviirala Rilynt, another of the four her mother had bribed "The treason of House Melarn seelance at Ssipriina and saw that she was trying hard not to smile too broadly
"I&039;m more concerned with the veracity of their story," Lirdnolu Maerret said "So far, all we&039;ve had to go on is this fanciful tale Ssipriina and her daughter have woven, with no neutral observer able to substantiate it House Zauvirr stands to gain quite a lot by seeing Drisinil and her ilk dead I for one a the truth siood of the city"
"Quite true," Jyslin Aleanrahel agreed "Let&039;s hear Drisinil&039;s daughter speak"
Faeryl opened her ain The , and this was the challenge Ssipriina had cautioned her would come There were some ould want the whole truth and would look to try to trap House Zauvirr in a lie, or if they were allies of House Melarn, try to pin whatever blame they could on Ssipriina Herthis time When their new enemies were exposed, or if the decision didn&039;t favor Zauvirr, their secret mercenary arht froeons below to answer for her mother&039;s crimes She was ale fe and was dressed in only a thin shift She cast her eyes about the roo to find so those present
It was rumored that Halisstra had a soft streak, that she never seemed to show the type of tenacious ahters She waswith her battle captive, Danifae, using the other drow&039;s good looks to attract males to carouse with There were even some hispered that Matron Mother Melarn would have cast her out of the faht circu part was true, and that gave her an idea
She spread her hands helplessly, as if acknowledging that she had failed in soiveness for whatever flaws you see in our plan, Matron Mothers," Faeryl said quietly "I am as disappointed as you that a House of our own beloved city would conspire with foreigners at our expense I now recall additional daht put this debate to rest"
"What?" Ssipriina said, leaning forward, obviously loath to see her daughter possibly ruin her own carefully laid web of lies
Faeryl studiously ignored her
Faeryl was sure she had the advantage Though she had not mentioned it before - since it was a lie she had only conceived of on the spur of the e her for leaving it out of her story the first tiotten it until then
"It&039;s just that, right after passing through the gates of the city, I had the good fortune to spy Mistress Halisstra and her consort, Danifae Yauntyrr I was surprised to see them in such a sordid section of the city, but I considered it a stroke of good fortune, nonetheless I ht so that they would see it was ht for certain they had spotted e to Danifae, but she either didn&039;t recognize me or didn&039;t want anyone to know they&039;d been there She turned Halisstra away, and the two of them melted into the crowd At the ti of it, but now I realize that she nal Quenthel and the others"
Hahsstra&039;s eyes greide at hearing Faeryl&039;s accusations She sputtered to find the words to defend herself
"Iwe neverMatron Mothers, I assure you that we never saw the ambassador and her companions in the lower sections of the city I aainst me"
Faeryl s that she had been there It had been a gaht have been in the vicinity in the last couple of days, but it had paid off The unwanted attention was being focused on Halisstra
"Perhaps I am mistaken," Faeryl quickly interjected She sers at her in return "It was crowded there, with all of the refugees and the base-born males in their revelry, so its easy to understand how I only thought Danifae had caught the eye of so sorin at her own cleverness By pulling back, ad she had made a mistake, she doubly damned Halisstra The seed of doubt had been planted in everyone&039;s mind, and the less she tried to force them to accept her theory, the more likelythey all would be to believe it; such was drow nature For those who chose to believe Halisstras innocence, that left only one other reason for her to be in such an improper part of the city Either way, it shed an unpleasant light on the daughter of a traitor
Ssipriina turned to Jyslin Aleanrahel and said, "Matron Mother, I aher nobility If I had foreseen how greatly this would have displeased you, I would have conceived of a better way to deal with the crisis at hand As it was, I still hope you will consider that I was keeping only the best interests of Ched Nasad in eneral ether, no doubt discussing the additional iuilt Faeryl&039;s little tale had just heaped upon House Melarn At the very least, the suggestion that Halisstra had been carousing with the coraceful behavior was of the worst sort and she was unfit to rule a noble House That half of it happened to be true only lad she was no longer the drow everyone else was looking down their noses at
"Enough!" Aunrae Nasadra shouted, rapping her rune-covered staff upon the floor Even in such an i, the eldest and most powerful matron mother commanded absolute respect, and the room fell silent "This nonsense is the reason we face the bleak loss of our goddess&039;s favor How can we expect Lolth to grant us her attention aste so y onsuch ridiculous discussions as who&039;s stepped in thethe others, peering at theeny chooses to whore around with low-born males in the seamiest underbelly of Ched Nasad is of no concern to lance at Halisstra, whose face was down in humiliation
Matron Mother Nasadra paid neither of them any heed
"The streets are not safe for most drow," she said "We all know the extra precautions we had to take even to coe of disaster, mothers, and yet we h enough to have a seat on the Council
"Ssipriina has suggested that we dissolve House Melarn and offer up Halisstra and these re outsiders as sacrifices to appease theabout why our beloved Lolth is angry with us, that sheis angry with us, we are certain Will this help? Will it bring her blessings back to us?
"If we make an example of the traitors and let the whole city see us do it will it quiet the citizens for a time? Perhaps, but more importantly, will it satisfy all of you? Will you return to your Houses satisfied that a House has fallen and that the hierarchy has shuffled sufficiently? There are things ile than the peace of our city, but they are few in nu, while inherent in our nature, isthis time of difficulties"
"What if this Baenre priestess&039;s co?" Halisstra asked "What if they have an inkling of what troubles the Dark Mother? If you siet what you want - one less House to stand in your way - but if you kill theht lose valuable information"
"Shut your h for one lifetime Do not think that you can escape justiceto be loyal now It&039;s too late for that"
Halisstra would not be deterred She proceeded, ignoring the dark stares the ave her
"What if this wizard has discovered so?" she asked "Faeryl has already told us he is clever and was not above antagonizing Quenthel I would not put it past hi on Why kill hiht be so inclined to parlay with us? Could he be willing to reveal his own secrets? Perhaps even for a price? There are those aht expose the lies you have told concerning my mother and me"