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The flat stares turned mildly baleful, but after some careful consideration, the one who spoke finally nodded curtly and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her and leaving her partner to stare icily at the arche while he folded his arms and tapped his foot

Just when Groood on his threat, the door opened and the guard appeared again, h to say, "what else did you expect?" he pushed past her impatiently and shoved the door shut behind hih that didn&039;t really surprise the wizard Usually, if she was going to bother to be presentable for guests, she would see theured his odds were about even as to whether he&039;d discover her in the bedroom or in the baths, most likely with a lover He tried the bedrooh into the bathroom, Gromph found his sister, alone except for a pair of attendants, eyes closed and soaking in an oddly scented oil bath The odor perh

Triel opened one eye and looked at the wizard, then closed it again, reet hiuards like that," she said, a bit testily "They&039;re standing there to keep the likes of you out, you know"

"A thousand apologies, Matron Mother," Gro you in the future Please do drop by so outsidemy offices"

This ti angry, she appeared worried

"What is it?" she asked "Your news must be particularly unpleasant for you to behave so boorishly"

Groh

"You know ive you h, the news is bad, and it coup on the outskirts of the city Nothing definitive, but they&039;re growing fearful that we&039;re due for soressive act from somewhere, and soon"

"What sort of traffic?" Triel asked, shifting in the bath so that an attendant could begin to scrub her back with a rough cloth

"Hard to say Enough species coo as it is, but they have reported an inordinate nus the last few days"

Triel made a noise in her throat, and at first Gromph wondered if it was in response to the ministrations of the attendant, but he realized it was derisive when his sister said, "Troglodytes? They&039;ve never been able to ainst us You cauards to tell ue in vexation and strode across the tiled floor to take a seat on a long bench along one wall

"No, of course not, but don&039;t be so quick to disenerals saw their last battle fro the eneht now, and you know it"

"Fine, I&039;ll take it under advisement," Triel said "So, what else do you have to tell me? I&039;d like to enjoy the rest ofme more bad news, I don&039;t think I shall be able to"

Gromph shook his head

"Yes, there is more bad news," he said

"Oh, wonderful"

"I&039;s from our expedition to Ched Nasad"

Theaway the attendant She seeh Gros?" she asked, her tone grave

"The last co I haven&039;t heard anything since, and the next reports are overdue"

"How long?"

"Two days I already relayed that infor him?" Triel asked

"Yes, but not for a while, and not really for the kind of conversation I suspect you&039;d like for me to have with him Even hat Ican do, I&039;ll have to ic"

"Fine, do that In the hts?"

Gromph considered the question then said, "Do I believe they are alive? Let&039;s give the lot, and I have no doubt that they can take care of themselves That&039;s half the reason you sent thehtly as she stood and let the oil cascade from her body

"I do want the for theardless of whatever benefits we both receive for having a few specific ones out of the way"

Sheher a towel and had it wrapped around herself

Gromph&039;s stare was carefully neutral

"I want them to succeed, too," he said "My issues aside, this crisis affects every aspect of enious enough to be considered a threat here, I think they can take care of themselves in Ched Nasad"

"Find them," the matron mother commanded, "and let uards again?"

"Even if you have to leave them as piles of ash on an to dress with help froe stopped and turned back to face his sister

"Oh, and one "

Triel looked over at her brother and asked, "Yes?"

"Will you please remind the other matron mothers of the importance of timely response to threats inside the city? I asked for reinforceo, and they were still not in place when I cahed "Yes, of course I will speak to theht "It would probably help if House Baenre spared soood faith and all that"

"Really? Do you think we can afford to spare theht outside this door who could be put to far better use," the archful stare

"Explain toyou," Quenthel said, gnawing at a strip of dried rothe in a red was no longer hungry, having sated hi ti the draegloth lick hi out the i, even as the fiend had begun to feast

Ryld and Valas stood guard near the door, both of them obviously anxious to be on their way The rumbles from beyond the walls had ceased for the moment, and Pharaun wasn&039;t sure whether that boded well or ill for the had been quashed that quickly, it was only a ain He was eager to be away, too

As Quenthel continued to inhale the food, Halisstra pursed her lips and tried again to defend her usefulness to the Menzoberranyr

"I can get you out of the House without notice," she said "I know the best routes to take If we encounter any of Ssipriina&039;s guards along the way, I ht be able to dismiss them without incident Until you&039;re safely out of the city, having the two of us accompany you is to your benefit"

Quenthel nodded as she ate

"Perhaps," she said, pausing to sip from a waterskin "Or perhaps you would simply like to lead us into ruin in your oay,you so that you can betray us to Ssipriina For all I know, you still hold me responsible for the death of your ry about my intentions"

Halisstra rolled her eyes where Quenthel could not see, and Pharaun had to quell a bemused smirk

At least I&039;m not the only one who finds her unbelievably irrational at tiht

"Yes, all of that could be true, certainly," Halisstra said, "but then I wouldn&039;t have hadto rescue you when Ssipriina already had you in her clutches, don&039;t you think?"

"Hmm," Quenthel said doubtfully, another bite of food in herand looked over at Pharaun "What&039;s your opinion?"

The Master of Sorcere sat up straighter, surprised that she was seeking his counsel

I suppose that when you&039;re surrounded by the bigger enemy, he mused, the siven us no reason to doubt thee itself Regardless of whether you&039;re inclined to trust a dark elf you&039;ve never met - a dark elf of a House that you so recently intended to betray, at that - our options seem severely limited without their company I don&039;t suppose we&039;d be all that worse off, anyway, should they decide to turn on us at an inopportune ti with the right part of your body?" she asked sarcastically, nodding in the direction of Danifae, who sat on a couch off to one side, listening to the discussion

When she became a part of it, she lowered her eyes demurely and folded her hands into her lap

Pharaun smirked

"Oh, absolutely, Mistress Baenre," he said dryly "Nothing would pleaseon this trip, all with a ready suggestion on how soht improve my demeanor for the benefit of everyone around me"

Halisstra&039;s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and the wizard reain that she was unaccustoht, noting the high priestess&039;s scowl, Quenthel herself is unaccustohtly more conciliatory tone, Pharaun added, "With all due respect, regardless of which part ofto contemplate this ain and little to lose by trusting theain in half an hour, and ht be htfully, though whether she waswhether or not to allow Jeggred to dismember him, Pharaun wasn&039;t sure

"In any event," he finished, "we can ensure ourselves so them close, under our scrutiny If they lead us into a trap, we otiate with Ssipriina Zauvirrturn thee for our own freedom Only if we don&039;t tell the matron rin

Halisstra&039;s flat stare told Pharaun that she found both his humor and his insurance plan distasteful, but Quenthel seemed convinced

The Mistress of Arach-Tinilith nodded after tossing back the last bit of water in the skin

"Very well," she said to Halisstra "You will serve as our guide out of this accursed House, and if you serve us well, you will be rewarded with your lives Do I make myself clear?"

Halisstra sed once, but she finally nodded

"I think at least for the tiical trinkets will stay safe and sound in our possession If you behave yourselves, you may earn them back"

Both of the other drow nodded their acquiescence

"Good, then let&039;s be on our way," the high priestess announced, dusting off her hands after finishing the dried o," Pharaun said, "there is the matter of &039;where&039; to discuss"

Quenthel looked at theto Menzoberranzan," she said "The expedition was a failure Universally, Lolth speaks to no one, and the goods I had hoped to bring back withto show for the journey"

"Exactly," Pharaun countered "We have nothing definitive to bring back with us - yet I say we push ahead, continue to try to deter to pursue," Quenthel argued "We know little more about the Dark Mother&039;s absence than we did before we left"

"That&039;s not entirely true," Pharaun said "As I oddess&039;s absence is not liardless, I have an idea Whilewe may not be able to discern any more information directly, we could enlist the aid of someone who can"

"Who?"

"A priest of Vhaeraun"

Quenthel rose fro, fury plain on her face

"You speak blasphe"

Even Halisstra had recoiled at the suggestion, Pharaun noted

He raised his hands in supplication and pleaded, "I know it&039;s unconventional, but hear an to pace, and Pharaun knew she was at least intrigued, if not happy, with the notion Her desire to clailory of discovery in this matter rivaled his own, he supposed

"Just what is it you think a priest of Vhaeraun - " Quenthel forrimace - "could do for us? And where would we find one who could - or even would - aid us?"

Pharaun leaned forward eagerly

"We struggle to see inside the Deod would not suffer the same difficulty In this instance, with the proper sacrifices and deferential behavior, we ht just be able to ask for a little audience in order to find out"

"Few of his ilk would even consider helping us," Quenthel said, waving her hand in dismissal, "and we know of none to even ask"

As Quenthel turned her back on hi, Pharaun looked over at Valas and nodded in encourage, Valas said, "I know one"

Quenthel turned to face the diminutive scout

"What?"

"I know a priest of Vhaeraun," Valas replied "An old acquaintance of "

"Really," Quenthel said, eyeing Pharaun and Valas alike, as though suspecting that the tere collaborating "What e carefully studied the tabletop in front of hi that if he ade, Quenthel was as likely as not to dismiss the whole idea just to spite him

"He owes me a favor," Valas replied "At the very least, he owes h to hear us out, even if he refuses I don&039;t think he&039;ll refuse"

"How convenient Pharaun?"

The wizard looked up, pretending to be thinking about so else

"Hmm? Oh, yes Well, it is very convenient that Valas knows so earlier," he said to the scout, "but I guess we can&039;t all conceive of these flashes of brilliance If Valas vouches for his friend then I say, what do we have to lose?"

Quenthel opened her mouth, possibly to retort, by the look on her face, but she never got the words out A shock wave far stronger than any they had felt previously coursed through the House, knocking them and most of the furniture over

"By the Dark Mother!" Halisstra screa down!"