F O U R (10 page)

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

corpse, and one way or the other,  you will  fetch it for me. Tupriestess, wizard, and warri               rn out every available

or—  drow or slave. Jum

Jump  he did. It was the last bit of satisfaction that was to comp     e  her way.

Her mortal agents flooded the streets,  while she remained in her personal

sanctum  in House Mizzrym, summ

search. Astonishingly      oning spirits and casting divinations to aid the ,  maddeningly,  it was athe base of Narbondel, signaling the advent of the new dayll to no avail. When light flowered in

,  she was forced to admit that at least for the time being, Pharaun had eluded her

.

A month later,  she learned that her brother had somehow ma

up t                         de his way all the way o  Tier  Breche  and begged the  Archmage  of Menzoberranzan in Sorcere, and, remembering the  wizardly talent the younger mhimself for a place

ale had

demonstrated throughout his training, Gromph had seen fit to take him  in.

The news came as a considerable relief.  She'd feared her brother had fled

Menzoberranzan and placed himself permsimply hopped up on a shelf above the  cityanently beyond her reach. Instead, he'd . He was bound

to  hop down again

eventually, and she would have him.Or so she thought, until her m

other sent for her.  Possessed of the same

intelligence concerning her fugitive son's whereabouts, Miz'ri had formed a verydiff

Even though they were only merent idea of what ought to be done about it: Nothing. ales, the Masters of Sorcere possessed both adegree of practical autonomy and an abundance of m

ystical power, and, alwaysweaving her labyrinthine schem

es to elevat

had decided not to unnecessarily provoke the we the status of House Mizzrym, Mother izards. Which was to say, asPharaun had obtained a place in that cloistered, m

any-spired tower,  he was more

significant in exile than he had ever been at homhim  live. She had achieved what ought to  have been her prime, and Greyanna would have to let ary goal, preeminence

am

Through all the decades that followed, it galled herong her sisters and cousins, but her vengeance would remain unfinished. .  A hundred times she plannedto defy he

r mother's  command and kill Pharaun anyway, only to abandon her

stratagems  just short of implementation.  As fiercely as she haMiz'ri's displeasure even more.              ted him, she feared

Was it possible that at long last the matron mother had changed her mind? Or was

this some  new cruelty, was Miz'ri perhaps  going to some

odious proximity with a brother who was still u     how force Greyanna into an ntouchable?"It might be nice to see Pharaun again," the younger fem

ale said in the blandest  tone

she could muster.

Miz'ri laughed. "Oh, I daresay it would, to see him  and kill him,  isn't that the wa

of it?"                                  y

"If you say so

.  You know  our history.  We played  out  the  whole  sava  game  under

your nose." I im"Yes, you did, and so I know thagine you relished every miis will interest you. Sadlynute of it, she thought.

,  a problem  has arisen thateven supercedes my desire to get along  with the mages of th

e  Academy.  While  you

were away, males continued to desert—" "Pharaun ran off from  Sorcere?" Greyanna in

finally going to punish him  for getting those novices killed?" terrupted, her eyes narrowed. "Were they "No, and no! Shut your mouth, let me tell the tale, and we'll come to your  little

obsession in a moment."

"Yes, Mother."

"Males  continue  to  elope

,  and  despite  our  warning  him  off,  Gromph  still  intends  to

Richard Lee Byers

25

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

by proxyinvestigate the m

atter.  Hoping to escape our notice  and disp

, and summoned a suitable agent to his office to discuss the mleasure, he decided to do so atter.  Happily,

we  members of the  Council  possess  a scrying  crystal  with  which  we recently  managed

to  pierce  the  obscuring enchantments shrouding the room. Some  of them, anyway.

We  still can't  see in, but we can  hear what goes on, and that sufficed to reveal the arch

mage’s  plan  as  well as  the  identity of his minion. Now,  if you must, you may excitedly

babble your brother's name." "I imagine Gromph told him  this is his one big chance to redeem  hi

mself ".

"Exactly"I gather there'. The question is, how  shall we priestesses respond?" s a reason you don't just tell Gromph you're on to his pl

an ".  Of

course, several. For one, our first confrontation with him  was courteous  and mildbut who knows, a second might be less so. As things stand, w         ,

e hesitate to push him

very hard. For another,  we don't want him  to  know  we  can  eavesdrop on him.  He'deither block us out or hatch his plots elsewhere. It'

s  better all around sim

his pawn out of play. Given  that Pharaun is a secret operative, whatever may befall ply to take him, the Archmage can  h

ard

with your brother is a form ly take exception to it. The catch being that dealing tainly at the m      idable undertaking, arguably on any occasion but ceroment."

Greyanna nodded. "Because he's a wizard,  and we are . . . what we are." "So where, the Council wondered, can we find a priestess so bold, so m

otivated,

that even now she'll be eager to hunt the male when he descends to the city. I told

the others I thought I knew of a candidate." "Y

"Theou were right." beauty of it is that  you do have a  personal score  to  settle

.  If people  see

do som                               you ething unpleasant to Pharaun, they  won't have to wonder what  the reason

is."

"Yes, I see that. May I draw on all the resources of our House to aid me  in  m

efforts?"                                 y

"I can only give you a few helpers. If  people saw you descend on the city withHouse Mizzrym'

s  entire army  at your back, they wouldn't assume  it's a personal

matter.  You can have your pick of magic weapons from  the armory. Don't waste

them, though. Expend only what you need."

Greyanna inclined her head. "I'll start preparing right away." Miz'ri finally smiled, and som

ehow, in defiance of any reasonable expectation, it

made her face more threatening, not less.

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War Of The Spider Queen

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C  h  a  p  t  e  r

F   O   U   R

fine cloth emThe Silken Rack was not, as visitors toporium.  It was, technically  Menzoberranzan sometimes assumed, a ,  a  massage  parlor,  but  only  a

would call it that. Rather, it was a palace of delight, where the m   vulgarian o

servants in the Underdark provided what             st skilled body many dark elves considered to be most exquisite of all pleasures.

Waerva Baenre was herself of that opinion. She had already soaked her pampered

voluptuous form  in warm, scented oil, and  she  would  have  lik        ,ed  nothing  better  tolose herself utterly in the touch of her m

asseur.

But that, alas, was not possible.  She'd come  to this shrine of the senses on businessbusiness that could be conducted far m                  ,

ore safely and disc

Baenre citadel or the ambassador'           reetly there than in the s  residence in West Wall. That was

nature gregarious, had hired a cozy pri              why  she,  by vate room containing only two contoured couches and a pair of hulking deaf-mute h

uman masseurs in preference to her

supremHappilyely gifted Tluth. , the tongueless slave she'd chosen for herself was also highly com

petent. He

wringing a groan of sweet release out of her
kneaded her neck muscles in a way  that was pain and bliss at the
 
same time, .  Naturallyundignified moment that Umrae came though the door , it was at this somewhat

.

Not that Waerva's

Baenre couldn't imagine what it would ta momentary discomposure made Umrae smile. The ke to accomplish that. A rather gaunt

homely female, her skin the unhealthy dull gray-black color of ch     ,arcoal, the cut of her nondescript garments subtly diver

gent from the styles ofMenzoberranzan, Umrae always arrived at these clandestine meeti