- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
- All the Possibilities
- Next
- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
The Dark Elf Trilogy: HomelandChapter 21 May It Please The Goddess?
"Did you please the goddess?" Matron Malice asked, her question as much a threat as an inquiry. At her side, the other females of House Do'Urden, Briza, Vierna, and Maya, looked on impassively, hiding their jealousy. "You are home" the weapon master said absently, his blank face revealing none of the tumultuous emotions swirl-ing through his mind. Drizzt wondered if he could properly hide his own grim-ace. "For a day" he replied, equally nonchalant, though his rage with Zaknafein was no less intense. Now that Drizzt had witnessed the wrath of drow elves firsthand, Zak's re-puted deeds rang out to Drizzt as even more evil. "My patrol group goes back out at Narbondel's first light. "So soon?" asked Zak, genuinely surprised. "We are summoned.??Drizzt replied, starting past. zat caught him by the arm. "General patrol?" he asked. "Focused" Drizzt replied." Activity in the eastern tunnels" "So the heroes are summoned" chuckled Zak. Drizzt did not immediately respond. Was there sarcasm in Zak's voice? Jealousy, perhaps, that Drizzt and Dinin were allowed to go out to fight, while Zak had to remain within the House Do'Urden's confines to fulfill his role as the fami-ly's fighting instructor? Was Zak's hunger for blood so great that he could not accept the duties thrust upon them all? Zak had trained Drizzt and Dinin, had he not? And hun-dreds of others; he'd transformed them into living weapons, into murderers. "How long will you be out?" Zak pressed, more interested in Drizzt's whereabouts. Drizzt shrugged. "A week at the longest" "And then?" "Horne" "That is good" said Zak. "I will be pleased to see you back within the walls of House Do'Orden" Drizzt didn't believe a word of it. Zak then slapped him on the shoulder in a sudden, unex-pected movement designed to test Drizzt's reflexes. More surprised than threatened, Drizzt accepted the pat without response, not sure of his uncle's intent. "The gym, perhaps?" asked Zak. "You and I, as it once was. Impossible! Drizzt wanted to shout. Never again would it be as it once was. Drizzt held those thoughts to himself and nodded his assent. "I would enjoy that" he replied, secretly wondering how much satisfaction he would gain by cutting Zaknafein down. Drizzt knew the truth of his people now, and knew that he was powerless to change anything. Maybe he could make a change in his private life, though. Maybe by destroying Zaknafein, his greatest disappointment, Drizzt could remove himself from the wrongness around him. "As would I, Zak said, the friendliness of his tone hiding his private thoughts-thoughts identical to Drizzt's. "In a week, then" Drizzt said, and he pulled away, unable to continue the encounter with the drow who once had been his dearest friend, and who, Drizzt had come to learn, was truly as devious and evil as the rest of his kin. "Please, my matron" Alton whimpered, "it is my right. I beg of you!" "Rest easy, foolish DeVir" SiNafay replied, and there was pity in her voice, an emotion seldom felt and almost never revealed. "I have waited-" "The time is almost upon you" SiNafay countered, her tone growing more threatening. "You have tried for this one before?' Alton's grotesque gawk brought a smile to SiNafay's face. Yes, she said, "I know of your bungled attempt on Drizzt Do'Urden's life. If Masoj had not arrived, the young warrior would probably have slain you?' "I would have destroyed him!" Alton growled. SiNafay did not argue the point. "Perhaps you would have won" she said, "only to be exposed as a murderous impos-ter, with the wrath of all of Menzoberranzan hanging over your head!" "I did not care?' "You would have cared, I promise you!" Matron SiNafay sneered. "You would have forfeited your chance to claim a greater revenge. 1rust in me, Alton DeVir. Your-our-victory is at hand?' "Masoj will kill Drizzt, and maybe Dinin" Alton grumbled. "There are other Do'Urdens awaiting the fell hand of Al-ton DeVir" Matron SiNafay promised. "High priestesses?' Alton could not dismiss the disappointment he felt at not being allowed to go after Drizzt. He badly wanted to kill that one. Drizzt had brought him embarrassment that day in his chambers at Sorcere; the young draw should have died quickly and quietly. Alton wanted to make up for that mis-take. Alton also could not ignore the promise that Matron SiNa-fay had just made to him. The thought of killing one or more of the high priestesses of House Do'Urden did not displease him at all. The pillowy softness of the plush bed, so different from the rest of the hard stone world of Menzoberranzan, of. fered Drizzt no relief from the pain. Another ghost had reared up to overwhelm even the images of carnage on the surface: the specter of Zaknafein. Dinin and Vierna had told Drizzt the truth of the weapon master, of Zak's role in the fall of House DeVir, and of how Zak so enjoyed slaughtering other drow-other drow who had done nothing to wrong him or deserve his wrath. So Zaknafein, too, took part in this evil game of drow life, the endless quest to please the Spider Queer. " As I so pleased her on the surface?" Drizzt couldn't help but mumble, the sarcasm of the spoken words bringing him some small measure of comfort. The comfort Drizzt felt in saving the life of the elven child seemed such a minor act against the overwhelming wrongs his raiding group had exacted on her people. Matron Mal. ice, his mother, had so enjoyed hearing the bloody recount. ing. Drizzt remembered the elven child's horror at the sight of her dead mother. Would he, or any dark elf, be so devas. tated if they looked upon such a sight. Unlikely, he thought. Drizzt hardly shared a loving bond with Malice, and most draw would be too engaged in measuring the consequences of their mother's death to their own station to feel any sense of loss. Would Malice have cared if either Drizzt or Dinin had fallen in the raid? Again Drizzt knew the answer. All that Malice cared about was how the raid affected her own base of power. She had reveled in the notion that her children had pleased her evil goddess. What favor would Uoth show to House Do'Urden if she knew the truth of Drizzt's actions? Drizzt had no way to measure how much, if any, interest the Spider Queen had taken in the raid. Lloth remained a mystery to him, one he had no desire to explore. Would she be enraged if she knew the truth of the raid? Or if she knew the truth of Drizzt's thoughts at this moment? Drizzt shuddered to think of the punishments he might be bringing upon himself, but he had already firmly de-cided upon his course of action, whatever the conse-quences. He would return to House Do'Urden in a week. He would go then to the practice gym for a reunion with his old teacher. He would kill Zaknafein in a week. Caught up in the emotions of a dangerous and heartfelt decision, Zaknafein hardly heard the biting scrape as he ran the whetstone along his sword's gleaming edge. The weapon had to be perfect, with no jags or burrs. This deed had to be executed without malice or anger. A clean blow, and Zak would rid himself of the demons of his own failures, hide himself once again within the sanctu-ary of his private chambers, his secret world. A clean blow, and he would do what he should have done a decade before. "If only I had found the strength then; he lamented. "How much grief might I have spared Drizzt? How much pain did his days at the Academy bring to him, that he is so very changed?" The words rang hollow in the empty room. They were just words, useless now, for Zak had already decided that Drizzt was out of reason's reach. Drizzt was a drow warrior, with all of the wicked connotations carried in such a title. The choice was gone to Zaknafein if he wished to hold any pretense of value to his wretched existence. This time, he could not stay his sword. He had to kill Drizzt. |
- The Loners
- The Saints
- Switched
- Fangtastic!
- Re-Vamped!
- Vampalicious!
- Tome of the Undergates
- Black Halo
- The Skybound Sea
- If You Stay
- If You Leave
- Until We Burn
- Before We Fall
- Every Last Kiss
- Fated
- Suspiciously Obedient
- Random Acts of Crazy
- Random Acts of Trust
- Her First Billionaire
- Her Second Billionaire
- Her Two Billionaires
- Her Two Billionaires and a Baby
- His Majesty's Dragon
- Throne of Jade
- Black Powder War
- Victory of Eagles
- Tongues of Serpents
- Empire of Ivory
- Crucible of Gold
- Delirium