F O U R (50 page)

chanting one of the litanies as the spiders destroyed herFinally the shrieking stopped, uncovering the sound of Vlondril ecstatically .  After another moment, that noise ceased as well. Drisinil noticed her aunt'

s  corpse slumped among the

carnage, though she only recognized it by the jade gown. Molvayas's face was swollen and bloodied beyond recognition.

Quenthel gazed up at the living and called, "We asked Lolth for a sign, andshe gave us one. My foes are dead and I remain, robed in the goddess'

s sacred

leadership no more or else die in agony for their efspiders. I am the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, and my minions will question my frontery ".The surviving priestesses and novices hastily paid her obeisance.

. We

an end to these nightly attacks. W"Good," the Baenre said. "You are wise, and so I make you a vow    will put e  will regain our magic. We  will hear Lolth'svoice again. W

e  will make our order and our temple greater than ever before.

Now,  clear away this mess."

well. Drisinil couldn'The spiders began to disappeart quite tell if they were simply scuttling away or , from the room and Quenthel's person as

teleporting out."I did it," the student said. "I brought  the traitors together for you. N

ow

please give me the antidote."                       ,Quenthel smiled and said, "There is none."

"What?"

"I didn't poison you. The liquid was simply a stimulant to combat drowsiness.  I

gave you enough to make the effect alarming, but it'll wear off.""You'

"I would have administered a slow poison had I been carrying one, but as I re lying! Playing with me!"

Richard Lee Byers

134

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

was not, I had to improvise."Drisinil felt a sur

ge of bitter humiliation and a need to demonstrate she wasn'tentirely a fool.

"Well," she blurted, "then, you've tricked everyone all  the  way around.  I know

Lolth didn't control those spiders. You did.  You  read  a  scroll or  used  some  sort

of charm before you entered the room.""If so, does it matter?" A yellow arachnid crawled out of Quenthel'

s  snow

hai                                  yr  and onto her  shoulder. She paid it  no mind. "Lolth  teaches that  the

and strong m                          cunning ust master the foolish and weak. However you  look at  it,  thisoutcome is in accordance with her will.  Now

,  let's talk about your future."Drisinil swallowed. "Y

"I did, didn't I?" a smiling Quenthel ou promised to spare me."replied. "Unlike some, we  Baenre generally keep our w

ord. A

transactions. However      reputation  for fair dealing facilitates certain

"I understand. Of course I',  I never promised not to punish you."ll take

appropriate."              a flogging or whatever you think "That's quite agreeable of you. How about  this, then? W

e'll nip off the other

eight fingers and cut out your tongue as well."For a moment, Drisinil thought she hadn't heard correctly

.

"Oh, no. I firmly believe you engineer"Now you're joking."         ed the plot against me, and I intendto make sure you don't get up to any more mischief. Ever. If you can't

communicate, work magic, or grip a  weapon, that should take care of  it.Obviously, it won't be possible for  you to continue at Arach-Tinilith, and I

wouldn't count on the warmest of welcomes when you return home. I doubt

Mez'Barris Armgo will have much interest in a grotesquely crippled and

thoroughly useless daughter. She may even  consider you an embarrassment tobe killed or locked away."

Enraged, panicked, Drisinil lunged, but  never landed a blow. Powerful hands

bashed her over the head. Her legs folded beneath hergrabbed her from behind, hauled her back, and something hard and heavy .  She would have fallenif not for her captors holding her up.

Quave's voice sounded over Drisinil's shoulder.  "We've got her,  Mistress "."Thank you," Quenthel said. "Take her to the penance chamber and s

ecure

her ".

"Y

"I'des, Mistress," said Quave. "1 assume you' like to," said the Baenre, "but there'  ll do the cutting yourself."

attention. You can do it. Enjoy yourself. Just m
s another matter demanding my
ind she doesn't  die of it. They can

drown in their own blood when you take the tongue."

Pharaun relaxed in the chair,  enjoying the feel of the barber's  fingers kneadintonic into his scalp. It wasn'tnonetheless.          as relaxing as a full-body m         gassage, but soothing

The barber chattered away, and the wizard periodically responded with anoncommittal, "Indeed," or a grunt. Like, he suspected, tonsorial customers ofall races in all ages of the world, he wasn't  actually listening.

Richard Lee Byers

135

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

The barber'sthe front, and it was m stall, a little box redolent of unguents and pomades, was open at ore interesting to gaze out at the sights of the Bazaar.  A commoner strode by carrying a clucking chicken, imported from  the Lands of

Light, in a box. A merchant had probably promised the fellow  the  fowl  would lafor years to com                            y e, though in reality,  such  birds rarely thrived in the Underdark. A portrait painter rendered his subject, the  enchantments in the brush enabling himto fill the canvas with astonishing speed. An armorer drove a rapier through a bound, gagged kobold to demonstrate the sharpness of the point.Cowl up, mantle drawn close around him,  and Splitter hidden by the charm ofconcealment Pharaun had cast on it, Ryld loitered across the way in a tent withthe sides folded up. There, games of all sorts were on display. The hulkinswordsm                               gan stood pondering a
 
sava
 
board,  where  he'd  set  up  a  problem with  the onyx and carnelian pieces.north. SomA change came over the scene beyond the doorway,  and people looked to theelane. A ragged, furtive-looking com started to squeeze up against  the stalls, clearing the center of the mdirection.               oner hurried away in the opposite

Ryld sauntered to the near edge of the tent, glanced where everyone else waspeering, then gave Pharaun a subtle nod, confirming what the wizard had  alrguessed. A patrol was headed their way                 eady

.

Pharaun wished the guards could have waited just  five more minutes, but alas,he would have to go to work before the barber finished with him.  A tragedy,  but it couldn't be helped.their tread silent thanks A moment later the patrolto their enchanted boots. In marched by, casting stern at least nominal cglances hither and yon, ommand was a priestess of Arach-Tinilith armed her were a teacher from Melee-Magthere with a polished wooden wand. Assisting and Gelroos Zaphresz,  one  of  Pharaun's junior colleagues in Sorcere. It was unfortunate. Possessed of a comical ditties, Gelroos was congenial co         store of jokes and mpany.  At least if Pharaun murdered the other mage today

,  he wouldn't haveassassinate him tomorrow          to worry about  Gelroos trying to

.

In addition to its officers, the patrol  consisted of a number of warriors-in-training, boys whom Ryld had  almost certainly instructed at one time or another.Pharaun wasn't  particularly worried about  them. His fellow teachers were the real threat.

The Master of Sorcere waited until surprising the barber          the guards had marched past then, stood up, and handed the craf, he tossed aside the hair-sprinkled  cloth covering his chest, services. He touched a finger to his liptsman a gold coin, a prins in wordless explancely overpayment for his ation of what he actually wanted to buy. He picked up his
 
piwafwi,
 
whose elegance he'd  obscured the stall, and peeked out.with a minor illusion, swirled it around his shoulders, walked  to the doorway of they'The patrol had tramped about twentyd  turn a corner, so Pharaun had attained as much sepa yards down the lane. Any farther and ration  from  the enemy as  he was  going to get. He draped a fold  of silk across  the lowethen stepped out into the open, brandished          r half of his face, recited an incantation. His half-barbered hair stood on end, a glass marble and a pinch of rust, and and the air around him smelled of ozone. A crackhim, then shot down the aisle.  ling blue-white spark appeared in the air before When  it reached  the patrol, the flickering  point  of  radiance exploded,  shooting

Richard Lee Byers

136

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

burned, and fell, as they possessed neitherflares of lightning in all directions.  Many of the callow young sold

iers danced

the spiritual strength nor the protective ,talismans that might have minimized thei

Unfortunately, the sizzling, jumping arcs r injuries and kept them on their feet. of power struck a  handful of vendors

but the aisle was simply too cramped.and shoppers as well. Pharaun hadn't particularly wanted to harm noncombatants,

smoking, blackened, and blistered, The rest of the patrol  began to pivot. The captainbut if he was anything like R from Melee-Magthere was yld, his burns

weren't  likely  to  slow  him  down.  Gelroos  and  the  priestess  looked  as  if  the

lightning hadn't even touched them. faster than the other two, raising her baton. Thanks to his silver ring, Pharaun The female was spinning around a hair

could tell it was a spider wand, a weapon capable of entangling him in sticky webbing.

He had no intention of enduring that kind of humiliation. He rattled off astring of magic words and thrust his  arm out. Five slivers of arcane force

leaped from his fingertips, hurtled across the intervening space, and slammed into the cleric's torso. She stumbled backward and collapsed.

A wiry male with deep-set eyes, and a trace of a scholar's  stoop, Gelroos peeredup the street and called, "Master Mizzrym!"