F O U R (34 page)

way up to Faeryl's  knuckles.

Richard Lee Byers

89

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

Umrae convulsed and threw back her head for a silent scream. The spasmsjerked her hands and threatened to rip conscious intent. Umrae froze, and toppled backward, carryiFaeryl apart even without the traitor'sng her assailant withher.

In contradiction of every tale Faeryl  had ever heard, the shape shifter didn'trevert to her original form  when true  death claimed her.  Still horribly sickenvoy lay for som                          , thee  time in the ghoul's  fetid embrace. Eventually, however, she mustered the trembling strength to pull free of the claws embedded in herbleeding limbs, after which she crawled a few feet away  from  the winged  corpse.Gradually, despite the sting of her punctures and bruises, she started to feel  alittle better.  Physically, anyway. Inside her mind, she was berating herself for anoutcome  that wasn't  really a victory at all.

Given that she needed to learn what  Umrae knew,  not kill her,  she'their encounter from  the beginning. She s             d bungled traitor'                upposed she should have agreed to the s terms, but she'spotted the vial and fought md been too angry and too proud. She should also have ore skillfullynot her erstwhile scribe lying dead on the stone.. If not for luck, it would be she and nzan had diminished her.  Back in

Ched Nasad, she had enemShe wondered if her sojourn in Menzoberraies in- and outand sharp, but in the City of Spiders none had wished her ill. Had she forside House Zauvirr to keep her strong the habits that protected her for her first two hundred years of life? If so, she gotten knew she'd better remember them  quickly.

The enemy hadn't finished with her.  She wasn't  so dull and rusty that shedidn't recall how these covert wars unfolded. It was like  a  sava  game, progressing a step at a time, gradually escalating in ferocity. Her unknown adversary's first move, though she hadn't known it at the time, had been to turn Umrae  and  lie  to

Triel. Faeryl's  countermove was to capture the spy and remove her from  the board. As soon as Umrae missed someknow her pawn had been taken and advaprearranged rendezvous, the foe would the m                nce another piece. Perhaps it would be other. Perhaps the foe would suggest to Matron Baenre that the time had come  to  throw  Faeryl  in  a  dungeon.

But life wasn't  really a sava game. Faeryl could cheat and make two movesin a row,  which in this instance meant truly fleeing Menzoberranzan as soon as possible, before the enemy learned of her agent's demise.Light-headed and sour-mouthed from  her  exertions, Faeryl dragged herselfto her feet, trudged in search of Mother's  Kiss, and wondered just how shewould accomplish that little miracle.

Richard Lee Byers

90

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

C  h  a  p  t  e  r

T   E   N

Cloaked in the sembmanifestly made himlance of a squat, unfit for service in a noble or even mleathery-skinned ore, whose twisted leerchant House, g

Pharaun took an experimental bite of  his sausage and roll. The unidentifiable ground meat inside the casing tasted rank and was gristly

, as well as cold at thecore.

"By the Demonweb!" he exclaimed."What?" R

The weapons myld replied.aster too appeared to be a scurvyrags. Unbelievably               , broken-down ore in grubby

,  he was devouring his vile repast without any overt show ofrepugnance."What?" The Master of Sorcere brandished his sausage. "This travesty. Thisabomination."sheets of hide, taking care not to walkHe headed for the culprit's kiosk, a sad little construction of bone poles and too quickly. His veil of illusion wouldmake it look as if he were limping, but  it wouldn't conceal the anomaly of a lameore covering ground as quickly as one with two good legs.The long-armed, flat-faced goblin proprietor produced a cudgel from  beneaththe counter. Perhaps he was used to complaints.

Pharaun raised a hand and said, "I mean no harm. In fact, I want to help ".The goblin's  eyes narrowed. "Help?"

"Yes. I'll even pay another penny for the privilege." he said as he extracted acopper coin from  his purse. "I just want to show you someThe cook hesitated, then held out a dirty-nailed hand and said, "Give. Nthing."otricks."

"No tricks."

Pharaun surrendered the coins and to the goblin's  surprise, squirmed around the end of the counter and crowded into  the miniature kitchen. He  wrapped his hand in a fold of his cloak, slid the hot  iron grill with its load of  meat from  its brackets, and set it aside.

"First," Pharaun said, "you spread the coals evenly at the bottom  of the brazier." He picked up a poker and demonstrated. "Next, though we don't have

Richard Lee Byers

91

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

time to start from  scratch right now, you let them  burn to gray. Only then do you

start cooking, with the grill positioned here."He replaced the utensil in a higher set of brackets.

"Do you have som"Sausage take longer to fry," the goblin said.ewhere to go? Now  I'm  going to assume  you buy thesequestionable delicacies elsewh      ,

ere and thus can do nothing about the quality,  but

you can at least tenderize them  with a  few  whacks from  that maholes with the fork to help them  cook  on the inside, and sprinkle somllet, poke a few

e  of these

spices  on  them."  Pharaun  grinned.  "You've  never  so much  as  touched a  lot  ofthis stuff, have you? What did you do, m

urder the real chef and take possession

of his enterprise?"The smaller creature smirked and said, "Don'

t matter now

"I suppose not. One last thing: Roast the sausage when the custom, do it?"  er orders itnot hours beforehand. It isn't nearly as a                  ,

then warmed again. Good fortune to you."ppetizing if it's cooked,  allowed to cool,

then exited the stand.

At somHe clapped the goblin on the shoulder,e  point, R

"What was the point of that?" the warrior asked.yld had wandered up to observe the lesson."I was performing a public service," answered the wizard, "preserving th

e

Braeryn fromPharaun fell in beside his friend, and the two dark elves walked on. a plague of dyspepsia."

"You were amusing yourself, and it was idiotic. You take the trouble to

disguise us, then risk revealing your true identity by playing the gourmet.""I doubt one small lapse will prove our undoing. It'

s  unlikely that any of our

ill-wishers will interview that particular  street vendor any time soon or ask the right questions if they do. Rem

ember, we're well disguised. Who would imagine

this lurching, misshapen creature could possibly be my  handsome, elegant self?Though I m

ust admit, your metamorphosis wasn't  quite  so much  of a  stretch."

R

"Why didn'yld scowled, then wolfed down his last bite of sausage and bread.t you disguise us from  the moment  we left Tier Breche?" he asked. "Never mind, I think I know. A fencer doesn'

t

initial m                   reveal all his capabilities in the oments of the bout."

"Something like that. Greyanna and her  minions have seen us looking like

ourselves, so if we're lucky they won't expect to find us appearing radicalldifferent. The trick won't befuddle them  forever              y