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,  thirsty,  and sore frombonds chafed her           standing for hours in one position. Her

,  and her head ached. Howevergenuine agonies this stuffy cellar provided, and she thought she knew why,  she had yet to endure one of the

.  Somemessenger had instructed the torturers to
 
wait for Triel to arrive before commencing the festivities.ted to converse with the little male and her jailersand failed to elicit a response fromFaeryl had already attemp      eitherstruggle to govern her thoughts. She didn't want to im. She had nothing else to do butagine all the things the

Baenre might do to her,  but she herself had presided over  enough excruciations that it was difficult not to envision the  possibilities. She didn't want  to  dwell onthe massacre of her followers, either, but the memories kept welling up insideher.

Surrounded and outnumbered, the daughters and sons of Ched Nasad hadperished one by one. As Faeryl watched the slaughtertears she refused to shed. Naturally, she didn't "love" her m, her eyes ached with the inions, but she wasused to them, even fond of a few,  and she knew that without a retinue she wasnothing, just a fallen priestess in a land of enemies, bereft of goddess and home alike.

Then the small male confronted her  and used his magic to confound her  and knock her out. She woke tied to the stone stake.

A door creaked, and voices murmured. Faeryl's  instincts warned her that Triel had come  at last. The ambassador closed  her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, composing herself. She wouldn't show fear. Dignity was all she had

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left—for a little while longer anywayof her              , until her captors lashed and  burned  it  out

.

Sure enough, Triel and her draegloth son emerged from  the doorway thatapparently led to m

ore salubrious precincts of the Great Mound. The Baenre

matron was sm

legs.     iling. Fangs bared in a grin, Jeggred bounded along on his caprine The little m

ale rose and offered obeisance.

"Valas," said Triel. "W

"They tried to sneak away in disguise," the mell done. Did the Zauvirr give you any trouble?"ale replied. "It almost fooled the lookout, but once he figured out what was what, everything w

ent as

planned."

hand.The Baenre proffered a fat pouch that  looked too big and heavy for her tiny

"I'

V ll send word when I need Bregan D'aerthe again," she said.alas took the pouch, then bowed low.  He withdrew, and Triel and her

monstrous son turned toward the prisoner.

"Good evening, Matron," Faeryl said, "or is it morning now?"

lunged at the prisonerFighting hands outstretched,  talons at the ready,  jaws agape, Jeggred .  Despite herself,  Faeryl flinched. Both  the claws and the pointed teeth stopped less than an inch

over her              from her flesh. The draegloth loomed ,  pressing close, almost seeming to embrace her like a lover.  He ran a

pointed nail across her cheek, then lifted  it to his bestial muzzle. He sucked,

and a  bit  of warm, viscous  drool, mixed, perhaps,  with  a trace of her blood,

"Have a care," the ambassadordripped onto her forehead.    said with as much nonchalance as she could

muster. "If  your son kills me quickly

Jeggred made a low       , won't that spoil the fun?",  grinding sound. Faeryl couldn't tell if he was growling orlaughing.

Triel said, "You underestimate him. True, I've watched him butcher eight

prisoners  in  as  many seconds, but  I've  also  seen  him spend days  picking one little faerie child apart a mote of flesh at a  time. It depends on his humor, and, needless

to say"Of course," Faeryl said. The shallow gash,  my instructions."

traced the edges of her lips with his claw, not quite cutting, not yet. "I hope the in her cheek began to sting. Jeggred traitor whelp appreciated the honor."

"It was hard to tell," she said. "What about you? Will you savor it?"

honor she didn'"Alas, Exalted Mothert earn." ," Faeryl said, "your daughter can take no pleasure in an

Still stroking the prisoner's  features with the clawsmaller hands that, save for their dusting  of fine hair, Jeggred lifted one of the , looked no different than

those of an ordinary dark elf. He caught  hold of Faeryl's  earshe gasped at the brutal stab of pain.  When he finally l    and twisted it, and

et

throbbing and ringing. She wondered if th       go, the organ kept on damage, though it really didn't matter   e draegloth had inflicted permanent

.  In

the least of her problems.         the hours to come, deafness would be

matriarch. "I always find that dull.""I wish you wouldn't deny your guilt,"  sighed the dainty little Baenre "Even when it's true?" Faeryl felt a fresh  cut bleeding under her eye. App

aren

when Jeggred had abused her ear, she'd bucked against his claw       tly,."Don't be tiresome," T

riel said. "You were fleeing, and that confirms your

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guilt."

me," Faeryl retorted. Jeggred caught "All it confirms is my certainty thathold of a lock of her hair and someone has poisoned your mind against vicious tug. "My aversion to being condem             gave it a

ned unjustly."

"Did you think to escape by running back to Ched Nasad?" Triel asked. "My word is law there, too."

Jeggred slapped her with one of his enorm"How do you know?" Faeryl asked.     ous fighting hands, bashing herhead sideways. For a m

oment, the shock froze her mind. When her senses

returned, she tasted blood in her mouth.

and growled, "Respect the chosen of Lolth."The draegloth crouched, placing his bestial face directly in front of her own, "I mean no disrespect," Faeryl said.  "I'

m

anything could be happening in Ched Nasad. Cloakers could have overr just saying that for all we know, un thecity, or it m

ay have drowned in tides of lava. I doubt it, I pray not, but we don't

know.
 
We  need to find out, and that's  why

the weakness of Menzoberranzan'    I was sneaking away. Not to betray s  clergy to some  enemy or other. Mother of

Lusts, it's my   weakness too! To   gather intelligence, to reestablish

communication—"

"I told you I have been in communication with Ched Nasad," Triel said."To reestablish
 
trustworthy

communication .  ". .  Faeryl persisted, "to make

myself useful and so demonstrate I'm  your loyal vassal, never a traitor ".

Triel made a spitting sound, then said, "My loyal servants obey me."

Faeryl wanted to weep, not from  fear, though she was experiencing plenty ofthat, but from  sheer frustration. Jeggred ran his claw along her c

arotid artery.

"Matron," the Zauvirr said, "I beg you. Let metraduced m                    confront the person who

e. Give me  that one chance to  prove my  fidelity. Is it so hard to

imagine someone telling you a lie? Don't your courtiers slander one another all

the time as a means of vying for your favor? Is it impossible that someone or

some

while days, then tendays, then mthing in Ched Nasad is lying to you even now—telling onths go by without a si    you all is well ngle caravan?"T

r

zoberranzan said, "Yiel hesitated, and Faeryl felt a thou're the liar    rill of hope. Then the ruler of Men-,  and it will do you no good. If you want me toshow any m

ercy at all, tell me  whose creature you are. The svirfneblin? The

aboleths? Another drow city?""I serve only you, Sacred Mother."

convince the Baenre of her innocence. It was too hard for TFaeryl said the words without hope, for she saw that she would never riel to measure u to

her predecessor                        p,  too hard to rule in these desperate times, too hard to makedecisions. She wasn't  about to rethink one of the few she'

squeeze out, no matter how foolish it was.      d managed to

blows. Finally time seemed to skipJeggred slapped Faeryl and kept on somehowslapping until she lost count of the , and he wasn'tanymore. Why should he bother? He'd  al            hitting her

her                ready battered all the strength out of .  She would have fallen if not for  the ropes holding her up. A broken tooth

had lodged under her tongue, and it was all she could do just to spit it  out."I told you," the draegloth snarled,
 
"respect”

s why I give the truth even whenit might be easier to lie.""I am respectful," Faeryl wheezed. "That'

Triel peered  up  at her son  and  said,  "Princess Zauvirr will not  distract you

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from your duties."Jeggred inclined his head. "No, Mother."

use the spy as you see fit. "But at such times as I do not requireIf she tells you anything of interest, pass it a you," the matron continued, "you may lon butthe point of your efforts is chastisement, not interrogation. I doubt she has g,

anything all that important to confide. We  already know who our enemiesare."

"Yes, Mother." The half-demon crouched,  leered into Faeryl's  face, and said,

"I can make the fun last. You'll see."

He stuck out his long, pointed tongue  and licked blood from her face. Themember was as rough as a beast'

s.

The figure in the chapel doorway had  a bulbous head with huge, protrudingobscuring the mouth. It had gnarled three-fingered hands, a body with eyes, dry,  wrinkled hide, and four  wriggling tentacles surrounding and contours and proportions different than those of a drow, and an assortment oftalismans and amulets burning  whad no doubt, was a member of ith strange enchantments. Syrzan, Pharaun