"How did you win Aly's affections?" Camran asked, leaning against the balcony railing next to Sabal. They were high above Silverymoon in one of the palace towers, presented with a beautiful view.

"I don't know," Sabal said as she looked out over the emerald, white, and blue that was the city. Silverymoon was beginning to grow on her, though she would never admit it. There was something calming about the place, which made her immediately suspicious, but so far nothing really unpleasant had happened short of Elénaril's advances on Aly. Logan had proved annoying and sometimes she saw Nendir's father watching her with a scrutinizing eye, but those were minor irritations. "What I do know is that she speaks of it better than I do. You should be asking her for advice."

"She suggested you," Camran said. "You talked about love when we first came here."

"Drow are not good advice when it comes to lovers. It is about power first and foremost in Menzoberranzan, and I imagine that is true as well of other drow cities. I am guessing that on the surface, the severed head of the enemy of the object of your affections is not an appropriate gift," Sabal said dryly.

The young man looked horrified. "Please tell me that isn't how you—" he started.

Sabal laughed. "Aly is not that kind of woman. I'm certain she wouldn't object too strenuously about me killing certain people in the Underdark, but I've never given her a severed head. I don't know why we are so attached to each other. Objectively, it's incredibly foolish sentiment that puts us in more danger than any rational people should subject themselves to. We were friends for a long time before that. I used to think of her as my mage. Well, I still do. You don't let people break things that are yours if you are drow. Then I found out I missed her and the rest fell into place when I told her that she would always have me. Things have been up and down since then, but we endure. She knows me better than anyone. I hope I am not wrong when I say the same."

Camran studied Sabal's face. It was impassive, without a real hint of expression, but he believed what she'd said was genuine. Their wilder was surprisingly devoted to Aly, or maybe not surprisingly any more. He didn't associate drow with love, but here it was. "She loves you, you know," he said. "Can't believe I didn't see it before, with the way she looks at you."

Sabal shrugged a little and then changed the subject. "Before I distract Logan for you, I want to speak to Lady Alustriel. Can your romantic rendezvous wait until then?"

Camran was no expert on drow, but he had a sneaking feeling that this one wasn't comfortable with the idea of being loved or maybe the idea of love at all. He wasn't prepared to drop the matter quite yet. "Sabal, you do know she loves you, don't you?" Camran said.

"I'm a good lover, Camran," Sabal said dismissively, starting towards Lady Alustriel's study. "That's all. Now wait here. If someone tries to interrupt our conversation, like Elénaril for example, divert them." She moved at a brisk walk that dared someone to try and stop her. Fortunately, no one did.

"Is it so hard to believe Aly might feel that way?" the priest of Sune asked, following her. He would have reached out to grab her arm if he didn't think she might hurt him. "From everything I've seen, you're the most important thing in her world, over even magic. Why is this so hard for you?"

Sabal rounded on him, amber eyes narrowed. "Because I know what I am," Sabal said. "I was not made to love or be loved, Camran. Aly is…" The drowess took a deep breath. "Aly is like the sun. She illuminates the world with knowledge and beauty and even kindness. Do you know how rare that is in the Underdark? In the world? I am a creature of shadow. I will always be one. Light does not love the dark."

"But they do make each other complete," Camran said. He frowned at her. "You told me love was a sacrifice. Do you really think Aly hasn't given up things willingly for you? If you don't know better, you're every bit as delusional and self-absorbed as the drow I heard of in the Underdark."

Sabal looked like she wanted to tear into him for the last part, but she stopped herself. Aly had sold her soul to obtain the wilder's freedom. Sabal knew it, though Alystin had never come out and said it directly. That was more of a sacrifice than she herself could make. Her soul was not her own to give. "I do not appreciate the scrutiny," she said flatly instead of giving him a proper retort.

That was enough to convince Camran that the conversation was at an end. The rest of the walk to Alustriel's study was deathly quiet.

Sabal rapped her knuckles on the door and waited for the called, "Enter!" to go in. Camran obediently waited outside the door, unwilling to push Sabal any further. Her tolerance for him was particularly thin at the moment.

The silver-haired woman was busy at her desk in much the same way Aly was occupied at House Druu'giir, clearly surfacing from a few hours of intense arcane study. She offered Sabal the same warm smile she always had for the drowess. "Sabal, what can I do for you?"

"It's about Lord Holt," Sabal said after she'd closed the door carefully behind herself. She focused her mind on the present, ignoring Camran's needling commentary for the moment. She could put him through the wringer for it later—her memory was long and he would be at her mercy in training at some point in the near future. It was probably petty, but Sabal wasn't above inventing punishments for him. "We believe he is intimately involved with our fiend problem."

Alustriel nodded contemplatively as she closed her spellbook. "An interesting perspective," she said carefully, studying the drowess. "I like to believe that I'm a fair woman, Sabal. That requires that I act on evidence, not merely supposition. What can you tell me that implicates him?"

Sabal bit the inside of her cheek. Underdark testimony likely wouldn't be acceptable on the surface, and furthermore, Durna Thuldark would probably not be keen on appearing in one of these surface 'courts' Nendir had spoken of. She wasn't certain without speaking to him first that Drustan Wheelan would be willing to reveal Holt's spell component purchases to anyone other than herself, as he would likely be punished for selling reagents for the darkest kinds of magic. Underdark justice was so much easier than surface justice. She wasn't even certain why she was telling Alustriel other than the fact that she didn't want to upset the balance of power in the Silver Marches by just killing him without informing her. The only reason she cared about that was that drow notion of favors: Alustriel had been hospitable without asking for anything in return, which meant that Sabal owed her. Sabal was not a fan of owing powerful people, so she was inclined to pay her debt as quickly as possible, even if that meant showing an unusual level of consideration to a surfacer.

Alustriel was waiting patiently for her answer, ill-inclined to push unnecessarily.

"There is a woman, a laird in Gracklstugh, named Durna Thuldark," Sabal said, speaking with an equal level of care. "She is also a trader, and one of her merchants on the surface has been selling…questionable spell components to Lord Holt that are used in the summoning and binding of fiends as well as other dark magics."

"Gracklstugh is a duergar city, correct? The seat of their kingdom?"

"Yes," Sabal confirmed reluctantly. She could tell where this was going.

"You understand why I am maintaining a healthy level of skepticism, then," Alustriel said patiently. "This man on the surface, who is he?"

Sabal's amber eyes were guarded. "I doubt you would be kind to someone complicit in this affair. He has played his part," she said even though she didn't really care what happened to Drustan, as she didn't even know the man and he was Durna's ally—not hers—anyway.

The fundamental problem was that her most solid proof of Lord Holt's involvement was Durna and the memory of the imp that she'd ripped out. She couldn't exactly just reach into Alustriel's mind and play the psionic echo for her as a vision. Powerful people did not like strangers in her their minds, in her experience. Yvonnel was a rare exception, but only because she had the training to keep parts of her mind walled off from even practiced intruders. She could allow Sabal in to share a memory while keeping her own secrets subtly hidden.

"Sabal, I need proof and from a reliable source," the human noblewoman said. "This is not Menzoberranzan, where it is allowable—even encouraged—to go kill someone based on supposition and personal animosity. If what you say about Lord Holt is true, and I do have my own reservations about the man, then he needs to be brought to trial in a court. There is a proper way to do this."

"And while he is in trial, who is curtailing the spread of his influence? Who is stopping him from ordering subordinates to carry out what he cannot?" Sabal said, doing her best to keep the heat out of her voice. She was used to a relatively cautious superior whose answer was not "no", but instead "no one can know". Alustriel didn't seem to understand that bloody efficiency was far preferable to the dithering and hand-wringing she'd heard of from Nendir. In the Underdark, there were not trials. There was just judgment, and nowhere was that truer than with the Yath'Abban. One did not argue with the will of the Goddess. Reasonable or, frequently, not, Lloth's dictates were final. "He will have no trouble finding people to speak very prettily for him."

"Find me evidence, Sabal, and I will make certain he has nowhere to run," Alustriel said. Her voice would have been sterner, but she could see the stubbornness in the drowess starting to rear its head. She softened her tone appropriately. "I will help you, but you can't just go charging into his home in Waterdeep and kill him. If you do, there will be no protection, and I can guarantee you that the Masked Lords of Waterdeep are not as understanding as I am."

Sabal's jaw tightened. "The more time he has, the more damage he can do."

"This is going to take time either way. If what you say is true, there will be a whole network of people to unearth. You'll need the help, Sabal," Alustriel said patiently. "Think of it as reconnaissance. You want to know your enemy before you fight him, yes? Just tell me what you learn and I should be able to assist you, provided things are as you say."

Every instinct in the drowess's body was screaming for her to go find the man and kill him as viciously and secretly as possible, but it would be no secret now if Holt suddenly died. Granted, with Aly's help she could probably make it to the Underdark before Alustriel could find her, but maybe that wasn't worth it. Alustriel could be a powerful ally now and potentially in future, so long as her association with Lloth remained largely unknown. Did she really want to make a powerful enemy by burning the tenuous bridge she'd built with her host?

Sabal was beginning to see the danger of the surface: it made simple things complicated and conflicted.

She asked herself a relatively simple question that often had a very complicated answer to it: What would Xullae do?

Pick your battles, her mentor had told her. Was this one worth fighting? Was it winnable?

Alustriel knew she'd won when Sabal's squared shoulders lowered ever so slightly. "Fine," Sabal said as graciously as she could manage, which wasn't very. She sounded very much as though she was going against her own better judgment. "But I will not vouch for his safety."

"I didn't expect you to," Alustriel said. "I'm certain I can get Alystin to do that."

Sabal glared and the noblewoman laughed softly in good humor. The gentle amusement took the edge away from Sabal's irritation. "You're as bad as Camran," she said snappishly all the same. Granted, her interaction with Alustriel was never as combative as that between her and Camran. The priest of Sune didn't know when to leave things well enough alone.

"He only pesters you because he wants to help," Alustriel said gently.

"If I needed help, I would ask for it," Sabal said, her irritation still as clear as daylight.

"Would you?" the human countered. "Sabal, I have known you for a very short time, particularly in the measures of the drow, but even I know that you pride yourself immensely on your independence."

Sabal considered that before speaking, examining herself with a scrutiny very few people could prompt. It was true. Life in Menzoberranzan had taught her to do everything possible on her own, without admitting weakness or a need for assistance. Aly was gradually teaching her that it was acceptable to ask for things, but it was a difficult lesson for a child of the House of Abandonment. Besides, that lesson extended to Aly and Aly only. "Everything he has said and done has lead me to believe that Camran is a child," she said finally. "I do not look to children for advice."

"And yet they can teach a surprising amount, particularly about things like gentleness and openness," Alustriel said. "Someday you might find such things useful, particularly if you are going to keep loving someone."

"We'll see," Sabal said. Even if Alustriel did have a point, which the drowess refused to admit even inwardly, she was not going to give Camran the satisfaction of vindication. "That was everything, Lady Alustriel."

"I appreciate the fact that you came and spoke with me," Alustriel said. "How are you finding the surface? I didn't have a chance to talk to you last night."

"Infuriatingly invasive," Sabal answered drily, thinking of Camran as much as the comments she had been forced to endure at the party.

Alustriel laughed again.

That reminded her of the secondary mission she'd been given by her altogether too eager lover. She was tempted to just pretend Alustriel had said no and dash Camran's hopes, but that would probably end up with her exiled from the bed if Aly found out. "I do need your consent for something else," Sabal said reluctantly. "I need to incapacitate Logan Halloran. I won't kill him."

The noblewoman raised an eyebrow. "Sabal…"

"It's for a good cause," the drowess said defensively. "And it was Aly's idea."

"Perhaps you had better tell me the full story."

"I can't believe she put him through a window," Linnan said with a grin, shaking his head a little bit. "Good thing she didn't hurt more than his ego and his rear end. Must be getting soft on the surface."

"I can hear you," Sabal snapped, rounding on the halfling and his elven friend. "Call me soft again and I will put my fist through your face."

"Sabal," Aly said warningly without looking up from her book. They were together out in a little private corner of the gardens, just out of earshot of Camran and his pretty new friend. She was pleased that Sabal had carried out her end of the bargain, but the drowess had seemed unusually cross even after her 'friendly' training bout with Logan.

Sabal's lip curled and her glare intensified, but she didn't reiterate the threat or move to act on it.

"So when do we leave for Waterdeep?" Nendir asked to smooth things over, forcing himself not to laugh at the interaction. He didn't know why or how Aly had such a hold over Sabal, but it could be highly entertaining sometimes.

"Oh, a few days," Aly said, turning a page with a little flick. She'd found a particularly engrossing tome on fiends and obtained permission to remove it from the library temporarily. "I'm still crafting a solution to the fire abilities of devils. It would be more helpful if I could actually summon an imp or something to experiment on."

"Aly…" Nendir started to say.

She looked up from her book. "Yes, I'm well aware it's unwise," she said with amusement. "That's why I haven't done it."

The elf wanted to point out that it was probably unethical as well, but he couldn't really figure out a way to express that to their wizard. Experimenting on a devil seemed cruel, but then again, they were evil and it was for a good cause. It was conflicting for Nendir. He looked over at Storunn, who was inspecting his chainmail for rust spots. "I'm going to go train," he said. "Storunn?"

"Right behind ye, lad," the dwarf said, standing up.

"I'll go too," Linnan said quickly. He didn't want to be left alone with a sulking Sabal.

The three scurried off, leaving Sabal and Aly alone. The wizard looked over and raised an eyebrow. "You know, if you wanted time alone with me, you could have just asked," Alystin said with amusement.

"Possibly," Sabal acknowledged. She knelt down in front of the wizard, finding one of Aly's hands with both of hers. She looked up into confused grey eyes, her own amber eyes unreadable even to her lover. "I talked to Camran."

"Is that so?" Alystin said, feeling her breath catch in her throat a little bit when the wilder pressed a kiss to her palm. There was a thrill that came with the danger of being affectionate somewhere someone might see. At any moment, one of their companions could come back to this little hollow in the gardens. It was shielded from direct view by trees and hedges, but people knew they were there. "Sabal…"

"He drew my attention to something, though it was not intentional on his part," Sabal said calmly, turning Aly's captive hand over so she could kiss the mage's knuckles. "Even a blind spider catches something in its web now and again."

Alystin knew she should probably pull away and try to return things to normal, but she found herself enthralled by seeing her Sabal out in the world beyond their private space for a moment. She managed to find the presence of mind to say softly, "Sabal."

"I know," Sabal said, watching with satisfaction the wonderment in those lovely grey eyes. "You deserve things that aren't secret, ussta ssin. You should hear it from me said aloud, not whispered, that if I could hold the world in my hands, I would give it to you. That if I could, I would do anything and everything for you."

Even to the wizard, declarations of feelings of any kind from Sabal were almost unheard of. The last one Aly could think of was when she'd confessed to heresy and Sabal had answered, You'll always have me. Hearing one here, in a place that wasn't their bed or even safe, was like being hit from a bolt from the blue. "I know, d'anthe," Alystin said. She gave Sabal's hand a squeeze and pulled the wilder up.

Sabal sat down on the bench next to her lover and pulled Alystin in close. "I wasn't finished," the wilder murmured into the wizard's ear. Her arms slipped around Aly's slender waist. Now she would be taking the real leap out of her own comfort zone. "You deserve to hear me say that I love you, Alystin."

Aly's lips parted in surprise and she found herself just looking at Sabal for a moment while she tried to form words. Unable to find any, she leaned in and kissed the wilder, lingering against her lover's lips. The soft contact jolted her mind back to life. "I love you too," the wizard whispered when she had to pull away to breathe. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen those amber eyes so clear, removed from any worry or thought of anything but this.

"You will always have me," Sabal promised again, tucking some of Alystin's currently brown hair back behind a rounded ear. She caught the book before it fell out of Alystin's lap and set it carefully to the side. "And you deserved to actually hear it."

"Does this mean…?" Alystin started to ask, but she couldn't quite finish it.

"I don't care who knows," Sabal said quietly, following the line of Alystin's cheekbone with her fingertips. "And if someone ever tries to use that to hurt you, there won't be enough of them left for a healing spell to touch."

Alystin's smile widened slightly. "I know," she said. "And I'll fight for you just as hard."

Sabal touched her forehead to the wizard's. "Then we have nothing to worry about," she said with confidence.

Alystin wasn't certain that she was ready to tell anyone, but the fact that Sabal was willing to meant the world to her. She hadn't realized how good it would feel to hear Sabal actually say things aloud. She'd known that Sabal cared about her, but hearing it was…well, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "Why don't we go back to our room?" Alystin said softly and deliberately.

"And your studies?" Sabal said softly.

"They can wait," Aly said. "Nothing's more important to me than you are, d'anthe."

Sabal smiled. "Lead the way."

Maev smiled at Camran as they made their last circuit of the gardens. His friends were long gone and she knew that her brother would probably be turning up at any moment. "See you tomorrow?" she said softly. The pretty brunette had spent their walk as close to him as she could be while they walked, laughing often enough that her face was a little bit sore in the best of ways.

"Nothing would make me happier," Camran said genuinely. "Where and when?"

Her smile brightened a little and she leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said softly. "Out here by the roses in midmorning. Logan will be out hunting all day."

Camran's cheeks reddened, but he grinned. "I'll be there," he promised.

"Maev!" Logan shouted not far away.

"Coming!" she called, reluctantly stepping back away from Camran. She smiled at him one last time. "Tomorrow."

Camran watched her go, unable to stop grinning even as he walked away towards the training yard. Locating the others was easy: Storunn was bellowing out helpful advice to Linnan and Nendir as they locked in mock combat. The world seemed brighter than it had before. He knew he would need to thank Aly and Sabal, but there was no sign of either of them. He sat down on the bench next to Storunn. "How are they doing?"

"Good," the dwarf said gruffly. "Nendir's getting' good. We can still put him on his back, but he goes down fightin'." Camran knew that 'we' meant Storunn and Sabal. "And Linnan's always been a slippery little bugger."

Camran chuckled. "So I take it you're not worried about our chances."

Storunn looked up at him. "'Course I am," the warrior said. "We're fighting fiends, lad. Ye think that one we saw was a big 'un? Ye ain't seen nuthin' yet."

The priest of Sune turned his face up towards the sky. At the moment, he had never felt closer to his goddess. "We'll be fine," he said with confidence. "We all have things to live for."

A shadow fell across them and Camran looked over. A strange figure stood there: a woman, but hunched and hooded, shrouded in rags. Bones rattled, dangling from the edge of her hood. He couldn't make out her face, but he was guessing based on how she moved that she was blind. Her aged hands were gnarled and long-nailed, almost clawed. "You," she said, leveling a finger at the human. She had an accent that was so foreign it actually sounded harsh, certainly not one Camran had ever heard before, and she smelled of something black and unwholesome. "You will take me to the drow. I have a message."

"What message?" Camran asked as he clambered to his feet, unable to crush a sudden feeling of dread.

"You will take me to the drow."