Pellanistra had already been awake for several hours by the time the camp began to stir awake. She laid on her back and looked up at the ceiling of the tent, thinking over everything. Zezdrin was right, she was sure. When it came time in the battle, she would do what needed to be done without flinching—for her mother. She knew she could do it.

And Talra...there Pellanistra faltered. She didn't know what to do as far as her half-sister was concerned. There had been no real enmity or even rivalry between them since Mayna had sent them to the different Academies. Talra was a shadow presence in her life, only older by a few years. Pellanistra's memories of her almost exclusively cast Talra as a distant, small figure behind the equally looming figures of either Yasmur'ss or Vornas.

She had asked about her half sister once, when she was at the Academy. It had been one of the meetings with Sabafae she wasn't supposed to have. Talra, according to Sabafae, had always been the ignored daughter. Vornas regarded her as a nuisance, Yasmur'ss treated her like a tool—though she did that to everyone, and everyone else ignored her completely. Talra drifted on the periphery of the family, never really getting to feel as though she belonged. Except to Malagzar. The Patron really did care for her, though Pellanistra doubted her sister knew it.

Maybe that was why Talra had found it so easy to turn to Zilvala's school of thought...because she felt as though she had nothing to lose.

Pellanistra sat up, donning her armor quietly. She didn't want to hurt her half-sister. Maybe there was something in Talra that could even be redeemed. The young priestess shook out her hair, watching it fall into her face in the small mirror she'd brought along. She couldn't help a bit of vanity now and again, and it was a small indulgence.

She paused, studying her eyes in the looking glass. Their color confused her. She'd never met another drow with her eyes. T'risskacha had always seemed to think they meant something—greatness, she said. But sometimes it seemed like a mistake...like the Goddess had missed her intended target by a generation.

The young priestess rose, tucking the mirror away in her bag and leaving those thoughts behind with some difficulty.

Her family was waiting in the tent shared by the Matron and Patron, the map spread out again. It was quiet, almost unnaturally so, when Pellanistra stepped in. Everyone was in their own thoughts. Yasmur'ss was thoughtful, Tebatar by her side looking afraid. Sabafae was to the Matron's right, her fingers meshed with those of her consort. For once she and Divaufein really looked close in public. Vornas and Zezdrin seemed more taken with the map than anything else, while Mayna stared at it as though it weren't there. Malagzar's hands were resting on her shoulders, but Pellanistra doubted her mother was even aware of her consort's presence. It was as though a wall separated the Matron from everyone and everything else.

"Matron, Pellanistra's here," Malagzar murmured, giving Mayna's shoulders a slight squeeze. It was enough to make the cleric look up.

"We have a battle plan," the Matron said, straightening up. "Pellanistra, you will take a small contingent of soldiers inside the city and disrupt. Bring down the elder brain, sabotage them, whatever you can to hinder and cut the head off the snake. Vornas will accompany you to assist."

"Yes, Matron," Pellanistra said respectfully, hearing her words echoed by her older brother just a moment later.

"Malagzar, you will take Tebatar and Zezdrin with you as well as half of our forces. We'll engulf the enemy and mire them down so Shyntanna Vae can cripple them. You three will be responsible for flanking them."

"As you wish, Matron," Malagzar said. Pellanistra could see concern in her father's eyes. The Patron always worried when he was away from Mayna in a battle. It was his job to make sure she stayed safe and alive.

"Sabafae will lead the assault with our half," Mayna said. "Yasmur'ss and I will support and bolster the troops."

"Matron, is that wise?" Sabafae said, that question audibly protesting the last order. Pellanistra noted the gleam in Yasmur'ss's mirror eyes with the same apprehension Sabafae was no doubt feeling.

"It is my command," Mayna said bluntly. "Understood?"

Pellanistra froze at the hidden steel in those words, studying her mother closely. One close look told her everything she needed to know. Mayna knew just as well as they did what Yasmur'ss would do if she got the opportunity—and it would certainly present itself with the battle plan how it was. Sabafae and Pella would be too far away to do anything, and the Matron knew it. She had intended it to be that way.

Sabafae's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Yasmur'ss. The males in between them almost subconsciously shied out of the way. The older female smiled thinly, openly meeting Sabafae's gaze.

There was a sort of absolute certainty about that look, the blue eyed drowess acknowledged. There would be blood, sooner or later. Divaufein brushed his thumb across the back of the priestess's hand, trying to calm Sabafae down. He could sense her temper simmering underneath. The last thing everyone needed right now was a fight.

"Let's go, then," Mayna said, standing up. "We have a war to win."

"I don't like this," Sabafae muttered to her younger sister as they reached the shores of the Sunless Sea. The black waves whipped and tossed about until the crests foamed, smashing against the shore. The wind picked up, moaning through the tunnels like a wounded beast.

Pellanistra shivered a little as the chill cut through her armor, crossing her arms tightly. "Neither do I," she murmured before looking over at her sister. "This is where we part ways."

Sabafae hugged her sister tightly for a moment before pulling back. "Just in case, Pella," she said softly. She smiled sadly. "I might not get the chance to see you again."

The blue-eyed drowess smiled back, seeming as bright and cheerful as ever. "Don't say that. We'll be back in a tent at the end of today toasting each other and watching Mother rampage through the city scaring illithids out of their wits," Pellanistra said. Underneath the show she was terrified of dying, but this was the least she could do for Sabafae.

"Give them hell for me," Sabafae said with a laugh.

"Any day," Pellanistra said with a lazy, playful salute before she pulled away, a few squads of soldiers following her. She took a few steps before the doubt rushed back. She had sixty soldiers under her command. I can't do this...I can't do this...

The young priestess looked back and saw Sabafae waving to her. Further back, just emerging from the darkness, were her mother and father. Pellanistra waved to her older sister and took a deep breath. But I have to.