Chapter Twenty-Four: Birds

Kesrith looked back at the tufts of grass behind her. They shot up from the endless dunes of sand that stretched out beyond the horizon.

Strange. When Jarlaxle had brought her to see the ocean, there had been sand, and rocks and grass, but also a city behind them. Now the city was gone, replaced by nothing.

In front of her, the tides kept their gentle flow, but it was all muted somehow, as if her ears were stuffed with wool.

She blinked around at her surroundings. Nothing that seemed recognizable stood out to her. Her head tipped up towards the sky.

Nothing. No sun. No clouds. Just dull and grey. The light from the sky did not even hurt her eyes. She felt her face and realized that she was not wearing the little darkened spectacles that her father had made for her.

Then she looked down at her hands and arms. Her heart sped up. She wasn't wearing anything at all.

Am I dead? she wondered. Had her aunts and cousins finally poisoned her or killed her in her sleep?

"It's not real you know," said a voice. "I am surprised you haven't realized it yet."

Kesrith whirled to see the source of the voice.

A woman stood there. With long silver hair and silken black skin, she was obviously drow - and unimaginably beautiful. A shimmering gown of what seemed like silver beads covered her form.

Kesrith gaped at her for what seemed like an eternity. The woman simply smiled back at her. Something about her blue eyes were unsettling, however. She'd never seen blue eyes on a drow, her own grey ones had been seen as unusual. Eventually, Kesrith's gaze lowered to the woman's feet.

"If you want clothing," said the woman. "You only have to imagine it. That is how it works here in the Astral Plane."

In front of her, an enormous loom fitted with luminous threads appeared suddenly along with a small stool upon which the woman promptly sat.

"Do you not have pre-knowledge of these things?"

"Or perhaps," said the woman as she ran her fingers over the silvered strands."You have forgotten. You are very young, however."

Kesrith was confused by this but decided to try to summon some clothing. After what seemed like eternity she felt the weight of fabric on her arms. She looked down and realized she was wearing the black and red robes of a novitiate priestess that she had worn in her school.

"Lovely robes," said the weaver. "A few too many spiders for my taste, however." A stool appeared near the woman. She pointed to it. "Sit"

Kesrith's body seemed to lurch forward toward the stool until she found herself sitting upon it.

The weaver combed through the fine threads, seeming to ignore her for a long while. Kesrith wondered how long she had been here.

"Time doesn't pass here. When you return, it will be as if waking from a dream."

"So I am having a dream?"

The weaver's smile was serene. Beatific.

"Not a true dream. You were in Reverie when I summoned you, however." Her fingers pulled at some strings. "It seems your existence has cause quite the stir."

Kesrith watched the woman's fingers reveal the image of the tapestry. In the foreground, a nude drow woman danced among trees, her silver hair flailing out behind her. A silver sword was in her hand.

"Do you like it?" asked the woman warmly.

"It is pretty," said Kesrith.

"It is my symbol. Perhaps in time you will learn to believe in it."

Kesrith stared at the woman's face for a moment but was unable to endure her blue gaze. She lowered her gaze to the sand instead.

"I am only allowed to believe in symbols of Lolth."

"And I am here to offer you another path."

Kesrith's head snapped up. She'd been taught that heretics would say things like this. Heretics like her mother. This woman must be a heretic of some kind contacting her in her mind somehow.

Or it could just be a test of Lolth. The priestesses had taught her that she had to deny any and every offering from heretics, even if it meant her own death.

"I will only worship Lolth. I am a faithful servant of the Spider Queen. I will give my life to appease her." Kesrith hoped that this wasn't a test of Lolth and that she would demand her life but she tried her best to be adamant in her faith.

The woman's eyes were sad.

"You were born with a great gift. You could use it for the betterment of your people. For the drow. Lolth will only waste your power on her petty schemes."

"Lolth gave me my power! That is why I am chosen!"

"Lolth has never given such gifts. Only finds them and uses them for her own purpose." The woman shook her beautiful head. "You are only a child. When you are older, perhaps I will see you again."

The world around them began to crumble starting with the horizon, then closing into them. Kesrith gasped in alarm. It began to grow dark and shadows clouded her vision. The woman's blue eyes were the last thing to fade out.

Kesrith shot up from the bed. Squinting in the harsh light of the sun streaming through the windows, she grabbed the dark spectacles on the bedside table.

Her Reverie had been another strange vision, one that surely had to be of Lolth herself. Well, she had passed the test, or at least she thought she had. A chill ran down her spine. If she had failed, then she would surely know, right?

She sat and stared at her hands for several moments, frozen in fear.

Her mind raced. Turning the memory over and over in her mind, trying to see if she had said or done anything that might draw the ire of Lolth.

Surely she hadn't...

A high trilling sound from the window interrupted her thoughts. Jumping down from the bed, Kesrith put on the sunglasses and made her way to the window. The sun was bright and stung her eyes, but soon they adjusted to the brightness. A tree branch scraped up against the glass, and on it hopped two fat little birds, chirping excitedly at one another. Her jaw dropped. She watched, mesmerized as the tiny creatures played, ignorant of her presence. They hopped from one branch to the other, seeming to argue as they flapped their bright yellow wings.

Kesrith couldn't help but giggle. She wished to open the window and reach out to them. Holding one of them would be just like her old pet Jewel, who liked to perch on her finger as she fed him little seeds.

Thinking about Jewel made her frown. He was a different kind of bird than these, with a bright green tail that was as long as his body and shimmered just like his namesake. Her mother had bought him for her after she had seen him in the market and begged to take him home. Vaelirra had outright refused at first, and Kesrith, defeated, had run to her room to sulk. But hours later, her mother had appeared at the door, telling her that she would get the bird, but only if the Matron Mother never heard about it.

The next day they had gone to the bazaar and came home with the bird in a silver cage. She chatted to her mother happily and munched on fruit from the surface as she spat out seeds and fed her pet through the openings in his cage. She named him Jewel when they got home, because of his bright feathers which shone with every color imaginable.

But then...

It had been a long time since she'd thought of her pet and it made her chest ache.

She turned her attention to the little birds again. One of them had flown off somewhere. They weren't as lovely as her bird, but the grey and yellow was a fetching conversation.

A remaining bird chirped again, then flapped its wings and took off into the blue sky. Kesrith envied the little creature. If she could fly away from it all she would.

A rush of fabric tore her attention away from the window. Her father stood there, his wide hat on his head and a thoughtful expression on his face.

He took a step towards her, cautiously, as if he was afraid of scaring her. His crimson eyes flashed towards the window where the branch scraped up against the glass again.

"Birds. You like them?"

Kesrith considered whether she should answer him at all. She should do nothing for this idiot heretic but if it would make him go away...

"Yes," said Kesrith, a little defensively. There wasn't anything wrong with liking them was there?

"Is this the first time you have seen one?" His voice was gentle now, which made Kesrith feel a bit suspicious. Why was he asking her such a question?

"Of course not. I had a bird in Menzoberranzan. My mo-Vaelirra bought him for me. I named him Jewel for his feathers."

Jarlaxle took several steps closer than knelt down to her level and smiled at her.

"Birds are lovely. There are so many kinds on the surface. So many colors. They each have a unique song. Did you know that?"

Kesrith shook her head.

"I only had Jewel. Then I saw those out the window. I don't have my bird any more though. I gave him to Lolth for my First Anointing when I was eight."

Jarlaxle's smile fell. The kindness in his eyes was replaced by rage so frightening that Kesrith took a step back from him. She had no idea what she had done to make him so angry.

Seeing her reaction, the mercenary regained his exposure and rose.

"I hope that you will stay long enough to see even more birds. I promise you there are plenty of them in the sky above." He turned to leave. "Breakfast is ready downstairs in the dining room. If you would like to join me, you are welcome."

And with that he was gone. Kesrith stared at the open door for a long time, wondering what to do.