Part 3
Rules
"How's
she?" Zak inquired. Jarlaxle whirled,
nearly overturning the chair he was sitting on. They were in one of the private sickrooms of HQ, actually now
that of Lanfaye's.
Lanfaye's
wound had been bandaged quickly by Zekres, and she was now breathing evenly,
though she was still very pale.
"Zekres
says she'd make it," Jarlaxle said shortly. The weapon master looked disturbed.
"I
see," Zak said emotionlessly. Jarlaxle
looked sharply at him, and saw that some kind of blanked color seemed to
flicker around his eyes. He'd been
around Zak long enough to know what that meant.
"Oh
no..." he said.
"Oh
yes," Zak sighed, "Zaire too." The cheetah purred, scattering soot randomly on
the ground.
"We
could get one of the priestesses to heal her," Jarlaxle said dubiously,
apparently forgetting about Zak and looking back at Lanfaye.
"Not
one of Lloth's, we can't." There was an
odd edge to Zak's voice.
"Why
not?" Jarlaxle asked, "We can control it..."
"Don't
you see?" Zak said quietly, "Why I allowed the priestesses to call up those
yochlols?"
"I
was wondering about that," Jarlaxle said dryly, "But I thought it was showing
off."
"It
wasn't," Zak said wearily, "It was what I did that burned out the filters. When you call a god or goddess, and they
reply, they open a link to you. I've
closed that link to Lloth, and gave her a nice sting to go along with it."
"Oh
gods," Jarlaxle whispered. "Permanently?"
Zak
nodded savagely. "For all in this city,
at least. And their descendants, forever." Now Zak started to laugh, and
his laughter made the hair on Jarlaxle's arms want to rise.
"Good,"
Jarlaxle said after a pause. "If
magic's so great, heal her."
Zak
looked blankly at Jarlaxle, then smiled wryly. "Thank you for reminding me."
Jarlaxle
nodded grimly. Not even raw magic
healed hurts, for some reason. It
seemed to be able to do anything else, short of resurrection.
"We'd
get by," Zak shrugged.
"Where's
Malice?" Jarlaxle grinned wickedly. Zak's expression became pained briefly before flickering back.
"Here,"
Zak said shortly.
Jarlaxle
nodded knowingly.
"Not
as bad as Lanfaye," Zak continued. Jarlaxle's grin faded to make way for irritation.
"Yeah
well," he grumbled, "Had a nice sleep?"
"No,"
Zak admitted.
"Go
sleep a bit more, then," Jarlaxle said.
"I
can't," Zak said. Sleeping gave him
nightmares, or visions of how the world started...
"Then
go to your office," Jarlaxle sighed, "Laner's coming. Did you clean your boots from walking around in Menzoberranzan?"
"No,"
Zak said, "I fell asleep."
"Then
walk on the carpet," Jarlaxle said.
"Why?"
Zak asked suspiciously.
Jarlaxle
radiated innocence.
**
Zak
looked at the carpet. There didn't seem
to be anything wrong with it. Zaire
shook out her coat, and padded over it.
Zak
automatically started after her. Then
Nina and Zekres darted out of a side door. Their accents had somehow disappeared after the brothel had been shut
down, and Zak had never speculated why.
"Zaknafein!"
Nina snapped, "Off the carpet!"
Zak
was already moving before he realized it.
"We
spent the morning cleaning it while the two of you were off playing soldiers,"
Zekres continued, "And the first thing Jarl does is to step on it with his
dirty boots! And now you!"
Zaknafein
held up two hands in a gesture of surrender. "All right, all right, I'm sorry."
Zaire
made a sound like a snigger.
"And
you too, cat," Nina told it. Zaire
looked injured, but obligingly padded off the carpet.
"Sorry?"
Zekres bristled.
"Jarlaxle
told me to do it," Zaknafein said quickly.
"He
did?" Nina's voice rose, "Why, that..." she disappeared down the stairs.
Zak
snickered.
"You're
not let off, Zaknafein," Zekres said, "Frankly, the things the two of you
do...your lady friend's awake, by the way."
"Which
lady friend?" Zaknafein inquired innocently.
Zekres
glared at him. "The one you...like very
much."
"Doesn't
ring a bell," Zak said irritably.
Zekres
snorted. "Don't play at this, Zak. You'd only hurt yourself. What you should do, is to go and make up
with her – nicely, and no shouting."
Zaknafein
looked at her furiously.
"I
changed your diapers, Zaknafein. Don't
you tell me what's not right," Zekres snapped.
Zaknafein
finally looked sheepish. "Right,
right."
"Good. Now shoo. The dwarf's in the office, and he needs a bath. The sooner he stops ruining all the
furniture the better." Zekres turned back to the carpet, muttering to herself
as she traced out Zaire's soot marks.
Zak
considered cleaning it off with a thought, but they got upset when he used
magic to do the housework, so he retreated into the office. He'd take care of Malice later...after
Laner. And possibly after they read out
the new rules.
The
black fox leapt up when the door opened, then cowered in its basket when Zaire
padded in.
Laner
was already waiting for him. The dwarf
left off sharpening his axe, and got off one of the expensive chairs. The cushion was stained with a bit of blood,
and Zaire sniffed out the scent of mithril on it. Zekres was really not going to like this...
"'ello
'ello," Laner grinned. "About your
agreement..."
**
Zaknafein
stepped onto the upraised platform in the center of the cleared bazaar, with
Drizzt at his side. They had agreed on
the rules an hour ago in the presence of all the Masters.
"When
a new governing takes over," Zaknafein started, amplifying his voice, "There
are new rules."
The
bazaar was filled, but Zaknafein made sure his voice would be heard in all of
Menzoberranzan.
Drizzt
was fingering his dagger. The dragon,
apparently, had disappeared on secret discussion with Jarlaxle and Zaknafein,
so that the enemy would charge.
"First
and foremost, I would like to announce that Lloth would no longer have any
influence whatsoever in Menzoberranzan. Her power here no longer exists." He smirked.
"The
houses will still exist," Zaknafein said, "But there will no longer be a
ranking system. There may be a
difference of power, of course. A
council of ten, for convenience the current top ten Houses, will preside over
judging and such in Menzoberranzan – bring the large crimes to them for
judging. The oldest non-Master male
will head the House, and there will be no more patron nonsense. The title is 'Lord'. This is, however, still tentative."
"Masters
will lead the city and decide laws and such, Sorcere and Melee-Magthere
together." Drizzt said, "And the two head Masters of both, the two of us, of
course," he permitted himself a grin at Zak, "Will still head the Masters."
"I
am sure that many of you know the mercenary group Bregan D'aerthe," Zak said, "It
is the largest group in Menzoberranzan that does so. They have agreed to one more duty – patrolling the city and
making sure you uphold the laws. A
'policing' force, if you will."
"As
for the laws," Drizzt said dryly, "No murders, not even in secret, except in
self defense. No thieving. No adultery...we will put up the complete
list later in the Bazaar."
"The
surviving priestess females," Zak continued, "Can be absorbed back into their
Houses if you want. Whatever they have
done, they are still needed for the continuation of our species, and I believe
in second chances. Do not mistreat
them, though," he said dangerously, "We are not of Lloth, and we will no longer
follow her perverted ways. To do so is
to prove that we are on the same level as they were."
There
was a small murmur, hopefully of assent, with the crowd below.
Drizzt
whistled, and some Bregan D'aerthe soldiers emerged, pushing the surviving
priestesses that could walk in front of them.
The
crown murmured angrily, but a hard stare from Zak silenced them. They parted to make way for the priestesses.
"Lloth
will punish you!" shrieked the first, Vaneka Oblodra.
Zak
smiled grimly. "Would you like to take
back those words?" he asked, and Drizzt realized that Zak wasn't speaking in
his 'normal' voice. Zaire began to
growl.
"Lloth
will kill the perpetuators of this blasphemy." Vaneka looked disheveled, and
she was missing the better part of her hand from her whip's explosion.
"I
wouldn't bet on that," Zak said quietly. His voice was becoming more and more odd, as if he was speaking inside a
small echoing cavern.
"Zak..."
Drizzt said tentatively.
Zak's
eyes flashed, and he held out his hand. There was a twist in the air as if there was a blaze of blanked color,
then a drow female appeared, standing in mid air and looking confused.
Drizzt
blinked. The female wore a dress made
entirely of living spiders, and she was impossibly beautiful. Her eyes were malevolent with ancient evil. She could only be one thing...what had Zak
done?
The
priestesses fell to their knees in supplication.
"Come
closer," Zak said, and his voice wasn't even remotely like his normal
anymore, it was overwhelming, the effect greater than that of his dragon's
voice.
Unwillingly,
the female stepped forward in front of him. Zak shuddered convulsively, as if something was attempting to take over
his body, then stared at the female again. "What is your name?" he tempered down his voice obligingly at Drizzt's
wince.
"Lloth,"
the female said unwillingly through clenched teeth. "You will pay for this."
"I
am magic itself," Zak laughed, "Do you recognize that?" His eyes bored into
hers, and she looked quickly away.
"Yes,"
she said, and her voice faltered briefly.
"Look
at your goddess, priestesses," Zak sneered. "Her power is nothing compared to magic."
Lloth
snarled, and Drizzt was brushed briefly by her power as she directed her
crushing will on Zaknafein. He was
nearly driven to his knees. Zaire
growled, but Zak gave her a half-shake of her head, and she subsided
unwillingly.
Zaknafein
looked at her, expressionless. "Is that
the best you can do?" he asked. "Cliche. My turn."
He
held out his hand, and she tried to flinch away. Drizzt saw that Zak was wearing a ring, though the carving he
could not see.
Zak
pressed the ring into her cheek, and Lloth began to writhe and scream. Steam rose from the ring, but Zak looked
unconcerned. Below, Vaneka began to
wail.
Zak
took away his hand, and Drizzt saw with some horror that a symbol of a
cheetah's head had been branded onto Lloth's cheek. She felt at it with trembling fingers.
Zak
twisted Lloth's head this way and that to show her face to those below,
radiating a grim satisfaction.
"My
mark will stay with you for the rest of your existence," Zak said coldly,
"Leave Menzoberranzan alone. I can do
worse to you if I need to." He turned
to Drizzt. "Well, Master Drizzt, would
you like to do something? Your scimitars will go through her easily."
Drizzt
unsheathed one in a blurring motion, and pressed the point to Lloth's
neck. He wanted to do this – her curse
had tainted and broken so many...but he couldn't. However, he did press harder, drawing a bead of blood. Grimly, he touched his dagger to the stain
on his scimitar. Perhaps the dragon
would like this better.
It
didn't come, of course – the summoning required his blood – but Drizzt could
sense it was pleased.
Zak
nodded, and Lloth vanished in the twist of air like that of which she had come.
"Well,
priestesses?" he asked coolly.
Vaneka
had fainted dead away.
**
Zak
walked into the room, closing the door behind him. It was another sickroom in HQ, but he noted that it was one of
the better-furnished ones. Nina and
company were overdoing things, he decided.
Malice
was apparently sleeping on the narrow bed, her wealth of luxurious hair spread
like a soft cloud on the pillow, her beautiful face peaceful. Thankfully she wasn't wearing that accursed
priestess robe, but a simple, off-white one.
He
sat down on the bed, Zaire curling up on the carpet. According to Nina, Malice had some bad burns on her side, but
nothing more serious.
Zak
looked at her for a long time, though not with much emotion in his heart other
than a vague confusion. None of that
hatred-versus-love things – he was too weathered for that already. He reached out tentatively to brush a strand
of hair back from her cheek.
Malice's
breathing changed note immediately, and one of her hands snapped up to grab his
hand inches from her face. Her eyes
opened to regard him, and Zak saw in them about the same confusion as him,
except with a little fear.
"I
knew it was you," she said coldly.
Zak
shrugged. She was still holding his
hand, he noted, and he made no effort to retrieve it.
"So,"
she said with the same freezing voice, "What are you going to do?"
"First
on my mind is why you decided to take up with Rizzen and the rest," Zak said
dryly, "Or is that a stupid question?"
"I
didn't grow 'tired' of you, if that's what you think," Malice said, her voice
taking in a hint of outrage, the fear already gone from her eyes. "You were the one who started it."
"Tell
me what I did." Zak said flatly.
"You
know perfectly well."
"If
I knew I wouldn't ask," Zak pointed out.
"Then
maybe you think it's fine to go and sleep with so many females behind my back,"
Malice said. Now she was becoming both
upset and furious.
Zak
looked completely bewildered. "I did?"
"Nina...and
Zekres," Malice said triumphantly, "And quite a few others. Yes, Jarlaxle agreed that they were your
'childhood caretakers', but I only have his word, and yours. You keep talking about them all the time in
your sleep."
Zaknafein
gave her an incredulous look. "Because
of this you went and..."
"Yes,"
Malice snapped.
Zak
stared at her, then started to chuckle. Malice gave him a furious glare.
"If
you could be so good as to leave," she said tightly, "I would be so obliged."
"Would
you like to see them?" Zak asked, "They're here, you know – Nina and the
others."
"If
this is some sort of revenge..." Malice stopped and took several heaving
breaths, "You're absolutely sick,
Zaknafein."
Zaknafein
touched his amulet, his face going blank.
"I
don't want to see them!" Malice cried, pushing his hand away.
"But
you must," Zaknafein said dryly, "To see the truth."
A
few minutes later, Sherl stepped in, followed by Zekres, Nina, Marena and
Kirane.
"Allow
me to introduce you to Sherl, Zekres, Nina, Marena and Kirane," Zak said
grandly, "And vice versa, this is Malice."
"Your
lady friend," Zekres said sagely, "Right. Have the both of you made up?"
Malice
stared at them. Though drow did not
show their age much, it was obvious at all five females were very old indeed.
"You
called us in just for an introduction?" Sherl demanded, "Well. I thought you had better sense."
"Sorry,"
Zak grinned, and waited until they left.
"Well?"
he asked Malice, still grinning. Malice
looked stunned, and embarrassed.
It
took an effort, but she started. "My
apologies, Zaknafein," she said stiffly, "I was in the wrong."
"All
of us make mistakes," Zak said carefully, "I forgive you."
"Who
said I wanted your forgiveness?" Malice demanded irritably. Zak raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well..."
she began, then faltered. Zak smiled
oddly, and reached out to hold her in a close embrace. Zaire yawned, chirped with satisfaction,
then curled up more tightly to sleep.