A/N: A little more action in this one. I've tried to keep Sielza out of the Generic Evil Drow Priestess camp, but I'm afraid that she fell a little more into it than Aylena does. We'll see.
Disclaimer in Prologue.
Chapter 2
Sielza
"Kyorl tuth rathrea lueth alust." (Watch both behind and in front).
-Good advice.
"How did you get through the webs?"
Aylena hadn't known that she could still feel this level of fear. Of course, she had felt something like it in front of the goddess, but the Lady was, after all, a goddess. The voice of a mortal drow shouldn't be able to make her skin chill and her feet itch to run the other way.
At least, Aylena didn't think so.
"Sister," she said, bowing her head as Sielza stepped out of the webs guarding the tunnel. She must have been using magic of some kind to conceal her body heat, which now blazed forth in a scarlet as rich as her eyes.
"Sister," said Sielza, but with that bite in her words that still chilled Aylena. "I asked you a question. I expect an answer to that question." Her hand fell to her belt, where the snakes of her whip hissed and twisted around themselves in anticipation.
Aylena eyed them as calmly as she could. She had been beaten before, but perhaps the snakes wouldn't bite as deeply into the skin of a trainee priestess in Lloth's favor.
One of the vipers hissed at her, and Aylena shuddered. As with everything about the Lady of Spiders, one could never be sure.
"I was-" Aylena began, and only then realized that Sielza hadn't asked her where she had been. There was every likelihood that her sister, a high priestess of Lloth with much on her mind, simply didn't care about such things. But getting through the webs was another thing, something that was supposed to be beyond a female as young as Aylena. Aylena let her eyes fall to the floor again. "I am in Lloth's favor," she murmured. "The *quarval-sharess* parted the webs and let me through."
"You lie."
Aylena squirmed, moving one foot in a circle on the floor and leaving a telltale pattern of heat behind. Sielza would make a fine matron of Elosthan House someday. Even just a simple reminder that she could read Aylena's mind sounded like a threat.
"I depended on the Queen's favor," Aylena said. "That much is true."
"How did you get past the *kyorlen phor l'shar*?"
That truly made Aylena look up in surprise. "Using the discipline that you taught me," she said. "Sister." And again she dropped her eyes, so hot was Sielza's face beginning to flare.
"You are a disgrace to the House."
Aylena braced herself for the tide of words, relaxing a little. Sielza had given her this particular speech before, and Aylena had grown used to accepting it and getting to the other side, where Sielza would be sure that she had had her say and Aylena was properly chastened. Of course, Aylena didn't really allow anyone but the Lady or the Matron to chastise her, but Sielza didn't need to know that.
"You should never have been allowed to live. With a face like that, everyone will think that Elosthan has lost the favor of Lloth." Sielza came closer, her steps light and graceful, her perfect face alive with the heat. If a predator came wandering down this tunnel now, it would see both of them from dozens of feet away. "The Matron has her reasons, of course-"
Aylena did her best to hide a smile. Even in a private speech attacking her sister, Sielza did not quite dare to criticize Matron Zirrin.
"-but those reasons are not good enough."
Aylena couldn't keep her jaw from dropping open, and the sight seemed to disgust Sielza.
"Close your mouth," she said. "And put your tongue as far in your throat as possible. It disgusts me to see it hanging there, like a worm."
The words had magical force, and Aylena shut her mouth so firmly that she would have bitten through her tongue, had not Sielza also commanded her to move it.
"Never should have been allowed to live," Sielza went on, almost purring as she neared Aylena and drew the whip from her belt. The snakes all but coiled themselves around each other now, hissing so loudly that Aylena could hear them better than her heartbeat in her ears. "If the Matron were not soft and lost to the ways of Lloth at heart, then she would have killed you. As it is, I must do so myself."
Once again, shock overpowered Aylena's fear. For Sielza to be so openly critical of the Matron, she must have decided to move, and take over Elosthan House.
Fear quickly returned, of course. It seemed that Sielza had decided to take care of Aylena before she attacked the Matron.
"Hold still."
Aylena's body stiffened, and Sielza stood in front of her, smiling very slightly. Aylena remembered that she had never seen her eldest sister smile except when she was on the verge of killing someone.
"Queen of Spiders," said Sielza softly. "You see what I do here, and I ask that you accept and approve of this sacrifice." She raised the whip. Aylena found that she couldn't take her eyes off it. The whip wouldn't kill her quickly, even given the serpents' formidable poison.
There was a rustling and clacking sound from behind Sielza.
Aylena's eyes were not frozen in their sockets, and she was able to look over Sielza's shoulder and see what was coming. She almost laughed, or at least tried, though she couldn't make any sound. Sielza turned, with a frown, to see what she was staring at.
The spider had come out of its web, and now crouched on the last strand, watching Sielza with piercing, brilliant eyes.
Sielza smiled and bowed to the great creature, then turned back to her sacrifice. The spider remained where it was, watching, and Aylena doubted for a moment. She had thought the spider had come to save her, but the Spider Queen could as easily have sent it as a sign that she approved of the sacrifice Sielza was making.
Or perhaps...
Aylena berated herself for a fool. She had forgotten the cardinal lesson of the Spider Queen. Lloth was a lover of caprice and whim, and only the strongest would hunt her webs and not be thrown down.
Aylena had only to be strong.
She drew in a breath and fell within herself, watching as the whip rose with only her physical eyes, seeking out her determination and the core of power that her training was designed to allow her to tap. She firmed her will, and as the whip descended, she whispered one word.
"*Lassrin.*"
The spell holding her shattered, and Aylena rolled and dodged to the side with elven grace. The whip came down where she had been standing, and Aylena ran past Sielza and jumped into the middle of the web, ignoring the spider as if it had been a male.
The strands stuck to her arms. Aylena ignored the fear that she might be trapped here forever and reached up, clutching the cord above her head.
It bent, and the other strands unstuck. In seconds, Aylena was climbing through the web, hearing Sielza coming up fast behind her-not because her sister was screaming or crying out for vengeance, but simply because the silence was too deadly to mean anything else.
Aylena rolled out on the far side of the web and spent a moment gaining her bearings.
Too long.
Talons raked at her mind, and Aylena cried out and put her hands to her temples. The *kyorlen phor l'shar*, who guarded this entrance, were pouncing about her unguarded thoughts, taking the chance to read every secret. They would know who she was, and then they would turn her inside out for daring to break the laws of the city and use this entrance when she was underage.
Aylena crouched, and again fell within herself, breaking free of the panic and anger that wanted to hold her as easily as she had broken free of the strands of the spiderweb. They whipped past her, and she ignored them. She was nothing. She was less than nothing. She was faerie fire.
The mind searching hers paused, then snarled like a beast denied its prey. In moments, its presence was gone.
Aylena opened her eyes, seeing a female drow walk towards her and then pause as if listening to something. She was slender and well-made, but her eyes didn't seem to focus well. She tilted her head to the side, eyes radiating no red glow.
Aylena knew she didn't need physical eyes. She had the eyes of the mind, and those were quite deadly enough.
The psionicist stood still and listened and looked for a few more moments. Then she turned to the side as Sielza came out of the web, but appeared to recognize her, bowing to her as if she were a high priestess.
*Well, she is,* Aylena thought, in spite of her need to remain hidden.
At once, Sielza turned, her thin lips lifting in a smile. "There you are, little sister," she said, and began to walk forward, the snake-whip lifted again. Aylena could feel her gathering her will, calling to the goddess, and doing other things that would render Aylena dead in short order.
Aylena flung herself into motion, ignoring the sudden start and pursuit of the *kyorlen phor l'shar*. She had to get to her Matron.
Sielza came after her, the slight shuffle of her feet all the warning that Aylena needed.
She took a deep breath and dropped her hand to the pouch at her waist. She didn't want to use the weapon in it. If nothing else, it would reveal that she had it-a deadly thing that was reserved for the use of high priestesses.
Well, she could reveal that she had it, or Sielza would kill her.
Given the choice, Aylena knew what she had to do.
She tore open the pouch and turned, closing her own eyes as she cast the clay pellet to the ground in Sielza's path. Sielza screamed in rage and pain as light exploded in her sight, and her infravision was destroyed. Aylena heard a crash that might have been her sister staggering into a stalagmite.
She turned and raced into the darkness, angling her steps towards Elosthan House.
The Matron had to be warned.
Drow Words:
kyorlen phor l'shar= watchers over the mind, a group of psionic wild talents defending this tunnel.
lassrin= break.
Disclaimer in Prologue.
Chapter 2
Sielza
"Kyorl tuth rathrea lueth alust." (Watch both behind and in front).
-Good advice.
"How did you get through the webs?"
Aylena hadn't known that she could still feel this level of fear. Of course, she had felt something like it in front of the goddess, but the Lady was, after all, a goddess. The voice of a mortal drow shouldn't be able to make her skin chill and her feet itch to run the other way.
At least, Aylena didn't think so.
"Sister," she said, bowing her head as Sielza stepped out of the webs guarding the tunnel. She must have been using magic of some kind to conceal her body heat, which now blazed forth in a scarlet as rich as her eyes.
"Sister," said Sielza, but with that bite in her words that still chilled Aylena. "I asked you a question. I expect an answer to that question." Her hand fell to her belt, where the snakes of her whip hissed and twisted around themselves in anticipation.
Aylena eyed them as calmly as she could. She had been beaten before, but perhaps the snakes wouldn't bite as deeply into the skin of a trainee priestess in Lloth's favor.
One of the vipers hissed at her, and Aylena shuddered. As with everything about the Lady of Spiders, one could never be sure.
"I was-" Aylena began, and only then realized that Sielza hadn't asked her where she had been. There was every likelihood that her sister, a high priestess of Lloth with much on her mind, simply didn't care about such things. But getting through the webs was another thing, something that was supposed to be beyond a female as young as Aylena. Aylena let her eyes fall to the floor again. "I am in Lloth's favor," she murmured. "The *quarval-sharess* parted the webs and let me through."
"You lie."
Aylena squirmed, moving one foot in a circle on the floor and leaving a telltale pattern of heat behind. Sielza would make a fine matron of Elosthan House someday. Even just a simple reminder that she could read Aylena's mind sounded like a threat.
"I depended on the Queen's favor," Aylena said. "That much is true."
"How did you get past the *kyorlen phor l'shar*?"
That truly made Aylena look up in surprise. "Using the discipline that you taught me," she said. "Sister." And again she dropped her eyes, so hot was Sielza's face beginning to flare.
"You are a disgrace to the House."
Aylena braced herself for the tide of words, relaxing a little. Sielza had given her this particular speech before, and Aylena had grown used to accepting it and getting to the other side, where Sielza would be sure that she had had her say and Aylena was properly chastened. Of course, Aylena didn't really allow anyone but the Lady or the Matron to chastise her, but Sielza didn't need to know that.
"You should never have been allowed to live. With a face like that, everyone will think that Elosthan has lost the favor of Lloth." Sielza came closer, her steps light and graceful, her perfect face alive with the heat. If a predator came wandering down this tunnel now, it would see both of them from dozens of feet away. "The Matron has her reasons, of course-"
Aylena did her best to hide a smile. Even in a private speech attacking her sister, Sielza did not quite dare to criticize Matron Zirrin.
"-but those reasons are not good enough."
Aylena couldn't keep her jaw from dropping open, and the sight seemed to disgust Sielza.
"Close your mouth," she said. "And put your tongue as far in your throat as possible. It disgusts me to see it hanging there, like a worm."
The words had magical force, and Aylena shut her mouth so firmly that she would have bitten through her tongue, had not Sielza also commanded her to move it.
"Never should have been allowed to live," Sielza went on, almost purring as she neared Aylena and drew the whip from her belt. The snakes all but coiled themselves around each other now, hissing so loudly that Aylena could hear them better than her heartbeat in her ears. "If the Matron were not soft and lost to the ways of Lloth at heart, then she would have killed you. As it is, I must do so myself."
Once again, shock overpowered Aylena's fear. For Sielza to be so openly critical of the Matron, she must have decided to move, and take over Elosthan House.
Fear quickly returned, of course. It seemed that Sielza had decided to take care of Aylena before she attacked the Matron.
"Hold still."
Aylena's body stiffened, and Sielza stood in front of her, smiling very slightly. Aylena remembered that she had never seen her eldest sister smile except when she was on the verge of killing someone.
"Queen of Spiders," said Sielza softly. "You see what I do here, and I ask that you accept and approve of this sacrifice." She raised the whip. Aylena found that she couldn't take her eyes off it. The whip wouldn't kill her quickly, even given the serpents' formidable poison.
There was a rustling and clacking sound from behind Sielza.
Aylena's eyes were not frozen in their sockets, and she was able to look over Sielza's shoulder and see what was coming. She almost laughed, or at least tried, though she couldn't make any sound. Sielza turned, with a frown, to see what she was staring at.
The spider had come out of its web, and now crouched on the last strand, watching Sielza with piercing, brilliant eyes.
Sielza smiled and bowed to the great creature, then turned back to her sacrifice. The spider remained where it was, watching, and Aylena doubted for a moment. She had thought the spider had come to save her, but the Spider Queen could as easily have sent it as a sign that she approved of the sacrifice Sielza was making.
Or perhaps...
Aylena berated herself for a fool. She had forgotten the cardinal lesson of the Spider Queen. Lloth was a lover of caprice and whim, and only the strongest would hunt her webs and not be thrown down.
Aylena had only to be strong.
She drew in a breath and fell within herself, watching as the whip rose with only her physical eyes, seeking out her determination and the core of power that her training was designed to allow her to tap. She firmed her will, and as the whip descended, she whispered one word.
"*Lassrin.*"
The spell holding her shattered, and Aylena rolled and dodged to the side with elven grace. The whip came down where she had been standing, and Aylena ran past Sielza and jumped into the middle of the web, ignoring the spider as if it had been a male.
The strands stuck to her arms. Aylena ignored the fear that she might be trapped here forever and reached up, clutching the cord above her head.
It bent, and the other strands unstuck. In seconds, Aylena was climbing through the web, hearing Sielza coming up fast behind her-not because her sister was screaming or crying out for vengeance, but simply because the silence was too deadly to mean anything else.
Aylena rolled out on the far side of the web and spent a moment gaining her bearings.
Too long.
Talons raked at her mind, and Aylena cried out and put her hands to her temples. The *kyorlen phor l'shar*, who guarded this entrance, were pouncing about her unguarded thoughts, taking the chance to read every secret. They would know who she was, and then they would turn her inside out for daring to break the laws of the city and use this entrance when she was underage.
Aylena crouched, and again fell within herself, breaking free of the panic and anger that wanted to hold her as easily as she had broken free of the strands of the spiderweb. They whipped past her, and she ignored them. She was nothing. She was less than nothing. She was faerie fire.
The mind searching hers paused, then snarled like a beast denied its prey. In moments, its presence was gone.
Aylena opened her eyes, seeing a female drow walk towards her and then pause as if listening to something. She was slender and well-made, but her eyes didn't seem to focus well. She tilted her head to the side, eyes radiating no red glow.
Aylena knew she didn't need physical eyes. She had the eyes of the mind, and those were quite deadly enough.
The psionicist stood still and listened and looked for a few more moments. Then she turned to the side as Sielza came out of the web, but appeared to recognize her, bowing to her as if she were a high priestess.
*Well, she is,* Aylena thought, in spite of her need to remain hidden.
At once, Sielza turned, her thin lips lifting in a smile. "There you are, little sister," she said, and began to walk forward, the snake-whip lifted again. Aylena could feel her gathering her will, calling to the goddess, and doing other things that would render Aylena dead in short order.
Aylena flung herself into motion, ignoring the sudden start and pursuit of the *kyorlen phor l'shar*. She had to get to her Matron.
Sielza came after her, the slight shuffle of her feet all the warning that Aylena needed.
She took a deep breath and dropped her hand to the pouch at her waist. She didn't want to use the weapon in it. If nothing else, it would reveal that she had it-a deadly thing that was reserved for the use of high priestesses.
Well, she could reveal that she had it, or Sielza would kill her.
Given the choice, Aylena knew what she had to do.
She tore open the pouch and turned, closing her own eyes as she cast the clay pellet to the ground in Sielza's path. Sielza screamed in rage and pain as light exploded in her sight, and her infravision was destroyed. Aylena heard a crash that might have been her sister staggering into a stalagmite.
She turned and raced into the darkness, angling her steps towards Elosthan House.
The Matron had to be warned.
Drow Words:
kyorlen phor l'shar= watchers over the mind, a group of psionic wild talents defending this tunnel.
lassrin= break.