Chapter Four.
Hardened Amber.
"Lolth, the Dark Mother, the Mother of Lusts, the Spider Queen, the Queen of the Demonweb Pits." Minalylrisse murmured, her eyes lowered.
"Correct."
Vrae'Jysala, Minalylrisse's teacher, her an'kin, nodded, the infrared glow of her dark red eyes bobbing slowly. Minalylrisse, her eyes on the floor, felt the movement as much as followed that glow out of the corner of her amber eye.
"These are the facts of our goddess that you must learn." Vrae'Jysala continued. Minalylrisse stood still. She always stood still. To not stand still asked for a slap, or a lash of the tongue or the whip. Why risk it?
"Lolth is the mother of our race. As a drow, you are a child of Lolth, a dalhar d'Lolth. This is a great honor, because the drow are Lolth's chosen, as are spiders. To aid a colnbluth, a nondrow, against a drow is a sin, because you have aided a creature that is not Lolth's chosen child against a creature that is Lolth's chosen child. As a female, you are a mortal incarnation of the Goddess, as are all female drow. And as a mortal incarnation of the Spider Queen, you, as a female, are superior to a male. Understand."
"Yes, mistress."
Minalylrisse had heard this before. In fact, she and Vrae'Jysala went over it twice a day, every day, and had for the past nine years.
These past nine years had been spent learning the basics: such as the reverence of arachnids, the worship of the Spider Queen, what place the clerics held in drow society, the superiority of female drow to male drow, et cetera, as well as basic prayers and chants. These past nine years had also been spent serving her sisters and mother and being told her place, over and over again, as well as learning the basic care of an idol.
For the idol of the Queen of the Demonweb Pits that resided in Minalylrisse's room had been placed in her care for the last nine years. She had learned to wash it, to shine it, to dress it, etc. etc. etc. She would have never thought that a statuette required so much care!
Nine years. Nine seconds, minutes, hours, years, all seemed to blend together in one monotonous existence, the words repeating over and over. Minalylrisse wouldnot be the least surprised if the words had been engraved on her brain. Perhaps they were.
But, she thought, aware that Vrae'Jysala was probably reading her thoughts at this very moment, and not wanting to appear nonattentive, or worse, bored, she stiffened and conjured a look of awe in her eyes. It was a feeble conjure, but it dispelled any doubts Vrae'Jysala had of her pupil's interest in the subject.
Not that Vrae'Jysala was paying that much attention to her. She, LiNeerithra, Jhaelriina, and Greyayne had taken turns teaching these basic lessons over . . . and over . . . and over again. Sooner or later, the words would be engraved in the girl's mind, and that was all that really needed to be done. The Jabbressen,the Mistresses, at Arach-Tinilith would do the rest.
Vrae'Jysala nodded, again to herself. Her job - their job - was nearly done. The time for this would be up soon, on the girl's - she could hardly be called a girl anymore - twenty-sixth birthday. After that, five years with Nalrysin, then five years with Valvyll. The thought of her older, arrogant brother teaching this female brought a wicked smile to Vrae'Jysala's dark lips. Maybe Minalylrisse would remind the male of the House's true power: the jalilen, the females.
Maybe not. Valvyll was conceited for even a male wizard. Years away from the watchful eyes of his sisters and mother had boldened him and strung him unbearably high. Sometimes it was all she could do to keep from wringing his scrawny neck.
(Quick drow grammer lesson: to make a word plural, if it ends in a consanent, add en. If it ends in A, e, i, o, or u just add n. If it ends in g or k, add gin or kin. So, for example, the word females would be jalilen, the word dances wouldbecome lil'aluren - lil'alure is the nonplural - and the word haruk - which means doom - would become either harukin or harukkin, it depends on the dilelect.)
Minalylrisse - Mina to those who cared or simply did not want to bother with her full name. After all, there was nothing she could do about it, not even being a minor cleric, to punish them- stood still and waited patiently for Vrae'Jysala to continue. At twenty-five, she was a delicate creature possessing the childish beauty of a twelve-year-old human child: straight-backed and slender as a rapier, with delicate bones, large amber eyes, almost waist-length white hair that shone with acopper brilliance, and satin black skin. Dressed in a simple, unjeweled black clothdress, high, soft leather boots, and a purple-black piwafwi, she was hardly threatening. Her amber irises were large and soft, having yet to harden. This, above all else, marked her as young.
Right now, her amber eyes were on the floor as she darted her gaze from foot to booted foot, eyes dancing in the soft light given off by one of Lolth's lamps.
Vrae'Jysala gave her foot a hard tap to regain her audience and, sighing inwardly, resumed her lecture. Mina nodded repeatedly but was not truly listening. She could have recited the very same words that were now coming from her elder sister's dark lips, she knew them so well. She did her best to look interested.
"She is young."
Arduldriira nodded demurely to Shricice, carefully keeping her glowing red eyes from making direct contact with Shricice's. Even in the world of infravision, those ruby irises sent a very cold and very pronounced shiver up Arduldriira's spine.
Arduldriira Qed'Vursys was a fullseventy years younger than Shricice - not long at all to the long-lived drow who would live to see seven centuries, or more, if they were extremely lucky - but as long as Arduldriira could remember, Shricice had been there, cold-eyed and frost-tongued. Shricice was a two-legged spider: coniving, cold, merciless, and sadistic. A wicked five-tongued snake whip danced at her waist, the vipers careful to keep out of Shricice's way. Smart snakes.
Arduldriira studied her sister's attire with her own hard amber eyes, hiding the gaze from too-curious LiNeerithra and cool Vrae'Jysala. The four of them were sitting in the antichamber of Mina's room, gazing through the invisible wall at the young drow. Greyayne was in charge of Mina today: Jhaelriina was off with Matron Phyrbreena, consulting several plans for a possible coup against a weak house. The tiny male child placed in her care was being watched by a lesser cleric, a commoner, in anther part of the Chapel.
Most drow females dressed to impress. Silk clothdresses, cleverly embrodiered robes, beautiful and sometimes creepy jewelry, all were seen on a regular basis.
Shricice Qed'Vursys did not fit this rule.
She wore a simple, black satin clothdress that was wrapped in the paticular way that hid a number of daggers, amulets, and other weapong that the First Sister of the noble House happened to carry on her person. Dark ankle-length robes bearing embrodiery in the usual red and purple wrapped around her, concealing yet more weapons, and a shimmering, purple-black piwafwi covered her shoulders. Her alabaster hair was braided and wrapped around her head, tying in a knot at her throat. Black chaimail was slit beneath all of this, acting as though it were a thick shirt, as a number of other armor. Her belt, tight at her slender waist, housed two nasty-looking maces, her whip, a ruby-hilted dagger, a handcrossbow, three cases of bolts, several scrolls and wands.
This, coupled with her unusual height - she was quite tall for a dark elf, though no less slender - her catlike grace, cold eyes, delicate features, and many other aspects made her a very real threat. Beautiful, but in a cold, chill, lethal way.
But most prominent was her staff.
The Staff of Veldrilorbben, it was called. A slender, black, facited globe of obsidian sat atop a slender, black, long rod. A silver ring joinged the two, and protruding from the ring were eight silver, ruby-embeddedspider legs that curled around the orb - though not touching it -and formed a very sharp point just an inch or so above it. All of the legs were tipped with black, and silver rings spiralded down from the single ring around the staff, where countless runes and spells were embedded, in the silver rings and in the staff itself.
It stood as high as the slender drow maid herself, its tip roughly the same level as the braids looped around the High Priestess's head. She held it firmly with one hand, the other resting on her hip, seconds away from closing over any one of her weapons. She made sure of this.
"Indeed she is."LiNeerithra murmered, moving forward towards the wall. Shricice's cold stare silenced her and halted her, reminding the female of her place. Lowering her own ruby-glowing eyes, LiNeerithra bowed her head, her own fingers gently brushing the tip of her own whip.
That was all. LiNeerithra did not dare invoke Shricice's wrath.
Vrae'Jysala, cooling ignoring the actions of her sisters, eyed the girl from behind Arduldriira, who of course knew exactly what she was doing. Vrae'Jysala was as ambitious as any of her drow kin, and, as the third blood daughter of Ilharess Phyrbreena, she could improve her own status to second blood daughter with a carefully aimed flick of a poisoned dagger. Arduldriira had to look out for her.
Shricice coldly ignored her sisters' motions, studying the girl Mina herself. In the dark, cold light of the Dark Mother's lamps, her amber eyes and copper hair shone eerily when compared to Greyayne's cold grey eyes and drab white hair.
The four were silent.
"Is it time to see whether or not she is strong enough to advance in her life?" Arduldriira broke the silence, adressing Shricice.
Vrae'Jysala and LiNeerithra watched both of them with mild curiosity.
Shricice nodded. "Yes. It is. Make the arrangements immeadiately."
"Xas, Mistress." LiNeerithra murmered, the drow word for yes, nodding her head as she bowed and left the room. Vrae'Jysala nodded herself and followed.
When the First and Second Daughters of House Qed'Vusys, blood or otherwise, were alone together, Arduldriira turned to Shricice once more. "Are you completely certain about this? The child could be killed."
"What do you care? It is a male, not yet a decade old! If it dies, and a new priestess is gained in the process, the cost no where equals the reward." With those haughty words, Shricice existed, leaving the amber-eyed High Priestess to watch Mina through the seeing wall.
Mina knew something was up the moment she saw the six High Priestesses enter the room together. Scrambling to her feet, she locked her gaze on the floor as Shricice approached her.
Mina had seen her eldest sister only once before, at her ceremony of maturity. But that one sighting, coupled with her sisters' fearful whispering of her name, had suceeded in terrifying the drow female into absolute fear of the tall, imposing female.
Shricice walked forward to stand right in front of Mina. "Do you know what day it is?"
"No, Mistress."
"It is the day we will see whether you are strong or weak." Shricice went silent, watching Mina.
Strong? Weak? Mina felt a cold feeling in her stomach. She swallowed. It did nothing to calm her racing heart or to wet her dry throat.
"Look at me."
Now Mina was at a total loss. Look at Mistress Shricice? Her whole life had been spent learning to keep her eyes on the ground. Now was she permited to raise them?
Shricice raised one of her slender, delicate hands, and Mina realized that she had not obeyed Shricice. Bracing herself, she watched the hand come nearer out of the corner of her eye.
Instead, the cold hand grabbed her chin, and lifted her head to stare into her eyes.
Mina stared, locked in the gaze of those twin red, cold pools. She could not move, and for a moment she was paralyzed with fear. She didn't dare to even blink.
Shricice abuptly let go of the girl's chin. Mina, surprised, kept it in the same position as when Shricice had been holding it, staring still. The next swing was the snap of the whip, and Mina was sprawled out on the ground.
"Answer me, child." Shricice stared at her youngest sister. "Was staring at me after I removed my hand obedience or arrogance?"
Mina's mind raced as only a drow placed in a potentially lethal situation could. "Obedience, Mistress?"
"Is that a question or an answer."
Mina changed the tone, trying to make it sutiably firm. "Obedience, Mistress."
Shricice stared hard, and a lick of sweat trailed past Mina's eyes, but Shricice nodded. Turning away, she swept from the room. Without questioning, Jhaelriina approached Mina and roughly grabbed her, lifting her from the floor and steering her out the room. The other four priestesses followed.
Mina was steered into the chapel, where, to her panic and confusion, Matron Phyrbreena sat on her throne. Two male stood at her sides, two steps below the throne. The patron and the Wepons Master, her elder brother, Mina realized, remembering the cocky male from her childhood. Nylras? Nalryseen?
It did not matter, she decided, as she was wheeled in and abruptly let go of, for the second time that day, before the Matron Mother. Quickly, she fell to her knees. Better safe than sorry.
The daughters of House Qued'Vursys spread out to the sides to watch. Only the family was present. Mina noticed that Jhaelriina was gone.
However, the Jhaelriina in question returned at that moment, a young male child at her heels. Mina felt curiosity fill her. The boy was not ten years of age, yet, but nearing.
Her curiosity increased when the male child was placed to her side. The child immeadiately fell flat to the floor in a groveling position. Mina was roughly picked up again and turned so that she was facing him. She noticed that Vrae'Jysala, standing behind her, now held a small chest.
Before she could say or do anything - not that she was much for trying - Mina found that Arduldriira had thrust her snake-whip into Mina's hand.
Mina stared at the whip. So did the male child. His eyes filled with fear.
"You see what I have?" Vrae'Jysala spoke, commanding Mina's attention. She and LiNeerithra raised the lid of the chest and brought out two finely carved maces, looking like spider web frozen and engraved with runes. Mina's eyes settled on them. She could not help it. They were beautiful.
Vrae'Jysala noted her sister's gaze. Smiling, she slipped the maces back into the chest. "That is not all. This, too-" she drew out a necklace of elegent silver chain that looked amazingly like spiderwedwith a small obsidian spider set with rubies and violetstones dangling from it. "and this-" out came a small gold ring in the shape of a spider, set with a small emerald. "-and much more."
She paused as she replaced the items.
"All you have to do to prove you are strong enough for these items and for you continual breathing is to whip your younger brother."
Mina stared at Vrae'Jysala, then at the whip of writhing snakes in her hand, then at the child. She had not missed the last sentence, nor did she mistake it's meaning.
What is more important, male? she wondered. My skin or yours?
She thought for about a minute, then lifted her gaze to Vrae'Jysala. My skin. she decided. Definately.
"I am strong enough for my life and for the gifts." she declared in a soft but undeniably strong voice. "I will prove it."
"Then do so."
Mina steeled herself, then raised her arm and brought it down. The whip cracked and hissed, the scaly bodies slapping the child's dark skin, the fangs raking long scratches where they zoomed over the child, then finging a hold and sinking in. The child screamed, bloody and bruised. The scream raised something in Mina.
She had power.
She could inflict pain upon this child. She held the power whether to stop it now or to keep going. She, who had never tasted power before, found its sweet taste in her mouth, and enjoyed it.
She raised the whip, and again felt the rush of exultment as it cracked, heard the wordless proclemation of her power in the boy's screams. She kept at it, heared the whistling of rushiong air in her ears, and found that she did not care at all for the child's pain.
Finally, she stopped. No sense in killing the boy. Looking at his bloody form, she felt a twinge of simpathy, a twinge of concience, but it nowherecompared to the power she had wielded over him, if only for a short time. She raised her eyes, feeling somewhat triumphant, to look to Vrae'Jysala. She dimly heard the applause of her sisters, but it seemed to dim in her ears.
"Have I proved my strength?" she questioned.
Vrae'Jysala smiled cruelly and nodded. "You have. Come forward."
Mina did so, stepping over her brother's huddled, shivering form. Vrae'Jysala snapped the necklace around her throat as LiNeerithra slipped on the ring. Arduldriira came forward and removedher prizedwhip from Mina's bloody hands, presenting Mina with the twin maces.
"You have earned them."
Mina looked at the two weapons, resting in her bloodstained hands,and smiled. Her eyes, once so soft, were now hard as she admired them, taking no heed of her sobbing brother crouched and huddled on the blood floor behind her.
You have to understand: Mina is EVIL. EVIL. This story in part shows the transformation from an innocent drow child to a cruel High Priestess. Sorry, little male child whom I'll have to make up a name for . . .
Please review! I'm sorry if there are any spelling or grammer mistakes, the spellcheck on thsi computer has gone cablooy, can you believe it did not recognize the word 'it'?
Anyyyyywayyy . . . please tell me what you thought of this.