Chapter Fourteen – Revenge
She opened her eyes slowly, groaning softly at the pounding at the back of her head. She couldn't remember where she was or how she had gotten there. The ground beneath her was cold and hard with sharp edged digging into her side and stomach. Pain shifted through her body as she fought to clear her thoughts. She felt her body shaking softly as she moved on hand to brush long strands of auburn hair our of her face, looking around the torch-lit room.
Blue eyes widened as Catti-brie slowly remembered the events of the night before. Wait, had it really only been a night? How long has passed since I was captured? Is this real?
A soft voice in the corner of the room made her jump at the sound. She looked around until she found a cloaked and hooded figure standing in the shadows of the room. She couldn't see very well in the dimly lit room and she couldn't see into the hood of his cloak, but she knew from his build that he was likely of elven descent. He was even more likely, a drow.
"You must be the one that I had been holding hostage." The voice was hard and cold, causing the young woman to shiver. Some trick of the light made amber eyes glow from beneath the hood in a strange way – it was terrifying since she could see nothing but his eyes. "Before I was given a body to mold into my own."
She stared at him, unable to focus in the faint light. Without warning, nausea wrapped itself around her senses and choked her until she was forced to push herself up onto her arms weakly and spill the contents of her stomach all over the cold, hard stone. Wiping the back of her hand shakily over her mouth, she rolled over onto her side, wrapping her arm weakly around her gently swollen belly.
The familiar figure looked down at the prisoner, his eyes filled with a light the one couldn't discern from beneath his black piwafwi hood. The only thing that one could tell was that there was a conflict going on behind those amber colored orbs. Catti-brie looked up at him in surprise when she noticed that he had begun walking towards her while she had been retching out the contents of her stomach. Her eyes widened as she remember the details that Drizzt had told her about his imprisonment among the drow. Her face paled as she thought about his words that one night on their way to Silverymoon.
"Once you are tortured by a drow, you never forget it Cat, ever."
His soft, torn voice echoed through her mind, reminding her of the tortured existence that he had gone through during his month of captivity. She could remember the tears that had been shining in his eyes as they had sat together in that clearing, talking quietly away from the rest of the people in camp. He had been too ashamed to say anything about it near anyone else at the time.
Looking up at the reincarnation of the drow that had suffered through that torture, she felt her stomach drop. Eyes as cold as ever, he brought his fist down faster than she could follow, bringing it down quickly and knocking her world into absolute darkness once more.
She sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the spare room where she and her husband had placed all of the baby things after the twins and Zak had grown out of it. She smiled as she thought of the four-year-old twin boys and their eight-year-old elder brother. At that moment they were playing outside with Kilun and other children from Lonelywood. She looked around the room at the cradle and the small dresser. Memories of her three sons flitted across her mind as she looked through all the little baby clothes that would hopefully be used in the future.
Smiling gently and placing her hand slowly on her belly as she thought about how Drizzt would react to the news that she had to tell him when he returned from the patrols around the small town and the meeting to discuss findings with the town representative. She couldn't believe that she was pregnant again, especially since she thought that she was too old to be having anymore children.
At 40, women didn't normally have children.
"Cat," the call from the downstairs after the door had been opened and closed. "Are you home?"
"Aye." She called back, sitting down in the rocking chair as she recalled memories of seeing the drow sitting here and comforting their oldest when he was much younger and having nightmares. "I'm upstairs."
She smiled slightly as she listened to his barely audible footsteps as he walked up the stairs and down the hallway. She remained seated as he opened the door into the room that she was sitting in. He walked over to where she was sitting and knelt in front of her, resting his chin on the arms that he had rested across her lap. He smiled gently up at her.
"Recalling fond memories, Lady Love?" He asked her quietly, reaching up with one hand to cup her face softly. "I found you here yesterday also."
She smiled slightly as she leaned into that hand, reaching up to brush a loose strand of hair out of his face. "That isn't the only reason that I've been coming in here."
He looked at her curiously. "And what reason would that be?"
Her smile widened as she replaced her hand to her belly. "We're going to be having another baby."
He groaned softly as his eyes fluttered open, squinting through the bright light surrounding him. Mixed, mumbling voices coursed through his awareness, echoing through his jumbled mind. He moved his head slightly, trying to figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered from the being in the real world was lying down over his horse, not knowing exactly where he was, and yet still moving somewhere.
The ranger started as someone placed a cool hand on his forehead and bent down to look into confused lavender eyes with her own silver ones, a slight smile on her face.
"Well, Drizzt, I'm glad to see that you have finally decided to join the world of the living." Alustriel smiled as he stared at her with a confused look upon his black-skinned features. Carefully, she helped him to sit up, careful of the fresh bandages covering his back and shoulder. Another bandage wrapped itself around the back of his head where a welt had formed from where the sword hilt had been brought down onto the back of his head. "It's been a while since the guards at the gate watched you fall from the horse that you were on. They were also worried because another horse was following yours, but it had no rider. They were wondering why, especially since Catti-brie was supposed to be coming with you."
He froze. Memories flooded his mind, choking him as he thought about how he hadn't been able to stop what had happened to her. It was suddenly hard to breathe as he saw the memories flashing through his mind again and again. He placed his face in his hands, not wanting Alustriel to see the emotions the flitted through his eyes.
The ruler of Silverymoon watched her friend carefully. Almost immediately she realized that something terrible must've happened to them while they were traveling because Drizzt would never have left Catti-brie behind now that they were married – he wouldn't want her to get hurt by someone. She meant too much to him for that to ever happen. With a start, the woman realized that he had said something and that she had been too lost in her wonderings to realize that he had indeed been speaking.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I wasn't really listening. My mind was somewhere else."
He sighed and looked down at his hands. "Catti-brie was captured by the same drow that took me months ago. They were hired by someone to take her so that they could use her against me. I need to get her. I don't care what happens to me, I only want her out of their hands and safe. I'll do anything to bring her back."
Alustriel heard the guilt in his voice and knew that as soon as he was able to swing a weapon without the pain shooting through his and back, he would go and try and find her, no matter what the costs. When he had mentioned that the same group that had taken him had taken Catti-brie, she remembered something else that had happened during that time. An idea came to her and she turned to Drizzt to explain it.
"You're going to need help for your quest, Drizzt." She said quietly, looking into those intense lavender eyes. He was looking with the curiosity that she remembered seeing the first time that she had come to him, while he was on the quest, looking for Mithril Hall. "I was thinking that if this is in fact the same group, the Luchiélt may be able to help you in finding where she is. You were unconscious when you were brought there and you were unconscious when you were brought out. Only a few people know where the cave actually is – "
He interrupted her, and she could tell that an idea was forming in his head. "Yes, I know only a few people know that, but only Lady Serenity knew where the secret entrance was. . ."
[A/N]
Hey people. Plot bunnies were eating at me. Please review! Its a good thing!
She opened her eyes slowly, groaning softly at the pounding at the back of her head. She couldn't remember where she was or how she had gotten there. The ground beneath her was cold and hard with sharp edged digging into her side and stomach. Pain shifted through her body as she fought to clear her thoughts. She felt her body shaking softly as she moved on hand to brush long strands of auburn hair our of her face, looking around the torch-lit room.
Blue eyes widened as Catti-brie slowly remembered the events of the night before. Wait, had it really only been a night? How long has passed since I was captured? Is this real?
A soft voice in the corner of the room made her jump at the sound. She looked around until she found a cloaked and hooded figure standing in the shadows of the room. She couldn't see very well in the dimly lit room and she couldn't see into the hood of his cloak, but she knew from his build that he was likely of elven descent. He was even more likely, a drow.
"You must be the one that I had been holding hostage." The voice was hard and cold, causing the young woman to shiver. Some trick of the light made amber eyes glow from beneath the hood in a strange way – it was terrifying since she could see nothing but his eyes. "Before I was given a body to mold into my own."
She stared at him, unable to focus in the faint light. Without warning, nausea wrapped itself around her senses and choked her until she was forced to push herself up onto her arms weakly and spill the contents of her stomach all over the cold, hard stone. Wiping the back of her hand shakily over her mouth, she rolled over onto her side, wrapping her arm weakly around her gently swollen belly.
The familiar figure looked down at the prisoner, his eyes filled with a light the one couldn't discern from beneath his black piwafwi hood. The only thing that one could tell was that there was a conflict going on behind those amber colored orbs. Catti-brie looked up at him in surprise when she noticed that he had begun walking towards her while she had been retching out the contents of her stomach. Her eyes widened as she remember the details that Drizzt had told her about his imprisonment among the drow. Her face paled as she thought about his words that one night on their way to Silverymoon.
"Once you are tortured by a drow, you never forget it Cat, ever."
His soft, torn voice echoed through her mind, reminding her of the tortured existence that he had gone through during his month of captivity. She could remember the tears that had been shining in his eyes as they had sat together in that clearing, talking quietly away from the rest of the people in camp. He had been too ashamed to say anything about it near anyone else at the time.
Looking up at the reincarnation of the drow that had suffered through that torture, she felt her stomach drop. Eyes as cold as ever, he brought his fist down faster than she could follow, bringing it down quickly and knocking her world into absolute darkness once more.
She sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the spare room where she and her husband had placed all of the baby things after the twins and Zak had grown out of it. She smiled as she thought of the four-year-old twin boys and their eight-year-old elder brother. At that moment they were playing outside with Kilun and other children from Lonelywood. She looked around the room at the cradle and the small dresser. Memories of her three sons flitted across her mind as she looked through all the little baby clothes that would hopefully be used in the future.
Smiling gently and placing her hand slowly on her belly as she thought about how Drizzt would react to the news that she had to tell him when he returned from the patrols around the small town and the meeting to discuss findings with the town representative. She couldn't believe that she was pregnant again, especially since she thought that she was too old to be having anymore children.
At 40, women didn't normally have children.
"Cat," the call from the downstairs after the door had been opened and closed. "Are you home?"
"Aye." She called back, sitting down in the rocking chair as she recalled memories of seeing the drow sitting here and comforting their oldest when he was much younger and having nightmares. "I'm upstairs."
She smiled slightly as she listened to his barely audible footsteps as he walked up the stairs and down the hallway. She remained seated as he opened the door into the room that she was sitting in. He walked over to where she was sitting and knelt in front of her, resting his chin on the arms that he had rested across her lap. He smiled gently up at her.
"Recalling fond memories, Lady Love?" He asked her quietly, reaching up with one hand to cup her face softly. "I found you here yesterday also."
She smiled slightly as she leaned into that hand, reaching up to brush a loose strand of hair out of his face. "That isn't the only reason that I've been coming in here."
He looked at her curiously. "And what reason would that be?"
Her smile widened as she replaced her hand to her belly. "We're going to be having another baby."
He groaned softly as his eyes fluttered open, squinting through the bright light surrounding him. Mixed, mumbling voices coursed through his awareness, echoing through his jumbled mind. He moved his head slightly, trying to figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered from the being in the real world was lying down over his horse, not knowing exactly where he was, and yet still moving somewhere.
The ranger started as someone placed a cool hand on his forehead and bent down to look into confused lavender eyes with her own silver ones, a slight smile on her face.
"Well, Drizzt, I'm glad to see that you have finally decided to join the world of the living." Alustriel smiled as he stared at her with a confused look upon his black-skinned features. Carefully, she helped him to sit up, careful of the fresh bandages covering his back and shoulder. Another bandage wrapped itself around the back of his head where a welt had formed from where the sword hilt had been brought down onto the back of his head. "It's been a while since the guards at the gate watched you fall from the horse that you were on. They were also worried because another horse was following yours, but it had no rider. They were wondering why, especially since Catti-brie was supposed to be coming with you."
He froze. Memories flooded his mind, choking him as he thought about how he hadn't been able to stop what had happened to her. It was suddenly hard to breathe as he saw the memories flashing through his mind again and again. He placed his face in his hands, not wanting Alustriel to see the emotions the flitted through his eyes.
The ruler of Silverymoon watched her friend carefully. Almost immediately she realized that something terrible must've happened to them while they were traveling because Drizzt would never have left Catti-brie behind now that they were married – he wouldn't want her to get hurt by someone. She meant too much to him for that to ever happen. With a start, the woman realized that he had said something and that she had been too lost in her wonderings to realize that he had indeed been speaking.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I wasn't really listening. My mind was somewhere else."
He sighed and looked down at his hands. "Catti-brie was captured by the same drow that took me months ago. They were hired by someone to take her so that they could use her against me. I need to get her. I don't care what happens to me, I only want her out of their hands and safe. I'll do anything to bring her back."
Alustriel heard the guilt in his voice and knew that as soon as he was able to swing a weapon without the pain shooting through his and back, he would go and try and find her, no matter what the costs. When he had mentioned that the same group that had taken him had taken Catti-brie, she remembered something else that had happened during that time. An idea came to her and she turned to Drizzt to explain it.
"You're going to need help for your quest, Drizzt." She said quietly, looking into those intense lavender eyes. He was looking with the curiosity that she remembered seeing the first time that she had come to him, while he was on the quest, looking for Mithril Hall. "I was thinking that if this is in fact the same group, the Luchiélt may be able to help you in finding where she is. You were unconscious when you were brought there and you were unconscious when you were brought out. Only a few people know where the cave actually is – "
He interrupted her, and she could tell that an idea was forming in his head. "Yes, I know only a few people know that, but only Lady Serenity knew where the secret entrance was. . ."
[A/N]
Hey people. Plot bunnies were eating at me. Please review! Its a good thing!