Chapter Twenty-Four – Revenge
Drizzt looked out over the balcony, a small smile on his face as he continued to look out over the city. It had been weeks since they had gotten back, and he smiled at the sleeping form of his wife on the bed. Her wounds were healing swiftly enough, and were merely healing scars. Catti-brie still had nightmares, but they were not nearly horrible as they had been, and she said that they disappeared when she slept curled against him at night.
There were nights also when she woke up crying, speaking softly, talking about the baby that they would've had during the winter if fate hadn't intervened. He held her close during those cold nights, whispering soothing nonsense to calm her back to sleep.
They had simultaneously decided to stay in Silverymoon over the long winter, neither of them up to the long road home, or having to explain why they had returned to Icewind Dale so late in the year. Drizzt had penned them a letter telling that they would come home in the spring, sending it using one of Gabriel's trained eagles. He gave no reason for their long absence other than saying that they both wished to stay during the winter and enjoy (what was to them) a warmer, shorter season.
His mind wandered over the events of the last weeks. Catti-brie had remained close to him ever since that night in the springs, and he wasn't exactly protesting. She watched as he and Zak sparred in the gardens, laughing and joking in their fluid, familiar tongue. Catti-brie got the hint of what they were saying by their movement and expressions. He had been trying over the past weeks to teach the newly-reincarnated Weapons Master to speak the common language. He was actually picking up on it quite nicely.
He smiled slightly as he remembered watching him and Alustriel, walking through the garden the night before as she spoke with him in a halting combination of drow and common. He hadn't remembered exactly what they had talked about, only that both of them had been able understand each other on some level.
It was still warmed his heart to see his father making friends on the surface as quickly as he was. He had even gained the favours of the captain of Silverymoon's army. Captain Irdago was a half elf that had been serving the city for a long number of years. He was a soft spoken man that never ordered his troops to do something he wouldn't do in their place and would go to a family personally to tell them of the loss of a family member and give them his sympathies. His wife often went with him on such excursions, or would stay with their daughter, who was expecting her first child sometime in midwinter.
The ranger started as someone placed a warm silk dressing gown around his bare shoulders before a familiar set of arms encircled his waist. He smiled and placed his hands lightly over hers before turning around and pulling her close to him. Catti-brie smiled slightly back at him before resting her head on his chest.
She had been by his side for most, if not all of the past weeks. The Goddess of the Forest had also allowed her to watch as she trained him to be able to use and control the gifts that had awakened the night that he had brought her from the hell that she had been imprisoned in.
The dwarf-raised woman had watched in awe at the precision in which he executed the move that the goddess had shown him. He through up flawless barriers at a mere moments notice, throwing back furious licks of flame, thick, writhing vines, or blasts of magical energy back towards whatever opponent that his trained had been able to find or conjure. His movements were fluid and flawless, though his sharp, pale eyes never left his opponents, and not once did they ever show a hint of fear, or, anything else besides concentration.
"I noticed you standing here all alone, and your bare shoulders were making me cold just looking at you." She looked up at him with a small smile on her face. "I thought that the robe Alustriel had made to match those sleeping pants would keep you from getting chills."
"Thank you, Lady Love," he touched his forehead to hers. "But, aren't you cold as well?"
His smile widened as he lightly kissed her forehead, his hands moving up and down her back. She smiled at the warm sensations that flowed from his fingers into her body, warming her shivering frame. Chuckling softly, she leaned up and kissed him lightly.
"Where did you learn how to do this little trick?" She pulled the black silk dressing gown more securely over his shoulders. "It feels really nice."
Drizzt leaned down to whisper in her ear. "A lot of practice, that's all." He pulled her closer when he felt her shivering. "And it seems like it's a good thing too, your skin is cold to the touch."
When she didn't answer him, he looked down at her, concern filling his pale eyes. "Lady Love, is something wrong?" She stiffened in his arms, burying her face in his shoulder. A look of comprehension moved across his face as her silent response. He sighed quietly as he led her into their room. "Did you have another nightmare tonight?"
Catti-brie responded quietly, not meeting his eyes. "You could say that." A look of exhaustion crossed her face as she sat down upon the down mattress, her husband kneeling on the bed in front of her. "But it was more like a vision of the future than anything else."
His smooth brow furrowed in thought. "What do you mean, 'like a vision'?" She looked down at her hands, folded in her lap, at his soft inquiry. "Is there something that you aren't telling me Lady Love?"
"Whenever I was knocked unconscious by those guards, I would start seeing these scenes, but they were far more vivid than any dream I've ever had." Her voice was soft as she spoke, and she didn't seem willing enough to meet his intense eyes. "But they weren't exactly ordinary. They seemed to be flashes of our future – of our family, children." She smiled slightly in remembrance as he tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. "There were three boys, two of them twins, and a little girl."
Drizzt smiled slightly as he sat down besides her. "Really now, tell me about them. It sounds interesting."
"They all had dark skin like their father. The eldest was a boy. Zak, I think. His eyes were blue, his hair white and red, and he was as tall as your father, as slender as you, and followed his father down the ranger's path. Then we had twins, boys. Sylfan and Nalfein were their names, four years younger than Zak. The owned separate ships and were known for ridding the coasts of pirates." She smiled as they talked about their future children. "They were more thickly built than their elder brother, and only used a single sword, with a dagger. Their eyes were a cross between blue and violet; their skin lighter than Zak's, their hair was a roan colour.
"The youngest was a girl, her name was Aimee, and she was much smaller then the rest. Her eyes were like yours," she smiled as she ran a delicate finger over her husband's cheek, "brilliant lavender. Her skin only a few shades lighter. Her hair was as white as the snow, marred only by a single streak of red, one that falls in her face. She was a feisty one too. She could outfight you and your father at the same time. Aimee was the captain of Silverymoon's army, after whomever what the captain before her."
Catti-brie's voice quieted after a few moments and she again looked down at her hands. Drizzt noticed her silence and wrapped his arm in a comforting gesture around her shoulders. Reading slightly into her downcast eyes and expression, he quickly surmised what it was that she was hesitant about.
"Your dream was about her, wasn't it?" He asked quietly, tilting her chin slightly upwards so that she met his eyes directly. "You were dreaming about something that would happen in our daughter's distant future?"
Catti-brie nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. "Yes, it was about Aimee. I don't think that I've ever seen anyone so utterly heartbroken."
His brow wrinkled in confusion. "Is it difficult for you to speak of it?"
She looked away as he slid to kneel on the floor, coming in front of her. He took a deep breath and reached up so that his fingers rested lightly on each of her temples. Catti-brie watched him curiously through her blue eyes, wondering what he was doing. She was watched a few of his 'training' sessions with the goddess, but she had never seen him do anything like this.
"Drizzt," she whispered softly, reaching out to lightly touch the side of his face. "What exactly are you doing?"
He looked up, pale eyes meeting those curious, and slightly fearful blue eyes that looked into his light coloured orbs. "Mielikke told me about a method that I can use to peruse through another person's mind." He explained it slowly and carefully, like one would a child. "The reason that you don't know about this is because she practised it with me before your started coming to those training sessions. It's difficult, but I think that I'd rather find the memory of the vision, as you called it, rather than have you speak of it, as it seems difficult for you to do so."
After a few minutes in a thoughtful silence, Catti-brie reached up and placed her hands over his, nodding in consent to what he was about to do. She watched as his lips opened slightly, eyes rolling into the back of his skull as his head moved slowly backwards, eyes slowly closing. Her blue orbs showed worry as she watched the way his body moved of its own accord, emotions and reactions moving like rippling water across his face.
A young woman, of obvious drow descent, walked into the gardens of Silverymoon, looking around the place as if searching for someone that was spying or eavesdropping. Her pale eyes were lavender, sparkling and clear in the light of moon, filled with intelligence that spoke of a higher rank than a common soldier.
She wore a tight, thick black leather corset that pulled tightly against her already slender upper body. Being that the corset was sleeveless and was held up only by its tightness, she wore a loose, crimson shirt with wide sleeves that buttoned at the wrist. This hid that wrist sheathes containing the stilettos that she wore there. One either side of her slender hips was both a long sword and a long knife. The worn grips of the handles suggested that she used the weapons frequently. She also wore tight pants of black leather and knee-high leather boots that hid small daggers. Her hair was bound back in a loose tail that fell well past her slender hips. Several loose wisps fell into her face, all white with the exception of a single lock of auburn that refused to be tamed.
If one were to look closely, they would notice that her corset fit tighter than normal around her normally flat, smoothly muscled stomach. She would reach up every now and then to play with the mithril rings that ran along the pointed edges of her ears, a sign that she was nervous.
After a few moments, a tall figure walked out of the flowers at the edges of the garden, walking towards her. She watched him with a faint smile on her face as he did the same, a relieved look passing over her familiar features. As he got closer, the concealing hood of his cloak fell from his face and a tall, blonde elf smiled at her with familiar deep blue eyes glinting from within an ethereal face that had once belonged to a young child that had been the lone survivor from an attack in his clan.
He embraced the young drow and kissed her lightly, whispering a soft greeting in elvish. Mikhail had pulled back soon enough, the folds of his cloak being pulled back to show the sword belted neatly on his waist and the brilliant silver armour that he wore as the captain of the Knights in Silver.
"May I ask why it is that you aren't wearing armour tonight? You usually don't take it off." His smooth brow furrowed as she bowed her head, her forehead resting lightly against his armour. "Aimee?" his voice softened as he rested his chin on the top of her head, "Is something wrong that you're not telling me?"
She nodded slightly against the metal breastplate that gleamed silver in the faint moonlight, seeming to blatantly avoid looking into his eyes. Mikhail reached down and gently tilted her chin upwards so that his sapphire hued orbs met ones of pale lavender.
"Aimee…"
The young drow woman took a shaky breath, reaching up and wiping her hand across her eyes. Her voice was softer than he had ever heard it. "Can I show you something Mikhail?"
The Captain of the Knights in Silver frowned. "Of course, you can tell me anything."
Aimee nodded and led him over to sit on a nearby bench. He watched her with curiosity as she stood in front of him, her hands hesitant over the ties the tight corset that she wore. She untied it, letting the hardened leather to fall to the ground before pulling up the crimson shirt to reveal the smooth expanse of her black-skinned belly. Mikhail's sharp eyes glanced over the stretch of skin before reached up with one pale hand and placing it lightly on her hip, gliding up her side.
Realization dawned across his eternally young face as his hands slid across her swollen belly, his eyes looking into her lavender ones. Tears fell silently down her cheeks as his voice spoke hesitantly.
"Y-you can't be…" He shook his head in disbelief.
She nodded sadly, "I am." She bowed her head, closing her eyes and turning away. "I'm sorry."
Mikhail took a deep breath as he stood, seeing figures coming at them from the inside of the home of Lady Alustriel. They were messengers that had been sent to see him as the Captain of the Knights in Silver. He turned back to her as she lowered the hem of her shirt, looking dejected and ashamed, tears pouring down her cheeks.
He once again stepped closer to her, whispering in her ear so as not allow anyone else to hear his words.
"You know as well as I, that we very well can't have a child at this time, not when Silverymoon depends on us for its safety and protection. We have to figure out someway to get out of this, by any means necessary, and you well know it. I will speak to you later Aimee. Goodnight."
She looked at him in disbelief as he walked away, crossing her arms over her stomach, her pale eyes distant as she sat down on the bench. She knew very well what he had implied with the phrase 'by any means necessary.' He wanted her to rid of the child growing in her belly. As a captain trained by her own grandfather for the position, she knew that her being with child only meant that she wouldn't be able to fight, and she would be unable to lead her soldiers into battle if need be. A child made her useless to her city, but she refused to kill a child innocent of its origins.
But… what would her family say? Only her grandfather knew of the secret marriage that she and Mikhail had celebrated a little over four months ago, and she knew that her father wouldn't approve of it.
She was alone.
Tears streamed down her face as she thought out her options, alone in the garden. Of any of them, she only wanted to run to her family, back to Icewind Dale, and curl up in her mother's comforting arms. Standing and gathering the corset that had fallen to the ground, she hastily made her way to the stables to have a stable hand ready her horse for travel.
In her room, she penned a short note explaining that she was off for a short time to visit her family. With another glance, she was back down to the stables with a small bag of food stuffs, ready to leave all this behind. Coming to stand beside her horse, she tightened the laces of her corset before leaping onto the stallions back and going off into the night.
Drizzt Do'Urden smiled as he followed his wife through the woods that surrounded their home. They had just finished their patrols for the area and were heading back home for a quiet night at home. They had not been waylaid by anything on the road or in the roads, and they viewed that as a good thing. His face became curious; however, as he noticed that his wife was crouched on the ground, looking at something in the soft undergrowth.
"A horse passed through here, and whoever they were, they were in a hurry to get through these woods." He knelt down and inspected the tracks for himself.
"You're right, and they're heading towards our home." He stood began running towards the house, Catti-brie close behind him.
The sound of heart-wrenching sobs caught the both of them unawares as they came closer to their home, and Catti-brie darted ahead of him as they got closer, seeing the figure huddled against the front door. His eyes widened as he approached to find that the tiny figure curled like a child in his wife's arms was in fact their youngest child and only daughter. She looked haggard and weary, as though she had ridden for days without rest, and she probably had. She was speaking rapidly to her mother, speaking too softly for him to hear.
After a while she leaned back against her mother, her small frame shaking violently. Catti-brie sighed before gently helping her stand and walk into the house, up the stairs. When Drizzt looked at her, confusion clear in his pale eyes, she only shook her head and quietly asked him to make the tea that provided the drinker with a long, dreamless sleep. He breathed deeply before heading to the kitchen to prepare it.
About a half and hour later, the ranger walked up the stairs, a steaming mug grasped carefully in his hands. He went to the room at the end of the hall – it had been Aimee's room before she had left for Silverymoon. Looking in the doorway, he saw that his youngest was curled on the bed, her head resting in her mother's lap. Her tears seemed to have stopped, but soft sniffles and mewls could be heard and her small frame was still shaking.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," She kept whispering it under her breath, voice soft and broken. Catti-brie looked down at her sadly, stroking her hair and rubbing her back – as she had done when the young half-elf had been a little child. She gave her husband a grateful smile as he handed her the tea. He watched as she gently coaxed their daughter into drinking it. She handed the cup back to him as she continued her comforting administrations, waiting until the young woman had fallen asleep before tucking her into the bed and lightly kissing her forehead.
Drizzt watched it all from the doorway, waiting for his wife to answer the questions that he had – and to tell him why Aimee had showed up on their doorstep so distraught and desperate. Catti-brie closed the door behind her with a sigh before turning to him with a look of sadness in her eyes.
"Before I tell you anything, ye have to promise that ye'll not be going after Mikhail, or send Zak, yer father, or the twins after him."
The drow frowned. "Why would I …"
"She made me promise that I'd make ye promise before telling ye anything." Her eyes were sad, but serious. Sighing, the ranger nodded his acquiescence before letting her continue.
"It seems that four and a half months ago, she and Mikhail married in secret, with yer father and Lady Alustriel as witnesses. Now, she's carrying his child, but he wants her to rid if it, as it will only get in the way of her duties as the Captain of Silverymoon's armies." She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair. "But, she doesn't want to kill the baby, but she knows, or so she says, the Mikhail will only deny that the child is his and will refuse to support her decision."
Drizzt let out a sharp breath through his nose. "And how can she ask me to not go after him? Or her brother's for that matter? They're more protective of her than I am, or her grandfather for that matter."
Catti-brie shook her head. "She loves him utterly, but I can see that she's confused. I think that it's a good thing that she's here."
"But what about her duties? What is going to happen about those? She's the captain of an army!"
"Send word to yer father, he'd probably be willing to retake his old position, if only temporarily." She leaned heavily against her husband. "She'll probably be staying here for a long time, and she'll need comfort. She's absolutely heart-broken, and it'll take a long time for her to recover from what has happened." Catti-brie looked wearily at the door of her daughter's room as she felt familiar arms wrap around her. "But still, it is hard to believe that the first time that she returns home in years has to be under these circumstances."
Drizzt opened his eyes as he slowly moved his hands from Catti-brie's temples down to her shoulders. She was looking at him with the same sadness in her eyes as there had been in the vision. He sighed as he looked up into her eyes, a sadness awakening through his own. There was something about her that was somehow distant, and a thought flittered briefly through his head as to why.
"It was only a brief vision, Lady Love." His voice was soft as he reached up and lightly kissed the crown of her head. "It may or may not come to pass, but you have no reason to worry. If it does occur, it won't for several years. Worry not."
She bowed her head as he moved to sit next to her, his arm resting comfortingly around her shoulders. "I know, but it still hurts to see that she was so heart broken by someone that she loved so dearly."
Drizzt was silent for a long moment before responding, his voice soft. "It's hard to watch the people we love suffer, especially when we can do nothing to help them. The helplessness only makes it worse." Catti-brie looked up when he paused, wondering what he could possibly be referring too when the look in his eyes - pain and fear all at once - gave her the final clues that she needed. He was thinking of that instant in which he had found her captive in Kelnozz's arms. "But we should not be lingering on the past, which we shouldn't, we should only be waiting to see what happens in the future."
A/N
I'm really sorry to leave you here... and this chapter really was kinda a filler (and an idea for another forgotten realms story)until the plot bunnies aren't so mad at me any more. TT-TT I don't know what's gotten onto them. And the updates won't be very fast, even though hockey is over, for three reasons.
1. Finals are in two weeks, and i have a lot of make up work to do. .
2. I'm drowning the amount of homework that I've had to do over the ;ast few weeks. TT.TT
3. My friend and i started a webcomic and i'm the artist, so that will also be sucking up a lot of my time.
Sessha is really sorry, and i will be updating whenever I get the chance. Please forgive me! Bows at the readers
I also thank all of you that have reviewed! All of them are EXTREMELY appreciated! And please, if there is any criticism of the story, like spelling or reference mistakes, PLEASE TELL ME! THANK YOU!
-RangerDo'Urden