Part Two: Zaknafein Do'Urden

"Zak offered no resistance as Vierna and Maya tied him to the spider-shaped altar in the chapel. He watched Vierna mostly, seeing an edge of sympathy rimming her quiet eyes. She, too, might have been like him, but whatever hope he had for that possibility had been buried long ago under the relentless preaching of the Spider Queen." - Homeland

Zaknafein Do'Urden stood in the audience hall of House Do'Urden's chapel, looking straight ahead. His posture was as proud as usual, his face calm, and his eyes gleamed in a unique mixture of confidence, insolence and bitterness. His looks and demeanour would have fooled everyone, for they hid his troubles and worries perfectly, showing nothing but the brazen, powerful Weapon Master and patron of the Tenth House.

Everyone, except the female on the adorned throne before him. The Matron Mother of House Do'Urden was as beautiful as ever, but the way she looked at him - more like a hungry predator than like a sentient being - disgusted Zaknafein so much that he couldn't enjoy the sight of her pretty face or her shapely body. Only years of exercise enabled him to keep his face straight and not show his revulsion. He hated Malice more passionately than any other priestess of Lolth, he hated her for the countless nights he had to spend in her bed, for the lewd games she played with him - games that were very pleasurable for her, but only painful for him.

Yet he could not allow himself to displease her now by being cocky or arrogant, for Malice was more than only his matron and lover: she was Vierna's mother, and Vierna was the reason Zaknafein was here, standing in this chapel of the goddess he loathed, seeking out a female he usually tried to avoid as much as possible.

Vierna was, as far as Zaknafein knew, his only child, and Malice's second daughter. The Weapon Master had always suspected that she was different when he had seen her as a small child: her eyes were calmer, and when she grew older and got her first instructions about Lolth's ways, she seemed to be less enthusiastic at the prospect of killing and torturing than not only her elder sister, the vicious Briza, but any other drow female Zaknafein had ever met. Vierna was special, she wasn't so easily corrupted by her education as most drow. Zaknafein had no way to find out if Vierna was really his daughter - Malice had other lovers who might have sired the child - but he knew that she was. He had seen himself in the eyes of the young female that had been sent to him a year ago.

Like all females, Vierna had to learn how to use melee weapons, how to fight, and her instruction was - of course - bestowed upon the House's Weapon Master. She had spent almost twelve months with Zaknafein, leaving his quarters only to pray in the chapel and to sleep in her own room. During this time, Zaknafein had come to like the girl more and more: she was high-spirited and interested in what he taught her - unlike other females who just sneered at fighters - she did her best to meet his expectations, and she smiled at him when he nodded approvingly, as if his opinion truly mattered to her. She had even laughed once when he had made a sarcastic remark about Malice and Briza, and in this moment Zaknafein had been completely convinced that Vierna was his daughter. No other drow, least of all a noble female, would laugh if a male made fun of a high priestess. For the first time in his life, Zaknafein felt like had found someone who was like him, someone who could be a friend in this hostile world.

That was why he had to save Vierna from Malice, from the Academy, from Lolth. His daughter wouldn't be a fanatical priestess of the damned Spider Bitch if he could do anything to prevent it! They would destroy her, they would take her smile away, they would turn Vierna into a cruel, ruthless killing machine like the other drow. The mere thought of Vierna looking at him as disdainfully as Malice or Briza did, of Vierna calling him a worthless, stupid male and whipping him for one of his countless insolences made Zaknafein almost choke.

"Zaknafein!" Malice's angry voice cut through his thoughts, emphasised by a hiss from the snakes on her whip. The Weapon Master looked up at her, scolding himself quietly for his lack of attention. The Matron's tone showed clearly that she had already called his name before, and that she was anything but pleased by his silence.

"I beg your pardon, Matron. I was admiring the magnificence of the chapel," Zaknafein answered with a deep bow. It would have been an acceptable answer if it had come from another male, but from Zaknafein, who had never hidden his hatred for Lolth and her clergy, it seemed like pure sarcasm. He realised his mistake too late when he straightened up and saw the fury in Malice's eyes. He really had to concentrate more on her than on his bleak thoughts if he wanted to achieve anything. Fortunately for him, the Matron Mother was too curious to give him the beating he deserved. At least for the moment.

"You said you wanted to talk to me, alone, and I have given you the honour of this private audience. So don't waste my time!" she hissed, impatiently stroking the hilt of her whip. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Vierna, Matron. I do not think she belongs in Arach-Tinilith," he said in the most humble voice he could manage, trying his best to appear submissive. He failed miserably. Being humble and submissive was nothing Zaknafein was good at.

"Is that so?" Malice asked, now rather annoyed than angry. She knew that Vierna was Zaknafein's child, and she knew that he suspected it, too. The Weapon Master had often said to her that Vierna was special, that she held more potential than average drow children. He had said that she was an excellent student and that she might become a great fighter, while Briza, who taught her about the service to Lolth, complained that Vierna was sometimes distracted and lacked the right passion for her studies.

Zaknafein had been careful in the past, he hadn't started to argue with Malice, but just given small hints. He had mentioned Vierna only when Malice was in a good humour and pleased with him - when he had satisfied her in bed. But Malice seemed to ignore his remarks. Noble females always became clerics of the Spider Queen, it was a rule and a tradition, and a source of power for the House. Vierna's fate had been sealed from the moment of her birth. Malice would insist that Vierna would go to Arach-Tinilith in a month to become a priestess of Lolth.

This was Zaknafein's last chance to try and save his daughter, and only his fear to lose her had brought him here to face Malice's impatience, her anger and her whip.

"She is one of the best students I have ever had, maybe even the best. She is strong and quick, she wields her blades better than many seasoned warriors of the House."

"Of course she does, she's a female," Malice cut him short. Any sane male would have shut up by now, but Zaknafein wouldn't give up so easily.

"I have crossed blades with many females, and Vierna is more talented than any of them. She could become an extraordinary fighter; her talent would be wasted at Arach-Tinilith. Would a great warrior not serve House Do'Urden better than a mediocre priestess?" he argued, barely noticing that his voice had become again as loud and brash as usual. He was too angry, too desperate to hold himself back.

"The weakest priestess is still more useful than any fighter. Only a fool would have a female become a warrior. It's a lesser art better left to males," Malice snorted, slowly rising. The snakes hissed in anticipation when the priestess descended from the throne and went over to the Weapon Master. She looked him in the eyes and smiled, a cold smile that combined disdain and lust, cruelty and amusement.

"But Vierna -" Zaknafein started in a last attempt, although he already knew that his cause was lost. Malice didn't bother to interrupt him verbally this time, she just raised her whip and struck him across the face. She knew exactly why Zaknafein didn't want Vierna to become a priestess - his contempt for Lolth was no secret, and Malice decided that her patron maybe needed to be reminded of his place once again.

Zaknafein stumbled back and almost reached for his swords on pure instinct, but he restrained himself in the last second. To raise a weapon against a female, especially against a Matron Mother, would cost even him his life, no matter how useful he was. The next blows threw him on the ground, and he already felt the sting of teeth on his hands and his face, and the painful burn of the snakes' poison.

Zaknafein had, like every drow male, always been repressed and beaten in his life, but he had never felt so hopeless and at the same time furious as in this moment. It wasn't the beating, as painful as it was, that made him so angry, nor the prospect that Malice would probably heal him afterwards to take him to her bed and continue to play with him. It was the knowledge that he would lose the only person who was like him, who might have been his friend and confidant, that drove him almost mad with anger.

Writhing on the polished floor of the chapel under the relentless blows of the whip, Zaknafein could only think of Vierna's honest smile when they had been training, a smile he would never see again. Zaknafein was once again alone, and he knew that he would remain alone for the rest of his miserable existence.