Chapter 2

Jarlaxle turned to the prisoner and slapped him hard across his face. He stirred, his lavender eyes opening slightly. Jarlaxle bowed and outstretched his hand to the drow hanging on the wall. "He's yours, Mistress."

Jozzlyn walked slowly up to the prisoner and raised his chin to look into his eyes. "What do you want to know?" she asked Jarlaxle.

"Find out how he breached the walls of House Baenre first. The fence would have stopped him in his tracks. Its magic would have held him there until we found him. He got in some other way, and I want to know how."

Jozzlyn looked into the prisoner's eyes. She used her magic to probe into the contours of his mind. Surprisingly she met strong barriers. It was then she knew this was no ordinary insignificant drow. Males were not usually blessed by Lolth and therefore did not possess magic of this strength. The strain showed on her face as she tried to break through. Even at the drow's weakened body, his magic was still powerful. She caught fleeting glimpses of bright light that hurt her eyes and plants that seemed to reach into the sky and towered over large boulders. Her skull began to pound and her head ached. The prisoner groaned under the weight of her magic. Finally, she broke through enough to see a large black beast, with fangs as sharp as sabers. A heard a name, Guen, before the prisoner's barrier completely broke. The prisoner's head came down hard on Jozzlyn's nose, but not hard enough to break it. She leapt back in surprise and pain, and fleetingly caught a glimpse of something like remorse flash across the drow's face.

Behind her Jarlaxle chuckled. "Careful, Mistress. He almost broke your pretty nose."

She did not even look at him, but instead kept her gaze on the face of the prisoner. 'He doesn't wish to harm me," she thought. She approached her captive once more, this time more slowly. She cupped his head in her hands and gently let her magic flow into his mind. She was met with less resistance, but still his barriers stood strong.

Suddenly she heard a male voice ring strong in her mind, "He will betray you," it said. She shrank back, surprised again by this male's power.

"Well?" Jarlaxle said behind her. "I thought you were a mind flayer?"

"You must be quiet. I need concentration; I will let you know when I find something." Jozzlyn shot back. "And never compare me with those monstrous humanoids again."

She spoke into the prisoner's mind, and to her astonishment, he did not block her words. "I know. He will have me murdered as soon as I tell him anything. Neither of us are safe while the other lives. Who are you?" she asked.

She felt his reservation as he spoke to her. "You already know."

"I knew this was Drizzt," she thought to herself. Before she could say anything else, the voice echoed again in her mind.

"There are plans of an attack on Mithril Hall. I have many friends there." His lavender eyes bore into Jozzlyn's.

"What is Mithril Hall? How did you plan to do anything about it single-handily anyway?" Jozzlyn asked.

Drizzt flashed an image of a female drow. It was Jozzlyn. Jozzlyn turned to Jarlaxle, even though she knew he would not have seen her image.

"How did he get into the fortress?" Jarlaxle asked her.

"Someone helped him. Someone wearing the colors of your faction." Jozzlyn lied.

"What? Who did this?" Jarlaxle shouted. "What is he after, Jozzlyn?"

She turned to Drizzt. "How do you plan to escape this dungeon? This house? Get past all the guards here undetected?"

He only said one word. "You." A sharp pain shot through Jozzlyn's chest.

"What? How? Jarlaxle will have many guards posted. Even if we made it out of the compound, we would never make it out of the Underdark."

"Trust me, Jozzlyn. If you can get me out of these chains, I will do the rest. You are not evil. I can sense good in you." She heard nothing after her name. No one had ever said her name like that before.

"I will help you. Although it will mean certain death for us both. I will do what I can. However, you have to take me with you. No matter what happens."

"I will. I would not leave you to die. I will not leave here without you." He paused. "Do you know of Gromph?"

Jozzlyn cringed. "Yes. He thinks very highly of himself. I wish nothing more but a slow and painful death for him. He has overstepped his bounds with me several times."

"Could you show me where his chambers are located? He has something that will make our escape possible."

"Yes. What does he hold there?"

"It's a mask. It will allow us to climb down the wall. Have you seen it?" asked Drizzt hurriedly.

"Yes, I know it. It is kept under his close eye. He is very proud of it." Jozzlyn replied.

Jarlaxle shifted impatiently behind her.

"Please come back for me tonight. If you can get here safely and unchain me, I promise I will die defending you if need be. I hope that it will not come to that, if we get the mask we will leave immediately. I already have the information I need."

Jarlaxle cleared his throat and shattered the silence.

Drizzt spoke once more before Jozzlyn turned to leave. '"Bring something warm to wear with you, and be careful."

Jozzlyn turned to Jarlaxle. "He has strong barriers upon his mind. I am exhausted. Allow me to come back tomorrow. Right now I must rest, or I will be of no use to you."

Jarlaxle hesitated. "Don't be foolish, Jozzlyn. I will be watching you. If you so much as speak my name to anyone, I will tell Triel that you and you mother have been planning her murder since you arrived at House Baenre. I will see to it you are killed before you can so much as utter a word against me. You know I have that power. Again-do not betray me."

"I am not a fool, Jarlaxle. I have as much at stake as you do here. Now, I shall take me leave of you. I am weary and will retire to my chambers. I will send word to you tomorrow and I shall try the prisoner again. See to it that he is beaten to near death, so that my job may prove easier."

"I will do my part, see that you do yours," he said and escorted Jozzlyn from the room.