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aithne(The Lady Of Pain Dramatis Personae)
For the moment, Imryne left the illithid in one of the outer rooms, hoping that its power could not penetrate the inner house from this distance. Then she went to see her mother, who was waiting for her. It seemed as if Triel was always waiting for her when she returned now, no matter where she had gone or what odd hours she came back at. "Mother. I've done something that may have been...somewhat foolish. Time will tell," she said, dropping into her chair.
Triel eyed her daughter. "What did you do?"
"Made an alliance of sorts with the illithids. They're not working for Greyanna particularly willingly."
Her mother blinked, then said, "That could be good, I suppose, if you think they won't betray us."
Imryne shrugged. "I'm as certain as I can be about that. And I brought one of them back with me. They have something of a sense of honor, it seems. And they dislike what they are being forced to do to Maya and Ryld."
That was a flash of panic that crossed Triel's face. "You have one in the house?"
She nodded, saying swiftly, "I was as careful as I could be, the one I was speaking to was under truth spells, and it promised on what it holds--sacred is the wrong word, but it'll do--but, yes. It's in the outer house, not the inner. I tried to keep it far away enough that it can't sense what's going on in the inner house."
Triel breathed out and sat back, but she seemed far from convinced. "That's good, at least."
"It promised that they would harm none of the house," she said, though she knew how flimsy a promise was, here under stone. "And that they would pass nothing on to Xalyth or any other house."
"We are going to have to feed it," she said warningly. "And you know what that means. But if you are sure, daughter. You have led us this far safely."
I am sure of nothing except my heartbeat and the love of my spouses, and I sometimes doubt the former, Imryne wanted to say. Instead, she bowed her head. "I thought I would keep my eye out at the slave auctions for possible food for it. I'm as sure as I am about anything these days, which is not really very much."
"I understand that." There was a canny look in Triel's eyes, now. "So what do you hope to gain from the alliance? More information, I assume?"
"More information, yes. I think this is our chance to have the one inside Xalyth help us get Maya and Ryld out. I also think we may be able to have them help us limit our casualties in Abburth, when it comes. It may be able to help Ulitree, or at least find out who's on the other end of her link." She twisted her mouth. "And, to be honest, I think we may have more in common with a bunch of illithids than with the people who worship Lloth. As strange as that thought is."
"That, sometimes, would not surprise me. What did you have to offer in return?" Triel asked. She leaned forward, the gems in her hairpins catching the gentle light.
"The removal of Ryld and Maya from house Xalyth, so the one inside no longer needs to be there," she said. "They also evidently feel that helping us is the best bet they have for survival. The one inside of Xalyth evidently likes Sorn. His mind is truthful, it said. That's why it keeps following him around."
Her mother looked disconcerted. "Isn't it driving him crazy?"
Imryne inclined her head. "It is. It said that his mind is cracking anyway, it's only a matter of time. They also seem to believe that the destruction of Xalyth is by far in their best interest. They only work with them now because otherwise they would be destroyed."
"Caught, much like we are." Triel glanced away, contemplative. Then she looked at Imryne, her gaze for once completely unshuttered. For a long moment, Imryne sat pinned, blasted by the heat of her mother's power, her sorrow, her joy.
Then she spoke again, and her voice was soft. "Sorn is going to die, isn't he?"
It was useless to try to lie to Triel, and her mother's gaze was still naked, hopeful, yearning. Both of them knew this answer. "I'm afraid that he is, Mother. The chances for his survival are very slim. I'm sorry. If I can get him out at the same time as Ryld and Maya, there is a chance."
Triel closed her eyes, and Imryne sagged. Once she opened her eyes again, the emotion in them had been swallowed, hidden away. "I knew he was being tossed to the wind when he went in," she said. "But one likes to hope. Give him a clean death, if it comes to that. Don't let Greyanna do it."
Imryne remembered Veldrin, and nodded. "I will try to arrange it," she said, her tone a fierce promise. "He has done very well, better than I ever dreamed. I am proud of him."
As she spoke, she realized the words were true. She was proud of her brother, silly, vain, gullible Sorn, who Rauva had made such a pet out of. He had a strength of spirit she had not suspected in him. And I will kill him before I let Greyanna take him down Veldrin's road, she swore to herself.
Her mother nodded. "Good, anything else daughter?"
She nodded, feeling abruptly exhausted. She talked to her mother for some time about Talabrina and the news she had brought, and ended with, "I may remember more I need to talk to you about, Mother, but I think at the moment I'm going to be a bit useless until I manage to get some sleep. I still have to talk to Tar about what's happening to Maya."
There was sympathy in her mother's voice. "I understand daughter, keep me up to date." Imryne nodded and rose to give her mother a hug.
Tonight, Triel held on to her daughter for a little longer than usual, and Imryne allowed herself to be comforted, remembering nights when nightmares had sent her screaming into the big bed her mother shared with her husbands, to be nestled safe between her mother and a familiar male body, or between a pair of her fathers.
She was going to need that sense of comfort, she thought. Talking to Tar was not going to be easy.
And so it was not. Trying to keep Tar from flying apart when she learned Maya was in pain in House Xalyth was something she could not have accomplished without Jevan and Ilfryn's help. As it was, she ended up sitting on top of a struggling and swearing Tar, holding her down, telling her that she could not go get Maya now, that they were going to have to be patient. Unfortunately, Faeryl and Lesrak peeked their heads in, and then ran away crying. Ilfryn went to get them and calm them down while Jevan and Imryne tried to talk Tar into holding onto her patience.
What patience Tar had left was wearing very thin, unfortunately. Even after she was calmed down, Imryne got the decided impression that her wife was seriously considering doing something rash. For tonight, she allowed herself to be talked out of it, and asked to sleep between Imryne and Jevan when they went to bed that night. Jevan wanted to start planning and plotting, but Imryne wanted nothing more than some sleep.
Curled around Tar, Ilfryn a comforting weight against her back, Imryne slept, but her dreams were broken-winged things, and in them both Ryld and Maya were screaming, help.
Before first meal, Imryne was woken by a crash as one of the children broke a statue in the main room. It appeared that both Challay and Lesrak had chosen this ilit to go a little stir-crazy. Challay was spoiling for a fight, and Lesrak was simply more wound up than usual, a coiled spring of boy energy that kept going off somewhat randomly. She finally got them and Faeryl, who was slinking around like a chastened slave, off to separate parts of the house, and returned to the bedroom where her spouses were waking up.
They planned and plotted, and a message spell to Talabrina revealed that Greyanna's favorite victim right at the moment was her husband Iymril, who had originally been of Vandree. "I think we just got lucky," Imryne said, after she shared the news.
"I wondered about that. She was really mad at Vandree for shooting her down," Jevan said.
"And if he explodes, Greyanna will think it's Vandree's fault, and our allied houses won't blame us," Ilfryn added.
"So, I just need to get the potions to Sorn. Easily enough done," she said. "Talabrina will help, if I contact her. Otherwise, we'll have to wait, and I'm not sure we have that much time." Imryne glanced at Tar, who was sitting with her knees to her chest, her hands wrapped around her bare feet. She seemed to be keeping herself from getting up and running out of the room by force of will alone.
"Nor am I," Jevan said. "So message Talabrina to come out sometime soon, and to Sorn to say she will be giving her potions and to give these three potions to the Vandree person. Then wait."
Imryne smiled. "I think Talabrina's smart enough to realize an opportunity when she sees it."
"I think so. That way she doesn't leak by accident to the mind flayer."
Tar blinked. "Mind flayer?"
"Elven slang for illithid," Jevan explained.
Tar lifted an eyebrow, and Imryne, in an effort to keep Tar from flying apart for the moment, said, "They eat the brains of sentient or semi-sentient creatures, which is where I think that came from."
Her wife was not quite satisfied, but she said, "Got it."
"So if it all works right we get Maya, Ryld and a dead Greyanna," Jevan said. "Now we should make a plan for the what ifs."
Imryne sat back, and crossed her arms. "The biggest if is if we don't get a dead Greyanna. She'll know right away who was responsible--is the magic in the potions traceable after the victim is dead, Ilfryn?"
Ilfryn said, "Shouldn't be. Common ingredients, and not our normal healing potion mixture. Besides, the body will probably not be in pieces bigger than a finger."
"Good," Imryne said. "But if she survives and even suspects it's us, Sorn will become her new favorite toy. Sorn will crack and he will tell her everything, including who gave him the potions. So Sorn needs to either die or vanish as part of this plan."
He nodded. "Yes. Now the best way to do this is that he gets out with Talabrina. But if Greyanna survives she will try to locate him if she can't find his body, and that will lead her to us. Talabrina, not as much. Who would think that we turned her?"
"Nobody. Either Greyanna needs to think she knows what happened to Sorn, or Sorn needs to die in a way that doesn't leave much to question afterwards." She sighed. "As much as I hate to say it...the illithid was willing to kill him. I'm not sure if we have the time to come up with a believable body, or a good way to get it into Xalyth."
"Or he dies in the explosion," Ilfryn said. His hand had found its way into hers, and she leaned against her mage husband. "For him to die in the explosion, he will need to be close to the target. The best way to do that is to tell him that he needs to help the victim take these potions because they may cause something, like sleep or seizures."
Imryne almost smiled. "I could tell him that the last portion has a chance of making the person fall into a seizure when it wears off. He would probably feel the need to be around until it did so, if I know him like I think I do."
"And it would be at least quick for him." He squeezed her hand, looking into her face with concerned eyes. "Can you do that?"
She nodded, though it felt as though her heart was trembling inside of her. "My mother asked me, if we had to let him die, to at least make it quick and not let Greyanna do it."
"I can understand that," Ilfryn said. "I would also bet that if she survives, this particular custom of taking her husbands and wives from the ruling houses will end very quickly."
Imryne did smile now, fiercely. "I'm sure it will. She's only doing it because she thinks it poses little danger to her. She'll stop when she realizes how dangerous it is. No more hostages will go into her house. She may either kill or return the ones she has." She shook her head. "She'll have to buy her toys, just like everyone else who's twisted like her."
"I would bet she kills them and says the explosion took them all," he said. "Make them all very mad. Vandree probably the most, and that is not a bad thing."
"I would like Vandree to show their hand, and this is a way of nudging them," she said. "They've got something going on, and I would feel better if I could see at least part of it. Making a play I think for House 1, but how?"
"Kilsek," Tar said. "They have to go through Kilsek somehow. Or maybe they are both going against Xalyth. Hard to tell."
"I give it even odds either way, to tell the truth," Imryne said. "Imrae is like an older, smarter Greyanna without the excesses. She could be planning just about anything."
"I know, and that worries me as well," her wife said. "But for now, let's bring our children home."
Imryne nodded, and messaged Talabrina to ask for a meeting. The reply came back as first period tomorrow, the same place that they had met before. She messaged Sorn and told him that there were some potions coming to him by an unusual messenger that should be used to help whoever Greyanna's latest victim was, gave him the instructions for use, and urged him to stay with whoever took them because they might have bad side effects as they wore off.
They all spent some time keeping Tar from climbing the walls for the rest of that day. The meeting with Talabrina went smoothly the next morning, Imryne passing off the potions with the instructions that they be taken a few hours apart for best effect.
Now, there was nothing to do but wait, and see if it worked. To distract herself, Imryne went into the outer house to visit the illithid. The guards on the door stepped aside, and she knocked, waited a moment, and went in.
The creature was sitting in a chair that was pulled up to a table, and as Imryne walked in it pulled the hood of its cloak up over its head, hiding its face. "Greetings," she said.
A voice sounded in her head, neither male nor female, with the strange impression of multiple voices speaking. Greetings.
Imryne jumped, and then recovered. "Do you need anything? I admit to not knowing what physical things make your people comfortable. And we should speak of food for you."
Ah, the things in here are fine for comfort. For food, I will need semi-sentient creatures. Goblins, orcs, kobolds work fine.
Imryne relaxed a bit. "How often do you need to eat?"
Every two of your weeks--threads, yes?--but I prefer once per thread. Every two is a starvation diet for us.
"I'll have something brought within the next day, then, and make plans for later," she said.
Thank you, the illithid said in her head. She tried to decide if it was male or female, bout couldn't decided. You have one in pain here, yes?
Startled, she said, "Several, actually. One who is caught in madness. One whose body has been changed."
The one in madness is the one that I can hear, it says. I can stop the pain, even if I can't cure her.
She remembered the screams that came from behind Phaere's door at night, and said, "Even stopping the pain would help. She is connected to the mind of another."
I should be able to sever the link.
"I can bring her down," Imryne said. "She is somewhat physically combatative."
We can go to her, if that is easier, the illithid said, its voices echoing interrogatively.
"Ah...I think my mother would prefer it for the moment if you didn't go into the inner house," she said. "Phaere can be brought."
I understand. If you can bring her down then I may be able to help.
Imryne breathed out, looking at the shrouded form. If Phaere were damaged, her other would never forgive her. But if there was a chance... "I'll go get her," she said.
She found Jevan, and together they brought Phaere back. She was screaming and struggling between them, her face distorted by the rapid and shifting muscle movements under her skin. Her hair had been cut brutally short a few threads ago, after she had tried to use it to strangle herself.
They brought her to the illithid's room, and set her down in the floor. Snarling, she launched herself at Jevan, who caught her wrists in his hands and held her as she struggled and kicked, completely ignoring the illithid in the room.
Phaere landed several kicks quite near places Jevan would probably prefer not to be kicked before the illithid rose and came over. It laid a hand on the back of Phaere's head and she went limp, her eyes closed. The link is already severed from the other end, it said. But they left her a depository of evil thoughts and deeds in her mind, filling it. She sees only people dying, and her killing them. All sorts of things.
"Were these thoughts and deeds that belonged to the one who had the link?" Imryne asked.
Mostly yes, but her mind has added to them as the imagination does.
She reached down and brushed her hand over Phaere's forehead. Relaxed, with her eyes closed, her resemblance to her grandmother was unmistakable. "Do you know if there's anything we can do to take those from her, to restore her sanity?"
It was silent for a moment, and Imryne wished she could read emotion from it. Two ways that I know of. The original caster of the spell can do this very quickly. My way will take far longer. Extraction one by one of each of those memories.
"How long is far longer?" she asked.
Depends on the amount stored. I would hazard a guess of one memory extracted per day every day. No less than one decade. I can extract the worst and you will see improvement in a few years. For now, I can shut it all down.
"And that will stop her pain for the moment?"
She will see nothing, it said. She will be in a sleep so deep that she will need caretakers to feed, bathe and clear the waste of her body from her, but she will not be tortured by these memories.
"I think that's best," she said. Jevan was standing behind her, and she glanced at him, taking comfort from his presence. "We can take care of her, especially if it means that she will be getting better instead of worse."
It will. I will start tomorrow with her extractions. For now, she will sleep. Under the illithid's hand, Phaere shuddered, and then became entirely still other than her breathing. She may cry out as I extract them, but the pain is mental and no physical damage will it cause.
"We will bring her to you every day, then."
The illithid's whole body moved forward briefly; she thought that was a nod. As for the other?
"The other is connected to someone else," she said. "We were hoping to find out who, and discover whether we could either block the link or use it against whoever forged it. I probably need to bring her to you, though."
Please do, it said.
Jevan carried a limp Phaere back to her rooms, and Imryne left some instructions with her guard. They fetched Ulitree, taking the precaution of blindfolding her and stopping her ears, so whoever was on the other end would have no idea what they had done. She wanted to be carried by Jevan, clinging to him with both drow limbs and spider limbs, and though he looked a bit disturbed, he gave in.
Ulitree put her head down on Jevan's shoulder, closing her eyes. Imryne cast an illusion that covered her spider limbs, and they took her through the carved doors into the outer house. In the illithid's room, the creature reached out its hand to her and touched her face. Kilsek Elerra is on the other end.
"Can the link be broken, or changed?" Imryne asked.
Either, it said. This link is far less complex than the last. It opens both ways if you can tap into it, which I can. I can transfer it to another if I have all three parties present. The child in that room is giving her nothing, which is enough for now. Tampering too much with the images might alert her, but I can if you need. Another factor that I doubt Elerra knows--the mage that did this opened a link between them. Kill the child, and Elerra dies.
Imryne caught her breath. "Does it work the other way? Kill Elerra and this child dies?"
Yes. But once the link is severed this child could be awakened from death with spells, the illithid said. It's less complex than the other, but it's more complex that it has to be. He wanted someone to know that this could be done.
She nodded. "It's good to know, and something we can watch for--or do ourselves, if we need."
I understand. There is little I can do for now for this one, but monitor the link.
Ulitree's hand found Imryne's shoulder, and she leaned into Imryne. Still blindfolded and with stopped ears, she curled into Imryne. "We're working to bring her body back to what it was. We'll see what happens."
It leaned forward again. I can help with the mental, but the physical is beyond me.
"I understand. We do have other resources. You do what you can do quite admirably," she said. She stood, pulling Ulitree to her feet, and then giving in to the girl's silent request to be picked up.
Thank you. Is that all?
"It is. I'll have that food delivered for you soon." Then out she went, back to Ulitree's room to drop her off with her childminder, and then to the set.
Time wore on, and all of them tried half-heartedly to do the ilit's work. But their eyes were invariably drawn out the window, towards where House Xalyth could be half-seen over the rooftops of closer houses.
(Sorn, in House Xalyth)
Sweat was running down Iymril's face.
Drops of it pattered softly on the stone floor of the room Greyanna liked to call the playroom. Greyanna herself was lounging on the big bed, looking satisfied and occasionally casting incurious glances at the two husbands who occupied the large clear space at the center of the room.
The potions that the daughter of Greyanna's had worked like a charm. The first had healed Iymril; the second had been a euphoric that had made him not care where or even who he was for several hours. And the third had made him, for perhaps the first time in cycles, desire Greyanna's body. Sorn had asked to come along, remembering his sister's note that the potions might cause seizures when the third wore off.
Greyanna had been very well satisfied, but as always, she tired abruptly after her climax. She had flung Iymril away from her, and told Sorn to play with him while she recovered and watched.
The sad fact of the matter was that though Sorn had never liked other males sexually, sometimes their hands were easier to feel on his skin than Greyanna's. And at least it was Iymril, whose company he enjoyed, and there were no implements being used other than the ones he had been born with. Still, he had to shut a large part of himself down to endure it, to do what must be done, to close his eyes and pretend to enjoy himself while Iymril, out of his mind with the drug he had been given and uncaring now of who was beneath him, drove the encounter to its inevitable conclusion.
And now he was crouched on the floor, his arm over Iymril's shoulders as the other male shivered and shook. From the look on Greyanna's face, when Sorn dared lift his eyes to see her, she was feeling well-disposed towards the both of them, and that was worth the pain.
Sad as that is. He closed his eyes, trying not to grimace. Iymril shivered. "It'll be over soon," Sorn murmured. "Just be patient."
Iymril was breathing heavily, almost panting, and he raised his head. "I'm...oh."
Then there was--
--light.
Sorn died before he even had time to be surprised.
(Imryne, in House Melrae)
There was smoke rising from House Xalyth.
A low boom had brought them to the window, and all around them drow were rising into the air to get a look at the fire. They slipped out the window and rose now, seeing guards frantically barring the main gates, chaos evident in what little they could see here.
Imryne prayed, staring hard at the fire. Please, goddess. Let this go well. So much is outside our control right now.
They retreated inside, stood at the window. Minutes passed like hours, and then the pressure of an arriving message rang in Imryne's head. "Talabrina," she said aloud. "I'll repeat. "I have Maya, I killed Zeerith to get her. I am unable to get to you. Kilsek guards approached and grabbed me. Keeping me safe from another further attacks on House Xalyth. I am six blocks over and two up from your house. I need help or they will escort me back. I could not get to Ryld." Imryne paused, shook her head to clear it, reached for her staff. "Jevan, you and I will go. I can use the staff to create an illusion--"
Jevan shook his head sharply. "Not today, love." He grabbed Ilfryn's arm and exchanged a look with him, then both of them flew out the window and vanished.
Imryne spat a curse, rushing to the window. "He's right, you can't be caught," Tar said. She put her hands on Imryne's shoulders, pressing her body against Imryne.
She could not take her eyes off the thick smoke coming up from House Xalyth. "I know. I wish I could go." She swallowed. "Now I know how you feel a lot of the time."
"You do," Tar said, and slid her arms around her wife. Imryne turned and they held each other, waiting, both of them terrified.
It must have been only minutes later when a door sliced the air open in the main room of the set. Shouts and smoke poured out of it, and through it fell Talabrina, who tumbled gracelessly to the floor, curled around a screaming Maya. The door closed as soon as Talabrina was clear.
Tar swooped down to pluck Maya from Talabrina's arms, and Imryne bent to pull Talabrina to her feet. "Are you all right? What's going on?"
Talabrina nodded, a bit wild-eyed. "I am fine, where? With Jevan or at Xalyth?"
"Jevan first," Imryne demanded.
"They arrived, I didn't recognize them at first, some sort of spell to change their appearance. Then it was hell. Blood flying everywhere, spells going off, fire, lightning. I couldn't see much, but Ilfryn, I think it was Ilfryn. grabbed me and pushed me through that door," she said. She raised her hands and looked at them briefly, then brushed back her soot-stained hair. "Xalyth is in chaos. Sorn is dead, I saw what was left of his head. The wall collapsed between Ryld and I, there was no way to get to him. Zeerith didn't want to let go of Maya. I stabbed her in the throat and pulled Maya from her dead hands. My mother was still alive, but damaged. She was standing but I saw a mass of bone from either Sorn or whoever sticking through her leg--" She squeaked as there was a sound behind them.
They all turned to see another door open, and Imryne's heart leapt in hope. There was more shouting, and Imryne thought she could see a dark shape, a body--
Crack!
Fire exploded from the doorway, all of them flinching away, and the door closed.
Imryne stared at the empty place on the floor where her husbands should have landed.
Goddess, no, no, please--
For the moment, Imryne left the illithid in one of the outer rooms, hoping that its power could not penetrate the inner house from this distance. Then she went to see her mother, who was waiting for her. It seemed as if Triel was always waiting for her when she returned now, no matter where she had gone or what odd hours she came back at. "Mother. I've done something that may have been...somewhat foolish. Time will tell," she said, dropping into her chair.
Triel eyed her daughter. "What did you do?"
"Made an alliance of sorts with the illithids. They're not working for Greyanna particularly willingly."
Her mother blinked, then said, "That could be good, I suppose, if you think they won't betray us."
Imryne shrugged. "I'm as certain as I can be about that. And I brought one of them back with me. They have something of a sense of honor, it seems. And they dislike what they are being forced to do to Maya and Ryld."
That was a flash of panic that crossed Triel's face. "You have one in the house?"
She nodded, saying swiftly, "I was as careful as I could be, the one I was speaking to was under truth spells, and it promised on what it holds--sacred is the wrong word, but it'll do--but, yes. It's in the outer house, not the inner. I tried to keep it far away enough that it can't sense what's going on in the inner house."
Triel breathed out and sat back, but she seemed far from convinced. "That's good, at least."
"It promised that they would harm none of the house," she said, though she knew how flimsy a promise was, here under stone. "And that they would pass nothing on to Xalyth or any other house."
"We are going to have to feed it," she said warningly. "And you know what that means. But if you are sure, daughter. You have led us this far safely."
I am sure of nothing except my heartbeat and the love of my spouses, and I sometimes doubt the former, Imryne wanted to say. Instead, she bowed her head. "I thought I would keep my eye out at the slave auctions for possible food for it. I'm as sure as I am about anything these days, which is not really very much."
"I understand that." There was a canny look in Triel's eyes, now. "So what do you hope to gain from the alliance? More information, I assume?"
"More information, yes. I think this is our chance to have the one inside Xalyth help us get Maya and Ryld out. I also think we may be able to have them help us limit our casualties in Abburth, when it comes. It may be able to help Ulitree, or at least find out who's on the other end of her link." She twisted her mouth. "And, to be honest, I think we may have more in common with a bunch of illithids than with the people who worship Lloth. As strange as that thought is."
"That, sometimes, would not surprise me. What did you have to offer in return?" Triel asked. She leaned forward, the gems in her hairpins catching the gentle light.
"The removal of Ryld and Maya from house Xalyth, so the one inside no longer needs to be there," she said. "They also evidently feel that helping us is the best bet they have for survival. The one inside of Xalyth evidently likes Sorn. His mind is truthful, it said. That's why it keeps following him around."
Her mother looked disconcerted. "Isn't it driving him crazy?"
Imryne inclined her head. "It is. It said that his mind is cracking anyway, it's only a matter of time. They also seem to believe that the destruction of Xalyth is by far in their best interest. They only work with them now because otherwise they would be destroyed."
"Caught, much like we are." Triel glanced away, contemplative. Then she looked at Imryne, her gaze for once completely unshuttered. For a long moment, Imryne sat pinned, blasted by the heat of her mother's power, her sorrow, her joy.
Then she spoke again, and her voice was soft. "Sorn is going to die, isn't he?"
It was useless to try to lie to Triel, and her mother's gaze was still naked, hopeful, yearning. Both of them knew this answer. "I'm afraid that he is, Mother. The chances for his survival are very slim. I'm sorry. If I can get him out at the same time as Ryld and Maya, there is a chance."
Triel closed her eyes, and Imryne sagged. Once she opened her eyes again, the emotion in them had been swallowed, hidden away. "I knew he was being tossed to the wind when he went in," she said. "But one likes to hope. Give him a clean death, if it comes to that. Don't let Greyanna do it."
Imryne remembered Veldrin, and nodded. "I will try to arrange it," she said, her tone a fierce promise. "He has done very well, better than I ever dreamed. I am proud of him."
As she spoke, she realized the words were true. She was proud of her brother, silly, vain, gullible Sorn, who Rauva had made such a pet out of. He had a strength of spirit she had not suspected in him. And I will kill him before I let Greyanna take him down Veldrin's road, she swore to herself.
Her mother nodded. "Good, anything else daughter?"
She nodded, feeling abruptly exhausted. She talked to her mother for some time about Talabrina and the news she had brought, and ended with, "I may remember more I need to talk to you about, Mother, but I think at the moment I'm going to be a bit useless until I manage to get some sleep. I still have to talk to Tar about what's happening to Maya."
There was sympathy in her mother's voice. "I understand daughter, keep me up to date." Imryne nodded and rose to give her mother a hug.
Tonight, Triel held on to her daughter for a little longer than usual, and Imryne allowed herself to be comforted, remembering nights when nightmares had sent her screaming into the big bed her mother shared with her husbands, to be nestled safe between her mother and a familiar male body, or between a pair of her fathers.
She was going to need that sense of comfort, she thought. Talking to Tar was not going to be easy.
And so it was not. Trying to keep Tar from flying apart when she learned Maya was in pain in House Xalyth was something she could not have accomplished without Jevan and Ilfryn's help. As it was, she ended up sitting on top of a struggling and swearing Tar, holding her down, telling her that she could not go get Maya now, that they were going to have to be patient. Unfortunately, Faeryl and Lesrak peeked their heads in, and then ran away crying. Ilfryn went to get them and calm them down while Jevan and Imryne tried to talk Tar into holding onto her patience.
What patience Tar had left was wearing very thin, unfortunately. Even after she was calmed down, Imryne got the decided impression that her wife was seriously considering doing something rash. For tonight, she allowed herself to be talked out of it, and asked to sleep between Imryne and Jevan when they went to bed that night. Jevan wanted to start planning and plotting, but Imryne wanted nothing more than some sleep.
Curled around Tar, Ilfryn a comforting weight against her back, Imryne slept, but her dreams were broken-winged things, and in them both Ryld and Maya were screaming, help.
Before first meal, Imryne was woken by a crash as one of the children broke a statue in the main room. It appeared that both Challay and Lesrak had chosen this ilit to go a little stir-crazy. Challay was spoiling for a fight, and Lesrak was simply more wound up than usual, a coiled spring of boy energy that kept going off somewhat randomly. She finally got them and Faeryl, who was slinking around like a chastened slave, off to separate parts of the house, and returned to the bedroom where her spouses were waking up.
They planned and plotted, and a message spell to Talabrina revealed that Greyanna's favorite victim right at the moment was her husband Iymril, who had originally been of Vandree. "I think we just got lucky," Imryne said, after she shared the news.
"I wondered about that. She was really mad at Vandree for shooting her down," Jevan said.
"And if he explodes, Greyanna will think it's Vandree's fault, and our allied houses won't blame us," Ilfryn added.
"So, I just need to get the potions to Sorn. Easily enough done," she said. "Talabrina will help, if I contact her. Otherwise, we'll have to wait, and I'm not sure we have that much time." Imryne glanced at Tar, who was sitting with her knees to her chest, her hands wrapped around her bare feet. She seemed to be keeping herself from getting up and running out of the room by force of will alone.
"Nor am I," Jevan said. "So message Talabrina to come out sometime soon, and to Sorn to say she will be giving her potions and to give these three potions to the Vandree person. Then wait."
Imryne smiled. "I think Talabrina's smart enough to realize an opportunity when she sees it."
"I think so. That way she doesn't leak by accident to the mind flayer."
Tar blinked. "Mind flayer?"
"Elven slang for illithid," Jevan explained.
Tar lifted an eyebrow, and Imryne, in an effort to keep Tar from flying apart for the moment, said, "They eat the brains of sentient or semi-sentient creatures, which is where I think that came from."
Her wife was not quite satisfied, but she said, "Got it."
"So if it all works right we get Maya, Ryld and a dead Greyanna," Jevan said. "Now we should make a plan for the what ifs."
Imryne sat back, and crossed her arms. "The biggest if is if we don't get a dead Greyanna. She'll know right away who was responsible--is the magic in the potions traceable after the victim is dead, Ilfryn?"
Ilfryn said, "Shouldn't be. Common ingredients, and not our normal healing potion mixture. Besides, the body will probably not be in pieces bigger than a finger."
"Good," Imryne said. "But if she survives and even suspects it's us, Sorn will become her new favorite toy. Sorn will crack and he will tell her everything, including who gave him the potions. So Sorn needs to either die or vanish as part of this plan."
He nodded. "Yes. Now the best way to do this is that he gets out with Talabrina. But if Greyanna survives she will try to locate him if she can't find his body, and that will lead her to us. Talabrina, not as much. Who would think that we turned her?"
"Nobody. Either Greyanna needs to think she knows what happened to Sorn, or Sorn needs to die in a way that doesn't leave much to question afterwards." She sighed. "As much as I hate to say it...the illithid was willing to kill him. I'm not sure if we have the time to come up with a believable body, or a good way to get it into Xalyth."
"Or he dies in the explosion," Ilfryn said. His hand had found its way into hers, and she leaned against her mage husband. "For him to die in the explosion, he will need to be close to the target. The best way to do that is to tell him that he needs to help the victim take these potions because they may cause something, like sleep or seizures."
Imryne almost smiled. "I could tell him that the last portion has a chance of making the person fall into a seizure when it wears off. He would probably feel the need to be around until it did so, if I know him like I think I do."
"And it would be at least quick for him." He squeezed her hand, looking into her face with concerned eyes. "Can you do that?"
She nodded, though it felt as though her heart was trembling inside of her. "My mother asked me, if we had to let him die, to at least make it quick and not let Greyanna do it."
"I can understand that," Ilfryn said. "I would also bet that if she survives, this particular custom of taking her husbands and wives from the ruling houses will end very quickly."
Imryne did smile now, fiercely. "I'm sure it will. She's only doing it because she thinks it poses little danger to her. She'll stop when she realizes how dangerous it is. No more hostages will go into her house. She may either kill or return the ones she has." She shook her head. "She'll have to buy her toys, just like everyone else who's twisted like her."
"I would bet she kills them and says the explosion took them all," he said. "Make them all very mad. Vandree probably the most, and that is not a bad thing."
"I would like Vandree to show their hand, and this is a way of nudging them," she said. "They've got something going on, and I would feel better if I could see at least part of it. Making a play I think for House 1, but how?"
"Kilsek," Tar said. "They have to go through Kilsek somehow. Or maybe they are both going against Xalyth. Hard to tell."
"I give it even odds either way, to tell the truth," Imryne said. "Imrae is like an older, smarter Greyanna without the excesses. She could be planning just about anything."
"I know, and that worries me as well," her wife said. "But for now, let's bring our children home."
Imryne nodded, and messaged Talabrina to ask for a meeting. The reply came back as first period tomorrow, the same place that they had met before. She messaged Sorn and told him that there were some potions coming to him by an unusual messenger that should be used to help whoever Greyanna's latest victim was, gave him the instructions for use, and urged him to stay with whoever took them because they might have bad side effects as they wore off.
They all spent some time keeping Tar from climbing the walls for the rest of that day. The meeting with Talabrina went smoothly the next morning, Imryne passing off the potions with the instructions that they be taken a few hours apart for best effect.
Now, there was nothing to do but wait, and see if it worked. To distract herself, Imryne went into the outer house to visit the illithid. The guards on the door stepped aside, and she knocked, waited a moment, and went in.
The creature was sitting in a chair that was pulled up to a table, and as Imryne walked in it pulled the hood of its cloak up over its head, hiding its face. "Greetings," she said.
A voice sounded in her head, neither male nor female, with the strange impression of multiple voices speaking. Greetings.
Imryne jumped, and then recovered. "Do you need anything? I admit to not knowing what physical things make your people comfortable. And we should speak of food for you."
Ah, the things in here are fine for comfort. For food, I will need semi-sentient creatures. Goblins, orcs, kobolds work fine.
Imryne relaxed a bit. "How often do you need to eat?"
Every two of your weeks--threads, yes?--but I prefer once per thread. Every two is a starvation diet for us.
"I'll have something brought within the next day, then, and make plans for later," she said.
Thank you, the illithid said in her head. She tried to decide if it was male or female, bout couldn't decided. You have one in pain here, yes?
Startled, she said, "Several, actually. One who is caught in madness. One whose body has been changed."
The one in madness is the one that I can hear, it says. I can stop the pain, even if I can't cure her.
She remembered the screams that came from behind Phaere's door at night, and said, "Even stopping the pain would help. She is connected to the mind of another."
I should be able to sever the link.
"I can bring her down," Imryne said. "She is somewhat physically combatative."
We can go to her, if that is easier, the illithid said, its voices echoing interrogatively.
"Ah...I think my mother would prefer it for the moment if you didn't go into the inner house," she said. "Phaere can be brought."
I understand. If you can bring her down then I may be able to help.
Imryne breathed out, looking at the shrouded form. If Phaere were damaged, her other would never forgive her. But if there was a chance... "I'll go get her," she said.
She found Jevan, and together they brought Phaere back. She was screaming and struggling between them, her face distorted by the rapid and shifting muscle movements under her skin. Her hair had been cut brutally short a few threads ago, after she had tried to use it to strangle herself.
They brought her to the illithid's room, and set her down in the floor. Snarling, she launched herself at Jevan, who caught her wrists in his hands and held her as she struggled and kicked, completely ignoring the illithid in the room.
Phaere landed several kicks quite near places Jevan would probably prefer not to be kicked before the illithid rose and came over. It laid a hand on the back of Phaere's head and she went limp, her eyes closed. The link is already severed from the other end, it said. But they left her a depository of evil thoughts and deeds in her mind, filling it. She sees only people dying, and her killing them. All sorts of things.
"Were these thoughts and deeds that belonged to the one who had the link?" Imryne asked.
Mostly yes, but her mind has added to them as the imagination does.
She reached down and brushed her hand over Phaere's forehead. Relaxed, with her eyes closed, her resemblance to her grandmother was unmistakable. "Do you know if there's anything we can do to take those from her, to restore her sanity?"
It was silent for a moment, and Imryne wished she could read emotion from it. Two ways that I know of. The original caster of the spell can do this very quickly. My way will take far longer. Extraction one by one of each of those memories.
"How long is far longer?" she asked.
Depends on the amount stored. I would hazard a guess of one memory extracted per day every day. No less than one decade. I can extract the worst and you will see improvement in a few years. For now, I can shut it all down.
"And that will stop her pain for the moment?"
She will see nothing, it said. She will be in a sleep so deep that she will need caretakers to feed, bathe and clear the waste of her body from her, but she will not be tortured by these memories.
"I think that's best," she said. Jevan was standing behind her, and she glanced at him, taking comfort from his presence. "We can take care of her, especially if it means that she will be getting better instead of worse."
It will. I will start tomorrow with her extractions. For now, she will sleep. Under the illithid's hand, Phaere shuddered, and then became entirely still other than her breathing. She may cry out as I extract them, but the pain is mental and no physical damage will it cause.
"We will bring her to you every day, then."
The illithid's whole body moved forward briefly; she thought that was a nod. As for the other?
"The other is connected to someone else," she said. "We were hoping to find out who, and discover whether we could either block the link or use it against whoever forged it. I probably need to bring her to you, though."
Please do, it said.
Jevan carried a limp Phaere back to her rooms, and Imryne left some instructions with her guard. They fetched Ulitree, taking the precaution of blindfolding her and stopping her ears, so whoever was on the other end would have no idea what they had done. She wanted to be carried by Jevan, clinging to him with both drow limbs and spider limbs, and though he looked a bit disturbed, he gave in.
Ulitree put her head down on Jevan's shoulder, closing her eyes. Imryne cast an illusion that covered her spider limbs, and they took her through the carved doors into the outer house. In the illithid's room, the creature reached out its hand to her and touched her face. Kilsek Elerra is on the other end.
"Can the link be broken, or changed?" Imryne asked.
Either, it said. This link is far less complex than the last. It opens both ways if you can tap into it, which I can. I can transfer it to another if I have all three parties present. The child in that room is giving her nothing, which is enough for now. Tampering too much with the images might alert her, but I can if you need. Another factor that I doubt Elerra knows--the mage that did this opened a link between them. Kill the child, and Elerra dies.
Imryne caught her breath. "Does it work the other way? Kill Elerra and this child dies?"
Yes. But once the link is severed this child could be awakened from death with spells, the illithid said. It's less complex than the other, but it's more complex that it has to be. He wanted someone to know that this could be done.
She nodded. "It's good to know, and something we can watch for--or do ourselves, if we need."
I understand. There is little I can do for now for this one, but monitor the link.
Ulitree's hand found Imryne's shoulder, and she leaned into Imryne. Still blindfolded and with stopped ears, she curled into Imryne. "We're working to bring her body back to what it was. We'll see what happens."
It leaned forward again. I can help with the mental, but the physical is beyond me.
"I understand. We do have other resources. You do what you can do quite admirably," she said. She stood, pulling Ulitree to her feet, and then giving in to the girl's silent request to be picked up.
Thank you. Is that all?
"It is. I'll have that food delivered for you soon." Then out she went, back to Ulitree's room to drop her off with her childminder, and then to the set.
Time wore on, and all of them tried half-heartedly to do the ilit's work. But their eyes were invariably drawn out the window, towards where House Xalyth could be half-seen over the rooftops of closer houses.
(Sorn, in House Xalyth)
Sweat was running down Iymril's face.
Drops of it pattered softly on the stone floor of the room Greyanna liked to call the playroom. Greyanna herself was lounging on the big bed, looking satisfied and occasionally casting incurious glances at the two husbands who occupied the large clear space at the center of the room.
The potions that the daughter of Greyanna's had worked like a charm. The first had healed Iymril; the second had been a euphoric that had made him not care where or even who he was for several hours. And the third had made him, for perhaps the first time in cycles, desire Greyanna's body. Sorn had asked to come along, remembering his sister's note that the potions might cause seizures when the third wore off.
Greyanna had been very well satisfied, but as always, she tired abruptly after her climax. She had flung Iymril away from her, and told Sorn to play with him while she recovered and watched.
The sad fact of the matter was that though Sorn had never liked other males sexually, sometimes their hands were easier to feel on his skin than Greyanna's. And at least it was Iymril, whose company he enjoyed, and there were no implements being used other than the ones he had been born with. Still, he had to shut a large part of himself down to endure it, to do what must be done, to close his eyes and pretend to enjoy himself while Iymril, out of his mind with the drug he had been given and uncaring now of who was beneath him, drove the encounter to its inevitable conclusion.
And now he was crouched on the floor, his arm over Iymril's shoulders as the other male shivered and shook. From the look on Greyanna's face, when Sorn dared lift his eyes to see her, she was feeling well-disposed towards the both of them, and that was worth the pain.
Sad as that is. He closed his eyes, trying not to grimace. Iymril shivered. "It'll be over soon," Sorn murmured. "Just be patient."
Iymril was breathing heavily, almost panting, and he raised his head. "I'm...oh."
Then there was--
--light.
Sorn died before he even had time to be surprised.
(Imryne, in House Melrae)
There was smoke rising from House Xalyth.
A low boom had brought them to the window, and all around them drow were rising into the air to get a look at the fire. They slipped out the window and rose now, seeing guards frantically barring the main gates, chaos evident in what little they could see here.
Imryne prayed, staring hard at the fire. Please, goddess. Let this go well. So much is outside our control right now.
They retreated inside, stood at the window. Minutes passed like hours, and then the pressure of an arriving message rang in Imryne's head. "Talabrina," she said aloud. "I'll repeat. "I have Maya, I killed Zeerith to get her. I am unable to get to you. Kilsek guards approached and grabbed me. Keeping me safe from another further attacks on House Xalyth. I am six blocks over and two up from your house. I need help or they will escort me back. I could not get to Ryld." Imryne paused, shook her head to clear it, reached for her staff. "Jevan, you and I will go. I can use the staff to create an illusion--"
Jevan shook his head sharply. "Not today, love." He grabbed Ilfryn's arm and exchanged a look with him, then both of them flew out the window and vanished.
Imryne spat a curse, rushing to the window. "He's right, you can't be caught," Tar said. She put her hands on Imryne's shoulders, pressing her body against Imryne.
She could not take her eyes off the thick smoke coming up from House Xalyth. "I know. I wish I could go." She swallowed. "Now I know how you feel a lot of the time."
"You do," Tar said, and slid her arms around her wife. Imryne turned and they held each other, waiting, both of them terrified.
It must have been only minutes later when a door sliced the air open in the main room of the set. Shouts and smoke poured out of it, and through it fell Talabrina, who tumbled gracelessly to the floor, curled around a screaming Maya. The door closed as soon as Talabrina was clear.
Tar swooped down to pluck Maya from Talabrina's arms, and Imryne bent to pull Talabrina to her feet. "Are you all right? What's going on?"
Talabrina nodded, a bit wild-eyed. "I am fine, where? With Jevan or at Xalyth?"
"Jevan first," Imryne demanded.
"They arrived, I didn't recognize them at first, some sort of spell to change their appearance. Then it was hell. Blood flying everywhere, spells going off, fire, lightning. I couldn't see much, but Ilfryn, I think it was Ilfryn. grabbed me and pushed me through that door," she said. She raised her hands and looked at them briefly, then brushed back her soot-stained hair. "Xalyth is in chaos. Sorn is dead, I saw what was left of his head. The wall collapsed between Ryld and I, there was no way to get to him. Zeerith didn't want to let go of Maya. I stabbed her in the throat and pulled Maya from her dead hands. My mother was still alive, but damaged. She was standing but I saw a mass of bone from either Sorn or whoever sticking through her leg--" She squeaked as there was a sound behind them.
They all turned to see another door open, and Imryne's heart leapt in hope. There was more shouting, and Imryne thought she could see a dark shape, a body--
Crack!
Fire exploded from the doorway, all of them flinching away, and the door closed.
Imryne stared at the empty place on the floor where her husbands should have landed.
Goddess, no, no, please--
