your reputation”
SiNafay knew that more than her reputation was at stake;
in Menzoberranzan, a false accusation was a crime on par
with murder. "We all remember the fall of House DeVir”
SiNafay began. "Seven of us now gathered sat upon the rul.
ing council beside Matron Ginafae DeVir”
"House DeVir is no more” Matron Baenre reminded her.
"Because of House Do'Urden” SiNafay said bluntly.
This time the gasps came out as open anger.
"How dare you speak such words?" came one reply.
"Thirty years!" came another. "The issue has been
forgotten!"
Matron Baenre quieted them all before the clamor rose
into violent action-a not uncommon occurrence in the
council chamber. "SiNafay” she said through the dry sneer
on her lips. "One cannot make such an accusation; one can-
not discuss such beliefs openly so long after the event! You
know our ways. If House Do'Urden did indeed commit this
act, as you insist, it deserves our compliments, not our pun-
ishment, for it carried it through to perfection. House DeVir
is no more, I say. It does not exist"
Alton shifted uneasily, caught somewhere between rage
and despair. SiNafay was far from dismayed, though; this
was going exactly as she had envisioned and hoped.
"Oh, but it does!" she responded, rising to her feet. She
pulled the hood from Alton's head. "In this person!"
"Gelroos?" asked Matron Baenre, not understanding.
"Not Gelroos” SiNafay replied. "Gelroos Hun'ett died the
night House DeVir died. This male, Alton DeVir, assumed
Gelroos's identity and position, hiding from further attacks
by House Do'Urden!"
Baenre whispered some instructions to the matron at her
right side, then waited as she went through the semantics of
a spell. Baenre motioned for Sinafay to return to her seat,
then faced Alton.
"Speak your name” Baenre commanded.
"I am Alton DeVir” Alton said, gaining strength from the
identity he had waited so very long to proclaim, "son of Ma-
tron Ginafae and a student of Sorcere on the night House
Do'Urden attacked”
Baenre looked to the matron at her side.
"He speaks the truth” the matron assured her. Whispers
sprang up all around the spider table, of amusement more
than anything else.
"That is why 1 summoned the ruling council” SiNafay
quickly explained.
"Very well, SiNafay” said Matron Baenre. "My compli-
ments to you, Alton DeVir, on your resourcefulness anc;i
ability to survive. For a male, you have shown great courage
and wisdom. Surely you both know that the council cannot
exact punishment upon a house for a deed committed so
long ago. Why would we so desire? Matron Malice Do'Ur-
den sits in the favor of the Spider Queen; her house shows
great promise. You must reveal to us greater need if you
wish any punishment against House Do'Urden”
"I do not wish such a thing” SiNafay quickly replied. "This
matter, thirty years removed, is no longer in the realm of
the ruling council. House Do'Urden does indeed show
promise, my peers, with four high priestesses and a host oj
other weapons, not the least of which being their second
boy, Drizzt, first graduate of his class” She had purposel)
mentioned Drizzt, knowing that the name would strike.
wound in Matron Baenre. Baenre's own prized son, Berg'i
nyon, had spent the last nine years ranked behind the won
derful young Do'Urden.
"Then why have you bothered us?" Matron Baenre de
manded, an unmistakable edge in her voice.
"To ask you to close your eyes” SiNafay purred. "Alton is I
Hun'ett now, under my protection. He demands vengeance
for the act committed against his family, and, as a surviving
member of the attacked family, he has the right of accusa.
tion”
"House Hun'ett will stand beside him?" Matron Baenre
asked, turning curious and amused.
"Indeed” replied SiNafay. "Thus is House Hun'ett bound!"
"Vengeance?" another matron quipped, also now more
amused than angered. "Or fear? It would seem to my ears
that the matron of House Hun'ett uses this pitiful DeVir
creature for her own gain. House Do'Urden aspires to
higher ranking, and Matron Malice desires to sit upon the
ruling council, a threat to House Hun'ett, perhaps?"
"Be it vengeance or prudence, my claim-Alton DeVir's
claim-must be deemed as legitimate” replied SiNafay, "to
our mutual gain” She smiled wickedly and looked straight
to the First Matron. "lb the gain of our sons, perhaps, in
their quest for recognition”
"Indeed” replied Matron Baenre in a chuckle that
sounded more like a cough. A war between Hun'ett and
Do'Urden might be to everyone's gain, but not, Baenre sus-
pected, as SiNafay believed. Malice was a powerful matron,
and her family truly deserved a ranking higher than ninth.
If the fight did come, Malice probably would get her seat on
the council, replacing SiNafay.
Matron Baenre looked around at the other matrons, and
guessed from their hopeful expressions that they shared
her thoughts. Let Hun'ett and Do'Urden fight it out; what-
ever the outcome, the threat of Matron Malice would be
ended. Perhaps, Baenre hoped, a certain young Do'Urden
male would fall in battle, propelling her own son into the p0-
sition he deserved.
Then the First Matron spoke the words SiNafay had come
to hear, the silent permission of Menzoberranzan's ruling
council.
"This matter is settled, my sisters” Matron Baenre de-
clared, to the accepting nods of all at the table. "It is good
that we never met this day”
Chapter 19
Promises of Glory
"Have you found the trail?" Drizzt whispered, moving up
beside the great panther. He gave Guenhwyvar a pat on the
side and knew from the slackness of the cat's muscles that
no danger was nearby.
"Gone, then” Drizzt said, staring off into the emptiness of
the corridor in front of them. "'Wicked gnomes: my
brother called them when we found the tracks by the pool.
Wicked and stupid” He sheathed his scimitar and knelt be-
side the panther, his arm comfortable draped across
Guenhwyvar's back. "They're smart enough to elude our pa-
trol”
The cat looked up as if it had understood his every word,
and Drizzt rubbed a hand roughly over Guenhwyvar's, his
finest friend's, head. Drizzt remembered clearly his elation
on the day, a week before, when Dinin had announced-to
Masoj Hun'ett's outrage-that Guenhwyvar would be de-
ployed at the patrol's point position beside Drizzt.
"The cat is mine!" Masoj had reminded Dinin.
"You are mine!" Dinin, the patrol leader, had replied, end-
ing any further debate. Whenever the figurine's magic
would permit, Masoj summoned Guenhwyvar from the As-
tral Plane and bid the cat to run up in front, bringing Drizzt
an added degree of safety and a valued companion.
Drizzt knew from the unfamiliar heat patterns on the
wall that they had gone the limit of their patrol route. He
had purposely put a lot of ground, more than was advised,
between himself and the rest of the patrol. Drizzt had confi-
dence that he and Guenhwyvar could take care of them-
selves, and with the others far behind, he could relax and
enjoy the wait. The minutes Drizzt spent in solitude gave
him the time he needed in his endless effort to sort through
his confused emotions. Guenhwyvar, seemingly non- .
judgmental and always approving, offered Drizzt a perfect
audience for his audible contemplations.
"I begin to wonder the worth of it all” Drizzt whispered to
the cat. "I do not doubt the value of these
Patrols-this week,
Alone, we have defeated a dozen monsters that might have
brought great harm to the city-but to what end?"
He looked deeply into the panther's saucer eyes and
found sympathy there, and Drizzt knew that Guenhwyvar
somehow understood his dilemma.
"Perhaps I still do not know who I am” Drizzt mused, "or
who my people are. Every time 1 find a clue to the truth, it
leads me down a path that 1 dare not continue upon, to con- :
clusions I cannot accept”
"You are drow” came a reply behind them. Drizzt turned
abruptly to see DiDin a few feet away, a look of grave con-
cern on his face. '
"The gnomes have fled beyond our reach” Drizzt said,
trying to deflect his brother's concerns. '
"Have you not learned what it means to be a drow?" DiDin
asked. "Have you not come to understand the course of our
history and the promise of our future?"
"I know of our history as it was taught at the Academy”
Drizzt replied. "They were the very first lessons we re-
ceived. Of our future, and more so of the place we now re-
side, though, I do not understand”
"You know of our enemies” Dinin prompted.
"Countless enemies” replied Drizzt with a heavy sigh.
"They fill the holes of the Underdark, always waiting for us
to let down our guard. We will not, and our enemies will fall i
to our power”
" Ah, but our true enemies do not reside in the lightless ca-
verns of our world” said Dinin with a sly smile. "Theirs is a
world strange and evil” Drizzt knew who Dinin was refer-
ring to, but he suspected that his brother was hiding some-
thing.
"The faeries” Drizzt whispered, and the word prompted a
jumble of emotions within him. All of his life, he had been
told of his evil cousins, of how they had forced the drow
into the bowels of the world. Busily engaged in the duties of
his everyday life, Drizzt did not think of them often, but
whenever they came to mind, he used their name as a litany
against everything he hated in his life. If Drizzt could some-
how blame the surface elves-as every other drow seemed
to blame them-for the injustices of drow society, he could
find hope for the future of his people. Rationally, Drizzt had
to dismiss the stirring legends of the elven war as another of
the endless stream of lies, but in his heart and hopes, Drizzt
clung desperately to those words.
He looked back to Dinin. "The faeries” he said again,
"whatever they may be”
Dinin chuckled at his brother's relentless sarcasm; it had
become so commonplace. "They are as you have learned”
he assured Drizzt. "Without worth and vile beyond your
imagination, the tormentors of our people, who banished us
in eons past; who forced-"
"I know the tales” Drizzt interrupted, alarmed at the in-
creasing volume of his excited brother's voice. Drizzt
glanced over his shoulder. "If the patrol is ended, let us meet
the others closer to the city. This place is too dangerous for
such discussions” He rose to his feet and started back,
Guenhwyvar at his side.
"Not as dangerous as the place I soon will lead you” Dinin
replied with that same sly smile.
Drizzt stopped and looked at him curiously.
"I suppose you should know” Dinin teased. "We were se-
lected because we are the finest of the patrol groups, and
you have certainly played an important role in our attaining
that honor”
"Chosen for what?"
"In a fortnight, we will leave Menzoberranzan” explained
Dinin. "Our trail will take us many days and many miles
from the city”
"How long'?" Qrizzt asked, suddenly very curious.
Two weeks, maybe three” replied Dinin, "but well worth
the time. We shall be the ones, my young brother, who enact
a measure of revenge upon our most hated foes, who strike
a glorious blow for the Spider Queen!"
Drizzt thought that he understood, but the notion was too
outrageous for him to be certain.
"The elves!" Dinin beamed. "We have been chosen for
surface raid!"
Drizzt was not as openly excited as his brother, unsure of
the implications of such a mission. At last he would get to
view the surface elves and face the truth of his heart and
hopes. Something more real to Drizzt, the disappointment
he had known for so many years, tempered his elation, re-
minded him that while the truth of the elves might bring an
excuse to the dark world of his kin, it might instead take
away something more important. He was unsure how to
feel.
"The surface” Alton mused. "My sister went there once-
on a raid. A most marvelous experience, so she said” He
looked at Masoj, not knowing how to figure the forlorn ex-
pression on the young Hun'ett's face. "Now your patrol
makes the journey. I envy you”
"I am not going” Masoj declared.
"Why?" Alton gasped. "This is a rare opportunity indeed.
Menzoberranzan-to the anger of Lloth, I am certain-has
not staged a surface raid in two decades. It may be twenty
more years before the next, and by then you will no longer
be among the patrols”
Masoj looked out from the small window of Alton's room
in House Hun'ett, surveying the compound.
"Besides” Alton continued quietly, "up there, so far from
prying eyes, you might find the chance to dispose of two
Do'Urden's. Why would you not go?"
"Have you forgotten a ruling that you played a part in?"
Masoj asked, whirling on Alton accusingly. Two decades
ago, the masters of Sorcere decided that no wizards are to travel anywhere near the surface!"
"Of course” Alton replied, remembering the meeting. Sor-
cere seemed so distant to him now I though he had been,
within the Hun'ett house for only a few weeks. "We con-
cluded that drow magic may work differently-
unexpectedly-under the open sky” he explained. "On that
