tiny brother and his striking lavender orbs.
"He is your brother” Matron Malice reminded her, view-
ing Vierna's gasp as a hint of what might come. "When he
grows older and those eyes pierce you so, remember, on
your life, that he is your brother”
Vierna turned away, almost blurting a reply she would
have regretted making. Matron Malice's exploits with
nearly every male soldier of the Do'Urden house-and
many others that the seductive matron managed to sneak
away from other houses-were almost legendary in Menzo-
berranzan. Who was she to be spouting reminders of pru-
dent and proper behavior? Vierna bit her lip and hoped that
neither Briza nor Malice had been reading her thoughts at
that moment.
In Menzoberranzan, thinking such gossip about a high
priestess, whether or not it was true, got you painfully exe-
cuted.
Her mother's eyes narrowed, and Vierna thought she had
been discovered. "He is yours to prepare” Matron Malice
said to her.
"Maya is younger” Vierna dared to protest. "I could attain
the level of high priestess in but a few years if I may keep to
my studies”
"Or never” the matron sternly reminded her. "Thke the
child to the chapel proper. Wean him to words and teach
him all that he will need to know to properly serve as a page
prince of House Do'Urden”
"I will see to him” Briza offered, one hand subconsciously
slipping to her snake-headed whip. "I do so enjoy teaching
males their place in our world”
Malice glared at her. "You are a high priestess. You have
other duties more important than word-weaning a male
child” Then to Vierna, she said, "The babe is yours; do not
disappoint me in this! The lessons you teach Drizzt will rein-
force your own understanding of our ways. This exercise at
'mothering' will aid you in your quest to become a high
priestess” She let Vierna take a moment to view the task in a
more positive light, then her tone became unmistakably
threatening once again. "It may aid you, but it surely can de-
stroy you!"
Vierna sighed but kept her thoughts silent. The chore that
Matron Malice had dropped on her shoulders would con-
sume the bulk of her time for at least ten years. Vierna didn't
like the prospects, she and this purple-eyed child together for
ten long years. The alternative, however, the wrath of Ma-
tron Malice Do'Urden, seemed a worse thing by far.
Alton blew another web from his mouth. "You are just e
boy, an apprentice” he stammered. "Why would YOu-?"
"Kill him?" Masoj finished the thought. "Not to save you, if
that is your hope” He spat down at the Faceless One's body.
"Look at me, a prince of the sixth house, a cleaning steward
for that wretched-"
"Hun'ett” Alton cut in. "House Hun'ett is the sixth house”
The younger drow put a finger to pursed lips. "Wait” he
remarked with a widening smile, an evil smile of sarcasm.
"We are the fifth house now, 1 suppose, with DeVir wiped
out”
"Not yet!" Alton growled.
"Momentarily” Masoj assured him, fingering the cross-
bow quarrel.
Alton slumped even farther back in the web. 1b be killed
by a master was bad enough, but the indignity of being shot
down by a boy. . . .
"I suppose 1 should thank you” Masoj said. "I had planned
to kill that one for many weeks”
"Why?" Alton pressed his new assailant. "You would dare
to kill a master of Sorcere simply because your family put
you in servitude to him?"
"Because he would snub me!" Masoj yelled. "Four years 1
have slaved for him, that back end of a carrion crawler.
Cleaned his boots. Prepared salve for his disgusting face!
Was it ever enough? Not for that one” He spat at the corpse
again and continued, talking more to himself than to the
trapped student. "Nobles aspiring to wizardry have the ad-
vantage of being trained as apprentices before they reach
the proper age for entry into Sorcere”
"Of course” Alton said. "I myself trained under-"
"He meant to keep me out of Sorcere!" Masoj rambled, ig-
noring Alton altogether. "He \'Jould have forced me into
Melee-Magthere, the fighters' school, instead. The fighters'
school! My twenty-fifth birthday is only two weeks away”
Masoj looked up, as though he suddenly remembered that
he was not alone in the room.
"I knew 1 must kill him” he continued, now speaking di-
rectly to Alton. "Then you come along and make it all so con-
venient. A student and master killing each other in a fight?
It has happened before. Who would question it? I suppose,
then, that I should thank you, Alton DeVir of No House
Worth Mentioning; Masoj chided with a low, sweeping
bow. "Before I kill you, I mean”
"Wait!" cried Alton. "Kill me to what gain?"
" Alibi”
"But you have your alibi, and we can make it better!"
"Explain; said Masoj, who, admittedly, was in no particu-
lar hurry. The Faceless One was a high-level wizard; the
webs weren't going anywhere anytime soon.
"Free me” Alton said earnestly.
"Can you be as stupid as the Faceless One proclaimed
you?"
Alton took the insult stoically-the kid had the crossbow.
"Free me so that I may assume the Faceless One's identity”
he explained. "The death of a master arouses suspicion, but
if no master is believed dead. . “
"And what of this?" Masoj asked, kicking the corpse.
"Burn it” said Alton, his desperate plan coming fully into
focus. "Let it be Alton DeVir. House DeVir is no more, so
there will be no retaliation, no questions”
Masoj seemed skeptical.
"The Faceless One was practically a hermit” Alton rea-
soned. "And I am near to graduation; certainly I can handle
the simple chores of basic teaching after thirty years of
study”
"And what is my gain?"
Alton gawked, nearly burying himself in webbing, as if
the answer were obvious. "A master in Sorcere to call men-
tor. One who can ease your way through your years of
study”
" And one who can dispose of a witness at his earliest con-
venience” Masoj added slyly.
"And what then would be my gain?" Alton shot back. "Th
anger House Hun'ett, fifth in all the city, and I with no family
at my back? No, young Mas01 I am not as stupid as the Face-
less One named me”
Masoj ticked a long and pointed fingernail against his
teeth and considered the possibilities. An ally among the
masters of Sorcere? This held possibilities.
Another thought popped into Masoj's mind, and he pulled
open the cabinet to Alton's side and began rummaging
through the contents. Alton flinched when he heard some
ceramic and glass containers crashing together, thinking of
the components, possibly even completed potions, that
might be lost by the apprentice's carelessness. Perhaps
Melee-Magthere would be a better choice for this one, he
thought.
A moment later, though, the younger drow reappeared,
and Alton remembered that he was in no position to make
such judgments.
"This is mine” Masoj demanded, showing Alton a small
black object: a remarkably detailed onyx figurine of a hunt-
ing panther. "A gift from a denizen of the lower planes for
some help I gave to him”
"You aided such a creature?" Alton had to ask, finding it
difficult to believe that a mere apprentice had the resources
necessary to even survive an encounter with such an un-
predictable and mighty foe.
"The Faceless One-" Masoj kicked the corpse again-
"took the credit and the statue, but they are mine! Every-
thing else in here will go to you, of course. I know the
magical dweomers of most and will show you what is what”
Brightening at the hope that he would indeed survive this
dreadful day, Alton cared little about the figurine at that
moment. All he wanted was to be freed of the webs so that
he could find out the truth of his house's fate. Then Masoj,
ever a confusing young drow, turned suddenly and started
away.
"Where are you going?" Alton asked.
"to get the acid”
"Acid?" Alton hid his panic well, though he had a terrible
feeling that he understood what Masoj meant to do.
"You want the disguise to appear authentic” Masoj ex-
plained matter-of-factly. "Otherwise, it would not be much
of a disguise. We should take advantage of the web while it
lasts. It will hold you still”
"No” Alton started to protest, but Masoj wheeled on him,
the evil grin wide on his face.
"It does seem a bit of pain, and a lot of trouble to go
through” Masoj admitted. "You have no family and will find
no allies in Sorcere, since the Faceless One was so despised
by the other masters” He brought the crossbow up level
with Alton's eyes and fitted another poisoned dart. "Per-
haps you would prefer death”
"Get the acid!" Alton cried.
"to what end?" Masoj teased, waving the crossbow. "What
have you to live for, Alton DeVir of No House Worth Men-
tioning'?"
"Revenge” Alton sneered, the sheer wrath of his tone set-
ting the confident Masoj on his heels. "You have not learned
this yet-though you will, my young student-but nothing
in life gives more purpose than the hunger for revenge!"
Masoj lowered the bow and eyed the trapped drow with
respect, almost fear. Still, the apprentice Hun'ett could not
appreciate the gravity of Alton's proclamation until Alton
reiterated, this time with an eager smile on his face, "Get the
acid”
Chapter 4
Tbe First House
Four cycles of Narbondel-four days-later, a glowing
blue disk floated up the mushroom-lined stone path to the
spider-covered gate of House Do'Urden. The sentries
watched it from the windows of the two outer towers and
from the compound as it hovered patiently three feet off
the ground. Word came to the ruling family only seconds
later.
"What can it be?" Briza asked Zaknafein when she, the
weapon master, Dinin, and Maya assembled on the balcony
of the upper level.
"A summons?" Zak asked as much as answered. "We will
not know until we investigate” Zak stepped up on the rail-
ing and out into the empty air, then levitated down to the
compound floor. Briza motioned to Maya, and the youngest
Do'Urden daughter followed Zak.
"It bears the standard of House Baenre” Zak called up af-
ter he had moved closer. He and Maya opened the large
gates, and the disk slipped in, showing no hostile move-
ments.
"Baenre” Briza repeated over her shoulder, down the
house's corridor to where Matron Malice and Rizzen
waited.
"It seems that you are requested in audience, Matron
Mother” Dinin put in nervously.
Malice moved out to the balcony, and her husband obedi-
ently followed.
"Do they know of our attack?" Briza asked in the silent
code, and every member of House Do'Urden, noble and
commoner alike, shared that unpleasant thought. House
DeVir had been eliminated only a few days before, and a
calling card from the First Matron Mother of Menzoberran-
zan could hardly be viewed as a coincidence.
"Every house knows” Malice replied aloud, not believing
the silence to be a necessary precaution within the bounda-
ries of her own complex. "Is the evidence against us so over-
whelming that the ruling council will be forced to action?"
She stared hard at Briza, her dark eyes alternating between
the red glow of infra vision and the deep green they showed
in the aura of normal light. "That is the question we must
ask” Malice stepped up onto the balcony, but Briza grabbed
the back of her heavy black robe to stay her.
"You do not mean to go with the thing?" Briza asked.
Malice's answering look showed even more startlement.
"Of course” she replied. "Matron Baenre would not openly
call upon me if she meant me harm. Even her power is not
so great that she can ignore the tenets of the city”
"You are certain that you will be safe?" Rizzen asked, truly
concerned. If Malice was killed, Briza would take over the
house, and Rizzen doubted that the eldest daughter would
want any male by her side. Even if the vicious female did de-
sire a patron, Rizzen would not want to be the one in that
position. He was not Briza's father, was not even as old as
Briza. Clearly, the present patron of the house had a lot at
stake in Matron Malice's continued good health.
"Your concern touches me” Malice replied, knowing her
husband's true fears. She pulled out of Briza's grasp and
stepped off the railing, straightening her robes as she
slowly descended. Briza shook her head disdainfully and
motioned Rizzen to follow her back inside the house, not
thinking it wise that the bulk of the family be so exposed to
unfriendly eyes.
"Do you want an escort?" Zak asked as Malice sat on the
disk.
"I am certain that I will find one as soon as I am beyond the
perimeter of our compound” Malice replied. "Matron
Baenre would not risk exposing me to any danger while I
am in the care of her house”
"Agreed” said Zak, "but do you want an escort frem"~
House Do'Urden?"
"If one was wanted, two disks would have floated in” Mal.
ice said in a tone of finality. The matron was beginning to
find the concerns of those around her stifling. She was the
matron mother, after all, the strongest, the oldest, and the
wisest, and did not appreciate others second-guessing her.
To the disk, Malice said, "Execute your appointed task, and
