Teeming last?"
Quenthel belted her whip and shook her head. Pharaun wasn't sure if that meant she didn't know or simply didn't want to answer.
"It lasts as long as Lolth wills it," Danifae offered, belting her own weapon. She ran her fingers over the scratches on her face, checking their depth.
"Hardly helpful, Mistress Danifae," Pharaun said. "And how convenient for us that her will caused it to occur just after we arrived here."
"Tread carefully, mage," Quenthel warned.
"Indeed," Danifae said, eyeing him.
Pharaun was tempted to ask then and there why the chwidencha had answered neither
Quenthel's nor Danifae's commands, but one look at Quenthel's whip made him think better of it.
Instead, he said, "I think it ill-advised to travel overland while this continues. Chwidencha may prove the least of our concerns. It appears the Spider Queen has decided to make the
Teeming part of her test."
The priestesses said nothing but looked out through the curtain of green fire, their expressions distant and unreadable. Perhaps they too were wondering why the chwidencha had not responded to their power.
Finally, Danifae said, "We should take shelter for a time, let the Teeming run its course. Then we can travel overland again."
Jeggred eyed the chwidencha with hungry eyes. "The wizard said the wall of fire will last only a quarter hour. What shelter will we find in so short a time?"
"The caves," Pharaun said.
All of them looked first to Pharaun, then at the ground, to the holes that surrounded them.
"Why not atop one of the tors?" Danifae asked, pointing at one of the innumerable spires of black stone that dotted the plane. "Few spiders seem able or willing to scale their heights."
"Look to the sky, Mistress Danifae," Pharaun answered. Already the sun was invisible behind a wall of black storm clouds. "I think it would be safer and more comfortable, underground."
Besides, Pharaun had already encountered one horror atop a spire. He had no desire to encounter another.
"The caves," Quenthel said, nodding.
"Yes, Mistress," hissed one of the female heads of her whip. "The caves will be safer."
"Silence, Zinda," Quenthel gently admonished her whip.
"Safer?" Jeggred said and sneered. "Safety is the concern of cowards, timid priestesses, and weak mages." He eyed Quenthel and Pharaun meaningfully in turn.
Pharaun smiled at the draegloth, turned his gaze to Quenthel, and said, "I would remind your nephew that it was Mistress Danifae who suggested that we seek shelter to avoid the danger of the Teeming. Does that mean you think her timid, Jeggred?"
Pharaun took a moment to enjoy the look of consternation on Jeggred's face before he said,
"Perhaps not, then. But in any event, it appears you would prefer to linger on the surface until we return. I think it an excellent idea. Thank you, Jeggred. Your bravery will be remembered in song."
He offered the draegloth an insincere bow, and Jeggred snarled and bared his fangs.
Pharaun ignored the oaf-showing a dolt to be a dolt brought him only small satisfaction-and eyed the open mouth of the chwidenchas' hole.
To Quenthel, he said, "I can seal the cave opening behind us with a spell, and we can wait for as long as need be. When the storm passes and the violence ends, I can get us back through, and we can travel then."
Quenthel nodded, and said, "An excellent idea, Master Mizzrym."
Jeggred snorted with contempt, and Quenthel fixed him with a stare that could have frozen a fire elemental. The serpent heads of her whip rose up and offered the draegloth a stare of their own.
"Nephew?" she said and made the word sound like an insult. "You wish to say something more, perhaps?"
Jeggred opened his mouth, but Danifae's hand on his arm stopped him from saying whatever words he had thought to offer.
Instead, Danifae smiled her disarming smile and looked to Pharaun.
"Master Mizzrym has offered sage counsel," she said, as though to Jeggred but really to
Quenthel. "And Mistress Quenthel is wise to heed it." She let that sit a moment before she cocked her pretty head and frowned. "Though, I've never before seen a male demonstrate such persuasion over a priestess of Lolth."
Pharaun almost laughed aloud at the transparency of the play. Danifae hoped to weaken the relationship between Pharaun and Quenthel by intimating that the high priestess relied to an unseemly degree upon Pharaun.
"Hardly persuasion," he replied. "But perhaps if she were not the only priestess in this little band to have demonstrated wisdom, she would not have to rely on the paltry suggestions of a mere male."
Jeggred glared at him, fangs bare. Pharaun stared back at the oaf.
Danifae showed no sign that she had heard Pharaun. She had eyes only for Quenthel.
The Baenre priestess met Danifae's stare with one of her own, gave a tight smile, and said,
"Some males serve a purpose, battle-captive." She too let that sit a moment before adding, "Of course, one must be careful in choosing which males best suit the purpose at hand." Then she let her gaze settle contemptuously on Jeggred. "A priestess with a poor eye for choosing her male servants is often a dead priestess. Perhaps your draegloth has some sage counsel of his own to offer on the matter?"
"Counsel?" Jeggred snarled. "Here's my counsel, you-"
"Jeggred," Danifae interrupted and patted one of the draegloth's fighting arms. "Be silent."
The draegloth said no more.
"Your dog is well-trained," Pharaun said, and Jeggred started to lunge at him.
Danifae caught his mane, and he halted in mid-stride. Pharaun held his ground and smiled.
Again, Danifae did not acknowledge Pharaun, instead saying to Quenthel, "No, Jeggred has nothing to say at the moment. He is a male and offers his counsel only when solicited by me."
Pharaun could see the anger brewing behind Quenthel's eyes. She walked up to Danifae-not even Jeggred dared get in her way, though he did stay beside the battle-captive-and stared down at the smaller female.
"My nephew has never been known for his intellect," she said.
Danifae smiled and stroked the draegloth's arm. "No, Mistress Quenthel," she replied. "Just his loyalty."
Quenthel's expression hardened. She gave Danifae one last glare before turning to Pharaun and saying, "And I rely on only Lolth, male."
When he heard those words, Pharaun knew that Danifae had accomplished exactly what she had hoped.
"Of course, Mistress," he said, and nothing more, for there was nothing more to say. The damage was already done.
Behind Quenthel, Danifae offered him a knowing smile through the cuts on her face. Jeggred offered him a snarl of undisguised hate.
He ignored them both and said to Quenthel, "The cave, Mistress?"
She nodded and replied, "The cave. But first. .»
The high priestess withdrew from an inner pocket of her piwafwi the wand of healing that she had stolen from Halisstra Melarn back in Ched Nasad. She touched it to herself and whispered the command word. The cuts on her face closed, the burns diminished, and her breathing grew easier. Afterward, she walked over, and without asking permission, touched it to Pharaun and repeated the process. Much to his relief, his nose healed, the charred mess of his hand regenerated, and the innumerable cuts and scratches on his torso closed.
"Thank you, Mistress," he said with a bow.
Quenthel did not acknowledge his gratitude. She put the wand back in her cloak, turned to