Promises by Paul Lucas

Larn the Skin Shaper gasped and shuddered, pulling against his silken bonds, as his lover slowly, teasingly, lowered herself on to his engorged shaft. Her midnight-dark skin glistened with perspiration as she threw back her long snow-white hair, working her way down on him and sucking a sharp breath from her own sensations. Once she was fully impaled, she started her rhythm, swerving her hips in tight languid circles as she moved up and down along his length.

Sadra of the House Auvryant had been Larn's steady lover for a few years now. He adored how kinky and imaginative she could be, and how she loved to be forceful and in control--hence his hands tied securely to the bedposts. It was a game of bondage they'd enjoyed a number of times before.

Her hands slid over his heavily-tattooed chest. Larn was a specialist wizard among the Drow, a master at creating magical skin-markings. His own epidermis was covered over from head to foot with his own work, a colorful panoply of every kind of magical sigil and protective enchantment he could weave into his own body.

She bent down for a deep kiss, her soft breasts pressed against him, moaning loudly into his mouth. He enthusiastically darted his tongue back and forth between her soft lips, a mirror of his deep pistoning thrusts into her welcoming folds.

Sadra suddenly bit hard into his tongue, teeth slicing into his flesh. He yelped at the pain, garbling in confusion as she drew back and smiled down at him. He was about to say something when suddenly she stuffed a rag into his mouth and gagged him tight. A tight clenching of her slick folds around his shaft made him writhe and moan into the gag, offering little resistance.

Up until that point he just thought it was another one of her borderline sadistic sexual games, until she pulled from under the mattress a long knife etched with magical runes along its silvery blade. She spit his blood onto the blade and spoke a magical word of power. The dagger glowed briefly with sorcerous energy.

He cried out into the gag, pulling against his bonds, but he could not move or speak to make a spell work. Sadra just smiled down at him as he struggled wildly. "I'm sorry, Larn, sweety. I am. This is nothing personal. Just business." Her grin grew wicked. "Family, business, as a matter of fact."

Sadra plunged the knife into his chest, blood spurting high. Larn knew nothing after that brief, intense spark of pain except an eternity of darkness.

- - -

Three weeks later, Jaelna of the House Auvryant sat naked with his back against the polished-smooth basalt headboard of the expansive bed, satiny sheets and softly-worked wyvern-hide blankets caressing his skin. From three stories below wafted up the delicate strains of lyre music plucked by a blind human slave in the greeting room.

Jaelna sighed. Prostitutes were becoming such fragile things nowadays. The one he'd just used hadn't lasted even an hour with him before she broke. Well, her replacement had better not take too much longer. He was paying good money to be pleasured. Was it his fault that the whores did not have the endurance or tolerance to pain that properly satisfied him? And that damn owner had better not charge him for the bloodstains on the floorboards like he did last time.

A new girl entered the room, tall and lithe, wearing only gossamer white robes and a featureless mask. To his surprise, the girl was pure bred Drow, not another supposedly exotic pale- or brown-skinned slave. She pulled the door closed behind her.

Her hand passed over her mask, and the features blurred into that of a red-feathered hawk. Another pass, and her face became that of a moon-furred wolfling female. She raised her hand again...

Jaelna held up his hand. "Enough. I am not into magic-mask games. Take it off and strip."

"Are you sure my lord?" the girl asked with a mocking voice. "There is one guise I am sure you would quite enjoy."

A final pass of her hand changed the face of the mask to the features of a pale-skinned Wood Elf, framed by long, flowing flame-red hair. The male fumed at the implication, recognizing the voice and haughty attitude even through the mask. "Sadra!"

She removed the mask with a bemused chuckle and further surprised him by removing her silken robes as well. The wispy cloth puddled under her long legs, revealing her naked form. His eyes predictably lingered at the sweeping curves of her breasts and hips, drinking her in with typical male hunger. He had trouble forming the inevitable question. "What--what are you..."

"Relax, little brother," she said casually as she slinked up to the bed, noticing by his rising organ that he was doing anything but relaxing. "This is just a way to circumvent mother's spies, so we can talk in private."

"But..."

A single finger of hers glided up and down his straining shaft, causing a shiver of pleasure to run over his muscular body. "But I see no reason why we cannot have fun while we talk. I find myself curious to discover what there is about you that our little sister has kept you in her bed all these months without a single attempt to murder you."

Jaelna gasped as she curled her fingers around him and stroked softly. He'd had that done to him countless times before, but the fact it was his older sister masturbating him lent a surprisingly forbidden thrill to the activity. "Ah...things are not...are not as smooth as you may think between Vin and myself. We still fight often, even after all I try and do to please her. But she welcomes me occasionally into her bed still. She loves her Pet, but there are some things the elf cannot provide her..."

"Like a penis," Sadra offered.

"Yes." Drow Elves had lifespans measured in centuries, and cycled through sexual tastes and appetites a number of times over their long lives. Vin had had only an occasional dalliance with males over the last several decades, and was making up for her recent lack with gusto now that Jaelna had learned to behave and act gently with her. Of course Jaelna's favorite times with his younger sister was when she had her red-haired Pet with them in bed as well...

Sadra scratched lightly at his sack with her short nails, teasing up the length of his member, before gripping it and massaging it more vigorously. Jaelna tipped his head back and groaned. "It appears everyone wants to please little Vin nowadays," Sadra said with vinegar in her voice. "The Matron clearly favors her now, in a way she never did with either of us. Vin will likely become the next head of our house."

"I see nothing wrong with tha--ouch!" Jaelna winced as his sister squeezed his shaft too tightly.

"You are only saying that because you are not thinking ahead, brother. You think you will be able to keep sharing Vin's bed once she ascends to be the new Matron and takes our House name as her own? An affair with her older brother would not just be a naughty indulgence any more, but a full-blown embarrassment for one of her station. You will be a weakness she could not afford. She will drop you like a hollow dragon's egg."

"Maybe. But that won't be for decades yet. Besides, Vin may refuse mother. She was never interested in the position."

Sadra resumed working her brother, both hands on his length now. Jaelna exhaled heavily in ecstasy. "That is decades the Matron will have to groom her. She has already insisted that Vin accompany her to several functions and made a point of them being seen together. Vin may not be aware of it, but she's already being trained to take over. If we are to put a stop to it, if we can change the Matron's mind, it must be soon."

Jaelna was barely listening. All he could do was nod as beads of sweat dotted his forehead. He reached for his sister, intent on pulling her close and dispensing with her games. But as soon as his hand touched her bare, dark flank he yelped in pain and yanked it back. It felt like he had just dipped his fingertips into a hot fire. "Wha--what was that?"

Sadra laughed and kneeled up on the bed, looking down at him. "You can't do that without my permission. Its part of the enchantments." She reached behind her ear, and for the first time he noticed a small white tattoo of intricate design located there. She touched the lines on her skin and spoke a word of magic.

Bright lines of vibrant colors rippled down her naked skin. Swirls and whorls, sigils and wards and pictograms of wildly varying styles and hues shone over large swaths of her skin everywhere on her body. Jaelna goggled. "Sadra! What in the Dark Kingdoms is that?"

"Magical tattoos. As you may know I've been Larn's mistress for a number of years now."

"Larn? You mean the Skin-Shaper?" Jaelna winced. He'd heard just how much more torturous magical tattoos were to apply than normal skin markings. The pain was supposed to be excruciating; he knew more than one Drow with half-completed magical tattoos that would never be finished because the recipient couldn't stand the agony of it. To have endured being marked by so many spoke a great deal of Sadra's determination and tolerance for pain.

"That's him. He did a number of special favors for me in return for the best sex he'll ever have. He only finished the last of them a month ago."

"If they're magical, why haven't Vin or mother detected them?"

"They have I imagine, but I've always made a big show of wearing magical jewelry and such, and they probably thought the magic they detected was from that. Besides, its not unusual for Drow of our station to carry magical protection with us. I know you have some yourself. But mother and Vin will have no idea just how potent my countermeasures are now."

"Those tattoos would not stop mother."

Sadra tapped behind her ear, and the tattoos disappeared again, hidden behind the illusory glamour spell. "No. They would only be a minor impediment to her. But to a novice magic user like Vin, all my skin-inscribed wards and spell protection would be near-impenetrable while I'm breathing."

"Is that what you mean to do? Challenge Vin?"

The tall female elf chuckled, then slunk low on the bed and drew her long tongue from the base of Jaelna's sex up to the tip. "No, little brother. You are going to challenge Vin"

He cried out, arching his back. "I--I don't understand. Why would I...aungh!" Sadra dipped her head to lap at his sensitive orbs below his member.

Sadra looked up into his half-slitted eyes, kissing at his throbbing shaft. "We do not have to hurt her...much. Just show mother that she is unworthy of heading our house. Show how she'll fail when presented with a true challenge. Discredit and embarrass her."

"But Vin would hate me."

Sadra used her skillful tongue to lick at his tip like a kitten lapping a saucer of milk, causing Jaelna to begin thrusting up at her unconsciously. She pulled up, a thin string of moisture stretching from him to her smiling lips. "For a while, perhaps. But she's forgiven you before, and for things much more heinous. Besides, you'll even be saving her, in a way, from something she does not want in the first place."

Jaelna knew his sister was leading him along, lying to him to get her way, and not so subtly at that. But it was so hard to think of anything except what she was doing to his body at that moment. When she again took him completely into her mouth, his world was reduced to only the sensations of her hot tongue and eager lips. He knew--they both knew--that he would agree to practically anything as long as she gave him that kind of pleasure. He knew his own weakness, and cursed himself for it even as he let himself drown in the ecstasy of his sister's sexual attentions.

Sadra dispensed with formalities and straddled her brother, her legs on either side of his hips. She had to admit his body had always been very pleasing to look at, and felt just as good as she had imagined under her now, hard muscles rippling enthusiastically with raw male heat.

She leaned over him, her breasts on his hard chest, her entrance poised so tantalizingly at the very tip of his member. "Besides," she breathed into his ear with her sultriest voice. "If you don't challenge Vin, then I will. And what chance would she have against me?"

She plunged down on him, slipping him inside of her with one long, smooth stroke. They both cried out in rapture.

Sadra knew then--they both knew--that from that point forward her brother would do whatever she wanted of him.

- - -

Vinlesu started awake. She wasn't sure what had woken her, just a vague unease that something was wrong. She reached out, and to her surprise the bed next to her was empty. "Pet?" she called.

No answer.

It was very unlike Hilfy to be out of earshot. Vinlesu grabbed a robe, flung it about herself, and went in search of her body slave.

A few chambers over, she saw her slim, red-haired slave cutting fruit and placing it into a towel-lined basket. She sat at a broad exquisitely carved basalt table in one of the tapestry-lined auxiliary dining rooms. She dipped each slice in a small bowl of lemon juice to preserve it. The high born Drow sat down next to the pale Wood Elf on the broad stone bench, bumping her playfully with her shapely hips. Hilfy beamed a broad smile. "Good morning, Mistress."

Vinlesu leaned over and kissed her body slave on that special ticklish spot on her neck. The elf girl giggled. "You're busy unusually early, Pet."

Hilfy nodded. "I know you'll be off with your sorcery teacher today, Mistress. I wanted to prepare you a proper meal to take with you." She pared off a thin wedge from the dusky orange Devil's Finger root that grew in abundance in the Dark Kingdoms, hand feeding the slice to her Mistress.

Hilfy slipping the sweet pulpy wedge between Vinlesu's dark lips turned out to be a surprisingly sensuous act. A few more times and both females were giggling like girls.

Vinlesu sobered somewhat, but still smiled. "Hilfy, do you know what today is?"

The nude Wood Elf tilted her head, contemplating. "The thirteenth day of the month of the Warring Griffin?"

"Yes, but do you know what else today is?"

The elf girl slitted her eyes in a bemused smile and shook her head. "I am afraid not, Mistress."

"It has been thirty years to the day that you came into my service, Pet. Since I took you as mine."

"I'm glad then, Mistress," her body slave said, but with a strain in her smile. Vinlesu knew the day would dredge up mixed emotions in Hilfy. The anniversary of becoming Vinlesu's property also meant the anniversary of the day her father died.

Guilt still stabbed the Drow about that, as Hilfy's father had died by her hand--by an admitted stroke of luck--during a pitched battle on the surface. A great and prestigious triumph for her at the time, her first kill being a veteran elf patriarch. As Vinlesu had come to care for and then love her body slave in later years, her regrets about that act had mounted steadily and unrelentingly.

Hilfy had changed her. She recognized that more clearly now than ever before. Before her body slave had come into her life, Vinlesu had been selfish, self-absorbed, shallow, like so many other young, spoiled Drow elite. It had taken Hilfy' compassion, her strength, her love to show Vin just how hollow her life had been before. Hilfy had woken Vinlesu's capacity to love another, and with it had shown her what true strength could be.

Vin reached for the fruit in the basket, picked up a slice, and brought it to Hilfy's lips. Her Pet's eyes grew wide, but the body slave opened her lips automatically as her Mistress slipped the food in. Vinlesu did it a few more times, and Hilfy began to eagerly bite at the slices, making a game of this rare treat of her Mistress serving her.

On the fourth slice of Devil's Finger, Vinlesu smiled and drawled the fruit across Hilfy's red lips, laughing at the mock-sensual display. She said with a hint of amusement, "You know, Pet, I've read that humans have this odd tradition of celebrating anniversaries with gifts."

The slave nodded. "I have seen it myself when I was younger among my clan's human allies, Mistress. The humans lead such short lives that the passage of even five or ten years can be very significant to them."

"Well, to them an anniversary of thirty years would be no small achievement, I would imagine. And I think I would like to indulge in that human tradition for ours. I would want to give you a gift."

Hilfy was taken aback. "Mistress...I do not deserve..."

Vinlesu flicked her hand dismissively. "Its hardly unheard of for favored slaves to receive gifts, Pet. No more objections now, its settled. Name what you want. Anything within reason, and it will be yours."

The body slave thought for many long minutes, clearly unsure of what to ask for. Finally she brightened. "Very well, Mistress, if I must ask for a boon, I would very much like to see the sun again. To go up to the surface, and just bask in its rays again for a few minutes. To know of the world of my youth again, even if it is just for a brief time."

Despite herself, Vinlesu almost shuddered in horror at Vinlesu's request. A few minutes in the sun would leave almost any Drow temporarily blind, helpless, and in pain from sunburn. But that was the kind of world her body slave had come from.

Strangely, Vinlesu was confident that Hilfy would not try to escape. In their early years together, when Vinlesu had abused her for tavern entertainment and petty wagers, Hilfy very certainly would have bolted if given even the slightest opportunity, despite the slaver conditioning she had been put under. But their bond had grown incredibly strong in the past few years, and both of them had pretty much admitted how deep their feelings ran for each other.

The high born Drow nodded at last. "Very well. Before the next day's wyverns call, I promise you will see the sun."

The body slave could not help herself. She threw herself at Vinlesu, hugging her fiercely. "Oh, thank you Mistress! Thank you!"

"I am very happy to have any opportunity to make you smile, Hilfy."

The Wood Elf giggled happily at hearing the sound of her own name from her Mistress' lips. "But Mistress, if we are using the human tradition, I must give you a gift as well."

Vinlesu hugged the elf to her, bending down to kiss at the hollow of her collarbone. "Well, I think we can come up with some way for you to repay me, Pet. Some very pleasant way we will both very much enjoy."

Hilfy nodded. "Of course Mistress. But I should still try to come up with something on my own. The humans believe that the best gifts are surprises, so I should try and surprise you."

"Hm. Well, if that would make you happy, I see no reason why not." The Drow Elf stood and leaned over to kiss Hilfy affectionately on her red hair. "But I must go. I have to arrange for your outing, and my teacher, black hearted villain that he is, will be waiting. Good day, Pet."

"And to you, Mistress." The Wood Elf smiled in joy once more at the prospect of being able to see the sun again. "Thank you so much."

- - -

Later, Hilfy studiously swept the main vaulted entrance hall of the House Auvryant's palace, angling expertly around the huge marbles sculptures of Auvryant matrons and lords past. After decades of such duty, she moved through the space with maximum efficiency, herding dust before her like a shepherd moving her flock.

She was startled when she turned to see Jaelna looming before her, dressed in austere leathers and travelling cloak, looking grim. She bowed her head in standard slave obeisance, but allowed herself a friendly smile nonetheless. Lord Jaelna and herself had shared some very pleasant moments in the last few months, along with her Mistress. "May I serve you, My Lord?"

The Drow male handed her a dark hooded cloak. "Yes. Put this on. Your Mistress asked that I take you somewhere."

Jaelna's dour grimace made her hesitate a moment, but of course she moved to obey. It was her duty, no matter what else. But then she remembered what her mistress had told her earlier this morning. Could this be part of her gift? Was Jaelna to take her to the surface?

She held back a smirk as best she could as she wrapped the cloak about her. It would be just like her Mistress to make Lord Jaelna undertake such a chore, to further make sure that he proved his new-found gentility and devotion to his little sister. And of course Jaelna would be upset, as he would believe that servants should take care of such a task, not him.

As soon as Hilfy's hood was up, Jaelna led the slave out of the palace. She was zumming happily to herself, never noticing how tightly Jaelna gripped the sword hilt on his belt.

- - -

Vinlesu returned to the palace later in the day, exhausted. She yawned mightily as soon as the guards let her through the inner keep's massive entry doors. Master Grixx had been especially ruthless with his drills and her robes were spattered with the blood and viscera of a half dozen condemned slaves. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed, snuggle Hilfy close, and sleep for the next half-day.

She stopped short when her mother met her, the older woman's arms crossed and dark lips pulled into a taut grim line, just inside the main hall's vaulted doorway. "We need to talk, daughter."

The Matron turned and led her into the her own opulent private chambers and dismissed the slaves so they could have privacy. She handed Vinlesu a scroll. "This was delivered a few hours ago."

The younger Drow read the parchment over, then scowled. "Jaelna is challenging me? For ownership of my body slave and the succession of the House? Jaelna?"

The Matron nodded. "A formal, public challenge at that. He even asked House Mydea to bear witness. See the signature at the bottom?"

Vinlesu crumbled up the parchment. "That thick-headed... But I don't understand! Why would he do this? I thought he was... that we..." She growled and smashed the heavy sheet of paper against the wall. "Dammit, he's never had any intention of ever heading the house!"

Her mother crossed her reedy arms. "True. He's never had that kind of ambition--on his own."

Vinlesu's eyes narrowed, a snarl on her lips. "Sadra!"

"Yes. She's been evading my spies for weeks now, with greater than usual efficiency. A sure sign that she's been up to something. And more, one of her regular lovers, Larn of the House Rylith, hasn't been seen in all that time. He's a powerful artificer mage, a Skin Shaper. Its pretty obvious that she must have recruited him for something special."

"So you're saying this may be an opening move of something larger. That Jaelna is just her catspaw. But whatever the motives, mother, I have to answer this challenge."

The Matron nodded. Her daughter refusing such a public challenge would look like cowardice, and the House as a whole would lose face for producing such an unworthy offspring. In the unforgiving cutthroat politics of the Drow, such a scandal could be crippling. "I'm aware. The challenge said nothing of killing or blood, so I think it may very well be that they intend to simply humiliate you in defeat, discredit you enough from ever heading the House."

"That they never needed to worry about!"

Her mother looked away and pursed her lips. "Are you so sure about that, Vin?"

"What do you mean?"

The Matron shrugged. "Who else do I have to take over the House when I pass and walk the Land of Shades? Your siblings are either foolish or treacherous. If I asked you to succeed me, would you refuse?"

Vinlesu blinked rapidly, genuinely surprised. "I--I thought you would simply wait until one of us had children, and have one of them take over."

The Matron shook a weary head. "I don't think I will live that long. We both know Sadra's ambitions, and that's in addition to all the other houses that would like to see ours out of the way. One of our enemies will get lucky sooner or later. But you still have not answered my question."

The younger Drow swept the floor with her eyes, hugging herself. "You know I would not refuse such an important request from my honored Matron."

Her mother walked up and caressed her daughter gently along her dark cheek. Vin started for a moment; her mother hadn't touched her like that in years. Yet, she found herself leaning into it, smiling warmly. Since they had become adults, her mother always had to maintain her unyielding veneer as the cold and distant house Matron. It was a rare day that she could drop all that, even for a few moments, and simply be her children's mother. "And then my poor, smart, capable Vin would be miserable for the rest of her life, wouldn't she? If it can be helped, I will try and spare you such a fate. But know that if things come to a crisis point, you are the only real choice I have. I might as well destroy the house myself if either your brother or sister ascend to my position."

The elder Drow suddenly grabbed her daughter's shoulder with one hand and lay the palm of the other on Vinlesu's forehead. "Now hold still. I cannot interfere directly, but I can offer you some minor help." The Matron spoke a few echoing words of magic, and Vinlesu felt energy flow from her mother's hand into her body. She suddenly felt refreshed, all the fatigue and exhaustion of her long day draining out of her.

The younger Drow blinked, then smiled thinly. She clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling more well rested than she had in weeks. "Th-thank you, mother!"

The Matron tottered slightly, looking a bit tired herself, the source of energy from the spell quite clear. "Go gather your weapons and battle garments."

The matron followed in silence as her daughter went to her bedchamber, trailed from the door by the Matron's two burly body guards. Vin pulled out a sturdy iron chest, inlaid with intricate patterns etched into the cold metal. The younger woman growl-whispered a minor word of power as she turned the key, neutralizing the magical wards on the container even as she unlocked it.

She pulled out three magical daggers and a small pouch that clattered with dried finger bones. She fished out three and lay them beside the daggers. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her daughter as she recognized the sigils carved into the bones. "Interesting choice."

Vinlesu just shrugged as she stripped out of her traditional sorceress' robes and quickly and efficiently clad herself in tough riding leathers and cloak. "We both know that Sadra has spent considerable time and effort acquiring the means to counter our magic," she observed. Sadra hardly even disguised the magic gems she usually wore than held minor spirit wards and counter spells. "I simply thought it prudent to do the same, to make sure I had the means to counter her battle skills."

The Matron nodded, smiling thinly in pride. "Strategy and counter-strategy, just like I taught you both."

Vinlesu strapped on her battle knives and gathered her daggers and bones. She exchanged only a brief, formal bow with her mother before she left the palace to rescue her Pet.

- - -

Hilfy sat deep in the cave, against a well-worn stone seat carved into the rock wall that was probably centuries older than her.

They were in the Caves of Blood Strife, a series of intricate, interconnecting natural tunnels and ancient lavatubes used to train Drow fighters. The ceilings were high and arched, yet strangely did not echo any sound. The ground was strewn with uneven paths and random boulders, but large swaths of flat ground have been carved out here and there. They were in such a space now, waiting.

The Caves of Blood Strife were also a favorite place for Drow Elves with grievances to fight duels. All the switchbacks, turns, and confusing topography was thought to even out many otherwise uneven battles. Of course, the shadow-haunted tunnels also gave many hiding places for that favorite of Drow strategies, treachery...

Hilfy knew the moment she saw the tall Lady Sadra melt out of the darkness to talk to her brother that Jaelna had no intention of taking Hilfy to the surface. What exactly was going on she could not quite figure out, but if her Mistress's older sister was involved, it could not be good. Everyone in the household, and beyond, knew of Sadra's ambitions. It was often only a matter of speculation of how far the Matron's eldest child would go to try and accomplish them.

The Wood Elf started as Sadra approached her and Jaelna took off deeper into the caves. The dark-skinned Drow Elf towered over her. The body slave kept her eyes to the ground, in the well-practiced posture of submission. She tried not to let any of her anxiety show. Sadra, quite simply, scared her.

"Your Mistress will be here shortly," Sadra said. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, you're bait."

"Yes, My Lady," she said sheepishly, but her mind raced. Bait? Bait for what?

Sadra laughed. "You do play your role well. It's almost admirable how well you've manipulated my siblings this past year. If I had been in your position, I do not know what I might have done differently."

"Manipulated? But, My Lady, I have not..." Sadra smashed the slave across the jaw with an iron-hard fist. Hilfy went sprawling to the cave floor, the coppery taste of her own blood on her lips.

"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. It doesn't really matter now. I had Jaelna go 'scout' so I could get this over with. Dear little Vin will be a lot more upset--and apt to make a mistake--if she sees you're hurt." Sadra kicked her hard in the ribs, making Hilfy curl agonizingly into a tight ball. Another kick in the side of the slave's face raised a dramatic welt along her cheek and ear.

"Oh, don't worry," the Drow Elf said as Hilfy lay there moaning in pain. "This is probably the worse you're going to be hurt during all of this. Once everything is over with I'll probably just let Jaelna have you to placate him. He was always easily distracted by the right toys. Of course, my blows will seem like gentle caresses after my sadistic dull-wit of a brother begins getting bored with you."

"I--I don't understand. I belong to my Mistress..."

Sadra squatted beside Hilfy, shaking her head and tch-tching sadly. "In an hour your mistress will be dead. And by the next wyvern-call, so will my mother. I will be the new head of House Auvryant."

Hilfy blinked up at her, idly wiping blood from her bruised lip. "That's not possible."

"Oh, but it is." Sadra tapped the tattoo behind her ear, revealing her skin full of magical wards. "My former lover Larn was a master Skin Shaper. These sigils and symbols were carved into my flesh with his most skilled sorcery. The magic that Vin wields that would otherwise be a danger to me will do little more than tickle now. She will come charging to your rescue, tire herself fighting Jaelna, and then I will step in and finish her off while she's exhausted and upset."

"But the Matron will not tolerate you killing your sister!"

"I have that taken care of. In fact, my killing Vin should upset her in the same way that kidnapping you will upset your Mistress. It will make her sloppy. Plus poor Larn had...treasures that will ensure me victory over my 'beloved' mother. Too bad he was so reluctant to part with them."

Hilfy huddled back against the cave wall, nursing her hurt face. Sadra sneered contemptuously. "Hard to believe you used to be a warrior. Not that you could have been much of one, to have ended up a slave so easily. Truthfully, it would have been better for everyone if you had just died with your mongrel father."

Hilfy grimaced, hurt and angry at the words, but ultimately chose to ignore the dig. "What treasures did this Larn have?"

"Oh, you'll see. It was difficult enough getting them, though. Larn had centuries to weave all sorts of magical protections into his tattoos. Very difficult to kill. The only way around all that protection was with a blood spell." The Drow pulled out an intricately carved knife from her belt sheath. "I had to have this special magical dagger crafted at no small expense, and it had to be anointed with his blood to penetrate his skin. It is practically the only weapon in the Dark Kingdoms that could overcome all of his magical protections."

Sadra slid the weapon back into its sheath and straightened, looking down at the Wood Elf. "Well, I think you look battered enough to evoke the appropriate amount of drama from Vin. Now let's get you set up..."

- - -

“Mistress!” Hilfy called from the small nook where her ankle was tied securely to a ring in the cave wall with a thick leather rope. Aside from her one appendage being tied, she was free to move about. Bait has to dangle and wriggle, Sadra had said. “Mistress, its a trap!”

Vinlesu calmly walked into the large chamber, breathing steadily, stopping only five paces away from where her brother stood with his sword and battle knife clasped casually in his grip. Hilfy stood ten paces behind him. She saw her body slave's bruises but found it in herself to keep her voice steady, even as she was seething inside at the violation of her Pet. “I know. Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here.” She narrowed her eyes at her sibling. “Why, Jaelna? What could Sadra offer you that could make you do this? After me and my Pet have been so accommodating of you?”

“Its complex, Vin.” He laughed bitterly. “I know it must amuse you, to think that your dull-witted brother might have any kind of complex thought. But I saw very clearly what was going to happen as soon Sadra came to me with this latest scheme of hers. Its inevitable.”

Vinlesu slowly pulled out her own blades. “Oh? And what is that?”

“That Sadra is going to end up killing you. Maybe not in this particular scheme. But eventually, she is going to have you removed so she can be unchallenged when she claims the House as hers. And I’ve seen some of the preparations she has made...” He shuddered, despite himself. “And she will succeed, Vin. I don’t see any way she wouldn’t, except if there was no chance you could ever be head of our House.”

“Is that what this is about?” Vin sneered. “You’re trying to ‘save’ me?”

Jaelna nodded, slipping into a battle crouch. “I am wearing magical wards, you know, and we both know I’m a far better fighter than you. I won’t be slow and clumsy like that Ogre at the Illithid’s Claw. I’d ask you to give up but we both know you won’t do that. So I’ll just promise not to hurt you more than I have to.”

“Is that what you still say to your whores, brother? Do any of them actually believe you any more?” Her brow darkened. “Whatever happens between Sadra and myself happens. No matter what it was, you had no right to interfere. And you especially had no right to involve my Pet in all this. You forfeited all understanding from me in this as soon as she was hurt.”

Three soft clicks of her tongue and from out of the shadows behind her bounded a trio of diminutive, half-sized skeletons. All wore leather armor and brandished two short swords apiece, grayish-white skulls leering out of leather skull caps. At first Jaelna thought that they might be the animated remains of children, but then he saw that the bones were too thick and their builds too stocky. Dwarf or halfling skeletons, then.

Vinlesu shouted for her clattering creations to attack, and they sprang into action. They ran to the cave walls and leapt off of them, launching themselves at different angles simultaneously at the Drow male. Jaelna, still staring at them dumbfounded, barely twisted out of the way in time.

Jaelna was the son of one necromancer and brother to another; walking undead were hardly an unusual sight for him. But he'd never seen or heard of resurrected skeletons moving with such speed or precision! His own blades flashed, countering and blocking the half-dozen lengths of steel whirling about him with loud clangs and sparks flying. He was not used to foes of their stature, much less three of them at once.

Hilfy had retreated up against the cave wall, watching the unfolding battle intently. She yelped in surprise when a flung dagger shuddered into earth at her feet. The Wood Elf looked up to see her mistress on the far side of the chamber nod at her, even as the Drow woman continued to circle outside the main melee, looking for an opening. Hilfy understood at once, grabbed the knife, and began to saw with furious strength at her bonds.

Jaelna was hard-pressed by his ghastly foes. But for all their speed they had little in the way of real battle skill. Jaelna had not always ignored the meal conversations over the decades between his mother and his sister. Skeletons may not have vital organs, but they still had two points of weakness: the spine and the hip bone. Destroy or severe either, and despite the animating energy the structural support of the creature collapses.

It took many long minutes of heated exchange with the blades for Jaelna to start turning the tide. A powerful lunge smashed through the vertebrae of the closest of the Halfling skeletons. The bone-corpse collapsed to the ground in a clattering heap, its arms flailing helplessly.

The two remaining creatures redoubled their attacks, and began somersaulting and leaping at random, throwing the Drow male off balance again. How could they be moving so fast! Sweat streamed off his face, his breath coming in ragged gasps, as he was challenged as rarely before.

His blade slammed into the hip bone of another of the skeletons, shattering it and taking it out of the fight. But it twisted forward at the last moment, entangling his sword's crossbar in it rib cage. The movement pulled Jaelna forward and off balance momentarily. He blocked the attack from the last skeleton with his battle knife, but for that moment he was stretched and vulnerable.

Vinlesu made her move, gliding into the midst of the combatants and smashing her brother hard across the temple with the steel hand-guard of her sword. Blood and spittle flew from his lips as he staggered to the side, blades up in front of him as he tried to shake the blow off.

Vinlesu held back the last of her servitors as she spoke a word of magical power and flung the spell at Jaelna. His entire body glowed for a second, but Vinlesu saw a pendant under his shirt glow even brighter, pulling the glow from the spell into itself. The anti-spell ward he had boasted about. Still, enough of the spell’s effects had gotten through, and Jaelna swayed drunkenly in pain from the powerful magical assault. Vinlesu was able to openly walk right up to him and slam the pommel of her sword across skull again. He spun and dropped to the cave floor like a felled tree, unconscious. She fished out his warding stone, a pewter medallion on a chain around his neck. She cast a sleep enchantment on him to make sure he remained out for as long as she needed.

Vinlesu told the last of her servitors to drag him to a corner out of the way and stand guard while she ran to Hilfy. The Wood Elf had just finished cutting through the heavy rope and ran into her Mistress’ loving embrace.

“Are you okay, Pet?” Vin cooed, breathless from her exertions.

Hilfy nodded, hugging tight. “Yes, Mistress. Thank you so much! But those skeletons. How did...”

“Master Grixx may be a vicious knot of gristle, but he is there for his students when they need him. I created the skeletons, but he lent them special enchantments to put them on a more even par with whoever they would fight. I still owe my teacher a major debt for that. Knowing that perverted old horror, I can imagine how he’ll want to collect...”

“Mistress!” Hilfy said, straightening suddenly. “Lady Sadra is here! She is the one who hurt me, not Lord Jaelna! She plans on attacking you here in the caves!”

“I’m aware. Its a very classic kind of strategy for something like this. Use someone close to your target as bait, then use a flunky to test your target’s capabilities and maybe wear them out.”

A soft rippling laughter echoed through the caves. “Very good, Vin. You always were a good student. Probably why the Matron favors you so. But good students never exceed their teachers, they only become pale copies of them.”

Vinlesu pushed Hilfy roughly aside against a cave wall, perhaps hoping the sloping vault of hard rock would afford her body slave some modicum of protection from whatever Sadra had planned.

From out of the shadows of the far cave entrance a tall armored figure emerged. “It is we troublemakers who are the ones who show true initiative, after all,” Sadra said haughtily.

Hilfy and Vinlesu both gasped. The armor was of the style worn by the Empress’ Guard. It was a far cry from the bulky, heavy armors humans wore. It was keenly articulated in a way only Drow artificers could manage, and allowed easy motion almost as if the wearer had no armor at all. Yet it was forged of overlapping plates of dark silver-black metal alloy, as hard as inch-thick steel plate but three times as thin and light. For all its bulk, Sadra would be impeded by it only slightly, It covered the tall elder Drow sibling head to toe. Only the pale fire of her bright blue eyes showed through the small slitted visor.

But most shocking wasn’t the armor but what lay sown into its surface--strips of black Drow skin, spiraling over its surface, glowing with bright, intricately carved tattoos. Over the faceplate stretched the stylized face tattoos of Larn the Skin Shaper, his face now forever locked in a lipless, wide-mouth scream.

Hilfy retched in revulsion. Vinlesu herself could only work her mouth soundlessly in horror before she finally found her voice again. “Dark spirits! Sadra...what--what have you done?”

“Seized an unprecedented opportunity, Vin. Larn had some of the most powerful and intricate protective spells in the Dark Kingdoms woven into his skin by two centuries of his own work. And I thought, why should he horde all that to himself, when I had such better uses for it? So a torrid affair and the skillful use of a blood-enchanted dagger later, all his protections are now mine.”

Sadra pulled her sword and battle knife, her mocking laughter echoing softly behind her faceplate and its sown-on mask of Elven flesh. “Come, dear sister, try it out. You know you want to.”

Vinlesu blinked, coming out of her trance. She ordered her remaining ghoulish skeleton to attack while she readied a more powerful spell.

That strategy proved a dismal one. The skeleton’s blade shattered into a hundred fragments the moment it contacted Larn’s skin on the armor. Sadra just casually brushed her gauntlet against the undead automaton and the creature collapsed into a cascading pile of dust, its animating magicks instantly neutralized.

Sadra could have pressed her advantage then, as Vinlesu was only half way through calling her spell, but didn’t. She simple stood and waited patiently. Vinlesu could almost imagine the smug smile under her elder sibling's face plate.

Sadra hadn't been the only one anticipating a confrontation among her siblings for years. Vinlesu too had contingencies in place, though never in the darkest visions for herself did she imagine going to Sadra's psychotic depths. Making sure Hilfy was squarely behind her, she ripped a blood-stained jewel from her necklace and, speaking a word of power, it shattered in her hand. A wave of coruscating black anti-energy exploded outward from it, washing over Sadra with enough necromantic power to kill an elder dragon.

It was her attack of absolute last resort, a single enchantment she had spent the better part of the past decade preparing, adding to it bit by bit, week after week. Nothing living would be able to withstand contact with the dense wave of necromantic energy.

Impossibly, the Oblivion Wave sparked and fizzled to nothingness as soon as it touched Sadra's skin-augmented armor. Her sister chuckled in triumph. "Is that the best your little magic can do, Vin?"

Sadra's blade lashed out lightning-fast, cutting a shallow gash from Vinlesu's breast to her shoulder. The younger Drow cried out and fell back, hand over the wound. Hilfy was on her feet in an instant by Vinlesu's side. "Mistress!"

"Draw your weapons, sister," Sadra said steadily. "Just because you have to die today doesn't mean you should die poorly. Honor our house."

Vinlesu glared at her armored foe, grimacing at the sharp ache in her chest from the wound. It was a fool's challenge. Even fully armored, Sadra could far outmatch her in speed and skill. But what choice did she have? Her magic, even her most powerful spell, had proven worthless. All she had left were her weapons. Slowly, methodically, she drew her sword and her battle knife from their scabbards with blood-soaked fingers.

"Mistress!" Hilfy called. "Please don't..."

"She will kill me anyway, Pet. At least this way I have some chance." She unceremoniously pushed Hilfy away from her as she assumed a fighting stance with her weapons.

"Keep believing that sister," Sadra said as she slid into a battle-crouch. "Maybe it will even bring you comfort in your last moments."

They rushed each other, swords and battle knives flashing as the weapons crashed together. An intricate blur of thrust, slash, parry and block followed. Vinlesu was hardly inexpert with the blades. Like most of the Drow elite, she had received special training when she came of age and had done her best to keep up the skills.

But Sadra had specialized with weapons, honing her talents for decades now. Despite all of Vinlesu's desperate and at times vicious attacks, she quickly realized she had no hope of penetrating Sadra's defenses. She drew back, gasping from the exertion, sweat streaming from her dark brow.

Sadra's voice was steady and unhurried. This was at best a mild workout for her. "Not bad. You're better than I thought you would be. I wonder if mother will be even as much a challenge?"

"You can't seriously think you can challenge our Matron..."

"With this armor, dear sister, I could challenge nearly anyone in the Dark Kingdoms. Mother's spells may be more powerful than yours, but they will have the same effect against poor Larn's carefully crafted skin wards. And without her magic, and so many decades out of practice at true fighting, she will be even more helpless than you. Plus I imagine she will be especially upset when I send her your head as a direct challenge. So don't fret too much when your soul arrives at the Land of Shades. Dear mother will be there soon enough to comfort you..."

Suddenly Hilfy launched herself at the tall Drow from behind, tackling her across the midriff and throwing her off balance as the Wood Elf clutched desperately to the armor. "Mistress! Strike now!"

"Pet!" Vinlesu cried, hesitating for a moment out of panic for her body slave. Sadra snarled and batted the Wood Elf away with a fist clenched tight around the hilt of her sword. The red-haired slave was sent sprawling to the uneven cave floor.

Vinlesu saw an opening, however. If she could strike at a seam of the armor that Larn's skin wasn't covering, she had a chance. She lunged at her sister while she was half-turned away, aiming her thrust at one of the armor's striated neck joints.

Sadra didn't even bother to bring any of her weapons around. All she did was shift her form a few inches to the side to let Vinlesu' long blade skim against the black stretched skin on the armor's shoulder. The tempered steel of the blade shattered like so much brittle glass.

Sadra turned and launched into a flurry of attacks against the younger Drow. Vinlesu suffered a dozen cuts and bruises in just a few heartbeats as her sister pressed the merciless attack. Finally, the tall Drow slammed the hand guard of her sword hard against Vinlesu's jaw, sending her younger sister tumbling, dazed, to the cave floor.

"I guess this is where it ends, Vin. I'll tell everyone you put up a valiant fight, though truthfully you were hardly a challenge." She raised her sword for a final blow.

A blur of movement behind Sadra, a muffled thunk, and suddenly the elder Drow stopped short, a tortured gurgle echoing in her armor. "Get away from my Mistress!" someone screamed. Through Vinlesu's blurred vision, she saw Hilfy withdraw a blood-drenched dagger before plunging it again into the back of the Drow warrior with all her strength. The Wood Elf's features were knotted up into an uncharacteristic rictus of hatred.

Sadra lurched forward, dropping her weapons from her numbed fingers, gurgling in disbelief as Hilfy landed a third stabbing thrust. "H-how?" was the only thing she could manage to utter, as her hand settled onto an empty dagger sheath at her hip. "No..."

With a fourth blow, Sadra crashed forward onto the rocky floor. Hilfy jumped on her back, overtaken by a blood frenzy, stabbing her over and over again. Vinlesu noticed a faint glow coming from the blade, marking its magical nature as it sliced repeatedly through sorcerous skin, armor, and flesh alike with ease.

Vinlesu finally recovered enough to get behind Hilfy and slowly drag her away from the corpse of her sister. The naked Wood Elf still slashed away at the air, foam flecking her mouth. "Get away from...not my Mistress! Bitch!..."

"Pet!" Vinlesu said. "Pet, please. Its over. You did it. How, I can't guess, but you did it."

Hilfy's movements slowed, then finally stopped altogether. She dropped the knife and turned to hug her Mistress fiercely. Vinlesu found herself hugging back just as powerfully, never realizing how wonderful a feeling it could be just to hold her beloved so close.

"Mistress!" Hilfy said, tears trickling form her eyes. "I couldn't let her hurt you. I just couldn't!"

"It okay Pet," Vinlesu cooed, finding herself trembling. Her own death had been so close...

"Lady Sadra--that bitch--showed me the dagger she used to kill Larn. She said there was a blood spell on it, created from Larn's own blood. The only weapon that could penetrate Larn's skin. So when I jumped her earlier, I grabbed it from her belt without her noticing, and..."

Vinlesu smoothed Hilfy's hair and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Well done, Pet. A good strategy. I forget sometimes that you were being trained as a warrior when I first acquired you."

"Mistress, I am just so glad you're alive!"

"As am I, Pet." Vinlesu's head continued to clear, and she focused on the prone corpse of her sister, blood leaking copiously out of the joints in the armor. "Except...oh, gods, Hilfy, what have you done?"

"Mistress?"

"You've killed a Drow elite. And you a slave...gods, Pet, they'll kill you by slow torture. You'll be months in the dying." Only Drow were allowed to kill Drow. To most of Vinlesu's kind, the lesser races were little more than animals. And like any animal, Hilfy would be a rabid cur that would have to be put down for daring to attack one of her masters, no matter the circumstances. Other Drow would not see the act as Hilfy saving her Mistress's life, but as a slave seizing an opportunity to interfere with a duel and exact revenge on one of her tormentors.

The Wood Elf looked even paler than normal. "But, Mistress, we don't need to tell anyone. We can just say you defeated her, grabbed her dagger."

"No, Pet, you don't understand. Our Matron is a master necromancer. Sadra for all her treachery was still her daughter! She will visit the Land of Shades herself to ask Sadra's spirit what happened."

"But...but..."

Vinlesu shook her head. "There is no way she won't be able to find out what happened, Pet. And in the Drow tradition, she will exact vengeance on her daughter's killer."

Hilfy blinked, the fear very evident in her eyes even as she set her jaw defiantly. "It...it was still worth it, Mistress. You are alive."

The Drow shook her head. "I can't allow it, Pet. There must be another way."

They held each other quietly for a long time, lost in their own thoughts. Finally Hilfy looked up into her owner's eyes. "If there is no way to escape such a fate, Mistress, then please, kill me quickly now and be done with it. I hope I have at least earned that mercy."

"I..." Despite herself, almost unconsciously, Vinlesu's trembling fingers settled on the hilt of her battle knife. A quick plunge into her Pet's heart, and it would be over in seconds. Better that than the months Hilfy would spend slowly being flayed alive, her skin and flesh stripped from her layer by layer and fed to her, kept breathing by spells that would extend her life but intensify the pain...

A river of tears flowed down Vinlesu's cheeks. Her fingers clenched the handle of her knife so hard her knuckles turned white. "P-Pet..."

Hilfy slid to her knees on the cold stones, bowing her head, her long red hair draping over her eyes. "My heart and life will always be yours, Mistress."

Vinlesu slid the blade out of its sheath and held it in quivering fingers. Hilfy's form blurred with her tears. How had things come to this, where she was forced to end the life of the one person who had made waking up every day worth the effort?

She looked around desperately, and saw them prone form of her sister's armored corpse. She thought furiously, then dried her eyes messily on her sleeve and helped her Pet to her feet. "If your life is mine, Pet, then I choose to have you live for a long time yet."

- - -

It was a long and sweaty process, both removing the armor from Sadra's body and in turn removing the enchanted skin from the armor. The skin, which Vinlesu had expected to be stiff and leathery, was still supple and soft, as if it had just come off of Larn's fresh corpse. No doubt that was due to the potent magic in Larn's tattoos. They were probably designed to preserve his body as well as protect him from external harm.

They rolled the skin fragments into a single bundle and stuffed it into a makeshift sack made from the still-slumbering Jaelna's cloak. Vinlesu would investigate the skin later, determine what use it could be, if it was really as powerful as Sadra claimed.

Putting the armor on Hilfy was another near-exhausting chore. It was not particularly heavy, but like with most elaborate armors, it had been custom built for its wearer, in this case a broader-shouldered, bigger chested female who was also taller by almost a head. They'd ended up slicing up a lot of Sadra's clothing and Hilfy's travel cloak to stuff in-between the joints so the metal plates did not droop awkwardly in place.

They were just about to secure the helmet when Hilfy spoke quietly. "Mistress, stop."

"We have to do this quickly, Pet. We've already been gone longer than most challenges take. The Matron will become suspicious and send her spies..."

"Come with me, Mistress."

Vinlesu stopped, surprised. "What?"

Hilfy sucked her lip, her eyes brimming with moisture. "Please, Mistress. Even if this works, we cannot know if we will ever see each other again. How you feel--how we both feel--has been apparent for some time now. If I cannot return with you to the Dark Kingdoms, then come with me. I know sometimes you weary of the Drow world and all its duplicity and betrayals and harshness. Come with me, and we can be together still."

Vinlesu worked her mouth silently, then shut it as her thoughts wheeled wildly in her head. Could she truly contemplate such a thing? She had thought of travelling the Surface world anyway, once her apprenticeship to Grixx was over, and maybe never coming back. The thought was tempting, even if it meant she would be immobile half the time wile the sun was out. But she and her Pet would be able to see so much, experience so many exciting new things together...

But she violently shook her head, tears threatening again. She had no idea she could shed so many. "N-No, Pet. I cannot. I ache to be with you, gods, I do, but I have my duty, to my family and my House." She clasped Hilfy's head gently in her hands and leaned them both together, forehead and noses softly touching. With the armor on Hilfy, it was one of the few types of intimate touch Vinlesu could manage.

"Then let me stay. Even if it only a day before I'm caught, at least..."

"No! Pet, you must go. You'll die if you stay. This will be my last order to you as your Mistress, Hilfy, so listen carefully." She looked deep into Hilfy's eyes. "You are to stay alive anyway you can. You are to live, be free and well, and have a long and happy life."

Vinlesu removed her battle knife from her sheath, pulled her leather jerkin up, and flashed the blade across her navel. With a small splash of blood Vin's ruby navel ring fell into her free hand. She placed in her Pet's palm and curled Hilfy's fingers around it. "This is yours, Pet. I've...held it for you long enough."

Hilfy nodded, her own cheeks running over with moisture form her eyes. "Mistress..."

"I am your Mistress, no longer," She swallowed hard, trying to tamp her emotions. "You said this morning that you wanted to give me a gift. You've given me my life, but I want one thing more. I want you to say my name. I want to hear it from your lips at least once."

The Wood Elf nodded shallowly. "I love you, Vinlesu."

"And I you. Now please, go, and live for me."

Before any other words could be spoken, the Drow straightened and lowered the helmet over Hilfy's head. If she had said anything more, she would have lost the nerve to send Hilfy away completely.

They exchanged one last, longing glance, and then Hilfy turned and was gone from the cave.

- - -

"Sadra is gone?" the Matron asked, visibly upset.

They stood in the palace's broad, ornately decorated reception chamber, as Vinlesu's mother sat on her large stylized leather chair where she usually received guests visiting the family's ancient abode. According to the servants Vinlesu had talked to as she entered the palace, the Matron had been alone in the chamber for hours, tense and upset.

"Y-yes, mother, I'm afraid she escaped to the surface," Vinlesu said with a barely-controlled quaver in her voice. "She was badly wounded and humiliated from her defeat, and said she could expect no mercy from you. She--she is lucky I let her keep breathing at all, after what she did to my Pet."

"So you've said," The Matron said with lips drawn in a deep frown. "I am sorry to hear about Hilfy. I know you were very fond of her. Is that bone really all that is left of her?"

Vinlesu clasped her hand around the small fingerbone. Both sorceresses could feel the remnant life force pulsing from within. She tried hard to retain her composure in front of her mother, but a soft snuffle escaped her lips. Her mourning for her lost Pet certainly wasn't hard to fake, still fresh after only a few hours. "Yes. Sadra was incensed when my Pet interfered with our duel, and struck her fatally. When everything was over, I could not stand the thought of never having anything of Hilfy ever again, so I used the reanimation spell to trap what I could of her life force, so I could have at least some small a part of her with me still."

"I see." The Matron's frown deepened. "Very well. Go, Vin. Mourn your Pet. We need to speak of a great many things, not the least is the future of our house. But for now, I think it would be best for both of us if we both were alone."

Vinlesu looked at her mother askew but didn't pursue the odd statement. The finger bone clutched tightly in her hand, she turned and left without another word.

As soon as her youngest daughter was gone, the Matron ordered all the servants and slaves to leave the chamber immediately. When the last one left she slunk into her opulent chair and let out a loud, pain-filled sob.

Vin was still an apprentice, and couldn't know that a much older, much more skilled sorceress like her mother could recognize individual life forces, even when they were trapped in magical artifacts. Vin would never suspect that her mother had known she was lying about Sadra from her very first sentence. That the Matron could sense the remnant of her eldest daughter's life force in that bone.

But what could she do? If she acknowledged it, she would have to acknowledge that Vin had killed Sadra, that one of her daughters had murdered the other. That could not be tolerated. Despite the frequency of it in Drow society, letting the murder of a family member go openly unpunished was the equivalent of endorsing it.

But the Matron also knew that it was not Vinlesu who had been the perpetrator here, that if Sadra had met her end at her sister's hand, she must have provoked Vin beyond all reason. Vin should not have to suffer any more for the sins of her sister. It was best that she never suspected that her mother knew the truth, and that Vinlesu's version of events be the only one that would be officially announced.

It did raise the question of what happened to Vin's favored Pet, of why little red-haired Hilfy had not returned with her Mistress. Perhaps she had died as Vin said, or Vin had let her go, to escape to the surface. Either way, she would not be present to contradict Vin' story to anyone.

Tears rolled down the Matron's dark cheeks. Sadra had turned into a bitter, treacherous serpent at the heart of her family, she knew. But she had still been the Matron's daughter, and the elder Drow could still quite clearly remember holding the tiny baby Sadra in her arms, rocking her to sleep, helping her get dressed, showing her how to play with her first practice sword...

The Matron cried bitterly for a long time.

- - -

Three nights later Vinlesu returned from a very unproductive day of training with Master Grixx to find a young blond Wood Elf sitting quietly on her bed. The Drow was still hurt and exhausted from her battle, but most of all, the void in her life left by Hilfy's departure seemed bottomless. She felt hollow and numb, at a distance from everything, like an actor in a play about her life rather than the person who was actually living it.

Shards of Darkness, was Hilfy really gone?

Vinlesu regarded the the naked female elf with an empty expression. She could guess the creature's purpose here. "What is your name, slave?"

"Jalithria, Mistress. I am a gift from your great Matron. I am to serve any need you may have."

Vinlesu shifted uncomfortably with how closely the slave's features resembled Hilfy's. No coincidence why her mother had chosen this one. "Go sleep in the slave quarters tonight. Come back tomorrow when the wyverns call and we will discuss your duties."

The girl rose and bowed. "Yes Mistress." She gestured toward the nightstand. "Your great Matron also sent a scroll and a package for you. She said it was of importance, but not of immediate pressing need. That you should read it when you could."

"Very well. Leave now." Jalithria bowed again and did as she was bade.

Alone, Vinlesu looked over the small vial of bluish liquid attached to the parchment note, written in her mother's hand. It said, in simple terms, that the potion in the vial would make sure she was fertile for three days, and that she needed to sleep with her brother at least once more.

Vinlesu saw the implications right away. The Matron knew that Vin would now never have the stomach to head the household, despite what her mother may wish. And Jaelna, even if he overcame the prejudices of Drow society and became one of the few males that could head a house, would always be too weak and distracted by his addictions and vices to be effective.

If the current heirs available to the House Auvryant were unacceptable, the Matron would just make sure that another would be provided. One maybe she and her mother could raise and groom correctly for the task, learning from past mistakes. And one unmistakably of pure Auvryant blood.

After drinking the bitter fertility potion, she went to her brother's quarters. Best to just get it all over with.

Jaelna was surprised to see her, but Vinlesu had bade him to silence as she did her duty with him. Afterward, as she dismounted, she slapped him hard across his face and warned him to stay away from her and not speak to her again unless absolutely necessary. He had been complicit in what had happened to Hilfy and Sadra, an act that he would be many years living down with his mother and sister. He raised no hand against her for the assault. He only looked after his younger sister with a sullen frown, longingly, as she walked away from him a final time.

Soon after, with the wyverns about to call, Vinlesu plopped heavily onto her bed, laying out on its generous silken folds. She turned over and breathed deeply. She could still just barely detect Hilfy's scent on the pillows and sheets.

Tears returned, but this time with a thin smile. It had been three days now, and no sentry of the Drow had reported intercepting any escaped Wood Elf slave. Hilfy had made it, she was sure. Vinlesu imagined she might have even made it to the surface before the wyverns called the day after their confrontation with Sadra.

"I kept my promise, Pet," she said quietly. "That and more. You're free."

She lay her dark fingertips on her abdomen, where her brother's seed now mixed with her own, sighing. She wondered at how swollen her belly would get in just a few months. "I only wish I could say the same."

- - -

Two days earlier, a lone figure emerged from an obscure cave in the Ironknife mountains. Gasping, she flung the highly stylized helmet from her head, bouncing it high onto the hard frost-laden ground and scrub grass.

Hilfy gulped desperately for air, her hair matted with sweat. She had climbed the equivalent of a mountain up from the Dark Kingdoms to reach the surface, all in the armor lest some stray Drow agent spot her. She had been very careful to follow Vinlesu's directions, making her way through all the winding tunnels and past numerous sentries. A few Drow pickets had spotted her, but did not challenge or even speak to her as she tromped past. She wore the concealing armor of an Imperial Guard, after all, and who were lowly sentries to challenge one of the Empress's hand-picked elite?

But now she stood blinking at the reddish orb of the rising sun, hand shading her eyes at the source of light, the brightest she had seen in three decades.

Hilfy had no idea exactly where she was, as far as surface geography was concerned. But her Mistress, in her wisdom, had given her three assets that would serve her well to start a new life here. The first was the elite Drow armor she wore, only slightly damaged, that she could sell for enough money to take her anywhere she wanted to go. The second was Sadra's blood spell dagger, the one the eldest Auvryant sibling had used to kill and flay Larn, which could help protect her from threats mundane and sorcerous alike. The third was her father's ring, still clutched in her gauntlet-clad hand, which would help her re-establish her claim to her birthright among her old clan.

Hilfy sunk to her knees, tears streaming down pale cheeks glowing crimson with the dawn sunlight, sobbing both for what she had lost, but also all she had just gained. "Thank you Mistress," she said quietly to the cold, snow-swept mountains around her.

Eventually she dried her tears, stood, and began the long trek down.