“But did Matron Mother Baenre lose?” Zhindia Melarn asked slyly.
“She sent the demons forth, and the demons were defeated by the dwarves, so say the reports.”
“And so the dwarves reclaim Gauntlgrym, and fire anew the Great Forge,” Zhindia agreed. “But these particular dwarves are known associates of Jarlaxle and Bregan D’aerthe.”
Despite her great and practiced discipline, Shakti Hunzrin couldn’t help but fidget at the mention of Jarlaxle. Bregan D’aerthe had long been a thorn in the side of ide of House Hunzrin and a threat to Shakti’s plans for trade dominance beyond Menzoberranzan. Bregan D’aerthe’s loyalty to House Baenre could not be doubted.
“Your easiest route to the World Above is no more,” Zhindia said. “Your caravans will not get past the armies of the dwarves. But if Jarlaxle is able to secure an agreement between House Baenre and the new kingdom of Gauntlgrym …”
She let it hang there, tantalizingly.
“The Spider Queen would abandon her,” Shakti said, because she really had no other retort.
“Are you going to tell her that?” Zhindia asked with a laugh.
Shakti stared at her hard. “Among all the Matron Mothers of Menzoberranzan, are you not the one who claims closest communion with the Spider Queen?” she asked very seriously. “Would Lolth accept such a move by Matron Mother Baenre?”
“The same Matron Mother Baenre who instituted a darthiir, a wretched elf, as a matron mother with a seat on the Ruling Council?” Zhindia countered. “Who put Matron Mother Do’Urden ahead of you on the ladder of Menzoberranzan’s hierarchy?”
“Your insults are uncalled for,” Charri Hunzrin remarked.
“No insult,” said Zhindia. “Simple truth, and unpleasant to both of us. Perhaps, though, this abomination Matron Mother Do’Urden is a test, not for Quenthel Baenre but for the rest of us. Do we allow the darthiir to continue as a voice on the Ruling Council?”
“Or do we tear her down?” asked Shakti. “We are back to this, then. Did we not just see this play with the demon assault on House Do’Urden? That failure strengthened Matron Mother Do’Urden’s reputation and strengthened Matron Mother Baenre’s hand.”
“So you are accepting of an agreement between Matron Mother Baenre and Bregan D’aerthe to move goods through the dwarven city?”
“I do not believe that such an agreement exists.”
“Oh, it exists,” Matron Mother Zhindia said confidently. “Jarlaxle’s influence is clear to see, and who would benefit more from such an agreement than that opportunist heretic mercenary and his filthy band of male rogues?”
The leader of House Melarn turned to the side and motioned to a drider guard, who put a hand against a concealed plunger on the wall and pressed. Unseen stones slid and a secret door fell open. To Shakti and Charri’s surprise and fear, an impressive drow female strode out from the darkness. She wore the robes of a high priestess, indeed those of a First Priestess of a House, and her emblem was well known.
Kiriy Xorlarrin, Matron Mother Shakti’s fingers signed to her daughter.
The newcomer moved to the table, summoned a magical disc-a circle of blue light hanging in the air at about waist height-and sat down upon it.
“We were speaking of male rogues,” Matron Mother Zhindia said.
“A redundant description,” Kiriy replied, with no small amount of contempt behind her words.
The Hunzrin matron mother and daughter glanced at each other, somewhat confused. Wasn’t House Xorlarrin known as the House most lenient with, and most deferential to, its men? House Barrison Del’Armgo and House Xorlarrin had long been the two Menzoberranyr Houses known to promote men high into the House hierarchy, but with Barrison Del’Armgo, there had never been any doubt that the highest ranking male noble, usually the weapons master, remained subservient to the lowest of the high priestesses. In House Xorlarrin, such was not always the case.
“You know First Priestess Kiriy Xorlarrin,” Matron Mother Zhindia said, and the guests at her table nodded.
“I am soon to join House Do’Urden,” Kiriy informed them. “My sister, my brother, and many of the male cousins are already there, strengthening the ties between House Do’Urden and Sorcere.”
“And the ties with House Baenre,” Shakti dared to remark.
Kiriy snorted dismissively.
“Saribel, your sister, is presently the First Priestess of House Do’Urden, is she not?” Shakti pressed. “Will you displace her?”
“For a time.”
“You mean to become Matron Mother Do’Urden,” Shakti reasoned.
“And again, I may wear that title for a time, perhaps,” Kiriy replied. “And then I mean to destroy House Do’Urden and replace it with a reformed House Xorlarrin.”
“You plot against your own mother,” Shakti said sourly. She was looking straight at Matron Mother Zhindia as she made the remark, as if Zhindia should be ashamed of herself for even entertaining such a thought. Matricide was not well-received in Menzoberranzan, and particularly not welcomed at that moment, when Shakti sat in conference with her eldest and most powerful daughter seated right beside her.
Of course, Matron Mother Zhindia didn’t have that particular problem.
“Matron Mother Zeerith has traveled too far along the road of heresy,” Matron Mother Zhindia stated. “Too much influence has she given to mere males. This is not the way of Lolth.”
“Her sacrilege rained doom upon Q’Xorlarrin,” Kiriy added. “There was no proper order of things awaiting the demon army in our city, to keep them in line when Matron Mother Baenre sent them to us to defeat the dwarves. It was clear to me from the outset of the dwarven invasion-even before that, when so many of our House were killed in the far-off fields of the Silver Marches-that House Xorlarrin was losing the favor of the Spider Queen.”
“You will betray Matron Mother Zeerith,” Shakti said.
“She will not return to Menzoberranzan in any case!” Kiriy shouted. “I will save House Xorlarrin! We will not become an extension of Bregan D’aerthe, to be used at the whim of Matron Mother Baenre. I will never allow that. Our place is here, with an independent Matron Mother Xorlarrin sitting on the Ruling Council.”
“I have asked you to accept a lot of startling information here,” Matron Mother Zhindia apologized to her Hunzrin guests.
“You have hinted at a daring plan,” Shakti replied. “One that pits us against Matron Mother Baenre and her cadre of powerful allies.”
“Not so!” Zhindia argued. “She is far too engrossed now in matters beyond the fate of House Do’Urden. The demon lords walk the ways of the Underdark, and in no small part because of the foolish actions of her own brother! Before the coming of Demogorgon, Matron Mother Baenre went to great lengths to fortify this phony House she has constructed, and so she expects them to stand on their own. Indeed, they must. Many others-House Barrison Del’Armgo and some of Matron Mother Baenre’s closest allies-are watching with wary eyes. Lolth will decide the fate of House Do’Urden, not the army of House Baenre.”
“And Lolth is surely with us,” Kiriy added.
After a long paused, Shakti replied to Zhindia, “Your claims are extraordinary.”
“Then I will prove them to you.”
Shakti nodded.
“I trust in your confidence in these matters until I can make my case fully to you,” Zhindia said. “And do understand that if I am correct in my suspicions-and I assure you that I am-any betrayal of me to Matron Mother Baenre will also provide her with the excuse she needs to sublimate your House. You came here, after all, willingly and alone in trust, to a known rival of House Do’Urden. And do not doubt that Matron Mother Baenre understands that Hunzrin demons were among the horde of fiends who attacked House Do’Urden.
“Waging war on House Melarn would bring a smile to the face of Matron Mother Quenthel Baenre, indeed,” Zhindia went on. “But how much wider might that smile grow if she has an excuse to eliminate both our families, stripping Matron Mother Mez’Barris Armgo of the only allies she might have in her attempt to keep House Baenre from complete domination?”