"Precisely," Karas said. "Which is why we should abandon this route and go another way. You heard the reports of the search teams. There's a veritable labyrinth of passages down there. Trying to figure out which one leads to the Acropolis-if any even do-might take days. We should take a route that we know leads to the Acropolis. One that won't cost us any more lives."
"This is our way in," Cavatina said. "The Crones will be watching the other entrances."
"You said Mazeer mentioned a skull. Even if she did find the 'back door' the deep gnomes told you about, it may not be such a secret any more."
"He's right," Gilkriz said, stepping closer. "And the longer we sit here, the more likely we'll be discovered. What if your svirfneblin 'allies' were lying entirely, and this is nothing but a dead-end? I don't want to be trapped down here."
Cavatina stared down at him. "You'd abandon Mazeer?"
Gilkriz unfolded his arms and tugged at his gold sleeves, straightening them. Despite immersion in the Moondeep, his clothes were impeccable. "If she's dead, yes." He nodded at the Faerzress. "Solving our problem as quickly as possible is what's most important."
Cavatina glared at him. But she had to admit that Gilkriz was right. So was Karas.
"I've made up my mind," she told them. "We'll go in another way. One of those other entrances Karas is so fond of."
His mask hid the smirk she knew was there.
"But we stay together."
The smirk disappeared from his eyes.
"Gilkriz, Eldrinn, assemble your wizards. Get them ready to move. Karas, do the same for your Nightshadows."
"As you command, Lady," Karas replied.
Cavatina gave him a tight smile. She knew that Karas's obedience was the calm before the storm. When he found out how she planned on entering that "side door," he wasn't going to like it. She'd had it with this skulking about. It was time for something bolder.
She was just about to pass the word to the two priestesses who guarded the top of the shaft when one of them contacted her with a sending. Lady Cavatina, the demon you anticipated! Zindira just spotted it!
Fall back to the bottom of the shaft, Cavatina ordered, praying they would obey quickly. If they made the mistake of attacking Halisstra, they likely wouldn't survive. I'm on my way.
She turned and spoke swiftly. "Karas, keep the others together. Don't let them follow me up the shaft."
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Lady?"
"Our guards have spotted something-possibly a demon." She slapped the flask at her hip. "I'm going to deal with it. You're in charge until I get back."
She sprinted away down the tunnel.
Leliana set a brisk pace through the abandoned mine. Q'arlynd hurried along beside her, glad to be moving again. The sooner he had Eldrinn back in his sight again, the better. The boy might be talented, but he was little more than a novice. There were all sorts of things down there that could kill him. Gigantic undead heads, demonic drow-things… why, even something so mundane as a cave-in, Q'arlynd thought as he ducked under a fungus-dotted shoring timber that stank of rot. If Q'arlynd were ever going to unlock Kraanfhaor's Door and plunder the riches that lay behind it, he'd need the secrets locked away in Eldrinn's mind.
In the meantime, he thought, glancing at the bluish glow that infused the tunnel, there was a job to be done: discovering what had augmented the Faerzress, and negating it before the College of Divination collapsed.
They walked in silence for some time. Then Leliana spoke. "Aren't you going to ask how Rowaan is, Q'arlynd?"
Q'arlynd took a deep breath. Here it comes, he thought. "I intended to, Lady, once there was time."
She halted abruptly. "No time like the present."
Q'arlynd slowly turned. "Lady, they enslaved me with magic that proved even stronger than Qilue's geas. I was forced to speak the words that-"
"What are you talking about?"
"The… the gate," Q'arlynd faltered. "Didn't Qilue tell you…?" Belatedly, he realized he'd just said too much.
"She did. She said you were the one who opened the gate that allowed Eilistraee to enter Vhaeraun's domain."
Q'arlynd raised his hands. "Not by choice, I assure you." Then he realized what she'd just said. "Vhaeraun's domain?"
"Of course. That was a clever ruse you pulled."
She didn't look angry, so Q'arlynd did his best to recover. "Qilue… told you about… that?"
Leliana smiled. "She also swore me to secrecy. But now that we're alone…" She glanced back the way they'd just come. "I can thank you. For saving Rowaan."
To Q'arlynd's utter surprise, she stepped forward and clasped his arms. She was strong; her hands pinched as they squeezed. Then she stepped abruptly back, as if embarrassed by the show of emotion. That figured; she'd been raised in the Underdark, after all.
"I'm surprised Qilue confided in you," Q'arlynd said, relaxing at last. "But I welcome the opportunity to boast. That switch I pulled was rather clever, wasn't it?"
Leliana's eyes glittered. "How did you ever trick them into reversing the spell? They were Nightshadows-didn't they see it coming?"
"Apparently not," said Q'arlynd. Nor had he seen this coming.
"I still can't quite believe they're part of our faith now, that they chose redemption," Leliana continued. "I thought them too steeped in lies and deceit to stick with it. But some did, amazingly enough." She paused. "I'm glad to see you still serve Eilistraee, as well."
"Of course." Q'arlynd waved a hand. "That's why I'm here." It was a conversation he didn't want to get any deeper into than he had to. "But you haven't answered my question. How is Rowaan?"
Leliana smiled. "She's well. After I was promoted to the ranks of the Protectors, she took charge of the Misty Forest shrine." Her voice deepened with pride. "There were other, more senior priestesses who could have been named its head priestess, but Qilue chose Rowaan."
Of course she did, Q'arlynd thought. The appointment would have ensured that Rowaan kept her mouth shut about what had really happened, that night in the dark-stone cavern.
He realized why Cavatina had failed to point him out during the briefing at the Promenade. She didn't want to run the risk of him contradicting the official version of what had happened. She wanted her priestesses to believe that Eilistraee was stronger than Vhaeraun-that she had defeated the Masked Lord on his home turf.
Q'arlynd wondered how closely held the true story was. Qilue knew it, of course, and Cavatina-as well as the priestesses whose souls, together with Rowaan's, had been drawn to Eilistraee when the gate opened. Q'arlynd supposed those priestesses had been bought off, too. And that Valdar, the only Nightshadow to have survived the casting of the gate, had been tracked down and killed to ensure his silence.
The ranks of Eilistraee's faithful had come to include more than one assassin, after all.
"We should get moving, if we want to catch up to the others," he reminded Leliana.
"Yes." She touched a hand to the Faerzress. "Too bad we can't teleport. You'd have us there like that." She started to snap her fingers, then touched the Faerzress again, as if caressing it.
The gesture disturbed Q'arlynd. He'd felt a similar urge himself. The soft hum of the bluish glow called to him. The Faerzress was beautiful, just like faerie fire, but what he felt went deeper than that. It drew him like…
He realized he was touching the wall. He jerked his fingers back.
Leliana's eyes met his. She looked as uneasy as he felt. "You're right," she said. "We should get moving."