Ascendancy of the Last - Lisa Smedman [48]
In the same instant that Leliana unleashed her truth-compelling prayer, Qiluй quickened her dance and spun behind Cavatina, out of the spell's path. Cavatina felt the tingle of magic and realized, to her horror, that Qiluй had maneuvered her into the path of the magic.
Qiluй wheeled on her. "How did you know the Pit has a breach?" she demanded.
"I-" Cavatina tried to lie, but couldn't. Words tumbled out of her mouth-not the carefully worded "report" she'd been rehearsing, but the truth about what had transpired. Horaldin showing her the portal; Cavatina slipping through it and becoming ethereal; seeing the planar breach, the ooze flowing out of it, the self-sacrifice of the green-eyed drow…
Qiluй cut her off at that point with a curt, "That's enough."
Cavatina hid her relief. The high priestess hadn't thought to ask why Horaldin had shown Cavatina the portal. Yet.
Leliana had listened, sword in hand. Now she glanced uncertainly back and forth between Cavatina and the high priestess-as though she'd like to silently ask what to do next, but didn't dare. Her singing sword let out a low, worried hum.
"Sheathe that," Qiluй ordered.
"Why would you have me do that, Lady Qiluй?"
"Because it's annoying."
Leliana shifted the weapon slightly. "It no longer fits in its scabbard, Lady Qiluй."
"Then find another way to silence it!" Qiluй barked. "Lay it down."
Leliana obediently placed her sword on the floor, ending its song.
Cavatina smiled to herself as she realized why Leliana had asked the question. Qiluй's blunt answer seemed to indicate the truth spell had taken hold of her, as well, despite her attempt to shield herself from it by stepping behind Cavatina. Before Qiluй could gather her wits, Cavatina spat out a question of her own. "Why did you open a portal to the Pit, Lady Qiluй?"
Qiluй scowled-an expression as foreign to her face as a look of mercy would have been on the cruel visage of the Spider Queen. Then, as abruptly as it came, the scowl disappeared. Cavatina could see, how Horaldin had known there was something wrong with the high priestess. Everything about Qiluй's posture, tone, and expression was subtly wrong. Even Qiluй's color was off. Her skin looked clammy, like that of someone who ought to be confined to a sick bed. She even smelled bad-as if it had been some time since she'd bathed.
"Fortunately for you, Cavatina, my preparations are incomplete."
Cavatina's heart fell. Qiluй wasn't answering her question! Was the demon capable of resisting Leliana's magical compulsion? Or was the answer simpler: that it was Wendonai who had opened the portal-if so, the demon wouldn't have been compelled to answer a question directed at Qiluй. Cavatina's hands dampened with sweat. She resisted the urge to clench her sword tighter; Qiluй might spot the slight movement and attack.
Cavatina tried another question. "What preparations?"
"A symbol. Had you blundered upon that ruined temple once it was visible, that would have been the end of you. You would have wandered the Ethereal Plane forever, gibbering and broken."
"I did see a symbol-the mark of the Ancient One. Is that the one you mean?"
"Of course not," Qiluй snapped. "I'm talking about the symbol I inscribed on top of it."
Cavatina cautiously nodded. If there had been another symbol atop Ghaunadaur's, she'd failed to detect it. "What symbol is that?"
"One that provokes insanity." Qiluй smirked: another expression she never used. "The idea came from Ghaunadaur's own scriptures." She spoke quickly, as if she couldn't get the words out fast enough. Maybe Leliana's prayer was affecting her. "Millennia ago, the Ancient One rendered mindless the oozes and slimes that were his original worshipers. I'm going to do the same to the drow who worship him. They're incapable of redemption, so we're going to destroy them instead. That's why I opened the portal in the abandoned temple. Our spies will lure his clerics into it with a feint the fanatics can't help but follow. Especially