Daughter of the Drow - Elaine Cunningham [21]
"For the greater glory of House Baenre," she said bitterly.
"That too," Gromph agreed cryptically. He was silent for a long moment, as if carefully weighing his next words. "Do you know why we wizards are tolerated in Menzoberranzan?"
Liriel cast a quick, startled glance at her father. "Target practice?"
"Don't be flip with me!" snapped the archmage. "It is important you understand. Consider this: Lloth is the sole recognized deity in the city, and her priestesses rule virtually unopposed. Why does Menzoberranzan need males at all, except to breed still more priestesses? Why grant males the power to wield magic?"
"Few drow females-at least in Menzoberranzan-have the sort of innate magical talent needed for wizardry," she responded.
"So? Why tolerate wizards at all?"
The young drow thought this over. "There are limits to clerical powers," she reasoned.
"Not that any priestess would admit to it," he agreed in a sour tone. "But know this: few drow females have magical talent, and wizards have access to powers that followers of Lloth cannot manage. This power is carefully monitored by the matriarchy, of course, but Menzoberranzan needs her wizards."
The archmage reached into a hidden pocket of his cloak and drew out a small book. "This is yours. Learn it well, for you would surely go mad in Arach-Tinilith without the escape this book offers you." He paused for a grim smile. "I had this compiled for you-a task that spanned several years and cost the lives of a number of wizards-knowing this day would come."
That was quite a pitch, even for melodramatic Gromph, Liriel thought with a touch of wry humor. She took the book and opened it to the first spell. She skimmed the page, and the meaning of the symbols came to her with a rush of excitement and disbelief.
"This is a spell for summoning a gate!"
"And so is every other spell in the book," he agreed. "With this knowledge, you can travel where no priestess can follow."
Liriel leafed through the spellbook, her excitement growing by the moment. Magical travel was extremely difficult in the Underdark, and those who tried it often ended up as a permanent part of the landscape. This gift would give her greater freedom than she had ever enjoyed. Best of all, her father had foreseen this day, and prepared for it! Liriel hugged the precious book to her chest.
"I can't begin to thank you!" she cried joyfully.
Gromph Baenre smiled down at her, but his amber eyes remained cold. "Not yet, perhaps, but when the time comes I will tell you how you can properly express your gratitude. Become a priestess and seize what power you can. But never forget you are a wizard first and foremost. Your loyalty belongs to me."
The warmth fled from Uriel's heart. She held the arch-mage's hard gaze, and her golden eyes mirrored his. "Don't worry, Father," she said softly. "Lloth forbid I should ever forget what I am to you."
Chapter 3
FYODOR OF RASHEMEN
Dawn touched the snow-tipped pines, and in the faint light the mist over Lake Ashane glowed a sunrise pink. On the eastern side of the lake rose a stark, steep hill, its crest hidden in dense clouds. At the base of this hill a young man reined his sturdy little horse to a halt. His mountain pony-a shaggy, barrel-shaped beast as ill-tempered as she was strong-stomped the frozen ground and nickered irritably.
Take ease, Sasha," crooned her rider in a remarkably deep, rich bass voice. "We have ridden through the night, you and I, but at last we have found the place."
The young man took a long, deep breath of the cold morning air. "Can you not feel it?" he murmured. "Here a mighty battle was waged and lost. Here we begin."
With that, Fyodor of Rashemen swung down from his saddle. He considered the hill before him and decided he would have to walk. Sasha might look a bit like a mountain goat-except in battle, when she resembled nothing so much as a fierce, four-legged dwarf-but the slope was too steep even for her. So he left the horse untethered and began his trek up the mountain.
Winter was harsh this year, and spring late to come.