Extinction - Lisa Smedman [82]
Pharaun's answer was immediate.
"We're still under orders from the Matron Mother," he told them briskly, "and I am still under orders from the Archmage of Menzoberranzan. Until we hear otherwise, we continue our quest to find out what's happened to Lolth. And that means finding the ship."
Danifae met his eyes and asked, "All of us?"
Pharaun stared at her.
"Since you didn't keep your part of the bargain," he said slowly, watching for Danifae's reaction, "what reason do I have to keep mine?"
Danifae's eyes blazed as she lost her usual control.
"But you promised!" she spat.
Jeggred, sensing the sudden tension in the air, looked up and growled softly. Valas glanced back and forth between Pharaun and Danifae.
"Promised what?" the mercenary asked.
Pharaun ignored the question.
"You made a promise, too," the Master of Sorcere reminded Danifae in a low voice. He patted the spellbook he'd been reading earlier. "When you slipped away to speak to Quenthel, did you honestly think I wouldn't listen in?"
Danifae's hands curled into fists at her sides. Pharaun almost expected her to stamp her foot and turn away, but after a moment her fingers slowly uncurled. She stared hard at him as if trying to guess his thoughts, then she tossed her long white hair and gave him a sulky pout.
"You meant me to betray you all along," she said. "You knew it would make Quenthel more sure of herself. She might not have met with Oothoon if-"
Pharaun interrupted her by clearing his throat. He inclined his head at Jeggred, who had risen to a fighting crouch.
"What are you saying?" the draegloth growled.
"Nothing," Danifae said smoothly, giving Jeggred a seductive smile. "Pharaun tried to get Oothoon to tell him where the ship of chaos was and learned nothing. He knew Quenthel would be able to succeed where he had failed, and so he was jealous. He was planning to discredit your mistress-to tell your matron mother, if and when he succeeds in making contact with Menzoberranzan again-that he was the one who found out where the ship is, not Quenthel."
Jeggred thought about that for a moment. Then his lips parted in a snarl.
"He would have lied," he growled, understanding at last. "Pharaun would have made the mistress look bad."
Pharaun waved a hand dismissively, thus concealing a gesture that activated a protective spell whose incantation he whispered under his breath.
"There's no need to get angry," he told Jeggred. "It's just… politics. You'd do the same, in my shoes. Any drow would."
Jeggred, unmollified, snarled at Pharaun and slammed his fighting hands into the mage's chest, but the gesture was half-hearted. His claws remained unflexed. The protective spell Pharaun had cast shimmered only faintly as it easily soaked up the force of the blow. The worst of it was the draegloth's foul breath, which he panted into Pharaun's face for several long moments as he tried to stare him down. Then the draegloth dropped back into a crouch, turning his back to resume his sulk.
Pharaun saw Valas, who had moved silently into position behind Jeggred, sheathing his kukris. Pharaun raised an eyebrow, then nodded his thanks at the mercenary. He had neither seen nor heard Valas draw the twin daggers-he was glad that the Bregan D'aerthe scout had chosen to back him and not Jeggred.
"As for the offer I made to you," Pharaun continued, turning to Danifae, "it still stands. It's just that it's not… expedient for you to leave us at the moment. With our numbers reduced, I may need you."
Danifae stood with her hands on her hips, an invitation and a challenge in one.
Interesting how quickly she begins to offer up her enticements, the wizard thought, now that Quenthel is gone.
"The question still remains," she said. "What do we do now?"
"We continue to try to get the information we need from Oothoon," Pharaun answered, stooping to tuck his spellbook back in his pack. "Or rather, I continue. I'm going back to Zanhoriloch. Alone, this time."
"Are you mad?" Valas asked, shaking his head. "You'll vanish down Oothoon's gullet,