Red Magic - Jean Rabe [20]
"My Lord Maligor," a soft voice came from just beyond the chamber. "You summoned me?"
"Yes, Asp," Maligor replied thickly as he continued to stare at the sky. "You're late."
"I was drilling the gnolls."
Maligor sneered, hating to be kept waiting. "Enter. We have much to discuss."
The bath chamber was lit by dozens of thick red candles on curved iron stands that were placed around the walls and near Maligor's divan. They kept away the shadows, except those in the darkened doorway where Asp now stood. She poked her head out from the gray entrance, glancing around the room and at the nervous slaves. Sliding her shoulders and arms out of the shadows, she maneuvered herself entirely into the chamber, revealing her serpentine body.
One of the twins gasped. Throwing both hands over her mouth, she dropped the manicure tools, sending them clinking in several directions across the polished white marble floor. She scooted away from the divan, unmindful of Maligor's burning gaze. The other slaves also appeared startled, but they were wiser. They remained rooted to their posts.
Perturbed, Maligor silently marked the twin for stringent punishment, then turned back to Asp.
His lieutenant noiselessly slithered toward the divan, the candlelight playing over her glittering crimson and charcoal scales and causing the scales to reflect eerily on the marble. From the waist down, Asp resembled a colorful sand boa with a ridge of armored, triangular-shaped scales down her back and a tail that tapered to a black point. From the waist up, she was a lovely young woman, more beautiful than even the slaves in the room. She was a spirit naga, a member of a race of unhuman women, and Maligor knew she could shape-change into any human or demi-human form. He wondered whether this was her true appearance or merely a magical fabrication. It really didn't matter, he reasoned. He was dishonest enough with his own body, cloaking his years with his potion bottles.
Her true appearance did not matter; he found her easy on his old eyes. Still, his other senses found her unsettling. Like all spirit nagas, or "snake women of the underground" as many men preferred to call them, Asp smelled of rotting flesh. And that scent, coupled with the musky oil on his feet, made Maligor wince.
Her tail undulated back and forth over the smooth floor, then acted as a brace as Asp rose like a spitting cobra to address him. From the tip of her tail to the top of her head, Asp measured almost twenty feet long.
"My Lord Maligor, may I speak freely here?" She glowered at the slaves and hissed at the elf for emphasis. Abruptly the music stopped.
"A moment," he answered, his eyes reluctantly leaving the human part of Asp's form and turning to his slaves. He clapped his wrinkled hands once, and guards stationed beyond the entrance moved in to escort the slave women to their chamber. With a bony finger, he indicated the twin who had shown improper behavior, and a guard nodded and smiled knowingly as the slaves were ushered from the room.
Asp was pleased to see the women's alarmed expressions and felt amused that one would be whipped-or worse-because of her. She enjoyed terrifying Maligor's female slaves and often went out of her way to do so. The snake-woman claimed she did it to put them in their place, while adding to her own sense of superiority over humans.
Maligor chose to believe she was jealous.
For nearly three summers, the naga had been the Red Wizard's companion, initially studying under him as an apprentice, then gaining a trusted position as leader of his guard force and chief instructor of his army. They shared an unusual relationship that couldn't quite be considered affection. Maligor believed himself incapable of love.
Still, the Red Wizard enjoyed her company and respected her abilities and cunning, using her to his best advantage. In turn, the keenly intelligent Asp used Maligor to help her gain stature in Thay and more wealth than she could have stolen from the drow and other races