Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [146]
But he quickly recovered from his surprise and brought his weapon around in a sweeping overhead strike. Liriel dove to one side and rolled clear, hearing as she did the sound of the first mate's sword meeting answering steel. She came up to see Fyodor and ibn circling each other, blades at the ready. The two other sailors closed in to help; Liriel quickly dispatched these with a pair of thrown knives so she could focus entirely upon the coming duel. Never had she seen Fyodor so angry, not even in the grip of a berserker's frenzy.
"i am Rashemi, and my sword is pledged to the wychlaran," he stated. "Once before you attacked my lady; the penalty is death. You would have died that day at sea, had she not asked otherwise."
"Actually, it's three times now, but the last one was hardly worth mentioning," Liriel put in. When Fyodor tossed her a questioning look, she added, "He put a poisonous spider in my bed. How pathetic."
"Give me leave to kill him," he said softly, his blue eyes blazing with wrath.
For a moment Liriel was filled with cold exultation at the prospect of her enemy's death and the absolute power she wielded at this moment over both men. It was an emotion she had seen many times, written on the dark faces of her drow kin, but one she herself had never expected to feel. The realization chilled her deeply. It was as if the touch of Lloth had left icy indentations upon her soul. "No!" she said with venomous denial, responding as much to her own thoughts as to Fyodor's request.
The young Rashemi stared at her. "it is a matter of law and of honor. This i must do, if i am to be your champion. Three times this man has attacked you-how can i let him live?"
"Do you think i care for your laws?" she demanded wildly.
"i will not send you into battle to kill for me, and perhaps to die. I will not!"
The young man heard the note of rising hysteria in Liriel's voice. He hesitated only a moment, then hauled back his sword and swung it high and hard toward the watchful ibn. The older man parried the blow. Fyodor stepped in under their joined blades and delivered a single punch to ibn's gut. With a deep "Ooph!" the man dropped his sword and bent double- Fyodor brought the hilt of his blade down hard on ibn's neck, and the man dropped, senseless, to the warehouse floor.
For a long moment the drow and her champion stared at one another. "War is coming to Ruathym, little raven," he said softly. "A time will come when you must send me into battle. It is my destiny… and yours."
Liriel spun away from him and walked from the wooden building, her eyes burning with tears she could not shed. It was plain that Fyodor had misread her hesitation, thinking only that she feared to put him in harm's way. That was true enough, as far as it went, and as much truth as she could bear for him to know.
Adding to her confusion was the thought that Hrolf had been slain by a man he trusted. In her homeland many people fell to the treachery of friends, but it pained her to the soul that the openhearted, generous Hrolf would be betrayed in such fashion. It seemed to Liriel that in any way that mattered, this place was little different from Menzoberranzan.
Very well, then. If that were true she knew precisely how to act. As the drow hurried toward the shore, her fingers closed around her holy symbol. She thrust aside the lingering despair that had been her constant companion since the day Lloth had claimed her as priestess. The power was hers; she would use it. She had promised Lloth a battle, a glorious victory. The Spider Queen would have her due, or Liriel would slay every stubborn Ruathen who stood in her way.
But first, she had to convince the battle-mad idiots that they were getting ready to fight the wrong enemy.
Chapter 21
Drow don't dream
Liriel half ran, half slid down the steep bluff that led to the sea. As her anger slipped away, the meaning in ibn's words shifted and took on new light. She was no longer so certain the man had caused Hrolf's death. In fact, he seemed to have put the