Nighttime in Ust Natha, most lights in the city were dimmed. In Phaere's penthouse it was equally dark and quiet... until one certain loud elf threw open the door to the bedroom, that is. She looked around for a bit and tip-toed over to the fireplace. Luckily, she had seen where Phaere kept her personal safe.

"What are you doing?" Phaere called from her bed, stifling a brief yawn.

"Looking for something to drink!" Laska called back while she was fiddling with Phaere's personal wallsafe, conveniently placed behind a fake wallpanel. Quickly, she turned the knob... 32-22-30-154. With a silent click, the safe opened.

"Thank Sehanine she talks in her sleep when you tickle her under her chin," Laska chuckled for a moment, thinking back to how she obtained the combination and fished her bag of holding from the discarded pile of clothes lying on the floor. She turned her attention back towards the safe. There, in between the contracts, jewels and cash lay three dragon eggs... the fakes that Viconia had made and Imoen had planted. The fakes that Phaere had stolen and intended to give to Adalon as an offering of peace. So, it was important that Phaere would offer REAL eggs to Adalon instead of fakes.

Laska took the fake eggs out and laid them out in front of the safe. She then took out the real eggs from her bag of holding and laid them beside the fakes. The tattooed elf suddenly jerked her head towards the bedroom when she heard Phaere call out again.

"You're not drinking all my scotch again, are you?!" Phaere called out.

"No, no!" Laska called back. "I'll be back in a moment!"

"Come to bed already!" Phaere called out again, sounding more and more disappointed.

Then, Laska turned back towards the eggs... and found six very similar looking eggs lying in front of her. Six VERY similar eggs indeed.

"Shit," Laska whispered as she let her gaze flow over all six eggs. "Shitshitshitshitshitshit! Laska, you dumb bitch! How can you lose track of the real and fake eggs?! Oh, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks! Alright, alright, how are you going to solve this? This egg weighs as much as this one and this... Oh, they ALL look alike... Hm, now, I put the fakes here and the real ones on the left... Right? Oh, crap, I better hope I put the right ones in the safe and... Why the bloody hell am I talking to myself?!"

Feeling lucky, Laska grabbed those eggs she thought were the real ones and put them in the safe, closed it and quickly replaced the wallpanel and slipped the, hopefully, fake eggs into the bag of holding and tossed it onto the pile of discarded clothing.

"Laska?" she heard footsteps coming from the bedroom. There stood Phaere in the dooropening, the dim light of the cavern outside the darkened room glistening off her skin.

"Oh, it's nothing," Laska said. "I, uh, thought you had Elderdusk wine, but there wasn't any in your mini-bar."

Phaere chuckled and moved towards Laska. She wrapped her arms around Laska's bare waist and gently flowed into her lover's embrace. "Before I met you I only had to replace my mini-bar stock once every year... no I have to do it once a week... and I'm lucky if you're even here two nights. Why'd you want to come to my penthouse tonight?"

"I dunno," Laska said as she guided Phaere back to the bedroom. "I wanted a change of scenery today, I guess."

"Hm," said Phaere as she broke the embrace and slipped under the spidersilk duvet. "I've spent so much time at your house that my own home has become strange to me... empty too. I see this big space all for myself, but it no longer comforts me."

"It's because," Laska said and slipped under the duvet to lie next to Phaere. The two embraced for a moment, "I life in a house with a group, close together. That kinda rubs off on you, I think. Perhaps you should ask your sisters to move in with you again. Room-mates!"

"Don't be silly," Phaere chuckled. "I get enough 'social interaction' at your place. More than enough. Well, in excessitude, if I could be painfully honest about it."

Laska fell silent for a moment. How much longer would she stay here? Her spirit was stolen, she remembered that now. The theft of her spirit had left her broken, destroyed, cast into a downward spiral of self-destruction. It was that person that Phaere first became attracted to. But then Laska found herself again, despite the loss of self. She had crawled out of the pit, regained her self-worth and will to live. And through all that Phaere had stayed, never knowing the true extent of Laska's inner turmoils. But now, Laska knew that she did not belong in this place.

"Do you ever think about the future, Phaere?" probed Laska.

"Do you?"

"I asked you first."

"Well, when this war is over," Phaere said, "hopefully soon, most of the mercenaries will go home. I imagine you and your group are looking forward to returning to Ched Nassad."

"Not particularly," Laska said, rolling onto her back, allowing Phaere to press against her, lying her head on Laska's arm and rubbed her hand over Laska's belly, softly drawing circles over the tattooed flesh above her navel.

"Any reason for wanting to stay?" Phaere asked.

"One or," Laska glanced at Phaere's chest, "two."

Phaere seemed pleased. "What if I... offered you partnership in the Spire?"

"I don't know how to run a business," Laska chuckled. "I didn't know how to balance my piggy-bank when I was a kid."

"Piggy-bank?" Phaere wondered.

"Um, I mean spidey-bank, of course."

"Ah, of course. But... I mean partnership in a different way. You see, Laska, in trade-houses, it is custom for a successful business-woman to pick one or several consorts. A powerful wizard, an amazing fighter, a dashing rogue."

"Something to show off," Laska finished.

"Exactly," grinned Phaere. "If you would accept, I would very much like you to... be my consort."

Laska could see that Phaere was eagerly expecting an answer. There was something behind her eyes, which were darting from left to right. Then, it hit her : Phaere was nervous, as if she'd been struggling to ask this question for some time now. Laska weighed her words carefully.

"Let's just wait until this war ends first... and if there'll still be an Ust Natha next week," Laska said.

If Phaere was disappointed, she didn't show it. Instead, she watched Laska intently. "Well," Phaere grinned and looked at Laska's chest. "I can certainly see two good reasons to wait for your answer with baited breath."

"Fresh," Laska mock-pouted.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Phaere asked. "New technique?"

"Nah," Laska said and snuggled close to Phaere. "This feels nice too," she said while pressing her face into Phaere's long white hair, taking in the lovely smell.

"Hmm," Phaere smiled.

"You know," Laska smiled. "You should really get a tattoo."

"No."

"Seriously."

"No."

"What about a Star on your shoulder?"

"No."

"Snake with dripping fang on your breast?"

"No."

"How about a big spider on your bum?"

"No!"

"Just checking," Laska grinned, and kept up the embrace all night long.

Imoen and Viconia sat in a booth next to each other in a small café near the entrance of Ust Natha. It was located on an open plateau, suspended over a 100 foot drop into a lava-lake below, and offered a nice view of the entrance gates and the marketplace only a few meters away.

Viconia was quietly eating her lunch while Imoen pressed against her. Unfortunately, Imoen was rambling.

"How about pet names?" Imoen asked.

"What?" Viconia replied after popping a bit of food in her mouth.

"Come on, it's important!"

"You have a strange sense of priorities."

"You could call me 'Immy'... Oh, wait, that's a bit boring, how about 'Im'. Or is that too short?"

"I don't really care..." Viconia sighed.

"I got it 'Moeni!' Doesn't that sound cute?"

"No."

"Or 'oeni'? What about 'oeni'?"

"It sounds like you've sneezed.'"

"What about you? I call you 'Vic' and all, but we can make that better."

"Sure you can. My name is 'Viconia', after all, emphasis on the 'Onia', which is apparently silent in your current pronunciation," Viconia said, her eyes on her food.

"Don't be so boring, Vic."

"I'm serious. I barely tolerate 'Vic', and I swear if Jan called me 'Vicky' one more time, I will..."

"Got it!" Imoen interrupted and stretched all her extremities in excitement, almost sending a very annoyed Viconia's food flying through the cafe. "I'll call you 'Coni'"

"No. My brother..."

"OH, ohkay," Imoen corrected quickly. "How about 'Conia'? Or just 'Nia'. Or 'Ni!'"

"Ni? Now you make me sound like a dumb paladin..." Viconia said. And then... Imoen grabbed her waist, huggled here tightly and pressed her cheek against Viconia. "And what are you doing?!"

"Huggling you," Imoen smiled blissfully. "Come on, kiss me. Like Mona Moan kissed Luscious Lucette in Moonlight Shadows and Dancing Lovers"

"Stop that!" Viconia snarled. "NOW!"

"Why? What am I doing?" Imoen blinked.

"Touching me in that manner! Stop it!"

"I just wanna show everyone I care so much about you..." Imoen pouted.

"Everyone is looking at us funny. STOP IT NOW!" Viconia snarled and pushed the confused Imoen away.

"Why?" Imoen sniffed. Viconia sighed when she saw Imoen's eyes become slightly watery.

"It's not you," Viconia said. "Such public shows of affection as just not done among the Drow. It's a sign of weakness..."

"Laska and Phaere do it all the time," Imoen countered.

"That's because, one, Phaere is a powerful and respected member of Ust Natha and can afford eccentricities and because, two, Laska will rip their arms off and shove them up their asses if she catches them saying something about it," Viconia said.

"Life isn't fair," Imoen pouted and reluctantly withdrew from Viconia's side.

"Let's walk," Viconia said, offering Imoen a pat on her knee. "Check, please!"

Together, Viconia and Imoen walked through the busy bazaars of the marketplace. The marketplace in Ust Natha was quite large, befitting a trade-city. It was a multi-layered series of plateaus which were closely connected, together spanning to a least twice the size of Waukeen's Promenade. Sadly, due to the war and the lockdown of the city, most of the plateaus were empty, and most stalls had very little for sale.

"... so do you get it, Viconia?" Imoen bubbled on while Viconia had her arm hooked through Imoen's. "That there really wouldn't be much of a difference if 'cats' were called 'dogs' and vice versa as long as we wouldn't know about the switch... but if we did, there'd be a lot of confusion."

"Right," Viconia said. "Like someone might confuse this conversation for something that is not inane?"

"Yeah!" Imoen said. "Uh, no, no, I didn't mean that, but... OH, look, something's happening! Let's go check it out."

Indeed something was. Young Drow, especially children were gathering alongside the main road which led along the side of the marketplace and headed into the city beyond. Slowly but surely, the main gates opened... and in strode a group of Drow soldiers, mostly female. They were armored, but their usually magnificent armor was dented and battered.

"Soldiers on leave," Viconia said. "No doubt the Ssinss D'aerthe will be busy tonight."

Next followed a group of cavalry, heavy cavalry. Several Drow riders on giant, armor-plated spiders entered the city in two rows side-by-side. But it was obvious that they had been battered as well. Some spiders were missing legs, others were missing eyes or were otherwise scarred. Some spiders were missing riders altogether.

"Wow, they really got busted up," Imoen said.

"It's the new reinforcements the elves received a few weeks ago. Remember when they blew up the gathering place?" Viconia said.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I've heard that some fresh troops came in from the river over land," stated Viconia. "Apparently two battalions of highly skilled warriors and mages led by a handful of Bladesingers. All of them are apparently Moon Elves."

"Moonies," Imoen giggled. "That should make Laska feel proud."

Imoen suddenly heard Viconia draw in a sharp breath. After turning towards her, she noticed Viconia was frantically trying to pull an non-existent hood over her head. Viconia had been so used to being able to quickly hide her face under a hooded cloak, it had become an automatism. Sadly, Viconia was not wearing a cloak today... she didn't need to, in a Drow city, or so she thought.

Imoen noticed one of the arachnid riders was steering her mount towards her. Sitting on top of the spider was an armored female, wearing the gold-encrusted, carved armor with a spider-silk cape attached to the shoulder blades, befitting her station. Beside her walked her two male squires, also armored, but quite a bit less impressive. Imoen was amazed at the resemblance the female had to Viconia. Both women had the same cheekbones and skintone.

"Imoen, let's go!" Viconia hissed, and turned away from the road, looking for an escape-route.

"SISTER!" the female shouted from top of her spider. "HOLD!"

Viconia stopped dead in her tracks, seemed to sigh and slowly, ever so slowly turned around. Viconia took a step forward... and another one, and Imoen noticed she was fingering one of the many hidden daggers on her person.

"It IS you, Viconia," the female grinned and jumped off her mount, which was quickly caught by the bridle by the two males. The female stood half a head taller than Viconia and rested her hand on the pommel of a serrated blade resting at her belt on her side. "I never expected to see you again."

"Nor I you, Maya," Viconia said.

The female grinned for a moment. "The last time I saw you, dear sister, is when you were lying on the sacrificial slab in our family temple."

"Who is this, Vic?" Imoen asked.

Imoen felt like she was being probed when the female turned towards her. "A friend?" she finally asked. "Who don't you introduce me?"

"I see no reason to," Viconia snarled, placing herself between Maya and Imoen. "Leave her alone!"

"How rude," Maya said, but if she was insulted, she did not show it. "I am, of course, Maya DeVir, younger sister of Viconia. And, Viconia, don't you remember your cousins Smeagil and Daegil?"

The two males nodded, but then stared holes into each other's skull as soon as they got near each other.

"Don't mind them," Maya said. "They're still angry about that incident with that silly ring."

"Still? After 120 years?" Viconia asked.

"Males... you know how they are," Maya said.

Viconia visibly relaxed. But now that the tension was clear out of the air, all that was left was awkwardness.

"So, uh..."

"Yes, uh..."

"Well, I..."

"Yes, but..."

"I KNOW!" Imoen announced in a less than elegant manner. "Come on, you have lots to talk about now. Let's go to the café!"

Viconia turned towards Imoen, grasped her arm and gave her a wide-eyed look which turned into a look of pure hatred very quickly.

"An excellent idea!" Maya giggled. "Smart girl. You two idiots, take care of Prunella!" she said as she handed the reigns of her mount to her cousins.

Viconia and Maya sat in the booth, looking straight into each other's eyes. What ever went through Viconia's mind was impossible to read, but Maya was positively amused.

"Well, uh," Imoen said, breaking a 10 minute long silence. "This is, uhm, fun, isn't it?"

Slowly, Viconia turned to Imoen, staring her down.

"Sheesh," Imoen replied. "Sourpuss."

"Don't be rude, Viconia," Maya smirked. "Don't you want to know what befell House DeVir after you and Valas..."

"I gather the house fell," Viconia said. "And all the better."

"No!" Maya nodded. "No, no, no, no, no, House DeVir did not fall 'til decades later. Ginafae did not die."

"You're kidding," Viconia gasped. "Valas stabbed her..."

"Through the chest, yes, but Matron Ginafae survived. The poison of the dagger crippled her, though. It made her weak, weak enough for House Do'Urden to try to raid our House."

"You're kidding," Viconia said, seeming thoughtful. "I never thought House Do'Urden would be so bold."

"The same Do'Urdens as the Drizzt?" Imoen asked.

"One and the same," Maya said. "Of course, most of us left our House already. Rats leaving the ship."

"What happened to everybody?" Viconia said. "What happened to... Vierna?"

Maya snorted. "That old hag? Why do you want to know about her?"

A fire flashed across Viconia's eyes. "I want to know because I asked you! Now spill!"

"She and a few of our sisters escaped the city just before the raid. Did you know Vierna was a worshipper of Eilistraee? A high-priestess, no less. The entire underground organization of that foul religion was right under our noses and we never knew," Maya sighed. "Ginafae was weak."

"Hm," Viconia said, thinking about her old wean-mother for a moment.

"She died in Skullport," Maya said. "'Old age'. Our sisters Dipree, Arouska, Quivyl and Gal'na went with her. Arouska and Dipree are priestesses of Eilistraee now. How do I know this? I visited Skullport recently. Ran into Quivyl. Interesting conversation. Did you know Quivyl is a comedian now? And Gal'na... Well, she's Gal'na."

"That she is," Viconia said. "Valas... what became of Valas?" Viconia was afraid to hear the answer.

Maya was cruel enough to say nothing... but smile. "You did us all a great favor, Viconia," Maya said. "We would have never have gotten this chance to get out from under Ginafae's wing. I became a mercenary, taking these two morons on tow. They might be dumb, but their upkeep is cheap."

"Didn't do to well today?" Viconia grinned.

"Those moon elves... demons," Maya shook her head. "Especially their leader. You'd think she's invincible... unstoppable."

"We were talking about Valas," Viconia said.

"Let's not talk about Valas," Maya grinned. "Let's talk about your disfunctionality, shall we? I notice this slip of a girl has her hand on your knee, Viconia. Tut, tut, isn't she a little young for you?"

"Silence," Viconia snarled.

"Did you know how we used to call Viconia?" Maya addressed Imoen. "Viconia the Fornicator. Oh, her exploits were excessive, even for a Drow. She wanted to try every technique in every book in every way. Even invented some techniques of her own, you know?"

"Shut up!" Viconia glowered.

"Male, female... indiscriminate. It didn't matter to her. One partner, two partners, many partners. Oh, and the slaves. Viconia'd make a sport out of breaking in the surfacer pleasure slaves we were going to sell to the other Houses."

"Maya, I am warning you!"

"I'm surprised she never carried a child. She certainly had enough 'experiences' to..."

*BANG* A dagger was stabbed down into the table-top, clenched tightly in Viconia's hand. She gave Maya a menacing stare.

"Well," Maya chuckled for a moment. "It seems I have overstayed my welcome," she said and stood up. "Goodbye, Viconia. It was... interesting to see you again. Bye, kid," she winked at Imoen. "Enjoy her before her interest fades and she dumps you for the first male or female that interests her."

Imoen turned to Viconia, who was seething. "You alright, Vic?"

"You're wondering if she was telling the truth, right?" Viconia said. "That's Maya, always Maya. An expert in driving wedges between people."

"No, I..."

"I was wild, so what?" Viconia said. "I was young. We all needed the friday-night orgies when we were in Arach-Tilith. It was to relieve tensions. So what if me and my roommate Quiva slept together? So what if we used to sneak into the Fighter Academy's barracks? That's my business! I am a Drow, I don't have to apologize for it!"

"I don't care..."

"So what if that Glabrezu... What did you say?" Viconia asked.

Imoen scooted over to Viconia and pressed close to her, laying her cheek onto her shoulder. "I don't care what the stupid bitch says. She was just being a stupid bitch with stupid hair and a stupid sword. Who's she kidding anyway with that horribly fake gold-paint on her armor? And that 'spidersilk'-cape? It's nylon."

Viconia smiled in spite of herself and snaked an arm around Imoen's waist.

"I know you won't leave me for someone else," Imoen said, but was surprised when Viconia pressed her lips on hers. "What about... not showing affection in public?"

"Screw 'em," Viconia whispered.

"Uuhh, poor choice of words," Imoen giggled.

"Let 'em drop dead, then," Viconia smiled and moved to kiss Imoen again.

It was morning and Laska and Phaere had left the Spire early so that Laska could fix the both of them breakfast at her home. The pancakes were coming along nicely, when a hungry Phaere crept up on Laska and embraced herself against Laska from behind, pressing her cheek against her back.

"Good morning," Laska grinned.

"Hmmm," Phaere purred. "Thought about my offer yet?"

"Gee, I was kinda busy holding on to you last night. Did you know that you sleepwalk? Yup, we went all the way from the roof to the basement, and they you started to levitate and dragged me all the way up to the temple... then you sleepwalked all the way across the walkways back to the Spire... Hm, did you know your snores kinda sound like 'Laska has a sexy ass'," Laska chuckled and poured the pastry into the pan.

"Ha-hah," Phaere said and smacked Laska on the bottom. "I gotta go back to the Spire, get some ledgers. How about we go back there later? We could stay in all day, lazy about the house, lie in bed, talk?"

"Sounds like a plan," Laska grinned. "Hurry back or the pancakes will get cold."

Phaere nodded and sped out the door, almost knocking Viconia over, who was headed towards the doorway. "She was out of here fast," Viconia said. "Did you forget to wash your hands before cooking?"

"Nope," Laska said. "She'll be back soon. Busy night?"

"Just Imoen," Viconia sighed. "She flopped around in her sleep all night. Knocked an arm in my face a couple of times."

"Oh, yeah, she's like that," Laska said. "Especially when she's excited about something."

"I wouldn't say that," replied Viconia. "We just talked a little, that's all."

"A little can go far with Imoen," Laska chuckled. "I remember she once found this mangy old stuffed rabbit. She was hyperactive for days."

"I'd hate to see her when someone buys her a ring."

"She'd explode," chuckled Laska, and flipped the pancake in the pan in a single deft move. "Speaking of rings, Phaere made me an interesting offer."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Laska said. "She said she wanted me to be her consort. I thought I already was that, though."

Viconia took in a gasp of air. "I... I hope you didn't accept that offer."

"I decided to tease her," grinned Laska. "I'll tell her tonight. Why?"

"Because, dear Laska," Viconia chuckled. "She means to make it all neat and official. I think Phaere might be more taken with you than you think."

"Why? What's the big deal," Laska said and flipped another pancake into the air.

"Well, it's not really the same as it is on the surface, but basically Phaere has just asked you to marry her."

*SPLAT* The pancake landed squarely on top of Laska's head, covering her eyes and ears. She ripped it from her face and threw it into the corner. "WHAT?!"

"You heard me," chuckled Viconia.

"I'm too YOUNG TO GET MARRIED!" she said while fishing dough from her hair.

Viconia tried to calm down Laska. "It's not really a marriage. It's more of a contract. You will belong to her and she will belong to you. She'll get to show you off, you'll get to ride her reputation. Plenty of sexual relations, but monogamy is not required. Not a bad deal, really."

"Yeah, but.... MARRIED!!!"

"No, no," Viconia said. "Don't think of yourself as Phaere's wife, but more of a courtesan, really."

"Oh, THAT makes me feel more at ease?" Laska said sarcastically. "What am I going to tell Phaere? I don't wanna be a consort. I just wanna go on like we are now, you know?"

"What, you mean like you two are now. As in her showing you off, you riding her reputation, sex-aplenty and monogamy not being required?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Laska said. "But without all the, you know, official crap."

"I think the 'official crap' is what's important to her right now," Viconia said. "It's obvious she has strong feelings for you."

"Yeah," Laska sighed. "I... care for her too, but... married? I didn't even marry Rose. Why would anyone need to get married?"

"Laska, it's not marriage, it's just a contract and..."

The door slammed open and the sounds of running followed. A panting Phaere, seeming a little more pale than usual.

"LASKA," Phaere said while supporting herself on the doorpost. "I... I... the Spire. Raided... Raided by Mother's personal guard! They... they took my sisters, Laska! They took my SISTERS!"