"01 - Daughter of the Drow - Elaine Cunningham 1.0.palmdoc.pdb" - читать интересную книгу автора (Starlight And Shadows)

Triel smiled wickedly. How that would enrage Gromph! By law and custom, noble
females entered the clerical college with the onset of puberty or upon their
twenty-fifth birthday, whichever came first. Gromph had not required his
daughter to attend—perhaps he had even forbidden it! The archmage was hardly
devout in the service of Lloth, and Triel had caught glimpses of Gromph's bitter
resentment toward the priestess rulers. Yet if Matron Triel commanded, Gromph
would have little choice but to send his daughter to Arach-Tinilith.
And Liriel Baenre, as a high priestess of Lloth, would become not only a bright
jewel in the crown of House Baenre, but also a powerful reminder to ambitious
Gromph as to where the true power in Menzoberranzan lay.
Triel turned to regard her younger sister. "Why, SoslJmptu," she said slyly,
"you surprise me! I had not thought you capable of such devious subtlety."
Sos'Umptu flinched and said nothing, for she had learned through hard experience
to be leery of compliments. Indeed, Triel's eyes hardened dangerously as she
continued to observe her younger sister.
"It would seem," the new matron continued, "the keeper of the chapel has talents
that reach beyond her chosen sphere of influence. See that your ambitions do not
do likewise!"
Sos'Umptu sank into a deep reverence. "I desire only to serve Lloth, and my
sister the matron mother," she said fervently.
Although it was almost beyond belief, Triel sensed the younger Baenre daughter
spoke truth. The matron was not certain whether to regard Sos'Umptu's unnatural
lack of ambition with relief or scorn, but she smьed at her sister and bid her
to rise. "Your devotion does you credit," Triel said dryly, "and your idea has
merit. Have someone find the girl and bring her here at once."
"Do you want Gromph to be present when you speak to his daughter?"
Heat flooded Triel's face until her countenance shone like an angry ruby. "I do
not require my brother's blessing, in this matter or any other," she snapped.
"Of course not, Matron Triel," Sos'Umptu hastened to say, dipping into another
respectful bow. "But I thought you might, perhaps, enjoy witnessing Gromph's
distress?"
The dangerous glint in Triel's eyes warmed to become a comrade's gleam. "My dear
sister, for the sake of House Baenre, you must venture out of your chapel more
often!"
Meanwhile, far from House Baenre's audience hall, Gromph's daughter skipped
lightly through the tunnels of the Underdark. Her eyes gleamed red as they
pierced the darkness ahead, and an occasional cross-draft rippled through the
thick white hair that fell in wavy locks to her waist. She was dressed for
travel in boots and breeches fashioned from thin, supple leather, a shirt of
quilted silk, and a vest of fine chain mail. A three-foot, barbed-tip spear
rested on her shoulder, and in her free hand she carried a small bolo, which she
twirled in elaborate patterns as she walked.
Behind her, well out of reach of the whirling weapon, trudged a young drow
couple. The female wore the insignia of House Shobalar, a lesser clan known for
the rare female wizards it produced. The other drow was an exceptionally
handsome male, elaborately dressed but for the single-braided hair that marked
him as a commoner. Both of these drow carried spears identical to Liriel's, and
they darted wary glances here and there as they maneuvered through the field of
small, sharp stalagmites that thrust upward from the rocky floor.
The tunnel was narrow, barely wide enough for three or four drow to walk