Convenient Compromises

The main chamber awaited us in expectant silence: a wide circle of stone and iron, heat steadily leaking up from the forge-works below. Spiderwebs stretched where Eliette’s children had claimed the corners and the high ledges. The air tasted of old metal, burnt rock, and the faint sweet smell of gossamer drifting on the heat.

Spiderlings moved along the walls in loose groups, red eyes at attention, following our every step—more precisely Lae’zel’s every move. She didn’t seem to notice. Or didn’t care.

Eliette stood near the center, torso lifted above the black shine of her abdomen, front legs settled proudly on the stone. She smiled invitingly when she saw us, as if we had arrived exactly on schedule.

“Welcome back. I hoped you slept well,” she said. “The first night in a new nest is rarely kind.” Her eyes moved over the party with open pleasure. “In time you will have private abodes, should any of you want them. Proper ones. Not guest-silk.”

“How generous,” I said.

“It is only sense. A king’s consorts should not sleep in a heap.” She smiled at Kagha, still in her camp clothes, who stood a half-step closer to me than the others. “Some of your entourage already seem at home.”

Kagha accepted it with a small, grateful dip of her head.

“Yes, about that… we can’t stay here any longer,” I confessed.

Eliette blinked.

“I think I misheard you.” She forced a smile with no warmth behind it.

“Unfortunately not. We will have to leave today.”

The change was instant. Eliette’s smile froze. Every spiderling in sight went still with her, legs locked, eyes unblinking. The entire chamber held its breath.

Then she laughed. It was a thin, desperate sound, full of every sort of venom.

“A joke.” Her voice turned shrill. “A very unfunny one.”

I shook my head. “I’m afraid not.”

Her laugh died.

“After all this time,” she hissed, “all my work. You abandon me again?”

The collective hiss of each spiderling in the vicinity joined hers.

Lae’zel stepped forward, greatsword already drawn. Karlach moved the other way, putting her body between me and the nearest stretch of silk. Shadowheart grabbed her enchanted sword in both hands, the grip a little too tight, a little too high. Kagha’s eyes flicked from Eliette to me and back, waiting for a cue she did not have.

“Wait.” I lifted both hands. “Eliette. Darling. We’re not leaving because of you. Nor because we want to. It simply isn’t safe here. Not for you. Not for any of us.”

Her head tilted. The hiss stayed in her throat, but she listened.

“I forgot to mention it earlier. We have mindflayer tadpoles inside our heads,” I said. “We’ve managed to slow them for now. But we need a real cure.”

Her whole demeanor crumbled.

“Mind. Flayer. Parasites.” The words came out syllable by syllable, horror chasing away whatever had been building a moment before. “Oh—no. No, no, no, my poor darling—”

She came across the stone so fast the defensive line barely had time to flinch. Eight legs found their way around Lae’zel and Karlach as if they were stone ornaments. Her hands caught my face and pulled me straight into the soft, generous press of her chest, wrapping me there as if she could hide the tadpoles by smothering them.

“I’m so sorry. I lost my temper,” she murmured into my hair. “You poor thing. You poor, infected thing.”

Lae’zel stared at the empty air where Eliette had been. Karlach’s mouth was open. Even ready, neither of them had managed a swing this time either.

Kagha let out a deep exhale. The spiderlings unfroze in a ripple, legs starting again, the tension bleeding out of the swarm the way it bled out of her.

Shadowheart carefully lowered her sword with both hands, then impatiently tapped one foot against the stone.

“If you’re quite finished drowning him, he will need air… eventually. And I would prefer he stays around, at least until we find a cure.”

Eliette loosened her hold enough for me to breathe. The relief of fresh air was rivaled only by how well the story had worked. As a former Lolth worshipper, Eliette would be intimately familiar with the threat of mind flayers. No charm spell needed.

“In time..,” I said once I had another mouthful of air, “we’ll be back again.”

She nodded at once, attentive, still holding my face as if I might vanish mid-sentence.

“In the meantime—” I gestured to Dammon. “He stays.”

Dammon had been doing an admirable job of strategically looking small and forgotten. He froze anyway.

“He will be my viceroy. Treat him as you would treat me. Keep him safe. Fed. Housed. Whatever he needs, he gets. And that includes access to the forge.”

Eliette’s attention never left my face, yet she nodded through every word.

Dammon’s eyes could not have gotten wider. He had asked for mere protection. This was considerably more than that. I had just made him substitute royalty in a spider court.

He stammered something I didn’t quite catch before Eliette’s hands slid down from my jaw, fingers twisting together.

“Since you must leave so soon,” she said, stumbling only once, “would you be so kind as to spare me a little reminder of you?” She glanced down, then back up, earnest as prayer. “A sample of your seed will sate me. That way a part of you will always be here. With me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “We can work something out.”

Kagha’s smile beamed in agreement.

Shadowheart folded her arms with a performative exhale.

Lae’zel simply nodded once. “A fair request.”

Karlach laughed and shook her head. “Honestly, at this point I kinda expected it.”

Eliette clasped her hands. “Wonderful. I’ll give you a moment to prepare, then come find me—”

She was already turning toward an opening in the stone wall, makeshift silk curtains stirring slowly around the dark mouth of it.

Dammon was at my elbow the instant she moved off, voice low and raw.

“I—I only asked for safety.” He let out a shaky breath. “Thank you. For everything you’ve done for me. You know what, if you ever need anything from my shop, it’s half price for you, my friend.”

“…How generous.” I mumbled.

He nodded, face full of pride.

“You know what,” I said, and delivered the pieces of mithral ore into his hands. “Throw in a set of medium armor and a shield and we're good. You’ve got the heat—And the materials.”

He held the metal the way holy men carry relics. “Deal!”

Kagha stepped in at my other side, calm as ever.

“I will assist you with the Matriarch.”

Karlach snorted.

“Yeah, right. I’m not leaving your safety to that viper.” Her eyes cut to Kagha before returning to me. “That spider woman is batshit crazy. This could get sticky in all the wrong ways. I’ll come as well.”

Kagha smiled at the compliment. Teela lifted her head from Kagha’s wrist and hissed, thin and offended.

My gaze fell on Shadowheart, who returned it with a disapproving shake. “Don’t look at me. I have already shared a tent, a morning, and a conversation I did not ask for.” Her eyes narrowed. “Watching you court a spider queen is where I draw the line. Dammon! With me.”

She had his elbow before he found a reason to decline. Lae’zel watched them go, then looked back toward Eliette’s room, then at me. The calculation was visible.

“If that forge has more surprises, I would rather meet them myself than hear of them later.” A short nod. “I will go with them.”

Her footsteps echoed on the stone floor, quick and decided. Dammon glanced back once, still clutching the ore, and then the three of them were gone.

The chamber felt larger for the absence. Heat still rose from the works below. Silk still hung in the high corners. Eliette waited at the side opening, patient now, almost gentle, one hand parting the threads as if to keep the invitation from closing.

Karlach flexed her shoulders and stepped forward to my left. Kagha took the right without being asked.

I looked from one to the other, then to the dark mouth of the side chamber.

“Let’s not keep her waiting any longer.”

Hello Everyone!

I took September off to give myself a break from hyperfocusing on the story and let my fantasy breathe a little.

It's nice to be back, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter <3