Helping the drow

Aliara hesitated. Part of her—all right, most of her—wanted to call a war council right away. She didn't want the drow settled in, she wanted them gone. The sooner they had a City to go back to, the sooner they were no longer her problem. She wanted to hurt that drow Lord, too, the one who had nearly killed her poor Teysa. He was the architect of all of her misery, after all, the one who had hurt Mish'li and landed these refugees at her doorstep. And now Teysa's got grey skin and black eyes and you haven't kissed her in weeks. Aliara clenched a fist hard enough that her nails dug little half-moons into her palm. Her need for **** was an open wound, one that would itch and throb until she planted a dagger in Lord Lockh's heart.

Perhaps a decade ago, she would have already been on her way, alone if necessary. But time and Teysa's patient company had tempered her. What good would she do anyone if she died meaninglessly? And she would die, she had no illusions about that: whatever powers Lord Lockh had consorted with had their hooks into him. If Teysa couldn't destroy that shadow with her holy might, what chance did Aliara stand?

**** was important, but it would keep. Right now, the best thing she could do was the job that was in front of her.

"Lord Lockh will keep. Your people won't. Let's get them settled in."

Lil'esh smiled. Aliara had the sense that she had just passed some kind of secret test.

"And... I guess I'll help you help them. Two pairs of hands, and all that." Aliara could feel the color creeping up her chin. "Just... tell me where to go, what to do." She tried to avoid Lil'esh's gaze, but to no avail. The drow was smiling faintly, the kind of smile that a cynical observer might call a smirk. When she spoke, though, her voice was warm with sincerity.

"Oh, no," Lil'esh said, holding up her hands. "I have some ideas, but like I said outside, I can't be in charge of this."

"Oh, come on!" Aliara hissed. She looked around to make sure nobody was listening in on them, then leaned in close. "You have to help me, Lil'esh! I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"You're doing great so far," Lil'esh whispered back. "Just think about what you would want, if it was you. Look, you were in much worse condition than this when you arrived, and you made this place a home."

Aliara felt that there were a lot of assumptions embedded in that sentence. But she had to admit that Lil'esh had a point.

The two of them made their way deeper into the caves. All around them, drow clustered in small groups, watching carefully and murmuring under their breath. They lounged, catlike, draping themselves artfully over rocks or against walls just so. It was so quintessentially elven that it sent a shiver up Aliara's spine. Catlike is right. They're so beautiful, so sophisticated... but they're just brainless bullies, really, and they like to **** before they feed.

Even persecuted and driven into exile, the drow had a natural grace and poise that left Aliara feeling clumsy. Their clothes were tattered and torn, but they had clearly once been fine indeed. Many of them carried half-healed cuts and scrapes or black eyes, but their features were still fine and patrician, with deep-set eyes and high foreheads.

There was something strange about those eyes. Aliara was quite familiar with the feeling of drow eyes on her: gazing, judging, evaluating. They made her feel like a bug under a lens. These drow, though, evinced none of the simmering contempt that she was used to. Their faces were open, unguarded, their lips free of their customary sneer. Their eyes, bright marbles against the ashy grey of their skin, were clouded now with something she had only rarely seen in her time in the City: uncertainty. One of the first lessons she had learned among the drow was that, in the City, you were certain or you were dead.

If the unexpected show of vulnerability disturbed Lil'esh, she didn't show it. She paused from time to time to confer in low voices with this or that family group. Aliara stood behind her, close enough to hear what was being said but far enough to make it clear that she did not intend to speak. Lil'esh's questions were always the same: what did you see? Who made it out? Who did you lose? She made the appropriate sympathetic sounds, offering her condolences at the news of each new loss. Even Aliara recognized some of the names, and the scale of the loss shocked her. It was clear that drow society had suffered an unprecedented cataclysm.

Aliara found herself getting drawn into their stories. She grieved the loss of people she had never met, wondering the whole time if she had ever met the deceased, if they had ever been cruel to her, if they had owned slaves. Whatever they had done, they were past vengeance now, and the shadow that had fallen over their City was dark enough that Aliara found herself feeling sorry for them.

She quickly worked out a list of priorities. Some of the rooms here had hot springs, but there was a definite lack of fresh water, and of course food. They could survive on dried mushrooms for a short time, but soon enough, they would need to hunt or buy provisions. Even if they could cultivate something edible down here, it would be a long time before they were self-sufficient. Similarly, in the long term they could perhaps bring some driders in here to spin hammocks, but they were already fatigued from their journey and needed somewhere to sleep tonight. Lil'esh suggested weaving rushes into sleeping mats. They could bring in some glow-worm jars to provide more light. And so on, and so on... somehow, all of this organizing never quite became tedious.

Aliara noticed that some of the younger drow were hanging on to her every word. Their parents and grandparents, despite their reduced status, still had a haughty air about themselves. Most of them looked down their noses at Lil'esh, younger daughter that she was, and wouldn't even glance at Aliara. Their children, though, seemed slightly awed. Aliara picked out a few of the ones who seemed most eager. "How would you like to help organize?" she asked them, and none of them dared to refuse her.

By the time their circuitous route had brought them back to the entrance, they had a half-dozen young drow in tow, trailing behind them at a respectful distance. "What now?" Lil'esh asked. "You have a shopping list?"

"I think I know what they need," Aliara said, nodding. "I know the driders have some of it. Other things, we'll have to barter for. We should talk to Jez'ria before the next time she goes to the market."

"And will she actually listen to us?" Lil'esh asked. "She never gave me the impression that she cares much about anyone on two legs."

"She may not, but the Matron will." Aliara set her jaw and tried not to show how nervous she was. "That's where we're going next." She turned to her little entourage. "How about you introduce me to this lot? I don't think we've been properly acquainted."

"Of course." Lil'esh turned towards the group and beckoned them. They approached furtively, so much like wild deer that Aliara almost laughed aloud.

Four of them were male, two female. It was hard to tell age with drow sometimes, but the oldest of them looked barely out of adolescence. Looking at them made Aliara feel terribly old. Apparently silver studs and rings were very in now; combined with their tattered clothes, they looked a bit like steppe barbarians, albeit waifish ones.

Lil'esh called off their names like a schoolmarm. "This is Rovven of House Marlx, Lotthio of House Ebonne, Miv'ten of House Torrageth, Jurrik of House Yb'nlyt, Hia'lee of House Roan'stee, and Vikkell of House Nath'lei." As she called each name, the drow to whom it belonged bowed or curtseyed deeply. Aliara was rather touched by the display. The youngsters cast their eyes aside when she looked at them, desperately looking anywhere but at her face. She could feel them in her peripheral, sneaking glances at her when they didn't think she was looking. That kind of attention was familiar enough, but even the male drow didn't seem to have a prurient interest.

"Who's in charge?" she asked. The drow sputtered and stammered, weaving back and forth as though the responsibility of command was a physical thing they could dodge.

Aliara shook her head. She'd been watching the group with a trained eye. The drow, despite their emphatic denials, were all looking at one of their number. It was instinctive, automatic. Aliara had learned that lesson early. There's one in every group. Maybe he's the leader, maybe he's not, but he's the one everyone looks to when the chips are down. A second thought followed closely on the heels of the first:

That was Teysa in our group.

In this case, the leader was... come on, Aliara, you just heard his name... Jurrik. He was burly, by drow standards, which really just meant he had the build of a human male. His hair was close-cropped and came to a sharp widow's peak in the middle of his high forehead. Both of his ears were pierced, as were both eyebrows. He had a good-natured look on his face, a sort of "who, me?" grin. It faded when he saw Aliara staring at him.

"Jurrik," she said, pointing. He looked around, as though she could possibly be referring to anyone else.

"Yes, ma'am?" he said. Gods, he sounded young.

"You're it. If I have something for you all to do, I'll tell you and you tell them. And report to me when you're done. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted, though without much precision. Aliara nodded to him and turned back to Lil'esh.

"There. Now we've got some hierarchy."

Lil'esh shrugged, but she was clearly trying to hide a smile. "Very well, Aliara," she said. "Now can we move on?"

They had barely set off towards the Matron's audience chamber when Aliara stopped in her tracks. Realization had struck her between the eyes like a thunderstone. She couldn't believe she had forgotten something so elementary.

"Rakkec!" she said aloud. Lil'esh heard her and pulled up short. Behind them, their entourage murmured uncertainly.

"What about him?" Lil'esh asked cautiously. She still hadn't warmed up to the drow miner.

"He might be able to help! He's been excavating... maybe he could expand the chambers? Plus, don't you think he'll be grateful to be among other drow? I think he's been lonely lately."

"If you say so." Lil'esh sounded unconvinced. But she could not think of a good reason not to speak to him, though she was plainly trying. "Maybe after we speak to the Matron?"