...and refuses.

No.

Teysa put the entire weight of her personality into that "no." The goddess dwarfed her, a looming presence in the abyssal darkness, but Teysa focused on nothing but her response. She ignored the red eyes boring into her, the feeling of impending doom as she drifted in Lolth's shadow.

What do you mean, "no?" The goddess sounded shocked. Her great red eyes narrowed.

I won't do it. I won't kill for you.

Lolth paused. When she spoke again, each word burst against Teysa's brain. She felt like a tiny boat tossed on an enormous, stormy sea. The goddess's will washed over her, an unformed, clawing need.

They tortured you! They murdered your lover! They ravaged your body and polluted your soul. You are far from your surface god's light, little paladin. Trapped here in the darkness with monsters. Will you not take your **** against them?

No. Agamor teaches us that-

Your sun does not shine down here! Your god has no place here! Who are you, mortal, to lecture me? You are dust!

Teysa felt oddly calm. Her uncertainty had been washed away. Goddess Lolth, I understand your need for vengeance. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be trapped down here in the dark by one's own children. And you are right, I have suffered at their hands. But there is more to them than that. She could feel the memories pressing down on her, memories of her violation at the hands of the Matron, of the cruelty and spite of the Empress. She could not deny them. So she didn't.

She thought of her long walks with Aliara through the drider warren. She thought of her wonder and joy at the first sight of her children. She thought of the Matron bowing to her, the honor of bearing her eggs, and the moment she had agreed of her own free will to investigate the missing Siri'ka. She thought of motherhood. It was a joy she had never expected, but a joy nevertheless.

Her thoughts turned to the City of the drow, and she remembered Dom, his rough voice and his welcoming manner. She remembered Mish'li, who had risked everything to help them. She remembered the bustling market and how full of life it was, how species from all across the Underneath and the world above came together here. She remembered the Empress, too, the woman's madness and cruelty, but also her age. Can she be other than what she is? Thrust into her role, watched over by the priestesses, a prisoner in her palace? No wonder she has run mad. She needed her mother to guide her.

You told me that the light of my God does not reach down here. Maybe so, my lady, but I carry it inside me. I have never lost that light, not even in this darkness.

There was only silence. It stretched on and on, and when Lolth finally responded, the thoughts were careful and measured. They printed themselves carefully on Teysa's mind one syllable at a time.

You dare tell me to forgive them? After everything they have done?

I would tell you nothing. I ask you to forgive them. It can only come from within.

There was another long pause. Then, when Lolth's voice appeared in Teysa's mind again, it sounded almost plaintive.

You mortals will never cease to amaze me. You live an eyeblink in this world and you spend that time inventing miseries and horrors to inflict on each other. You slaughter each other in the millions over questions none of you will ever answer. And yet in all that madness and cruelty, you still believe in forgiveness, mercy, justice, as if it they some rare mineral that you can find if you just dig hard enough. As if by pretending they exist for long enough you can will them into being.

Her great red eyes blinked, and when they opened again, the light pouring from them was soft gold.

Go. If you will not be the instrument of my vengeance, I will give you justice. A piece of it.

The eyes snapped shut, and Teysa found herself falling.