...they arrive at the market

Teysa awoke alone the next morning. She could hear muted voices outside the tent, and a low sizzling. The smell of bacon wafted through the tent flap, and she smiled. She hadn't packed anything but travel bread and smoked fish, so this would have to be Aliara's doing. The half-elf had proven a resourceful forager, for which Teysa was grateful; the driders were welcoming hosts, but their imaginations did not stretch far when it came to cooking.

She pulled on a pair of trousers and a doublet, then pushed open the tent flap. Three pairs of eyes swiveled to greet her. Aliara's cheeks bulged as she chewed. She held out a rasher of bacon with a bite mark halfway along its length. "Teyfa!" she said, not even waiting to swallow first. "I faved you fome bacon!"

Teysa suppressed her smile. El'keth and Jezria were both sitting around the cookfire. El'keth was nibbling cautiously on a piece of bacon, but Jez'ria was tearing chunks of raw meat from what looked like a leg of lamb. Blood dripped down her chin. She smiled at Teysa, revealing a mouthful of needle teeth.

"Good morning, Tey," Aliara said, swallowing her meal. "Sorry I didn't wait for you. You slept like a baby last night after you got in. It was actually kind of impressive."

Teysa accepted the offered bacon gratefully. Aliara had fried it to perfection. A half-dozen more pieces sizzled on an iron skillet over the fire. "No problem, Li," she said. "Where'd you get all this stuff? I don't remember packing bacon."

Aliara shrugged. "I knew if I left it up to you we'd be eating that chalky bread the whole time. I swear, your diet must be a penance or something. It's always the same with you religious types. Your disdain for earthly things begins with tasty food." She flipped a piece of bacon with her dagger, then licked the grease off the blade. "Except for those priests of Vynus, that one time. Remember them? They knew how to throw a party."

"But they were demon worshippers, Aliara," Teysa said. "Remember? We ended up having to kill them all. The last one turned into a giant horned lizard and almost bit you in half."

"Maybe, but they had a serious larder. Ale and roast pheasant and duck fat. Delicious!"

El'keth looked from Teysa to Aliara and back again with a suspicious, am-I-being-put-on expression on her face. "Is that all true, Aliara?" she asked. "Did you fight demon priests? That must have been terrifying."

"Oh, for certain," Aliara said. "But you should have seen Teysa. Wham! Smash! She threw her mace across the room and hit one of them right between the eyes. Before he finished his spell, too. She's a holy terror, that one."

Teysa sighed, rolled her eyes, and bit into her bacon. It was warm and savory, with just the right amount of crunch. She had to admit it-- Aliara was a great cook. It was a skill she'd never developed herself. The Abbey had taught her to make bland, simple meals, food that would fuel her up and do little more than that. But Aliara was a genius at doing more with less. She had used to pick spices growing wild and add them to her dishes. Down here, of course, that wasn't an option.

"Teysa?" El'keth asked, as if reading her thoughts, "do you miss the surface?"

Teysa chewed thoughtfully for a moment. She had not really thought about it, in truth. Would she ever see the sun again? She wasn't sure, and the fact that that didn't bother her was somewhat worrying. Swallowing, she turned to El'keth. "A little," she said. "A little. But it's not really worse down here. It's just... different. There's so much to do, I barely have time to miss the surface. What about you, Li?"

Aliara shook her head emphatically. "Naw. I mean, I spent a lot of my life down here--" for just a moment, a cloud passed over her sunny expression, and then it was gone again, "so I guess it's familiar to me. But up there, I didn't have a home. Even where I was born, that wasn't home. That was just where my mom settled. But now I do." She reached out and squeezed Teysa's upper arm. "Wherever this one is, that's my home. So no, I don't really miss things up there. I sure don't miss getting rained on all night. That's one plus down here. No weather."

Jez'ria had been so quiet that Teysa had almost forgotten she was there. "Vhat iz so great about the surface? I remember it, a little. Hot in the summer, cold in the vinter. Alvays traveling. Here, at least, ve have a family."

"You've been to the surface?" Teysa asked, a little incredulous. She had never heard of a drider emerging from the Underneath. "When?"

"I valked around on two legz, once," Jez'ria said. "I vas born on the slopez of Mount Thoom. I traveled to make my fortune and ended up here. Vhen the Matron offered me ascension, I took it." That seemed to be all she had to say; she sat back, satisfied, and ripped another chunk of meat off with her teeth.

Teysa found herself looking at Jez'ria with new eyes. She had wondered about the drider's strange accent and rough features. The barbarians of the northern mountains were famous. It shouldn't be such a surprise, she reflected. She had been offered "ascension" herself. She had never spared much time to wonder what might have happened if she had chosen differently. Now she was seeing one potential outcome of that choice. Jez'ria met her gaze and held it steadily for a moment before Teysa looked away. She shook her head to clear it. It was too much to think about right now. She turned to Aliara, who was scraping the last burnt bits off her skillet, and smiled to herself. If she ever doubted she had made the right choice, all she had to do was look at the half-elf. If Aliara was the reward for staying human, she was worth it.

They struck their camp without further delay. Jez'ria was already a bit steadier on her feet. Her missing leg left an awkward gap in her rhythm, but her injury had already closed up. "What will you do, Jez'ria?" Aliara asked as they walked. "Not to pry, but can they... you know, can they fix your leg?"

Jez'ria looked down at her stump as if seeing it for the first time. "Perhapz," she said. "The Matron has powerful magic. If not, then not. I vill learn to live vith it." The laconic tone of her voice made it clear that she had said all that she cared to say on the topic. Once again, Teysa tried to imagine herself in Jez'ria's place. Alone, scared, fighting for your life... nobody to stand up for, and nobody to stand up for you... she just didn't want to be hurt anymore. In that position, would she have still rejected the Matron's offer? She didn't know. She wasn't even sure she would have been right to.

She walked in thoughtful silence for another hour or so. El'keth stopped them next time; she pointed upward. "What is that?" she asked, and Teysa craned her neck to see. The path they were following had gradually widened, and they stood in the middle of a broad tunnel twice the width of a drider and four or five times as tall. Up ahead, both walls had been carved into bas-relief representations of armored dwarves. The one on the left carried a pick, while the one on the right had a shield and hammer. Both had scowling faces and long stone beards.

"Dwarf territory," Jez'ria explained. "The market iz not far now. Stay on the path. Ve are being vatched from here on out, even if you do not see them."

They continued along the path, moving with some trepidation. The caves were more and more clearly artificial; the floors had been planed smooth, stalagmites cleared to allow passage, and occasional friezes decorated the walls. Caves yawned in the walls, and Teysa could see pit props and tracks laid down for carts. Still, they were not disturbed by another living soul.

Up ahead a small stone pillbox squatted by the side of the path. A steel bar jutted from its side and blocked the way forward. As their party approached, two short figures in heavy plate marched out of the bunker and into the middle of the path. They were covered head to toe in armor, even their faces, which wore iron masks that snarled fiercely. One held up a hand and barked something. The echoing mask distorted the words, which were deep and harsh anyways. They sounded like breaking gravel. Still, Jez'ria seemed to understand them. She growled back in the same tongue. It sounded like she was scraping her throat raw, but the guards nodded in approval. One of them pointed at Teysa and Aliara and spat out what sounded like a question. Jez'ria's answer was short and dismissive, but whatever she had said, it had worked. The guards trooped back into their bunker and there was a metallic grinding noise, and the iron bar lifted until it was vertical.

"What did they want to know about us?" Aliara asked as they passed through.

"They are suspiciouz little bastardz," Jez'ria said. "They thought you vere slavez. No slavez allowed in the market."

"And what did you say?"

"I told them you vere mercenariez looking to ply your trade. Plenty of them around."

Aliara snorted. "Fair enough. And it used to be true, too." She drew one dagger and twirled it across her fingers. The blade danced too fast to see, but she never cut herself. "Who knows? Maybe I'll get a little side gig going. Come on, let's go."

Past the guardpost the road grew busy indeed. It seemed that every other cart was full of ore and spoil. Grumbling dwarves pushed these, or hitched them to hardy little ponies. Both dwarves and ponies stared at the driders as they passed, but none of them said anything. They began to see occasional humans, as well, and even a few elves. Up ahead the cave opened out into a vast, flat cavern, its walls ringed with low buildings worked into the living stone. A few of these seemed to be smithies or inns or stables, but there were some whose purpose Teysa could only guess at. Giant columns crossed the floor at regular intervals, so cunningly carved that Teysa couldn't tell if they were natural rock that had been left alone or quarried stone brought in from elsewhere.

In between the buildings and columns, pitched everywhere there was space, were tents. Tall pavilions like layer cakes, small and shabby hovels, and everything in between. Some bore the seals of craft guilds or the heraldry of noble houses, others were marked by flags or holy symbols. Even the most humble had some icon: a loaf of bread, or a pitcher of wine. Every one was manned by at least one merchant, all of whom seemed intent on carrying on one massive free-for-all argument at the tops of their voices. A pair of dwarves were staring intently at a spread of gems on a roll of velvet while a third dwarf inspected them with a jeweler's loupe. A gnome was yelling in the face of a human silversmith while the man yelled back, bending over to do so. A dwarf selling unidentified haunches of meat on metal skewers bellowed his wares to all and sundry, heedless of the trail of grease he was leaving behind him. The noise rose up, combined, rebounded off the walls and returned stronger.

They stood on the edge of the market, in a relative oasis of calm, and looked around. El'keth in particular seemed bewildered. The market was a riot of color and noise, and no sooner would some stall or offering catch her interest when she would find herself drawn to another. Her head bobbed to and fro like a bird's. She grinned broadly and fluttered her hands with nervous energy. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but every time she got her thoughts in order, a new sight or sound or smell would catch her attention.

"Where do we go first?" Aliara asked. She had to yell to be heard.

"Vell, before we can sell, I have to pay tribute," Jez'ria said. "Protection. That'z how it vorkz here. The syndicatez control everything."

"Protection?" Teysa was confused. "I thought this was all legal? The dwarves are law-abiding, aren't they?"

Jez'ria stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "You think it's just dwarvez running the show here? You really don't know vhat it'z like, do you? No, I am meeting this vicious drow cunt. Calls herself after some kind of fish. Don't vorry, there'z no danger. You don't have to come vith me. Don't you have your own errand to run?"