She goes to warn the driders

Teysa stepped backward as quietly as she could manage. She was strong, and confident in her abilities, but one vs. six-- especially when some of the combatants were complete unknowns-- was not a fight, it was an elaborate suicide. This close to the warren, the driders would be able to react quickly, and perhaps they could capture one of these interlopers for interrogation. Teysa had heard enough to know that whatever these drow were up to, it was sinister. She knew that there were still elements in both societies that resented the armistice and the accompanying social changes. The old ways had been very good for some, and there were always people who would fight against any change on pure principle.

Fortunately, the drow seemed so intent on their interrogation that they were not as attentive as they could have been. Teysa melted away into the shadows, remembering what Aliara had taught her about stealth. She tried to control her breathing, tried to ease into the shadows, tried to keep movements slow and smooth. She **** herself to walk at a slow and steady pace until she judged that she was far enough away, then she broke into a run.

Soon enough she was back in caves she recognized, and she saw her first drider not long after that. She had no time for politeness. "Where is the Matron?" she barked, and her face must have carried her urgency, because the drider simply extended an arm. Teysa **** herself to slow to a jog as she turned into the indicated corridor. Up ahead, she heard a familiar voice and slowed, composing herself.

The passage she was in opened out into one of the large caverns used as audience chambers. The Matron of the drider warren stood in the center, flanked by two smaller driders. One was a bodyguard. The other Teysa recognized; she had been present at the sparring practice earlier. She looked young and uncertain, though it was hard to judge with the driders; they all had the slightly uncanny appearance of statues, an impression not helped by their blank black eyes. This one was paler than some, shorter, but otherwise cut from the same mold.

The Matron and her escorts were locked in conversation with a pair of drow in elaborate robes. They looked like priestesses; every week, a new delegation would arrive from the City, bearing the newest revisions of the Lolthian sacred text for review and appraisal. Scripture was being rewritten, and that required input from all of Lolth's children. It was a slow and agonizing process, and Teysa was thankful, not for the first time, that she had chosen to study the martial application of faith rather than the philosophical. She stood and waited patiently for her breath to return to normal. Soon enough, the drow bowed and left; they did not look happy, but neither did the Matron, so Teysa supposed that a middle ground was being reached. Anyway, it wasn't her problem.

She inclined her head respectfully, then spoke. "Matron. I hope all is well. I was walking in the new-growth caverns and I happened upon a small gang of..." she looked around. A few drow were standing around in small knots, either by themselves or accompanied by a drider. This was a public space, and Teysa had to watch her words carefully. "Of thugs."

The Matron gave her a soft smile, an infuriating tendency she had that implied she heard the words Teysa wasn't saying. "I hope hyou sssssssent them packing." Teysa's cheeks burned. She wondered if she had made the right decision after all. "No, there were too many of them. They were northwest of the new creche. I thought you might want to know."

The Matron waved a hand at her bodyguard. "Take a sssssssquad and clear them out." She turned to Teysa. "Wretchesssssss. We know how to deal with their kind."

Teysa hesitated. Her message delivered, she found she didn't really want to stay here any longer. She kept thinking of Aliara's hurt expression. She wanted to get home and apologize, quickly, before this wound had a chance to fester.

"Surely that isssss not all that brings hyou to me, Teyssssa? We have had ssssssso little time to speak of late." The Matron crossed her arms. "At the very leasssssssst, let me introduce hyou to El'keth." The smaller drider next to her stepped forward and curtsied, a surprisingly complex gesture for an eight-legged being. "She issssssss my heir. I think it issssss important that she get usssssssed to holding court. Thissssssss issss a momentoussss time."

El'keth shared her mother's shiny grey skin, but she was at least a head shorter, barely taller than Teysa. Her face had the same statuesque proportions, but it was youthful, and her expression was nervous. When she spoke, her voice was thin but surprisingly clear. "Teysa. It is an honor to meet you. My mother has told me everything you did for us. We owe you a great debt of gratitude."

Teysa blinked in surprise. "Your... heir? Are you... are you ill, Matron?" It was all she could think to say. The day had already taken unexpected turn after unexpected turn, and she was a bit shell-shocked. The Matron laughed. "No, Teyssssssa! El'keth left the creche a month ago. Hyou were in the City, so hyou did not meet her then. She hasssss wished to meet hyou, but I am afraid she issssss a bit shy."

El'keth's expression twisted into a grimace. "No!" she hissed, then seemed to remember herself. "Teysa, I wish to speak with you later. I have many questions. I want to--"

The Matron smoothly cut her off. "There will be time for all of that later. Teysssssssa, I feel a brood isssss ready. Can you bear young at thisssss time?"

Teysa was surprised at how quickly her temper boiled up. "Now isn't a good time, Matron. Why don't you fetch a spare womb out of the larder?" She made no effort to disguise the venom in her voice. Upon her return to the warren, she had insisted on certain reforms, a demand that the driders had been in no position to refuse. Chief among them was an end to the practice of forcibly **** and impregnating females of other races. Faced with a direct revelation from the Mother Below, the driders had complied, but Teysa had been disgusted to find that some of the oldest broodmothers-- those who had borne a dozen or more clutches-- had been rendered little more than docile breeders, unable to think for themselves. They wept piteously when removed from the spiderling nurseries, and were unable to express their desires in anything but the most primitive way. There was no question about returning these broken souls to the caves from which they had been plucked. Instead, Teysa had reluctantly agreed that they could remain and continue to bear offspring for as long as their bodies could stand it-- though she had insisted that they be provided with the same comforts that she and Aliara enjoyed.

It was just as well, anyways, because despite putting out an open call for volunteers, they had yet to recruit one. One proposal now circulating would call for a single mandatory "tour of duty" in the nurseries for all Lolthian priestesses-- this was a particular sticking point, because the future of the drider warren depended on a regular supply of fertile broodmothers. In the meantime, Teysa and Aliara had been willing to fill in, but there were just two of them, and they were hardly equal to the task. So far, the crisis they all feared was not on the horizon, but the driders were no happier about the loss of their most precious resource than the drow were about the idea of becoming that resource. Teysa foresaw trouble on this front if they could not reach an agreement.

The Matron frowned, but El'keth looked positively stricken. Teysa wondered idly who had borne her. What woman, sweating and screaming on a dark cave floor, had pushed that spiderling out of her womb? Only a tiny percentage of spiderlings developed into actual driders, though the driders believed-- hoped-- that a nurturing, loving mother increased the likelihood tremendously. In a few years, Teysa might be conversing with an actual daughter. It was an intriguing thought.

El'keth spoke up. "Teysa, we-" The Matron cut her off with a gesture, then smiled down at Teysa. "I ressssspect hyour will in thisssss matter. When hyou are ready, I trusssssst hyou will let usssss know. For now, I am afraid I musssssst bid hyou farewell. I have another delegation to meet. Give my love to Aliara."

Li's name was an icicle stab in Teysa's heart. All of a sudden she felt guilty and weary. She bowed and took her leave, feeling El'keth's gaze on the back of her neck the whole way out. She made her way back to her apartment step by plodding step. Her fatigue had caught up to her, all at once. She paused outside the curtain of silk that served her as a door; inside, she could hear faint weeping. She steeled herself and stepped inside.

The apartment was a snug, cozy hollow, warmed by geothermal springs and lit by phosphorescent fungus. A large hammock stretched between pillars served as a bed; at the other end of room, cubbyholes carved in the stone held their few belongings. A thermal spring in one corner served as a bath, and it was there Aliara sat now, her legs dangling in the water. She had stripped down to her wispy silken underthings, and the scars on her back twitched visibly as her shoulders shook. She perked her head up as Teysa entered the chamber, but did not turn around. Her sobs became quieter, but Teysa could see her shaking silently. She peeled off her leather breeches and shrugged out of her tunic, then sat down beside the half-elf.

"I'm sorry, Li," she began, and reached out one hand. Aliara flinched at Teysa's touch, but did not get up. Beneath Teysa's hand, she trembled like a bird. Teysa felt her anger at the Matron, her fear, her frustration, all drain away. She rested her head on Aliara's shoulder. "Li, I am so sorry. I was so horrible to you. It's not your fault. It's all... it's all me. You deserve so much better than me." Tears trickled down her cheek. She screwed her eyes closed and exhaled. "I don't even know how to explain everything. I'd just be making excuses. You're all I've got. I can't... I can't lose you, Li."

Teysa felt a soft hand on her cheek, brushing her tears away. She felt Aliara's delicate fingers cup her cheek. Opening her eyes, she saw Li looking down at her with eyes filled with love. She lifted her head up just in time for her lips to meet Aliara's, and the half-elf put an arm around Teysa and pulled her tight. The kiss went on and on, neither of them wishing to break it, until finally Aliara pulled back. She rested both hands on Teysa's shoulders and gave a weak, wan smile. "It's ok, Tey. It's all right. I forgive you. But I need you to tell me what's wrong. Something's eating you up inside. It'll kill you if you don't let it out."

Teysa took a deep breath. Li was right, of course. She couldn't bottle this up any longer.

"I can't feel Him." She swallowed. "Agamor. I can't feel His light the way I used to. It happened slowly... I didn't realize what was happening at first." Like bricks tumbling loose from a collapsing wall, the words spilled out of her. She couldn't stop now even if she had wanted to. "I was always told to take His light into the darkness. But here we are, and I can't feel Him at all. When I pray, He is silent. Normally I would feel a... a warmth, a sense of peace... but now there's nothing. Like he's abandoned me." The tears were flowing freely now, and she made no attempt to stop them.

"I did everything I was supposed to! All through our time in the City, I could feel Him! It kept me going, knowing that He was out there and watching me. But now there's nothing. I don't know what to do!" she wailed, and fell silent. Quiet sobs wracked her body.

Aliara was quiet for a moment. She rubbed her thumb across Teysa's cheek to dry her tears. "Oh, Tey, my love. I didn't know." Her voice was quiet and serious. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what it's like. I've never..." she trailed off. "Quz doesn't ask much of me, and I don't ask much of Him. But you... you're the most devout person I've ever met. If Agamor can't see that, well, that's, that's his loss." She gently tilted Teysa's chin up until the paladin met her gaze. "This is all new to me. It could be, I don't know, too much time underground? Maybe you need to see the sun again. Maybe Mish'li would know what to do? She's the only, uh, religious person I really know besides you. She'd see us, I bet."

Teysa sniffed, and nodded. Finally telling someone else felt so cathartic. Her heart felt heavy, but she had had a ridiculous fear that when she told Aliara, the half-elf would abandon her. How could she have ever felt that? Of course Li would never let her go. She **** down her doubts and smiled wanly. "You're right, Li. Thank you. Oh-" a thought occurred to her. "Please, don't tell anyone. I don't want this to spread around. I don't want people to know."

Aliara squeezed her hand. "Of course not. I love you, Tey. We're going to get through this. Together. I promise."

Teysa squeezed back desperately, like a drowning woman clinging to a plank. "I love you too. Thank you."

With an exaggerated wince, Aliara pulled her hand back and shook it. "Ouch! Message received, dear." She brightened up. "Hey, here's an idea. I know that every month, Jez'ria travels to a dwarven trading post about a day away to sell ambrosia. I think she's leaving tomorrow. Maybe we can go with her? There might be a priest of Agamor there, or at least they could point you towards one. The dwarves speak to everyone down here, right?"