...our friends head for home

Teysa found that her spirits began to lift as soon as the City was out of sight behind her. As hard-working and dedicated as Mish'li obviously was, the black stone buildings and winding streets conjured up nothing but dark and disturbing memories. She wondered how much worse it was for Aliara. The half-elf said nothing, but when they left she was scuttling forward with her shawl pulled tightly around her. Now she had a spring in her step and was even whistling a jaunty tune.

El'keth, of course, was full of breathless excitement. She seemed especially enthralled by the buildings. Teysa had to remind herself that the drider had not seen so much as a hut before leaving the warren. Driders preferred caves.

"They are all so small!" El'keth squealed. "How do they build such vast... temples, you call them? The Basult... Basile... Baslika, it was larger than anything I ever saw!"

"Patience," Teysa said. "And lots of hard work."

"Slaves," Aliara grumbled. "Anything you saw that looks like it took a lot of labor, well, you can bet it wasn't the drow. All those people you saw outside the City? They're the ones that built it. Not that they get to live in it or enjoy it or anything."

El'keth stared at her. She was silent for a while, as though digesting this, and then she looked up. "Did you build a temple, Aliara?" she asked.

Aliara turned bright red. Her mouth opened and closed. Eventually, she managed a weak "No," then lapsed into silence.

El'keth, oblivious, went on, "Well, would you--"

"El'keth," Teysa said, perhaps a bit more sharply than she'd intended, "I think that might be enough questions for one night, don't you?"

Only then did El'keth seem to realize that she had crossed a line. She hung her head. "Yes, Teysa," she mumbled. "I'm sorry."

They walked on in silence for a while. El'keth's claws tap-tap-tapped across the stone. An aura of palpable gloom surrounded her, so thick that Teysa eventually took mercy. "So El'keth," she asked, "was that your first trip out of the warren?"

"Yes!" All of El'keth's chirpy enthusiasm was back in an instant. "The world is so large! I never imagined! I thought the city would be, you know, the same size as the warren. There are so many drow! Is that all the drow in the world?"

"No," said Teysa, trying not to laugh. "It's their biggest city, but no, there's more of them. There are surely more driders than just your warren, right?"

"Well, yes," El'keth admitted. "I don't know how many. Mother says that there are others, but mostly we don't speak to each other. She says that every warren is on its own." She sounded thoughtful. "She says that is something else that has to change."

"You don't talk at all?" Teysa was intrigued. "There's no... I don't know, council of driders or something? No kingdom?"

"No," El'keth said. "Sometimes, if a warren grows too large, one of the ascended driders will be fertile. A new Matron. So her mother will send her out with a few of her sisters to form a new warren somewhere. But after a little while she's expected to make it on her own. I have sisters out there somewhere, but I don't even know if they're still alive."

"Like ants?" Aliara said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, but that's sort of like hive insects, right? Ants and bees and stuff?"

El'keth gave her a look of polite puzzlement. "I do not know what you're talking about, Aliara. I'm sorry."

Aliara shrugged. "Forget it. But, that's interesting. How far away are the new warrens, do you know?"

"At least a week's travel," El'keth said, with the air of someone reciting from memory. "Somewhere with fresh water, some natural caves, and reasonable distance from any nearby settlement. Far enough to be safe, but close enough to hunt..." she trailed off, blushing. "But of course we do not do that anymore. And perhaps we will not have to again. My mother says that someday, maybe, we can live in cities like two-legs. I would like that." She smiled. "The warren is comfortable, but I like having people to talk to. My sisters do not make good conversation."

"Why is that, do you think?" Aliara asked. "I mean, you're pretty bright, and your mother's clever, but most of the others seem kind of... dull."

"Li!" Teysa snapped, but she couldn't help but feel a little relieved that someone had asked. The question had been bothering her, too. On several occasions since her return she had tried to forge friendships with her new neighbors, but they merely listened to her with dull, glassy-eyed politeness. They would tell her their names and respond to her questions, but they did not seem capable of complex conversation. Eventually, embarrassed, she gave up.

El'keth didn't seem offended at the question. "I do not know," she admitted. "My mother thinks that it is the... the circumstances of their birth. Very few spiderlings ascend, and most of them end up like that. The few driders that were uplifted from two-legs show much more emotion. That is one reason my mother liked to take prisoners." A thought seemed to occur to her. "Will we have to stop doing that, too? The uplifting, I mean. It is supposed to be a great honor."

"Well, you'll certainly have to stop taking prisoners," Teysa said. "I don't know. Maybe some people want to become driders?" She couldn't entirely keep the distaste out of her voice. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

For once, El'keth's habit of taking everything Teysa said at face value was an asset. The drider didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss. "I think they will," she said. "Why would you only want to have two legs? And, pardon my saying so, but everyone in the City was so small!" She hid a giggle behind one hand.

"The circumstances of their birth?" Aliara asked. "You mean, their mothers being **** over and over and hung from the wall like sides of beef? Those circumstances?"

"Yes, Aliara." El'keth sounded grave. "I know what a terrible crime it was. My mother took me to see the broodmothers. There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to lay a clutch but..." she shivered. "Now I would not. I don't want to hurt anybody. And besides, I think it is better for everyone if the broodmother is willing. Supposedly that makes it more likely that a spiderling will ascend. If she is strong and fierce and vibrant, her children will take after her. If she is dull and lifeless, they will be, too."

"That all makes sense," Aliara said. "Kind of begs the question why your people would get by exclusively on **** and **** impregnation for centuries, though. I guess that explains why there are so few of you." She sounded bitter, and not for the first time, Teysa wondered if Aliara would ever truly understand forgiveness. She reminded herself that it was not her place to tell other victims how they should feel. If she tried, she could still remember the Matron pinning her to the ground, her massive ovipositor creeping closer...

Still, El'keth looked so forlorn that Teysa took pity on her. "It's alright, El'keth. We can't change the past. We can only change what we do from here on out. I know that you won't make the same mistakes as the Matron. You're going to change things for the better. We believe in you, right, Li?"

For a moment, she thought Aliara might not say anything, then the half-elf nodded. "Well, you seem like a nice girl, El'keth. And Teysa believes in peace, and I believe in Teysa. Maybe you have a shot. We're sticking around, after all." She brightened. "Well, if you're right, you won't need nearly as many broodmothers as before. As long as they're all willing. And that shouldn't be too hard to find, right? I mean..." she looked away, her cheeks coloring, "...it actually doesn't feel all that bad... if you're ready for it..."

By the end of the sentence she had trailed off into a mumble. Teysa elbowed her in the side. "Maybe I'm not the only reason you're sticking around, hm?" She laughed, and El'keth laughed, and even Aliara chuckled a little ruefully. The tension that had been hanging over them dissipated like morning dew.

They made camp for the night and ate the last of their provisions. Teysa resolved to find out where the driders bought provisions and give them a shopping list. She had spent many nights on the surface wishing for a warm bed and clean clothes, but now what she missed most of all was bread. Fresh, soft bread, still hot from the oven, its crust just slightly browned... she tore off another strip of salted meat with her teeth and chewed thoughtfully while the bakery in her head churned out loaves, buns and fresh sweet cakes.

She slept well and arose early the next day. El’keth was snoozing gently in her hammock; Aliara had taken the last watch, and sat in a cross-legged perch on a large flat stone. Teysa knew that she was being silent as she crept up behind the half-elf, but five feet away Aliara’s head swiveled around and she smiled. “Morning, love,” she said quietly. “I wanted to let that one sleep in.” She jerked her head towards El’keth.

Teysa clambered up onto the rock and sat down next to Aliara. “Quiet night?” she asked. Aliara nodded.

“I thought I heard something scuttling a few hours ago, but it’s hard to tell. Sound travels so weirdly down here. I’m still not really used to it.”

“You really let her have it the other night,” Teysa said. Aliara held her gaze for a moment, then looked away.

“I dunno. Was I too harsh? Should I apologize to her?”

“No, she needs to hear those things. And who’s going to tell her except us?” Teysa wrapped one arm around Aliara’s shoulders and the half-elf rested her head into the hollow of Teysa’s neck. “But you’re still carrying a lot of anger, aren’t you?” Teysa asked.

“Aren’t you?” Aliara said in a quiet voice. “I mean, what they did to you— to us— that was bad enough. And it’s nothing compared to what some of the other broodmothers went through. Is it really so easy for forgive that?”

“No,” Teysa replied. “No, it isn’t. But that’s why it’s important. I’m not saying you have no right to be angry. Sometimes, I still feel the rage and helplessness. Then I see El’keth, trying to figure out who she wants to be, and I try to let it all go.” She sighed. “I really hope she makes it. Otherwise everything will just go right back to the way it was before.”

“That’s kind of a lot of pressure to put on the kid,” Aliara pointed out. “Don’t you think that’s a little unfair?”

Teysa nodded. “None of this is fair,” she said. “But... what is it you say? You play the hand you’re dealt?”

Aliara lifted her head and punched Teysa gently in the arm. “You don’t even play cards. You’d be terrible at it. You turn red whenever you have to lie.”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

Behind them, El’keth unfolded herself and yawned. This process took a long time; she slept curled up into a ball, and as she stretched out her eight legs her body seemed to bloom like a flower. “Good morning!” she said, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What is for breakfast?”

Teysa checked her bag. “A few scraps of salted fish,” she said. “But we should be home soon. The earlier we leave, the earlier we arrive, eh?”

True to her word, they had been walking for no more than two hours when they began to see signs of habitation. Spiderwebs clung to the walls and rough, unworked stone gave way to the smooth walls of the warren. Teysa had watched the driders work stone. They had some magic that made it as soft as clay in their hands, and they sculpted their home one handful at a time. It was an impressive sight.

They passed the first outer picket fifteen minutes later. The drider acknowledged them with a nod but said nothing. Soon they saw more and more of them, driders hurrying through the tunnels on anonymous errands of their own. Teysa navigated through familiar passageways to the audience chamber.

The Matron was there, as Teysa had known she would be. She was sitting in a silken hammock with her many legs folded beneath her. It was a curiously informal pose; Teysa had rarely seen her in such a casual mood. She was holding a vellum scroll open before her and her eyes scanned back and forth along it. When she saw Teysa, she rolled it up in one deft motion and stood to attention.

"How wasssss the city, Teyssssssa?" she asked. "Did you have a pleasssssant trip?"

"Pleasant enough," Teysa replied. "It was good to see Mish'li again."

"And my daugher? Did El'keth comport herssssself well? Did she shame the warren?"

"No!" Teysa reeled a bit. "No, I mean, yes. Yes, she behaved admirably. No, she didn't shame you. She was wonderful company. You should be very proud of her."

"Hm." The Matron looked somewhat pleased, at least. "Well, much dependsssss on her. She will rule one day. She mussssst be worldly. Now... we ssssssspoke of this before you left, but my time growsssss clossssse. I have need of a broodmother. You are their keeper; will you ssssselect one for me?"