"How do I feed the warren?"

{how do i feed the warren?} asked Teysa. She felt her cheeks grow hot. {i mean, i know how it's done, but... how does it work? can anyone just walk up to me at any time and ask for a snack?}

Rik'eel let out a gurgling hiss, and Teysa realized she was giggling. {oh, no, Ambrosia Mother. that is... a fine idea, and i am sure some of your sisters would be happy to take you up on it, but no. you will drink the tea of the _ekk'arr. _it is a fungus that grows deep in the warren-- i am told it is quite delicious. after you drink the tea for three spans, your teats will swell with ambrosia. you will remain in that state for a span's time, during which you will nourish the warren at the appointed hour. at the end of that time, your ambrosia will run low, so you must return to the tea. we have several Mothers, who rotate their duties.}

Teysa smiled, a bit uncomfortably. {so... do you- we- eat anything else? i am not sure if i can make that much... ambrosia.}

Rik'eel nodded. {we hunt, and sometimes fish. the ambrosia is needed to weave, though, and for the breeders to lay their eggs. it is a gift of She Who Spins Below. we give of our bodies to nourish each other. the Ambrosia Mothers are honored.}

She hesitated, and her smile was almost shy. {sister... i do not wish to step beyond my station... but i wish to taste your ambrosia. it is said that the flavor of surface-dwellers is unique. most of us were drow in our Lives Before, and the taste grows stale. you have not had the tea, but you will have some nectar to share. may i?}

Teysa was almost too surprised to say anything. She almost recoiled, but then thought about the request. This would be her job from now on, wouldn't it? Where was the harm? It might be a good idea to get a sense of what she was in for.

{yes, rik'eel. you may drink.} She scuttled forward and thrust out her check, head back. The other drider gave another one of her hissing giggles. {relax, sister. not so formal!} She put one arm around Teysa's shoulders and leaned in. {do not worry! i promise i will not bite.} Her grin showed a mouthful of needles, but her tone was kind. Teysa tried to let herself relax a little. {i am ready,} she said, only the slightest quaver in her voice.

Rik'eel leaned over until Teysa's breasts were at eye level, then extended a long, black tongue. It snaked out of her mouth as though it had a mind of its own and began to gently caress Teysa's areola. As soon as the tongue touched her, she felt her nipples stiffen. It was warm and pliant, with just the slightest hint of roughness. Rik'eel traced her tongue in a circle around Teysa's nipple and spiraled inward. With her free hand she reached out and caressed the former paladin's other breast.

The sensations enveloping Teysa's tits were wholly new. She had felt a visceral pleasure when she breast-fed her spiderling offspring, but this was something different. It felt as though every inch of her, all of her senses, were compressed onto her incredibly sensitive breasts. She closed her eyes and tried to visualize what Rik'eel was doing. Kaleidoscopic rainbow patterns shimmered behind her lids. Each squeeze or lick sent a new wave of color and sensation washing over her. Teysa realized with embarrassment that she was groaning.

She rested one hand in Rik'eel's mane of white hair and twisted her fingers through the silky strands. She felt compelled to pull the other drider closer to her, closer, to wrap her up tightly, to nurture her with sweet ambrosia. Rik'eel obediently let her head be dragged into the embrace. She fastened her lips on Teysa's right nipple and began to suck.

The suction added a new layer of sensation, propelling Teysa beyond what she had thought possible. Electric little shivers crawled over her skin. She felt something warm and vital flowing directly out of her, out of the core of her being, and into the other drider. In her mind's eye a bright amber thread connected them, a thread that waxed and waned with the flow of her ambrosia but pulsed with a steady rhythm. To her astonishment, Teysa found that she could taste the ambrosia herself-- it was sweet, spicy, like fresh-pressed cider, like warm honey tea, like the cookies her mother had baked for her on the day she left for the Praxeum to train. It was all of the tastes of her childhood. A tear carved a solitary path down her cheek. Too much! Too much!

Something stirred at the other end of the cord. Teysa reached out and felt a tangle of expressions. She was proud to be welcoming a new sister to the warren. She was nervous, afraid of failing at her task. She was confused and uncertain of what she felt when she looked into the new drider's eyes, those eyes that had so recently been human...

With a jolt Teysa grabbed the other drider by the shoulders and pulled her off, breaking the connection. Rik'eel's face was flushed, her eyes glassy. Teysa could feel a sheen of sweat on her own cheeks and was surprised to find she was breathing heavily. It took a moment for her to compose herself.

{what the hell was that?}

Rik'eel's eyes still stared off into the distance and when she spoke the words seemed to come from a long way away.

{the bond between Ambrosia Mother and those she feeds can be intense at first. my apologies, sister. i should have warned you. i did not know it would be that... that...} she shuddered and drew herself together. {that intoxicating. i am sorry. i saw...} she turned away. {forgive me. i speak out of turn.}

Teysa gently took the other drider's chin in her hand and raised her face up until they were looking into each other's eyes.

{what did you see, rik'eel? i felt... i thought your thoughts. i think.}

{i do not know what i saw, sister. only you, and your friend... the half-elven one.}

{aliara?} Teysa was nonplussed. She hadn't given Aliara a thought since her transformation. {what about her?}

{nothing,} replied Rik'eel, a bit too quickly. {i apologize. i should not have supped from you before you had a chance to speak to the matron. you should go to her now-- she awaits you}.