...and sees a familiar face.

The next day, Teysa made her way to the armory after breakfast. She no longer wore her plate about the warren, but she would feel odd traveling as part of a trade caravan without it. It was the sort of mission she had undertaken many times in her old life, and though Jez'ria could certainly take care of herself, it was hard to shake the habit of caution. One by one, Teysa fetched items off the shelves. Breastplate, spaulders, poleyns... She found herself thinking of her previous visit to this room, just before she had left for the drow City. The last time she had made the trip, she had been unsure of what she was walking into, knowing only that she could no longer stand idly by and watch her "hosts" kidnap and violate at will. At least then she had had a purpose. Now, she felt lost. Millennia of history couldn't be erased overnight. The driders had sworn off taking new captives, but that was cold comfort for the newly freed broodmothers, or the pitiful, broken things still living in the nurseries.

"Teysa?"

The voice shook her out of her rumination. Turning, she found herself face to face with the small drider she had met earlier. El'keth. This close, Teysa could see how youthful she really was; little more than an adolescent, really, though it was anyone's guess how fast driders aged. El'keth was wearing clothing, which was unusual for a drider: a blue silk wrap bound up her breasts and circled her neck, and a leather skirt covered her from navel to where her knees would have been. Her hair was bound up in a chignon and pierced by two silver pins, and she wore a glittering gold tiara set with onyx cabochons. Her skin was paler than her mother's, a chalky grey that faded into the dark chitin of her spider half. She had rimmed her eyes with kohl and painted her lips with silver paste. All of the driders had an inhuman, statuesque beauty, but El'keth's youth made her look... alive, Teysa thought. It was an odd thought, but there it was.

El'keth's fingers knotted together as she genuflected. Her voice was soft and uncertain: a girl's voice, not a woman's, but a girl who was just finding her confidence. Every word was perfectly enunciated. "Teysa," she began again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you preparing for a journey?"

Teysa set down the pack. "Yes, El'keth. Aliara and I are going to the dwarven market. Personal business. Part of our agreement with the Matron was that we could come and go as we pleased-"

El'keth shook her head vigorously. "No, no, I mean, yes, of course, you may. That's not why I'm here." She took a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to you. I have so much to learn from you. Mother says I am to learn from everyone, but especially you. She speaks very highly of you." She paused, as if realizing she had crossed a line. "Are you cross with her? You sounded so earlier."

Teysa kneaded her forehead with her right hand. "Cross? No, I'm not mad at her. I'm-"

How could she explain it to this child? This child who, despite her age, towered over Teysa on eight spider legs? "El'keth, when I first came to this cave I was your mother's prisoner. I was a ****. She overpowered me, stuffed me full of her eggs, and hung me on the wall like a piece of meat." She took a deep breath. "Yes, I've made my peace with it. I've forgiven her. Not everyone has. Things are changing now, that's great. But as of a couple of months ago, that was just how things worked around here. It's a bit... I don't know, jarring to go from that to this. Now everyone's talking, and nobody's a prisoner. But it's like... it's like being in a bar right after a big fight ended, and everyone's dusting themselves off and nobody's looking at anyone else, and everyone's afraid that someone's going to say the wrong thing and they'll be at it again."

El'keth listened wide-eyed. She pursed her lips, then asked: "But why would you not carry the brood, earlier? Is it unpleasant? You are so wonderful, Mother says, so nurturing and kind. I know it would have been an honor to be borne by you."

Teysa gawked at her. "El'keth, that's--" she shook her head. "Never mind. And yes, it can be unpleasant, but it's also rewarding, to bring life into the world. I do want to bear your mother's brood, but... when I want to. And it's important to me to be able to say "not right now," and have her respect that choice."

She had hoped that the young drider would take the hint, but it didn't appear to be sinking in. El'keth fidgeted with her hands while she spoke. The gesture was slightly disquieting; the way her fingers scurried over one another was a bit too quick and fluid to be human. "Well, is it painful? The laying? What does it feel like? What are spiderlings like? I know I was one, but when I try to remember that... it's like a dream that fades when you wake up."

"One question at a time!" Teysa held up her hands defensively. "It can be painful, but it's a relief, too. It can wear on you, carrying eggs around. That's not why I don't want to carry them. I just have a lot going on right now. I can't afford to be out of action for a month or more. And spiderlings... well, they're cute, which I didn't expect, but it's all so strange. I was raised to expect my babies to look like me, if I ever had any. I look at them and I know I'm their mother, but I also know that they're... spiders. It's like having two opposing thoughts in my head at the same time. It's a little disorienting." She sighed. "Plus, the Matron doesn't need me every time she wants to lay a clutch. She's got... spares."

"Do you mean the other broodmothers? You sounded angry when you talked about them. Have they wronged you? Are you jealous of them?"

Teysa pinched her forehead wearily. El'keth meant well, she knew, and it was hard to hear anything but innocent curiosity in her voice. Still, had her mother told her nothing about this? Or had it just not sunk in?

"El'keth, those women never had a choice. I was lucky. I only bore one brood before your mother set me free. They have borne twenty, thirty, or more. Have you met them? They can barely speak. They cannot feed themselves, or clean themselves, or walk unassisted. Some of them know their own names... sometimes. I could have ended up like that. Did you think about that? That could have been me. No matter what happens, I failed those women. I know your mother is sorry about what happened to them, but that doesn't change much, does it?"

El'keth looked abashed. "B-but surely, it is providential that they are... in that state, correct? Without new broodmothers, the warren would die out."

She doesn't know what she's talking about. She's just a kid. Teysa **** herself to take two deep breaths, but even so, she could not keep the edge of anger out of her voice. "And that attitude is why I sound so mad, El'keth! I know your mother is sorry about those women, and I know she will never steal someone's life like that again, but whenever we talk about them I can tell that some part of her is... relieved. And maybe she can't help feeling that way, and she understands why it's wrong, but I can't help feeling like... like..."

The anger drained out of her voice. Above her, El'keth was crying into her hands. Even her sobs were delicate, like the tinkling of little silver bells. Teysa laid one hand on her shoulder. "Aw, El'keth, I'm sorry. I know this isn't your fault." She gave the drider an encouraging squeeze and rubbed her shoulder in a small circle. "What happened to those women is a tragedy, but we have a lot to be hopeful for. All we can do is look forward, ok? I think the warren has a bright future. Especially with a sensitive, smart leader like you're going to be someday."

El'keth sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "Do you really think so, Teysa?" She managed a weak smile. It was disconcerting to see tear-tracks on that statue-perfect face. Teysa smiled and patted her on the shoulder once more. "I do. I think you're asking all of the right questions. You could just try to be, uh, a little more tactful."

She had meant it as a joke, but the drider's face fell. "Teysa, it all seems so difficult! I know it was wrong, but it seems like the old way of doing things was much easier. I am trying to learn everything I can, but it seems that every time I figure something out I just reveal an even greater pool of ignorance."

"That goes for all of us, I'm afraid. We're figuring it out as we go along. Your mother, too. She was once..." she trailed off. There were certain places she did not want to go. Not here, not now, not with this naive girl. "She was young once. Maybe she'll talk to you about it."

She bent down and picked up the pack. "I have to go. I'll be back in a few days, we can talk more then if you want."

"May I come with you, Teysa?" The question caught Teysa off guard, and she turned around. "Can the warren spare you? I would think the Matron would want you close."

"She will let me go for a few days. I wish to see the dwarves. They are our trading partners, yes? I will need to be familiar with all of the people of the Underneath, if I am supposed to lead the warren someday?"

Teysa considered this. It made a certain amount of sense, and now was the right time for this, with the Matron healthy and no urgent crises threatening. She wasn't sure what Aliara would think, though. The half-elf might resent having to babysit.