...ask about the market

The next morning Teysa headed to the audience chamber after breakfast. "We've got to find out when the caravan is, Li," she had explained. "It just makes sense to go along with her!" Aliara had let out an exasperated sigh. "It sounds like you're asking permission. We're free! We don't have to ask them anything. What good is freedom if you act like you're still under their thumb?"

"It's just common courtesy, Li. That's all. Look, I'll go if you don't want to."

Aliara had rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Say hi for me, I guess."

The Matron was standing on her dais, 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. When is Jez'ria next traveling to the dwarven trading post? Aliara and I wish to accompany her."

The Matron inclined her head. "Why, may I asssssssk? Do hyou have need of ssssssssomething? She will bring hyou back whatever hyou desssssssire."

Teysa found herself growing annoyed. She didn't want to make a scene, but if she had to, she would. Aliara was right. They had to define some boundaries. Keeping her voice light, she replied: "Oh, we'd like to get out a bit. Have a change of scenery. We might want to browse."

The Matron gave her a long and calculating look, then shrugged. "Assssss hyou wish. She leavessssss tomorrow. 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 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."

"I will, Matron. Thank you."