Surfacing Ch. 05

There was irony in all that, for certain.

Yes, the escapee from a year ago was a dead-end for now, but if D'Shea and the Valsharess were proven right and Sirana returned, then Tarra would have to probe her further about that confrontation with Wilsira and Kerse down below. She had to have her contingencies and for that, she had to know what others knew.

This was assuming her own proposal to the queen came to fruition and thus still had some bearing on her own future.

The Priestess stopped beside one iron door to look in, seeing Curgia's outline in the pitch black: curled on her cot, blankets wrapped tightly around her feet and her pillow clutched over her ears to block out the sounds around her. Her belly was swollen, the untainted unborn inside over halfway through its development, and her food dish was empty. The Noble was eating and doing well as could be expected.

Shaking her head, Tarra left without saying a word. She wanted the Noble child birthed and rather hoped it was a daughter; sons were so much more difficult to make useful beyond breeding, working, or fighting. As for the mother, it was well and good if D'Shea thought she could use the young Noble, but the Priestess still wanted someone in his or her right mind to bond with Auslan.

She didn't care about the sex of the binder, as D'Shea apparently did. Tarra knew of at least four male Sanctuary servants who'd formed secret pairs and several Noble sons at Court who thought they were not being watched.

The Priestess had begun watching for the tell signs in others when she'd first seen Shyntre and Auslan when they were younger; it was more common than most any powerful female wanted to believe. It was a particular blindness that was unfortunate, when female couplings were so common and accepted. The Valsharess Herself did nothing to dispel that blindness; She had always been oddly silent on the subject, neither for or against it.

Maybe D'Shea's only objection was that it was her own son, to whom she'd never had an opportunity to speak. She simply didn't know him except through Tarra—and Tarra had lost most of his development once he'd been removed to the Tower. Phaelous's words could rarely be taken at face value, although Elder Rausery had had some interesting things to say about him, his will, and his two trips to the Surface.

Lelinahdara briefly lifted out of her thoughts to touch the stone between the doors of two large common rooms; she murmured a chant and felt the stone vanish as she stepped into a pocket space not unlike the Sisterhood's network of spy tunnels through the Palace and Sanctuary.

That network was one of many secrets she kept from her fellow Priestesses, related to her role as liaison between the Sisterhood and the Sanctuary and the fact that she was favored to rise quickly in the ranks, even being two centuries younger than D'Shea and three younger than the High Priestess. The queen had bred her bloodline long enough; she knew of her potential. The current High Priestess was mostly a place-holder.

The Valsharess had wanted Lelinahdara to help D'Shea create those spy tunnels, and to keep them secret from all but the Prime on how they were made. Not even the High Priestess knew, something Tarra found encouraging. The highest Red Sister knew, but Tarra's own superior did not. After watching and plotting for a century, it had been her first true test given by the queen, making it worth foregoing her arcane training for divine.

This particular pocket would take her where the Priestess wanted to be with none the wiser, not even a prison guard. Wilsira had always used the transport circles in her quarters because it was instant and mostly private, but those sensitive to arcane magic as well as divine could always feel when that happened. It was like a shock pulse of sound and caused a tremble in one's chest.

Tarra had always been one of those who could feel it, and that fact had probably saved D'Shea's life all those years ago. She hadn't known what was happening, nor could she follow or affect it in any way, but she had been put on alert and knew there was much yet to discover about the then-Lead Sister and her unborn son, sired by the Valsharess's own favored headmaster wizard.

The two female mages may have been trained separately but they were still of the same essence in many ways.

The younger Priestess considered her plans further as she walked in the void-like silence. Both before and after D'Shea had served and survived Wilsira's purpose in the forming room, Tarra had tended the Lead enough to know when things had changed in the Sanctuary. She knew now that the sorceress Sister was not able to trust any memories around that time, and had known then that D'Shea had been silenced even from babbling of them in a fevered or drugged state. The liaison tried both options at different times.

Tarra had begun her campaign to apprentice to Wilsira soon after Shyntre was born. It had taken a lot of time to become involved in that process, but as of barely thirty years ago, she had been to the forming room at last. She had been able to study some of the theory of what Wilsira did to create the Consorts. She knew enough now that she could potentially form any combination that she wanted from any pair, and she only needed a healthy womb to carry the result to term.

The pregnancy and birth of a Consort were still essentially natural; the baby even adopted some of the functional inheritance of the surrogate. In that way, a Consort possessed the combined traits of three Drow, not two; two females and one male, allowing for more diversity in fewer generations than the purely sexual conception.

As a result of the scarring from her divine initiation and the following birth of her Draegloth, Tarra, like all Priestesses, could not bear further of her own body. It was a necessary sacrifice for the power of serving Lolth directly.

But that had seemed to matter less and less with time. To the Priestesses, the Consorts soon became the children of their blood if not their body, and Tarra knew it was only a matter of time before she could make daughters as well. No Priestess had ever birthed a daughter...but soon that might change, but only if she could make the last connection on how to control them if she did.

That control would be trickier than with males; not a simple matter of breeding them to be more docile or breaking them to conform to their place in society. The females would have more potential, and more strength of will.

That one part, the control, was what Wilsira had kept jealously secret. Through sheer Lolth's Whim, D'Shea had captured and kept one of the mature and more powerful Consorts before they had all lost their value and had been damned to die per the Valsharess.

Lelinahdara, D'Shea, and the Prime had needed to confess what they possessed before too long, they had realized, but had had a plan ready before doing so. They had asked for his stay of execution. The queen had listened and granted it for as long as he remained in the cloister, out of all view of the public, while Lelinahdara worked to follow through on her own proposal.

The Priestess could use this last, healthy, and mature Consort, though her purpose wasn't to make more of him. That time had passed; she would have to show the queen something new. Something that other Drow would want.

It was so obvious to her that the fastest way to Auslan's center was through the young wizard. If they couldn't have Sirana—who might've been preferable since she was compromised similarly to Curgia already, but still more loyal and reasonable through her formidable will— then it had to be Shyntre.

With this kind of creation magic at her command, why should it matter if males wanted to mount each other the same way it was accepted that females did? The favored Priestess could still use their essence if needed, but she also needed Auslan's name in someone else's head to figure out that last link of control.

She herself had to be unaffected by the Consort, standing on the outside and experimenting with the one bound to him, similar to how she'd once tried to cleanse Sirana of the Duergar imprint. That particular theory had never worked, but it held such interesting possibilities and Tarra had learned something about permanent changes to the mind.

If Sirana somehow returned before Tarra managed to bind Shyntre, then the Priestess thought she had a head-start working on the novice Sister, no matter what D'Shea had told her of her newly-discovered resilience to mental probing.

Regardless, the Priestess just didn't trust the bound one to be Curgia. She had already determined that the Noble did not know the Consort's name, regardless of the powerful effect that his magic had had on her when he saved her life after that miscarriage. Curgia would break under the strain; Sirana or Shyntre would not.

There followed one other problem, however, about which D'Shea was correct: the Valsharess and the fact that She wanted the wizard for Her own purposes at the moment. The timing was deplorable; Tarra did not have unlimited time to prove she could do what she said, but the queen not only had sent Sirana away but had made her move at last with claiming Phaelous's son after two centuries of mostly watching him.

All Tarra could hope was that D'Shea would come to her senses and ask the queen for his temporary use in the cloister. They only had to get the two boys in the same room together and leave them alone along enough. She was certain of that.

Tarra smiled now as she clearly remembered D'Shea's face when the Priestess had said exactly this to her.

The Elder's response: "You do realize that 'same room' would be *my* room, possibly on *my* bed, yes?"

The liaison had needed to suppress her laughter at the time. "Well, it could be glowing with energy rather quickly—"

"I am not like Wilsira to be attracted to the scent of my own son's magic."

"And how would you know? You haven't been well near him for the whole of his life and now you still haven't spoken with him. Instead you seem to prefer Auslan's company with as much as I understand you have conversed with him."

"Tarra!" she had barked, and the younger Priestess had sighed and bowed an apology. The Elder sighed and nodded, then asked, "Answer me this: if you only need them to couple, why did it not happen when he coupled with the Sisters? He came then."

Tarra shook her head. "It can't be forced that way. Force only triggers his defenses. Ask Moria."

D'Shea had nodded as if she'd already guessed but was just confirming it.

"How long will you let Shyntre sit in the Palace when the Sisterhood might have legitimate use for him?" the Priestess had asked.

D'Shea had narrowed her eyes at her ally. "Until his sponsor returns."

So now Elder Rausery had returned at last. Tarra looked forward to something changing in the cloister again very soon with the tactician's direct, predictable methods once again forming the backbone of the Sisterhood.

As much as D'Shea affected the entire City around her in ways that few would ever realize, she was still tentative with anything direct concerning her son. It would take time to coax her into taking more ownership of him after centuries of watching other females claim and use her child, after centuries of avoiding him, of feeling sick just looking at him.

That was, if it wasn't already too late with the Valsharess.

Lelinahdara came to the exit that would lead her into the forming room, reflecting on this marvel she and D'Shea had created together. How long it seemed to take for one to pass through these secret tunnels sometimes depended on how much thinking one had yet to do. It could pass in almost an instant when one was focused on the moment and had purpose, or it could be private, protected solitude in which to take a long, thoughtful stroll. On the other side, it was the same amount of time.

It had definitely felt like a long stroll this time, but now she had to focus on what was on the other side.

The Priestess slowly entered the forming room, inhaling as her senses detected the usual dankness and stale air, the energy of the runes on every wall, the soft shuffle of a body in the back room...but also an added hum of another aura.

She recognized it and headed for the hallway.

"Phaelous."

The elder mage was kneeling outside the cell that housed their last remaining surrogate mother. He had food and water in his hands, so either he'd just arrived as well or he was teasing the prisoner. The blond hair and fine lines she knew were in his face were not apparent in the dark, but the power of his aura was enough to seem to blind her for a moment.

"Ah, Priestess. Do you come to tend her as well?"

Lelinahdara held out her empty hands. "Had planned on it later. So when did you figure out how to adjust a circle in the Tower to come here?"

"It did not take long once the Valsharess told me it was here, Priestess."

Tarra grunted, trying not to show her irritation. She approached the cell enough to be able to see Daelina's daughter, who was well over halfway through her pregnancy. She was young, of perfect bearing age and proper blood-trait, and carried literally the last of the Consorts, which was still moving in her distended abdomen as of two cycles ago.

"How does she fare?"

Phaelous shrugged, finally setting the sustenance on the inside of the bars. There was a spark and a crackle of energy as he did so, but he did not seem to feel it. "Mute. She may be returning to reverie far more often than is good for her."

"She can't hurt herself, headmaster, I've seen to that. What is a little extra sleep to pass the waiting?"

"If she should stop feeding herself—"

"Her survival instinct is too strong, that's why she was chosen. So are the hunger pains."

"If you say, Priestess. I sense something odd. Mother and child start sharing dreams after a time, do they not?"

"It is probably her best source of exercise."

Phaelous lifted himself up slowly off his knees to stand. He was fairly tall for a male, and his dark robes with gold embroidery seemed to enhance it somewhat. His gold-flecked gaze was bolder as well; he was always unfailingly polite but he seemed intimidated by no one except the Valsharess—and Tarra could not gauge even that very well because she had only seen the headmaster and the queen in the same room one time.

"Have you ever had a surrogate learn a Consort's name, like you did your own Draegloth son in the womb, Tarra?"

The younger Priestess frowned, resenting the tactic to catch her off guard. "I don't care if you are favored by the queen, do not use my name so."

He bowed and spoke an elegant apology.

She flipped her hand as it batting it aside. "The Valsharess filled you in."

"Much is changing still in the City, Priestess. She wants me to know the why as well as the where."

Of course She did. All the better for him to spy on them all for Her.

He was watching her with an expectant air.

"To answer your question," she continued, "no, it has never happened before. A Consort's name isn't discovered until he matures and his virginity is taken by a Priestess. It's different than a Draegloth."

"And if this one should learn it in the womb, Priestess?"

She withheld a sigh. She had not come here to debate with a wizard. "It is fertility magic, not Abyssal. A fetus is not fertile, the bond can't happen."

"Do you have a contingency nonetheless?"

"Just say it, wizard. Why would you think it necessary?"

He indicated a particular rune over his head and to Tarra's left, close to the altar and she followed his direction. "That encourages a controlled Abyssal surge when called upon. Originally intended, perhaps, to amplify our late Priestess's power through her late son? Your surrogate can see the rune, and there is Abyssal blood in her unborn."

Lelinahdara stared at him. "So what do you suggest, Phaelous? Move her?"

"That would be best, Priestess, if you have another place."

Tarra finally focused on the silent surrogate in the cell; normally there were very little care needed in this magic-soaked room so she'd gotten into the habit of not looking directly at the breeding bodies. Now she needed to see her as Phaelous was seeing her.

Daelina's daughter had her eyes open and her head and one shoulder resting against the wall, her legs curled under her. She wore a thick, gaurro-wool, one-piece dress, unstylish and unflattering, but only intended to keep her warm anyway. She was not focused on anything, certainly not the rune Phaelous had indicated...but she was staring in the general area and perhaps the old Drow was right in that it did not feel entirely usual down here now.

Tarra could appreciate the wizard's caution, a bit embarrassed she hadn't caught it herself.

The Valsharess wanted this baby male birthed, though none but Her really knew what would become of him. Like many unborn now awaiting birth in the dungeons, he was tainted and would not be allowed to mature. Some experimentation was planned on the infant to try to better understand what Wilsira had done to their race—another reason the queen was being generous with Tarra's various requests, much to D'Shea's advantage— but in the end this last Consort would likely be a sacrifice.

Auslan was her only Consort granted by the queen to try to put their rituals back on the right path again; the rest of the adults had been or would be sacrificed to appease Her and the Nobles...just as the three Red Sisters had been assigned penance for their role in the collapse of a long-lasting part of their culture to appease the Priestesses.

Daelina's daughter and the unborn in this cell would be offered as the final opportunity for the Priesthood to explain what had gone wrong in the first place.

Tarra would never learn this unborn's name, but if she would try to breed again, she would need a surrogate ready. This particular commoner was already chosen, already captured, already tested and conditioned, and the Priestess wanted to keep her beyond the first birth. The young Drow could wait and perhaps bear a second child with time, once Tarra was ready to try with her. It may be the start of a new hierarchy in the Sanctuary, and it could spread out to the Court and the Palace, even the Houses, with time.

She certainly couldn't get lax in the forming room's security now, despite Phaelous's presence changing that anyway.

Releasing a soft breath, Tarra chanted to be able to touch the lock, drawing the complicated symbols needed to ease the magic loose and open the door. The surrogate didn't move as the Priestess waited at the threshold and gestured to Phaelous.

"You enter and encourage her to stand. She should obey."

The wavelengths that formed the old mage's face in the dark changed into a disconcerting smile even if she still couldn't see the details, and he stepped into the cell with little apparent wariness. He coaxed the pregnant Drow to her feet—and as Tarra had said, she obeyed. After only a small stumble as she reacquainted herself with the weight of her belly, the surrogate went where he guided her. Her face was blank and a bit of saliva leaked from the corner of her mouth.

Phaelous held lightly to the commoner's shoulders as he looked back at Tarra retrieving the food and drink and securing the old cell. "To the next room, perhaps?"

She nodded. "We can hold up to three with the current runes. Let us take a look which is best."

Tarra did not leave it only to Phaelous to study the walls from various angles, even if she did take his opinion into account. She assured herself there were no Abyssal runes within easy view in the cell she then selected to hold the surrogate. Once she'd patiently set everything right again, she closed her eyes and drew in a breath, trying to detect any change.