XV

Only eight matrons in all of Llyr knew of the tiny passages and caverns that ran beneath the very heart of Llyr's Market District. Indeed, no physical entrance could be found to the small but elegantly furnished tunnels, lit only occasionally by a torch of violet or blue faerie fire and guarded by the shadows of the unfortunate craftsmen, both drow and duergar, that had originally constructed the place and the hordes of fist sized spiders that nested along the ceilings of the tallest chambers. At the center of the diminutive maze, a single large chamber housed a plain circular table surrounded by eight unremarkable chairs.

Matron Artaith Sy'Lian, Matron of House Sy'Lian, was the first to arrive at the council chamber of the Cyfrin-Gygnor, Llyr's ruling council. Only the eight most powerful houses of Llyr were represented in the Cyfrin-Gygnor, and of those Matron Artaith commanded the First House. Despite her house's position as first among the noble houses of Llyr, Matron Artaith was still disturbed by the recent happenings within the city of Llyr.

As Matron Artaith studied the table before her, the other matrons began to appear from their own branches of the maze. Matron Vala, troubled leader of House Caer Llion. Matron Olwyn, the wizened, ancient, rumored to be insane head of House Siryddion. Matron Mair, the zealous leader of the Fourth House, Trahayarn. Matron Drysi, the stocky, aggressive elder of House Ardwyad. Esyllt, Matron of the Sixth House, Lluchdu. Matron Heledd, matriarch of the ancient Seventh House, Blodyn-tywyll, rumored to still practice the ancient druidic ways. And Matron Lynwen, ruler of the Eighth House Gwenn Alarch, newest member of the council with scarcely a century among the Matrons of the Cyfrin-Gygnor. Each matron moved to take their seats around the table, waiting to sit until Matron Artaith finally took her own seat.

"Without doubt, all of you have heard the disturbing news," Matron Artaith began, pushing a few strands of silver hair from her blood red eyes with her delicate hand. A few nods from the other matrons assured her that none had missed the previous day's events. "A mysterious force has annihilated noble House Hen Wyneb, without warning and provocation."

"Were there any survivors?" Matron Vala inquired, looking to Artaith. The First Matron could detect the faint note of hope in Vala's voice; the Second House had no interest in losing any allies, no matter how low in the ranks of the nobles they were.

"None," Artaith answered, looking from Vala to the other matrons. "House Hen Wyneb cannot help us identify their attackers. Has anyone discovered the perpetrators of this dreadful deed?"

Matron Artaith's gaze moved slowly from one matron to the next. Only the most isolated matron did not know of House Evnissien's role in the attack; the Seventeenth… no, Sixteenth House, now… had lost many slaves and within hours of the attack was trying to bolster its weakened forces in the event of an attack of opportunity from another house.

Matron Artaith paused for a moment as her eyes settled on Matron Vala. The ruler of the Second House twitched for a moment, but said nothing. Directly across from Vala, a faint, almost predatory smirk settled across Matron Olwyn's withered features. It was barely a secret that House Evnissien had killed Matron Vala's granddaughter and then allied themselves with Siryddion, the most dangerous house in Llyr in Artaith's eyes. The addition of almost two dozen soldiers two the Third House's army, not to mention a new alliance with a house growing in power, made both Vala and Artaith uneasy.

"Matron Vala, have you discovered anything about this attack?" Matron Artaith asked. An accusation by such a powerful house would certainly damn House Evnissien…

"I have heard nothing," Matron Vala answered, her eyes still locked on Olwyn.

"Then we can do nothing but bury the dead," Matron Heledd interjected. Matron Artaith nodded in reluctant agreement with the ruler of Blodyn-tywyll.

"House Hen Wyneb is no more," Matron Mair said solemnly. "May her nobles be given a place of honor in the Web. The matter is closed."

"Your name?"

"Tarren Hen Wyneb," she stated simply.

The snake whip bit into her back and her arms, knocking her forward onto the ground. The last member of House Hen Wyneb tried desperately to free herself, but the webbing that tied her wrists to her ankles and stuck to her hands and feet was impossible to break. The unfamiliar and disgusting feeling of the sticky strands that held her was only one more humiliating reminder that her house had lost, even more so than the sting of Arwydd's snake whip on her bare skin.

She had barely recovered from the initial shock of the attack when she was roughly forced back to her knees, kneeling naked and trussed in front of Matron Saffir Evnissien. Tarren tried to look defiant in the face of the woman that had destroyed her family, but found herself shrinking back slightly from the vile matron.

"What is your name, child?" Saffir asked again.

"Tarren," she answered, giving one last tug at her restraints. Matron Saffir smiled.

"Tarren, yes," Matron Saffir repeated with a nod. "You are no noble, Tarren. You are not even a priestess of Lolth."

Tarren said nothing as she fought back the urge to cry. The webs that held her were proof that the Spider Queen had abandoned her.

"All is not lost for you, Tarren," Matron Saffir said, lifting the prisoner's chin gently. "Redemption is a possibility even for those who have failed Lolth so completely. A day may come when you are once again lifted into the Spider Queen's graces and given a place of honor on the Web."

"What must I do?" Tarren asked quietly. If she was fortunate, she would soon regain her spells from her goddess, and possibly even take revenge on the house that had killed her family.

"You must atone for… your failures," matron Saffir replied, a cold smile growing on her face. Tarren could feel an icy chill strike through her with each word as mystical energies began to surround her. "You will never, ever, so much as utter the name Hen Wyneb," Saffir said. "You will never in any form implicate House Evnissien in the destruction of your family and your house. House Evnissien is your new home, Tarren the commoner. You are no noble, of no family worth remembering."

"I am a daughter of…" Tarren began, a surge of defiance rising up within her. Before she could so much as speak the name of her house, however, her throat tightened, quickly cutting off her air. Gasping and wheezing for breath, Tarren kicked against her bindings, falling onto her side as she tried desperately to breathe.

As suddenly as it began, the horrible strangulation ended. Tarren gulped in a lungful of air as she was once again lifted to a kneeling position in front of her new matron.

"It is difficult, at best, to break the geas," Saffir explained. "Now you understand the consequences of your foolishness."

Tarren nodded fearfully.

"Good," Matron Saffir said. "That will keep you from ever betraying your new house. But to regain your grace as a priestess of Lolth, you must learn… humility."

"Humility?" Tarren echoed quietly.

"Yes," Matron Saffir answered. She gestured to Tarren's left. The fallen noble looked over her shoulder to see Neifion, the traitor, the disgusting male who had captured her with underhanded arcane tricks and deceit. "You are to be his."

"No!" Tarren retorted, struggling to stand. Arwydd's whip bit into her back once more, knocking her onto her face and exposing her rear and legs to another painful strike of the cruel weapon. Twitching madly from the poison, Tarren found herself being forced to kneel once more by Neifion's own hands.

"I promise to make your time as enjoyable as possible," the traitor whispered into her ear, letting his hands slide down her side to her hips. Tarren tried to pull away from his touch, only to receive one more lash from the priestess behind her.

"You will bear a daughter for this house," Matron Saffir explained. "Neifion's daughter. And once you do that, you will be restored to Lolth's graces."

Tarren opened her mouth to protest, but Matron Saffir's warning gaze quieted her before she could speak. Tarren's head dropped in defeat, her humiliation completed.

"Neifion, she is yours," Matron Saffir said, turning from the fallen noble. "You may do with her as you like, in return for your invaluable services against House Hen Wyneb."

"You are indeed gracious, mistress," Neifion said with a bow. "Ever am I loyal to you, and to you alone."

"Perhaps we should kill her, and eliminate all traces of Hen Wyneb."

"Our casualties against Hen Wyneb were far more than we would have liked," Matron Saffir said, turning away from the courtyard. "That whelp, however useless you may think she is, is still a priestess of Lolth."

"Not until she bears a daughter to that… male," Talaith commented, following her mother into the matron's private chambers. "If she ever manages to break the geas, she can destroy our house with a simple accusation."

"House Hen Wyneb is dead and gone," Matron Saffir pointed out, motioning for her daughter to join her at a small table that held a crystal decanter of wine. "Within weeks all traces of them will be obliterated, and accusations will be pointless. What we must do is look ahead, and be thankful that once she bears a daughter, for our house and not that mercenary, that we will have another priestess, one who has already completed most of her studies at Arlais-Corryn. And by the time that lecherous Neifion is done with her, her hatred and vengeance will turn squarely to him and away from us. And with her to feed his perverted desires, he will remain loyal to us."

"I don't like either one," Talaith remarked.

"But we need them both," Matron Saffir observed. Talaith paused for a long moment, but finally nodded in agreement.

"So a new priestess, and a new wizard," Talaith said, mulling over the gains her house had made. "And forty new soldiers."

"Not as many as I would have hoped," Matron Saffir admitted. "Hen Wyneb's commoners were far more loyal than I would have expected."

"House Siryddion could have left more soldiers than they did," Talaith said. "They will need us if they ever move against Caer Llion. And twenty-five soldiers and a cask of gold for Pryderi…"

"We can buy more soldiers," Saffir said. "A wizard as powerful as Pryderi is not easy to find. And do not fear, Talaith. I have already made inquiries regarding our new wizard. His potential is seemingly unlimited. For once, your impulsive younger sister has made a good choice as to her consort."

"We still need soldiers," Talaith remarked. "We cannot maintain the farms and rothe herds we acquired from Hen Wyneb without troops to guard our new holdings."

"We are not farmers, dear Talaith," Matron Saffir explained. "You must learn that we cannot ever control everything. There are lower houses, houses with gold and gems to offer, and soldiers that have already been trained, that need the income that these holdings offer. Why, Hen Wyneb's own ally, Lleision, has already offered a fair sum, as well as a half dozen soldiers and a young commoner priestess, for some of our new lichen farms."

"Lleision," Talaith muttered. "Their soldiers are barely worth the weapons they carry."

"But they are still soldiers," Saffir countered. "And they are soldiers that fight for us, rather than against our allies in House Gwalchgwynn."

"We will still need Lolth to favor us if we are to survive Maredudd and Lainbhui," she said. Saffir smiled faintly.

"She will," the matron began, "but it will depend upon you."

"What do you mean?" Talaith asked.

"I have had a dream," Matron Saffir explained. "A vision, sent by the Spider Queen herself. She has shown me what we must do to gain her favor, to rise above the other houses of Llyr in Her eyes."

"What must we do?" Talaith asked, growing faintly eager. Saffir smiled.

"What must you do," the matron clarified. "It will be your quest, Talaith."

"I will do what I must for the glory of our house," Talaith offered. "What must I do?"

Matron Saffir's smile widened ever so faintly.

"You have never seen the surface, daughter," she said. "But very soon, you will."