Homeland (The Legend of Drizzt #1)(100)

There still was no sign of anyone. The anteroom’s ornate doors swung in, magically and silently, even as Drizzt raised his hand to knock on them. He saw the matron mother first, sitting smugly on her throne at the rear of the room, her smile inviting.

Drizzt’s discomfort did not diminish when he entered. The whole family was there: Briza, Vierna, and Maya to the sides of their matron, Rizzen and Dinin unobtrusively standing beside the left wall. The whole family. Except for Zak.

Matron Malice studied her son carefully, noting his many wounds. “I instructed you not to leave the house,” she said to Drizzt, but she was not scolding him. “Where did your travels take you?”

“Where is Zaknafein?” Drizzt asked in reply.

“Answer the matron mother!” Briza yelled at him, her snake whip prominently displayed on her belt.

Drizzt glared at her and she recoiled, feeling the same bitter chill that Zaknafein had cast over her earlier in the night.

“I instructed you not to leave the house,” Malice said again, still holding calm. “Why did you disobey me?”

“I had matters to attend,” Drizzt replied, “urgent matters. I did not wish to bother you with them.”

“War is upon us, my son.” Matron Malice explained. “You are vulnerable out in the city by yourself. House Do’Urden cannot afford to lose you now.”

“My business had to be handled alone,” Drizzt answered.

“Is it completed?”

“It is.”

“Then I trust that you will not disobey me again,” The words came calm and even, but Drizzt understood at once the severity of the threat behind them.

“To other matters, then,” Malice went on.

“Where is Zaknafein?” Drizzt dared to ask again.

Briza mumbled some curse under her breath and pulled the whip from her belt. Matron Malice threw an outstretched hand in her direction to stay her. They needed tact, not brutality, to bring Drizzt under control at this critical time. There would be ample opportunities for punishment after House Hun’ett was properly defeated.

“Concern yourself not with the fate of the weapon master,” Malice replied. “He works for the good of House Do’Urden even as we speak on a personal mission,” Drizzt didn’t believe a word of it. Zak would never have left without his weapons. The truth hovered about Drizzt’s thoughts, but he wouldn’t let it in.

“Our concern is House Hun’ett,” Malice went on, addressing them all. “The war’s first strikes may fall this day.”

“The first strikes already have fallen,” Drizzt interrupted.

All eyes came back to him, to his wounds. He wanted to continue the discussion about Zak but knew that he would only get himself, and Zak, if Zak was still alive, into further trouble. Perhaps the conversation would bring him more clues.

“You have seen battle?” Malice asked.

“You know of the Faceless One?” Drizzt asked.

“Master of the Academy,” Dinin answered, “of Sorcere. I have dealt with him often.”

“He has been of use to us in the past,” said Malice, “but no more, I believe. He is a Hun’ett, Gelroos Hun’ett.”

“No,” Drizzt replied. “Once he may have been, but Alton DeVir is his name... was his name.”

“The link!” Dinin growled, suddenly comprehending. “Gelroos was to kill Alton on the night of House DeVir’s fall!”

“It would seem that Alton DeVir proved the stronger,” mused Malice, and all became clear to her. “Matron SiNafay Hun’ett accepted him, used him to her gain,” she explained to her family. She looked back to Drizzt. “You battled with him?”

“He is dead,” Drizzt answered. Matron Malice cackled with delight.

“One less wizard to deal with,” Briza remarked, replacing the whip on her belt.

“Two,” Drizzt corrected, but there was no boasting in his voice. He was not proud of his actions. “Masoj Hun’ett is no more.”

“My son!” Matron Malice cried. “You have brought us a great edge in this war!” She glanced all about her family, infecting them, except Drizzt, with her elation. “House Hun’ett may not even choose to strike us now, knowing its disadvantage. We will not let them get away! We will destroy them this day and become the Eighth House of Menzoberranzan! Woe to the enemies of Daermon N’a’shezbaernon!

“We must move at once, my family,” Malice reasoned, her hands rubbing over each other in excitement. “We cannot wait for an attack. We must take the offensive! Alton DeVir is gone now; the link that justifies this war is no more. Surely the ruling council knew of Hun’ett’s intentions, and with both her wizards dead and the element of surprise lost, Matron SiNafay will move quickly to stop the battle.”

Drizzt’s hand unconsciously slipped into Zak’s pouch as the others joined Malice in her plotting.

“Where is Zak?” Drizzt demanded again, above the chorus. Silence dropped as quickly as the tumult had begun.

“He is of no concern to you, my son,” Malice said to him, still keeping to her tact despite Drizzt’s impudence. “You are the weapon master of House Do’Urden now. Lloth has forgiven your insolence; you have no crimes weighing against you. Your career may begin anew, to glorious heights!”