Homeland (The Legend of Drizzt #1)(31)

“A feint within a feint within a feint!” Zak calmly explained. Drizzt slumped to the floor, unconscious. Matron Malice nodded her approval as Zak walked back over to her.

“He is ready for the Academy,” she remarked.

Zak’s face turned sour and he did not answer.

“Vierna is there already,” Malice continued, “to teach as a mistress in Arach-Tinilith, the School of Lloth. It is a high honor.”

A laurel for House Do’Urden, Zak knew, but he was smart enough to keep his thoughts silent.

“Dinin will leave soon,” said the matron.

Zak was surprised. Two children serving as masters in the Academy at the same time? “You must have worked hard to get such accommodations,” he dared to remark.

Matron Malice smiled. “Favors owed, favors called in.”

“To what end?” asked Zak. “Protection for Drizzt?”

Malice laughed aloud. “From what I have just witnessed, Drizzt would more likely protect the other two!”

Zak bit his lip at the comment. Dinin was still twice the fighter and ten times the heartless killer as Drizzt. Zak knew that Malice had other motives. “Three of the first eight houses will be represented by no fewer than four children in the Academy over the next two decades,” Matron Malice admitted. “Matron Baenre’s own son will begin in the same class as Drizzt.”

“So you have aspirations,” Zak said. “How high, then, will House Do’Urden climb under the guidance of Matron Malice?”

“Sarcasm will cost you your tongue,” the matron mother warned. “We would be fools to let slip by such an opportunity to learn more of our rivals!”

“The first eight houses,” Zak mused. “Be cautious, Matron Malice. Do not forget o watch for rivals among the lesser houses. There once was a house named DeVir that made such a mistake.”

“No attack will come from behind,” Malice sneered. “We are the ninth house but boast more power than but a handful of others. None will strike at our backs; there are easier targets higher up the line.”

“And all to our gain,” Zak put in.

“That is the point of it all, is it not?” Malice asked, her evil smile wide on her face.

Zak didn’t need to respond; the matron knew his true feelings. That precisely was not the point.

“Speak less and your jaw will heal faster,” Zak said later, when he again was alone with Drizzt.

Drizzt cast him a vile glance. The weapon master shook his head. “We have become





Chapter 9

Families


“Come quickly,” Zak instructed Drizzt one evening after they had finished their sparring. By the urgency of the weapon master’s tone, and by the fact that Zak didn’t even pause to wait for Drizzt, Drizzt knew that something important was happening.

He finally caught up to Zak on the balcony of House Do’Urden, where Maya and Briza already stood.

“What is it?” Drizzt asked. Zak pulled him close and pointed out across the great cavern, to the northeastern reaches of the city. Lights flashed and faded in sudden bursts, a pillar of fire rose into the air, then disappeared.

“A raid,” Briza said offhandedly. “Minor houses, and of no concern to us,” Zak saw that Drizzt did not understand.

“One house has attacked another,” he explained. “Revenge, perhaps, but most likely an attempt to climb to a higher rank in the city.”

“The battle has been long,” Briza remarked, “and still the lights flash.”

Zak continued to clarify the event for the confused secondboy of the house. “The attackers should have blocked the battle within rings of darkness. Their inability to do so might indicate that the defending house was ready for the raid.”

“All cannot be going well for the attackers,” Maya agreed. Drizzt could hardly believe what he was hearing. Even more alarming than the news itself was the way his family talked about the event. They were so calm in their descriptions, as if this was an expected occurrence.

“The attackers must leave no witnesses,” Zak explained to Drizzt, “else they will face the wrath of the ruling council.”

“But we are witnesses,” Drizzt reasoned.

“No,” Zak replied. “We are onlookers; this battle is none of our affair. Only the nobles of the defending house are awarded the right to place accusations against their attackers.”

“If any nobles are left alive,” Briza added, obviously enjoying the drama. At that moment, Drizzt wasn’t sure if he liked this new revelation. However he might have felt, he found that he could not tear his gaze from the continuing spectacle of drow battle. All the Do’Urden compound was astir now, soldiers and slaves running about in search of a b etter vantage point and shouting out descriptions of the action and rumors of the perpetrators. This was drow society in all its macabre play, and while it seemed ultimately wrong in the heart of the youngest member of House Do’Urden,

Drizzt could not deny the excitement of the night. Nor could Drizzt deny the expressions of obvious pleasure stamped upon the faces of the three who shared the balcony with him.

Alton made his way through his private chambers one final time, to make certain that any artifacts or tomes that might seem even the least bit sacrilegious were safely hidden. He was expecting a visit from a matron mother, a rare occasion for a master of the Academy not connected with Arach-Tinilith, the School of Lloth. Alton was more than a little anxious about the motives of this particular visitor, Matron SiNafay Hun’ett, head of the city’s fifth house and mother of Masoj, Alton’s partner in conspiracy.