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"That's right," the demon panted, his breath hot in her ear. "You can never be redeemed. Never."
Tears squeezed from Cavatina's closed eyes and trickled down her salt-encrusted cheeks. "I can never be-"
Suddenly, she realized the flaw in the demon's logic. If descendants of the Miyeritari were free of demonic taint, they didn't need to be redeemed. Yet redemption existed. The ritual had to have been created for a reason, and the ritual itself gave the answer. Redemption required the penitent to look deep into herself, to confront the evil that lay within her very soul. To pry that evil-that taint-out of the darkness that enshrouded it and expose it to Eilistraee's merciful light and-
Yes, daughter. Yes!
Cavatina couldn't have said, in that moment, if it was the single voice of Eilistraee herself speaking or a chorus of voices. Thousands of souls, speaking with one heart. Priestess and lay worshiper, female and male, Dark Maiden and…
Nightshadow.
Cavatina blinked. If a Nightshadow could be among the redeemed, why couldn't she?
Yes, the voice said again.
Cavatina could hear the deeper tones that underlay the word. Bass, baritone, soprano, and alto, all blended into the single voice that was the Masked Lady.
Cavatina wept openly. Relief flooded her. She no longer feared Wendonai's taunting, or any physical cruelties he might inflict. In that moment, nothing but one simple fact mattered.
"I am redeemed!" she cried.
The demon reared back, his eyes blazing with fury. Then he threw back his head and howled.
In that instant, Halisstra lunged.
Q'arlynd, Eldri
Gilkriz walked just ahead of Q'arlynd and Eldri
What's he doing? Q'arlynd signed.
Eldri
Q'arlynd nodded. He'd made discreet enquiries about the staff after returning the feebleminded Eldri
Q'arlynd might have been using his crystal to do the same, had he not been drow. Have you noticed'? he signed to Eldri
I noticed. Eldri
The boy had that wrong, Q'arlynd thought. Daffir had said no such thing. The human had warned that something was approaching. Something big. And it had. He'd predicted not where it had come from, but where it would end up: in the lake. Dissolved to a slurry and washed away.
He'd seen into the future. A common enough accomplishment for a wizard who specialized in divination, but Q'arlynd was starting to wonder if it had been a spell that had been used. Daffir, he recalled, had pressed the staffs diamond to his forehead in just the same way before making his prediction.
They ducked under a sagging beam. Q'arlynd brushed away the cobweb that snagged his hair and flicked a hand to get Eldri
That wouldn't surprise me. It would explain why the diamond is shaped like an hourglass.
Q'arlynd thought back to when he'd first met Eldri
Q'arlynd caught the boy's eye. Could the staff also reveal the past?
I… An odd expression contorted Eldri
Q'arlynd laughed aloud. Could the answer to the riddle of Kraanfhaor's Door really be that simple?
Gilkriz glanced back at them.
So did the priestess just ahead of them, who flicked a warning. Quiet!
Q'arlynd signed a quick apology. Its insincerity was betrayed by his grin, but he didn't care. Hundreds of kiira shimmered in his imagination. Thousands of them. He knew how Eldri
Q'arlynd could do the same-all he needed was that staff.
What is it? Eldri
Q'arlynd forced the grin from his face. I'll tell you later.
A few moments later, he sneaked a glance behind him. The dark lenses that hid Daffir's eyes made it almost impossible to read the human's expression. What's more, Daffir seemed as capable as any drow of hiding his thoughts. If he used his divinations to foresee Q'arlynd's treachery and decided to pre-empt it, there would be little warning.
Q'arlynd would have to be careful when he made his move.
Very careful indeed.
CHAPTER 11
Halisstra watched as the demon worked its torments. Cavatina lay on her back, helpless and weeping, the antithesis of the proud Darksong Knight she'd once been. Wendonai was deep inside her mind, teasing out jagged scraps of shame and loathing. Flaying her, body and soul, until she lay weak and trembling before him.
Halisstra knew just how that felt.
The massive wound the demon had inflicted upon Halisstra earlier had healed itself, bones knitting and organs and flesh growing back until only a shadow of pain remained. She could breathe without the sharp lance of agony that had blotted out all else. Even the callus was gone from her hand; only a faint pucker remained.
She stared at Wendonai's broad back, her eyes spitting hatred. She'd given him what he wanted: a plaything. She hadn't been stupid enough to expect the demon to keep his promise-freedom would be denied her-but she had expected him to return her to Lolth. Wendonai had no further use for Halisstra, after all. Now that she had delivered the Darksong Knight to him, she was insignificant, a creature to be ignored.
That burned.
Still, it might be to her advantage. With Wendonai's attention wholly focused on Cavatina, Halisstra might escape. She would use her bae'qeshel magic to render herself invisible and…
As soon as she thought that, she cringed. The demon would hear her thoughts!
She waited, wincing in anticipation of his blow. He couldn't kill her. Not without Lolth's complicity. But he could hurt her. Hurt her badly.