Chapter 21: Affairs

Eilora still had not come back by evening, and Deekin was off with Gil. Dee disappeared before opening time. Generally, the brothel could run itself well enough with their employees, but they still liked to have a hand in it. Or at least, most everyone did.

Xaiviryn informed Aestith that the wizard he knew was willing to do a favor for a cleric, and would meet with Deekin. Aestith protested that it wasn’t a favor to himself, but Xaiviryn waved the matter aside. “Would it help you?”

“A magically enchanted bagpipe that would get the dragonborn bard to stop playing a berimbau? Yes, yes it would.”

He sent Aestith the contact information and Aestith considered going with Deekin, but he had some errands of his own that day, so only passed it off to Deekin. He almost felt sorry for the wizard.

Arcedi came by and Aestith put aside his candy-making operations for a brief reprieve before the two of them discussed business.

Arcedi picked at his hair. With the random braids and odd dreadlocks, it wasn’t something he could brush. “So that errand you sent me on.” He frowned. “I broke into that noble’s house.”

Aestith lifted his head and sat up. “I never would have asked you to do that.”

He rolled his eyes. “This toff walks around with jeweled shoes. I can’t help meself.”

“What did you find?”

He made a face. “At first? Nothing. But they’re really shady, Aestith.”

“The affair?”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, the affair. Their lovesick daughter. It’s sad really.”

“Sort of classic story you’d find in any novel?”

He snorted. “More or less. That’s not even interesting, innit. It’s the parents that concern me. They’re creepy. Totally normal looking. Act totally normal most of the time. Then I find this room, right? It’s a hidden door in the library, but that’s a cliche; it opens into a children’s playroom. From there, there’s another secret entrance--trick was the paintings by the way. It leads down a set of stairs and there’s a ritual chamber in it, right? There are manacles on the altar. And I’m pretty sure they’re bloody cannibals.”

Aestith was silent a long moment as he parsed out the relevant details from the half gish gallop of Arcedi’s method of speaking. “Fascinating. Do you have proof?”

“I took a candle.”

Aestith stilled. “What?”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m not gonna nick their spellbook, but I did flip through it. I don’t understand much of it, of course, but it looks nasty.” He went to his discarded clothing and removed something from his pack. Arcedi had been robbing houses a long time, and had commissioned a long cut of thick velvet with several thicker pouches and pockets that kept the stolen goods from clinking together. The candle was in one of them. He removed it.

Aestith picked it up. The candle was unremarkable, in the Underdark anyway. The tallow was a high quality, and it was expertly carved into an anguished human face. Probably, the fat was from something that could have spoken back and complained about its fat being removed in such a way. Aestith wrapped himself in a thin robe and covered his face before he excused himself and went up the stairs of his tower. He unlocked the chest of bloodmoss with a combination lock and dropped the candle into the chest. He locked it and went back downstairs.

“How long have you had the candle?”

“Maybe two hours.”

He had stolen it, left immediately, and came straight here then. “Good. So—”

Someone knocked at the door. Arcedi sidestepped out of view of it and Aestith wrapped the robe more tightly about himself. He meandered toward the door and opened it enough to see.

Kairon glared down in the dark at Aestith. “Aestith. You never do anything. You’re always up here or out instead of running the brothel. We’re busy tonight and I want some time to myself for once, so you can come down and work.”

“What? Why do I need to do anything? That’s why we pay Stoutbrew and Hogpen.”

“Well, this guy is really high maintenance. He literally bought every courtesan and he’s demanding cakes and chocolates, and Gil ate it all this morning--anyway, can you help or not?”

“Just tell him no,” Aestith said flatly.

“He’s a really high-paying guest.”

“It’s almost midnight. There are no bakeries open. Tell him his demands are ridiculous. He’ll get over it.”

“Just get off your ass and help us out,” Kairon said.

Aestith rolled his eyes and said, “Give me a minute. I need to get dressed.”

After Kairon had gone, Arcedi said in a mixture of Common and Undercommon, “You look in a foul mood, innit.”

Aestith sighed. “I’m more irritated that they can’t figure this shit out on their own.” He had wanted to make some more candy tonight too, and he had more questions for Arcedi. Aestith dressed, as did Arcedi. Arcedi stayed while Aestith did something with his hair. He used the time to finish questioning him about the nobles. Arcedi told Aestith too many and too few details about the house at the same time; the pale drow hinged onto inane details and would skip over anything Aestith thought might have been interesting. The bones from the butchered people, Arcedi had been unable to find. He said that there was a sewer grate through one of the halls in the underground section that looked as if it were frequently disturbed, but that could be from either dumping bodies or as a way to come and go.

“Did you go inside?”

“No, I got out from street level.” He tilted his head, and explained that he had been able to sneak into the servant’s passage to the second floor and get into a tree. The tree had been near the perimeter wall, and he had scaled down it, unseen as far as he was aware. Aestith set the red pigmented beeswax aside and looked at his lips in the mirror, then back at Arcedi.

“Arcedi? Would you mind renting out a room at a nearby inn? I’ll meet you there.”

“I have a better idea, lovey.” The last word was in Common; there wasn’t an Undercommon equivalent. “I’ll meet you near the inn with a carriage.”

Aestith walked downstairs, past the room that the guest was obviously in, from the sounds, and down the stairs. Tim and Kairon looked to be in a tizzy and Hogpen seemed exhausted. Who was this new patron to need so much attention?

Aestith glanced at Tim’s guestbook, surprised he recognized the penmanship. He certainly didn’t care if Xaiviryn bought every whore in the brothel and had an orgy so long as he paid. He thought less of him for being with non-drow, though.

Aestith said, “I’ll go figure out the cakes and chocolates. You guys deal with his lizard shit. And make sure he pays.”

“Thanks, Aestith,” Kairon said with some sarcasm.

Aestith waved and marched off, but not in search of a late night patissiere. He met Arcedi outside the inn as requested. The other had already hired a carriage, and given the man directions. It made Aestith vaguely uneasy, but he thought he had Arcedi relatively well-figured out. The carriage driver took them to the docks and Arcedi brought Aestith down to the smaller boats. He passed them with a critical eye, then seemed to pick one out.

As a guard passed, Arcedi held Aestith’s hips and bent his head near the other’s ear, which was just awkward enough that the guard hurried. The pose allowed them to see in both directions. When they were alone, they parted. Arcedi inclined his head toward the boat.

They stole onto the boat and Arcedi steered it gently out to sea.

“Where are we going?” Aestith asked, not especially concerned.

“Out away from the city. Only just far enough.” He winked.

Aestith asked Arcedi about the noble, if there was anything else there.

The pale drow replied, “Not really, but after finding that chamber, I wasn’t really inclined to stick around. Does it help you at all?”

It really only made things more convoluted. The love story might have just been some kind of leverage that Xaiviryn needed over the paladin, but the cultist bit complicated things. He wondered if Xaiviryn knew, or if it was worth mentioning to him. He supposed that if Xaiviryn was involved this far, he had to know.

He couldn’t help feeling slightly disgusted at the idea that Xaiviryn was with non-drow, particularly Tirowan. It wasn’t jealousy; that required being possessive and covetous, and was an emotion that Aestith didn’t particularly understand. Jealousy wasn’t sensible or logical. All Aestith felt was simple disgust.

Granted, he couldn’t blame either Xaiviryn or Arcedi for it. Arcedi only had a passing interest in the male body and had thought of himself as a moon elf for much of his life. Xaiviryn liked men well enough, but had an obvious desire for variety, coupled with his libido, it was a small wonder he was the way he was. If Aestith were capable of the emotion, he may have felt pity for them both.

“I appreciate the information,” Aestith said. The boat sailed a fair distance out, away from the perpetual stink of the city.

Arcedi trimmed the sail and dropped the anchor. He moved about on the small deck, then spread a blanket he had found in the cabin over an empty space. He flopped down on it, staring upwards. Aestith laid down next to him. The railing on the boat obscured the otherwise unimpeded view of the horizon, and Aestith was grateful for the small obstruction.

“This entire seduction scene was quite unnecessary,” Aestith mused, running a finger along Aracnelxeth’s chest.

Arcedi pointed. “Look without Darkvision.”

Aestith’s gaze followed along where Arcedi pointed, at the blinding sky. Thousands of bright white lights, hundreds of blue and red. Millions of eyes staring downwards. With some effort and great reluctance, he allowed himself to go blind to the dark. The water gently rocked and swayed the boat. Arcedi was warm beside him, and the world was unnaturally dark.

Aestith felt blind and exposed, but the night sky was, bizarrely, not as bright. Swirls of purple and blue blotted out stars he had been able to see in infrared. Arcedi said, “So when I really realized I was different from moon elves was when discussing the night sky.” His fingers traced a constellation. “Because we can’t see the constellations without sacrificing infrared. The whole night sky is full of stars and it’s bloody near-impossible to differentiate one shape from another, even if you do know the names and locations of the stars. Then you realize that so many of the stars out there don’t have names--because other races can’t see them.” He laughed. Aestith would have found it amusing, had they been safely indoors. “We’d make great astronomers, or navigators on a ship. But looking at even the night sky kinda burns after a while.” He rolled his head and looked at Aestith. The shadows made his white skin stand out in vivid contrast, like some kind of abstract painting. In the Underdark, he would be considered a blessing; with his skin tone, he made a perfect spy on the World Above. “But I thought you should see it, even just once.”

While Aestith did not regret the knowledge gained from the venture, he hated being under the open sky, and wasn’t sure which was worse. Was it better to be so limited in the dark, or to see the night sky for the speckled horror it really was? It was better to not think about it. Aestith leaned forward. His lips brushed Arcedi’s and a muffled voice said, “Aestith, where are you?”

Aestith turned his head, and realized the sending stone was still in his pocket. He groaned and reached for the stone. Aestith said, “Kairon?”

“It has been hours. This guy keeps yelling about cakes and chocolates. Where are you?”

Aestith rolled his eyes. “There aren’t any bakeries open this time of night.”

“Well, can’t you bake? Get back here!”

Aestith snorted. “No.”

Kairon swore. Aestith set the stone down and tried to relax as Arcedi’s fingers wandered down his body. A short while later, Kairon’s voice disrupted the tranquility. “We’re breaking into your room.”

Aestith’s eyes widened. “Don’t you fucking dare—” But it was silent and Kairon offered no response. Aestith made a few attempts to contact again, but short of a spell, he assumed the matter was lost. The Club had a master key to the bedrooms. He didn’t really have anything of interest in there, but they would no doubt attempt to get into his lab. He ground his teeth. There were two locks to get in though, and neither Tim nor Kairon knew anything about lockpicking or even had a set of proper tools. So unless Monkey or Dee showed up, they couldn’t possibly get in.

Did Tirowan know the Knock spell? Aestith smirked; she was busy.

Arcedi said, “Do you want to go home and stop them?”

Aestith sighed. “It will take too long to get there. They’ll have already gotten into my room by then. They could try to break the door to my lab, but the brothel will pay for damages so I don’t think they will. Neither of them have lockpicking tools or the skills to pick the locks.” He made a face. “No. Please continue.”

??expand upon note

The boat rocked with their movements. Aestith could almost forget that the sky was above him instead of a cavern; that instead of stone, the horizon stretched as far as he could see if he dared to look. He could almost forget that the reason he was quiet during these moments was because sound echoed in a cave, instead of being carried by the water.

#

Adam was already looking for Aestith, ready for his next fix and eager to sell the rest. He said, “There are a lot of people coming and going at the temple right now. They’ve been doing construction for the past few months, building some kind of tower. I couldn’t get into it to look, but it’s almost finished.”

“Do you know what it’s for?”

Adam considered, then said, “Do you want me to sneak in?”

Aestith shook his head. “Anything else?”

Adam tested the weight of the new bag of candies in one hand before he tucked it under his coat. “Yeah. They’ve been getting shipments of residuum.”

“How did you know that’s what it is?”

Adam stared at Aestith flatly. “I heard them talking.”

“How much?”

He hesitated. “I saw the wagons coming in when they were talking.”

Wagons? Multiple?

Someone getting in this much residuum was definitely doing something. It was a temple, so probably nothing nefarious exactly, but something that might disrupt Aestith’s plans, considering the nature of the temple. It may be bad for Arcedi and Xaiviryn. Any criminal element really. It was hard to say what they were doing.

“Keep watching them. Let me know if they get any other strange shipments.”

Adam gave Aestith a bit of coin for the candies and the two parted.

In the Traveler’s Club, Kairon and Tim were just rising from bed while Aestith checked the books. There was an entry in the ledger for no insignificant sum the night previous under Zelvier. It was exactly what they needed to put them back within operating costs with a bit of extra, which would help considering that the Gazette ran an article that claimed that the brothel owners murdered people and attacked patrons.

They really did need to do something about Emerick.

Aestith inspected his room, irritated to find a note in Tim’s handwriting that read “Aestith sucks” on his writing desk. Aestith tossed it into the fireplace and set it on fire. In the washroom, he immediately spotted all of the bottles of oils and creams with disturbed lids. A cursory inspection proved that they had all been mixed together and put back in random order. Petty, really, which fit Kairon and Tim’s motif. Not to mention that, since Monkey had no inclination to have anything to do with the Club, let alone live here, Tirowan had since taken over his room. It led to some amusing spats over the bathroom between Aestith and she, but Kairon and Tim had made little effort to discover whose cosmetics were whose, and mixed all of them together.

Aestith separated them neatly and poured out the ruined bottles and canisters on his side. He actually preferred to buy the products in bulk and decant them, so he spent about an hour cleaning the containers out and refilling them, then went to inspect the lock on his tower. It was still locked. It looked like they had tried to pick it with a couple of steak knives. Aestith snorted, unlocked it. The locks turned so they hadn’t destroyed it that much. The trapdoor was still locked and seemed untouched.

It didn’t change the fact that now they were curious though, and the lab was compromised. Not to mention the invasion of his privacy and blatant disrespect.

Aestith locked everything down again and drew up another ad for the brothel. He asked Tirowan if she had a portrait of herself, which of course she did--a small one. He thanked her and took it and the ad to another paper. He placed the ad and bought a newspaper. He spent the afternoon looking for rentals in the paper with the intention of seeing Xaiviryn at some point to mention the cultists to him.

Arcedi dropped by late in the night, and couldn’t stay long. He said, “We need to leave town, Aestith.”

He sighed. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

He shook his head. “If that tower is completed, we need to leave town.”

“I never asked you to go into the tower.”

“Well, good thing I did!” He dropped a charcoal sketch into Aestith’s lap.

Aestith turned it around. He almost complained that the symbol was some kind of wizardry, but he stopped. It wasn’t. It was reminiscent of the Zone of Truth spell, but on a far larger, grander scale. “What is this?”

Arcedi tilted his head. “That’s the symbol on the floor of that tower. The one at the temple.”

“What about the nobles?”

“Hang them. Doesn’t matter.” He pointed at the symbol. “I took it to a wizard I know, right? He had to go through some books, but this is going to expand around the city.” He shivered. “No more lying, no more disguises. And it’s permanent. Everywhere in the city.”

Aestith’s skin crawled. “Shit.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I was leaving in the next few days, before it gets completed. You should too.” Arcedi went to the window.

Aestith said, “Where will you go?”

He shrugged. “Luskan, probably? No way it’s getting built there.”

Aestith hated sailing. He would have to start all over again in Luskan. With Aracnelxeth maybe. Or Neverwinter? It was only a matter of time before this prototype was constructed there as well.

“Do you know if any other factions or private parties have tried to sabotage it?”

“Have you seen it?” Arcedi laughed. “It’s guarded by guardsmen, paladins, and clerics.”

“You got in.”

Arcedi rolled his eyes. “I’d love to regale you with a tale of pickpocketing, scaling walls, and breaking in through windows, Aestith, but you’ll have to settle with one tourist sneaking away from the tour.”

Aestith blinked. “That’s actually rather brilliant, Arcedi.”

He grinned. “I thought so.”

The cleric put a hand on Arcedi’s, to stop him climbing out the window. “But do you know anyone who is planning on sabotaging it?”

He sighed. “I know guilds that have been trying to find a way to do it and been unable to. And I know there have been some arrests.” He put a foot on the sill. “There are going to be more arrests too, once it’s functional. It’s about half a month from completion.”

“How did I not realize?” Aestith muttered.

“You haven’t been here long, and been busy.” He shrugged. “Me? I’ve no excuse. I see a tower, I see construction, and that’s boring. Shoulda been paying attention, innit? Ah, well. Found out in time.” He started to duck through the window.

“Arcedi?”

“Hm?”

“When do you leave? Visit me before you do.”

“Sooner than that, I hope.” He grinned. “Just some things I have to do first.” He ducked and climbed down the side of the building. A cool breeze rustled the heavy damask curtains and chilled the skin. Somewhere in the dark, a dog barked, then was silenced.

#

The tea steamed a woody aroma of an Underdark brew. Haeltania knew by scent alone that nothing in it could harm her. The exquisitely made glass cup was warm to the touch. In the dim light, she could see the silver-veined pattern of webs embedded in the glass.

Haeltania rarely met anyone who could make her feel less beautiful than she was, and the priestess across from her was no exception; though Ondalia did make Haeltania feel underdressed, from the priestess’s immaculately braided hair to her gilded nails and her wine-colored lips. Haeltania should have worn that lipstick at least.

She did not let it bother her; she had more important matters at hand than her appearance. “And so, if I gain your support, we would expand upon our current trade routes to support your own ventures.”

Ondalia sipped her tea and watched. She could be reading Haeltania’s mind. The priestess set the glass cup on its matching saucer. The pot sat between them, the image of a spider set on the interior of the glass. “Do you have your sisters’ support, or are you offering services you cannot fulfill?”

Haeltania tilted her head. “When I am a priestess, Amalette will hardly be worthy of being the matron of my family.” She smiled. “She will step down willingly, I imagine.”

“Should you fail, I will still require payment.”

Haeltania’s lips curled into the beginnings of a sneer. She stifled the expression. “I am Lolth’s Chosen. Aestith is a stupid boy.” She tilted her head. “It is a slaughter, not a real Trial at all really.” She paused. “But I would repay you your initial support, with the opening of the trade agreements when you sponsor me in the church.”

The priestess frowned. “And should you fail, despite your confidence?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “My sisters support me. They will repay you.”

Ondalia nodded. “Consider it done, Chosen of Lolth.” She lifted the cup. “I shall contact the High Priestess nearest Skullport and make some arrangements on your behalf. The rest is entirely in your capable hands. You had best hurry.”

Haeltania set the cup on the serving tray. “I apologize, priestess, but I’ve little time to waste.” Her heart pounded as she left the grand hall, to the front gate. Sailanshin fell into step, slightly behind her and respectful.

“The Lady Ondalia has requested that I am to escort you,” he said.

Haeltania glanced at him. He really did have the most perfect face she had ever seen on a male. He was exquisite. “I would have you accompany me,” she admitted.

She turned from him. She couldn’t afford the luxury of lying with him, not now. She had too many preparations to make, and she had to leave quickly. It was a long journey to Skullport.

This concludes the first book in Axiom of Spiders. The next one will begin soon!