Family Ties

Aurei learns much about her Drow ancestry from her aunt Zeatt.

52.  

Family ties

 

Aurei turned to Zeatt with a multitude of questions on her lips, but the Drow lady spoke before any of the questions could be asked, "I'm sorry you have to be put in the middle of this.   He's actually a very good man, though not a believer in Yesh, due to his mother, who was one of the faithful, being put to death by the Necromancer's Guild while he was still a young boy.   He blames the Church of Yesh nearly as much as the Necromancer's Guild for her death."

"About a week ago during a session of the imperial senate, a group of armed men stormed the senate and they were attired as Blood Knights, though their faces were obscured by their helms.   He escaped, but a huge army of men attacked the city and the Emperor and his followers had to flee for their lives after two days of fighting.   Of course he suspects the Church of Yesh is behind the attack due to his mistrust of them. St. Kinnis and my fellow Archbishops fleeing from the city certainly did not ease his mind.   I feared the repercussions that might come upon those Drow in Aeropolis that I shepherd if I joined the others in fleeing from him. "

 

"So I trusted in Yesh and allowed his elite guards to arrest me.   I've always had a good relationship with his Excellency, which I know is due in no small part to his great fondness for attractive ladies, but I hope to change his mind toward the Church.   He fled in this monstrously large airship to the northwest and has been trying to determine where to go and who to trust while in exile, while his army continues to fight the civil war in and around Aeropolis.   Yesterday afternoon his lookouts in the crows' nest spotted the battered remains of a Guild Airship being carried slowly by the winds to the east and when they checked on it they found you hanging from a mooring chain a few feet above the ground, barely alive."

 

"When the guards determined you were a Drow, they of course thought of me and took some risk bringing you to me, but it is good that they did, as it took many powerful healing spells cast over a day's time to heal you.   The Emperor of course suspected you were merely a survivor of the crew of the ship, but now he knows the truth and I'm not sure that makes it much better."

 

Aurei recalled the conversations she'd had with King Haroldris and Eleazar about Zeatt and how the half-Drow knight had theorized the Cleric was her aunt.   Aurei swallowed nervously and took a deep breath then asked, "Matron Zeatt, you told the Emperor that you are my aunt -- is that true?"

Zeatt did not answer at first, looking down for an instant or two at her hands, then looking at her squarely in the eyes, "Yes, Aurei, I am indeed your aunt."

Aurei was speechless and merely stared at the Drow woman.

"Your mother was my older sister Alleania Ar’Rilla, I was the youngest daughter.   Our mother hatched a scheme to try to gain access to the Faesidhe Elves' great tree when she learned that it was producing the special white fruit that gives immortality to anyone that eats it. " 

The Drow lady paused, but Aurei's nodding encouraged her that she already knew at least some of the story and so she continued, "It was my mother's will that all of her daughters be pregnant when we accessed the tree, in the hopes that the immortality would be passed down to our offspring, which it was."   Again she looked at Aurei to see if the information surprised her, but Zeatt was pleased to see it was not the first time she had heard this.  Aurei believed her.  

"Two of my three sisters were able to conceive before the raid, as I was, though I was not as advanced in my pregnancy as they were.   There was a Faesidhe informant who gave us a way to get to the tree while a great Drow army in the south kept the Faesidhe focused on a possible invasion.   But we were betrayed just as we had eaten the fruit of the tree and we had to flee.   My mother and my sister Arcradia died at the Clearing of the Ages to Elven arrows.   Your mother, Tholmi (our non-pregnant sister) and I managed to steal an Elven stagecoach and flee the village, but not before both Alleania and Tholmi were hit with arrows.   Tholmi tried to drive the coach through the forest while injured but apparently bled to death and the horses ran recklessly down the rough, winding roads.   Your mother's injuries sent her into labor and I had to deliver you in the seat of the coach as it bounced violently with the runaway team of horses.   I could not stop your mother's loss of blood in the bouncing coach and she died before my eyes.   All I could do was hold on to you and hope the horses would tire soon.   It had been raining I guess -- heavily-- and rounding a bend that bordered the great river that was swollen by rainwater, the wheels of the coach caused a mudslide and sent the coach and the horses tumbling into the water.   I dropped you in the chaos and just barely managed to keep myself from drowning in the raging river.   I can still see the stagecoach bobbing up and down in the water, disappearing from view, with your cries coming from it."

"Aurei, I was scared, wet and alone, and I had no knowledge of the surface world. But I walked many miles along the bank of that river searching and hoping that the stagecoach would be snagged on some tree limb, and that I'd find you alive inside.   I did come across the body of Tholmi, who had been thrown off the top of the stagecoach when it flipped end over end into the river.   I’m afraid I went a little crazy for a while when I found her body.   I pulled her out of the river and stripped off all of her armor and tried for several hours to revive her, though she was long dead.   An Elven arrow had found her just behind her left ear, and had severed an artery."  

"When I finally calmed down and accepted that she was dead, and that you and the body of Alleania were long gone, I simply buried Tholmi and hid her armor and weapons. Then, in a state of total despair, I decided to try to see as much of the surface world that I could before someone found me and killed me."   

"So I followed the course of the river for many days south, travelling by night at first.    Months passed and I was pregnant, you see, so I began to try to figure out a way to at least save the daughter I was carrying.   I still had a year to go in my pregnancy before I delivered, though, and I was scared to death of humans."

"Finally, I wandered up to a monastery about a day's walk west of Aeropolis one winter night when I was exhausted and nearly crazed with hunger.   I tried to stealthily break into a hen house that the monks had next to the monastery, but the monks heard me and managed to capture me in my weakened state. "  

"Though I was a Drow, they had amazing compassion on me and nursed me back to health.  Then they took me to Aeropolis to get St. Kinnis' judgment on what to do with me."

"St. Kinnis is a most holy man, and introduced me to both his own clergy as well as members of the Bitter Dregs, all of whom gave extraordinary kindness to me.   By the time that Sophia was born I had become a follower of Yesh, and studied with the Clerics of Aeropolis to start a new life as one of his humble clerics.   Several years later the first of the exiles from some of the other Drow cities reached Aeropolis, and I strongly encouraged the Imperial Senate to allow them in, which they did, as long as I put my own life up as collateral for their behavior."  

"Fortunately, the refuges were small in number and made up of followers of Yesh who had been so harassed in the Underdark that they risked everything coming to the surface.   I was ordained as their Archbishop, which is not as grand as it sounds, as they only number under a hundred. Never-the-less it is an important position and it enabled me to raise Sophia in peace.   She is slightly younger than you are now and just as lovely. "  

"Sadly, she has no interest in the ministry of Yesh and has pursued the arcane arts as a sorceress -- though not as one of the Necromancer's Guild.   I also adopted a Drow orphan boy who came with some of the first exiles, and raised him as Sophia's slightly older brother.   His name is Khord and both of my children work for the Bitter Dregs.   Thankfully, they were both away on Dregs business when the coup occurred.   Unfortunately, I have not heard from either one since then."

"Wow" was all Aurei could say when Zeatt had finished her story.

The Archbishop smiled, "When I learned my divine spells, I inquired about your fate.  Yesh revealed to me that you had lived, and were healthy and happy in a northern land.   I actually paid some human rangers to locate you  -not to disturb you or let you know in any way that I was looking for you- only to know where you were.   Two years ago they found you, and reported that you were living as the adopted daughter of the Duke of a small Duchy, and working as a barmaid in a tavern he owned."   

"I can't tell you how happy that knowledge made me, Aurei, but not as happy as it does to finally get to meet you.   You have grown up to be a breathtakingly beautiful young woman that serves Yesh, and is under his watchful blessing."

Aurei smiled, but looked down at her feet, thinking about Brother Darv, Brolen and Sir Alvis.

"What is it, child?"  Zeatt asked, seeing her sadness.

"I was just thinking about three followers of Yesh who didn't seem to be under his watchful blessing the last few days, and I can't help but ask why?   Brother Darv has been our town's Cleric for a long, long time, and there are so many people in Westmark that need him.    Brolen was the chief lieutenant of my Ducal guard, and I had known him all of my life.   Sir Alvis is even more heart-breaking to me -he had not finished establishing the branch of his Knightly Order in Westmark, and we were all learning so much from him, but now he is probably being tortured and changed into a Death Knight by Soric Potollis.   Then there is the horrid news that Soric is still alive as some sort of unholy undead thing, and is still running the show for the Necromancer's Guild! So you'll understand why it seems a bit difficult for me to see any sort of blessing from Yesh right now."

Zeatt closed her eyes and sighed, "I don't have answers for you, Aurei, and I too have had times when I felt as if I was all alone in a sea of chaos.   What I have learned in the years that I have lived on the surface as a follower of Yesh is that there are things that every person must go through, no matter what they believe in, what sort of magic they practice, or how skilled they are with the quill pen or long sword.   Sadly, much of the time, these times of struggle come lumped together and leave us dazed and injured.   But I also know that in those times, Yesh has always provided a light to get me through the darkness.   He sometimes clears the path before me, other times I stumble along toward his light through the darkness.   But there is always a right way, I have found, and if I persevere, I will get on that right path, with Yesh's help.   You've lost three dear people, and I cannot say why Yesh allowed them to be taken.   But he has indeed given you strength, and through you, he has destroyed one of Soric's Death Knights.   Moreover, he has blessed me with your presence in my captivity and for that I am very thankful."

Aurei stood up, and embraced her newly found aunt as both women began to cry.   A few minutes later they both were seated again on the side of the bed.

"I just wish I could let my people back in Westmark know what has happened, and that I haven't abandoned them or died."  Aurei said as she dried her eyes from crying.

A sparkle in Zeatt's eyes caused Aurei to give her aunt a quizzical look.   The Drow Cleric looked around her as if someone could be watching them in the closed room, then lifted her skirt high so that her inner thigh was exposed, revealing what looked to Aurei to be a leather scroll strapped to her leg with leather cords.

"Is that a scroll?"  Aurei asked, and Zeatt grinned mischievously.

"It is indeed -thankfully I was not searched when the Imperial guards arrested me.   I thought it might be practical to have this particular scroll in case it was needed.   I think I've found a need."   Zeatt untied the straps and slipped the scroll from around her leg, then lowered her skirt.

"What is it?"   Aurei asked, intrigued.

"It's a spell called 'Message Eye' - you probably have not heard of it, have you?"

Aurei shook her head.

"Well, it produces a magical eye that can see in any one location that the caster is personally familiar with, and those at that location will see a ghost-like image of the caster's eye hovering in that location."

"How creepy!"

"Yes, but the spell allows you to not only see what is going on in that location, but to actually speak a message -a short one- that those at that location can hear.   They can't answer back and the spell does not last long, but I think I have an idea how we can use it for both of our benefits."

"How?"

Though they were locked away in the very luxurious brig of the Emperor's Airship, Zeatt couldn't help but wonder if some of the Emperor's wizards might be spying on them through arcane means, so she pulled Aurei close to her and whispered her plan.