Magical Mayhem with a Pegasus
Magical Mayhem with a Pegasus (4,105 words) by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Samiar Ravarel, Alustriel Silverhand
Additional Tags: Canon Divergence, Curse Breaking, Implied/Referenced Gender Dysphoria
Series: Part 6 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:
Inspired bysenmut and ilyena_sylph's fics Ranger and Pegasus and Making the Most of Magical Mayhem.
The italicized section at the start of the first scene is a direct excerpt from “Making the Most of Magical Mayhem”. There is also a certain amount of altered borrowing from that fic, its fork "An Unusual Arrival", and, in one specific instance,senmut's fic "Honest Sharing"
If you are confused by this fic, please go read the linked inspiring fics, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with them.
Samiar Ravarel, full sun elf, if a bit more worldly than some of that race, had seen many things in his long life. What he had not seen was a ten-foot long panther that reeked of astral magic walk nonchalantly past him, pause, blink twice, and then keep walking.
He was certain his entire lineage, despite being of the stern stuff to remain among other races, were questioning his sanity as he scooped up what he had gathered, and followed, curious more than anything, and half-certain that had been an invitation.
The pegasus at the edge of the more densely wooded thicket he followed the panther to—and that it had gone into—made it unlikely that this was a trap… but he still paused and readied a spell, just in case.
“No need for casting, Saer,” a voice called, from up in the tree that the pegasus was standing beneath. “I am the reason the cat came, and I seek only a moment to speak, to explain why I seek you, before I will go my own way if you choose. You are Saer Ravarel the curse-breaker?”
“I am Samiar Ravarel,” Samiar replied, peering up into the tree, trying to see what he could of what kind of being was speaking to him. “And curses are rather a fascination of mine. Are you suffering some affliction, then?”
“Yes. Please do not be alarmed; I truly am seeking help, as difficult as that is for one of my kind,” the voice said, before a cloaked figure, bearing two scabbards, dropped about twice human height to the ground, landing beside the pegasus. He moved slowly, jet-black hands coming up to push the hood from an equally black face and white hair. “My name is Drizzt Do’Urden.”
Samiar felt the instinctive fear and hate try to surge up in him at the sight of an armed drow, but… the pegasus was lipping at one of the pouches slung on the drow’s belt? The drow was laughing at that and taking something out of the pouch to offer it to the pegasus? And was now stroking the pegasus’s neck as it chewed whatever he had given it?
That was even more bewildering than the fact that this drow wore none of the enchanted garb of raiding drow, and was moving carefully and speaking in Common, asking for help.
He knew, perfectly well, that drow were excellent liars, and one might be using tongues to speak, but… he also knew that it was not possible to fool a pegasus’s innate sense of a person’s nature. Even so, he still twitched his fingers through the motion for detect thoughts, focusing on the drow. “Drizzt Do’Urden, hm? Well, at least we are even on the matter of names, now, though I still do not know the name of your friend there.
“But what curse troubles you, that your own people could not deal with better than I?” The phrasing of his question was deliberate, as even though Drizzt was very clearly not evil, it was still possible that he was neutral, and a Vhaeraunite scout or information gatherer.
“My friend is called Bright Eyes. And I have no people, Saer,” Drizzt said in full honesty. “I long-since exiled myself from them, and then from the Underdark itself. I live from the wilds, doing all I can to serve as a ranger, but I made a mistake in the last set of ruins I cleared.
“While I could feel magic, it did not feel innately tainted or wrong, and the box I took from there called to me, for it was inlaid with a cat much like my companion that drew you here.” He dropped his eyes, and Bright Eyes bumped her nose against his chest. “The curse upon it escaped as I opened the box, and now… I need aid.”
That was the truth and nothing but, Samiar felt, reading the truth of the ‘no people’ and the ‘I should have known better’ alike, as well as the deep chagrin in the latter. “You appear to be healthy enough,” he said curiously, raising a brow, then flicked his fingers, “no, no. Come, we will talk within my home.”
If the pegasus—Bright Eyes, Samiar reminded himself—had not been present, he would have cast an arcane eye to keep an eye on Drizzt Do’Urden as he led the way to his tower, but she was, so he was willing to place enough trust in her goodly nature to expose his back to Drizzt.
As time passed, Drizzt slowly braved asking Samiar about elven history and culture, making it clear he truly was just curious about how the schism was taught on the surface.
But after an extensive discussion of the topic, Samiar wondered if it had been too much for the drow ranger, as Drizzt had left and was gone for three whole nights, and well into the fourth day.
“My apologies for being gone so long,” Drizzt said when he did come in, carrying a bounty of foods that had been smoked. “Everything you say about the history, is what we are taught but as if in a mirror.
“I trust in it, as my own society is built on lies, yet… were those who were innocent of it all given any choice to leave their heritage, and not be cast into the simmering pool of rage and hate?”
Samiar helped him store the foods, considering that. “Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden, daughter of the one that became Lolth, went with your people, to try and provide a way back, or so the legend says. I do not think She has had much luck.”
“I still find it hard to believe She exists,” Drizzt said, “despite what my friends Thyl and Lin have taught me of her.”
“Thyl and Lin?” Samiar said. “Do you mean Inthylyn and Lilinthar Aerasumé?”
“I do,” Drizzt replied. “Why? Do you know them?”
“They’re my cousin Sharr’s sons. How did you come to meet them?”
“The year after Bright Eyes hatched, she took to helping me and Guen guard the roads,” Drizzt said. “And a young pegasus helping to do such eventually caused enough curiosity—especially with the fact that we never stuck around afterwards—that Thyl and Lin’s mother sent them to fulfill a request she had received for someone to investigate the matter.”
“Why would she have received such a request?” Samiar asked.
Drizzt looked at his friend oddly. “She’s the ruler of Silverymoon. Why wouldn’t the hamlets in Silverymoon’s claimed lands send their request to her?”
“Wait, that’s actually El- Alustriel up there?” And at Drizzt’s bewildered look, Samiar explained, “She ruled Silverymoon for a couple decades, around… four and a half centuries ago, under the name Elué Dualen, before giving up the rule to someone else.
“And given how instrumental she was in making Silverymoon into what it is, I thought the current ruler was someone else having taken up the name and likeness for added legitimacy.”
“Well, Thyl and Lin were quite clear about their mother being the current ruler, so apparently not.”
“We’re going up to Silverymoon, then,” Samiar said. “Sharr can help me translate the box’s inscription, and once we know what it says, Alustriel can help me figure out how to break the curse.”
Drizzt did not wince, but it took a significant force of will to manage it. Thyl and Lin had also been quite clear about the fact that their father had been dead for several decades, but Samiar’s comment about getting Sharr’s help with the translation was just the latest indication that he still thought his cousin was alive. It would be much better for that news to be delivered by someone who had actually known the man, though, so Drizzt was just going to make sure to be extra careful in what he said about his friends until then.
It was not common for the gate guards to send messages directly to Alustriel while she was seeing her appointments for the day, but it did happen occasionally, and the message she had just received certainly justified the decision.
Someone using the name Samiar Ravarel had arrived at the Blacklar Gate with a drow ranger of Mielikki who had a pegasus friend, saying that he was Sharrevaliir's cousin as though he expected them to recognize his cousin’s name—and Alustriel could almost hear the confusion the guards must have felt at that—and declared that he and his friend had come to meet with her in a way that made it clear he was expecting her to wish to do so quite soon. The guards had allowed the group to enter, and given them a guide, but felt she should be informed before they reached the Palace.
If it really was Samiar, then he clearly had no idea about Sharr’s death, and if it wasn’t, well… she would have plenty of questions for the impostor. A quick sending to Taern informed him of the situation, then she sent her page off to tell the guards at the Palace entrances which of the rooms designated for casual conversation the pair should be shown to, and started writing out notes to the rest of her day’s appointments apologizing for canceling on short notice.
Notes sent off with another page to be delivered, Alustriel then went to the conversation room she had specified, and settled herself on one of the divans. Not long after, a page stuck his head into the room and said, “People to see you, Lady.”
“Thank you, Allandryn,” Alustriel said. “I’m expecting them.” And then, before the pair could enter the room, she moved her fingers in the correct pattern to cast discern lies.
The page had ducked back out of the room as she did that, and then Alustriel rose to her feet as a sun elf—and that certainly looked like Samiar—and a drow entered the room. The sun elf moved towards her, reaching out for an embrace, and said, “Hello, El- Alustriel, dear one.”
“Hello, Sam,” she replied, allowing a brief embrace. “Who’s your friend?”
“Drizzt Do’Urden, ranger of Mielikki and rider of Bright Eyes,” Sam answered. “He came to me seeking help with breaking a curse he had run afoul of. I’m hoping Sharr can help me translate the inscription on the box that was the trigger for the curse, and that you can help with figuring out how to break it after that.
“But first, let me apologize for not coming to visit sooner. My only excuse is that I did not truly think it was you up here, since the last I was aware, you had given up the city, and did not wish to see another.”
That was very much the truth—both the reason for coming now, and the reason for not coming before—so Alustriel dismissed the discern lies and settled back into her seat.
Watching with interest as Sam took a seat right next to Drizzt, rather than one at a more casual distance, she sighed. “Well, that is certainly an understandable reason, though I’m somewhat surprised you didn’t hear about my return, given how it happened—it was the Year of the Black Horde, with a three-way contest for the city, after which I was chosen as High Mage by unanimous popular acclaim.
“But Samiar, have you truly not been in touch with the village at all?”
“I sent a letter when I settled in Yartar, was a bit surprised no-one came to see me, but…” Sam shrugged. “We’re not always the best at keeping touch, I suppose. Why?”
Alustriel got up and moved to settle beside Sam, on the other side from the ranger, then wrapped an arm around him. “Almost fifty years ago, Sam, someone had Sharr assassinated.”
She tried to make sure that only her sympathy came through in her voice, not her own grief, but she was fairly certain she’d failed.
“What?” Sam breathed, staring at her. Interestingly enough, Drizzt did not look surprised by that news, which jarred something in her memory, though she most definitely wasn’t going to chase it down right now.
“I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you.”
Samiar leaned into her arm, taking several several long, deep breaths before he asked, “Kor? Is he—”
“He’s alive,” Alustriel said. “Vanished the day we gave the body to the skies, then showed up here nearly thirty years later, and offered me his sword. He’s a Knight-Captain in the Knights in Silver now, and Besnell's right hand.”
“I— no, we can catch up later,” Sam said, shaking his head. “Right now, I need to know if you’ll help me with this curse, once I manage to translate the inscription.”
“Of course I will. And since you thought Sharr would be able to help with the translation, it must be in Seldruin, so I can ask the boys if any of them can help instead.”
Turning her attention to the drow ranger, Alustriel said, “I do apologize for just… ignoring you like that, Saer Do’Urden, but I’m sure you understand why it happened.”
“It’s quite all right,” Drizzt said. “And I have to confess that I was expecting such an occurrence, once I learned that Samiar was cousin to the father of my friends Thyl and Lin, as they had told me their father was dead, but Samiar clearly still believed he was alive.”
Once the initial meeting was over, Samiar and Drizzt had been been given a two-bedroom suite on the family floor—which had been a compromise between Alustriel wishing to give Drizzt his own suite, and Drizzt feeling that he shouldn’t be on the family floor at all—and once they had left their packs in it, Alustriel took them to the Knights’ wing of the Palace.
Messages had been sent ahead to Besnell and Korvallen, so both elves were waiting for them when they arrived. And while Samiar and Korvallen immediately headed for the latter’s rooms as soon as introductions had been made all around, Alustriel had to explain the idea she had had to Besnell.
“Drizzt is going to be staying here for an undetermined amount of time while Samiar works on how to break the curse that Drizzt is currently suffering from. And since Drizzt is quite skilled with his blades, according to Thyl and Lin, and the curse cannot affect others, I was thinking that he could at the very least find sparring partners among the Knights.”
“Would you also be willing to aid our patrols?” Besnell asked Drizzt. “At the standard pay rate for contracted rangers, of course.”
“Gladly, Saer,” Drizzt replied. “I am far more comfortable in the wilds than I am in any city.”
As time passed, Drizzt occupied himself with aiding the patrols, teaching the squires and even some of the Knights—an offer that had been made after the first time he sparred Kolarven—and learning from the clerics, druids, and rangers of the Glade.
Those of Sharr’s sons that Samiar had not yet met came to meet him, and Lin came as well, as out of all of Sharr’s sons—and Samiar was still amazed that there were thirteen of them, even knowing Alustriel had had three sets of twins and a set of triplets—only Lin and Tyresia were capable of helping to translate the inscription, and not only did Lin already know Drizzt, he was also the one who could more easily stay in Silverymoon until a translation was determined.
Eventually, one was, though neither Samiar or Lin liked the implications of it, and Drizzt had reacted by taking Bright Eyes and going out on a solo ranging for a few days. And with the translation found, Alustriel started working with Samiar on figuring out how to actually break the curse.
Some months later, Samiar threw up his hands in exasperation. “Do you see any way of unraveling the magic without divine intervention?” he asked Alustriel. “Because I don’t.”
“No. But at least there is a practical solution, even if it means Drizzt will be rather uncomfortable for quite some time.”
“What do you mean by ‘quite some time’? Sex will only take a single night.”
“It’s not just sex that is needed to break the curse,” Alustriel said gently. “May you learn the pain of your deeds most personally, by living the life you have given to me. To me, that says pregnancy, and likely some amount of time breastfeeding the baby after it is born.”
Samiar took some time to consider that, then sighed and said, “Damn it all, you’re right. Doesn’t change my decision to offer myself as the needed lover, though.”
Drizzt had been no more pleased with the conclusion Alustriel and Samiar had come to than they were themselves, but he had accepted Samiar’s offer to be the child’s father. And as the ranger and her beloved’s cousin moved on to discussing where Drizzt would stay until the curse broke, Alustriel cleared her throat gently.
When Drizzt and Samiar turned their attention to her, she said, “If I may, I have a suggestion for where you might stay.”
“What is it?” Drizzt asked, a cautious tone in his voice.
“I know that Thyl and Lin have taught you some of Eilistraee and Her followers,” Alustriel said, “so my suggestion is that you go to the Promenade of the Dark Maiden.
“The clerics there are well used to caring for pregnancies, the people are not unaccustomed to a person’s physical gender not matching their sense of self, you would be able to learn more of the Dark Maiden, and their Weaponsmistress is at least Kolarven's equal, so you would not be lacking in skilled sparring partners by going there.”
“I would be welcome there, even though I do not follow the Dark Maiden?” Drizzt asked.
“You would. Their community is not even all drow—there are some humans, a few halflings, and some gnomes living there, too. And possibly others, as that was just as of the last I heard.”
“Okay, this is admittedly a bit of a tangent,” Samiar said, “but how do you know so much about their community? Eilistraee isn’t even well known among elves, and yet you know enough of what sounds like Her followers’ primary community to be able to tell Drizzt how skilled their Weaponsmistress is?”
“The public answer to that question is that Mystra is allied to Eilistraee, and so as the Chosen of Mystra, our family sometimes gives aid to Eilistraee’s followers,” Alustriel said. “But you are family, Samiar, and not only is Drizzt becoming family, this is known by Eilistraee’s followers, if not quite as fully as by our family, so I will give the full explanation.”
Focusing her attention on Drizzt, she said, “Though Samiar already knows some of this, you do not, and so I will start from the beginning.
“I am the second-born of seven sisters known to the people of Faerun as the Seven Sisters.”
“I have heard mention of the Seven Sisters,” Drizzt admitted, “though I cannot say more than that.”
“Knowing more than that is not necessary,” Alustriel replied, “as this tale is tied up in what is not commonly known outside of our family. While there are many rumors about us, what makes us the Seven Sisters is that our mother was favored by Mystra, and possessed, to produce seven daughters who are, in a very real way, as much Mystra’s daughters as that of the women who gave birth to us.
“Six of us were born to the human woman that Mystra possessed, but our father eventually realized that his wife, our mother, had been subsumed by another presence, and slew her during her final pregnancy. But though Mystra was unable to save mother, She did find a way to save the last child.”
Now she was getting into the part that Samiar did not know, and she could tell that he was trying to figure out how this connected to her knowledge of Eilistraee’s followers.
“Through magic that is only possible at Mystra’s level, the babe was exchanged for one that had died and was killing her cleric mother, after a discussion with that cleric’s goddess. And so my youngest sister came to be born under the auspices of Eilistraee’s followers, and is the primary leader of the same now.”
Drizzt and Samiar both just sat there for a bit, clearly thinking over what she had said, before Samiar shook his head and spoke. “That is… a bit beyond my comprehension, but the Promenade does sound like a good place for Drizzt to stay until the curse breaks.
“And I am glad you have found your last sister.”
Drizzt was silent a while longer, then said, “So the primary leader of Eilistraee’s followers is Thyl and Lin’s aunt?”
“She is,” Alustriel agreed. “Qilué Veladorn, High Priestess of Eilistraee, and Chosen of both Eilistraee and Mystra.”
“Then yes, I think I do want to go to there once we are sure I am pregnant.”
Once Drizzt had agreed to go to the Promenade, Alustriel had explained the mystery about him that needed to be solved before he could actually be allowed to enter it, and Drizzt had chosen for her to do the investigation immediately, both because he at least knew her somewhat, compared to not at all for Qilué, and because he did not want to risk that whatever was hiding him from Eilistraee might somehow affect the baby.
Mystra had been… displeased… by the shroud that had been discovered, but it had been removed, and so, the next day, Samiar started on treating Drizzt as a friend he was interested in intimacy with.
It had taken a few days before things actually progressed to sex, but once it had, Alustriel assured them that she knew a spell that could detect a pregnancy starting in the third week, so they could know as soon as possible if they needed to try again.
Thankfully, it proved that their first attempt had been successful, so once they had said their farewells to those they wished to give them to, they got on Bright Eyes and followed Thyl and Lin to the Promenade.
Once Drizzt was settled at the Promenade, Samiar left, feeling that he had been gone from his Tower for long enough that he should at least check on it, though he did promise to return for the child’s birth. And though he had not said so, Drizzt also suspected that Samiar was even less comfortable living in caverns than he was.
Drizzt quickly settled into a routine of learning—including working on single blade techniques with Qilué’s consort Elkantar—sparring, and teaching—as Rylla, the Weaponsmistress that Alustriel had mentioned, was just as impressed with his skill as the Knights had been—and even with his strong awareness of Bright Eyes’s unavoidable absence from his day-to-day life and the fact that he was living in caverns, it still seemed to be a surprisingly short time until Samiar returned, a month before Drizzt was expected to give birth.
Qilué herself acted as the midwife for the birth, and after what had felt like far too many hours, a healthy baby girl was born, whom Drizzt named Zanna, in honor of his father.
To Drizzt’s mild surprise, Samiar chose to stay at the Promenade after the birth, saying that he did not want to miss a single moment with their daughter. And while only Drizzt or the other nursing mother at the Promenade could feed Zanna, Samiar’s willingness to do anything else he could to care for her proved to be quite helpful.
Zanna was eleven months old when the curse broke while Drizzt was sleeping. That change prompted a conversation between Drizzt and Samiar about where Drizzt wished to live once Zanna was fully weaned, and he ended up deciding on Silverymoon, as it would allow Zanna to be raised in safety while still giving him opportunities to act as a ranger and otherwise use his skills, and the people there had been quite welcoming of him—which meant that he had no concerns about allowing others to care for Zanna if he was out of the city or otherwise occupied.
A month later, Drizzt, Samiar, and Zanna got on Bright Eyes and started their journey back to Silverymoon. The first night of the trip was spent at Samiar's Tower, and the second morning after that, they received a warm welcome on their arrival in the city.
somarielChapters: 1/1
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Samiar Ravarel, Alustriel Silverhand
Additional Tags: Canon Divergence, Curse Breaking, Implied/Referenced Gender Dysphoria
Series: Part 6 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:
What if Drizzt had Bright Eyes during the events of "Making the Most of Magical Mayhem"?
Beginning notes
Inspired by
senmut and ilyena_sylph's fics Ranger and Pegasus and Making the Most of Magical Mayhem.The italicized section at the start of the first scene is a direct excerpt from “Making the Most of Magical Mayhem”. There is also a certain amount of altered borrowing from that fic, its fork "An Unusual Arrival", and, in one specific instance,
senmut's fic "Honest Sharing"If you are confused by this fic, please go read the linked inspiring fics, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with them.
Magical Mayhem with a Pegasus
Samiar Ravarel, full sun elf, if a bit more worldly than some of that race, had seen many things in his long life. What he had not seen was a ten-foot long panther that reeked of astral magic walk nonchalantly past him, pause, blink twice, and then keep walking.
He was certain his entire lineage, despite being of the stern stuff to remain among other races, were questioning his sanity as he scooped up what he had gathered, and followed, curious more than anything, and half-certain that had been an invitation.
The pegasus at the edge of the more densely wooded thicket he followed the panther to—and that it had gone into—made it unlikely that this was a trap… but he still paused and readied a spell, just in case.
“No need for casting, Saer,” a voice called, from up in the tree that the pegasus was standing beneath. “I am the reason the cat came, and I seek only a moment to speak, to explain why I seek you, before I will go my own way if you choose. You are Saer Ravarel the curse-breaker?”
“I am Samiar Ravarel,” Samiar replied, peering up into the tree, trying to see what he could of what kind of being was speaking to him. “And curses are rather a fascination of mine. Are you suffering some affliction, then?”
“Yes. Please do not be alarmed; I truly am seeking help, as difficult as that is for one of my kind,” the voice said, before a cloaked figure, bearing two scabbards, dropped about twice human height to the ground, landing beside the pegasus. He moved slowly, jet-black hands coming up to push the hood from an equally black face and white hair. “My name is Drizzt Do’Urden.”
Samiar felt the instinctive fear and hate try to surge up in him at the sight of an armed drow, but… the pegasus was lipping at one of the pouches slung on the drow’s belt? The drow was laughing at that and taking something out of the pouch to offer it to the pegasus? And was now stroking the pegasus’s neck as it chewed whatever he had given it?
That was even more bewildering than the fact that this drow wore none of the enchanted garb of raiding drow, and was moving carefully and speaking in Common, asking for help.
He knew, perfectly well, that drow were excellent liars, and one might be using tongues to speak, but… he also knew that it was not possible to fool a pegasus’s innate sense of a person’s nature. Even so, he still twitched his fingers through the motion for detect thoughts, focusing on the drow. “Drizzt Do’Urden, hm? Well, at least we are even on the matter of names, now, though I still do not know the name of your friend there.
“But what curse troubles you, that your own people could not deal with better than I?” The phrasing of his question was deliberate, as even though Drizzt was very clearly not evil, it was still possible that he was neutral, and a Vhaeraunite scout or information gatherer.
“My friend is called Bright Eyes. And I have no people, Saer,” Drizzt said in full honesty. “I long-since exiled myself from them, and then from the Underdark itself. I live from the wilds, doing all I can to serve as a ranger, but I made a mistake in the last set of ruins I cleared.
“While I could feel magic, it did not feel innately tainted or wrong, and the box I took from there called to me, for it was inlaid with a cat much like my companion that drew you here.” He dropped his eyes, and Bright Eyes bumped her nose against his chest. “The curse upon it escaped as I opened the box, and now… I need aid.”
That was the truth and nothing but, Samiar felt, reading the truth of the ‘no people’ and the ‘I should have known better’ alike, as well as the deep chagrin in the latter. “You appear to be healthy enough,” he said curiously, raising a brow, then flicked his fingers, “no, no. Come, we will talk within my home.”
If the pegasus—Bright Eyes, Samiar reminded himself—had not been present, he would have cast an arcane eye to keep an eye on Drizzt Do’Urden as he led the way to his tower, but she was, so he was willing to place enough trust in her goodly nature to expose his back to Drizzt.
As time passed, Drizzt slowly braved asking Samiar about elven history and culture, making it clear he truly was just curious about how the schism was taught on the surface.
But after an extensive discussion of the topic, Samiar wondered if it had been too much for the drow ranger, as Drizzt had left and was gone for three whole nights, and well into the fourth day.
“My apologies for being gone so long,” Drizzt said when he did come in, carrying a bounty of foods that had been smoked. “Everything you say about the history, is what we are taught but as if in a mirror.
“I trust in it, as my own society is built on lies, yet… were those who were innocent of it all given any choice to leave their heritage, and not be cast into the simmering pool of rage and hate?”
Samiar helped him store the foods, considering that. “Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden, daughter of the one that became Lolth, went with your people, to try and provide a way back, or so the legend says. I do not think She has had much luck.”
“I still find it hard to believe She exists,” Drizzt said, “despite what my friends Thyl and Lin have taught me of her.”
“Thyl and Lin?” Samiar said. “Do you mean Inthylyn and Lilinthar Aerasumé?”
“I do,” Drizzt replied. “Why? Do you know them?”
“They’re my cousin Sharr’s sons. How did you come to meet them?”
“The year after Bright Eyes hatched, she took to helping me and Guen guard the roads,” Drizzt said. “And a young pegasus helping to do such eventually caused enough curiosity—especially with the fact that we never stuck around afterwards—that Thyl and Lin’s mother sent them to fulfill a request she had received for someone to investigate the matter.”
“Why would she have received such a request?” Samiar asked.
Drizzt looked at his friend oddly. “She’s the ruler of Silverymoon. Why wouldn’t the hamlets in Silverymoon’s claimed lands send their request to her?”
“Wait, that’s actually El- Alustriel up there?” And at Drizzt’s bewildered look, Samiar explained, “She ruled Silverymoon for a couple decades, around… four and a half centuries ago, under the name Elué Dualen, before giving up the rule to someone else.
“And given how instrumental she was in making Silverymoon into what it is, I thought the current ruler was someone else having taken up the name and likeness for added legitimacy.”
“Well, Thyl and Lin were quite clear about their mother being the current ruler, so apparently not.”
“We’re going up to Silverymoon, then,” Samiar said. “Sharr can help me translate the box’s inscription, and once we know what it says, Alustriel can help me figure out how to break the curse.”
Drizzt did not wince, but it took a significant force of will to manage it. Thyl and Lin had also been quite clear about the fact that their father had been dead for several decades, but Samiar’s comment about getting Sharr’s help with the translation was just the latest indication that he still thought his cousin was alive. It would be much better for that news to be delivered by someone who had actually known the man, though, so Drizzt was just going to make sure to be extra careful in what he said about his friends until then.
It was not common for the gate guards to send messages directly to Alustriel while she was seeing her appointments for the day, but it did happen occasionally, and the message she had just received certainly justified the decision.
Someone using the name Samiar Ravarel had arrived at the Blacklar Gate with a drow ranger of Mielikki who had a pegasus friend, saying that he was Sharrevaliir's cousin as though he expected them to recognize his cousin’s name—and Alustriel could almost hear the confusion the guards must have felt at that—and declared that he and his friend had come to meet with her in a way that made it clear he was expecting her to wish to do so quite soon. The guards had allowed the group to enter, and given them a guide, but felt she should be informed before they reached the Palace.
If it really was Samiar, then he clearly had no idea about Sharr’s death, and if it wasn’t, well… she would have plenty of questions for the impostor. A quick sending to Taern informed him of the situation, then she sent her page off to tell the guards at the Palace entrances which of the rooms designated for casual conversation the pair should be shown to, and started writing out notes to the rest of her day’s appointments apologizing for canceling on short notice.
Notes sent off with another page to be delivered, Alustriel then went to the conversation room she had specified, and settled herself on one of the divans. Not long after, a page stuck his head into the room and said, “People to see you, Lady.”
“Thank you, Allandryn,” Alustriel said. “I’m expecting them.” And then, before the pair could enter the room, she moved her fingers in the correct pattern to cast discern lies.
The page had ducked back out of the room as she did that, and then Alustriel rose to her feet as a sun elf—and that certainly looked like Samiar—and a drow entered the room. The sun elf moved towards her, reaching out for an embrace, and said, “Hello, El- Alustriel, dear one.”
“Hello, Sam,” she replied, allowing a brief embrace. “Who’s your friend?”
“Drizzt Do’Urden, ranger of Mielikki and rider of Bright Eyes,” Sam answered. “He came to me seeking help with breaking a curse he had run afoul of. I’m hoping Sharr can help me translate the inscription on the box that was the trigger for the curse, and that you can help with figuring out how to break it after that.
“But first, let me apologize for not coming to visit sooner. My only excuse is that I did not truly think it was you up here, since the last I was aware, you had given up the city, and did not wish to see another.”
That was very much the truth—both the reason for coming now, and the reason for not coming before—so Alustriel dismissed the discern lies and settled back into her seat.
Watching with interest as Sam took a seat right next to Drizzt, rather than one at a more casual distance, she sighed. “Well, that is certainly an understandable reason, though I’m somewhat surprised you didn’t hear about my return, given how it happened—it was the Year of the Black Horde, with a three-way contest for the city, after which I was chosen as High Mage by unanimous popular acclaim.
“But Samiar, have you truly not been in touch with the village at all?”
“I sent a letter when I settled in Yartar, was a bit surprised no-one came to see me, but…” Sam shrugged. “We’re not always the best at keeping touch, I suppose. Why?”
Alustriel got up and moved to settle beside Sam, on the other side from the ranger, then wrapped an arm around him. “Almost fifty years ago, Sam, someone had Sharr assassinated.”
She tried to make sure that only her sympathy came through in her voice, not her own grief, but she was fairly certain she’d failed.
“What?” Sam breathed, staring at her. Interestingly enough, Drizzt did not look surprised by that news, which jarred something in her memory, though she most definitely wasn’t going to chase it down right now.
“I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you.”
Samiar leaned into her arm, taking several several long, deep breaths before he asked, “Kor? Is he—”
“He’s alive,” Alustriel said. “Vanished the day we gave the body to the skies, then showed up here nearly thirty years later, and offered me his sword. He’s a Knight-Captain in the Knights in Silver now, and Besnell's right hand.”
“I— no, we can catch up later,” Sam said, shaking his head. “Right now, I need to know if you’ll help me with this curse, once I manage to translate the inscription.”
“Of course I will. And since you thought Sharr would be able to help with the translation, it must be in Seldruin, so I can ask the boys if any of them can help instead.”
Turning her attention to the drow ranger, Alustriel said, “I do apologize for just… ignoring you like that, Saer Do’Urden, but I’m sure you understand why it happened.”
“It’s quite all right,” Drizzt said. “And I have to confess that I was expecting such an occurrence, once I learned that Samiar was cousin to the father of my friends Thyl and Lin, as they had told me their father was dead, but Samiar clearly still believed he was alive.”
Once the initial meeting was over, Samiar and Drizzt had been been given a two-bedroom suite on the family floor—which had been a compromise between Alustriel wishing to give Drizzt his own suite, and Drizzt feeling that he shouldn’t be on the family floor at all—and once they had left their packs in it, Alustriel took them to the Knights’ wing of the Palace.
Messages had been sent ahead to Besnell and Korvallen, so both elves were waiting for them when they arrived. And while Samiar and Korvallen immediately headed for the latter’s rooms as soon as introductions had been made all around, Alustriel had to explain the idea she had had to Besnell.
“Drizzt is going to be staying here for an undetermined amount of time while Samiar works on how to break the curse that Drizzt is currently suffering from. And since Drizzt is quite skilled with his blades, according to Thyl and Lin, and the curse cannot affect others, I was thinking that he could at the very least find sparring partners among the Knights.”
“Would you also be willing to aid our patrols?” Besnell asked Drizzt. “At the standard pay rate for contracted rangers, of course.”
“Gladly, Saer,” Drizzt replied. “I am far more comfortable in the wilds than I am in any city.”
As time passed, Drizzt occupied himself with aiding the patrols, teaching the squires and even some of the Knights—an offer that had been made after the first time he sparred Kolarven—and learning from the clerics, druids, and rangers of the Glade.
Those of Sharr’s sons that Samiar had not yet met came to meet him, and Lin came as well, as out of all of Sharr’s sons—and Samiar was still amazed that there were thirteen of them, even knowing Alustriel had had three sets of twins and a set of triplets—only Lin and Tyresia were capable of helping to translate the inscription, and not only did Lin already know Drizzt, he was also the one who could more easily stay in Silverymoon until a translation was determined.
Eventually, one was, though neither Samiar or Lin liked the implications of it, and Drizzt had reacted by taking Bright Eyes and going out on a solo ranging for a few days. And with the translation found, Alustriel started working with Samiar on figuring out how to actually break the curse.
Some months later, Samiar threw up his hands in exasperation. “Do you see any way of unraveling the magic without divine intervention?” he asked Alustriel. “Because I don’t.”
“No. But at least there is a practical solution, even if it means Drizzt will be rather uncomfortable for quite some time.”
“What do you mean by ‘quite some time’? Sex will only take a single night.”
“It’s not just sex that is needed to break the curse,” Alustriel said gently. “May you learn the pain of your deeds most personally, by living the life you have given to me. To me, that says pregnancy, and likely some amount of time breastfeeding the baby after it is born.”
Samiar took some time to consider that, then sighed and said, “Damn it all, you’re right. Doesn’t change my decision to offer myself as the needed lover, though.”
Drizzt had been no more pleased with the conclusion Alustriel and Samiar had come to than they were themselves, but he had accepted Samiar’s offer to be the child’s father. And as the ranger and her beloved’s cousin moved on to discussing where Drizzt would stay until the curse broke, Alustriel cleared her throat gently.
When Drizzt and Samiar turned their attention to her, she said, “If I may, I have a suggestion for where you might stay.”
“What is it?” Drizzt asked, a cautious tone in his voice.
“I know that Thyl and Lin have taught you some of Eilistraee and Her followers,” Alustriel said, “so my suggestion is that you go to the Promenade of the Dark Maiden.
“The clerics there are well used to caring for pregnancies, the people are not unaccustomed to a person’s physical gender not matching their sense of self, you would be able to learn more of the Dark Maiden, and their Weaponsmistress is at least Kolarven's equal, so you would not be lacking in skilled sparring partners by going there.”
“I would be welcome there, even though I do not follow the Dark Maiden?” Drizzt asked.
“You would. Their community is not even all drow—there are some humans, a few halflings, and some gnomes living there, too. And possibly others, as that was just as of the last I heard.”
“Okay, this is admittedly a bit of a tangent,” Samiar said, “but how do you know so much about their community? Eilistraee isn’t even well known among elves, and yet you know enough of what sounds like Her followers’ primary community to be able to tell Drizzt how skilled their Weaponsmistress is?”
“The public answer to that question is that Mystra is allied to Eilistraee, and so as the Chosen of Mystra, our family sometimes gives aid to Eilistraee’s followers,” Alustriel said. “But you are family, Samiar, and not only is Drizzt becoming family, this is known by Eilistraee’s followers, if not quite as fully as by our family, so I will give the full explanation.”
Focusing her attention on Drizzt, she said, “Though Samiar already knows some of this, you do not, and so I will start from the beginning.
“I am the second-born of seven sisters known to the people of Faerun as the Seven Sisters.”
“I have heard mention of the Seven Sisters,” Drizzt admitted, “though I cannot say more than that.”
“Knowing more than that is not necessary,” Alustriel replied, “as this tale is tied up in what is not commonly known outside of our family. While there are many rumors about us, what makes us the Seven Sisters is that our mother was favored by Mystra, and possessed, to produce seven daughters who are, in a very real way, as much Mystra’s daughters as that of the women who gave birth to us.
“Six of us were born to the human woman that Mystra possessed, but our father eventually realized that his wife, our mother, had been subsumed by another presence, and slew her during her final pregnancy. But though Mystra was unable to save mother, She did find a way to save the last child.”
Now she was getting into the part that Samiar did not know, and she could tell that he was trying to figure out how this connected to her knowledge of Eilistraee’s followers.
“Through magic that is only possible at Mystra’s level, the babe was exchanged for one that had died and was killing her cleric mother, after a discussion with that cleric’s goddess. And so my youngest sister came to be born under the auspices of Eilistraee’s followers, and is the primary leader of the same now.”
Drizzt and Samiar both just sat there for a bit, clearly thinking over what she had said, before Samiar shook his head and spoke. “That is… a bit beyond my comprehension, but the Promenade does sound like a good place for Drizzt to stay until the curse breaks.
“And I am glad you have found your last sister.”
Drizzt was silent a while longer, then said, “So the primary leader of Eilistraee’s followers is Thyl and Lin’s aunt?”
“She is,” Alustriel agreed. “Qilué Veladorn, High Priestess of Eilistraee, and Chosen of both Eilistraee and Mystra.”
“Then yes, I think I do want to go to there once we are sure I am pregnant.”
Once Drizzt had agreed to go to the Promenade, Alustriel had explained the mystery about him that needed to be solved before he could actually be allowed to enter it, and Drizzt had chosen for her to do the investigation immediately, both because he at least knew her somewhat, compared to not at all for Qilué, and because he did not want to risk that whatever was hiding him from Eilistraee might somehow affect the baby.
Mystra had been… displeased… by the shroud that had been discovered, but it had been removed, and so, the next day, Samiar started on treating Drizzt as a friend he was interested in intimacy with.
It had taken a few days before things actually progressed to sex, but once it had, Alustriel assured them that she knew a spell that could detect a pregnancy starting in the third week, so they could know as soon as possible if they needed to try again.
Thankfully, it proved that their first attempt had been successful, so once they had said their farewells to those they wished to give them to, they got on Bright Eyes and followed Thyl and Lin to the Promenade.
Once Drizzt was settled at the Promenade, Samiar left, feeling that he had been gone from his Tower for long enough that he should at least check on it, though he did promise to return for the child’s birth. And though he had not said so, Drizzt also suspected that Samiar was even less comfortable living in caverns than he was.
Drizzt quickly settled into a routine of learning—including working on single blade techniques with Qilué’s consort Elkantar—sparring, and teaching—as Rylla, the Weaponsmistress that Alustriel had mentioned, was just as impressed with his skill as the Knights had been—and even with his strong awareness of Bright Eyes’s unavoidable absence from his day-to-day life and the fact that he was living in caverns, it still seemed to be a surprisingly short time until Samiar returned, a month before Drizzt was expected to give birth.
Qilué herself acted as the midwife for the birth, and after what had felt like far too many hours, a healthy baby girl was born, whom Drizzt named Zanna, in honor of his father.
To Drizzt’s mild surprise, Samiar chose to stay at the Promenade after the birth, saying that he did not want to miss a single moment with their daughter. And while only Drizzt or the other nursing mother at the Promenade could feed Zanna, Samiar’s willingness to do anything else he could to care for her proved to be quite helpful.
Zanna was eleven months old when the curse broke while Drizzt was sleeping. That change prompted a conversation between Drizzt and Samiar about where Drizzt wished to live once Zanna was fully weaned, and he ended up deciding on Silverymoon, as it would allow Zanna to be raised in safety while still giving him opportunities to act as a ranger and otherwise use his skills, and the people there had been quite welcoming of him—which meant that he had no concerns about allowing others to care for Zanna if he was out of the city or otherwise occupied.
A month later, Drizzt, Samiar, and Zanna got on Bright Eyes and started their journey back to Silverymoon. The first night of the trip was spent at Samiar's Tower, and the second morning after that, they received a warm welcome on their arrival in the city.