"I watched your people bombard a tower with great boulders. My friends were in that tower."
Gerti shrugged as if it did not matter and said, "I, we, did not begin this war. We followed an orc of great stature."
"Obould Many-Arrows."
"Yes, curse his name."
That raised Drizzt's eyebrows.
"You wish to kill him?" Gerti asked.
Drizzt didn't answer. He knew he didn't have to.
"I wish to witness such a battle," Gerti said with a vicious little grin. "Perhaps I can deliver King Obould to you, Drizzt Do'Urden. Would that interest you?"
Drizzt swallowed hard. "Now it would seem that you have upped your own end of the bargain even more," he reasoned.
"Indeed I have, so accept it with two promises. First, you will kill Obould. Then you will broker a truce between Shining White and the surrounding kingdoms. King Bruenor's dwarves will not seek retribution upon my people, nor will Lady Alustriel, nor any other allies of Clan Battlehammer. It will be as if the giants of Shining White never partook in Obould's war."
It took Drizzt a long time to digest the startling words. Why was Gerti doing this? To save her beauty, perhaps, but there was so much more going on than Drizzt could begin to understand. Gerti hated Obould, that much was obvious - could it be that she had come to fear him, as well? Or did she believe that the orc king would falter in the end, with or without her treason, and the result would prove disastrous for her people? Yes, if the dwarves of the three kingdoms joined with the folk of the three human kingdoms, would they stop with the orcs, or would they press on to exact revenge upon the giants as well?
Drizzt glanced around and noted that many of the giants were nodding and grinning, and those whispering amongst themselves all seemed in complete accord with Gerti's proposal. He heard naysayers, but they were not loud and dominant.
It began to make sense to Drizzt as he stood there shivering. If he won, then Gerti would be rid of a rival she surely despised, and if he lost, then Gerti would be no worse off.
"Orchestrate it," Drizzt said to her.
"Pick up your fallen scimitar, then, and dismiss your panther."
Alarms went off in Drizzt's head, suspicion twisting his black face. But Gerti seemed even more relaxed.
"Before all my people, I give you my word, Drizzt Do'Urden. Among the giants of the Spine of the World, our word is the most precious thing we own. If I deceive you now, would any of my people ever believe that I would not do the same to them?"
"I am no frost giant, so I am inferior in your eyes," Drizzt argued.
"Of course you are," Gerti said with a chuckle. "But that changes nothing. Besides, it will amuse me greatly to watch you battle King Obould. Speed against strength, a fighter's tactics against a savage fury. Yes, I will enjoy that. Greatly so." She finished and motioned toward the scimitar again.
Drizzt stared her in the eye for a long moment.
"Be gone, Guenhwyvar," he instructed.
The panther's ears flicked up and she turned to regard Drizzt curiously.
"If she betrays me, the next time you come to the material plane, seek her out and steal her beauty," Drizzt said.
"My word is not to be broken," said Gerti.
"Be gone, Guenhwyvar," Drizzt said again, and he stepped forward and retrieved Icingdeath. "Go home and find your rest, and rest assured that I will call upon you again."
24. AT THE BEHEST OF OTHERS
Drizzt led Sunrise out of Shining White the next morning, well aware that Gerti's giants were watching his every step. The air was calm and warmer, the sun shining brilliantly against the new-fallen snow.
The drow stretched and adjusted his clothing and cloak, and the belt that held both his scimitars once more. Not twenty steps from the front, he turned and looked back at Shining White, still amazed that Gerti had stayed true to her word, and that she had cut the deal with him in the first place. He took that as a hopeful sign regarding the future of the region, for Gerti Orelsdottr and her frost giant army apparently held no heart for continuing the war, and perhaps equally important, apparently held no bond of friendship with Obould Many-Arrows. Gerti wanted the orc king dead almost as much as Drizzt did, it seemed, and if that was true of the giantess, might it also be true of some of Obould's