Some would argue that she was indeed more powerful than her sister Triel.
Of all drow under Faerun, she would surely be welcomed into Lolth's domain-assuming there was either a Lolth or a Demonweb Pits at all anymore-but still the high priestess was on edge. Her normally stern countenance had gone nearly rigid, and her movements were jerky and twitching. Any talk of the journey ahead made her pacearound the deck, all but oblivious to the lesser demons that often snapped at her or reached out to grab her.
Even Pharaun, cynical as he was, didn't want to believe that the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith might be losing her faith.
The fact that Jeggred also noticed Quenthel's unease didn't make the wizard feel any better. The draegloth's expressions weren'talways easy to read, though the half-demon was the least intellectually capable of the party, but since coming to the Lake of Shadows-perhaps even before-Jeggred had looked at his aunt quite differently. He could see her agitation, though he might have thought it fear, and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
Pharaun closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the last of the day's manes went down the ship's gullet. He felt tired enough to sleep like a human. Without even bothering to cross the deck to the place where he'd set his pack, Pharaun sank to the fleshy planks and sat.
"Before you slip into Reverie," Valas Hune said from behind him, "we should discuss practical concerns."
Pharaun turned to look at the Bregan D'aerthe scout and offered him a twisted smile.
"Practical concerns?" the wizard asked. "At this point I'm too tired for any kind of concerns . . . other than . . . the . . . ones that are . . ."
Pharaun closed his eyes and shookhis head.
"Are you all right?" the scout asked, his tone comfortably devoid of real concern.
"My wit has failed me," Pharaun replied. "I must be tired indeed."
The scout nodded.
"We'll need supplies," he said, addressing all four of them.
Quenthel didn't look up, and Jeggred only glanced away from the chained demon for a second.
The draegloth shrugged and said, "I can eat the captain."
Pharaun didn't bother to look at the uridezu for a response, and the demon, sensibly, didn't offer one.
"Well, I can't," Valasreplied. "Neither can the rest ofus."
"There will be no opportunity to stop along the way?" Danifae asked.
Pharaun regarded the beautiful, enigmatic battle-captive with a smile and said, "We'lltravel from this lake across the Fringe and into the Shadow Deep. From there to the endless Astral. From there to the Abyss. Any roadhouses along the way will be ... unreliable to say the least."
"Which is to say," Valas cut in, "that there won't be any."
"What did you have in mind, Valas?" Pharaun asked. "How much are we talking about?"
The scout made a show of shrugging and turned to Quenthel to ask, "How long will we be away?"
Quenthel almost recoiled from the question, and Jeggred turned to stare daggers at her back for a heartbeat or two before returning his attention to the captured uridezu.
"One month," Pharaun answered for her, "sixteen days, three hours, and forty-four minutes . . . give or take sixteen days, three hours, and forty-four minutes."
Quenthel stared hard at Pharaun, her face blank.
"I thought your wit had abandoned you, Master of Sorcere," Danifae said. She turned to Quenthel. "An impossible question to answer precisely, I understand, Mistress, but I assume an educated guess will do?"
She looked at Valas, her white eyebrows arched high on her smooth black forehead. Valas nodded, still looking at Quenthel.
"The simple fact is that I have no idea," the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith said finally.
The rest of the drow raised eyebrows. Jeggred's eyes narrowed. It wasn't what any of them expected her to say.
None of us do," she went on, ignoring the reaction, "which is precisely why we're going in the first place.Lolth will do with us as she pleases once we are in the Demonweb Pits. If we must be supplied, then we will need supplies for the length of our journey there and perhaps our journey back. If Lolth chooses to provide for us while we're there, so be it. If not, we will need no sustenance, at least none that can be had in this world."
The high priestess wrapped her hands around her arms and hugged herself close. All of them saw her shiver with undisguised dread.
Pharaun was too taken aback to see the further reactions of the others. A low, rumbling growl from Jeggred