back and her eyes sparkling more clearly than any Catti-brie had ever seen, more clearly than any eyes except Wulfgar's sky blue orbs. The memory pained her.
Alustriel was fully half a foot above Catti-brie's five and a half, and gracefully slender. She wore a purple gown of the finest silk, with many layers that seemed to hug her womanly curves and hide them alluringly all at once. A high crown of gold and gems sat atop her head.
Guenhwyvar and the lady apparently were not strangers, for the panther lay quietly on its side, eyes closed contentedly.
For some reason that she did not understand, that bothered Catti-brie.
"I have wondered when we would at last meet, " Alustriel said quietly.
Catti-brie fumbled to replace the cap on the vial and replace it on the table, but Alustriel put her long, slender hands over the young woman's (and Catti-brie felt like a young and foolish girl at that moment!) and eased the vial into her belt pouch instead.
"Drizzt has spoken often of you, " Alustriel went on, "and fondly."
That thought, too, bothered Catti-brie. It might have been unin tentional, she realized, but it seemed to her that Alustriel was being just a bit condescending. And Catti-brie, standing in road dusty traveling clothes, with her hair hardly brushed, certainly was not comfortable beside the fabulous woman.
"Come to my private chambers, " the lady invited. "There we might speak more comfortably." She started out, stepping over the sleeping panther. "Do come along, Guen!" she said, and the cat perked up immediately, shaking away its laziness.
"Guen?" Catti-brie mouthed silently. She had never heard any one besides herself, and very rarely Drizzt, call the panther so familiarly. She gave a look to the cat, her expression hurt, as she obediently followed Alustriel out of the room.
What had at first seemed to Catti-brie an enchanted palace now made her feel terribly out of place as Alustriel led her along the sweeping corridors and through the fabulous rooms. Catti-brie kept looking to her own trail, wondering fearfully if she might be leaving muddy tracks across the polished floors.
Attendants and other guests, true nobility, the young woman realized, stared as the unlikely caravan passed, and Catti-brie could not return the gazes. She felt small, so very small, as she walked behind the tall and beautiful Alustriel.
Catti-brie was glad when they entered Alustriel's private sitting room and the lady closed the door behind them.
Guenhwyvar padded over and hopped up on a thickly uphol stered divan, and Catti-brie's eyes widened in shock.
"Get off there!" she whispered harshly at the panther, but Alus triel only chuckled as she walked past, dropping a hand absently on the comfortable cat's head and motioning for Catti-brie to take a seat.
Again Catti-brie turned an angry gaze on Guenhwyvar, feeling somewhat betrayed. How many times had Guenhwyvar plopped down on that very same couch? she wondered.
"What brings the daughter of King Bruenor to my humble city?" Alustriel asked. "I wish I had known that you would be com ing. I could have better prepared."
"I seek Drizzt, " Catti-brie answered curtly, then winced and sat back at the sharper than intended tone of her reply.
Alustriel's expression immediately grew curious. "Drizzt?" she echoed. "I have not seen Drizzt in some time. I had hoped that you would tell me that he, too, was in the city, or at least on his way.
Suspicious as she was, thinking that Drizzt would try to avoid her and that Alustriel would undoubtedly go along with his wishes, Catti-brie found that she believed the woman.
"Ah, well." Alustriel sighed, sincerely and obviously disap pointed. She perked up immediately. "And how is your father?" she asked politely. "And that handsome Wulfgar?"
Alustriel's expression changed suddenly, as though she had just realized that something must be terribly out of place. "Your wedding?" she asked hesitantly as Catti-brie's lips thinned in a scowl. "I was preparing to visit Mithril Hall..
Alustriel paused and studied Catti-brie for a long while.
Catti-brie sniffed and braced herself. "Wulfgar is dead, " she said evenly, "and me father is not as ye remember him. I've come in search of Drizzt, who has gone out from the halls."
"What has happened?" Alustriel demanded.
Catti-brie rose from her chair. "Guenhwyvar!" she called, rous ing the panther. "I've not the time for tales, " she said curtly to Alus triel. "If Drizzt has not come to Silverymoon, then I've taken too much of yer time already, and too much o' me