lit, undeniably handsome figure. There was something different about this drow, the perceptive young woman realized. She did not think that he would force himself on her. Buried within Jarlaxle's swash buckling facade was a warped sense of honor, but a definite code nonetheless, somewhat like that of Artemis Entreri. Entreri had once held Catti-brie as a prisoner for many days, and he had not placed a hand on her except to prod her along the necessary course.
So it was with Jarlaxle, Catti-brie believed, hoped. If the merce nary truly found her attractive, he would probably try to woo her, court her attention, at least for a while.
"And your courage cannot be questioned, " Jarlaxle continued in his uncomfortably perfect surface dialect. "To come alone to Menzo berranzan!" The mercenary shook his head in disbelief and looked to Entreri, the only other person in the small, square room. "Even Artemis Entreri had to be coaxed here, and would leave, no doubt, if he could find the way.
"This is not a place for surface dwellers, " Jarlaxle remarked. To accentuate his point, the mercenary jerked his hand suddenly, again taking the Cat's Eye circlet from Catti-brie's head. Blackness, deeper than even the nights in the lowest of Bruenor's mines, enveloped her, and she had to fight hard to keep a wave of panic from over whelming her.
Jarlaxle was right in front of her. She could feel him, feel his breath, but all she saw was his red glowing eyes, sizing her up in the infrared spectrum. Across the room, Entreri's eyes likewise glowed, and Catti-brie did not understand how he, a human, had gained such vision.
She dearly wished that she possessed it as well. The darkness continued to overwhelm her, to swallow her. Her skin felt extra sen sitive; all her senses were on their very edge.
She wanted to scream, but would not give her captors the satis faction.
Jarlaxle uttered a word that Catti-brie did not understand, and the room was suddenly bathed in soft blue light.
"In here, you will see, " Jarlaxle said to her. "Out there, beyond your door, there is only darkness." He teasingly held the circlet before Catti-brie's longing gaze, then dropped it into a pocket of his breeches.
"Forgive me, " he said softly to Catti-brie, taking her off her guard. "I do not wish to torment you, but I must maintain my secu rity. Matron Baenre desires you, quite badly I would guess, since she keeps Drizzt as a prisoner, and knows that you would be a fine way to gnaw at his powerful will."
Catti-brie did not hide her excitement, fleeting hope, at the news that Drizzt was alive.
"Of course they have not killed him, " the mercenary went on, speaking as much to Entreri, the assassin realized, as to Catti-brie. "He is a valuable prisoner, a wellspring of information, as they say on the surface."
"They will kill him, " Entreri remarked, somewhat angrily, Catti-brie had the presence of mind to note.
"Eventually, " Jarlaxle replied, and he chuckled. "But both of you will probably be long dead of old age by then, and your chil dren as well. Unless they are half drow, " he added slyly, tossing a wink at Catti-brie.
She resisted the urge to punch him in the eye.
"It's a pity, really, that events followed such a course, " Jarlaxle continued. "I did so wish to speak with the legendary Drizzt Do'Urden before Baenre got him. If I had that spider mask in my possession, I would go to the Baenre compound this very night, when the priestesses are at the high ritual, and sneak in for a talk with him. Early in the ceremony, of course, in case Matron Baenre decides to sacrifice him this very night. Ah, well." He ended with a sigh and a shrug and ran his gentle fingers through Catti-brie's thick hair one final time before he turned for the door.
"I could not go anyway, " he said to Entreri. "I must meet with Matron Ker Horlbar to discuss the cost of an investigation."
Entreri only smiled in response to the pointedly cruel remark. He rose as the mercenary passed, fell in behind Jarlaxle, then stopped suddenly and looked back to Catti-brie.
"I think I will stay and speak with her, " the assassin said.
"As you will, " the mercenary replied, "but do not harm her. Or, if you do, " he corrected with another chuckle, "at least do not scar her beautiful features."