solid rock except for the absence of windows.
Tazi followed Justikar like a shadow. When they reached the end of the servants' quarters, the dwarf turned to the left, though the corridor continued in two directions. The very next chamber they came to was the metal shop.
Tazi followed Justikar in and shut the door behind them. Truthfully, Tazi was glad they didn't go any farther down the passageway as she was unwilling to test the girl's warnings regarding their boundaries just yet.
She moved about the room, and Tazi could still feel the heat from Justikar's recent fires. Without any windows, though, Tazi was puzzled why the place didn't smell more of burning metal. She looked ques-tioningly at the dwarf, and Justikar pointed to a few, well hidden openings. A unique venting system in the chamber allowed the excess heat and smoke to escape without filling the room with its noxious odor.
'I had the same thought as you,' Justikar explained to Tazi, 'before I started working in here. When I found those,' he pointed to the series of openings, 'it got me thinking.'
'If there are hollows up above,' Tazi replied, following the dwarfs logic, 'then there might be hollows elsewhere.'
Justikar nodded and walked over to a far wall, motioning for Tazi to follow. She studied the spot where the dwarf was standing and ran her fingers lightly over the facade of brickwork. She felt two spots that were somewhat suspect but, try as she could, she couldn't release any of the stones or trip any mechanism.
The dwarf half-pushed her aside and deftly pushed a brick face at a certain angle. A slice of the block slid a few inches to one side. With that pin free, the entire brick twisted ninety degrees. Justikar released his hold on the stone and took a step back. With a slow grinding, a section of the wall shifted back and slid to the right, exposing a pitch black maw.
'You were close,' he told her. 'You just lacked the right touch.'
'Nicely done,' Tazi complimented the duergar and chose not to take his words as an insult though they irked her. She'd been breaking into things for years now and felt she would have found it, given more time. Pride and her temper, she realized, had no place here if they were going to work together.
'It's nothing to someone who spends their life around such things,' he said as he dismissed her compliment.
He partially bowed from the waist and motioned to the black entrance. 'After you,' he told her.
'You first,' Tazi replied. 'After all, this is second nature for you.'
Justikar shrugged and moved easily into the hidden passageway. Tazi followed right behind him, understanding that she needed his skills in the shadowy walkway. She was amazed at his ability to move through the darkness. It made sense to her that he could, being a person at home in the Underdark, but it was still impressive to experience. She tentatively touched his shoulder for guidance and either he didn't feel it, or he wasn't bothered by her hand because he didn't shrug it off. Even with his lead, she barked her shin against a minor obstacle and swallowed the yelp she wanted to make.
Tazi wasn't certain, but she thought the passageway doubled back, but without any visual frame of reference, she couldn't be certain. They walked slowly, and Tazi's eyes began to adjust to the gloom. There was a faint light coming up ahead. She thought she could make out thin, slivers of illumination, and they slowed their pace even more. A few feet in front, bars of pale light crisscrossed the floor in alternating patterns. When they got to the first one on the right, the duergar crouched down near a small portal located only a few inches above the floor. Tazi did likewise and peered in.
As she had thought, they had doubled backed and were in the servants' quarters once again, only on the inside, as it were. Tazi realized that every small portal was a diminutive window into a different chamber. The one they were spying in was furnished similarly to theirs. Tazi could see two women seated near their dressing table, rifling through the various sundries that were littered about the table like children in a toy shop.
'Try this one,' the blonde-haired woman said to her companion. She held out a blue, crystal perfume bottle and, before the other girl could reply, spritzed her with the contents. The blond then took in a long breath and sighed appreciatively.
'I'm sure that Zulkir Lauzoril will find you irresistible, smelling like that,' she giggled.
'I'm sure he would, if he ever took his mind off of finding a way to best the lich long enough to notice me,' she replied in a low voice. Both women looked around after that and sobered up some.
'Still,' the fragrant girl added, 'I wouldn't mind if the zulkir turned his green eyes toward me once in a while. And that blond hair…' she sighed.
While the two servants discussed various paramours and dalliances from their past, Tazi and Justikar crawled to another portal.
'I still can't believe Zulkir Mythrell'aa fell out of favor with Szass Tarn,' a black-haired youth said in sotto voice to the two other young men that sat around the table in their room.
A brunette nodded, 'Yes, and I understand that she'd love to see him fall. I think she's considering throwing in with Aznar Thrul.' Tazi noted how knowledgeable he was trying to sound and deduced he was probably a new purchase trying to prove his worth to his peers.
'That's not what I heard,' the third interjected. 'I heard it on the best authority that she's going to side with Lauzoril. And everyone knows he and Aznar Thrul hate each other like fire and water.'
The first youth slapped the third on his arm and corrected him. 'How can you say that? Didn't you see how well they got along at the Spring Festival? You've got it wrong.'
'Do you think we need to help with the morning meal?' the brunette interrupted their banter, and he seemed suddenly concerned with the time.
Tazi took that as a cue for them to keep moving, too. She and Justikar peeked in a few more of the windows, but the conversations were almost identical to the others they had already overheard, and they learned nothing useful from them. She signaled to the dwarf to follow her, and they made their way carefully back to the metal shop. As they exited the passageway, Justikar flipped the brick back into place, and the panel sealed shut, without a trace that they had been there.
'I'm surprised this country even functions at all,' she told the dwarf disgustedly.
'When I passed through there the first time,' the dwarf agreed, 'the talk was much the same. It seems like they all want to make an alliance, but don't trust one or the other of their neighbors enough to forge a strong one.'
'It makes no sense,' Tazi said shaking her head. 'Though,' she added thoughtfully, 'I think I can see now why they haven't been more successful in their attempts at conquest. Their hierarchy is so fractured because of their personalities, it can't function effectively. It's almost like they do need just one, strong leader.'
'What would happen if they did have just one? ' the duergar asked.
Tazi shuddered. 'I don't care to dwell on that thought too long. Let's get back,' she told him, 'before we're needed to polish Naglatha's toes or some other mundane chore.' Justikar snorted, and they walked back to their chamber.
When Tazi opened the door to their room, she was momentarily surprised to see Naglatha seated at the dressing table. The Red Wizard was combing her thick hair languorously, one long stroke at a time. She glanced at Tazi through the reflection of the mirror, and Tazi saw how black her eyes were.
'Where have you two been?' she asked them angrily, continuing to regard Tazi and the dwarf by means of the mirror as if they weren't worthy of more direct contact.
'You want me to* steal for you, don't you? Well, I need to know the layout of the place. How else am I going to find that out without some reconnoiter-ing? That's what we were doing,' she told Naglatha, seizing the beast by the horns. She cast a sideways glance at the dwarf. He gave the wizard a curt nod of agreement.
'Hmm,' Naglatha murmured and appeared somewhat mollified by Tazi's quick answer. 'Be careful, though. We've come too far now to tip our hand prematurely.'
Tazi shifted uncomfortably at Naglatha's use of the word 'we.' She didn't like to think that the Red Wizard believed they were anything other than unwilling partners, each with a different desire and goal.
At that moment, Naglatha managed to tear herself away from the mirror to actually look Tazi in the eye. It was not lost on her that the wizard didn't give the bearded dwarf a second glance. 'I have to admit, I appreciate your initiative.' Naglatha gave Tazi a measured smile.
'You saw an opportunity to get a feel for the place and gather information. So you took it. Those are the kind of qualities I look for in a useful spy, you know,' she told Tazi and swiveled back and forth on the padded stool
