With that, she turned around and stormed off. I looked back at Layna and found her crestfallen.
“I’m sorry, Layna,” I said. “I had no idea. But I can tell you Isu speaks the truth. She’s just a necromancer now. I’m the only God of Death. I took Isu’s divinity from her.”
Layna nodded sadly. “I see. I know such strange events do occur in the realm of the divine, but you must understand that for a mere mortal, the machinations of the gods are strange and incomprehensible. I thought and hoped her divinity would be permanent. But are you sure she can’t lift the curse?”
“Certain.”
“You don’t think she might be saying it because she’s unhappy about something else, like not being a goddess anymore?”
“I don’t think so.”
Layna looked disappointed, but an ember of hope continued to burn in her angled violet eyes. “I might have something to lift her mood,” she said. “Maybe then, she will change her mind.”
“I honestly don’t think she’s going to change her mind.”
“She might, after she’s had a drink of spider-root tea.”
“Spider-root tea?”
“It puts even the grumpiest of grouches in an amazing mood, making them cheerful and joyous.”
Layna’s look of disappointment turned into a mischievous smile that added even more allure to her already striking beauty. But I could see she wasn’t telling me everything about this spider-root tea.
“There are some side-effects, I’m guessing?” I said.
“Well, you’ll awake with a bit of a headache the next morning, but that’s about it. It’s just like having a few glasses of wine, except that spider-root tea makes you far happier than any alcoholic beverage could.”
“It’s not like greenfoil is it? It won’t affect your judgment, make you see things that aren’t there, knock you out or something, will it?”
“No, it’s very mild. You don’t get intoxicated at all, and you cannot overdose on it; whether you have a few sips or a few jugs, the effect is the same. All it does is brighten your mood. You should try some too. It’s a traditional drink of the Arachne, used on special occasions.”
Isu had told me to be wary of this Webmaven, that despite looking like an innocent young creature barely out of her teens, Layna had proven herself to be the deadliest of all the Arachne. I also knew spiders killed their prey with venom, and this sure as hell sounded like a brazen attempt at poisoning.
“I’ll try some,” I said coolly, “if I watch you drink it out of the same cup first. And that goes for anyone in my party. If you want to give them any of this spider-root tea, you drink from the cup first.”
“You have been warned to fear treachery from us Arachne,” Layna said, her smile broadening, a bright gleam in her gorgeous eyes. “That is wise counsel, to be honest, for many of us can be… sneaky. But if we wanted you and your friends dead, poison would not be how we would do it, trust me. You have nothing to fear from spider-root tea, and I will gladly drink from the cup myself to prove it to you.” She paused, and her eyes drifted toward my crotch, and she studied my bulge with an unabashedly eager and hungry gaze. “And you are such a magnificent specimen, far too magnificent a specimen to kill and eat. No, I would gain far more pleasure from you by keeping you alive and happy. Mm, I can only imagine what kind of pleasure you could bring.”
I allowed my eyes to brazenly rove over her beautiful figure, taking in the pleasing sight of large breasts straining against the crimson fabric of her silk dress. Despite her stunning features, it was a challenge to look past the fact that she had a pair of sharp fangs in her mouth and four huge spider legs coming out of her back.
“We’ll try the spider-root tea,” I said, snapping myself out of it. “But only after we’ve spoken to the Council of Aith.”
“A fair request. Well, to return to the point, before I saw what I saw, I was coming here to inform you that I have called a meeting of the Council of Aith. They have agreed to see you tonight.”
“Thank you, Layna.”
“The council meets in the main hall of this palace. Any and all members of your party are welcome to attend with you, to help you to present your case to them, but nobody may enter the hall armed, not even with small items like daggers.”
This immediately sent alarm bells ringing in my head. But even without magic weapons, my friends and I had a few tricks up our sleeves. I had my recently tested Plague Fists, Isu had her acidic mist, and Rami-Xayon could call on the power of Wind, summoning tornadoes and hurricanes. Friya could utilize certain Cold magic, and while Drok, Elyse, and Rollar wouldn’t be able to call on anything without magic weapons, they were all skilled fighters who could handle themselves, whether armed or unarmed. She hadn’t said no armor either, so I would tell everyone to armor up. Every bit would help if push came to shove.
“I can abide by those terms,” I finally said.
“Good. Look out of this window,” she said, leading me to the closest one. “You also have this view from your chamber. When the rising moon clears that tower, that is the time you will proceed to the hall for the meeting.”
There were a large number of human-shaped spider cocoons hanging from the same tower.
“A servant will escort you,” Layna continued, “so make sure you are ready at that exact time. Punctuality is very important to us. Arriving even a few minutes late will greatly anger the council and turn their opinions against you.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready to
