I turned to Elyse. “Did the Webmaven say she’d be coming back?”
Elyse nodded. “She said she’d give you an hour or two to finish up with your women, and then she’d return. She said there was a sensitive matter, a very important matter, that she needed to discuss with you.”
“I see. Rami-Xayon,” I said, turning my attention to the Wind Goddess, “I’d better stay here, but do you think you have enough access to Rami’s enjarta skills to go snoop around? You’re right, there’s definitely something fucked up going on here, and it couldn’t hurt to find out what it is. Even if it is just to be prepared for something that won’t likely involve us. I doubt any anyone will notice if it’s just you missing from the chambers here.”
Rami-Xayon agreed and left. The others retired for the night, but I stayed awake. Not too long after, there was a knock at the door. I slipped Grave Oath out of its sheath and tucked the dagger behind my back, ready to attack in the blink of an eye if necessary.
I opened the door and found Layna. She carried a tray with number of small mugs and an ornate, steaming hot teapot.
“I brought you some spider-root tea,” she said with a smile. “And here, just to allay any fears you might have, I’ll drink it in front of you.”
She poured herself some of the liquid from the pot, drank it down, and smiled.
“Ah,” she sighed, “there’s nothing quite like a good cup of spider-root tea.”
“You told my friend that I should have had some before entertaining my women. Why is that?”
A mischievous look crossed her face. “I told you before, Vance, that it produces feelings of great joy in the drinker. And it also has another pleasing effect. It acts as a natural aphrodisiac, enhancing both male and female pleasure in the bedchamber.”
“Damn,” I said, “I’ll definitely have some before I ‘entertain’ my women again. In my humble opinion, entertaining women is one of the most effective ways of relaxing and of getting one’s mind, body, and spirit to higher planes. I’m sure I’ll be doing it again before long, so there’ll be plenty of opportunity to try it out. However, I’ll have to pass on it for the moment. You look like you have something more pressing on your mind.”
She nodded. “Come with me. We must talk in private.”
I still didn’t trust her completely, so I kept Grave Oath hidden behind my back as I followed her. She led me up a long spiral staircase, which seemed to go up forever, until we eventually emerged in the top of one of the palace towers. The view over Aith was quite spectacular, and it was a lot more comforting to see the city from this height when I wasn’t clinging to a vertical wall, with only my fingertips preventing me from plummeting to my gory death.
There were no guards or servants here, so it seemed like a good place for a private conversation. For good measure, Layna locked the door behind us.
“Things are not well here in Aith, Vance,” she said. “Not for me, at least, and not for many other Arachne either. The Council of Aith have grown corrupt. I have spies who have told me they are plotting to overthrow me, almost brazenly. They want to dismantle the Webmaven system completely and install themselves as sole rulers over Aith. There is something else though, something that goes beyond mere greed and lust for power. There is a deep evil that has been growing in this city for some time now, but in recent days, it has been reaching levels at which it feels like… it will explode, inevitably, and soon.”
“My uncle passed through your city recently” I said. “And you know now why he was traveling through Aith: to assault the fortress of the Charm Goddess. He wants to capture her and sacrifice her to the Blood God. I think you have just answered a question that has been burning in my mind ever since I explained this to your council, who seemed to want to do everything in their power to prevent me from traveling through Aith. Why, with my cause being so important, would they want to hinder me and my army? And, on the other hand, why would they simply have allowed my uncle, whose purpose in traveling through Aith was truly nefarious, to have strolled through the city with his followers?”
The answer seemed clear to me, but I wanted Layna to comprehend the implications as well.
“Could they be in league with your uncle?” she asked me.
“Well, I have my suspicions, but let me ask you one more question: have there been any unexplained disappearances of young women in Aith?”
Layna nodded. “A handful at first, but far more in recent times. We thought perhaps they had attempted to leave the city. The youth believe the curse is nothing but a rumor, but few are brave enough to test the theory.”
“I doubt they’ve decided to up and leave the city. I think certain members of your council have decided to serve the Blood God.”
“They. . . they’ve been killing the young women?”
I nodded. “Most likely. Sacrifices.”
Layna shuddered. “Violence and murder are wonderful things, but not to your own kind.”
“We’ll know for sure soon enough. My friend Rami-Xayon is out investigating this very moment. I expect her to learn that the council also plan to kill me and my party. They’ll be wanting to stop us by any means necessary to appease their damn evil god.”
“You’re right,” the Webmaven gasped. “That’s why they took their war-spiders home with them after the meeting this evening! I can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner. Of course, I have firsthand knowledge of how one should fight a war-spider,
