Homeland - Chapter Eight

[kalinara]

So last time, we saw our hapless...I'm not sure it's really even fair to call them "villains" in a book like this. Adversaries. And they are indeed hapless.

Fortunately, I think the REAL villains of the book are going to turn out closer to home.



So we rejoin Drizzt and Zaknafein as they're having a sparring match. Drizzt is already using scimitars, which surprises me because I feel like I remember seeing him CHOOSE scimitars for the first time, and this being notable because they're not usually a dual wielded weapon. However, this version I'm reading for the blog is a later edition than the ancient paperback I read as a kid, so that might explain the discrepancy. (I have trouble sometimes when reading "revised" versions of books. Especially when I like the original version better.)

It's possible I'm misremembering part of a later book though. I feel like Sojourn, the third book in this series, involves a character who I can imagine having that discussion with Drizzt. So perhaps the scene I'm thinking of comes from there.

Anyway, tangent aside, the bout is not going well.

Drizzt spat a silent curse and spun his scimitars into a downward cross, meaning to use the “V” of his blades to catch his teacher’s swords. On a sudden impulse, Drizzt hesitated as he intercepted Zak’s weapons, and he jumped away instead, taking a painful slap on the inside of one thigh. Disgusted, he threw both of his scimitars to the floor.

Zak, too, leaped back. He held his swords out to his sides, a look of sincere confusion on his face. “You should not have missed that move,” he said bluntly.

“The parry is wrong,” Drizzt replied.

Awaiting further explanation, Zak lowered one sword tip to the floor and leaned on the weapon. In past years, Zak had wounded, even killed, students for such blatant defiance.

“The cross-down defeats the attack, but to what gain?” Drizzt continued. “When the move is completed, my sword tips remain down too low for any effective attack routine, and you are able to slip back and free.”

I actually want to excerpt this whole dialogue to be honest. And it's rare that I want to do that for a Drizzt Do'Urden book. But it's genuinely very good.

Zaknafein is pragmatic here. He points out that the parry will defeat his attack. Drizzt doesn't like it though because at best the parry leaves them even. He quotes Zaknafein's own teaching: every move should bring an advantage. He doesn't see the advantage in the cross-down parry.

Zak, as the mentor:

“You recite only one part of that lesson for your own purpose,” Zak scolded, now growing equally angry. “Complete the phrase, or use it not at all! ‘Every move should bring an advantage or take away a disadvantage.’ The cross-down defeats the double thrust low, and your opponent obviously has gained the advantage if he even attempts such a daring offensive maneuver! Returning to an even stance is far preferable at that moment.”

“The parry is wrong.” Drizzt said stubbornly.

“Pick up your blades,” Zak growled at him, taking a threatening step forward. Drizzt hesitated and Zak charged, his swords leading.

We get more practice fighting. Drizzt is good. Zak is better:

Zak abruptly broke his own momentum and threw his feet back under him. Before Drizzt could begin to understand the dizzying counter-counter, he found the weapons master standing over him with the tip of Zak’s sword painfully and pointedly drawing a tiny drop of blood from his throat.

“Have you anything more to say?” Zak growled.

“The parry is wrong,” Drizzt answered.

Zak’s laughter erupted from his belly. He threw his sword to the ground, reached down, and pulled the stubborn young student to his feet. He calmed quickly, his gaze finding that of Drizzt’s lavender orbs as he pushed the student out to arm’s length. Zak marveled at the ease of Drizzt’s stance, the way he held the twin scimitars almost as if they were a natural extension of his arms. Drizzt had been in training only a few months, but already he had mastered the use of nearly every weapon in the vast armory of House Do’Urden.

I really like this bit because, rather than the heavy handed Drizzt praise we got in Icewind Dale, this shows us Drizzt actually being competent. He's a GOOD fighter. Not the best, yet. He's a student. But we can appreciate his skill with the way he talks about the parry. His complaint has merit and that's obvious.

But he's young still, and he doesn't realize that sometimes you just won't be able to get that advantage. SOMETIMES, things just suck and the best thing you can do is break even and you'll be lucky even to have that.

THAT's the real lesson that Zaknafein is teaching Drizzt here, amidst all of the very entertaining to read, but not really recappable fighting.

But Drizzt is teaching Zaknafein a lesson here too. Because Drizzt isn't happy just breaking even. He will never be happy just breaking even. Zak's spent almost four hundred years trapped, as a not-quite-evil drow in Menzoberranzan. He copes in ways that allow him to break even. But he doesn't dare seek anything beyond that. Drizzt, though, we already know WILL find something more.

The last paragraph is the only weak spot, really. It goes a little too far into Drizzt shilling. But then, it's Zak. And Zak, even though he lacks the words or even concepts to understand it, loves his son. I'll forgive it this time.

There's more shilling of Drizzt's ability. But now there's some shilling about Drizzt's soul:

It was not just the physical abilities and potential of Drizzt Do’Urden that made Zaknafein pause and take note, however. Zak had come to realize that Drizzt’s temperament was indeed different from that of the average drow; Drizzt possessed a spirit of innocence and lacked any maliciousness. Zak couldn’t help but feel proud when he looked upon Drizzt. In all manners, the young drow held to the same principles—morals so unusual in Menzoberranzan—as Zak.

Drizzt had recognized the connection as well, though he had no idea of how unique his and Zak’s shared perceptions were in the evil drow world. He realized that “Uncle Zak” was different from any of the other dark elves he had come to know, though that included only his own family and a few dozen of the house soldiers. Certainly Zak was much different from Briza, Drizzt’s oldest sister, with her zealous, almost blind, ambitions in the mysterious religion of Lolth. Certainly Zak was different from Matron Malice, Drizzt’s mother, who seemed never to say anything at all to Drizzt unless it was a command for service.

Zak was able to smile at situations that didn’t necessarily bring pain to anyone. He was the first drow Drizzt had met who was apparently content with his station in life. Zak was the first drow Drizzt had ever heard laugh.

THIS I like much better than the shilling about Drizzt's abilities. Because, unlike in Icewind Dale where Drizzt was surrounded by already heroic people who seemed occasionally made to be lesser so that Drizzt could shine, THIS feels more earned.

We've met a lot of people in Menzoberranzan. Very entertaining people. But they're definitely not good people. And we've had seven chapters to appreciate the cruelty and maliciousness that's normalized in this society. This instant connection between the characters feels appropriate.

They banter about the match. Zak noting that Drizzt made a good try. Drizzt admitting the truth: in a real battle, he'd be dead. But that's why they train. Zak even praises Drizzt's plan as "masterful" and his timing as "perfect".

Zak had expected it, only because he'd seen it tried before: by him when he was young.

We do,” said Zak, “but my knowledge has been increased by four centuries of experience, while you have not even lived through a score of years. Trust me, my eager student. The cross-down is the correct parry.”

“Perhaps,” Drizzt replied.

Zak hid a smile. “When you find a better counter, we shall try it. But until then, trust my word. I have trained more soldiers than I can count, all the army of House Do’Urden and ten times that number when I served as a master in Melee-Magthere. I taught Rizzen, all of your sisters, and both of your brothers.”

I also think Salvatore does a really good job of showing how Zak as a mentor really is different from the other drow. He doesn't always hit the balance right with Zak. Zak in the beginning of the book came across maybe a bit more psychotic than good (which, to be fair, seems like a reasonable reaction to this society). Here, though, he does a good job. Zak is still a fairly brisk, undemonstrative guy, but we also see his patience and even amusement at being challenged. He likes seeing Drizzt's show of strength, even if it's not necessarily in a societally appropriate direction.

Anyway, Drizzt is curious about the "both of your brothers" line. He'd never been told about Nalfein. This surprises Zak, but he sees no harm in clueing the kid in, figuring Malice just hadn't considered the story worth telling. He comments that Nalfein died in battle:

“Against dwarves or vicious gnomes?” Drizzt squeaked, as wide-eyed as a child begging for a frightening bedtime story. “Was he defending the city from evil conquerors or rogue monsters?”

Zak had a hard time reconciling the warped perceptions of Drizzt’s innocent beliefs. “Bury the young in lies,” he lamented under his breath, but to Drizzt he answered, “No.”

“Then against some opponent more foul?” Drizzt pressed. “Wicked elves from the surface?”

“He died at the hands of a drow!” Zak snapped in frustration, stealing the eagerness from Drizzt’s shining eyes.

Drizzt slumped back to consider the possibilities, and Zak could hardly bear to watch the confusion that twisted his young face.

“War with another city?” Drizzt asked somberly. “I did not know …”

Zak let it go at that. He turned and moved silently toward his private chamber. Let Malice or one of her lackeys destroy Drizzt’s innocent logic. Behind him, Drizzt held his next line of questions in check, understanding that the conversation, and the lesson, was at an end. Understanding, too, that something important had just transpired.

It is a little surprising that Drizzt hasn't been exposed to drow on drow maliciousness yet. But it's a good beat for his developing moral sense.

The next scene gives us a time skip. Drizzt is now nineteen. He's been with Zak for three years. And they've been good years for Zak, getting to watch Drizzt grow. (And we're told that For the first time that Zak could ever remember, laughter often accompanied the clash of adamantine weapons in the training room. Aw.)

But of course, the real world must make itself known. Matron Malice appears. She's here to check on Drizzt's progress. He'll be going to the Academy in a year.

Zak narrowed his eyes at her doubting words and growled, “The Academy has never seen a finer swordsman.”

The matron walked away from him to stand before Drizzt. “I doubt not your prowess with the blade,” she said to Drizzt, though she shot a sly gaze back at Zak as she spoke the words. “You have the proper blood. There are other qualities that make up a drow warrior—qualities of the heart. The attitude of a warrior!”

Drizzt didn’t know how to respond to her. He had seen her only a few times in all of the last three years, and they had exchanged no words.

Zak saw the confusion on Drizzt’s face and feared that the boy would slip up—precisely what Matron Malice wanted. Then Malice would have an excuse to pull Drizzt out of Zak’s tutelage—dishonoring Zak in the process—and give him over to Dinin or some other passionless killer. Zak may have been the finest instructor with the blade, but now that Drizzt had learned the use of weapons, Malice wanted him emotionally hardened.

Zak couldn’t risk it; he valued his time with young Drizzt too much. He pulled his swords from their jeweled scabbards and charged right by Matron Malice, yelling, “Show her, young warrior!”

Malice vs. Zaknafein as the two influences over Drizzt's life and morality. Thanks to the Icewind Dale trilogy, we know who will win. We don't however know at what cost.

So poor Drizzt deals with suddenly being attacked by his mentor, viciously. Drizzt is confused at first, but eventually the back and forth (including all the fun drow tricks like faerie fire, darkness and levitation) gets Drizzt angry enough to fight in earnest. (The weapons master felt sickened by the hatred etched on his young student’s face, but he realized that this time, neither he nor Drizzt had been given a choice in the matter. This fight had to be ugly, had to be real.

Eventually Drizzt wears himself out, and some multiple feints from both sides, lead to a victorious Zaknafein who knocks Drizzt out. (This is mostly to keep him from conversing with Malice. Malice can't deny the kid's ability, but will quickly realize that Drizzt's attitude doesn't match up.)

So Drizzt is basically academy ready. And both Vierna and Dinin are teaching there (her in Arach-Tinilith - the priest's school, him in the fighter's school.) Malice had called in a few favors. And this conversation is interesting too:

Zak was surprised. Two children serving as masters in the Academy at the same time? “You must have worked hard to get such accommodations,” he dared to remark.

Matron Malice smiled. “Favors owed, favors called in.”

“To what end?” asked Zak. “Protection for Drizzt?”

Malice laughed aloud. “From what I have just witnessed, Drizzt would more likely protect the other two!”

Zak bit his lip at the comment. Dinin was still twice the fighter and ten times the heartless killer as Drizzt. Zak knew that Malice had other motives.

“Three of the first eight houses will be represented by no fewer than four children in the Academy over the next two decades,” Matron Malice admitted. “Matron Baenre’s own son will begin in the same class as Drizzt.”

“So you have aspirations,” Zak said. “How high, then, will House Do’Urden climb under the guidance of Matron Malice?”

“Sarcasm will cost you your tongue,” the matron mother warned.

“We would be fools to let slip by such an opportunity to learn more of our rivals!” “The first eight houses,” Zak mused. “Be cautious, Matron Malice. Do not forget to watch for rivals among the lesser houses. There once was a house named DeVir that made such a mistake.”

“No attack will come from behind,” Malice sneered. “We are the ninth house but boast more power than but a handful of others. None will strike at our backs; there are easier targets higher up the line.”

“And all to our gain,” Zak put in.

“That is the point of it all, is it not?” Malice asked, her evil smile wide on her face.

Zak didn’t need to respond; the matron knew his true feelings. That precisely was not the point.

A longer excerpt again, but useful. I like this a lot too. In one exchange we finally understand what keeps Malice and Zaknafein together, and Zaknafein alive. If we contrast Zaknafein to what we saw of Rizzen before, we can see a clear difference. Zaknafein understands the political ramifications enough to be a worthwhile advisor. He gives the warnings that Malice should hear, even if she doesn't heed them. And well, as clumsy as that last sentence was, it's pretty clear that she knows his leanings. And making him suffer amuses her.

-

The scene shifts to an upset Drizzt. He's understandably sullen and feeling betrayed. Which means it's time for real truths from Zaknafein, who finally reminds this kid that they're in a society full of institutionalized abuse:

“Then think clearly,” Zak scolded. “Do you believe that Matron Malice would approve of such a bonding between her weapons master and her youngest—her prized youngest—son? You are a drow, Drizzt Do’Urden, and of noble birth. You may have no friends!”

Drizzt straightened as if he had been slapped in the face.

“None openly, at least,” Zak conceded, laying a comforting hand on the youngster’s shoulder. “Friends equate to vulnerability, inexcusable vulnerability. Matron Malice would never accept …” He paused, realizing that he was browbeating his student. “Well,” he admitted in quiet conclusion, “at least we two know who we are.” Somehow, to Drizzt, that just didn’t seem enough.

The chapter ends here, on this melancholy note. One survivor of a monstrous abusive society to another. It's the cross-down parry all over again. They survive, but they break-even. Drizzt wants something better.

This was an excellent chapter of a book that, to my surprise, has been pretty good all around. We still get our occasional Salvatorisms, but they're not so annoying when the substance of the story is this genuinely good.