Homeland - Chapter Twenty-Seven
Apr. 3rd, 2022 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatSo last time, Drizzt made the decision to save his girlfriend/cat from his former colleague. This time, however, we're going to be back at Chateau Do'Urden, where Drizzt's mom and sisters now know what he's done.
We enter the chapter with Zaknafein, who is asleep in his bed. Because Salvatore is a sadist, and not very subtle, we're told that Zaknafein is actually having the most comfortable rest that he's ever known.
And to be fair, it makes sense. Zaknafein has lived with his secret, his conscience and moral code that is fundamentally incompatible with his society, his hatred of their shared goddess, for his entire life. He's had children who seem to show signs that they shared some of his discomfort, but he'd believed both had been swallowed up by drow society.
He's now learned that Drizzt hasn't been. He's not alone anymore. And maybe two can succeed in Menzoberranzan where one couldn't.
And of course, this is when Zak wakes up from his sleep to a stinging pain. Briza's at the foot of his bed with her snake whip in hand. Vierna's standing on the side of the room, holding his sword. Maya's on the other side, holding his other sword. Yeah. This isn't good.
The downside of having the first sound, peaceful sleep in his life: you wake up to this.
The ladies tell him that Matron Malice will see him now. He attempts some casual bravado, asking for his belt and weapons if you please. As it turns out, they do not please.
But Zak's not completely without leverage:
“I should be certain of Matron Malice’s intentions before I acted so boldly, were I you,” Zak warned. Briza, reminded of the power of the male she now threatened, lowered her weapon.
Zak doesn't have the safe security that a son of the House would normally have. But he's stayed alive so far because Malice finds torturing or fucking him amusing. There's probably a not insignificant chance that Malice would put her own pleasure over the good of the house and thus take his side. Especially if she thinks Briza's getting uppity.
That said, Briza does know why he's being summoned and can't resist a wicked smile when he remarks that "it must be serious."
Malice and Zaknafein do have an interesting vibe. They've interacted previously in the book, but not quite in this context.
“Matron,” Zak offered, dipping into a bow and pulling the side of his nightshirt out wide to draw attention to his inappropriate dress. He wanted to let Malice know his feelings of being ridiculed at such a late hour.
The matron offered no return greeting. She rested back in her throne. One slender hand rubbed her sharp chin, while her eyes locked upon Zaknafein.
“Perhaps you could tell me why you’ve summoned me,” Zak dared to say, his voice still holding an edge of sarcasm. “I would prefer to return to my slumbers. We should not give House Hun’ett the advantage of a tired weapons master.”
Zaknafein walks an interesting knife's edge between defiance and subservience. He can show his displeasure in gestures, a hint of tone, but not directly. Especially not when he doesn't know what it's about.
It's about Drizzt. Who left the house against Malice's command. (Zaknafein relaxes a little, having first been afraid that Malice had driven Drizzt out or killed him. Don't relax yet.._
“A spirited boy,” Zak remarked. “Surely he will return soon.”
“Spirited,” Malice echoed, and her tone did not put the description in a positive light.
“He will return,” Zak said again. “There’s no need for our alarm, for such extreme measures.” He glared at Briza, though he knew well that the matron mother had called him to audience to do more than tell him of Drizzt’s departure.
It's always interesting when Malice and Zak discuss Drizzt. Because they're not co-parents, of course. Not really. Zak is the concubine that happened to father the kid, but Matron is the one with all authority. Zak leans when he can, but it's at her pleasure.
“Spirited,” Zak said again, trying not to chuckle. “A minor indiscretion.”
“How often he seems to have those,” Malice commented. “Like another spirited male of House Do’Urden.”
The parallels between Drizzt and Zak haven't gone unnoticed by Malice either. But what's amusing in a sex slave/henchman is not necessarily good in even a lesser heir. And Malice goes on the attack:
“The boy has displeased the Spider Queen!” Malice growled, openly enraged and tired of Zak’s sarcasm. “Even you were not foolish enough to do that!”
A dark cloud passed across Zak’s face. This meeting was indeed serious; Drizzt’s life could be at stake.
“But you know of his crime,” Malice continued, easing back again. She liked that she had Zak concerned and on the defensive. She had found his vulnerable spot. It was her turn to tease.
Malice isn't really good at teasing, it should be noted. Zak plays dumb for a single moment before she's yelling about the elven child. And Zak knows exactly how bad this is. Drizzt has lost them Lolth's favor, and Malice intends to regain it.
Zak knows better than to say a word at this point, except to play his role in the pantomime:
“The secondboy must be punished,” Briza said.
Another rehearsed interruption, Zak knew. He wondered how many times Briza and Malice had practiced this encounter.
“Am I to punish him, then?” Zak asked. “I’ll not whip the boy; that is not my place.”
“His punishment is none of your concern,” Malice said.
“Then why disturb my slumber?” Zak asked, trying to detach himself from Drizzt’s predicament, more for Drizzt’s sake than his own.
Malice may just want to make him suffer some more. She points out how close they became at the gym, thereby revealing his own accidental role in Drizzt's predicament. So what's this about?
“An elven child lives,” Malice began slowly, rolling out each word in dramatic clarity, “and a young drow must die.”
Zak, of course, starts to plead for Drizzt's life. And maybe that's the reason she summoned him: to watch him suffer. He tries to say that Drizzt is too young to understand. That he can learn, like Zak did. Zak has been useful, Drizzt can too. His death will aid House Hun'ett!
Malice, of course, shoots all of it down.
Then...the tone changes a little:
“I beg you, do not kill the boy.”
“Sympathy?” Malice mused. “It does not become a drow warrior, Zaknafein. Have you lost your fighting will?”
“I am old, Malice.”
“Matron Malice!” Briza protested, but Zak put a look on her so cold that she lowered her snake whip before she had even begun to put it to use.
“Older still will I become if Drizzt is put to his death.”
It's still a performance. A pantomime. But Briza isn't playing a part anymore. Malice is cueing Zak directly. Has he lost his fighting will? Is he useful anymore?
She, of course, claims that she doesn't desire this either. But...she sees no alternative...
Zak began to understand. This meeting wasn’t about Drizzt at all. “Take me in the boy’s stead,” he said.
Malice’s narrow grin could not hide her feigned surprise. This was what she had desired from the very beginning.
Here's the real script of course. The climax of her power plays. And the precariousness of Zak's position as opposed to Dinin and Drizzt has always been that he lives on her sufferance. Only as long as he amuses her. The amusement value has worn out.
A young heir is more valuable than an old toy.
She still makes Zak beg for it, of course, to plead for his son's value over his own.
I'll give Salvatore this. I generally would not consider his writing particularly sexually charged. But there IS something in the back and forth of this scene.
Drizzt is younger, potentially even stronger. He's a match for Zak now, and he can only get better.
“You are willing to do this for him?” Malice sneered, eager drool edging her mouth.
“You know that I am,” Zak replied.
“Ever the fool,” Malice put in.
“To your dismay,” Zak continued, undaunted, “you know that Drizzt would do the same for me.”
“He is young,” Malice purred. “He will be taught better.”
“As you taught me?” snapped Zak.
Careful, Zak. You don't want her to change her mind. She threatens that if he does anything to ruin the appeasement ceremony, she'll give Drizzt to Briza for sacrifice. But Zak's defiant, not stupid. He knows why he's doing this.
That said, he can't resist a final tussle for the top, metaphorically speaking:
Unafraid, Zak held his head high. “I have offered myself, Malice,” he spat. “Have your fun while you may. In the end, Zaknafein will be at peace; Matron Malice Do’Urden will ever be at war!”
Shaking in anger, the moment of triumph stolen by a few simple words, Malice could only whisper, “Take him!”
And maybe, just this once, he gets to win.
But Zak has two children, not just one. And there's a moment here:
Zak offered no resistance as Vierna and Maya tied him to the spider-shaped altar in the chapel. He watched Vierna mostly, seeing an edge of sympathy rimming her quiet eyes. She, too, might have been like him, but whatever hope he had for that possibility had been buried long ago under the relentless preaching of the Spider Queen.
“You are sad,” Zak remarked to her.
Vierna straightened and tugged tightly on one of Zak’s bonds, causing him to grimace in pain. “A pity,” she replied as coldly as she could. “House Do’Urden must give much to repay Drizzt’s foolish deed. I would have enjoyed watching the two of you together in battle.”
“House Hun’ett would not have enjoyed the sight,” Zak replied with a wink. “Cry not … my daughter.”
Vierna slapped him across the face. “Take your lies to your grave!”
“Deny it as you choose, Vierna,” was all that Zak cared to reply.
Poor Vierna. She and Dinin have interested me all this book, because I think there are seeds there, in both characters, that maybe could have been different. That maybe could even still BE different. If they had a Zaknafein. If they had a chance and a reason to leave and find something else. But maybe not. It might be too late.
So Zak gets tied to the altar. The women chant. Zak gets his own prayer:
“Beat them all,” he whispered under his breath. “Do more than survive, my son, as I have survived. Live! Be true to the callings in your heart.”
And well, the chapter ends with a last vision:
The spider-shaped dagger hovered over his chest. Malice clenched the instrument in her bony hands, the sheen of her sweat-soaked skin catching the orange reflection of the fires in a surrealistic glow.
Surreal, like the transition from life to death.
Only one drow makes it out of Menzoberranzan after all. But even if Zak was stuck with the cross-parry, we know Drizzt isn't. We know Drizzt will make it to Icewind Dale and beyond. He'll have friends and adventures, and he'll live to annoy the fucking shit out of me.
So Zak will get what he wants in the end.
Sorry about the eternity of torment at the hands of your evil goddess though. That does kind of suck, dude.
We enter the chapter with Zaknafein, who is asleep in his bed. Because Salvatore is a sadist, and not very subtle, we're told that Zaknafein is actually having the most comfortable rest that he's ever known.
And to be fair, it makes sense. Zaknafein has lived with his secret, his conscience and moral code that is fundamentally incompatible with his society, his hatred of their shared goddess, for his entire life. He's had children who seem to show signs that they shared some of his discomfort, but he'd believed both had been swallowed up by drow society.
He's now learned that Drizzt hasn't been. He's not alone anymore. And maybe two can succeed in Menzoberranzan where one couldn't.
And of course, this is when Zak wakes up from his sleep to a stinging pain. Briza's at the foot of his bed with her snake whip in hand. Vierna's standing on the side of the room, holding his sword. Maya's on the other side, holding his other sword. Yeah. This isn't good.
The downside of having the first sound, peaceful sleep in his life: you wake up to this.
The ladies tell him that Matron Malice will see him now. He attempts some casual bravado, asking for his belt and weapons if you please. As it turns out, they do not please.
But Zak's not completely without leverage:
“I should be certain of Matron Malice’s intentions before I acted so boldly, were I you,” Zak warned. Briza, reminded of the power of the male she now threatened, lowered her weapon.
Zak doesn't have the safe security that a son of the House would normally have. But he's stayed alive so far because Malice finds torturing or fucking him amusing. There's probably a not insignificant chance that Malice would put her own pleasure over the good of the house and thus take his side. Especially if she thinks Briza's getting uppity.
That said, Briza does know why he's being summoned and can't resist a wicked smile when he remarks that "it must be serious."
Malice and Zaknafein do have an interesting vibe. They've interacted previously in the book, but not quite in this context.
“Matron,” Zak offered, dipping into a bow and pulling the side of his nightshirt out wide to draw attention to his inappropriate dress. He wanted to let Malice know his feelings of being ridiculed at such a late hour.
The matron offered no return greeting. She rested back in her throne. One slender hand rubbed her sharp chin, while her eyes locked upon Zaknafein.
“Perhaps you could tell me why you’ve summoned me,” Zak dared to say, his voice still holding an edge of sarcasm. “I would prefer to return to my slumbers. We should not give House Hun’ett the advantage of a tired weapons master.”
Zaknafein walks an interesting knife's edge between defiance and subservience. He can show his displeasure in gestures, a hint of tone, but not directly. Especially not when he doesn't know what it's about.
It's about Drizzt. Who left the house against Malice's command. (Zaknafein relaxes a little, having first been afraid that Malice had driven Drizzt out or killed him. Don't relax yet.._
“A spirited boy,” Zak remarked. “Surely he will return soon.”
“Spirited,” Malice echoed, and her tone did not put the description in a positive light.
“He will return,” Zak said again. “There’s no need for our alarm, for such extreme measures.” He glared at Briza, though he knew well that the matron mother had called him to audience to do more than tell him of Drizzt’s departure.
It's always interesting when Malice and Zak discuss Drizzt. Because they're not co-parents, of course. Not really. Zak is the concubine that happened to father the kid, but Matron is the one with all authority. Zak leans when he can, but it's at her pleasure.
“Spirited,” Zak said again, trying not to chuckle. “A minor indiscretion.”
“How often he seems to have those,” Malice commented. “Like another spirited male of House Do’Urden.”
The parallels between Drizzt and Zak haven't gone unnoticed by Malice either. But what's amusing in a sex slave/henchman is not necessarily good in even a lesser heir. And Malice goes on the attack:
“The boy has displeased the Spider Queen!” Malice growled, openly enraged and tired of Zak’s sarcasm. “Even you were not foolish enough to do that!”
A dark cloud passed across Zak’s face. This meeting was indeed serious; Drizzt’s life could be at stake.
“But you know of his crime,” Malice continued, easing back again. She liked that she had Zak concerned and on the defensive. She had found his vulnerable spot. It was her turn to tease.
Malice isn't really good at teasing, it should be noted. Zak plays dumb for a single moment before she's yelling about the elven child. And Zak knows exactly how bad this is. Drizzt has lost them Lolth's favor, and Malice intends to regain it.
Zak knows better than to say a word at this point, except to play his role in the pantomime:
“The secondboy must be punished,” Briza said.
Another rehearsed interruption, Zak knew. He wondered how many times Briza and Malice had practiced this encounter.
“Am I to punish him, then?” Zak asked. “I’ll not whip the boy; that is not my place.”
“His punishment is none of your concern,” Malice said.
“Then why disturb my slumber?” Zak asked, trying to detach himself from Drizzt’s predicament, more for Drizzt’s sake than his own.
Malice may just want to make him suffer some more. She points out how close they became at the gym, thereby revealing his own accidental role in Drizzt's predicament. So what's this about?
“An elven child lives,” Malice began slowly, rolling out each word in dramatic clarity, “and a young drow must die.”
Zak, of course, starts to plead for Drizzt's life. And maybe that's the reason she summoned him: to watch him suffer. He tries to say that Drizzt is too young to understand. That he can learn, like Zak did. Zak has been useful, Drizzt can too. His death will aid House Hun'ett!
Malice, of course, shoots all of it down.
Then...the tone changes a little:
“I beg you, do not kill the boy.”
“Sympathy?” Malice mused. “It does not become a drow warrior, Zaknafein. Have you lost your fighting will?”
“I am old, Malice.”
“Matron Malice!” Briza protested, but Zak put a look on her so cold that she lowered her snake whip before she had even begun to put it to use.
“Older still will I become if Drizzt is put to his death.”
It's still a performance. A pantomime. But Briza isn't playing a part anymore. Malice is cueing Zak directly. Has he lost his fighting will? Is he useful anymore?
She, of course, claims that she doesn't desire this either. But...she sees no alternative...
Zak began to understand. This meeting wasn’t about Drizzt at all. “Take me in the boy’s stead,” he said.
Malice’s narrow grin could not hide her feigned surprise. This was what she had desired from the very beginning.
Here's the real script of course. The climax of her power plays. And the precariousness of Zak's position as opposed to Dinin and Drizzt has always been that he lives on her sufferance. Only as long as he amuses her. The amusement value has worn out.
A young heir is more valuable than an old toy.
She still makes Zak beg for it, of course, to plead for his son's value over his own.
I'll give Salvatore this. I generally would not consider his writing particularly sexually charged. But there IS something in the back and forth of this scene.
Drizzt is younger, potentially even stronger. He's a match for Zak now, and he can only get better.
“You are willing to do this for him?” Malice sneered, eager drool edging her mouth.
“You know that I am,” Zak replied.
“Ever the fool,” Malice put in.
“To your dismay,” Zak continued, undaunted, “you know that Drizzt would do the same for me.”
“He is young,” Malice purred. “He will be taught better.”
“As you taught me?” snapped Zak.
Careful, Zak. You don't want her to change her mind. She threatens that if he does anything to ruin the appeasement ceremony, she'll give Drizzt to Briza for sacrifice. But Zak's defiant, not stupid. He knows why he's doing this.
That said, he can't resist a final tussle for the top, metaphorically speaking:
Unafraid, Zak held his head high. “I have offered myself, Malice,” he spat. “Have your fun while you may. In the end, Zaknafein will be at peace; Matron Malice Do’Urden will ever be at war!”
Shaking in anger, the moment of triumph stolen by a few simple words, Malice could only whisper, “Take him!”
And maybe, just this once, he gets to win.
But Zak has two children, not just one. And there's a moment here:
Zak offered no resistance as Vierna and Maya tied him to the spider-shaped altar in the chapel. He watched Vierna mostly, seeing an edge of sympathy rimming her quiet eyes. She, too, might have been like him, but whatever hope he had for that possibility had been buried long ago under the relentless preaching of the Spider Queen.
“You are sad,” Zak remarked to her.
Vierna straightened and tugged tightly on one of Zak’s bonds, causing him to grimace in pain. “A pity,” she replied as coldly as she could. “House Do’Urden must give much to repay Drizzt’s foolish deed. I would have enjoyed watching the two of you together in battle.”
“House Hun’ett would not have enjoyed the sight,” Zak replied with a wink. “Cry not … my daughter.”
Vierna slapped him across the face. “Take your lies to your grave!”
“Deny it as you choose, Vierna,” was all that Zak cared to reply.
Poor Vierna. She and Dinin have interested me all this book, because I think there are seeds there, in both characters, that maybe could have been different. That maybe could even still BE different. If they had a Zaknafein. If they had a chance and a reason to leave and find something else. But maybe not. It might be too late.
So Zak gets tied to the altar. The women chant. Zak gets his own prayer:
“Beat them all,” he whispered under his breath. “Do more than survive, my son, as I have survived. Live! Be true to the callings in your heart.”
And well, the chapter ends with a last vision:
The spider-shaped dagger hovered over his chest. Malice clenched the instrument in her bony hands, the sheen of her sweat-soaked skin catching the orange reflection of the fires in a surrealistic glow.
Surreal, like the transition from life to death.
Only one drow makes it out of Menzoberranzan after all. But even if Zak was stuck with the cross-parry, we know Drizzt isn't. We know Drizzt will make it to Icewind Dale and beyond. He'll have friends and adventures, and he'll live to annoy the fucking shit out of me.
So Zak will get what he wants in the end.
Sorry about the eternity of torment at the hands of your evil goddess though. That does kind of suck, dude.