Part Twelve

About half an hour later, I slowly opened my eyes and saw her crying.

"Zeera..." I muttered quietly.

She opened her deep green eyes and smiled. "You're awake!" she said, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"Yes, and I had a wonderful dream," I said.

Zeera looked up at the guard. "Go tell Vielyn he's awake," she ordered before turning back to me. "Tell me about it," she said softly, smiling widely at me.

"I was in my pool at House De'Endar after a wonderful party. There was a beautiful woman in the pool with me. Oh, she was so beautiful. She had long black hair, a gorgeous smile, and beautiful green eyes," I said, looking up at her and grinning.

"You're not dreaming. I gave you too much of the pomegranate, and now you're in the pool at your house," she said with a frown.

I smiled up at her. "No, I was dreaming... because we were doing something very different," I said, my smile turning into a wide grin.

"Oh?" Zeera inquired.

I rolled over in the water to face her. "Come, my dear, and have some fun with your Masdrin," I said in almost a whisper as I stood up.

My vision was still trembling, and I still had a euphoric feeling, another side effect of the seeds and my apparent overdose on them. I wanted Zeera. More than anything else in the world, I wanted my Zeera. I reached out for her hand, and she grasped it in hers. She stood up, and I led us into deeper water.

"I can't swim!" Zeera cried as the water reached her neck, and her free arm immediately reached up and grabbed the edge of the pool. I stopped and turned around to gaze at her for a moment before closing the gap between us and wrapping my arms around her.

"I want you..." I gasped as the urges grew stronger.

Zeera grinned widely at me as she wrapped her arms around my neck. She leaned in real close and whispered, "Then take me!" in my ear. She was used to being the one with the desires; she wasn't used to me wanting her like this, and she liked it.

I let out a low feral growl, and my hand trembled as I reached up from her waist to unfasten her dress. It didn’t take long for us to undress each other, and soon our clothes were floating on top of the pool, and we were in the midst of the most intense passion I had ever felt. The drug-laced fruit was enhancing every touch, every kiss, every sensation.

When Vielyn finally showed up, about an hour later, the pool room was filled with dancing lights and faerie fire. Zeera and I were no longer in the pool. In fact, we were above it. At some point during our passionate embrace, I had used my Drow ability of greater levitation to suspend both of us in the air above the pool.

"Masdrin!" Vielyn called out as he stood at the edge of the pool.

I pried my lips from Zeera’s neck. "Busy," I replied before burying my face once again.

"Mother wants you back at the party. You and Zeera can play around there," Vielyn said calmly.

"Too busy, be there later," I replied.

Vielyn shook his head and then clapped his hands loudly, dispelling all of the innate abilities I had been using, including my levitation.

As Zeera and I fell towards the water, I took a deep breath and rolled us over so we’d land on my back and Zeera would land on top of me.

We landed with a splash, and I quickly hoisted Zeera’s head out of the water with a laugh. "I guess we should return to the party then!" I said, wrapping my arm under her arms and swimming us to the edge of the pool. Zeera was laughing as I lifted her onto the edge, so she was sitting with her feet in the water. I pulled myself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool with her.

"Mother says to come now," Vielyn reiterated. I sighed and my shoulders slumped. I didn’t want to party, I didn’t want to listen to Mother or the other two Matron Mothers, and I didn’t want to be bossed around by anyone. I only wanted my Zeera.

"I’ve overdone it on the passion seeds before myself. I know what you’re thinking, but heed my words, little brother. Mother has summoned you, and if I have to, I will drag you back kicking and screaming. Shadow Nine isn’t here to help you," he said with a grin. Vielyn was bigger and stronger than me. He was larger than your average Drow and in just as great of shape as I was, maybe even better. However, I wasn’t currently thinking with my entire brain, just the part that wanted Zeera.

I ignored Vielyn and turned to Zeera, pressing my lips against hers. We shared a kiss, and then suddenly, I felt myself falling. With a splash, I was back in the pool. As I surfaced, I looked to the edge to see Vielyn kneeling near there.

"Hey!" I said, still confused about how I ended up back in the warm water. I grabbed the edge of the pool to pull myself up, but instead, my brother grabbed the top of my head and dunked me underwater, holding me there for a moment before pulling me back up.

"You ready to listen?" he asked with a wide grin.

"I’ll kill you for this!" I threatened angrily. I didn't understand what was happening, but under the water I went once again. This time, when I came up, I was holding Deathsbite. Vielyn jumped back and quickly got to his feet as I pulled myself out of the water. Trembling with rage, I stalked towards him with that wicked blade in my hand. Vielyn drew his House De'Endar dagger, holding it up defensively, ready to parry any strike I might attempt.

To me, it seemed like a threat. I curled my lip into a sneer. "So today is the day I become first boy," I threatened through gritted teeth.

Vielyn's eyes went wide, and he immediately sheathed his blade, holding his hands up in front of him. "Hey... be easy, little brother..." he said calmly.

I wasn't hearing him, though. I moved closer and closer, and as I raised my blade, I heard a familiar voice.

"MASDRIN!" Zeera shrieked. I froze in place and turned to face her.

Vielyn took that chance to strike. With a knife-hand strike, he hit the back of my hand, causing me to drop my blade. He then swung his other hand, balled up in a tight fist. The fist connected with the side of my head, rendering me unconscious instantly. As I fell to the ground, my brother reached out and caught me. "Zeera, pick up his blade and come," Vielyn said as he hoisted me over his shoulder and headed for the door.

Zeera followed Vielyn as he carried me back to the dining hall. We stopped outside the door, and Vielyn sat me in a chair. "Should we cover him up?" Zeera asked.

Vielyn looked at her as she stood naked next to him. "Nah, he's fine. We should wake him up, though. Mother will be quite upset if she sees him like this," Vielyn said as he held me upright in the chair.

"Look out, he’ll be happier to see me than you when he opens his eyes," Zeera said as she leaned forward, blocking my view of Vielyn. She gently rubbed my cheek. "Hey, handsome, time to wake up..." she said softly.

I let out a groan as I slowly opened my eyes. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I was pretty sure my brother had tried to kill me. "Where's Vielyn?" I asked as I tried to look past her.

Zeera leaned in close, her chest pressing against mine as she kissed me. "Don't worry about him. Come, my handsome man, let's go back to the party," she said before kissing me again.

I smiled at her and nodded. "Okay..." I said hesitantly. She leaned back, letting me get up. When I stood up, I spotted Vielyn standing next to the door. As I approached him, he pulled it open, figuring I wouldn't be bold enough to strike him if Mother could see.

Vielyn was incorrect in that assumption. As I walked past him, I used a charge of my iron hand ring and swung a crashing blow upon his chin, knocking him out cold. I grabbed him as his legs buckled and gently laid him on the floor inside the door.

"What is this?" Mother demanded as she jumped out of her seat.

"Well, something happened... I woke up in the pool, and I was so happy to be home and to see Zeera that we fell into the throes of passion. Vielyn rudely interrupted us, tried to drown me, and then beat me senseless. Then I woke up outside the door here with this one kissing me and Vielyn holding the door open. I didn't want him to strike me again, so I struck first," I said, standing there naked. "I'll be honest, I'm still rather confused by it all," I added.

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Mother smirked, knowing my reputation for being difficult in the face of authority. This was exactly what she wanted this night, a chaotic circus to make it look as though her house was disorganized and weak.

A few moments later, Vielyn began to stir. "Excuse me, Mother, I must discuss a matter of importance with my brother," I said and knelt down next to Vielyn. As he opened his eyes, he saw my smiling face looking down at him. "Welcome back, big brother. Twice now you've sucker-punched me. Now that I've returned the favor, I'd say we're even... or... I have two more charges in my ring," I said quietly to him. I stood up as he nodded his head and reached down to help him up. He grasped my hand, and I helped him to his feet.

Instead of anger, Vielyn was smiling. "Good punch, little brother!" he said proudly as he put his arm across my shoulders.

"You two boys got that out of your system?" Mother asked facetiously. Vielyn and I both smiled and nodded. "Good, then behave yourselves and enjoy the party," she said, and we both nodded again.

Vielyn reached down and unfastened his pants as he made his way back to his pile of blankets and pillows and the woman I did not recognize. I’d later ask Vielyn about her, and he’d tell me she was a noble from another house that he had asked to keep him company during the party. Zeera and I made our way back to our own pile of blankets and pillows.

As we lay there in the blankets, Zeera looked around as I desperately tried to keep my hands off her. In all the commotion, she hadn’t questioned why nobody was bothered with us being naked, especially at a party with two other Matron Mothers. As she looked around, she realized why no one was bothered.

Half the guests, including most of my sisters and Vielyn, were all engaging in acts of passion. As I lay there smiling at her, she leaned down close to me. I started breathing heavier as that fire began to burn again, and I wanted nothing more than my Zeera. "You still want me, my strong handsome man?" she purred seductively.

I nodded my head slowly. "More than anything..." I whined.

She grinned wide. "Come get me then." I was on her a moment later.

"Use Durdrin’s gift," Zeera whispered into my ear, referring to the ring I was given and had used last night. I looked at her with slight confusion, but she grabbed the back of my neck and pressed her lips against my ear. "I don’t like my man being made to look foolish. Use the ring and make it look good," she whispered to me.

With a smirk, I nodded. I began to slow down and exaggerate my movements, and as Zeera threw her head back in the throes of pleasure, I activated the first charge in the ring. This caused a stifled grunt from me and a long, drawn-out moan from Zeera. I was already in a state of euphoria as the seeds hadn't quite worn off yet, and it took everything I had to stay in control, to put on the show Zeera wanted, to get the attention I craved. I kept moving methodically.

"Mas... drin..." she moaned loudly. The sound spurred a confident grin, and I leaned in, burying my face in her neck.

"Oh, come on! She's faking it!" Matron Alesek muttered. All eyes were on me and Zeera, watching our "performance."

"I’ve had his father... I don’t think she’s faking it..." Mother said, the whole scene looking familiar to her.

"I’ve had him too, I think you’re right, Larynda..." Matron Fret’tar added.

Jhule walked up behind the three Matron Mothers. "He’s a chip off the ol' block, isn't he?" she said, pointing to me. The three Matron Mothers looked up at her curiously, and Jhule smiled. "What? You didn’t think you were the only one to bed the king of the mercenaries, did you, Mother?" Jhule asked, grinning widely. Mother simply shrugged; she held no illusion that she and Durdrin were exclusive.

Mother felt a hand on her shoulder, the hand of an insecure man who often got jealous when Durdrin’s name was mentioned. "Yes, Viezere?" she asked Vielyn’s father, the patron of the house.

"Do those two have to carry on like that?" he asked just as I activated the second charge on my ring, bringing another series of loud moans from my woman.

"You can go try to stop them if you like..." Mother said with a wry smile. She knew that Viezere had a bit of unwarranted self-importance due to Vielyn’s status as Weapon Master and, of course, because of his son’s reputation around Felynafay. But in reality, he was a beta male, not a hardened warrior like myself or his son.

"Fine, I will," Viezere said confidently, remembering all the beatings he had given me before I moved out of the house.

Vielyn had overheard the exchange, though I hadn’t, and quickly stopped what he was doing. As he went to get up to stop Viezere, knowing full well how I was going to react, Mother waved him back. She figured it was time for Viezere to get the same lesson she had gotten earlier. There was a new man of the house.

Vielyn laid back down with his woman, knowing full well his father was about to catch a beating. He didn’t care; he didn’t have many good feelings for his father. After all, all Viezere did was try to order people around and fornicate with Mother.

I remember one time we were all eating supper before I moved to the Barra D’aron compound, and Viezere and Mother got into an argument. He threw a piece of food at Mother, and Vielyn leapt across the table and beat him senseless. Mother laughed the entire time, and I watched in awe as my big brother beat up the man who often tried to push me around, beat me up, and boss me around, simply because he was bigger than me.

Viezere moved until he stood over Zeera and me, though I barely noticed. "Hey," he said loudly.

"What?" I replied, having already heard more than I wanted to from the weak man.

"Show some respect... for your mother and sisters," he demanded.

"Go away, Viezere, I’m busy," I growled.

Apparently not satisfied with that answer, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. "Listen, second-boy, I am patron of this house, and you will do as I say," Viezere demanded as he gave me a tug backward.

I landed on my back and started laughing maniacally. Today wasn’t my day, it seemed. I was forced to make myself look a fool, overdosed on passion seed pomegranate, almost drowned and then punched out by my brother, and now this beta male wanted to challenge me. I slowly climbed to my feet, and as my eyes settled on my brother’s father, I smiled wickedly. "Oh, Viezere, come talk to me for a moment."

The foolish Drow knew I was going to get violent. He had watched me knock out his weapon master son, and yet he still strode forward confidently. "Oh, what do you have to say to me, Second-Boy?" he said arrogantly as he stepped nose to nose with me.

"This!" I said as I activated the second charge of my iron hand ring and brought my fist across his jaw, fracturing it. He swooned from the pain, and I reached out to grab him by the collar as I activated the last charge in the ring and swung again, striking Viezere’s jaw once more, shattering it and knocking him unconscious. I roughly spun him around and wrapped my arms around his neck, squeezing and twisting, and just as I was about to snap the arrogant man’s neck, Mother intervened.

"Masdrin! He’s learned his lesson," she shouted.

I released my grip on Viezere, and as he dropped to the floor, I looked to Mother. "If he bothers me again, I’ll kill him," I growled through gritted teeth.

"Of course, my handsome boy, now go back to Zeera. She’s waiting for you," Mother said happily. She was beginning to see why everyone enjoyed a Masdrin show. As I rejoined Zeera, I heard Mother order two guards to bring Viezere to the physician to get him patched up.

As if on cue, Durdrin showed up a few hours later to keep Mother company that night, almost as though someone had given him a heads-up about their father’s broken jaw.

Zeera and I had finished what we were doing by the time he arrived, and I was sitting back in the pile of pillows, eating an apple, while Zeera was lying next to me, relaxing. As he walked past us, he gave me a subtle nod and a wink as he waved at us. I smirked as I noticed he too was wearing a “Drow’s Delight” ring.

Durdrin walked past everyone and moved to kneel in front of Mother. He grasped her hand in his and kissed the back of it. Mother didn’t look too impressed with the mercenary leader, though, because of how he had shifted the Barra D’aron’s House De’Endar duties to me instead of handling them himself.

She wasn’t worried that I wouldn’t be as capable; she knew she couldn’t control me in the same way she could with Durdrin, who fawned over her and was more or less at her beck and call when he was around. This was his choice. If he knew what love was, he’d probably say he loved Mother, and she’d probably begrudgingly say the same about him.

Not today, though. After the kiss, Mother retracted her hand way back over her shoulder and brought it down across Durdrin’s cheek, hard, though the mercenary barely even flinched from it. “I haven’t done anything... yet,” he said, though he knew the reason already.

“You put that incompetent, arrogant little brat in charge of my protection?” Mother asked angrily as she stood up and towered over the kneeling Durdrin.

“I thought this was what you wanted! Your son to come home big and strong to protect the house with his brother! That’s what I did!” Durdrin stated. “And if he’s incompetent, then by that measure, so is Vielyn and the entirety of the Barra D’aron.” He hadn’t been made aware of the current plan just yet and was just a little confused, but a quick look around helped him figure it out.

Viezere was nowhere to be seen. Usually, Durdrin would find him off sulking in a corner, watching while Durdrin and Matron Larynda had their fun together. Both Vielyn and I, two of his top men and the two men supposedly in charge of this house’s protection, were apparently loaded drunk and too busy with their women to see a threat if one did arise. He knew the ruse and knew Mother was trying to provoke an attack by one of the two Matron Mothers flanking her, Matron Celia. He’d play along, though he wouldn’t make himself or his organization look bad. Luckily it wasn’t well known that Vielyn was Barra D’aron, so he just had to worry about me.

“Matron Mother Larynda, you have my most sincere apologies. If I had realized that he wasn’t up to the standard of House De’Endar, I never would have sent him home so soon!” he said as he looked up to Mother.

I smirked as I bit into my apple, glad he caught on quick. I chucked the half-eaten apple across the room to smack into Durdrin’s back. He turned and glared at me before looking back to Mother.

“You see what I’ve been dealing with?” Mother asked Durdrin.

“Yes, Matron Larynda, indeed I do see,” Durdrin replied. He glanced over his shoulder to see me smirking at him.

“You’ll spend the next few days here, in my house, to straighten out our son,” Mother demanded.

Durdrin looked up at her with a grin. “Oh, but what would my dear friend Viezere think of that?” he asked facetiously. He didn’t care what the beta male thought.

Mother smirked at him. “Our son took care of that little problem,” she replied. Durdrin looked back over his shoulder at me again and flashed me a wide grin. I nodded at him as I reached down to run my hand along Zeera’s side.

Father spoke with Mother for a few more minutes and then smiled and nodded at her before turning around and walking to the table to serve himself a plate of food. He then walked over to me with his confident swagger and plopped himself down beside me, opposite of where Zeera was laying.

“Can’t send you anywhere, it appears,” he said as he looked at me with a grin.

I shrugged my shoulders. “It would appear that way, wouldn’t it?” I said with a smirk.

Durdrin shoved a handful of grapes in his mouth in an attempt to hide the secret conversation we were about to have over our Barra D’aron comm implants. “Care to explain what’s going on?” I heard his voice ask quietly. I lay down and turned to face Zeera, with my back to Durdrin and the three Matron Mothers.

“Matron Alesek is the one making the threats, as you and Mother found out. Mother has hosted this party to ‘celebrate’ my return, but in reality, Vielyn and I were told to make it look like the house was in chaos, an easy target. So Mother basically gave me an order to act a fool,” I said.

Durdrin grinned. “You didn’t kill Viezere, did you?” he asked.

I gave a subtle shake of my head and grinned at Zeera, who was still resting next to me. “I tried to,” I replied.

Durdrin turned and looked at me and stopped chewing for a moment. He had never known me to try to kill someone and fail. “What do you mean, tried?” he asked.

“Viezere was jealous of the performance Zeera and I put on and came over and interrupted us. With two punches, I shattered his jaw, then I wrapped my arms around his neck, and just as I was about to break it, Mother stopped me,” I explained with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

Durdrin stifled a laugh. I had broken both Viezere’s face and pride with two punches. “Not so incompetent then,” he said quietly.

“Not so incompetent,” I confirmed.

I looked down at Zeera curiously. “Why did Vielyn try to kill me?” I asked her.

She rolled over and looked up at me, a look of confusion splashed across her face. “When?” she asked.

“In the pool, he threw me in and held me under the water. When I came out, he drew his dagger,” I said, describing the event from my point of view.

“He drew his dagger, Masdrin, because you came out of the pool trembling with rage and holding that nasty black blade of yours. You even threatened him,” she tried to explain.

I had a one-track mind at the time, due to my overdose, and didn’t see things that way. “Yes, because he tried to drown me,” I replied quietly.

“No, he tried to get your attention; you tried to kill him. You refused to hear him and tried to kill him,” she said quietly.

“Why did he punch me then?” I asked.

“Because you were going to try to kill him,” she reiterated.

I nodded my head and smirked. “I’ll be right back,” I said before standing up. I was still naked and not even sure where my clothes were, but I suspected Zeera or Vielyn would know. I walked over to where my brother was lying with his woman, both of them laughing and giggling, and sat down next to him.

Vielyn had been my best friend and my protector since I was a young child, and I truly felt guilty for even thinking about harming him. “What do you want?” he asked suspiciously, assuming I was up to something.

“Big brother, you know I have no desire to be First Boy or Weapon Master of our house, right?” I said quietly.

Vielyn rolled over and faced me, casting a suspicious yet curious look my way. “What are you talking about?” he asked as he quickly glanced down to my hands to see I was not armed. He was relieved by that and looked at me as he waited for my reply.

I looked at my brother, my face showing the guilt I felt. “I apologize for how I acted at the pool,” I said solemnly.

Vielyn blinked a couple of times and then smiled at me. “I know you have no desire to see me dead, little brother. You were not yourself. Do not think of it anymore. I promise you, I won’t,” he said before reaching up and messing my hair. I smiled at him and nodded before getting up and returning to Zeera.

I lay down next to her and wrapped my arm around her with a smile. The party would go on for days, but I decided I was going to have a nap. It had been a long, long day. I held Zeera tight, and my grip didn’t loosen until I had drifted off to sleep.