Chapter 22: Open up your eyes

Sharadreza grinned malicious when she saw the patrol group march through her gates. A big part of her House had come out to watch and cheer for the return of their fighters in glory. They had succeeded in their task to recapture the traitor and kill the one he loved on the surface. Sharadreza had to admit, she had found her sister’s plan a foolish one at first, but it seemed she had been right. 

Her red eyes wandered towards the prey they carried. Blinded, bound and gagged, Elendar could only follow to where his guards would lead him. But the prisoner was more than aware what his destiny would be. It had been the last time he had been able to witness the surface. Sharadreza would do everything to keep him here, in the dark underground. 

Breghen and Irae’Lin walked up the stairs, stopping only a few steps from their mother before both of them bowed down. As customary, Sharadreza first greeted her eldest daughter before she turned her attention towards Breghen. 

“You have succeeded, as predicted. Lolth has you in her favor.” The matron said in a clear tone.

“All praise to Lolth!” The siblings replied, bowing their heads again. When they looked up again, Breghen his eyes strayed to the place beyond Sharadreza. Where he expected for Nazira to stand, was now empty. Sharadreza noticed the wandering eyes of her son and a slight mischievous grin rose on her face. 

“Matron Nazira has returned home to prepare her war to claim the honor of becoming the fifth house of Che’El’Dheorden. You will soon meet her again when she calls for our aid.”

Breghen eyes shifted back to his mother, seeing the victorious grin in her eyes. Now that Nazira had left, she had reclaimed full power over her own House again and she was certain to show it.

“However …” Sharadreza started, letting out a small falter in her overpowered tone.

“... she gave the instruction that the further torture and interrogation on our prisoner has to be done by you.”

“What!!” Irae’Lin barked, already showing her discontent.

“Interrogations are solely to be executed by Priestesses of Lolth. What does a mere boy know of these practices??”

“Hush!” Sharadreza said in a commanding tone and directly Irae’Lin took a step lower on the stairs, knowing she had crossed her boundaries.

“Breghen has completed his trial, he has returned victorious and is rewarded. Once he is done, you can have your pleasure with your toys on him, Irae’Lin.”

Still the eldest daughter was displeased with the order. In her opinion, no male should receive such a right, for it was not theirs to take. But Irae’Lin knew that she could not openly argue with her mother, for it would only undermine her power, making their House weak. As the eldest daughter, it was her right to become the next Matron of this house, but today was not that day. So reluctantly, but respectful, Irae’Lin bowed her head to her matron.

“Bring him to his cell. We made sure to keep it warm during his absence.” The matron said before she flicked with her hand, signalling the soldiers to drag the traitor to his cell again. 

An hour later, cleaned up and having a fresh outfit, Breghen entered the cell, seeing how the fighters had already bound Elendar to the stock, removing his shirt to reveal his barren chest. He could only grin when he saw a few scars from his previous interrogations.

“Back here again …” Breghen whispered with a sleek voice.

Elendar looked up, but his face didn’t betray anything of his current feelings. No fear, no desperation, … he was just blank.

“Since when are interrogations done by a teenage boy instead of a Cleric?” Elendar said, releasing a slight mocking tone in his voice.

“Since I have proven to be more than just your tool of torture.” Breghen replied reassured.

“So the tool is allowed to play …” The prisoner replied, showing a sneer on his face. And that was already enough to spark the fire in the boy. He slammed his fists next to Elendar’s face, but again, the man didn’t flinch. He only looked straight to his son with a cold stare.

“Do not mock me …” Breghen hissed dangerously, staring straight back. But compared to his father, who had a cold look in his eyes, Breghen’s eyes were like burning fires. 

“I am their champion!”

“Still a tool.” Elendar replied in a cool tone. He could only hope that his son saw what he was seeing. How House Duscrain and House Doh’Arn were using him for their own gain. He knew that when their goals were fulfilled, that they would toss him aside like a broken sword. 

“Do not dare to tell me who or what I am!” Breghen his fist flew through the air, hitting Elendar straight on his face. The older male could feel his mouth filling with blood, tasting the iron taste on his tongue. 

“For years you have looked at me, saw how I was beaten, whipped, kicked before your very eyes. Not once did I see you cringe. Not once did I hear you beg for mercy, to let them stop! You just keep sitting there, looking and you didn’t care at all!”

“You fool of a boy!” Elendar’s tone was sounding a bit harsher, a slight hint of anger. Anger that was not aimed at his son, but on himself.

“What do you think would have happened if I reacted to your suffering? What do you think would have happened if I begged them to stop, if I begged for mercy?!”

Elendar looked straight toward the teenage boy that stood before the stock. Just a boy, still a child. A child that was used as a weapon for these women their own gain.

“They would have hit you harder, they would have hit you more! Or worse, would have killed you before my very eyes! You think I didn’t care, but I did. I didn’t react to spare you more suffering!”

“Bullshit!” Breghen barked, his words enveloped with anger.

“It was not you who kept me alive or spared me the torture. It was Lolth! She saved me when mother wanted to put a dagger through my heart when you decided to dishonor your house, your kin and yourself! It was Lolth who guided Nazira to this House and picked me as her Chosen!” 

Elendar started to laugh loudly. Breghen looked surprised to the traitor, surprised about his sudden reaction. 

“You think that Lolth spared you? Showed mercy on you? If it had been to her, you would have been dead!”

Elendar saw the confusion in his son's eyes, who seemed to be ready to argue about what he just said. But the older Drow didn’t give him the chance.

“If it hadn’t been for me, you would have been dead on the day you were born.”

“Liar!” Breghen turned around, grabbing one of the long whips from the wall and lashed out towards his father. With a loud crack, the whip hit the male’s body, leaving a red stripe across his chest. Elendar clenched his teeth together, feeling the pain shooting through his nerves. 

“You betrayed your kin! You decide to go to the surface and fuck with a surface elf!”

“True, I won’t deny that. But I am speaking about something before your mother found that out. She wanted you dead even before you were born.”
Elendar gasped for air, feeling the subdue for a second. 

“Do you know the sacrifice of the third son?”

Breghen frowned, wondering where his father was leading to.

“Of course I do! The third born living son of a Matron is to traditionally sacrifice to Lolth.”

“Indeed.” Elendar said, showing a slight grin on his face.

“Did your sisters never mention your older brothers?”

Brothers? Breghen shook his head, his mind getting confused.

“I don’t have any brothers. I am the firstborn son!”

“Of course they wouldn’t tell you …” Elendar said as a whisper. Which high ranked female would mention two sons who failed.
“You had two older brothers. Belhros and Dantraig. When I knew Sharadreza was pregnant with a son, you, my son, I could not stand idle and see how my first child would be sacrificed to that evil goddess. So I killed Dantraig to make room for a Secondboy. So that you would live! Belhros got himself killed in a failed experiment shortly after.”

Breghen took a few steps back. He had two brothers? Brothers he didn’t know of, who were never mentioned.

“You … you killed my brother? To keep me alive?”
For someone on the surface, killing family was a crime, punishable with death. Here in the Underdark it was different. If you were able to get rid of a weaker pawn in the game, you did. If this was now your brother, your companion or a rising rival, you would be found weak if you didn’t take the opportunity. However, Elendar had not killed Dantraig for his own gain, but for that of his unborn son. 

Elendar looked up, seeing the confusion twirling on his son's face. He knew for a fact that his sisters or his mother never mentioned the existence of his brothers. They were dead, so they had failed. To weak to keep themselves alive. To a matron, it was a loss like any other. One to be forgotten quickly. But for him and his son, it had been his lifesaver.

“You would no longer be the third living son, but the second. If they had been alive on the day you were born, you would have been sacrificed to that cursed deity! I saved you from that faith.”

“But you dragged me into another!!” Breghen bursted out. “Because of your betrayal, I was used as your torture. To make you confess!” 

Breghen lashed out again with the whip, releasing his anger and pain through the weapon he was wielding. Once, twice the whip flew through the air, hitting Elendar straight on his chest. Elendar tried his best to keep his screams for himself, but he gasped for air each time the leather hit his skin. 

“I … I know.” He said between gasping for air. “Something I had not foreseen. I could have known that I couldn’t keep my escapes a secret for your mother. I was reckless and she found out. I am sorry for that.”

Elendar lowered his head in a sincere regret. Something that Breghen noticed. But his mind was not able to process that feeling. He wanted to lash out, to scream, to hurt him, to make him bleed. But something was holding him back. And he couldn’t figure out what it was. Was it that his father had done something for him and that he was now in his debt? Or that his family had never mentioned the existence of his brothers?

But the doubt that had entered his mind quickly vanished and the same happened with the look in his eyes. No, Elendar was lying, he was trying to save his own skin! But it wouldn’t help him. Breghen clenched his teeth together, releasing a growl before the whip flew back through the air.

“LIAR!”

Elendar couldn’t withhold his scream when the whip hit his body this time. He felt the pain sting his skin, like a thousand needles were piercing through. 

“Still a fool …” Elendar whispered before his red eyes landed back on his son.

“Open up your eyes, Breghen! Inside you, you know I speak the truth! It’s up to you to believe it or not.”

The young boy took a step forward, pushing Elendar’s head up with the handle of the whip so that he had to look straight at him.

“Stop telling me what I need to do. You know nothing about me!!” He hissed before he turned around and left the cell. 

Elendar took a deep breath, knowing that he had gained an inch in his plan. It was all he could do after all.

His love, Ly’Kalyn was dead, killed before his very eyes by the hands of his own son. He had learned about the existence of his daughter, the only thing that was still alive of what he cared of. He had to keep her a secret, to give her the chance to survive and to thrive. 

All things that were no longer in his hands. His only goal was trying to save his son. To prevent him from turning into a ruthless killer, a mindless follower of the Drow, their beliefs and their deceitful goddess. All he could do and try was to show him that there was another way of living. That what stories the Drow fed him were lies and that the outside world was not evil … but they are!

“Still a fool …” Elendar whispered before the fatigue was taking over. His eyes fell down, his body angrily roaring for much wanted rest.