The Nightwind Matron's private reception room was even darker than Renato had imagined.
The room was not large, but its ceiling was astonishingly high. Countless suspended mirrors fractured the darkness beneath the dome, reflecting crawling spiders and tangled webs.
The faint rustling of those repulsive spiders stepping across their silk sounded like whispers in the shadows, sending chills down his spine.
The air was thick with incense, spices, and an indefinable, cloying scent. Countless incense burners stood in every corner, some silver, others inlaid with gold, their lids carved with spiders and snakes.
Eighty-eight spider shrines were set into the walls at varying heights, each housing a small statue of Lolth. Red light shone from the statues' eight compound eyes, replacing candlelight and giving the room a dim, eerie illumination.
Quelyn reclined languidly on a leather sofa. Its backrest tilted at just the right angle, and the hollow in its cushions fit a person's body perfectly.
Renato was very familiar with that leather. He did not know whether it came from a Drow or a Half-Drow, but it was certainly humanoid skin.
The Nightwind Matron sank into the soft cushions, her feet resting casually on the back of a male servant kneeling on all fours.
Several young, handsome servants stood around her. Some held expensive wine in crystal glasses; others bent over to massage her limbs with practiced hands.
Four fully armed personal guards stood in the room's four corners. They wore enchanted full-body armor combining scale mail and chainmail, carried adamantine halberds, and wore pointed helmets that covered their entire faces.
Through the openings in their visors, Renato could feel all four gazes fixed on him.
Quelyn was not wearing her half-mask of white bone. For the first time, Renato saw the Nightwind Matron's true face.
She was not