The other four ruling families raised no objections to the Nightwind Family's actions. Instead, following the thousand-year-old tradition of the ascension war, they readily acknowledged Nightbrize's victory.
It was settled cleanly and swiftly. No one cared about the defeated Fryce Family.
As Quelyn had wished, the Nightwind Family became the Fifth Family. She herself joined the Ruling Council as a ruling matron mother, becoming one of the true overseers of this Great Drow City.
Yet this finest exemplar of drow values, this high priestess occupying the highest rank of power in Lolth's hierarchy, felt no joy. Instead, she grew increasingly furious and unhinged.
Rumor had it that Quelyn had recently whipped a Nightwind Guard to death with her Serpent-Head Whip, merely because the guard had failed to bow while she spoke.
It was unheard of for even one of her most loyal guards to meet such an end. Fear swept through the family, and no one dared so much as breathe too loudly in the Nightwind Matron's presence.
In name, the Nightwind Family had won, destroying an ancient ruling family and accomplishing a feat unprecedented in Samoriel City's history.
In practice, however, the family's interests had suffered grievously. They were worse off than before their rise to Fifth Family.
The self-destruct magic circle Matron Mother Jinafi had hidden in the Chapel had not only destroyed most of the wealth and magical equipment in the Fryce Family's treasury, but also inflicted devastating losses on the Nightwind Family soldiers besieging the fortress, leaving nearly a third dead or wounded.
The complete destruction of Fryce Castle had also stripped the other four ruling families of their last reservations. Right under the Nightwind Family's nose, they brazenly joined forces to divide up the mines, slave pens, and mushroom farms that had belonged to the