Chapter 10 His Puppet

Lanie stopped writing and put down her feather pen closing her journal as Kimmuriel sat down at the opposite end of the table. He moved his eyes and looked at her, she felt his gaze accompanied by a brief feeling of tormented pain, an emotion he projected at her. She stopped breathing for a second, sudden fear growing in the pit of her stomach.

Why would he do that? He was testing her, Lanie was sure of it. To keep calm she focused on the table, it was a large rectangular slab of cold onyx with finely carved white alabaster legs. The alabaster held ornate spider web details that spiraled around each leg. The webbing continued into the corners of the black onyx tables as fine inlays and the sheer size of the table made her feel minuscule.

Thousands of finely carved spiders decorated its outer edge and larger spiders with smaller ones detailed the center of the table. It was an extraordinary piece of furniture and Lanie could sense that it once belonged to a high drow house and must have been looted by Bregan D'aerthe after the house's demise. Her suspicion was confirmed when her finger traced the carved name, Do'Urden, on the underside of the table. That name was one that weighed heavily on Jarlaxle's mind, it was among the first thoughts she scoured within the mercenary when she met him.

Kimmuriel caught her attention with a thought and motioned for her to approach him. She hesitated at first but quietly obeyed, walking toward him with her head down. He nodded for her to take a seat near him. Lanie lowered herself onto the bench placing her hands palms down on the table, it was cold to her touch, and in that moment the coolness was the only thing that felt comfortable.

"Puppet," Kimmuriel called to her in a soft whisper, "puppet."

His hushed whisper deafened the air. Lanie wanted to cry, given the implications enshrouded in the word he used.

"My name is Laenaia Manaallin." Lanie declared abruptly, "Not puppet."

She met his cold stare again. He said not a word instead he leaned back slightly in his seat and concentrated on her, rubbing the sharp features of his face with the slender fingers of his left hand . A warm fuzzy sensation made itself present in her head and she didn't fight it but allowed it simply to consume her mind. Lanie knew that if she chose to fight she was only making things worse for herself. She laid open her mind to his probing sense welcoming the intrusion.

A very slight and wicked smile danced across his face as he leaned forward towards her. Lanie tried to keep her eyes focused on her feet that dangled just above the ground from where she sat but he guided her to look at him. She could sense that this would be her first training session with him. She was excited but terrified all in the same moment upon that realization.

I know what you are puppet, whispered Kimmuriel's mental voice.

I know you do, you are the only one who does. You also know how badly I hate it. What they did to me, I didn't ask to be this way. I didn't ask to be different; I didn't ask to be sent away from my people because of what I was. Then the illithids came and they killed my father and they did this to me.

She held fast to his gaze showing not an ounce of fear towards him. He was already intrigued by this most unusual child .

Can you take this awful thing from me? She asked.

I cannot, it is a part of you now there is no undoing what is done. I am curious in knowing how they did it? A host is never as young or as small as you, you are a rare thing, said Kimmuriel.

Lanie climbed up onto the table, adjusted her little blue satin dress, the one Jarlaxle had picked out for her, and sat cross-legged in front of Kimmuriel.

"I, I can't remember it all. It is in my head, and, and I cannot get it out. I know it's in there, But I can't get at it. They, they di-did that, they locked it in there and I can't get it out. It festers there and I feel as though I can't breathe at times. I want you to help me; I need to you g-g-get it out. I wa-wa-want it out of me." Lanie replied with anxiety ridden stutters, rocking herself back and forth and cupping her ears for comfort and control.

Kimmuriel instinctively knew she would find the topic upsetting, though he didn't want to see her fall into a manic fit like her last episode. He focused his mind into hers and used his abilities to calm her and keep her attentive. She let out a deep breath and he watched her shoulders loosen and fall slightly. Lanie was trying her hardest to follow his mental cues and relax, continuing to tell her story telepathically.

Sometimes I wish it had worked the way it does for most hosts. I wish I'd become fully illithid, but I was an anomaly. They told me I was special, they told me I was unique, they knew what I would become, Lanie paused for a brief second tracing her finger along a matrix vein within the onyx table. They told me that one of my own people had given me up to them. This imaskari told them where my father and I would be and they were already expecting us.

One of my own people traded me to them for information, expanded trade routes, and to form an alliance. If I ever find out who it was I will kill them myself.

Lanie stopped and regarded Kimmuriel, expecting a response from him for her bold declaration. He felt the overwhelming sense of sadness and anger that she unknowingly projected forth from her body. However the feeling was so far removed from his understanding that he was unsettled. Abruptly Kimmuriel got up from his chair putting a greater distance between himself and Lanie, quickly calling up his mental defenses to rid himself of the unwanted intrusion.

He had never been in close proximity with such a powerful empathic individual, in fact he had never heard of anyone who could project to such an extent and so young. She was unique and it was of no surprise to him that the illithids had sought her out. The realization that he was in charge of something the illithids greatly desired and would go to great lengths to get back had not been lost to him.

Kimmuriel took his seat again, this time he was more guarded. He quickly scoured her mind and was profoundly shocked and intrigued with what he saw. He persuaded her to continue talking, keeping himself mentally in tune with her, knowing that she needed the emotional release and he needed to assist her in releasing the dreaded memories she had locked away. He wanted her mind clear so her training would be effective and he could mold her the way he wanted her to be.

"When I was sent away from my people I had only empathic psychic abilities, an eidetic mind, and slight foresight abilities. I can recall my entire life even before I was born, once I became consciously aware of myself of course. I remembered the sounds of voices, music, and to some extent others' emotions from while I was in utero.

When I was born I was normal looking with two blue eyes. I was only unusual then because I was quick to learn everything. I could talk by 2 months, walk by five, read and write in three languages by one year. My people couldn't fathom my ability especially when I exhibited no magic inclinations at all," Lanie explained.

She looked at him for a response but he only encouraged her to keep on talking. She could feel him in her head helping her draw it all out.

Should I continue telepathically or spoken?

Do which ever you are most comfortable with, came Kimmuriel's unspoken reply.

Lanie debated that as she swung her legs out from under her letting them hang over the edge of the table. She rested her small feet on top of Kimmuriel's legs just above his knees, then tilted her head and studied his reaction, but he offered none. She was testing him and he was testing her, she leaned forward bringing her right hand towards his face and stopping just shy of actually touching his skin.

The phosphorescent fungus within the room gave a slight bluish-green cast to her otherwise pearlescent skin tone. Even in the darkness the stark contrast of her ivory skin next to his black skin was noticeable. She considered it for a moment longer, the juxtaposition between the two of them; his black skin and white hair, her white skin and black hair. Like night and day she thought as she reached out again in a desire to touch him.

Jarlaxle said if I cherish my life I am never to touch you, no one who does ever lives. I am not much for cherishing my life anymore, not when I feel like this, not when I have become this thing. How easy it would be to end it all now. Don't you think?

Kimmuriel said nothing, just titled his head opposite of hers and continued studying her.

The larvae the illithids implanted in my head was like no other. It was aged longer and altered in a special process after being harvested from its Elder Brain at 10 years of age. The ceremorphosis lasted longer than I can remember and the pain, the pain was excruciating.

Lanie gripped the sides of her head and started rocking herself again, desperate to ward of the painful memories that suddenly flooded her mind. The memories were coming faster and faster assaulting her with horrific images from that time. She wanted it to stop.

Breathe four times over, big deep breathes and listen to the sound of my voice.

She heard Kimmuriel's telepathic message and began breathing waiting for him to send her another message, only this time he continued speaking outloud.

"The memories you are enduring through right now were not blocked away by the illithids, you did that on your own accord, and you were protecting yourself. I only assisted you in relaxing and releasing them. The mental barrier you constructed for yourself was powerful, I am impressed, to say the least. That is not to say that I have not found barriers within your head that I cannot get through at this moment.

There is plenty left for me to explore and I am vested in drawing out whatever is locked away in your mind." Kimmuriel spoke pointing his index finger into the middle of her forehead and drawing it down tracing the bridge of her nose then stopping at her lips.

"You are a marvelous thing, puppet, and I promise, you will be free of all that you have locked away, this I can guarantee."

Kimmuriel had a growing interest in knowing what sort of alliance was made between this Imaskari Lanie spoke of and the illithids that held her captive. There was a great rise in illithid activity as of lately and this had many of the inhabitants of the Underdark concerned. Kimmuriel was beginning to sense that Lanie was going to play a very key role in the future events that promised to play out.

He spent awhile longer teaching her how to control her anxiety and mentally focus herself when she felt the frenzied grip of mania overtaking her. Kimmuriel was looking forward to the progression of her training and as much as he hated to admit it to himself, Jarlaxle had been right about this child being worth their while.