"We fight our battles to win," Huaanton stated. "The one you seek to set before us is unwinnable."

"We fight to sharpen our claws and prove our worth to Sekolah," Iakhovas said, and his words rang true in Laaqueel's ears. "Waterdeep was only the first step. There need to be many more."

"What would you suggest?" the sahuagin king asked.

"Again you confuse the issue before you, Exalted One. These are the wishes-nay, the commands-of Sekolah himself. He speaks through my high priestess."

Huaanton turned to Laaqueel and asked, "How does he instruct you?"

"He doesn't say anything, Exalted One," the malenti said, hating her part in the present subterfuge. "He gave me a vision of a human city called Baldur's Gate."

"Where is this city?"

"Along what the surface dwellers call the Sword Coast," Laaqueel answered. "It's south of Waterdeep."

"This place is important to the surface dwellers?"

"Yes."

Huaanton shifted, his tail lashing out restlessly. "How so?"

"Between Waterdeep and the country they call Amn, Baldur's Gate is the last city of any size that the surface dwellers can use as a stronghold," Iakhovas stated. "It lies almost sixty miles inland, on a flow of moving freshwater they call Chionthar."

"We can't go into fresh water," Huaanton argued.

"The priestess has had the vision," Iakhovas said. "We cannot deny Sekolah's wishes. When we put an army there, we have to trust that a way will be made."

"That army would also be exposed to the surface dwellers. Waters trapped by land don't run as deeply as the sea."

"We shall strike at night, at a time when their defenses will be most relaxed. The surface dwellers won't see us clearly but we will see them easily. Also, Baldur's Gate lacks the size and protection that Waterdeep possessed. They are as a hatchling to a full-grown warrior. It will not be a battle, it will be a ruination."

Huaanton appeared to consider Iakhovas's words, but Laaqueel knew enough about the sahuagin king to know that he wasn't overjoyed at them either. A lot was at stake.

"You're asking too much," the king said finally.

Iakhovas grimaced. Laaqueel felt certain that the illusion he was projecting to the rest of those in the room didn't show the anger. "Exalted One," he said carefully and quietly, "I need to remind you I'm not the one doing the asking. It is more along the lines of a command than any conjecture requiring sufferance on your behalf."

Kicking across the room, Huaanton sat in the open shark's mouth throne. He kept the inlaid gold and shark bone trident upright beside him.

"I want a sign that this is what Sekolah wants," he demanded.

"Sacrilege!" Laaqueel exploded, moving toward the sahuagin king with enough fire in her voice and menace in her approach that the royal guards moved quickly to intercept her.

Her emotion came out of the conviction of her office. Born a malenti, an automatic outcast from her own people, she'd been given nothing but the Great Shark to believe in, and she did believe. Even with the involvement of Iakhovas, she believed that there had been some reason she'd been allowed to glimpse the truth of the legend and find the ancient wizard, though she couldn't recognize that reason at the time.

"Sekolah freed the sahuagin into these waters and gave them the strength and the ferocity to go forth and take what they needed," she said. "That is the only sign a true believer should ever need!"

Huaanton swiveled his great head to her. The guards' tridents stopped within inches of the high priestess.

She raised her hand in warning, the sound of her praying voice loud enough to carry on the currents that filled the room. Their instinctive fear of even her magic made them drop into nervous defensive positions, but they readied to charge, obviously wanting to deal with her quickly.

"Stop!" Huaanton ordered.

Reluctantly yet relieved, the royal guard stepped back, but they didn't put their weapons away.

"You run the risk of insult, priestess." The sahuagin king glowered at her.

Laaqueel thought quickly. "I run that risk only to keep you from blaspheming, Exalted One. Our two positions- the warrior's to lead the sahuagin race, and the priestess's to guide the sahuagin in their beliefs-are both necessary. A warrior keeps the sahuagin alive in the now, and a priestess keeps the sahuagin alive forever. Our two paths must never work at cross purposes."

"I agree," Huaanton said. "That's why I want Sekolah to give some sign to my priestesses before this next battle takes place."

"Sekolah is not a god you can put demands on."

Laaqueel assumed a level stance, no longer subservient to the sahuagin king. Her eyes met his. The Great Shark would demand no less. In the past, the warrior's way and the priestess's way often conflicted. Both drew on the same resource of followers, but during most of those times compromises could be worked out.

"He doesn't want parasites as his worshipers; he wants warriors."

"I agree," Huaanton said, "but I see before me a malenti, a birth defect, claiming to be a conduit for a god. Wouldn't you question that?"

The insult hit Laaqueel like a physical blow. She didn't trust herself to speak until she'd dealt with the anger that filled her.

"Then, at your own peril, you'll have your sign," Iakhovas said.

Huaanton looked at the wizard as if wanting to question whether the statement had been a threat. Instead, he asked, "When?"

Laaqueel didn't dare look at Iakhovas, afraid that her doubt and fear would be apparent to everyone. How could Iakhovas promise something like that?

"A tenday from now," Iakhovas went on. "It will be here, in your city, for all sahuagin to see." He paused, his eyes rebelliously focused on Huaanton's. "When that sign is delivered, there will be no doubt about what is to be done."

"I will look for you here," the sahuagin king said. "You'll be guests at the palace."

For Laaqueel the offer translated simply that they'd be prisoners of the palace. She watched numbly as Iakhovas excused them from the sahuagin king's audience chamber. They were accompanied by the royal guard through the maze of tunnels, swimming back to where the flier was tied up.

I perceive my error now, little malenti, Iakhovas said in her mind.

By promising a sign from Sekolah? she asked. If we don't come here in a tenday, Huaanton will rightly have us hunted down and brought to him. We'll be thrown into the gladiatorial amphitheater and used as sport. Should we show up and there's no sign, we'll end up in the same place.

Little malenti, Iakhovas mocked, you concern yourself overmuch with matters that are entirely trivial. I have cared for you fifteen years, elevated you into the position of high priestess for a prince from being a junior priestess and spy for a baron. Miracles are easy to accomplish if you have those who wish to believe in them.

Laaqueel resented the words, but knew they carried the strength of truth.

No, he said confidently, there will be a sign. My chief oversight lay in reasoning that I could accomplish everything I need to as anything less than king.

She stared at him through the darkness filling the maze tunnel. He smiled, and his single eye blazed with conviction.