"So I guess you got the answer to your prayer," she observed. "And I'm not talking about resurrecting a dragon using dragonhide boots as the required body part. I love the way you think, by the way."

Liriel sent her a quizzical look. "So what are you talking about?"

"It might take me a while to figure out what's going on, but I catch up eventually. We won't be going to Rashemen to visit the resting place of a certain warrior any time soon."

"No." The drow's tone did not invite further discussion.

Sharlarra smile held both sympathy and admiration. "I try to avoid religion whenever possible, but it seems to me most people pray for things to happen without stopping to consider whether or not they should happen. Mystra knew what was in your heart, and answered both questions at once."

"Another truth," Thorn observed, sounding slightly surprised. "Have you any other wisdom to impart?"

The star elf responded with a wink and a smile. "Of course, but you might not see it as such. I think we should leave the city for a few days to do some hunting. I could use a good run, and besides, the taverns here overcook their meat something dreadful."

Thorn responded to the teasing with a derisive sniff, but her eyes brightened at the prospect. "You couldn't run down a sleeping rabbit."

A smile stole across Liriel's face as she listened to her friends' familiar banter. Theirs was a strange sisterhood, perhaps, but it eased the sadness that never quite seemed to go away.

As they walked, Liriel pondered what Sharlarra had said. What if the star elf's whimsical words held truth? What if the gods listened to unspoken prayers? Did they care to know what was hidden in the hearts of their followers? Could they know?

Improbable as it sounded, it would seem so. The life Liriel had known over the past ten years was beyond anything an Underdark drow could have imagined. How could she have prayed for friendship and love, when she understood neither? Perhaps Mystra knew what she most desired, and started to answer these prayers before they took form.

Liriel was profoundly grateful for this, but the thought also left her uneasy. There was much darkness in her soul, and prayers that were best left unspoken and unanswered.

"Lady of Mystery," she whispered, "I will love you as well and serve you as faithfully as any priestess alive. In return, I only ask that you never forget, even for a moment, that I am a drow." About the Author

Seventeen years ago, a dear friend told Elaine Cunningham, "Face it, girl; you're weird. Maybe you ought to be writing fantasy or science fiction." This struck her as wonderfully sound advice. The very next day, she read an ad in Writer's Digest magazine about an open call for a new series (The Harpers) set in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® world. She fell in love with the world depicted in the Old Gray Boxed Set, and R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard convinced her that this was a sandbox in which she wanted to play. She sent in a proposal, which became Elfshadow, her first published book. This introduced the characters that are still her favorites: the half-elf fighter Arilyn Moonblade; Danilo Thann, a foppish bard whom a reader once aptly described as "The Green Pimpernel"; and Elaith Craulnober, a moon elf crime lord with a twisted sense of honor. Elaine is currently revisiting these old friends; an adventure spanning sixteen years will soon come to a close with Reclamation, the sixth and final book in the Songs amp; Swords series.

Elaine lives in New England with her family, untold thousands of books, and two eccentric Siamese.