Name 


"You're black," Adaz said as Sutekh exited the chapel.  
	"You're very observant."  Sutekh swung into the saddle and 
started down the road.  
	"Well?"  Adaz inquired, riding close beside him.  
	Sutekh heaved a great sigh.  "We will ride to Fax where we 
will sell our horses.  I will go alone into the Pomarj for a week or 
ten days, then we will walk into Celene.  With luck we will make it to 
the capital.  There I will present myself to the court in the most 
theatrical way possible.  It will not be a time for dishonesty, so I 
will appear as a dark elf."  
	"So why not travel white and dispel it before entering the 
court?" 
	"There is no knowing when the elves will capture us.  I will 
not fight them and I will not let them catch me in a lie.  As for the 
rest of the journey, I will be invisible after leaving Fax, so it 
won't matter."  
	Sutekh waited until they were well away from Autumnstead 
before speaking again.  "Adaz, this is the most important mission I've 
ever been on and I can't be worrying about you..."  
	"At least you care enough to worry," Adaz thought.  
	"As added security to keep you safe, I'm going to teach you a 
trick."  
	"Oh, boy."  
	"This is serious, Adaz.  It's a way of calling me, no matter 
what separates us.  That way if we get separated and you don't call 
me, I will be able to assume that you are all right and thus get on 
with the business at hand.  It is my true name."  Adaz gave Sutekh a 
puzzled look.  After a moment's hesitation he leaned close to her and 
whispered in her ear.  
	"That is my true name," Sutekh explained.  "Repeat it, 
please."  
	"Thuliach," Adaz said slowly, still puzzled.  
	"Right.  Now, never say it again unless you are in need of me.  
If you repeat it three times I will hear you, no matter how far apart 
we are.  You must never tell it to anyone.  The more people who know
it, the less power it has.  Also, it is possible for those who have it
to control my will... if they know how."  
	Adaz shook her head.  "I don't understand."  
	"It's simple.  With a little help from Delleb I bound myself 
to my true name.  Not too difficult, considering that Bernaldo, 
Faldwell and his wife, and now you, are the only non-drow who know 
it."  
	"But why did you do it?  What did you gain?" 
	He could not say, "It is all I have to give to those I love," 
so he said nothing.  
	After a few miles Adaz asked, "How did you get your true 
name?" 
	"A ceremony when I was about your age.  A name is given that 
will have meaning in the child's life.  It is based on the child's 
life to that point and redes of the future."  
	"What does your name mean?" 
	"Roughly translated, it means 'swift sword.'" 
	"You are well named," Adaz laughed.  
	"Naturally.  Most drow are; especially Eldrad."  
	"What does his name mean?" 
	Sutekh gave Adaz an accusing look.  "That is his business; 
however, let it suffice to say that, in a round about way, his mother 
is probably very proud of him.  His family was once the most powerful 
in the Vault.  With a little help from me, he intentionally lowered it 
a notch or two.  For that his mother would kill him; never the less, 
she must be proud of all he has accomplished.  He is very powerful, 
even by drowic standards."  
	"And what of you?" Adaz inquired.  
	Sutekh shook his head.  "Not I.  My ways are not those of the 
Vault and do not lend themselves to power."  Then he changed the 
topic.  "You know, I don't even know my family name.  In fact, I 
intentionally forgot it.  After giving me my name, my parents heard 
the priestess's final augury on my future.  Not liking what they 
heard, they decided to give my heart to Lolth--with a sacrificial 
knife.  That was the last time I saw of them."  Sutekh thought about 
it for a while, then laughed.  "If they knew who I have come to call 
master, they would probably drop dead," he said with a cold smile.  
Then he sighed, "Wishful thinking."  
	Adaz was silent for the rest of the day.  


						Jeff Stehman