The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[NPCs]

"Pity. Still, they're yours and of acceptable nature," Feythal decides. "I will send a scribe to your chambers to take down details of the children and your former residence. But for now, continue with your life and history." As she gives this direction, dozens of small plates, each no larger than Coquette's palm, each containing a single, unique food item ranging from a shimmering globe of spun sugar protecting a flawless strawberry to what is undeniably a fist sized spider soaking in a bowl of floral mead, float over to land on the table.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"When it became clear that my wife would poison me, my faithful Zevran smuggled me away on an airship. She sold my servant, Iron Bull, and my husband, Shisou, to slavers before we were able to get away." Here her voice wavers, though it's strategy on Noire's part. "We managed to rescue Shisou, but he was badly wounded, and required tending at the Oak. He decided to part ways from us to convalesce, and we continued on our way here."

[NPCs]

There's a brief pause, then Feythal asks a trifle carefully, "Iron Bull? You had a gorgon as a servant?" It's hard to pin down, but Noire would come down on 'uncertain' rather than 'nervous' for the care in her voice.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"No, Grandmother. A minotaur-spawn. The name was ironic."

[NPCs]

"Minotaur," she murmurs, then nods. "Ah, yes, I recall the species now. Hulking brute, I gather, and your bodyguard?" Another nod as she picks up her glass. As she does so, the last plate sets down on the table. A few seconds later, the table begins to rotate slowly, giving them both a chance to select any of the plates with a touch of patience. "Hmm. That puts you at four husbands, two children and an ex-wife, but only one husband and a babe to be on hand."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Five husbands, Grandmother, but the fifth was very much Her husband, and not very. much mine. I am happy to let him go. With Shisou's needing to mend and then owing a debt to the tree god, he is also out of reach. So we will need to obtain my other two husbands and my children."

[NPCs]

"Presumptuous," the Matriarch says, though her tone doesn't mark the word as a rebuke. "Children are one thing, but why should our Famiglia trouble itself for the males?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I had expected that good, proven breeding stock would be desirable to you, Grandmother. If not, it is no trouble to focus on the children."

[NPCs]

"Truly?" She gives Coquette a thoughtful look even as she selects picks up a single red orb from a plate. Some kind of jelly perhaps, though it seems fairly firm given it doesn't deform in her grasp.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Of course. Who am I to question your wisdom?" she asks, seeming entirely unruffled. She selects a dish familiar to her, one made with cricket meal, jelly, and bean paste, and bites it neatly in half, trusting the firm bean paste and jelly to hold the piece together. The little cake isn't sweet; there's protein in the 'crust' layer, the bean paste, and then the jelly layer on the top, slightly sweetened but not overly so. 

[NPCs]

"The person of whom I asked a question," Feythal replies, eyes narrowing slightly. "A shallow answer and then a meek deferral is beneath you."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I have given you the truth: I expected you to desire proven breeding stock. If you have your own males, males that will provide outblooded children, then we have no need of the husbands. But if there is use for them, I would like to keep them."

[NPCs]

"Assume I am on the knife's edge; I both wish and do not wish to bother myself to rescue them. What value do they have to you that might tip me over one way or the other?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"They have been loyal, true, and faithful. They have been devoted caretakers of their children. But they are cowardly, compared to my Zevran. They do not have that layer of steel that a drow male would have. Does that help you make your decision, Grandmother?"

[NPCs]

"It does, Granddaughter," she replies evenly as she places the entire orb into her mouth. She's quiet a moment, no chewing but instead presumably allowing it to dissolve. "Their return to you shall be considered a bonus, if those sent for the children deem it suitably low risk."