Like Real People Do, Chapter Eleven

Gale Dekarios x Named! Tav x Astarion Ancunín

Chapter Synopsis: Seraphina stumbles in her faith while events at Moonrise Towers lead Astarion to finally get something off his chest.

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Four and a Half. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine. Chapter Nine and a Half. Chapter Ten.

Read on ao3.

Word Count: 5.3k

Notes: Time to make way for the angst.

Learn more about my Tav, Seraphina.

Chapter Eleven: Tell me where your love lies

Tell me where your love lies Waste the day and spend the night Underneath the sunrise Show me where your love lies

Seraphina was silent as Astarion exchanged words with Vadan. The words, harsh and insulting from Astarion and passive-aggressive from Vadan, floated in and out of her ears. Astarion took her hand and led her into the inn. If he was speaking to her, she didn’t process any of it. She was underwater – everything was muffled and murky. He didn’t lead her back to the table where their companions were now playing a card game with a few Harpers. Instead, Astarion walked her upstairs.

The vampire pulled a brass key from his pocket and unlocked a room. He shut the door behind Seraphina and, with two quick fire bolts, Astarion lit candles in the room. It was when his hands settled on her hips and pushed her against the door that some of the fog lifted.

“I’m not too fond of another elf taking you away like that,” Astarion whispered, pressing his body against hers.

“Astarion, I have to get back downstairs – ”

“Hush,” he continued. Astarion leaned forward and kissed Seraphina hungrily. Her body responded. She allowed him to kiss and nip down her jaw and neck, his hands working at the clips holding her armor together. She tangled her fingers in his hair, desperate to hold on to something. His fangs grazed her neck before they pressed lightly in one spot and he paused, asking permission. She nodded and she waited for the expected pain, but none came, as Astarion instead slowly grazed his fangs down her neck.

“You don’t seem to be that present,” Astarion whispered, one hand squeezing her ass and the other holding her jaw. “Is your former lover on your mind?”

“I didn’t take you for the jealous type, Astarion.”

“What is there to be jealous of? A barbaric oaf who thought he could just waltz up for a hug after how he left you?” Astarion scoffed. “Or the wizard who thinks asking if you’ve read any naughty books is adequate seduction?”

“You have incredibly stiff competition. Don’t act so sure,” she replied, forcing a smile.

“And yet you’re right here with me, beautiful,” he grinned, kissing her again before lowering his lips back to her neck. “May I?”

Seraphina nodded. When she felt the pain of his bite, she returned to her thoughts, grateful she didn’t have to continue faking happiness for just a few moments.

What did she truly want for her life? It seemed ridiculous to think about when death or transformation into a mind flayer hung over her head, but only entertaining the possibility of survival was keeping her sane. Her current path had led to her to the hells and put her at risk of becoming a mind flayer. If she had acquiesced to Vadan’s request to end her trial and stop adventuring, right now she would be comfortable in a home with a warm hearth, blissfully unaware of the Absolute until her husband arrived home with stories of his recent conflicts.

If she survived this and passed her trial, she would spend most of her time on the road, risking her life, fulfilling Tymora’s divine commands for centuries. If she survived and ended her trial…what would that life, a life exiled from her family and her temple, look like? All she really knew about herself was that she liked traveling and helping people. It would be a life without designated purpose or direction. A real life where she made her own decisions and chased her own whims. She’d be alive.

It could be a life where she wasn’t at risk of death all the time. A life where lovers didn’t run because it was dangerous to love her. In the time since Vadan, she had fumbled through flings and people who were seemingly incapable of loving or entirely unwilling to love her. She obviously had no idea what she was doing, as Vadan had often told her when they traveled together. He knew what was best for her. She had no idea what her purpose was.

Maybe she should leave this room and go back to Vadan. Apologize and reconcile their relationship. She could end her trial. After confronting the cult at Moonrise, the tadpole would be gone if she was lucky, and they could go to the Gate and be married. She didn’t know what she wanted, and he had everything planned out. It would be wiser to follow Vadan rather than continue fumbling through the fog as she had in pursuit of some destiny that had been planned for her long before she was born.

She’d been a foolish puppet, blind to every possibility that wasn’t the future Tymora, her family, and her temple decided for her, and now death was her only reward.

A snap.

“Seraphina.”

Seraphina’s eyes focused on Astarion’s hand in front of her face as he snapped again. Their armor was scattered on the ground, the vampire having nearly completely disrobed her while she got lost in her thoughts. She couldn’t make out his expression. He seemed just as irritated as he seemed concerned, her blood staining his lips. He had become impossible to read lately. Had she ever been able to read him? As she looked into his crimson eyes, sadness hit her in a wave, and Seraphina frowned. Astarion was just another soul that she had attempted to flood with kindness and sympathy, hoping that he would love her, when the reality was that he only wanted her body. He only wanted her body while she was desperately holding out her heart.

And then there was Gale. Gale who was charming, erudite, compassionate, and supportive. When she looked at her life, there was no one like him in its archive until she stopped at that unstable sigil near the nautiloid. She felt a sense of peace and confidence with him that she had previously only associated with her faith in Tymora. Gale had become important to her in a way that few other traveling companions had before. How lucky the world was to have him, and yet he was resolute in doing what was necessary to gain his goddess’ forgiveness, which meant his death was imminent.

“You don’t want this,” Astarion said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I…I…” she stammered. She gulped. “Can you just hold me?”

Astarion froze for a moment. She watched his eyes dart to look at the door behind her, as if he wanted to run. His eyes flicked back to her, and a silence stretched on. Seraphina held her breath. Were they finally going to say it? Was he going to call whatever this was between them something and declare that he wanted her for more than her blood and stolen moments in their tents or in the forest? Or was he afraid of this? Was he afraid of her too?

“Come lay down, darling,” he murmured, squeezing her waist. No. They weren’t going to talk about it. She silently followed him over to the bed. The mattress was barely big enough for both of them, creaky, and slightly damp. Astarion rested his head against the pillows and awkwardly held open his arms. She laid on top of him, pressing her forehead against his bare chest and wrapping her arms around his stiff torso. She felt his arms slowly wrap around her.

She breathed in his scent of bergamot and brandy, the smell that had soothed her heart over the last few weeks. After a few minutes, she felt Astarion relax beneath her, his hands beginning to rub over her back and arm. She hummed, some of her dread ebbing away. She would’ve liked to stay like this forever.

“What’s on your mind, love?” Astarion asked.

“Do you care?” Seraphina replied.

“Strangely, yes.”

“I fucked up everything in my life in order to end up here.”

“You’re just now realizing that? You’re not special for that,” Astarion responded. “Darling, something went wrong for every single one of us in our little band of freaks.”

“What’s your plan after this?”

Astarion’s hands paused, stopping on Seraphina’s lower back and wrist.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She shifted, resting her chin on his chest to look at him. He was genuinely baffled.

“What’s your plan after we destroy the Absolute and we’re free?” Seraphina asked.

“You may be free after we get these parasites out, but I won’t. I’ll only be free if I kill Cazador,” Astarion replied, his nose crinkling when he said the vampire lord’s name.

“And I’m going to help you do that. But what comes next? What do you want?”

Astarion’s mouth opened and closed again. His lips twitched.

“I…I haven’t ever been able to consider that,” he murmured.

Seraphina’s heart broke for him. She removed one of her hands from around him and gently pushed a few hairs behind his ear. His eyes closed briefly.

“I hope we’ll all have time to figure out what we want after this,” she whispered.

“Hmm. You truly are a little optimistic fool, aren’t you?” Astarion hummed as he guided Seraphina’s cheek to his chest.

“One of us has to be,” she replied.

“Well, I am hopeful for something…”

“Go on.”

“But it may require some help from a devil.”

x x x

Raphael happened to be right downstairs. Seraphina tried to shake away memories of the last time a devil took a worrying amount of interest in the party that she traveled with while Astarion laid out his request for a deal. After a talk, where Raphael seemed far too eager to find a method of payment, Seraphina parted ways with Astarion, resuming her duties as the leader of the party. She paid the innkeeper for dinner for her people, accompanied Karlach to get her second upgrade from the smith Dammon, led Halsin to an unconscious man named Art, traded to get potions and new equipment for everyone, and finally sat down for a drink with Jaheira.

Seraphina wasn’t pleased with being drugged with a truth herb when she had intended to be honest with the High Harper, but she understood the druid’s actions. Seraphina took the party with her to meet the cleric Isobel and receive the blessing that would protect them from the harsh land and any sense of calm was immediately shattered.

The attempted abduction of Isobel by Absolutists made it clear that the party had to infiltrate Moonrise immediately. After briefly meeting the infamous Ketheric Thorm, they all scouted out the tower, taking notes about the floorplan and guard posts and formations.

“Oh gods,” Astarion gagged, gaping at a strange doorway that was filled with a purple-pink fleshy membrane. “All of them deserve a grisly death for this alone.”

“Well, with the offal on the walls and the ghoulish lighting, I think they’ve certainly achieved the macabre ambience they were going for,” Gale added.

“I bet you won’t stick your hand in it,” Karlach snickered.

“You’re more than welcome to do the honors of such a task, my friend,” Astarion replied.

“Is anyone putting down gold for touching it?” Seraphina said mischievously as she reached out towards a closed door.

“Can you not see that this monstrosity resembles the flesh on the ghaik ship? Don’t touch it,” Lae’zel hissed.

“It’s bad enough to have the one tadpole,” Shadowheart grumbled.

“Or in Astarion’s case…five,” Wyll commented.

“Still alive and tentacle free. Any of you are welcome to try it the next time we split open a True Soul’s skull,” Astarion replied.

As most of her companions wandered into the kitchen, Seraphina continued through the door next to her, carefully peeking her head through. It was yet another dimly lit room, but this one vaguely smelled of herbs, blood, and smoke. At tables against the wall stood a drow woman with braids across the side of her head. The tables were covered in various bottles, pieces of parchment, and alchemy tools.

The drow’s head whipped up at the sound of the door opening and she grinned, waving in Seraphina. As she stepped in, she heard a light flurry of steps and felt a pinch on her backside. She looked only to see Astarion behind her.

“Hey!” she squeaked, swatting his hand.

“It’s dangerous to wander off by yourself,” he shrugged with a smirk.

They both walked over closer to the drow.

“Araj Oblodra, trader in blood and the sanguineous arts. It is a pleasure to stand before a True Soul. And your pale companion,” Araj smiled deviously at Astarion, who recoiled. “I’d like to offer my services, if you’re willing?”

“Why are you interested in my pale friend?” Seraphina asked.

“Please,” Araj scoffed. “You think someone in my line of work wouldn’t recognize a vampire spawn when they see one? I assume he belongs to you?”

Seraphina looked at her with disgust.

“Your assumption would be wrong. Astarion is his own person.”

“I’m sure he really believes that. How utterly adorable,” Araj laughed mockingly before fixing her condescending gaze on Astarion.

“Astarion, I’ve dreamt of being bitten by a vampire since I was a young girl. I’ve longed to dance on the edge between life and death. I’ll even compensate you – a potion of legendary power that forever increases the strength of the one who consumes it.”

“I will have to decline,” Astarion replied right away.

“Excuse me? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you’re squandering it.”

“I gave you my answer,” Astarion growled, his fists clenched.

“Can’t you talk some sense into your obstinate charge?” Araj turned to Seraphina.

“He said no, so the matter can be dropped. I think we’ll be going now,” Seraphina said evenly, glaring at the drow. She and Astarion swiftly exited the room. Anger remained on Astarion’s face, his eyebrows furrowed, his nose crinkled, and his mouth twisted into a scowl.

“Are you alright?” Seraphina asked. “I think we have enough info that we can head out – ”

“Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Astarion snapped.

Seraphina blinked.

“A-after what just happened, I was just trying to make sure you felt okay,” she stammered. She straightened and looked him in the eye before she whispered. “I’m not your enemy, Astarion.”

Astarion’s face softened and then he immediately frowned.

“I’m fine,” he murmured. “I’ll see you later, darling.”

Astarion walked away and Seraphina considered going after him, but it was obvious he needed his space. She wandered out towards the front room, her short stature making it easy for her to weave through the crowd of brainwashed fanatics.

“Praise the Absolute,” a few cultists said as she walked past.

A cold shiver trailed its way down Seraphina’s spine and fear settled in her bones as one of the men, wearing a dark cloak with the hood flipped up, continued smiling directly at her. He stood near a table with various equipment, potions, and weapons.

Alright, he’s just eager to make a sale she thought. She walked over to him, pulling out her pouch of gold as she touched the fabric of a robe.

“You might want to hide that little pendant of yours.”

Seraphina looked up from the robe in bewilderment. This close to him, she could see what he hid under his hood – black antlers peeked out from the very edges of the fabric. Rage began to flow in her veins.

“Your vile goddess won’t be able to protect you from being struck down at my hand,” Seraphina hissed, lightning sparking at her fingers as she prepared to shock the man.

“That wouldn’t be a very smart move, Tymoran. At least not before you hear the message I bring.”

Gods dammit. The less attention they drew while in the lair of the Absolute, the better. She lowered her hand, and she tucked her Tymoran necklace under her armor.

“I have no interest – ”

“You intend to kill the General, yes?” the man cut her off.

Seraphina clenched her jaw. Both of their eyes quickly darted around the room, scanning. No one seemed to be paying attention to them.

“The only person listening is your lover. The vampire, yes?” the man said. Seraphina gulped. Her skin crawled knowing that the Black Fingers probably knew quite a lot about her party. She chose to ignore the comment as she watched, out of the corner of her eye, said vampire idly walking nearby in her orbit.

“Why do my intentions matter to Beshaba?”

“The Absolute is a threat that she intends to see eliminated. You seem like an asset in that endeavor.”

“Get to the point.”

“Your goddess continues to test you even while you risk your neck to defeat a cult that could destroy Faerûn. Why continue trusting in Tymora’s fickle luck when you, as a bringer of misfortune, could ensure the ensure the end of this crisis?”

Seraphina gawked at him.

“Beshaba is a fool if she thinks I would follow her,” she spat.

“Accept Beshaba’s boon and you will be able to save yourself. Or her misfortune can befall you and someone else will take your place.”

“No,” Seraphina hissed.

“My ship departs for Baldur’s Gate in 17 hours. I will be at the docks if you see reason,” the man said.

Seraphina quickly walked away, her legs unstable and her entire body coated in sweat. She tried to even her breathing as her surroundings blurred around her. In the distance, she could see the deep purple of Gale’s robes. She stumbled closer and grasped his arm.

“Seraphina?” Gale said. Concern washed over his face, and he grabbed her upper arms, helping her to stand. Shadowheart turned and her eyes widened at Seraphina.

“Gods, what happened to you?” she asked.

“Could you try and give the others a little encouragement to get back to the inn faster? We’ll be right behind you,” Gale said to Shadowheart.

The half-elf looked to Seraphina, who nodded.

“Alright. But I don’t want to lose sight of either of you,” Shadowheart replied. She walked towards the front of the group. “You know, I overheard the innkeeper say he might cut dinner off early tonight.”

“What? No way he’d actually do that!” Karlach said.

“Then let’s pick up the pace a little, shall we?” Shadowheart said.

As the others began to walk a bit faster, exiting the doors of Moonrise, Seraphina saw Astarion, towards the back of the group, staring at her. His crimson eyes were as big as dinner plates. His eyes flicked towards Gale, but the wizard’s gaze was focused on the tiefling. Something crossed Astarion’s face, a slight frown pulling at the edges of his lips, but Seraphina didn’t have time to decipher it before the vampire whipped around and caught up with the others. She would endure his questioning about what he overheard later.

“Take a deep breath in,” Gale said softly. Seraphina complied.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

“Hold it.”

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

“Exhale for me.”

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Seraphina could feel her heart slowly reducing its thunderous beating. Gale grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“Tell me. What do you see?”

At first, she looked at her surroundings and looking at the darkness, only slightly dispelled by the silvery protective aura that surrounded their bodies, only made the void in her stomach become larger and more consuming. She turned to look at Gale instead. His gentle smile. The lines that surrounded his attractive face. His gray hairs, signs of stress more than they were aging. His gorgeous, welcoming eyes.

“The biggest, brownest, most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen,” Seraphina gushed.

Gale chuckled.

“Most beautiful? I can only assume that you haven’t looked in a mirror in quite some time,” he replied, smiling before his face became serious. “What happened? Did that trader say something to you?”

She looked ahead towards their party. Did she want to burden him with this?

“He…he was a member of the Black Fingers.”

Gale’s face twisted in anger, and he opened his mouth to speak.

“We can’t go do anything to him. Not in front of all those cultists,” she said quickly.

“Did he threaten you?”

“No,” she replied. “He had a message from Beshaba.”

x x x

“Make your move.”

“I will if you could hold your tongue for just a moment.”

“I thought you were supposed to win tonight, Gale.”

“Yes, and I will. You are surely wise enough to understand that victory takes time.”

“Mhmm. Your steps towards victory just seem to be making you sweat.”

“I think you are more likely to be the cause of that.”

“Seraphina? Do you have a moment?”

The tiefling and the wizard looked up from the game of lanceboard that they were playing cross-legged on the ground in front of Gale’s tent. Astarion stood over them, his fingers tapping on his leg. Gale gave her a small smile, though she could see the disappointment in his eyes.

“I think I have a long moment while Gale figures out how he’s going to save this game,” Seraphina grinned. “I’ll be back,” she said to Gale, standing.

Gale nodded at her as she followed Astarion into his tent. He wasn’t moving with his typical swagger and confidence. He seemed stiff and wilted as he kneeled and gestured for her to do the same. She sat and looked at him expectantly.

“I want to thank you,” Astarion said. Seraphina quirked an eyebrow.

“You’re welcome?” Seraphina replied quizzically.

“For what you said while I was in front of that vile drow. I spent two hundred years using my body to lure pretty things back for my Master. You could have asked me to throw myself at her, what I wanted be damned. But you didn’t. And I’m grateful.”

“Are you getting sentimental on me?” Seraphina smirked.

“Oh, don’t look at me at like that. I’m as surprised as you are,” Astarion laughed. “It’s just…it would have been so easy to bite her. To just go along with what I was being told to do. A moment of disgust to force myself through. And then I could have carried on, just like before.”

Seraphina shook her head.

“Your life is your own, Astarion. You make your own decisions now.”

“The entire reason for my existence was to seduce anything with a pulse. And every instinct I have tells me that nothing’s changed,” Astarion frowned. “That I’m still just a means to an end. You made me see I never stopped thinking like I was still his slave, even in freedom. But I’m more than that. More than a thing to be used.”

Seraphina twisted her lips as she considered Astarion’s words.

“If you feel that way about sex, why sleep with me? Did you think you’d get something from it?”

Astarion paused. He lifted one hand and gently grabbed the back of Seraphina’s neck, pulling her into a kiss. Even with the familiarity of his mouth, this kiss felt…different. His tongue moved slowly, greedily, as if he was trying to memorize how her mouth felt. His fingers wandered into her hair and pulled, tilting her head back and making her open up more for him. Seraphina’s hands went to Astarion’s shoulders, gripping and dragging him closer. His passion made all the breath leave her body.

She felt ready to say it. She wanted to tell him the words that had danced on the edge of her tongue for the last few days. I love you. Despite and because of everything, I love you. He pulled away and she thought he was ready too. A goofy smile made her lips curve up.

Astarion smiled back at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Gods, you’re beautiful,” he breathed.

“All that nearly distracted me from what I asked you,” she replied.

Astarion’s tongue darted out to lick his lips and Seraphina felt his hand tremble on her neck.

“I slept with you because I needed protection. People don’t trust vampires – perhaps understandably – so I needed to get someone on my side. And seducing you was easy, frankly,” Astarion said, huffing out a laugh with a gentle smile. “Imagine how stupid I felt when I started to genuinely feel something for you.”

Seraphina’s smile dropped.

“Trust me, I was not happy about it. You were a complication in my plan that I didn’t see coming. And yet…” Astarion continued. Seraphina’s blood pumped violently in her ears. Astarion’s hand went from her neck to her cheek, and she snatched away from his touch.

She pored over her memories from the moment she met the vampire. The first night after the nautiloid when she offered to continue traveling together and he told her he didn’t want her to run off from him. The subtle and overt flirting that started in private and that soon bled over to often happening in front of the others in their party. All the times he’d held her and kissed her. His rare, but tooth-achingly sweet words of affection that made her insides warm and her heart flutter. All of it a farce.

“Astarion…you were manipulating me while I was — Is this conversation just another part of your plan?” Seraphina’s voice cracked.

Astarion’s face crumpled.

“It may have started with dishonest intentions, but that’s not what it is now. That’s not how it has been for some time,” Astarion replied, his tone urgent. “I didn’t want to, but I care for you now, and I want you to know the truth. You deserve that.”

“Is there anything else you’re hiding?”

Astarion hesitated, his eyes flickering to the corner of the tent. His gaze returned to her.

“We…have met before,” Astarion started. “One night a few years ago in the Blushing Mermaid.”

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed, searching her brain for the memory. No. Surely, she would remember meeting him. Surely. And yet…

There it was – a foggy half-forgotten memory. In her mind’s eye, among the many drunken nights she had spent at the Blushing Mermaid, there was that one night with the handsome, white-haired stranger that split a bottle of Suzailian Sweet with her. The stranger whose hot kisses and honeyed words nearly led her away from her companions that night. Rose, her halfling companion, had asked about him and Seraphina remembered saying he was a good kisser, but it was weird how cold his skin was.

Astarion would’ve only been in that tavern trying to seduce her for one reason.

“You were going to take me back to him,” she murmured.

“Yes.”

Bile rose up in Seraphina’s throat.

“What is this between us to you now if not something dishonest? What do you want now?” Seraphina demanded.

“I…I’m not sure. I have no idea what I’m doing,” Astarion said, his voice cracked, and her anger dulled for a fraction of second as Astarion’s sudden vulnerability struck her.

“I want us…to be something real,” he whispered. Her entire body burned. She felt violently ill as she looked at the man that she had desired to share her soul with. Maybe she still did have that desire. But how could he be trusted?

“I…I don’t know if I can forgive you,” she uttered, her chest tight, her breathing short as if she was wearing thousands of pounds of armor.

“Seraphina – ”

“Gods, I fell in love with you,” she sobbed, her entire body shaking. “Whatever this was is over.”

“I – yes, alright. I can understand,” Astarion replied, deflating instantly, his red eyes glistening. “Perhaps that’s for the best for both of us. If you want me to leave camp – ”

“No,” she said quickly. “I…I’m sorry. I…I have to go,” she choked out. Seraphina ran from Astarion’s tent as if she was fleeing a fire.

Why am I apologizing? What do I even have to apologize for?

As she made a beeline towards her own tent, Wyll stood over Gale’s shoulder, offering his lanceboard advice.

“Seraphina, glad that you could return to our – ” Gale’s smile dropped when he saw Seraphina’s face up close. “Are you alright?”

“We need to get some rest. We have a long walk to get to the mausoleum,” she said shortly, zooming past the two men to dive into her tent. As soon as she entered, it was as if the gate flew open. Her tears flowed and her cries racked her body. She blubbered through a scroll of silence before curling into a ball, her knees tucked to her chest. She sobbed and screamed until her head ached and her throat was raw. She was almost glad that Astarion didn’t fight her on her decision. If he had, her resolve might’ve disintegrated to ash.

Seraphina couldn’t deny that she wanted a real relationship with Astarion. She thought all those sweet moments like that first night in the forest, their late-night conversations, the first time he kissed her – she thought all of it was building towards something beautiful. But now, looking at the beginning, it all felt…tainted.

But what if she went back and told him everything that her heart had yearned to say for weeks? What if she said ‘yes’ to a real relationship with him? Astarion had spent two hundred horrible years not knowing what it felt like to be loved. She wanted to give that to him and experience the true, genuine Astarion. Seraphina’s stomach flipped. She didn’t know if she would ever forget how Astarion had deceived her for so long.

And then one thought snuck in unbidden: Gale would never do this to me. He had made his feelings clear at that party after they defended the Grove. He was honest…at least she thought he was. She had also thought Astarion was being honest like the fool that she was.

She cried until her face and eyes stung and she felt weak. Hours later, she crawled out of her tent and looked around the camp, silent and dark. Without thinking, her feet carried her to the purple tent that had flickers of candlelight peeking out between the flaps.

“Gale?” she whispered with a frail voice.

“Come in!”

She stepped inside, carefully dodging a pile of books that had fallen over into the entrance. Gale lounged against a pile of pillows, a brown, well-used book in his hand. His welcoming gaze made her want to throw herself at him so he could hold her all night.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your reading,” the tiefling whispered, her tail twitching as it tried to wrap around her leg.

“Oh, there’s no need to apologize. You are far more interesting than the journals of this Balthazar fellow,” Gale said.

Seraphina quirked an eyebrow,

“I doubt that,” she smirked, trying to let her mood shift. “I’m curious myself what he’s been up to.”

“I would’ve asked you to join, but it seemed like you needed to be alone,” he replied.

Gale examined her face, his narrowed eyes very briefly darting down to the puffy bite marks on her neck, and his nostrils flared as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Did Astarion hurt you?” he asked.

Seraphina sighed, her breath shaking.

“It’s complicated,” she responded. “Yes, but it’s nothing that can’t be remedied.”

Gale frowned, but he gave her a sad, knowing look.

“It is quite upsetting to witness someone break a heart like yours,” he murmured.

Seraphina thought of Mystra.

“I feel the same way about you,” she said, crawling further into the tent to sit next to him. “And then for that same person to demand something horrific of you…it is a shame indeed.”

“Let’s not discuss that for now. How about we start from the beginning?” Gale flipped to the start of the journal.

Seraphina sighed. She leaned her head against Gale’s shoulder, and she let his rumbling voice, vibrating from his chest and through her own body, lull her into tranquility. In the back of her mind, she thought of the assassin who was waiting at the docks. Even considering the offer that his goddess extended was blasphemy. Serving Beshaba would be an upheaval of everything that she had been taught and believed in her entire life. And yet the safety of being able to direct misfortune upon her enemies, and away from herself and the people she loved, called to her.

Like Real People Do, Chapter Eleven

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