The Search for Soul in Everything

Chapter 22

"Okay, good news and bad news." Wyll said, walking over to the pair.

"Alright then, spit them out." Astarion told him, crossing his arms. Vanora stayed silent.

"Good news is, we finally found a room." Wyll said, showing the single key in his hand. "The bad news is there was only one vacant."

Astarion sighed. "Better than nothing I guess." He said, following the man up the tavern's stairs to a room.

There were two beds, and a window on the wall. There was nothing else for seating or decoration. The duvets looked a little used up, but overall clean. "Must've cost a copper to vacate this place."

"Three." Wyll chuckled, throwing himself on a bed. "Oh fuck yea, beds are great." Astarion walked into the room after, followed by Vanora.

Vanora quickly sat herself in the corner of the room. The wounds on her body burned, but she did her best to conceal the look of pain as she laid her back on the wall. She took a deep breath, taking a moment as her head hit the wall. Her eyes closed softly, and she bit her lip as she let the air in her longs flow out of her nose. At least it wasn't cold. Slowly, she chewed on the dry, almost dead shin on her lips to conceal the dehydration as best she could. She hadn't been allowed to drink anything since she'd left the caravan.

Astarion watched her before he huffed. He sat down onto the bed, sighing as the cushioning sent relief to his feet. He laid onto his back, a painful relief shooting up his spine. He held in a wince as the pain subsided, closing his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing before Cazador. His eyes bore into him angrily. He felt tears slip from his eyes, watching the man walk slowly around him.

He held his head stiffly before he heard a snap. A searing pain shot through his back and he gasped, catching a scream from escaping his lips. Another snap, then another. On the forth one, he found himself letting out a squeak, unable to control his voice any longer. His voice wasn't his own.

He felt a burning sensation in his chest violently rip across him as Cazador quickly grabbed something attached to his head. He screamed, his voice oddly high in pitch. The burning grew even more intense. He quickly closed his mouth, cutting off the screams as Cazador started speaking. "I told you not to make a sound. Or did you forget?" He flashed his hand, slowing a bright, glowing red ring. "I own you, my sweet."

Astarion's eyes shot open, the pain on his back and in his chest slowly subsiding. He sat up, looking around the room for a moment. Wyll was dead asleep, his body askew and spread across the bed. He looked over at Vanora's face. It was scrunched, her head lolling back and forth in her sleep. She never made a sound, other than her heavy breathing. She had her arms around her knees, protecting her core, her head and shoulder leaned slightly against the corner of the room.

The elf looked down for a moment, seeing a red glow in his pocket. He pulled out the cloth, unwrapping the ring from the fabric. It was glowing brightly, a little shadow bouncing around the red ruby that sat at the top of the thin silver ring. He looked closer, seeing a small figure in the shadow.

A very small, tiefling girl was suspended in the ring. She couldn't have been very old, no older than 7 or 8. He watched as the girl flew around the ruby, hitting and kicking the sides. She pressed her hands to the top of the jewel, her expression calming as she looked at him. She was calmly floating as she watched his face. He looked in astonishment, seeing the girl fade into the red, the ruby no longer glowing.

Astarion looked back up at the tiefling in the corner. She gave out the smallest whimper, if Astarion hadn't been paying attention he would've missed it completely. He hated to admit it, but he hated seeing her this way. He sighed harshly, walking over to the tiefling as he put the ring on his finger.

He shook her awake, not wanting to tell her to wake up in case it hurt her. Her face calmly loosened, and she fluttered her eyes open as if she hadn't been dreaming of something terrible. She looked over to Astarion, noticing the ring laid on his finger.

He sighed, before he started whispering. "I need you to tell me the truth... Did you make me love you?"

She shook her head no, innocently looking into his eyes. He watched her for a moment, making sure not an ounce of pain tore into her face. When she showed no sign, he sighed. "Do you love me?"

She nodded her head without hesitation, confidence radiating off of her. He smiled slightly as he slipped the ring off. Wrapping it back into the cloth, he placed it on the floor in the corner of the wall.

She looked quizzically at the elf as he carefully lifted her from the floor, leading over to the bed. He covered her in the duvet, watching as she slowly closed her eyes, sleep welcoming her as a slight smile settled on her face. Astarion smiled too, leaning down to kiss the top of her head gently. He slipped into the covers on the other side. He quickly fell asleep, all the doubts in his mind flying off into the dark.