Fire and Blood

Chapter 3: Revelations

Summary:

Lizbeth and Astarion head toward the ruins and find a dead boar with puncture wounds. Astarion pretends ignorance about the cause. Gale suggests a vampire, and Lizbeth realizes Astarion's secret. She subtly confronts him, and Astarion, defensively, leads her away. Lizbeth questions his trust and learns about Astarion's initial deceit. They stumble upon supernatural clues, and Lizbeth forgives Astarion, urging honesty. They share a tender moment. Astarion suggests returning to camp, hinting at the potential gossip among the others. The chapter ends with a playful exchange between Lizbeth and Astarion.

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They headed off towards the ruins and came across a dead boar; it was pale and had two puncture wounds in its neck from where Astarion had drained it a yesterday evening, "Look at this boar, very peculiar; what do you supposed could have killed this creature this way Astarion?"

Astarion pretended to study the corpse carefully, his brow furrowing in thought. "Hmm," he muttered, circling it slowly. "There's something strange about these holes... they look too clean for a blade or claws." Reaching out tentatively, he traced the outline of one hole with his finger. "Maybe some sort of toxin or paralyzing agent?" He shook his head dismissively. "But why would anyone leave evidence like this? It wouldn't serve their purpose." He looked at her, hoping she bought his act of ignorance.

"It almost looks like a vampire killed it, don't you think?" Gale said nonchalantly.

Astarion stopped mid-step, turning to look at Gale in surprise. "A vampire? Here?" He shook his head impatiently. "No, that's impossible. There aren't any vampires within a thousand miles of this place. Far too open and not enough victims around."

But the idea made sense to Lizbeth... considering recent events, who knows what else is out here in the wilds of Faerun. Turning back to the carcass, she examined it again with renewed curiosity. "Well, whoever or whatever did this... knows what they're doing," she murmured under her breath. It suddenly dawned on her, Astarion acting weird and dismissive, the bite on her neck, feeling woozy. Lizbeth's eyes went wide with realization as she looked at Astarion with new knowledge: he is a bloody vampire, and he bit me!  She was mad but relieved; this explained so much, "Yes, it does indeed look like HE knew exactly what HE was doing." She said, looking at Astarion with an eyebrow raised, trying to imply that she knew his secret without calling him out in front of the others.

Astarion stiffened at her bold assertion, his eyes widening in shock and apprehension. Panic flashed briefly before he quickly composed himself into a mask of indignation. "What are you talking about?" His words were laced with false outrage. "Vampires? Absolutely absurd!" He turned away from the group with a flourish, muttering and busying himself with examining the surrounding area. "There's nothing here to suggest that nonsense."

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm down his racing heartbeat. "Come along," he finally said, gesturing gruffly for you to follow him while Gale and Shadowheart bickered about the origins of magic and the weave. Those two need to just fuck and get it over with, Astarion thought to himself as they walked away.

Lizbeth followed him with a smile; she enjoyed seeing him so flustered; after all, he deserved it for not telling her the truth and letting her go on about transforming into a mind flayer all morning.

Astarion walked ahead, trying to mask his internal turmoil. Every step brought back memories of their previous encounter, and the guilt returned in full force. How could he have done that to you?

They stumbled upon more clues pointing toward some supernatural presence as they continued exploring while they walked together. Skeletons adorned with ancient armor lay scattered around a ruined altar covered in strange symbols. The air felt heavy with an otherworldly aura as if something was watching them from nearby shadows.

"Astarion, stop. We shouldn't get too far from the others. Why didn't you tell me you were a vampire? I wouldn't have treated you differently; well, I would have known why you bit me, but... don't you trust me?"

Astarion's footsteps halted mid-step, and he slowly turned to face her. His eyes were filled with emotion—shame, regret, guilt, and finally, resignation. "I... I never planned for things to turn out like this," he confessed reluctantly.

"At first, I thought it would be easier... safer... for both of us if no one knew about my nature. I could sleep with you and gain your trust, manipulate you into helping me. It should have been easy to fall back into old habits." He screwed up his nose, showing displeasure at admitting this. "But then you... happened." he gestured at her up and down, "Suddenly, everything changed. You made me question my motives, my purpose here."

Reaching out tentatively, he placed a hand on yours. "Please... I apologize for lying to you. I need your forgiveness."

"Of course," I reached up to cup his cheek with my other hand and looked at him with care and compassion, "I can only imagine that others don't take kindly to your kind, but like I said before. I do trust you, Astarion." She toyed with his curls by his forehead, messing them up playfully, "You already had my forgiveness the moment I figured it out, but please just tell me the truth from now on."

Astarion reached up and fixed his hair with mild annoyance, then looked at her; his eyes softened, and he leaned into her touch. "Thank you, this is a gift, you know; I will not forget it." he whispered hoarsely.

"Well, what should we do now?" He cleared his throat uncomfortably going back to his cocky demenor. "Should we continue our search or return to camp? The others might wonder where we've been. Shadowheart probably thinks we snuck away for another go."

Lizbeth gently kissed his lips and then replied, "We should probably get back to the others; wait, they know?" she said with shock, blushing.

Astarion's heart skipped a beat at the unexpected contact, but he forced himself to maintain his jovial facade. "Of course," he managed to croak out, pulling away reluctantly yet grateful for your gesture of forgiveness. "Shadowheart is such a busybody; she is always looking for gossip. Not that I blame her; we make for quite an interesting pair. I mean, who can resist their interest in our activities? She would watch us from the bushes with a spyglass if she could get away with it." The pair laughed at the thought.

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