The Quest for Dawn

Chapter 10: An Uneasy Reunion

A few moments passed that felt like centuries, punctuated by the combined rattling of their weeping– hearts broken for the other, for themselves, and for all the challenges ahead they have yet to face. Astarion's greatest fear had been that he was left alone, that he would find himself cast out of the only light he had left, even if he had been the purveyor of his own isolation. In the midst of his rage, he would have welcomed the desolate torment, easily able to forget there had ever been a light in the first place. Thank the gods she came back to him, he thought weakly.

Curse the gods for his miserable misfortune. He held his love in his arms, and he wept for her. A heart so tender and good deserved so much better than him, and yet she stayed because of that heart she carried. She stayed, and shed tears for him – the most undeserving, wretched creature in all of Faerûn.

Soon, the tears subsided into wavering murmurs. They held each other a little while longer, before Astarion finally pulled away, wiping roughly at his face.

"Well," he finally said, attempting to sound light though his voice felt raw, "I must have made quite a mess, haven't I?"

Tav looked around the utter destruction of their room; the mattress overturned, piles of pillows and clothes, the table had cracked, the chair was in pieces, and the desk had traveled mysteriously across the floor on its front side. She sniffed, sounding out an uneasy hum, "I've seen worse."

Astarion broke into shaky laughter, his eyes glossing with new tears. It was almost enough to break through the despair. Almost. The laugh turned bitter, and he sniffed harshly, turning his head down again. "I'm... I'm not sure I can face anyone yet, love." His voice trembled, shaking his head as he said, "I'm so ashamed."

At the worst possible moment, a knock sounded on the open door of their room, causing it to creak on its hinges. "Hello?" Blasted nosy wizards, thought Tav, letting out a heavy sigh. Gale didn't take the silence as a hint, and stepped further into the room – apparently taking the slightly-ajar door as an invitation. "Good gracious, it looks like a tarrasque came through here." The wizard from Waterdeep stepped over the broken pieces of the chair, and found Tav sitting next to Astarion on the floor. The bereft vampire kept his head down, steeling his face in a hard expression.

Tav raised her gaze to Gale, anger flashing in her eyes that Gale didn't seem to notice. "We heard quite the commotion," said the wizard. "Early morning, and it's already been a bit of a day, I see."

Astarion laughed bitterly, "'Bit of a day'? Try a 'bit of the last two months', you incomprehensibly stupid–"

"Apologies, Astarion, truly. I merely thought I would volunteer to draw the short straw, as it were, to come up here and evaluate the situation. It sounded like a dragon attack from down there."

Tavriel climbed up to her feet, attempting to match up to Gale – who was at least a head taller than she. The blaze in her eyes might as well have been from a dragon. "What are you doing here? He's not ready."

The words came from a good place, and though Astarion knew this –intellectually– it suddenly irked him beyond reckoning.

"I'll decide when I'm ready, Tav," he said, his tone cold. Tav whipped her head toward him, her heart squelching in further shame. She and Gale watched Astarion struggle to his feet, the pale vampire still holding his head as if to dispel the fog of his mind. Finally, he raised his gaze toward them, and Gale saw that his crimson eyes searched and found nothing.

The wizard nodded solemnly. "The state of this room isn't the only thing that needs mending. But one thing at a time, yes?"

Astarion held his hands into fists, fighting his own inner turmoil of retaining agency and the unbearable feeling of being exposed. "Fair enough," he relented through his clenching jaw, "though I'm not particularly in the mood for your cryptic wisdom, Gale."