The Shadows | Astarion

~ 8 ~

Aelia spent the rest of the day trying to repair the hole that the arrow had left in her dress but would find the stitch was too loose or too tight. She had given up, the needle and dress thrown beside her as she sulked, grinding herbs.

"Caught you in a bad mood, did I?" A light voice teased, and Aelia glanced up at Astarion.

"Is it so obvious?" She asked, continuing the grind the herbs.

"I'm starting to feel sorry for the herbs, you've been grinding them for ten minutes." He winced, and she paused, setting down them down beside her with a sigh.

"Why do you keep watching me?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Astarion's face fell into surprise, and he stuttered, "I have not been watching you! The sound of you practically destroyed those herbs kept distracting me from my book."

Aelia tried to hide her smile.

He tilted his head, "So, what's got you in such a bad mood?"

Aelia knew there was no use lying about it, "I've been trying to mend my dress, but I've yet to be successful." She gestured with her hand to it beside her, and Astarion studied it.

"Good luck to you, I've also come to remind you that we'll be leaving in a few hours when the sun has set." He replied, and Aelia nodded.

She then set to packing up her bed roll, and her potions, as she had made a few whilst waiting. Turning around to pack her dress, she frowned when she couldn't see it. She checked her bag and didn't see it anywhere.

She approached Shadowheart and asked her if she'd seen it, but the cleric shook her said and said she hadn't. Aelia frowned as she tried to think logically.

Soon enough, it was time to leave the cave, and Aelia hadn't found her dress, so she gave up and they set off onto the next cave.

She found that the darkness didn't faze her as much as it usually did, as she walked beside Astarion, they walked in a comfortable as Gale and Shadowheart led the conversation, but they occasionally spoke.

Shadowheart then stilled, and the rest stopped. They were in a clearing, where anything could come from any side. Astarion stepped closer to Aelia, hand just over the dagger at his side.

The group was silent.

The sound of voices echoed from further away, and Shadowheart nodded to Astarion, and they backed away silently, the group moving into a shelter of trees.

"We need to go around them, quickly and quietly." Shadowheart whispered, and they all nodded.

She led the group, Gale behind her. Astarion moved Aelia in front of him and brought up the rear of the group.

Aelia's heart quickened in adrenaline as they stalked around the group of people, their swords out.

They made their way around the group quickly and once they deemed it safe, continued their journey to the next cave. Aelia felt the weight of exhaustion fall onto her but carried on.

They had an hour until sunrise and were still making their way to the next cave, so they hurried along. Soon enough, the cave was in sight, and Shadowheart was the one to make sure it was safe.

Aelia's knees practically buckled as she walked inside of it, and almost slipped into her meditation, had Gale not caught her.

Her eyes opened and felt Gale hold her up steadily by the waist. Her eyes caught Astarion, he was glaring until he looked away quickly, lighting a fire.

Aelia then set up her bedroll and slipped into her meditation, hearing low voices echo through the cave.

When she woke up, it was fully light outside, and she saw that Shadowheart and Gale were asleep. Astarion was sat on the the other side of the cave, reading a book.

She sat up and looked around her, seeing her missing dress folded up neatly next to her. She frowned and picked it up, seeing that the hole had disappeared, it had been repaired expertly.

"What...?" She murmured under her breath, then she looked towards him.

From where she sat, she could see that Astarion was trying slightly harder to read his book, his eyebrows furrowed, the book raised higher.

She swallowed and stood up, gently placing the dress back down, before making her way towards him.

She breathed out and stepped closer to him, then walked slowly towards the vampire who was sat reading.

He looked over the book, closing it and putting it down when he noticed it was Aelia. He moved and made some room beside him and she took that as an invitation to sit down.

"I wanted to say thank you." She said, and Astarion looked away from his hands to look at her.

"For what?"

"For repairing my dress, I'm almost jealous of your talent." She smiled, and Astarion's eyes widened in surprise.

"How are you so sure it was me?" He asked, trying to keep his face neutral.

Aelia burst into laughter, and as she turned away from him to laugh, he felt a smile tug on his cheeks at the sound of her laugh.

"I only told you about the hole in my dress, so I used my brain to figure that you were the one to take it." She managed to say, looking at him.

"I... wanted to repair it. I learnt how to stitch and embroider when I was enslaved to Cazador, I only had the clothes on my back. You learn how to repair your own clothes when they've been wrecked so many times." He spoke quietly, and Aelia listened silently.

"How long were you enslaved?" She asked quietly, and Astarion watched her wring her hands.

"Two hundred years." He answered, and Aelia debated telling him her past.

"I understand your pain." Is all she said, and Astarion stared at her in confusion.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked, and she nodded, "Why did you look so shocked when I offered you the food?"

Aelia stilled. But she looked at him.

"My father used to like to play a game with me, it wasn't much of a fun one." She said bitterly, "He liked to see how long I could last without food, until I was practically begging for it. Sometimes he would offer to give me food, he would give me it, yet before I could eat, it would be taken from me. Then he'd leave me in that room, whilst I begged for death." 

Astarion was silent, fury rushed through him at the cruelty, the neglect of a man who should have taken care of her, "What room?"

Aelia looked up at him, and stood up abruptly, "I don't like reliving it, the past is the past." She then walked back to her side of the cave, her back to him as she rifled through her pack.

The vampire watched her hands tremble, and wondered what else had been done to her.