Chapter Text
“There is nothing of the man I loved left in you.” Tav’s voice cracked in her throat, her eyes burning with tears that threatened to fall. “I told you… I told you if you went down this path I could not follow.”
Even so, Tav had still helped him do this... Help him become... this .
Her body ached from the battle, blood still drying from the cuts and slashes on her skin. Sweat and grime sticking to her like a film. But it was Tav’s heart that caused her the most pain as she looked at Astarion. Immaculate. Spotless. Not even a speck of dust on the velvet doublet he had changed into as soon as they had arrived at their rooms at the Elfsong Tavern. A manufactured visage of the rogue she met now corrupted with the power of the Hells. The Vampire Ascendant.
Astarion scoffed, turning his back on her. “I know, I am better than he was. I am free of my past. I am who I always wanted to be. I have everything I ever want – “
“You have become controlling, power-hungry, cruel … Nothing of the person I fell for -”
“Darling, I am powerful. There is an entire world out there, ready for the taking. With you by my side as my consort – the mistress of the stars - think of what I can do... What we can do.” Astarion’s fingers traced the line of her jaw, his eyes watching his nail trailing over the skin with a smirk.
“My love. Our story is poetic. Bard’s will be singing of us for years to come. Stories of the Vampire and his star.”
Astarion’s face shifted as he looked at her throat, a wistful smile on his lips. His fingers gripped her chin, lifting her eyes to his as his thumb stroked gently over her bottom lip. “You are my constellation. My Ieriyn. The Sailor’s Star guiding me on my journey from pathetic spawn to the Vampire Ascendent.”
Tav’s body stilled, her gaze locked on to the blood-red eyes, still searching for her friend within them.
“You will become everything you despised of Cazador.” Tav’s voice was a whisper between them.
Astarion’s face twisted, his eyes burning into her.
“SILENCE!”
Nails like talons pierced into Tav’s neck, Astarion’s sudden grip tightening around her throat as he pushed her against the wall, raising her up against the stone as if she weighed nothing.
Tav dug her fingers into his hand, her legs flailing as she tried to get purchase and kick out. Her eyes flashed, her skin erupting into light, the haze of her celestial form blazing through her as her heartrate spiked in fear.
Astarion’s grip tightened, unbothered by the light at his fingertips, a sneer on his face as her movements slowed. The strength leaving her body while she gasped for breath, the toes of her boots scraping the floor uselessly.
“How dare you speak his name.” Astarion’s fangs flashed as he snarled the words, his fingers tightening, cutting the circulation in her throat, her pulse fluttering beneath his fingertips.
“I can take anything I want. You were nothing more than a pathetic druid playing in the mud when we met. Now look what I have helped you become, the power of the stars at your disposal and you want to waste it.” He hissed, looking up at her reddening face and she struggled beneath his grip. “You are nothing without me. I should have made you a spawn just to teach you that.”
As quickly as he had grabbed her, Astarion let go, watching Tav’s body drop to the floor, gasping and coughing as she tried to refill her lungs through her crushed larynx.
He flexed his fingers before slowly licking the drops of her blood from the tips.
“Perhaps you’re right, darling. We just need a little space.” Astarion’s lips tilted back into a smirk as he savoured her blood on his tongue. “Discover what a life would truly be like without me, little love. You will soon be crawling back into my bed.”
Astarion turned, throwing a dismissive wave over his shoulder as he walked away. “Until then, darling.”
Tav didn’t dare look up, listening instead to the sound of Astarion’s footsteps fading as he left her panting on the wooden floor. Her breaths came out in short, sharp rasps, her heart pounding hard against her ribs while she waited for the stars to subside in her eyes.
Tav’s hands trailed down to her discarded pack, working quickly to unfasten the ties. Her fingers slid in, feeling for the familiar cool glass of a health potion.
Popping the cork, Tav tipped her head back and poured the red liquid into her mouth, letting it slip down her throat.
This wasn’t Astarion. This was the corruption of the Ascension - of 7,000 souls sacrificed for one man. As soon as he finished carving Cazador’s flesh, Tav saw the hunger in his eyes that changed him from the Astarion she had befriended. The Astarion she had loved.
After that day, he had changed to something else. His jokes grew crueller, his demeaner colder. His touch...
Since the ritual, Astarion had become harder. His caresses rougher, his voice and tone sharper, his grip tighter, his kisses consuming and his bite... It was like he wanted to devour her, body and soul.
It was the first time Astarion had touched her like that. Had hurt her through anger, through pure malice. Vines twisted themselves around her heart, constricting it, protecting it, as Tav finally let the tears fall.
Once the healing potion eased the tightness in her throat and chest, and her eyes had dried and her breathing steadied, Tav returned downstairs to the rest of the group celebrating in the tavern. They were heroes of Baldur’s Fate, after all.
And when they asked her where Astarion had gone, she would tell them he had left without wanting the fuss of a goodbye. Tav didn’t want to ruin the night after everything they had been through.