Talia kept her ramrod-straight posture as the other vampire spawn left, save for Aurelia, Astarion, Dalyria, Pale, Violet, and Yousen. Astarion's siblings stepped forward to stand in a neat row.
"Would you like me to remain here for this conversation?" Astarion murmured to Talia.
She nodded. "Yes, please."
"Of course, darling," he said.
Talia shifted her attention to Astarion's siblings. "Since you five are the oldest vampire spawn, I expect you to continue taking guard and patrol rotations while Astarion and I are gone. Additionally, I want you to continue training the adult spawn, but do not seriously injure one another, is that understood?" Everyone but Pale replied. Talia turned to Pale and focused on him. "Is that understood?"
"Yes," he finally said.
I wish he would stop being such a pissant, Talia thought.
"Does anyone have any questions?" she continued and looked everyone in the eyes. When the others shook their heads, she stopped pacing and stood in the center of the line. "Good, in that case, everyone but Pale is dismissed." She glanced at Astarion and when she spoke, lowered her voice. "Would you mind checking our blood supply for me, please?"
Astarion glanced between her and Pale. "Darling, are you certain that's wise?"
Talia shifted toward him. "Yes." Reaching up on her tiptoes, she pressed a chaste kiss to his lips which he returned in kind.
"All right," he whispered as he reluctantly pulled away. "I'll see you in a few minutes, then."
Without a word, he turned and walked away with a swagger that only made Talia's heart beat faster.
Dammit, Astarion, now every fucking vampire here can sense that, thought Talia as she closed her eyes and willed her heart to slow down. When she opened them again, she returned her focus to Pale.
"Pale, is there a reason you've been undermining us?" she asked. "And don't try to deny it, because this isn't the first time something like this has happened."
The blond vampire opened and closed his mouth a few times before releasing a heavy sigh. "You're right, but it's only because there are a number of us that don't trust Astarion to lead."
Before I met Astarion, I would've had this idiot beaten for insubordination, Talia thought as she maintained a neutral expression. But I have to be better than that now.
"Is there any particular reason for this behavior, other than your personal dislike of him?" she inquired.
Again, Pale opened and closed his mouth as his brows knitted together in thought. "There are many vampire spawn here who dislike him but don't feel like they can say anything. We have all been hurt in one way or another by Astarion and don't believe he deserves to lead."
Most likely Sebastian and the other spawn who were lured to Cazador's mansion by Astarion, thought Talia. It's vital that we address this, or else our problems will only grow worse down the line.
"All right, I see your point," she said and Pale's red eyes widened. "Once we've dealt with the Gur I promise you, we will sit down and have a discussion about this. For the moment, I need you and the other spawn to work together to protect each other. Gods only know what will happen with the Gur."
"Understood," said Pale with a nod.
"Good. In that case, you're dismissed," Talia instructed.
She and Pale turned to leave at the same time, with Talia heading to the home she shared with Astarion and the children.
Gods I hope he actually listened to what I said, she thought. Otherwise, we're all fucked.
Once he was out of Talia's sight, Astarion raced to one of the buildings in the center of the colony. Two vampires stood on either side of the door, and Astarion nodded at them as he approached.
"I'm just checking our supplies," he said by way of explanation. As if he truly needed to explain himself.
Both of them nodded in response to him as he opened the door and sped toward the small, square trapdoor in the center of the tiny room. With his vampiric strength, Astarion easily opened the trapdoor and climbed down the ladder. Once his boots touched the ground, a nearby wall sconce lit up and cast a soft, orange glow over the shelves of dead Minotaurs and Duergar. He quickly scanned and counted each one.
It looks like we have enough, for now, Astarion thought as he turned and climbed the ladder again.
Once he reached the top, he opened the trapdoor again. He locked the door, sped out of the blood bank, and toward the home he shared with Talia and the vampire children. Just as he stepped through the front door, he spotted Chessa standing in the hallway with her arms crossed.
Shit, he thought, trying to remember what Talia had told him about interacting with children. Try not to intimidate them, she'd said. With this in mind, as Astarion grew closer to the blonde girl he bent down on one knee.
"What are you doing up?" he asked.
Naturally, the child didn't answer him.
"How long are you and the drow lady going to be gone?" she answered.
Astarion studied the girl's sad eyes and frown as he held her gaze.
"To be honest, I don't know," he answered with a sigh. "We hope to be back soon, but it's going to take a while for us to travel to the surface, let alone reach the Gur camp."
If they're even still in the same place, thought Astarion, but he didn't dare voice this aloud as he didn't want to cause further upset feelings.
Chessa nodded. "Okay, thank you."
She quickly turned and ran down the hallway and Astarion stood up.
"No running," he called, and a smirk spread across his face as Chessa huffed and stomped down the corridor.
He walked down the corridor to the double doors that led to the room he and Talia shared, with the mixture of vanilla and lavender filling his senses.
"Hopefully, Talia's discussion with Pale doesn't take too long," he murmured.
His lover's perfume helped reduce his anxiety about their mission as he went to the walk-in closet and opened the door, revealing a wide variety of women's clothes filling most of the space.
"Gods, she takes up so much space," Astarion murmured, as he searched for his usual armor. "I wonder if I could convince her to move her things somewhere else." He scoffed as his hand touched the black and silver Elven Chain armor and pulled it out of the closet. "Then again, most likely not."
Astarion quickly put his armor on, grabbed his daggers, bow and quiver, and left the room. He raced out the front door and toward the front gates. However, as he grew closer to the front gates, he saw Dalyria waiting for him.
"Astarion," she said.
"It's sweet that you're going to miss me, sister dear, but we're only going to be gone for a few days, Dalyria," he replied by way of greeting.
Dalyria crossed her arms. "As always, you certainly have a way with words, brother." She sighed as she dropped her arms. "What I was going to say was, please be careful and I pray you two return soon."
Dalyria always had been the religious sibling and she only prayed for those she cared about.
"Thank you, as do I," Astarion answered.
She turned and sped away from the gates, with a gust of wind following her. Once she was gone, Astarion leaned against the gates and folded his arms over his chest.
Talia hurriedly put on the robe with the best armor before grabbing two bed rolls from their walk-in closet and some rations from the kitchen. She hurried to the front gates, where Astarion was casually leaning against them.
"Hello again, darling," the white-haired vampire purred. "I trust your conversation with Pale went well?"
Talia sighed. "As well as any conversation with him goes." She looked at the guards, "Go ahead and open them, but make sure to lock them once we're gone."
"Yes, ma'am," the vampire on the right replied.
The gates slowly creaked open and the couple left together. As they walked, Talia heard the gates screech closed behind her. When they were in a thin corridor well out of earshot of the other vampires, Talia stopped and turned to face Astarion.
"We need to talk about the attack earlier and now is as good a time as any," she said. "You were quite aggressive in that last fight, how are you feeling?"
Astarion stopped walking and turned to fully face her. "The last time we spoke with Ulma's Gur tribe, they promised to leave us alone. The question is, why are they reneging on that vow now? What do they have to gain?"
He brings up valid points, Talia thought.
"To be honest, I don't know," she replied. "Either way, we will get to the bottom of this."
"I know we will," Astarion answered as he resumed walking. "Because I have no intention of leaving that camp until we have answers."
He's furious, thought Talia as she watched Astarion walk for a second before hurrying to catch up with him. Then again, given his history with the Gur, I don't blame him.
For the rest of their journey through the Underdark, silence filled the space between Astarion and Talia as both kept their eyes and ears peeled for trouble. Initially, Astarion had allowed the silence to cover them like a blanket of snow but now, when he cast a glance over at Talia, he saw the frown that formed on her face.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
Talia stopped walking and turned to face him, and Astarion mirrored his partner's actions. However, just as she opened her mouth to speak, a familiar growling filled the immediate area.
"Shit," Talia swore as two Minotaurs charged toward them.
Faster than the speed of light, Astarion withdrew his dual magical daggers from their sheaths. "Just like old times, eh?"
