Chapter 5 - A Secret Shared
"Damnable roach! Provoke the blade," Wyll said, before spearing a goblin in the chest. "And suffer its sting."
They had come across the gate leading into the druid grove right at the beginning of a goblin attack. Del had run ahead to climb a tumble of rocks to get a better view of the situation. Of course, upon seeing the small goblin horde she had stepped in with her crossbow to assist. It had looked a little hairy for a moment for the trio of mercenaries who were forced to face their attackers just outside the gate, but then the warlock had appeared by vaulting into the middle of the fray. And she had another member to add to her party.
Del quickly turned to the rest of the battle and continued to shoot at the goblins, trying to keep them away from the gate as much as possible. She felt rather than saw that Shadowheart had joined her and was casting spells to assist.
Del saw one of the worgs go for Wyll while his back was turned and she pivoted to take a shot, spearing it right through one of its eyes. It fell in a heap just as Wyll turned and saw it. He glanced up in surprise at her and lifted a hand in thanks before jumping back into battle. As she checked to make sure the mercenaries were doing alright an arrow came out of nowhere and hit her in her shoulder, just grazing it. She hissed before scanning the trees in the direction it had come from.
There, kneeling on one of the many branches was a goblin archer. As she raised her crossbow to take care of him, a knife embedded itself in his face and she watched as his body fell limp to the ground. She glanced in surprise at Astarion who hadn't so much as lifted a finger until now.
He merely shrugged at her. "You aren't going to be as useful if you are dead, darling," he told her, peering at his nails as if there wasn't a battle being fought around them. "This is all self serving, I assure you."
Shaking her head, she turned back to the fight. Spying a goblin who had strayed close to her position, she drew her daggers and jumped down onto it, slitting its throat. One of the other worgs, upon seeing her, dashed at her and she dropped her daggers to grab her crossbow, hitting it in the head with one of the bolts. It's body continued toward her, falling at her feet. She perched her foot on its body as it stopped, and discharged two more arrows at the remaining assailants.
Within minutes it was over and the tiefling, Zevlor, was calling everyone to come inside the gate before more goblins showed up. Del was pretty sure that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. So as everyone else but her party entered the gates, she stayed behind and began searching for her arrow bolts and taking them back from her marks, looting anything else that could be useful.
As she stood up from the final body, Shadowheart approached her.
"Our timing was almost too perfect," she said. "Just in time to help save the day and be invited in before darkness falls." She regarded Del in curiosity. "Did you know this place would be here?"
"No, of course not," Del lied. "You heard the yelling at the exact same time I did. I just followed the sound."
"Hmm," was all that Shadowheart said, before changing the subject. "I saw you were hit in the fight. Do you need me to heal it?"
"Huh?" Del had almost forgotten about it. She glanced at it to check and then shook her head. "No need. The bleedings already stopped. It was just a scratch, anyway."
Shadowheart nodded. "We should head inside, then. I'm curious about this place."
Del followed after her, but as they approached the gate, she froze. She had one more person she needed to find before the day was over. She wasn't sure their old githyanki friend would stick around until tomorrow, otherwise.
"You know what," she called out. "You go on ahead. I have something I need to do first."
As she walked away, she could hear her companions following her. Of course they weren't going to stay behind.
She glanced behind her shoulder and saw Gale and Astarion accompanying her. Looked like Shadowheart had listened to her this time and had headed inside the grove. They didn't ask her any questions as she walked around the cliff face that surrounded the grove. Turning around a corner she could see a couple of tieflings up ahead and a very angry Lae'zel hanging from a cage. The cage itself was not very well made and she could see that it definitely would not have held the githyanki woman for long.
As they got closer, Lae'zel looked at Del with recognition and suddenly, courtesy of the tadpole, she could hear her voice in her head. "Get rid of them. Now."
Del ignored her and raised her hand in greeting to the tieflings. "We just came from the grove. There was a goblin attack. We managed to hold them off, but Zevlor asked that everyone get back behind the gate in case more show up."
The man looked confused. "An attack? How did we not hear it?" He glanced at his female companion. "Let's go. The goblins can have this one if they appear again."
Del waited until the tieflings were gone and turned back to the githyanki. She looked so cute when she was grumpy.
Lae'zel snarled down at her. "Stop gawking - get me down."
"Say, 'please,'" Del taunted.
"Never," Lae'zel responded.
Hiding her grin, Del walked around the contraption, looking for any weak spots. Once she found them she shot off her crossbow a few times until the boards beneath the githyanki weakened and she fell to the ground, managing to keep to her feet.
Lae'zel appeared to be mildly thankful and said, "The tadpole hasn't yet scrambled all your senses. Auspicious. But the longer we wait the more it consumes. My people possess the cure for this infection. I must find a crèche; you will join me."
"Do you know this… person," Astarion said from behind her, failing to hide his disdain. "My, you sure do have a way with collecting any poor sap or damsel, don't you?"
Del turned to him with a frown. "I will remind you that any poor sap or damsel currently includes you."
She could almost hear his teeth click together. That should shut him up for a minute.
"And yes," she said, turning back to Lae'zel, who was currently taking turns glaring at Gale and Astarion, "We met on the nautiloid. Gale and Astarion here I found after the crash and they both are in the same predicament, as us."
Lae'zel nodded. "They will join us then. We must eradicate every ghaik we can. I heard the horned ones mention a Zorru - he has seen githyanki, which means a crèche must be nearby. I must speak to him. Our lives depend on it."
"Oh, that shouldn't be a problem. There's a camp nearby that they are all staying in. In fact, our friend Shadowheart should be waiting for us there."
"Tsk. She is no friend of mine. But I will follow you. You have made an ally from Crèche K'liir. Few have known such fortune. Call me Lae'zel."
"Alright, let's go, then." Del waved her hand at the darkening sky. "I would like to be out of this before it starts raining."
As they approached the gate once more it opened up before them, allowing them entry. Del waved at the tiefling controlling the wheel and passed on through. She could see Shadowheart up ahead, waiting for them. Del saw her furrowing her brow once she noted Lae'zel was with them.
"Where did you pick her up? I thought for sure she had left us to die."
Del put her hands up, placating. "Please, let's try to get along. We all have the same problem and we might as well work together to try and solve it. She says her people have a way of getting rid of the tadpoles, but we have to find their crèche first."
Del didn't really want to find the crèche. She knew what it would lead to. And she knew the machine Lae'zel was thinking would help them, was actually meant to kill them. But she couldn't say that to Lae'zel. The only way she would believe it is if she witnessed it herself.
"So, that's one lead we can follow."
"Well, I've just spoken to the leader of the tieflings, Zevlor. Apparently they are all refugees from Elturel and were given shelter here by the Druids. He says the Druids have a healer who might be able to help us. I figured we can start there. Since it's getting late, though, I asked if he had space for a few more of us to camp here for the night and he said there were some caves we are welcome to stay in. He even said he would give us some camping gear as thank you for helping them earlier."
"Really," Astarion appeared miffed. "I would think the help we provided would be better compensated with gold."
"We literally need supplies," Del told him. "Most of us were picked up in or right outside of Baldur's Gate. I'm assuming you weren't carrying a tent or bedroll on you when you were abducted?"
"Do we expect the journey to be that long? How far out from Baldur's Gate are we, anyway?"
Del looked at Shadowheart, who said to Astarion, "Far. Weeks away, at least." She made eye contact with Del. "Plus, it seems like there are complications on the road to Baldur's Gate. Goblins being the main one."
"Right." Del took a deep breath. "Well, let's solve one problem at a time. We should set up camp first. Then figure out food. Tomorrow we will see about this healer the Druid's have and then go from there. Is everyone fine with that?" She looked around and when everyone nodded, she said, "Great. Let's see this cave."
The grove was expansive and seemed to be naturally wrought. The main area where all the tieflings seemed to be holed up was mostly a giant cavern, but spots of light shined through from holes in the ceiling. Small structures were built here and there to make it more homey, but if those were built by the druids or the tieflings, Del wasn't sure. The cave they were led to was connected to this main cavern. Supplies had been laid out on the dusty floor for them and included a few utensils for cooking over a fire. Del was thankful for the supplies, but realized they were probably only able to give up these items because others had perished while making their way to Baldur's Gate. The tieflings had had very little luck on their journey so far.
Everyone was assigned a tent and a bedroll if they didn't already have one and Del had them set their tents up now to make sure they knew how to do it later. The tents weren't necessary in the cave, but once they were on the road they would be. Nothing is worse than trying to figure out how to put together a strange tent when you were tired and hungry and it was getting dark all at once.
When she was sure her tent wasn't about to collapse, Del discarded her leathers. She hadn't been wearing a complete set when she was abducted, needing to be able to move freely, and she regretted it. Now she would need to find pieces to complete it on their journey. Currently, she had a chest piece, wrist guards, and leg pieces. She hadn't even had a full pack on her.
She had a set of hip bags that she had custom made, so the weight distribution stayed lower on her center of gravity, and it's usually what she wore unless she had to travel far. They were not going to fit a bedroll or tent. She would have to beg a backpack off of one of the tieflings, no doubt. She unbuckled the bags that also held her daggers, and dropped them on the floor of her tent. Her crossbow was already leaning against the side of the tent, out of its holster.
Free of the weight, she stretched her body out, testing her right knee as it protested. She could smell petrichor and knew the rain had finally started to fall. She patted her knee, good-naturedly, and removed herself from her tent, her bedroll in hand. Gale was in the center of the camp, starting a fire now that his tent was also set up. She let her eyes rove over the others to see how they were doing. Lae'zel had also finished and seemed to be in the middle of building something else, but she couldn't be sure what. Shadowheart appeared to be adding some final touches to hers. She turned to see how Astarion was doing, and had to physically force herself to not roll her eyes.
Del threw her bedroll down and wandered over to where he had decided to place his tent - further back from the group. His tent was nowhere near complete and it was obvious he had never set one up before.
"That's not where that piece goes," she said, watching as he struggled to get one of the poles into a hole that was definitely too small for it.
He glared daggers at her from his position on the ground. "It's not like the damned thing came with instructions. How am I supposed to know how to put it together?" He threw the pole he had in his hands down on the ground.
"To be fair," she told him, "Most people have had to put up a tent once or twice before. There aren't a lot of taverns or inns in between the cities when you're traveling."
"Well, it's not like I've had the opportunity to travel outside of Baldur's Gate," he said, folding his arms. "I was kind of stuck there."
"What about before?"
"Before?" He looked at her confused, before catching her meaning and sniffed. "Well, then, I would have had someone else do it for me."
She smirked and kneeled down on the ground next to him. "Then I guess I had better teach you."
She took apart the pieces he had put together mistakenly and started over, explaining to him how to set up his tent properly. She had put poles on one side of the tent and was having him do the other side, when she noticed him hesitate. He checked behind him towards the rest of the camp, making sure no one was within ear shot before shooting a furtive glance at her from beneath his eyelashes, still glancing down at what he was doing.
"So, why haven't you told them?" His voice was subdued as he asked her.
"Told them what," she asked, grabbing the tent material, ready to show him the next step.
"You know what." He glanced at the rest of the group out of the corner of his eyes before stopping her and looking her in the eyes. "You've had plenty of time to warn them that they are harboring a monster in their midst. Why haven't you?"
She stared back at him. "Because it's not my story to tell."
"Aren't you worried about the fact that I'm a bloodthirsty vampire and I could literally kill you all in your sleep?"
She gave him a droll look. "You could maybe kill one of us in our sleep. After that the entire camp would wake up and stake you to death."
"I'm being serious," he hissed. "You're putting a lot of trust in someone who you were willing to kill all those years ago."
"If I recall correctly," Del said, deflecting, "I told you I would only kill you if I saw you again. It's not like I tried to kill you on day one." She started to mess with the tent again, trying to move on.
"What is so different about now, though? Why am I suddenly safe enough for you to not only invite me to join you, but also risk not telling everyone else what I am?" He stopped for a moment, considering. "Now that I think about it, you weren't even surprised to see me, were you?" He was suddenly in her face, whispering furiously, "Did you somehow know this was going to happen?"
She leaned away from his intense gaze and looked at him in shock. "No!"
Technically, she knew it would happen to him, just not to her. She had expected to never see him again.
"I just wasn't surprised because the nautiloid had abducted me near Baldur's Gate, so the fact it picked up other people from Baldur's Gate wasn't surprising. I would have felt the same if I had found my barber on that path, instead of you."
He wasn't buying it, not completely, but he moved on. "I still want to know why meeting me this time is so different."
"It's the tadpole."
His face switched from being angry, to being confused. "What?"
Right, she would need to elaborate. "You were standing in the sunlight." Her brain was doing back flips trying to make half truths out of everything she was saying. "That's not normal for any vampire. And considering what I had been through and everyone else I had met along the way, I knew it must have been the tadpole. It's protecting you, because you are now its host. Which means it's protecting you from other things."
"Like what?"
"Like the will and all-consuming control of your vampire master?"
"How do you know that?"
"I mean… you're still here, aren't you?"
He acknowledged that with a nod. "You are still putting a lot of trust in a vampire you don't know. I can kill without my… master… telling me to."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you will have plenty of chances to kill in the future, but you won't harm us."
"You still seem all too sure of that."
"Well, I haven't shown you the best part of tents, yet," she said, pulling a cloth bag over to her lap. She dipped her hands inside and pulled out a wooden stake in one hand. "You pound these into the ground with this." She pulled out the wooden mallet next in her other hand. She imitated hammering the mallet onto the flat part of the stake, the point inching towards Astarion as he slowly scooted further away. "And this helps keep your tent secure in case it gets windy. Otherwise it might blow away. You see these loops on your tent?" She waited for him to nod. "That's where you put them. Your bag comes with extra though, just in case you break one. And every single tent has one of these bags." She made sure to enunciate that last sentence. "Every tent. Isn't that amazing," she asked him, smiling.
"I get your… point," he responded, looking a bit more afraid than he had before. He had managed to fit a pun in there somewhere, though, so he wasn't completely cowed. Not that she had wanted him to be.
"Good," she said, and grabbed the tent material again. "Now let's finish this up, shall we? I won't bother with the stakes this time, since we are technically inside."
Within a few short moments, Astarion had a fully assembled tent. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it," she was telling him. "After putting it up and taking it down a few more times, you'll be an expert."
He had been happily examining the inside of his tent, but he poked his head out of it again to exclaim, "Take it down? We just put it up."
"I don't mean right now, Astarion. I meant tomorrow."
"Ugh, I hate camping." He disappeared back inside his tent in a huff.
"I look forward to teaching you how to properly pack up your tent tomorrow," she called out to him, heading back to the center of the camp.
Gale was sitting off to one side of the fire, keeping it going. The air had definitely cooled down since they arrived. The rain and lack of sunlight made it almost downright chilly. She dragged her bedroll over and sat nearby Gale, putting her hands out to warm them.
Gale smiled in her direction. "He seems quite the character," he said, conversationally. "Not the outdoor type, I take it?"
She snorted. "That's putting it lightly."
"Are you sure that one is not sickly," Lae'zel knelt across from them. A cloth in hand, she began to work on cleaning her sword. "He looks a bit pale even by your people's standards."
Surprised to see Lae'zel joining them, it took her a moment to answer. "Ah, yes, I guess he is paler than most of us. But, just so you know, me and Gale are human. Astarion's an elf."
"Chk. I am aware. But your two races are similar enough. I didn't compare you to an orc."
"Fair enough."
They slid into a comfortable silence, the sound of the fire crackling and the soft sounds of Lae'zel wiping down her weapon filling the space. It was at that moment that Del realized how comfortable she was. Not with the overarching situation, but with her newly acquired companions. It had been so long since she had been involved in any group, she had forgotten what it was like. And normally, while it took time for a new group of people to acclimate to each other, she noticed she was all ready to deal with everyone's personality quirks, because she was well aware of them. It was odd, though. It was like she had experienced this all before, but at the same time, she hasn't. It was, somehow, still very new. Because she hadn't experienced it like this. It hadn't been personal. She had made an avatar and through her avatar had made choices. She had been one step removed from the entire situation. This time, though, it was… real. And it changed things. She just wasn't sure if that would hinder her or help her in the end.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Someone was entering their section of the cave. She turned her head and saw it was Wyll. He was carrying a small pot. He hefted it as he got closer and smiled. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion, but I thought you all might be hungry. The tieflings made a giant pot of stew earlier and there was still plenty after everyone had their fill. It just needs to be reheated."
"Oh, I can take that." Gale jumped up and grabbed the pot from Wyll. He had already put together a tripod for cooking over the fire and pulled it over to hang the pot from.
"Thank you. That was very kind of you," Del told him.
"Consider it a welcome gift. You deserve it after helping us fight off those goblins," he smiled at her, walking closer to the fire. "But where are my manners? Well met. The Blade of Frontiers at your service-"
Just then the tadpoles made contact, causing the both of them to wince. She could see through Wyll's eyes. He was somewhere in Avernus, running after an imposing red-skinned figure, with a single curling horn on their head. The vision in her head did not paint Karlach in the best of light. She looked more fiendish in his mind's eye than she would in person. But she knew it was because Wyll was given false information on her. He thought he chased a devil, when in actuality it was just another tiefling, forced under the command of a devil. When their minds finally ripped apart again, Wyll spoke, "Hells' great fires. You were on the ship."
"As were you, based on the fact you also have a worm in your head."
"Doomed to shed our skin and become illithid. Or so the stories go. But we haven't sprouted any tentacles. Not yet anyway. Could just be good luck. I'm not so-"
Again their minds connected and Del was treated to more terrible pictures of Karlach courtesy of Wyll. Ugh, why was this happening?
"Shit - you saw her. Advocatus diaboli." Del continued to nod politely while he explained who she was and that he was tasked with hunting her. That he had followed her to the mindflayer ship and that was how he was caught and infected. That she was dangerous. She was still out there probably murdering people. She had to bite her tongue. It's not like he had had any reason to believe he was being led astray. That would be the fault of the devil he had a pact with, Mizora. But she knew once he met her, he would change his mind… hopefully.
When Wyll was finally done extolling the myriad faults of their future party member, Del decided they should move on to something a bit more important. "We're," she motioned to the group, "looking for a cure for this infection. You should join us."
"Just so you know, my first duty is Karlach. I'm path bound to go after her," his voice was hard as he responded, as if he needed to prove his point. But he really didn't need to. Del understood him just fine. "But I won't deny this infection is bothersome. I accept your invitation."
Del stood and offered her hand. "Welcome to the group. You can call me Del." She motioned to everyone in turn and introduced them. Shadowheart had come out to stand next to the fire while Del and Wyll had been talking and Astarion poked his head outside his tent. When she got to the vampire, he merely nodded before going back inside. He was obviously done for the day.
Wyll nodded in turn to everyone. "Well met. Feel free to just call me Wyll. It would be awkward to be referred to as the Blade of Frontiers the entire time we travel together."
"Don't worry, I definitely was not going to be calling you that," Del said, settling back down onto her bedroll. "I was never big on extraneous titles."
"Oh," he asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what extraneous titles have you been burdened with? Not that I don't favor mine."
She smirked at him. "Nice try, but I'm not telling you. If I were to speak of it, it would be tempting the Fates to write it in stone. I would much rather fade into the shadows of history, thank you."
Wyll settled beside her in front of the fire, watching Gale slowly stir the pot of stew. Shadowheart was sitting on her other side now, and was not so subtly eyeing Lae'zel. It was obvious the half-elf did not trust the githyanki. Lae'zel, on her part, was pointedly ignoring Shadowheart, and continued to clean her sword. The metal gleamed against the firelight.
"You don't sound like most adventurers," Wyll was telling her. "They usually want all the glory and fame they can get."
Del huffed, leaning back on her arms. "I'm no adventurer." She kicked her legs out in front of her, wincing slightly as she adjusted her bad knee.
"Really? Still, you must have traveled far. What were you doing if not adventuring?"
She eyed him. "Is this your way of saying, 'You don't sound like you're from around here,'" she mimicked the Baldurian accent she had heard so often ask her that exact same question. It was pretty good actually. She had had years to perfect it, after all. She was using it to deflect away from his other question, though.
Wyll chuckled at her. "If that's how you want to interpret that." He held up his hands in surrender, "But if I am prying then you can feel free not to answer."
"No, I am curious, as well," Gale spoke up. "My mind was on other matters most urgent, so I failed to notice it before. Your accent is unlike anything I've heard on the Sword Coast."
Del seamlessly switched back to her Baldurian accent. "Well, if it's going to be an issue, then I can quite easily just speak like this if it makes everyone more comfortable."
"Amazing," Gale said, pausing his stirring. "I really can't tell that that's not your real accent. How long can you do that for?"
"How do you know that this voice isn't her real voice," Shadowheart asked, peering at Del from the corner of her eyes. "Maybe the accent she introduced herself with is the fake one. We would never know if she is as good as she seems."
"None of us even recognize the accent," Gale responded. "What use would it be to fake an accent no one here has heard before?"
"Just because you haven't heard it doesn't make it less useful. Her strange accent is disarming to anyone who hears it. It's the uniqueness that throws people off her tracks."
"What is she, a spy," Gale asked, incredulous.
Del bit her tongue.
"Maybe," the Sharran shrugged. "It makes sense, considering her fluidity with accents."
"She could also be an actor," Wyll cut in. "They do tend to travel far and wide, as well. Maybe she picked up the accent while in a traveling theater troupe."
Del realized they were now talking around her, rather than with her.
"But why would she continue to fake an accent after the events on the nautiloid," Gale was exasperated by the other two companions' thoughts. "As a spy or an actor? I don't think the two of you are thinking logically here."
Lae'zel had caught Del's eye and just looked at her in annoyance, as if to say, "Look at what you've done." Del merely smirked at her.
"If she were a spy," Shadowheart was explaining, rather patiently, "She wouldn't want to break her cover. As an actor, though, that I can't explain."
"If she were a spy," Gale said, obviously done with the conversation, "She would have already broken cover by the time she switched her accent in front of us. A spy wouldn't be stupid enough to do such a thing."
Del couldn't help but laugh now. She needed to break up this conversation before it got any more heated. "To answer the first question, I can do a Baldurian accent all day. That answers the second question, no, it is not my real accent. But I'm not afraid to use it to stop people from constantly asking me where I am from." It's also been useful to have on hand for when she needed to blend in as, say, a spy, on occasion. Her real accent would have been too noticeable on those gigs. But she wasn't going to tell them that. "It gets old. I've lived in Baldur's Gate for seven years. Of course, I've picked up the accent."
"See," Gale motioned to her with the ladle, "Not a spy."
"So where are you from, then," Wyll pushed.
Del sighed internally and said, "Sembia."
"Ah, The Land of Merchants," Gale pondered. "Most interesting tones and inflections, I must say."
"You're a far distance away from home," Shadowheart noted.
"Baldur's Gate is my home now," Del corrected. "Nothing for me back in Sembia."
"I saw that you were picked up by the Nautiloid while outside Baldur's Gate," Wyll said, motioning to his head and the tadpole inside it. "But what were you doing there? It looked like you had been running from some people. Very angry people."
Oh. "Erm…" Del wasn't sure she could find a good excuse for that. She knew the tadpoles would be a problem eventually, she just didn't think it would be so soon. She decided to go with the truth for that one. "I might have been caught stealing an ancient tome?"
"So, you're a thief," Shadowheart asked, sounding impressed.
"No." Sometimes. "Technically, I was stealing it from other thieves, so it cancels itself out."
"You basically just admitted you're a thief," Wyll told her, smiling.
"We're a bit far from the Gate, Blade of Frontiers," she said mockingly. "Are you going to keep me in cuffs while we search for a cure?"
Wyll laughed and shook his head. "I hunt bigger prey than you, little thief. I won't turn you in, as long as you behave yourself."
"I am so glad to hear that."
"You said it was an ancient tome." Gale practically vibrated with excitement. "Was it a magic ancient tome? And do you still have it?"
"I don't know what it was," Del told him. "And no. I either dropped it or it didn't make the transfer when I was teleported into the nautiloid."
Gale looked disappointed. "Ah, well. It was a crazy day for all of us I suppose."
He stirred the pot a few more times before testing it, taking a small sip. Smiling, he said, "The stew is ready! Some nourishment in the stomach will surely ease some of the ache from the mind. We should all dig in."
Del stood and went to grab a bowl. As she walked away from the fire with her meal, she caught Astarion standing just outside his tent, staring at her. He raised an elegant brow at her and she felt their tadpoles connect for a moment, as he said through it, "You told me you were from Turmish."
Balking, Del stared at him. He remembered that?
"It's not my fault you believed me," she shot back, her tadpole squirming in her head.
He thought about that for a moment, before giving her a slow, sensuous smile in response. "I guess I can keep your secret, since you're keeping mine." His tadpole disconnected from hers and he disappeared back inside of his tent.
Clenching her jaw, she took a seat in front of her tent. She shot another look in the vampire's direction, but he didn't come out to join them for dinner. Not that he could eat with them. She'd have to trust he wouldn't tell everyone else that she had lied to them. And hope he never pushed to know where she really was from, either. It wouldn't be an easy thing to explain.
She really should have picked a specific place to say she was from and stuck with the same answer, but she always worried she might say the wrong place to someone who knew it and call her out for her lie. It was extinct that made her change it around every so often.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it now, so she dug into her dinner. It was simple fare, but it had meat, potatoes, and carrots, which soon filled her stomach. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but after two bowls she felt sated. Having a full stomach really did help some with her mood. She even helped Gale with cleaning up afterwards.
Once all the cookware and dishes were cleaned and packed up again, Del laid out her bedroll next to the fire. Gale and Wyll were talking softly among themselves, while Shadowheart had gone back to her tent to sleep. Lae'zel also had dismissed herself for the night, but sat outside her tent. She was back to work constructing what was now looking more and more like a mindflayer dummy. Del could have gone back to her tent, but she didn't really want to. It was nice having company for once. And the fire was warm. As she listened to the Blade and the Wizard share stories with each other deep into the night, she fell into an easy sleep.