Sorry for the short break, I was away on holiday etc etc. Enjoy!

AMAYA POV

From the feel of it, the temple hadn't changed much, then again, why would it? I had only been gone a few weeks, if this was where I had escaped from. And the place in all it's awfulness had stood for so many centuries. So much blood had coated those stone walls, only ever washed off for more to be added immediately. To keep the red vibrant. Just how Orin liked it. The lanterns flickered as we passed – me being dragged behind some rough-handed guard, him pulling the rusted shackles like a leash, me bound by my torn up wrists, trying to hold onto the chains to relieve some of the pressure, and failing. My legs dragged behind, still numbed by whatever drug Orin had covered her blade in, my feet being torn up by the rock with every inch travelled. Let alone bruised by the stairs. I was already a mess and they haven't begun their games.

I did my best to withhold the tears. My resolve had to hold, my nerve had to endure. As much as my heart had stung with Astarion's betrayal, I knew he wouldn't leave me to this fate, nor would any of the others. Right? Or was I being foolish? They had their own problems. They had to deal with their parasites, with their own fates that had timers ticking down constantly. Why distract themselves with… No. Stop that. It was just this place, with its hard edges and unforgiving looks as we passed by, it was already infecting me with their unfeeling. No. My teammates cared for me. Astarion, I knew cared, even if our relationship was beyond murky at this point. And he would still see me as a useful ally anyway, so beyond affection, I was still useful to him. I knew Lae'zel valued my fighting ability. And Karlach… Well I fully believed that woman would burn down the world for any one of us. Her heart was so big and open. Shadowheart would care, I knew she would, it was only whether I was worth the risk that might hold her hand back and I could understand that. Hells, I respected it. Same with Gale. He would look into plans, he would refer to some texts, he would… think about it. I almost laughed except it came out as a sob. I knew they would try, but I couldn't know for sure if they'd succeed – and if they failed, I sincerely hoped they did so somewhere they could still flee.

Keep them safe Halsin. Please.

"Over there, lay her out like a feast, won't you?" Orin giggled and watched with wide, eager eyes as I was taken to a large stone table and hauled onto it. And yes, I was laid out like a feast to be carved. Each shackle was fastened either side, keeping my chest and torso splayed open to her. At least I could curl my legs, not that it afforded me much dignity. The one saving grace of these lunatics, which I knew well, was that none of them would be looking at me like a woman, no, I was a slab of meat. It wasn't anything but a butcher's eye scanning me at any point.

Small mercies…

Orin came in close and leered over me, grinning even broader somehow. The red of her blade gleamed in the nearby torchlight, same as the red staining whatever the hells it was she was wearing – or who. She laid a hand against one of the wounds she had already given me, splitting the skin of my upper arm, her thumb now spreading that cut bit by bit. I held back the screams. But she saw it in my eyes, the pain, I know she did because of the way she huffed into a sickening moan.

"We will have such fun here, Slaughter Kin. I do not know how long your friends will take to get here with Gortah's blood to report, or if they will. Who knows! They may abandon you to your true place in this world. Under my blade. Don't you think? Don't you fear?"

"Fuck off." I hissed between my teeth.

"What is it? What do you object to?" She tilted her head, studying me so closely it was like she intended to cut me pore by more like some sick join the dots. "You are meant to be here, surrounded in this stone, bathed in this glorious crimson! Under his eyes. His ever-watchful and recently oh-so-disappointed eyes."

I couldn't help but look up at the wall where the symbol of 'father' loomed. Was it really the truth of my origin? Was that the past she had scrubbed clean from my skull? But if so, why? I didn't want it, and in my bones I knew I'd been running from it in the first place. Why give me the gift of forgetting this horrible place? Unless she never believed I truly intended to run. Maybe. In her madness it seemed unlikely she could fathom someone not wishing to remain in these stained walls.

"His disappointment?" My voice wavered.

She nodded, looking me over again, no doubt deciding on her next place to cut.

I gritted my teeth. "Don't give a shit."

Slice. Thwack. Stab. A cut along my cheek, a smack of the blade's hilt to my temple and then a stab into my right shoulder. The cries toppled into one another; a panicked cry, a gasp of impact and then a low groan as the pain sunk deep. And she would make more. She would have me sing her countless songs before my time was up – either by the lights finally going out for good, or my friends arriving.

My hair was gripped tight, bloodied teeth set right next to my ear. "You will give your respect, you will apologise for your wrongs, you will atone for the way you spurned him and his love."

"You're the one that made me forget, right?"

"Out of punishment. You sullied these halls by running, by fleeing front your glorious birthright. You will atone!"

I spat in her face, and she was probably annoyed it wasn't bloodied. "My mind was cleaned of this place by you, so no, I won't atone. I'll just cling to the blissful ignorance you gave me."

She leaned back, she breathed hard and she laughed maniacally. "Oh let the fun begin, I say! Bring me my toys, faithful ones, bring them all and make sure they are sharp!"

Gods… What's going to be left of me to save… if they do…?

ASTARION POV

One day. It had already been one day. For some that would be damned fast for the information they had gathered, and the preparation the group had managed to do, but still the hours grated on his nerves. Every time the nearby town clock chimed, his stomach knotted. Another hour she had been left in that dark place, clinging to whatever notion of hope she had. Would she believe they would come for her? He couldn't be sure. And that wasn't her having a bad outlook on them, no, it was her being afraid of not being wanted. And he knew that. His gut ached.

It had only been small flashes during their time together, moments between moments when he had spotted that inherent lack of confidence, that uncertainty in her shaking hands. Was she allowed to be there? Looking back in it, he found himself loathing those looks. How dare she be so unsure of herself in those fragments of time? When he wasn't even meant to be looking. Stupid of course. She had every right to feel such things, to have multiple facets of herself that jarred against others. They all did. But at that moment, with the fears gnawing at his insides, those looks sparked something so much worse. It would be those moments, those doubts in the recesses of her mind that gave Orin wriggle room. The ability to squeeze in like salt into a cut.

"Oi!"

Astarion jolted from his dark worries, looking up into the insistent eyes of Karlach as she leaned across from her seat by the fire. The had found a quiet spot down by the docks, several parties were dotted along the open cobbles, so it was a good area to settle. For now at least. And apparently the fiery warrior had been trying to get his attention for a while. He cleared his throat and smoothed himself down, trying and failing to recall anything she had said. He hadn't heard a word.

"Sorry, what was it you said?"

She rolled her eyes. "I said stop worryin' yourself in circles, it's going to do no good at all. We're making good progress. I get it, I do, every time that damn clock chimes I wanna rip the bells off it and toss them in the sea. But we're doing good. She can hold on, I know she can."

"Of course." He nodded, closing his eyes and then immediately opening them as the stark image of her huddled in a tavern basement flashed into view. "Of course she can, I rather think she can do anything. Don't you?"

"Mm. But you're allowed to be scared as well. Just didn't want you getting so caught up in brooding that you forgot to keep the hope, y'know?"

He looked down. "You read me so easily, do you?"

"Not usually, but I can see a thread bein' picked at better than most." She grinned and nudged him. "It's not like you have to be mysterious in order to be interesting."

The words made sense, technically, but he had to steel himself against a scoff. Usually people sought him out for a few reasons; they were drawn in by his beauty and wanted to claim it for themselves for a night, or not even that long necessarily, or perhaps they wanted to know what had his brow so quizzically furrowed, hoping they could bring about that charming smile themselves – only to please themselves as well of course. It was the tools of his sordid trade. The way he lured his prey in. Either with a smile to warm their curiosity, or an aloof far off look to peak their longing. Go ahead. Ask. Try to fix this solemn beauty and make it your own between the sheets. Try. So to have Karlach outright quash such a notion, something that had worked for him for nearly two hundred years, it was hard to swallow.

Despite the evidence to the contrary.

Amaya hadn't been lured by either his beauty or his mystique, in fact she had almost outright refused to indulge them. She agreed they were there, they simply didn't pull at her like most. Same with most of this group. They respected his ability in a fight. They trusted he would shoot an enemy in the back before he shot them. Common ground. They had allowed for common ground between themselves and the likes of a vampire spawn. They were all mad.

"Thank you." He murmured, dipping his head at her and quickly looking back to the flames when seeing how her brows shot up. As if he was incapable of showing gratitude. He was plenty grateful to these people. Wasn't he? Or had that been Amaya's role? To make it clear that he was, even when he hadn't said it himself. Maybe. Possibly. Most likely…

"You're welcome." She smiled and nodded towards the space where normally Amaya would have been lounging on her bedroll. "We're gonna get her back. And we're gonna get her good again."

He swallowed hard, sipping from his water skin as his throat pinched. "You said that before, but what do you mean by it?"

"Well, I hardly think any time in the hands of them Bhaal bastards is gonna do anyone any good. Let alone someone runnin' from them, or with a past with them. That Orin has something to prove clearly, and it's probably against Amne that she fancies proving it. So once we have her back, once she's safe… I dunno, I reckon she'll need some time to heal. And sure, we ain't swimming in time, but we'll be able to give her a little. Right?"

His mind swam with the possibilities of what was being done to Amaya in those moments. How her voice might be reaching the heavens in screeches of pain, or the depths of despair with distraught howls. How her eyes would search for the light, how her tears might track past grime and blood. Karlach spoke true. Amaya would need to heal, both in body, and mind.

"If possible, yes. I'd like to give her as much time as we are able to. As we… As we can."

"I heard Halsin sayin' something about it too, reckon our resident Druid has some ideas."

Astarion smirked. "He usually does."

"Y'know, it's not a weakness to admit that you care about her. More than an ally, I mean."

He stared into the flames. "I appreciate that, Karlach, truly. But… Well in all honesty, I'd rather inform her of such things before admitting it to anyone else. Feels rather a lot like putting the cart before the horse otherwise. Or even like I'm jinxing it."

"Jinxing it? What… Like fate won't let you say it to her if you say it somewhere else first?"

He laughed bitterly. "Sounds foolish now, doesn't it?"

"We all got our superstitions." She smirked and shrugged. "If you wanna say it to her first, you go right ahead. As blatant as it is I think to the rest of us, I can appreciate wanting that important moment to be for her ears first. Can mean a lot. More to some than others but… I dunno, you got a way with fancy words, mate, I reckon it'll mean plenty."

A weight pressed against his dormant heart. "I sincerely hope you're correct."

"Fuck that, of course I am!"

He laughed again, the weight remaining but easing ever so slightly. "Mm, of course you are."

Thanks for reading!