To Baldur's Gate

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Tav had spent the entire night drawing me. 

Well, she had also spent the entire night naked and most of it moaning loud enough for our companions to hear, which was exactly what I had planned. There was no chance that poor Gale would make doe-eyes at Tav after hearing my name on her lips, just as there was no chance of me falling this hard for anyone ever again. 

Tav was wrapped in my arms once again, with her bare shoulders rising and falling with each delicate breath. I grabbed for a nearby blanket and tucked it around my sleeping love, careful not to stir her from her slumber. Dozens of sketches of me littered the tent's floor - some of my face, some of my whole person, and quite a few of them nude. I couldn't get enough of them. I had such a new grasp on what I looked like to the world - what I looked like through Tav's perfect eyes - and it was all because of her. She told me once that she thought me beautiful and now, I could understand why. 

There was one drawing in particular that had caught my eye, and it was one with my exposed back, all the carvings and scars in plain view. I had always been ashamed of them, knowing that they came from a monster I hated, but now there was a new loathing attached to the scars. An infernal contract? Just what I had always wanted permanently carved into my skin for lovers to see!

The drawing also brought forth the very starch reality that Cazador was close. Very close. And would no doubt be sending goons for me, especially with this profane vampiric ascension that I fit into. I looked down at Tav and traced the lines along her back and shoulders - her own scars from years of abuse. The very thought of her, young and adventurous, bleeding from her mother's cruel punishment, was enough to make my blood boil. I couldn't imagine the atrocities Cazador might inflict upon her if we were captured. Tav would try and protect me, but only I knew what Cazador was capable of - what truly inhumane things he could do to something I loved. 

The thought stopped me. 

Something I loved. 

I looked at Tav, my darling sorceress, the woman of my dreams, and in my cold, brittle heart, I knew it was true. If she was taken from me, I would storm Cazador's palace, ascension be damned, and I would find a way to take her back. If any force on earth snatched her from me, I would rip the world apart to retrieve her. I loved her, and there was no going back. 

"Now, if only I could put that into words," I muttered to myself. In her dream world, Tav gave a sleepy smile, as if she knew what I felt and reciprocated. I leaned down and kissed her neck where a few bruises were forming from my not-so-careful love bites last night. She smiled and snuggled into her pillow, murmuring sleepy nonsense.

"I love you too," I whispered. 

....................................

"Good morning, love birds," Gale greeted us by the campfire. He was brewing some coffee and handed Tav a mug. 

"Gods, I needed this. Thank you, Gale." Tav took the mug and took a sip, humming with joy at the taste. I leaned in and kissed her full on the lips, savoring the taste of coffee and the look of annoyance on Gale's face. 

"Didn't you two get enough of each other last night?" Karlach asked, emerging from her own tent with a bashful Shadowheart in tow. Shadowheart's hair was undone from her usual style and it flowed down her back. 

"Ask me again in fifty years," Tav replied, surprising me. So, she was thinking about us long-term. That was something I was scared to hope for. Her own comment seemed to startle her and Tav shot me an apologetic look. I smiled, wishing to relieve her worries. I'd already decided there was no one else for me, and I intended on keeping Tav as long as she'd have me.