Pain. 

Hunger. 

Cold. 

Fear. 

Tav snapped her eyes open and panicked when her hands flew up a very short distance to feel the lid of a coffin above her. It took her a moment to realise what had happened as her hands moved along the shape of her wooden prison. Oh shit. I’m in a coffin. I’ve been buried alive. She turned her head to look for any sort of latch or clue as to how to get out, perhaps a crack she could wild-shape into an insect and crawl through. The movement jarred her neck and sent white-hot pain through her. She winced and brought her left hand up to feel at her neck. In that moment, she remembered having amazing make-up sex with Astarion, him telling her that he loved her, and then feeding from her. He’d fed from her many times before, but this time was different. She recalled fearing for her life as he held her down and drank so much of her blood she was sure she felt her life slip away. I thought he killed me. He must have to, since he’s buried me. 

That didn’t sit right with Tav. Astarion could definitely tell the difference between a living and a dead body. No, he didn’t burry me. Did one of the servants come across me and assume he’d drained me to death? That made more sense. A servant cleaning up after their master to hide the evidence of his ill deeds was a better explanation for why she was in a coffin. I don’t have time to think about how I got here. I have no idea how long I’ve been buried or how much air I have left. She didn’t feel like she was running out of air, even if it did smell like stale dirt in here. I must not have been down here long, then. 

Tav continued to look for any gap or crack in the wooden panels around her to escape through. While she searched, she thought about what to do about Astarion. He said he loves me and wants to be with me. Properly this time. But then he bit me and drained me so badly that someone thought I was a corpse that needed burying. He has told me many times that, as an ascendant vampire, he doesn’t suffer from hunger like he did as a vampire spawn. She turned onto her right side as much as she could, when something very odd caught her eye. Someone had carved a large arrow into the inside panel of the coffin to direct attention to the hole. Like someone had hammered a nail into the coffin and then pried it back out without covering up the hole. Too small to make any difference to a fully grown person who found themselves buried alive, but large enough for a druid to wildshape her way out of. The fact someone had carved an arrow to ensure she saw it also raised a rather large question in her mind. The only reason someone would have done that, is to make sure I saw it. Meaning they knew I wasn’t dead. She wildshaped into a worm and slithered through the hole. When I get out of here, I’m going to find out what the hells happened. It took her some time but she burrowed her way to the surface, where she dropped her wildshape. She was on all fours and lifted her head to spot a gravestone at the head of the grave. Here lies Astarion Ancunin was chiselled into the gravestone a long time ago. 200 years ago, from the date. Beneath it, another name and date was carved into the gravestone, which made her kneel up and cup her mouth so she didn’t scream. Here lies Tav Ancunin, with yesterday’s date as her date of death. Why does this grave have Astarion’s name on it? Is that his last name? Why did someone bury me in Astarion’s grave, and then put my name on here with his last name? 

Her mind screeched to a halt down that train of thought as her stomach twisted inside her. She held her midriff and lurched to one side with a wave of nausea and pain. She vomited several times and stared in horror at the congealed blood pooling on the dirt below her. I threw up blood. Oh Gods. That’s not good. She was about to try and cast greater restoration on herself, just in case, when the sound of someone coming to her side startled her. 

“Take your time, darling.” He rubbed her back, remembering how traumatic these first moments can be. 

“Astarion?!” She knelt up straighter with alarm clearly across her face. “What-oh Gods.” Another wave of thick red sludge coming up her throat made Tav double over and throw up again. 

“There there. Get it all out. I’m pleased you found the access hole I made for you.” Astarion fussed with her ginger hair and tucked it behind her ears while she was sick. “I didn’t want you to have to punch through the coffin and claw your way through 6 feet of dirt like I did when I was turned.” 

Wham. 

It finally hit Tav what had happened to her. What Astarion had done to her. He drank so much of her blood that she thought she had died. She woke up in a coffin and didn’t have any issues breathing. Now she’s throwing up blood, and Astarion is comparing her experience to his when he was turned? The conclusion her common sense was making horrified her. No. No he can’t have turned me into a vampire. She spat out the last of the old blood, opened her mouth and brought her finger tips to her canines. She knew they were going to be longer before inspecting them, but she had to check all the same. After feeling her fangs, she turned and stared at Astarion kneeling beside her. 

“I’m a vampire.” 

“My vampire spawn, yes.” He smirked, pleased she’d pieced it together so he wouldn’t have to deal with her denial first. 

“How could you?” She cupped her hands to her mouth and then moved them to her chest. “After all the horrible things you told me about when you were turned into a spawn, how could you do the same thing to me?” 

“I haven’t done the same thing to you.” He frowned and cupped her cheeks. He didn’t care she was a bloody mess, and took in the sight of her new ruby-red eyes. Her pale skin and how wonderfully it contrasted against her ginger hair. “I will never torture you, or command you to do anything with your body you don’t wish to do. I will never feed you putrid rats and bugs. I will do nothing less than what I promised you last night.” He kissed her forehead and held her in his arms. “I love you, and now I can love you forever.” 

“You killed me.” She whimpered and pushed against his chest to search his face for answers. 

“I have given you eternity.” He countered with a softness she didn’t recognise from him. 

“No, you’ve made me your obedient pet once and for all.” She whimpered, feeling every bit a fool she feared she was when it came to Astarion. 

“You were my obedient pet before I made you my spawn, darling.” He chuckled, but that was the wrong thing to say from the scowl on her face. “Look, darling, I was perfectly content with our companionship. I loved you, and could have you with me always, without having to deal with the fact I love you. I could play pretend that I didn’t, actually.” He sighed. “Honestly, I’m ashamed to admit how stubborn I’ve been regarding how I feel about you. I may have been underhanded with you, but I’ve been underhanded with myself too.” He sheepishly shrugged, and when Tav didn’t seem to follow, he sighed and shuffled on his knees. He took hold of her hands and tugged on them so she shuffled to face him as well. “If I’d admitted to myself how I felt much earlier, I wouldn’t have ended our relationship at all. You would have been my eternal lover already. Probably long before we reached the Absolute.” He chuckled, but Tav didn’t see what was funny about this, so he continued. “Darling, I’m a monster, and I love you. Gods, now I’ve said it to you once, I can’t stop saying it.” He dreamily sighed to one side. “You gave me the rude awakening I needed to realise just how much you mean to me. I had to act.”

“What are you talking about? I gave you a rude awakening?” Her stomach felt tight, but not because she felt nauseous anymore. No, now she felt hungry, but she ignored it for now. 

“I heard your thoughts and your plan to slip away from me, darling.” 

“You what?” She tried to take her hands back, but he held on tighter. Her eyes lit up and her lips peeled back over her fangs. “Are you telling me you found out I was going to leave, so you decided to fuck and turn me so I couldn’t?!” She was furious, and her heart was breaking. 

“Now don’t be cross, my dear.” Astarion tried to bring her closer to hold, but she resisted. He huffed and rolled his eyes at his seething spawn. “Like I said, it took nearly losing you to realise you are more than just a pet to me.”

“No, now I’m your spawn.” She threw back at him.