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Alyria had been on edge since they’d arrived in the Lower City the night before – it felt like longer ago than that; so much had happened. She’d known sooner or later someone was bound to recognise her and Tallik, well, that was just the icing on the cake. She’d been hoping for a few days before she had to deal with that. Just long enough to get used to being back. Long enough to feel stable again. But no, first day in the city and shit was already starting to pile up.
On top of that, Orin was still prowling around, lurking behind any face that walked past them. Since they’d spoken to her twice on the day they arrived in Rivington they hadn’t seen or heard from her. All of them were worried. The other day Wyll had said something particularly bloodthirsty about Gortash and Alyria’d half expected him to crack and change before her eyes.
He hadn’t, and since then he’d been nothing but normal about things, but the fear lingered in the back of her mind.
The city had always been safe to her. She'd known about dangers, but they'd never felt close. Now every shadow hid an enemy and Gortash's presence was as crushing as a rockfall. The Steel Watch patrolled the streets and the things she’d heard about them doing.
Bane, god of tyranny indeed.
Stability seemed a long way away and Tallik felt like a warning. Things were starting to fall apart. Alyria had barely been holding things together in Reithwin. She’d thought maybe being home would help, but everything just seemed worse. She felt guilty for not going home, but she couldn’t. With Orin around, with swords on her back and a mindflayer worm in her head? The best way to help her parents was to help the city, Alyria reminded herself, taking a deep breath.
And helping the city wouldn’t be easy. Mystra, Nine-fingers and Minsc, what a day. What a long bloody day filled with people who should never have crossed paths with her. And Minsc wasn't even one of the good guys now. Twisted and turned against what he should be fighting for, and no sign of Boo at all. The world was wrong. Deep, under the cobbles and behind the walls, Baldur's Gate was wrong. It constricted around her, familiar facade hiding deadly promises.
Alyria took a second to close her eyes and stand there, listening to the sounds that had once been so familiar, smelling the strange mix of scents that she would always be able to identify as Brampton. Gulls screamed to each other overhead, calling out greetings and insults to each other as they always did. Water lapped against stone. Somewhere far off two people were having an argument over who was to blame for losing a hat.
Of all the things she expected, it wasn’t to hear a low familiar whistle.
Her heart sank. Ignoring it wasn’t even a possibility, and she knew it. The best thing she could do was limit how much trouble he caused.
Instead of continuing to her own bedroll, Alyria turned and headed towards the old chapel beyond Jaheira’s tent, knowing that he’d follow her. He must have followed her here, after all. Of all the people to spot her… She sighed, trying to prepare herself for a different kind of battle, though it choked her with guilt.
The chapel was quiet and thick with dust, the furniture worn and broken. Clearly it had been abandoned long ago. Without any better options, she sat down by the piano and waited. She didn’t have to wait long.
He slipped in like a shadow, as nimble on his feet as he’d always been when she was young. His age hadn’t caught up with him just yet, it seemed. Nor would it, if he had anything to say about it.
Seeing him again was strange, particularly after the Emperor’s choice of form, familiar but changed, yet exactly the same. Her eyes had to readjust. Had he shrunk, or was that just her imagination. Were those new lines around his eyes? New grey hairs on his head?
Anvin didn’t look as much like the Emperor’s form as she had thought – enough that she’d recognised his influence on the illusion, but his eyes were darker, his nose a little broader, his hair was far more peppered with white.
“Hi,” she said, a little weakly. She had no idea what else to say. There was too much. She didn’t know what to feel. Good feelings, bad feelings, they all tangled together in her chest, crushing her heart like a vice.
“Ally,” Anvin said, shaking his head. “What the fuck have you got yourself into?”
The question cracked her facade and she laughed. The familiar sound of his voice made the strangest mix of happiness and sadness writhe inside her. Tears were falling from her eyes even as the laugh caught in her throat. It hurt. Seeing him again hurt so badly it felt like someone had stabbed her in the chest – a feeling she was far too familiar with these days.
“Way worse than anything I’ve been in before,” she said around the tight pain in her throat. She eyed him cautiously, the sudden uncomfortable feeling hitting her that this might be Orin, too. That she might have lured Alyria in here with her uncle’s face to cut her to pieces with that curved knife of hers. Alyria had no way of even knowing. Doppelgangers could read minds. He’d be a perfect copy in every way – right up until he wasn’t.
The vice around her chest tightened more. She could barely breathe.
She wanted to hug him. She wanted to cry into his shoulder and ask him to make everything alright again, the way he had when she was a kid.
Anvin came up to her and his hand reached for her face, but she flinched away. The hurt in his eyes was sharp and made her ache.
“I…” she paused. “There are doppelgangers,” she said in explanation and apology. It wasn’t like a doppelganger wouldn’t already know that. “I…”
“You don’t know if I’m really me,” he said, stepping back and swearing extensively, mingling more languages than he’d ever taught her. “I saw you on the street today, didn’t believe my eyes. We all thought you were gone, Ally. That thrice-damned oozefucking mindflayer ship took so many that day. We thought you were one of them.”
“I was,” she admitted. His eyes went wide.
“And you escaped?”
“Sort of,” she said. “It’s all a mess.”
“That why you’re walking around in armour that’d cost all my savings with magic weapons on your back?” Anvin asked, raising an eyebrow. He crossed his arms, looking exactly like he had when he’d found her sneaking out of her window when he’d been babysitting her at twelve years old. Back then they’d been almost the same height, but even now the look on his face made her feel twelve years old and foolish again.
“Part of it.”
“And why you haven’t been to see your parents yet?”
“I don’t want to bring any of this to them,” Alyria told him earnestly leaning forwards. “If anyone finds out about them, I don’t know what would happen. People are dying. Someone killed Father Lorgan! And Dribbles the Clown! Dribbles! You can’t tell them.”
“Ally–” He began, but she knew she could convince him.
“Look, Mum barely leaves the house anymore, and Dad doesn’t like leaving her alone. If you don’t tell them, they won’t know and… and I don’t want them to get their hopes up only for…”
“You don’t think you’re going to make it,” Anvin said. The words cut. It was a thought she’d been avoiding, always telling herself this would all be over soon, ignoring the little voice that said she probably wouldn’t survive. Gods and monsters and her with some blades, a bow, and Corva. She wasn’t a hero. Alyria looked away, guiltily. “I’ve seen that look in people’s eyes before, Ally. It’s a surefire way to get yourself killed: going in thinking you’re going to die. Don’t ever give up. Not ever.”
“I’m trying.”
“I can get you out of here.”
“I can’t,” she said helplessly, not knowing how to express why. It was the worm, it was her friends, it was the whole City. She was bound into this now, completely, however it ended, she had to be there.
“Someone else can handle it, kid.” Anvin stepped in closer to her again, lifting a hand to set it on her knee. He squeezed it gently. She really hoped he wasn’t Orin.
“No, they can’t…”
“What’s this then?” a familiar voice called archly from the doorway and Alyria looked up to see Astarion standing there, backlit by moonlight. “A midnight visitor? Does your wizard know?”
Anvin turned and snarled.
“You!” A knife appeared in his hand in a flash. “Thought we’d finally seen the last of you.”
“Sorry, but I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. Do I know you?” Astarion asked. Alyria could see the slight flash of his teeth as he smiled, the movement of his hand to where she knew he hid a blade of his own. Things were already starting to break apart. She stood up and stepped forwards, holding out a hand.
“We’ve met,” Anvin said. “And now I find you sniffing around my niece again. Whatever your game is, she’s no prey for you.”
Alyria stepped between them, facing her uncle.
“Astarion’s my friend,” she said. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
“I bet that’s what all those other poor souls thought before they were never seen again,” Anvin said. “He’s a monster, Ally.”
“He’s my friend,” Alyria repeated. “We’ve been travelling together for months. He’s saved my life. He’s not going to hurt me.”
Anvin stared past her and Alyria didn’t dare turn to see what Astarion was doing. Probably something terribly provocative and insulting.
“Ally, you can’t trust–”
“Yes, I can,” she said as firmly as she could.
“I thought the harper was bad enough, but him,” Anvin said. “I could get you out of harper trouble, but he’s playing a different game.”
“I assure you your... niece is quite safe with me,” Astarion said.
“You’re not fucking him, are you?” Anvin demanded and Alyria groaned.
“No,” she said. “He’s a friend.”
“You’ve had a fair few friends where that didn’t stop you,” Anvin pointed out with a raised eyebrow, but there was the hint of a smile on his face and Alyria relaxed, rolling her eyes. If he was teasing her then he probably wasn’t going to stab anyone. She didn’t think he’d stabbed anyone in decades, maybe even since before she was born. And even if he tried, she wasn’t sure he’d even manage to hit Astarion. Astarion probably wouldn’t hesitate to strike back, though, whether he missed or not.
“If you’re looking to threaten her lover, then you’ll be wanting Gale, not me,” Astarion said. “I’d be more than happy to go and fetch him for you, if you’d like?”
“No,” Alyria said at the same time as Anvin said “yes.”
“Happy to! Now I know you’re not here to murder her and steal her hands, I suppose I can leave you alone for a moment or two. Just scream if you need me, darling.”
“No need to worry, I’ve got my eye on him,” Jaheira’s voice came from the other doorway.
“Harper,” Anvin said.
“Thief,” Jaheira replied, nodding her head slightly. “I thought you’d retired.”
“I have,” Anvin said, rolling his neck out slightly and angling his body. “This is a personal matter.”
“You know Mr Colkettle here?” Jaheira asked Alyria.
“He’s my uncle,” Alyria said. Jaheira’s eyebrows raised.
“Ah, family,” she said, and her stance lost some of its aggression.
“Family?” Karlach’s head stuck in. “Al’s family’s here?”
“My uncle,” Alyria said. “And he was just about to leave.”
“That’s funny,” Anvin said, looking at her. “As I had it, you were just about to offer me a drink.”
“Uncle Anvin,” she hissed.
“Hi Uncle Anvin,” Karlach said with a wave. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” He turned back to Alyria. “She seems nice. Why couldn’t you find more people like that to risk your neck with?”
“Don’t get too close, Karlach,” Jaheira said. “And always keep an eye on his hands.”
“I’m retired,” Anvin protested. “You said it yourself. I haven’t picked a pocket in over fifty years. Maybe you should consider retiring yourself, if your memory’s getting so bad.”
“I may be long in the tooth, but my mind’s still sharper than yours, old man.”
“And that’s why you’re leading Ally into meetings with bloody Nine-fingers, is it?” Anvin asked, crossing his arms. Alyria groaned. Of course he knew about that. If she was lucky he didn’t know about the rest of it, but she wouldn’t count on it.
“Alyria?” Gale’s voice made Alyria wince. She’d been hoping that Astarion might take a little longer so she’d at least have a chance at convincing her uncle to leave. Leave him to be efficient at the most inconvenient time. “Astarion said there was someone I should–”
He paused in the doorway, taking in the strange little tableau, blinking as he adjusted to the darker lighting in the chapel and caught sight of Anvin standing at her side. Corva squawked and flew in past him, barely avoiding battering him with her wing. She flew immediately to Alyria, dropping down on the ground beside Anvin.
“Holy dragon shit,” he said, staring at the bird. “You’ve grown a lot, feathers.”
“I am far stronger now,” Corva said, preening.
“I’ll bet you are,” Anvin said, reaching out to stroke her head. “You’re keeping Ally safe still?”
“Always!” Corva squawked indignantly. “I have kept her safe from mindflayers and goblins and gods and shadow things and zombies and–”
“Corva!” Alyria hissed. Anvin eyed her, unimpressed. He fished a hand into a pocket and offered Corva a handful of food, which she ate eagerly.
“Sounds like a busy time,” he told her, then turned to look Gale up and down.
“You’d be Gale then,” Anvin said, stepping towards him. Alyria swore under her breath, overtaking him.
“Yes, that’s Gale. Gale, this is my Uncle Anvin, he was just leaving.”
"Does he have to leave?" Corva asked. "He gives the best treats."
“Not just yet, I wasn’t,” Anvin said with a sniff. He gave Corva a scratch, then put out a hand and pushed Alyria slowly out of his line of sight. She resisted for a second, but Gale had already walked up to her side.
“Uncle Anvin,” he said. “Of course, an honour to meet you, sir. Alyria has spoken of you in the most glowing fashion.”
“Has she indeed?” Anvin asked, shooting Alyria an unreadable look. She felt as though she was fifteen years old again and trying to hide a street cat from her parents. “And yet she hasn’t sent a single letter home about you.” He looked Gale up and down. “Waterdhavian accent,” Anvin said slowly. “Posh one, too. What are you? Sorcerer?”
“Wizard, actually,” Gale said, possibly a little sharper than he should have done. From the sharp grin Anvin gave, that was the exact response he’d been fishing for. Alyria sighed. Could he not just be polite for once?
“Of course you are,” he said. “You’ve got the look of a wizard about you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alyria asked, crossing her own arms.
“Means he looks like a wizard,” Anvin said with a shrug. “And what’s your specialty, wizard? Divination? Illusion?... Enchantment?”
Gale glowered and Alyria groaned inwardly. This was not going well. If she’d at least had some time to prepare them both for this… But no. It was happening and it was happening now.
“If you’re insinuating what I think you’re insinuating,” Gale said, straightening up, “then I suggest you desist. I don't find your suggestions very amusing, my friend. I understand that you care for her and it is on that basis alone that I will not–”
“Uncle Anvin wasn’t insinuating anything, were you?” Alyria said hurriedly before Gale could finish that sentence. She glared at Anvin, but he didn’t even glance at her, eyes glued to Gale.
“Yes, actually, I was,” Anvin said easily, rocking back on his feet. “Wizards like to think they can get whatever they want by wiggling their fingers and saying a few magic words: money, power, people.”
“Uncle Anvin!”
“He hasn’t answered my question,” Anvin said. “What’s your specialism?”
“Evocation,” Gale said, unable to keep the force out of his voice.
“Flashes, bangs, and a lot of wind,” Anvin said dismissively. “Compensating for something?” There was a snicker from somewhere behind her and she knew Astarion was having far too much fun.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Alyria snapped. “Why are you–?”
“I can see you didn’t overstate when you told me he was suspicious,” Gale said, turning to her.
“Not even a little,” Alyria replied, wishing that for once she had been wrong. “Uncle Anvin, it’s okay. I’m okay. These are my friends, Gale is my…” she faltered a little over the word. They hadn’t exactly discussed what to call each other and there was no way in the hells she was calling him her lover in front of her uncle, he'd never let that go. “I… I love him,” she said instead, and watched Anvin’s eyebrows rise. “He hasn’t done anything to me.” Well, nothing that she hadn’t enthusiastically encouraged and appreciated, but she also wasn’t going to say that in front of her uncle.
“Balduran’s hairy balls, Ally! You disappear in a mindflayer attack then you turn up three months later with a harper, a wizard, and a man I know was responsible for half the disappearances in the outer city. Not to mention the rest of this sorry crew. Was that a gith I saw outside?” He let out a string of halfling curses.
“What is your problem with wizards?” Gale asked.
“What isn’t my problem with wizards? Stuck up twats, the lot of you.”
“Uncle Anvin!” Alyria said, over the sound of several people laughing.
“I am more than capable of answering any questions you should care to ask, but I warn you I will not take kindly to any further imputations about my relationship with Alyria. The very idea that I would even attempt to sway her in such a way as you have implied is sickening and I’d prefer it if you didn’t sully our connection with such repellent accusations.”
“Lot of fancy words to tell me to fuck off,” Anvin said. “And fancy words mean about as much as fancy dragon shit in my experience." He turned to Alyria.
“I’ve got a friend with a boat. I can get you out of the city before sunrise,” Anvin said. Laughter and indignation all died down immediately, the chapel stood silent.
“I told you: I can’t,” Alyria said. “And even if I could, I wouldn’t. I have to do this. It’s my responsibility, and mum and dad always told me to…”
“Take responsibility,” Anvin sighed. “More fool them. I should’ve fucking taught you to care more for your own damned skin. You’re as stubborn as your parents, that’s the truth.”
“You can’t tell them,” Alyria said. “Not yet. But if you can get them out of the city. They should be on that boat. I can pay, if you need it.”
“Me, get your dad to leave his bloody tree? He’d only leave that tree if Eldath herself descended from the outer planes and told him to. And even then he’d argue!”
“Then look after them,” Alyria pleaded. “If you can’t get them to go, then look after them for me. Please.”
“Ally, I promised your mother the day you were born that I’d do whatever I needed to to keep you safe. I take my oaths seriously. You know that.”
“You can help me by keeping them safe,” she said. “We’ve got this handled. But I want to know they’re alright. Please, Uncle Anvin.”
Anvin narrowed his eyes at her, then pointed at Gale.
“You, wizard.”
“Yes.”
“Anything fucking happens to her and your head’s the first one I’m coming after. And don’t think your fancy flash-bangs’ll help you. You protect her with your life, you hear me. Because it’s worth your life if she dies.”
Alyria opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Gale had already answered.
“You have my solemn word.”
Anvin turned on Jaheira then.
“Keep her alive, Harper. I mean it.”
“In my experience, she keeps herself alive, but I’ll do what I can. I make no promises, though,” Jaheira said. “Fate is not so easily swayed by oaths and fine words.”
“I can take care of myself,” Alyria said, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. Anvin looked up at her, unimpressed.
“I was there when you got that scar on your forehead, Ally,” he said. “You were convinced you could take care of yourself then, as well.”
“I was seven years old!” Alyria groaned, gritting her teeth. “I was a kid!”
“You’re still a kid!” Anvin snapped back. Alyria resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him and prove him right.
“Don’t worry about Al,” Karlach called. “We’ve got her back!”
"You know I will protect her," Corva said, huffing a little with offence.
“Thank you,” Anvin said to her and then turned to Karlach. “You, I like. Keep an eye on the wizard for me.”
Karlach, being Karlach, offered him a cheeky salute and gave Gale a wicked grin.
Anvin looked at her, then looked around.
“The Absolute’s army,” he said after a second. “This is to do with that?”
Alyria nodded.
“There’s more than that,” he said after looking at her for another long moment. “How big is this?” She winced and bit her lip, looking to Jaheira, who waved a hand, clearly saying that this was her business to deal with.
“It’s bad,” she said as vaguely as she could, even though she knew he wouldn’t accept it.
“How bad?”
“The Dead Three,” Alyria responded. “And… some other stuff.” Orin would already know that, there was no use keeping it to herself.
“Sune’s fucking tits,” Anvin said. His eyes were wide. “Ally–”
“We’ve got a plan. It’s going to be fine,” she said. Anvin stared at her assessingly. “Just look after Mum and Dad. Please.”
“I can’t tell if you’re telling the truth.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have taught me how to lie.”
Anvin’s face fell and he heaved a huge sigh.
“Ally…” he said. “Don’t you dare fucking die for this city.”
“I’m really not intending to,” she assured him, and that at least was the truth. A terrified part of her thought it might be inevitable, but she didn’t want to.
“It’s a shithole.”
“Hey!” she protested. “It’s our shithole.”
“I miss when you were small enough I could just pick you up and carry you away from whatever trouble you’d got yourself into,” he told her with a shake of his head.
“She must have been pretty damned small,” Jaheira commented. Anvin laughed.
“You’ve got no idea,” he said. “Barely came up to my shoulder. She had these chubby cheeks and big silver eyes under that mop of hair, fluffy as a kitten, and she’d try to look tough. Funniest thing I ever saw. Then I’d swing her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and take her back home.”
Karlach’s exaggerated aww made Alyria wince.
“Uncle Anvin,” Alyria hissed. She really didn’t need anyone hearing about that.
“Screaming in my ear and kicking the whole damned way,” he added. “If I go deaf, then it’s her fault.”
She gritted her teeth.
“I’m sure you were adorable,” Gale murmured and Anvin’s attention snapped right back to him, looking between the pair of them with a sharp look. Alyria sighed again.
“You’re really not going to get on that boat, are you?” Anvin asked.
“Sorry.”
Gale’s hand found the small of her back, the lightest touch.
“How well do you even know these people?” Anvin asked.
“We've been through a lot,” Alyria replied. “They've got my back. And I've got theirs.”
"I was uncertain at first," Corva said, giving her opinion unasked for. Alyria wished her uncle couldn't understand her. "But they have proven quite good at helping Alyria."
“Hackles down, Ally-Cat. I know what you're like. Just remember to take care of yourself as well,” he added in halfling. “Keep your blade sharp and your wits sharper. And always remember honour won't stem the bleeding.”
“Would Eldath approve of you saying that?” Alyria asked in the same tongue.
“I made my oath. You didn't.”
“Maybe I’ve made a different one,” she said, gesturing to her friends. Anvin shook his head.
“Godsdamned Duskgroves, always making my life more difficult.” He paused. “They worth this?”
“They’re worth it,” Alyria said, switching back to Common.
“Then may the Quiet One watch over you all.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be very impressed with what I’m doing.”
“A light can’t shine if it goes out,” Anvin told her. He held out his arms and Alyria didn’t even care if it was Orin right now. She dropped to her knees and hugged him as tightly as she could. It felt like she remembered. He smelled like she remembered - leather and tree sap. He rubbed one hand over her back, soothing, and she had to bite down a sob that threatened to burst free of her throat. She didn't want to move. As long as she stayed where she was she could pretend that things were all going to be alright.
“Keep them safe for me, please,” she whispered in his ear.
“Always do,” he told her. She knew he couldn’t promise her that, but somehow just hearing him agree made things feel easier. Something loosened in her chest enough for her to let go.
She pulled away and scrubbed the tears from her cheeks. Anvin, being Anvin, ruffled her hair, laughing as she glared at him. In spite of that, she unhooked her coin pouch from her belt, pressing it into his hand.
"Ally."
"Take it," she insisted, pressing harder. "I know they need it. You can't tell me they don't."
"We've been getting by."
"Well, now you don't need to. Just... take it." She let go, and he was forced to hold onto the pouch or drop it.
"You're telling me you don't need this?" he asked.
"We most certainly do," Astarion muttered somewhere behind her. Alyria ignored him.
"We've got things I can sell. It's amazing what you find when you look," she tried to smile.
Anvin pushed the pouch back into her hands.
"They're not letting anyone into the Upper City right now," he said and Alyria's heart dropped. "Got that place locked up so tight a rat couldn't squeeze through. And you know I've tried. Keep your money."
"Don't get caught!" Alyria said quickly. "The Steel Watch, they're not-"
"Oh, I know," Anvin spat on the ground. "Fucking Gortash and his giant metal dick extensions." Alyria heard Karlach give a bark of laughter. "Law and order, my arse!"
"You can still use it for-"
"Keep your money, Al," Anvin told her, taking her hand and dropping the pouch into it. She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head once, firmly. He had a lot of nerve calling her stubborn when he was worse by far. When she'd tied it back to her belt, he nodded and spoke again. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.” Then he gave Gale another glare, just for good measure. “All of you.”
Anvin paused before hugging her again.
“I don’t know if I said it before, but fuck if it’s not good to see you alive. Answer to my fucking prayers.”
She kissed his cheek, then stood up. More tears were threatening to spill over, but she managed just about to hold them back. There was a thought crushing her chest, that this might be the last time she saw him.
“When this is over, I expect the full story,” he warned her.
“When it’s over, I’ll tell you,” she agreed, a promise she would give almost anything to keep.
He nodded, then headed for the door, muttering something to Jaheira as he passed, who just laughed, and then something else to Karlach, who saluted him.
Then he was gone, disappeared into the darkness, and Alyria was alone.
Not alone.
Corva cawed at her side, her friends stood around her, and Gale’s hand landed on her shoulder. His other hand rose to her face, wiping away tears that she hadn’t managed to catch before.
“Are you alright?” She had no answer for that. Well, nothing that made any kind of sense. He kissed her forehead. “If you need me, just say the word.”
She was dimly aware of the others leaving, doors creaking shut, voices murmuring outside. She leant forwards until her face collided with his shoulder, just… letting him take her weight.
“I need you,” she whispered. She could barely hear her own voice, but Gale must have caught it. "Just... just hold me?"
His arms came up around her and held her for a long time until she pulled away, her breath coming more easily.
“So that was Anvin?” Gale asked, his tone light, but Alyria could tell there was a slight wariness under his words. “He’s… charming?”
“You can be honest, I won’t be offended,” she said with a smile. “He can be an absolute arsehole, but he takes being my uncle very seriously.”
“I can see that,” Gale agreed. “He’s certainly… dedicated, if in a rather abrasive manner. I can understand that it must be alarming for him to find you in a situation such as this. And I can see how my sudden appearance might give him pause.”
“He was a dick to you,” Alyria said. “You can say it. He’s just, well– I haven’t had the most luck with relationships.” Corva squawked derisively.
“I had got that impression.”
“So he has good reason not to trust my judgement.”
“I rather hope to prove the exception to that rule,” Gale said.
“As long as you don’t go haring off to try to become a god, then I think you probably will,” she said, then cursed inwardly as Gale winced. “Sorry, that wasn’t fair.”
“Oh, it was entirely fair and justified,” Gale said, shaking his head. “You are too forgiving, I think, but since it falls in my favour this time, I can hardly protest it. I will do everything in my power to–”
Alyria cut him off. “I shouldn’t have brought it up again. You don’t have to do anything. Just you being you is all I need, remember.”
“I still can’t see that as a fair exchange,” Gale told her. “You have the poorer part of the bargain.”
“Gale…” Alyria sighed. “Before we met I lived in a one room flat above a butcher’s shop. Some months I had to choose between rent and food. I spent half of my childhood in the sewers under our feet, and the other half talking to pigeons. I’m not special. You could throw a stone in this city and find someone exactly like me.”
“Impossible.”
“You’re biased,” Alyria said with a sigh. “But, since it falls in my favour this time, I guess I’ll let it pass.” Gale chuckled.
“I will have to work on proving to you how brilliant you are.”
“Funny… I was going to say the same thing about you,” Alyria said, raising an eyebrow. He stared at her for a second before shaking his head. “Maybe we should just agree that we’re both amazing as we are?” She asked, then extended a hand towards him. “And better together?”
He took her hand and raised it to his lips.
“I would never use magic to manipulate you,” he said. “You know that?”
“I know,” Alyria said. “Not without my permission, anyway.”
“Well, quite…” he agreed, blinking rapidly for a second before shaking his head. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she answered automatically.
“I know that you were avoiding your family for a reason,” Gale said gently. “I can’t imagine your uncle showing up with no warning was easy.”
“I missed him,” Alyria admitted. “And I’m so scared that Orin will have seen him and he’s just signed his own death warrant by coming here.”
“We can offer him protection.”
“He’d never accept it,” Alyria shook her head, just like he wouldn't accept the money. “I warned him. He’ll take precautions. I hope he will, anyway.” Anvin was sneaky, he was smart, he'd work something out. He always worked something out.
“Do you think he’ll, ah… be back?”
“I’m not sure he’s left,” Alyria said. Gale’s eyes went wide and he pulled back to look around. “He’s not going to stab you… probably.”
“Very reassuring.”
“He really won’t stab you,” she said more seriously. “I don’t think he’s killed anyone in… forty years at least.”
“That's not as comforting as you may think.”
“And he knows that if he kills you, I’ll never forgive him,” she said, wrapping her arms around Gale's waist and pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
The loud noise of someone clearing their throat behind her made Alyria jump.
She turned to see Karlach standing in the doorway there, arms crossed, foot tapping on the floor. There was a barely suppressed grin on her face.
“Hands where I can see them,” she said. Alyria stared. “Come on, come on. I’m under orders.”
Gale scoffed. “I hardly think–”
“Hands where I can see them, Gale,” Karlach repeated. “Or do I have to separate you?”
“Karlach, I’m pretty sure you know it’s a little late for that,” Alyria said, rolling her eyes. Karlach just grinned. “We’re fine. Go to bed.”
“Sorry, Ally-cat.” Alyria groaned. She hoped that wouldn’t catch on. “Orders are orders. Your uncle was very clear about that.”
“Perhaps it might be best if we were to say good night,” Gale suggested with a chuckle. “It has been a long day, after all. And tomorrow we’re venturing into the sewers again to face the Stone Lord in his lair.”
Alyria groaned at the reminder, but she couldn’t help but agree; her body joined in the chorus, a yawn overtaking her.
“Fine,” she agreed, then stepped forwards to kiss him. No sooner had their lips connected than she was grabbed by the back of her clothing and found herself thrown over Karlach’s shoulder. Corva rose in to the air as Karlach began to walk off, flying behind them and not helping at all.
“Are you kidding me?” Alyria called. “Karlach! Put me down.”
“Your uncle was very clear,” Karlach said in a sing-song voice.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
*
Anvin huffed in amusement from the rooftop, watching Alyria be carted over to where she must presumably make her bed. The tiefling was a good kid and had a strong arm to her. Hopefully strong enough to pull Alyria out of whatever mess she'd got herself into. The Dead fucking Three. Quiet one preserve them all.
He didn’t flinch when the pale elf – Alyria’s friend – appeared beside him. Anvin acknowledged him with a slight turn of his head.
“Earlier,” the elf said. What had Ally called him? Astarion. Anvin turned to look at him properly, Alyria’s annoyed shouts from below were enough for him to know she was fine. Astarion looked exactly as he remembered from years before. Not a wrinkle different. Even elves weren’t that lucky, Aeltharian certainly wasn’t. “You said earlier that I was sniffing around your niece again. What did you mean?”
“Exactly what I said,” Anvin told him. “Not surprised you don’t remember, I bet you don’t remember most of them, do you?”
Astarion stepped back slightly, his chin tilting up. Defensive motherfucker, that was for sure.
“Eleven years ago. She’d just had her heart broken by some idiot and she was trying to find her cure at the bottom of a bottle in a tavern in the outer city. By the time I found her you were already there. I knew what you were. I knew you talked to the ones no one knew – the ones no one cared about – and after they talked to you no one ever had a chance to care about them, did they?”
“What happened?” Astarion asked.
“I came to scrape her off her chair and you realised she wasn’t the friendless nobody you thought. I assume you went off for easier pickings.”
“Yes, I probably did,” Astarion agreed.
“Got nothing else to say?” Anvin asked.
“Is there anything I could say?” Astarion demanded. “Are there any magic words that would make you care for my opinion on the matter? After all, you already have your own, don’t you?”
“Apparently, you’re Ally’s friend,” Anvin said. “She always did like making friends with rats.”
The sneer across Astarion’s face was sharp and cruel.
“I take it she doesn’t get her bleeding heart from you then.”
“No… I’m the one who taught her how to use a blade.”
“Is that meant to be a threat?” Astarion asked. “I’ve heard worse from far more terrifying people than you.”
“Threats just warn a person you’re coming,” Anvin said, looking up at Astarion’s face with an unwavering gaze. “If you actually want someone dead, never let them know about it.”
“And here I thought all her family were rainbows and kittens and never hurting a fly.”
“That would be her father. I’ve always been more practical about these things. I retired, I made my oaths to Eldath, but there’s always a loophole.” Shelter the light, he swore, and shelter it he would. He’d have hunted the elf down a decade ago if he could, but the bastard had always been slippery.
“Yes, there’s always a loophole, isn’t there?” Astarion said. After a second he flicked a hand imperiously. Gods, but Ally had better be right about him. “Well, run along then.”
“You know why I’m not killing you?” Anvin asked.
“I really don’t care,” Astarion said. “I’m just here to make sure you leave.”
“Because when she called you her friend you didn’t look pleased, you looked shocked,” Anvin told him.
“Well, sometimes her lack of self-preservation is astounding.”
“Yeah,” Anvin agreed. “But I’m betting yours isn’t.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Don’t prove her wrong; you’ll live to regret it.”
“More threats.” The elf rolled his eyes.
“No, just a warning from someone who’s been there,” Anvin took another look down at where Alyria was petting what looked like a damned owlbear – how the fuck did she get that thing into the city? – and sighed, standing up, muttering a prayer to Eldath for some peace in Ally's heart at least, since it seemed like the world wasn't throwing any her way.
Before he left, he turned back to Astarion, who was watching him like one might watch a poisonous spider on the other side of a room. Anvin shook his head.
“Good luck.” There was no response, but then Anvin hadn’t been expecting one.