#the consort

NSWF | Explicit 18+ | Angst | Blood | Ascended Astarion | Spawn Tav | Dark | Smut | Trauma | Stockholm Syndrome | Violence

Ascended Astarion x fem Tav

Chapter: 1 | The Consort

Summary: In a tumultuous tale of love, power, and betrayal, Tav finds herself entangled in a complex relationship with Astarion, a heartless vampire lord who will stop at nothing to maintain control over his newfound spawn. As Tav witnesses Astarion’s transformation and descent into darkness, their love is put to the ultimate test amidst love triangles, drama, and the pursuit of world domination. Redemption seems like an elusive goal while Tav grapples with the realization of who her lover has truly become.

UPDATED EVERY MONDAY.

Notes: Hi, hi ! New series cause Astarion is heavy on my mind. I’ve been writing this on the low so I’m posting the 1st two chapters today so enjoy :*

AO3 LINK | MASTER LIST

Lovely photo by @aristenfromwarsaw

The Consort, also known as The Lady, is perhaps THE Most important person of the entire Barrani race in the world of The Chronicles of Elantra by @msagara

  CERNUNNOS IN THE PINEY WOODS

     A twenty-minute drive north of Hot Springs, Arkansas takes me into the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains and to the lake named for them.  They are very old mountains which had begun their careers as bare, jagged, and lofty as the Rockies; now, 286 million years later, they have worn down into gently sloping peaks, covered from foot to crown with long-leaf pine in some places and broad-leaf deciduous forest in others.  Along the trails, there are long stories to be read in the rocks, the leaves, the soil.  Here, a small vein of coal or novaculite surfaces between two layers of shale.  How did those long stripes of black or white get there in the middle of that gray rock?  The forest floor among the pines provides a dense cover of grasses, fallen leaves and bits of branches, while under the broad leaves of the deciduous trees, the ground is brown and bare, against which the lizard-like skink with its electric blue tail stands out in splendor.  And as one walks along, sudden vistas open out between gaps in the trees, revealing the sparkling surface of Lake Ouachita, out of whose waters rise hilly emerald islands, set like jewels in silver.  

     This is a place where I could spend the rest of my life, happily wandering the hills to the soft music of wind in the pines and the faint calls of the crows from distant slopes. 

      Since my life and the expectations of loved ones hold me to the flatlands, however, I must keep my mountain visits short, and carry back from them what memories I can.  From these, in times of meditation and prayer, I can reconstruct something of that splendor and walk its trails thanks to the gifts of imagination and remembrance.  And it is there, in the Ouachita of the mind, that I meet Cernunnos.

     With other gods, when I meditate on them or perform rituals in their honor, I can often hear them speaking to me through the words that have been attributed to them in myth and literature; there is a conversational nature to our encounters from which I am able to derive insight and encouragement for facing the vicissitudes of life.  With the horned god of the forest, however, the experience is different, because he is as silent as the deer that sometimes walk along beside me at a distance as I hike, staying well out of reach but close enough to leave me with a tick in my scalp to be discovered later.  

     We have images of Cernunnos with his horns, his torques, his enigmatic face, but we have no stories, no remembered words spoken by him, and not much from which to deduce his history but what, as Gimli the dwarf would say, bare rock can tell.  

     Stone and metal carvings, an inscription or two bearing his name, and the accompanying images of woodland creatures tell us that he is a god of wilderness and earth.  And it comes as no surprise to me that he speaks in the language of wordless woodland, in the tongue spoken by wind passing over stone, in the enigmatic calls of birds and in the warning call of a nearby stag to his companions when he hears the approach of possible danger.

Sarah was no fool and she knew that the King and Queen would try and corner her papa and she wasn't going to let them, they had their chance years ago. She wasn't going to let them. They had already hurt him once and she refused to let them do so again. They had seven years to ask any questions that they wanted, but they hadn't.

She wasn't above being petty and spent what free time that she had, hogging her papa's attention. It didn't matter if he was in the middle of doing something, the moment she asked if he wanted to do something? He dropped everything that he was doing and joined her. She didn't interrupt when he was doing actual work, she knew better, but when he was doing those silly gatherings and trust exercises? That was when she interrupted. The look on the princess's face was also a bonus, she didn't have time for silly daydreamers who thought that everyone in Hell had some good in them and that they all deserved a chance to be a better person. It was the biggest load of bullshit that Sarah had ever heard. There were those in Hell who deserved everything that they got, she had no sympathy for rapists or child molesters, who stood on the street and cried 'Woe is me'. They knew what they did, even in Hell they didn't stop, despite them not being the biggest fishes in the pond. She always enjoyed a good hunt. "Dad, there you are. Ready for tonight?" Once again she had interrupted yet another meeting and she didn't even feel sorry for doing it. "You did promise that we were going out." She watched as he stood from the chair, the looks that she was being sent would have sent a lesser demon running. "Indeed, I take it the rest of the motley crew will be meeting us?" Just as he finished speaking the door opened and Stolas came wandering in, Octavia followed behind. The teen's eyes brightened as soon as she realised just who they were visiting. "Auntie, gramps." Sarah chuckled and spun her cane as she walked, the owl demoness didn't even flinch as the doe demon got close.

Fallen London’s True Identities

As someone who is big on personal space, I would like to ask whoever thought the consort being touchy-feely when you first meet her was a good idea... why? Just why? Does anyone like strangers fondling their face and giving them hugs? Within a couple of minutes of meeting for the first time? I just... ???

An unrequited love from two perspectives. Read the rest on AO3

S E P T I M U S

The first time he had come to her, he came in his finest general robes. He was stiff and uncomfortable, unsure what the business of consorting would entail beyond a very exclusive, expensive dancer promising to make his pain melt away for an hour. She approached him with so much raw sexual energy in the sway of her hips that he would have found it caricatural if it hadn’t set his blood on fire. Her cool fingers dragged so gently across his brow he could barely feel the vibration. The look she gave him robbed him of all words.

She sat in an armchair across from a long couch and poured two drinks. Inviting him, without words, to sit across from her. For a long while, they did nothing but sit in silence. And for the first time in 10 years, he felt at ease.

He booked his next appointment as soon as he left, and three more after to be timed with his scheduled shore leave.

~*~*~*~

S H A ’ I R A

The first time he had come to her, he came dressed in fine, pressed clothing with crisp folds and polished brass. He brandished his station like a weapon, but the moment her fingers graced his fine white markings, she knew him. She felt the anxiety wrapped in military posture, the ache in his chest to forget horrors he could never unsee. He came expecting a physical release, but it is not the one he required.

She led him to a seat and poured him a drink, allowing him to set the pace for discussion. He had half a lifetime of words tied up in his throat and had lost everyone he had ever had the chance to share them with. They never spoke. They only touched once more, as she embraced him when their time was done.