Chapter Text
Before attending to other matters team decided to find Gortash -it was the day of the coronation. He was about to become the archduke.
"I can not believe this bastard made it!!! How can the city entrust power into the hands of such a son of a bitch?!" – Karlack was raging, only one sounds similar to “Gort-“ made her vein twitch, her body tense up and her eyes immediately filled up with rage similar to one of a cornered animal. They entered the hall, Gortash was sitting on his throne, and seeing his new coming guests he got a weird chuckle. He saw her. His ally, his old friend, and a person he cared about. She was wearing a dress – something new. Moreover, she switched from red to purple, which aligned with him more. She was gorgeous. He was happy, but the only thing that upset him was her cold face, hostile towards him. Not recognizing him.
"My favorite assassin. I am so glad you returned to my side" - The man came closer to her than she’d expected. She killed Ketheric and wiped out damn colonies of Absolutists, isn’t he afraid? She was also puzzled by the way he addressed her too.
"Hang on. What? You know each other ?!"
"No offense to my old friend, but it’s you I’ve been dying to see" – He looked intentionally at Lor, not even looking at Karlack, who was burning with rage just inches from her.
"I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know you".
"Right… So dice did not roll in your favor I see..." - Enver looked at her with a hint of sadness and regret as if he remembered something from the past. "Orin told me your memories were… quite lost, aren’t they? Hah, to think that all this time you traveled together with Karlack, and she hadn’t a faintest idea you were one of my nearest and dearest. Let me clear up some mysteries then, it’s about time, I think".Lor looked at the tyrant, who suddenly softened his gaze, looking at her. And he did look softly at her, really hoping to find a spark of remembrance in her eyes. Enver was not sure if he should have told all that in the presence of others, but he needed to use this opportunity to get her back.
"We share so much history. You and I initiated this plot. We discussed in depth the failures of our predecessors and how to avoid them. We understood that if we were to unite, no one could stand in our way. So unite we did. First we obtained the crown; then we enslaved the brain. From there, it was but a small step to the most successful religious hoax ever perpetrated. In Baal’s name, you set your bloody daggers to cause panic in the streets, killing in the Absolute’s name. You would have carried out that part of the plan, at least, had Orin not ruined your hard work. Next, the threat of the Absolute’s monstrous armies formed by Myrkul’s general, Ketheric Thorm. In such circ*mstances, people crave strong leaders. Leaders that bring Law, order, and protection. Leaders like me, Bane’s unyielding hand, author of justice. You are soon to witness the people of Baldur’s Gate granting me complete power over them. All out of fear of the Absolute. The faithful will do anything in the name of their god. It was all going so well – until you vanished. Orin informed us that henceforth she would speak for the temple of Bhaal, and act on their behalf. But she made a mess of things. Unlike you, she can not control herself".
"Shut you dirty hole – one more word and I will rip you apart! Lor, we are leaving".
Karlack was ready to beat anything that dared to object her at that moment. Astarion inclined to agree with her. He made a note of rather welcoming body language of the Lord towards his sweet companion. And he didn’t like it, to say the least. But he also recognized the appeal for power that Gortash was offering.
"Karlack, do not interfere when adults are talking. I understand you are upset, but great matters are being discussed, I am sure that can wait".
"Shut it! Both of you" – Lor almost roared, feeling the tension rising in her chest. She lifted an angry look, as if she was a cornered prey, ready to fight for its life.
"So you say we were allies and it seems I trusted you. And it also seems you betrayed my trust and did nothing to help me when Orin almost killed me. So what changed?"
"I never betrayed you. Orin did. As I said, I was unaware of her intentions. If I was, nothing of that would’ve happened. You need to understand, if I was to avenge you, I would go against two gods, Bhaal and Bane himself. First for killing his new chosen and second for sabotaging my own plan. Now that you are at my side once again, we should renew our alliance. We can rule as kings. No, as Gods. Together. So what do you say? Shall we be allies?"
"I will consider your offer once I kill Orin" – she had never been so cold to him. Gortash didn’t like that. He wanted to see his old Lor. The one he was close with. Who was on the same page with him.
"Very well. Then I shall be waiting. Once you take her Netherstone, come to my office above. Ketheric’s Netherstone is yours to keep. When that’s done, we can negotiate further" – Gortash watched his dear turning her back on him and leaving with her new company. After notes in her diary, there was nothing he wanted more than to pull her close, kiss her whole night, and not let her go from him. But now she was too much in denial. Any effort would be in vain, so the only thing left – was waiting.
Once the team left the hall, Lor head started spinning. She just realized how familiar Gortash was to her. She did not remember him, but intuitively, on the most subtle and intimate levels she knew they were acquainted before, and acquainted closely. Plus, when he offered to rule together, Lor didn’t feel any deception – his body language depicted his honesty regarding the matter. He truly desired to share his kingdomhood with her. Who is this man? What was Lor to him? And who was he to her? She was standing almost as if enchanted.
"Lor! What the f*ck happened there? You know each other? And you don’t really plan to take him up on his offer, do you?"
"So whole this time we were travelling with the mastermind of this whole plan! The founder of the Absolute! Well… on the other hand if not you, I would have been still Cazador’s puppet, so well… Thank you for being that evil bastard~"
Lor was preoccupied. She was so confused about everything at that moment, she wanted to just run, run to silence. But still, her own thoughts would always catch up with her. It felt like an incredible amount of stress, like a rock fall, collapsed upon her at once. For the whole journey, she was accompanied by a memory loss, and of course, her past and true identity were to be uncovered. Obviously, on the inner, intuitive level her urges and evil thoughts gave her hints that whatever that is to be uncovered, is not a sweet fairytale. But digesting the fact that you are a bhaalspawn, quite literally - the favorite child of Bhaal, an ex-leader of the Bhaal church, and one of the most prominent assassins. Not only that, but her CV now might have included the title "A mastermind behind the illithid plot to enslave humanity".
"W-hey! Where are you going?"
"It’s…You should stay in the camp for a while, I need some time to process everything. Trust me, I will be back".
Lor was sitting on the quiet roof, watching the channel and bustling brothel. Watching the life going on. So she was a Bhaal spawn, no, even more – the leader of the Bhaal cult. She initiated this plot, and all of her companions and many more others are suffering this current situation because of her, and no one else. Both these factors, which she did not hide from her allies, seemed to greatly upset them. Well, she understood why. There still was hope that they would accept her, like her. But at the same time she felt tired, lonely. And here now she met a person, who she felt was like family – the one who has always accepted her the way she was. And even now that she softened – he still seemed… welcoming? She had no one as of that moment. So she decided to push her luck and see where it takes her. Steel watch did not look like they would let her in, especially at this hour, so she drank the invisibility potion and sneaked into his office.
Gortash was sitting at his desk: glass of wine – almost empty, plate of fruits and candles, pouring yellowish light over his documents that he stared at, tired and deep in thoughts. He heard the rustle of curtains and he new it was her.
"Good evening my dear. I, honestly, was expecting you earlier".
"You were expecting me? How so?".
"I assume you want answers. Do you not? Please, take a seat".
Gortash cherished the moment of them being alone. But he was really tense, because with all her notes, letters, and so much time apart, he wanted more than they usually had, while she was as far from him as she has never been before. He did not understand where the boundary was, but he definitely wanted to test the ground.
"Who I was as a person before?"
"Oh, you were a vicious, powerful leader of your church, and loyal. Very loyal to your father. You, like Orin, had a liking for brutality and blood – your art. But you always could take control over your urges"
"Do you know anything of my past, before this plan? Or who I was before the Bhaal cult?"
"I do not know much. Just know you are the purest Bhaal spawn, which makes you the daughter of Bhaal quite literally".
She looked at him with piercing eyes, trying to calculate each question and asses which one might turn deadly for her. But it seemed as if none could
"So you know I have amnesia, I am not the Bhaal’s chosen anymore and I have been sabotaging this plan for quite a while now. Why do you still want me at your side? I have been against this plan ever since I woke up on the Nautiloid ship. I have been against you. I might as well kill you, so why don’t you kill me first to secure yourself and the plan?"
He looked at her and there was not a moment of doubt or surprise. She could see he was genuine
"Because I want you back".
"You won’t get me back if that means betraying my friends and destroying the world".
Gortash remained in the same position, with a heavy sad look in his eyes. There was an unsettling quietness, while he was just studying her. Finally, he sighted and signaled to the steel watch guard that guarded the door.
"Bring us wine and port wine, one bottle of each. And tell the cook to make a dinner for two".
"What did you just say?"
"What? You want something else?"
"You said … port wine. Why?"
"Because you liked it before. Not anymore…I wager?"
Her expression was too shocked, as in revelation, which caught him off-guard. She stood up fast and walked to him, with quite intimidating speed. The remaining steel guard started moving towards them, since there was a built in protocol, that considered Lor’s actions dangerous, but Gortash signaled to the guard to stop. He strangely believed she would not harm him. And she did not. She leaned her knee on the chair in between his legs and hugged him tight. As if she met a long-lost family member. Eyes were watering, a warm feeling spreading inside. He was a monster, a tyrant, with an evil look and evil intentions. But so was she. And even if she was not anymore, he was still hers…. Who? Who was Gortash to her that she felt so good and protected with him?
Enver was surprised by her actions. He was wondering if she actually remembers some parts from time to time. He hugged her back, firmly.
"You know, I missed you"
"I missed you too, Gortash"
"You remember anything?"
"Not much. Just had a dream about one of our… meetings. Were we lovers?"
"No. But we were close to it…"
Lor backed off and watched the frustration on the man’s face as he looked into the void to the side.
"What does that supposed to mean?"
"As I said, you were my dearest. We trusted each other most and liked each other. We were working on our plan together. Yeah, there was Ketheric, but he was a mere tool. We were the authors of the grand scheme. And with time, we started admiring each other."
That was certainly new. He could feel her body, she was in his embrace. A fearful bhaal spawn, his fellow ally, and a bloodthirsty killer. Before they always expressed the joy of meeting again, but never in a physical way.
Soon the food was brought and she returned to her chair. She still saw an evil archduke with a silver tongue and a deep seductive voice. A closest ally, as he was in her past. But somehow, she felt so at home, despite remembering nothing. Lor watched him slowly eating, smiling.
"You are smiling"
"What about it surprises you?"
"In the hall, I saw your evil smile, now it is… almost as if genuine"
"And I thought you’d never let me touch you, yet here we are"
"Oh, so I didn’t like you that much ?"- Lor smiled teasingly. He missed that.
"No, you was madly in love with me, just wasn’t too touchy, lets say"- she giggled at his sarcasm
"And why did you betray Karlack?"
"I did not betray her. She wasn’t my ally, she was an asset. Look at the Steel Watch. If not Karlack, this would have taken so much longer to achieve. Let alone the price we would’ve paid. I understand that during your travels dear Karlack became close to you, but we swore to do everything possible to achieve our dream, and sacrificing one bodyguard is not something I would lament about".
Half-awkward silence persisted. After finishing the meal, she thought the best would be to flee.
"It’s getting late, I should return to my camp. Thanks for the meal".
"Stay"
"For what?"
"For a night? For two? For ever? "– this strangely sounded so tempting, because of that cunning confidence and deepness in his voice.
Lor’s inner voice was urging her to surrender to his demands. However, logic kept finding reasonable excuses not to. At the very least he was not the person to trust, friends will be worried about her. And obviously, if she stays it will mean that it will be hard to turn back. She would have picked a side. Side of an evil mastermind behind that illithid plot, a man who betrayed Karlack.
He did not know if she could see it, but he was tense. He was walking a thin ice. The desire to make her stay and finally have her near again was so convincing and sweet. But he knew her and believed she was still herself deep inside, and if this was true, his dominant actions right now would only encourage her to leave. Gortash thought that maybe he could allocate all of them: her and her teammates in his palace. However, this would give a clear sign to Orin and potentially lead to problems. And leaving her at camp would not secure her from Orin’s attacks either – he would only risk losing her again.
Enver sighted and rested his eyes on his palms, rubbing them.
"This is most unique… Maybe I should talk more plainly to you. I offered you an alliance. You and me ruling together. I do not take interest in your “friends”. If you want them alive – they live. You want them dead- they die. Your return does not mean you will become the chosen of Bhaal again, and this does not mean I will drag you into the Bane worship either. But let me put it clear, if you try to harm me or steal my netherstone – this would end badly. I am willing to give you the world, and this is all I ask in return. Maybe you will get your memories back. But as of this moment you have to rely on your intuition and beliefs. I am trying to make this choice as easy for you as possible. Make it right. And make it before you get into a situation where I can not protect you".
"So now you will protect me".
Gortash snapped
"You never needed protection, Loralie. You were an assassin, you are one. What do you think I had to protect the greatest assassin – chosen of Bhaal from? From the power of friendship? You was not my weak girlfriend I needed to protect from this cruel world, you was the cruel world, you was my most powerful ally, my equal. Trying to guard you from something you would consider an offense. And this would be an offense. You were capable of protecting yourself. And if your ego was just a bit smaller, even Orin could not play a fool of you".
She was just watching his outburst, darkened eyes, his thrown. His words seemed genuine, and for her it made sense. Gortash watched her for a moment angrily, his fists aching. He was barely controlling himself. From taking her to his chambers by force, kissing her, and hoping she would submit. She was stubborn as always, that would never change perhaps.
"I will kill Orin and think about our alliance then. As I said. Is that a problem?"
"No… If you survive that’s not a problem. Knock yourself out. Go".
Lord intentionally broke eye contact and shifted his attention to the wine and papers he had. While Lor took her time studying his unnatural behavior.
"I swear, if you spend one minute more in this room, you will not leave it".
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, I am hitting on you".
That was said with in a sarcastic tone but that’s it. She slowly left the room, as if teasing him. When she left, she wasn’t even sure why she liked doing that. Probably that was what she liked doing in the past. Making him nervous). And Loralie? So “Lor” was not actually her full name.
