This chapter was difficult for the simple factor of characterization. I did not wish to portray Thaler as an antagonistic force, which he is certainly not, though I could not help but think his interactions with Shani (especially considering their previous relationship) would be strained, if not mutually antagonistic. Even so, I see him as more bark and less bite when it comes to her. Shani's dialogue was also difficult to nail, and I fear I might have made her sound too sophisticated.


"It's not a party, exactly, but it's something that will take your mind off of things," Shani assured, leading the way to her house.

With a shrug of her shoulders, the nurse inquired, "How strong is the liquor?" A passerby stopped and tilted his head in surprise at what had come out of the nun's mouth. Shani and her companion turned to stare back evenly at him, and he continued on his way.

"Not too strong. Remember, we still need to be at the hospital tomorrow morning," Shani admonished. Though, come to think of it, she could see the nurse's point, more so now than before. She had gotten used to walking her own path over the years, but to have Geralt completely cast aside her professional judgment, and hand over that defenseless child to a scheming sorceress was a horrendous insult. He would be lucky to be allowed in her house again.

"I suppose," the nurse replied, picking up her skirt to avoid splashing through a puddle, "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you tonight. It will be nice to have a companion for once."

Shani nodded her head knowingly. "It's no trouble. Tonight, we should talk about other things than the hospital. It would definitely give us some much-needed ease."

A thump was heard as the antiquary placed his wares into a cart to push away to storage for the evening. With an anguished cry, the food shop owner failed to catch a falling jug of milk, which promptly burst open on the ground. The nurse skirted the fall easily, but Shani caught a few droplets of milk on her leg. The herbalist stood from her chair to carry it away with one hand, the other hauling a sack of flora over her bent back.

The clearing of a throat caused the two to turn. Shani's initial surprise melted turned to familiarity as she commented, "Haven't seen you in a while, Thaler." Put off by the rather scruffy and abrasive look of the newcomer, the nurse drew close to her.

"Rather a poor way to greet an old friend, but I suppose I can settle," he replied curtly, "We need to talk."

"What is it?" She inquired, her curiosity piqued at the subtle urgency of his tone. He gazed pointedly over at the nurse. Taking his cue, Shani urged her, "You can go inside, if you want. I won't be long." With a nod, the nurse promptly set off. The medic walked over to Thaler, who clapped a hand onto her furthest shoulder from him, squeezing it once as he led her back the way she had come. "I gather that you've missed me," she observed, his reply to which was the quirk of a smile.

"Have I made myself that obvious?" He asked in a light tone, his voice indicating a lack of care as to her answer.

She glanced behind them. "No one's following us today?"

"Eyes front," he corrected sharply, "We needn't draw attention to ourselves."

Swinging her head back around, Shani found what little sense of humor she had to be slipping through her fingers. A flock of cawing crows rose from the garden of the hospital to fly into the darkening sky. Thaler's much-worn coat dusted over the rapidly-deserting square, the few remaining women and men within the area returning home, bearing purses, loads, and tired children. A signboard, struck by the palm of a passing youngster, swung back and forth. A city watchman lit his torch to bear past them.

She'd remembered having awoken in that coat, Thaler having draped it over her shoulders when she had fallen asleep at the Hairy Bear Inn. The sensation she remembered most heavily was the stickiness of the table before her, the front locks of her hair having fallen into it. A glass thumped down before her face as a rather large man fell into the seat before her. "Evening, lass! Fancy a drink?"

With a shake of her head, she'd replied, "No, I've had enough." Rising from the bench, and biting the inside of her mouth as she disengaged the backs of her legs from sticking to the wood, she glanced curiously about the bar, her vision blurring at the motion of others walking past. The waitress swung her tray, bearing a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread, past her head. Grunts and exclamations of pain followed the sounds of clashing fists from the corner. She tugged the coat more closely about her shoulders to keep it from slipping off, pleasantly finding that despite its wear, it smelled musty, but not filthy.

Moonlight streamed in through the bar's windows, and the fire roared in the fireplace. A poker tumbled the logs, and sparks floated into the air, or flew out to hit the floor. The crowd, while still being graced by a newcomer here or there, had visibly thinned from the last time her eyes had been open. She needed to return home, but a few furtive glances about the area found Thaler to be missing. Walking up to the counter, she inquired, "Did a man leave here recently? Bald with a monocle?"

The innkeeper shook his head without pausing in his act of wiping the counter clean with a rather stained rag. "Can't see I've seen him go." Finding little other choice, she turned from him to head toward the door, pulling it open. The cool night air greeted her, causing her to shudder further into the coat. The gazebo stood starkly in the square, with bandits milling about the area, leaning against doorways and talking in low tones. Shani patted the pocket where her knife sat as she stepped toward the gazebo. A few minutes more she would wait. Placing her hand against one of the supporting poles, she leaned against it, tapping her foot.

She tried to recount the moments before she had fallen asleep. Thaler had been asking her about the lands she had seen outside of Vizima, most notably the outskirts, and the tales of the barghests. "What, are you grilling me?" She asked with a laugh. Tilting her head to the side, she gauged her date's reaction, which was summed up in a rolling of the eyes, and the draining of his glass. Placing it down heavily upon the table, he excused himself to order another round, standing from the table. Shani remembered watching the tail of his coat sway as he drew further from her, and nothing more.

A scream, followed by sound of running, booted feet, rung out from somewhere on the suspended pathway above. Shani leaned further upon the pole, yawning as a dog howled a long distance off. She had been on her own in the middle of pitched combat, but the environment for that point in time had been different, filled with chaotic sound and the constant drawing of shadow, the earth shaking. Vizima slept lightly, the civilians safe in their homes from the crossfire of patrolling legions of criminals and lawmen.

The creaking of a door, and the sound of footsteps drawing near her over the uneven stones caused her to turn, her apprehension falling upon seeing Thaler, wearing a rather disgruntled look on his face, emerging from the bar to move toward her. "Thought you had abandoned me, girl."

"I could say the same thing," she replied, her relief masked by an irritated tone. Slipping the coat off her shoulders, she held it out for him to take. Thaler insisted that she keep it on for the night, and after a brief argument, he resigned to wear it over his arm as he led her home. In retrospect, Shani was unsure as to why she had not picked up on Thaler's office of employment earlier, given such an example as that night. She chocked it up to the fact that she had been more focused upon the misunderstanding. By the time she had focused more upon the issue at hand, her attention was called away to work, and the topic was dropped.

"Ploughing waste of space," Thaler grumbled as he fumbled with his house key in the lock, the silver item rather worn by his fingerprints and dirt, as well as his rather rough handling of the item. Shani smiled and looked away as the door rattled under his hands. A gray mass of fur, presumably a dog, was curled into itself under an abandoned cart, most likely to sleep for the night. With a slight gasp from Thaler, the door opened, Shani turning her head at the noise to see him waving her onward.

"Have some new pieces, I see," she observed, glancing upon the sets of furniture placed on display a short distance from the door.

"Have to keep up with the clientele," he remarked with a trace of humor in his tone. Moving further along, Shani more closely explored the objects, brushing her hand across the surface of a small dresser, her attention sending up a thin layer of dust.

Turning back to him, she asked, "What did you need me for tonight?"

Moving toward her, he gently placed his hand to the small of her back. "Come on, we should talk this over in a more civilized manner. Are you hungry?"

Shani refused to budge, grasping his arm to pull it off of her. "I appreciate the generosity, but I need to get back in a timely manner."

"If this is about what happened at the bar, I thought we had passed that point," he replied in an annoyed tone of voice.

"I'm not holding that against you any further," she replied with a dismissive wave of the hand, starting further into the room despite herself, and circling around the items on display, "But I will be honest with you, if you are trying to implicate me in something, I'm not interested."

Thaler smirked as he passed her, striding over to the fireplace to grasp a poker. "I don't recall having tried to coerce you into anything before."

"But that's the point, is it," Shani replied evenly, settling herself down upon a mat that had been set onto the floor, "We've had little to do with each other since our relationship ended."

"Correction," he replied, jabbing at a log, "When you ended the relationship, but that does not imply anything about my current intention. If anything, all I've wanted as of right now is to have you fed."

Casting her eyes up at the ceiling above, she insisted, "And I graciously declined. Now, what is our business concerning?"

"You've gotten rather tense, haven't you?" He asked, turning his head to look at her.

Shani's expression soured. "I'm tired from a long day at work."

"Come now, girl, there's more to it than that," he prodded, rising fully.

"Even if there was, it's none of your business," she responded in a biting tone of voice, "You don't intimidate me, Thaler, and I refuse to be dragged into whatever you may have in mind." At the sight of his hand beginning to slip into his pocket, she took care to add, "You may be head of the secret police, but that doesn't change the fact that we are still next to the city dungeon. I could easily find help if I needed. You still need to keep up your appearance as a fence, after all."

His hand slipped to lay flat against his side. "Clever girl. Though I can point out the fallacies in your argument, it's a good effort, nonetheless."

"Look, what did we need to talk about, that you were so eager to separate me from my friend? It obviously wasn't this battle of wits that made you seek me out," she demanded impatiently.

A pause followed, one that was filled by Thaler studying her face, his eyes searching. Shani refused to bend to his scrutiny by looking away, but felt uncomfortable by his stare all the same. She'd once joked to Geralt over how her former lover's expression would scare off any other potential suitors, and would rather not have such a look aimed in her direction, much less with the power he wielded. Doubtful though it was that he used his powers to put away any man who so much as stole a glance at her, Shani did not wish to think of what he could do to her, should she continue to refuse cooperation.

"You told me a few times in the past that you were acquainted with Geralt of Rivia." At the sight of Shani sighing and rolling her eyes, he added, "It seems you aren't on good terms right now."

Rising up from her seat, she replied in an irritated voice, "He isn't welcome in my house any longer. I hope my answer is good enough for you."

"I would say that is enough assurance. It just so happens that I have spoken with Geralt recently in the Trade Quarter."

Shani snorted at that. "I gather Triss Merigold was hanging on his arm when you saw him?"

Thaler chuckled in amusement, and Shani bristled at him. "Merigold was present, as well, but not in that manner. I suppose I would be correct in assuming the two of you had a lover's quarrel."

She folded her arms in indignation. "He entrusted a defenseless little boy to her, despite the fact that he was quite safe in my care. That boy isn't a son to her; he is a political bargaining chip, one she greatly covets, and fears losing."

"Alvin, I think you mentioned his name being," Thaler commented, and Shani gave a curt nod, internally regretting just much information she had related to him in the past.

"If you want to know where the boy is now, I haven't a clue," stepping close to him, and craning her neck, she added in an icy tone, "But if you lay a hand on the child, you will have to deal with me. You already know how great an enemy I can be."

"I'd be a fool to forget," he replied simply, brushing off her threat, "Although as of now, you should be aiming that threat elsewhere, and thanking me."

"For what might that be? Humor me," she asked, refusing to back down.

Backing up a few steps, he began to pace before her. "I can only relate so much, as you rely so heavily upon your neutral alignment, but I will give you the facts. After I spoke with Geralt, I was arrested by Count De Wett, a member of the Order of the Flaming Rose." A foul look crossed his face at the mention of the incident. "Without getting into further detail about it, Geralt stepped in to keep me being taken away."

Shani's eyes widened at the story. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. What this leaves me to worry about now is what other means De Wett will employ to achieve his ends."

Her eyes narrowed. "Such as coming after me? Our past together aside, I'm nothing more than a traveling medic; not only do I not have any important connections in this city, but I also do a much-needed service for which few have volunteered. If De Wett wants to kill me, he'll have hell to pay, and not just from you."

Thaler shook his head. "Shani, you forget the other side of this. You are a traveling medic, therefore a practical nobody in this city," pointing at her, he added, "If you were killed tomorrow, your death would be noticed by a few, but otherwise it would be unremarkable."

"Not when you, or Geralt of Rivia is among those few," she replied shortly, "Although I wager that the reason I would be marked for death is due to something either you or he were involved in."

Thaler took his monocle from his eye to polish against his sleeve. "Can't say I could argue with that, although," setting his monocle back into his eye, he declared, "you hold the blame for association."

"Pfft! I, quite frankly, didn't know you were when we were dating, and Geralt, for the time that I knew him until recently, was not entrenched in Viziman politics. You can't pin that on me." Turning on her heel at that, she began to walk away, only to be halted by a hand clasped upon her shoulder. "Let go of me."

"Whether you wish to be involved in the political climate of the city or not is moot, and if the entrance of a witcher and a knight of the Order of the Flaming Rose into your home is any implication, I feel that you are not completely telling me your intentions."

Gnashing her teeth, Shani spun, hitting his hand with the back of hers to get it off of her shoulder. "I had a few friends over for drinks. I didn't even know that Siegfried was coming to start with."

"Be that as it may, you had best be glad that it was my intelligence that picked up such knowledge. You are further into this than you may wish to believe." Thaler's voice lost its edge, and Shani took notice.

"I'm a medic," she reiterated, "No one will come after a neutral party like me."

"Be that as it may, I will still advise you to keep your friends close. You've washed your hands of this Alvin character, but that does not mean others believe the same of you."

"But what could a little boy like him really do?" Shani broke in, taking care to hold her tongue on Alvin's power of prophecy. Thaler did not know, and despite their history, Shani would not put it past him to utilize Alvin.

Thaler's eyes narrowed. "You never did tell me how exactly Geralt slew the Hound."

Shani thought on her feet. "The influence of the Salamandra in the village was the cause of the Hound's appearance. Once Geralt eliminated them, the Hound was soon to follow."

Reaching out quickly, he pushed up her chin with his index finger. "That does not explain the deaths of the Reverend, Haren Bogg, and Odo. Though few care about that ploughing village in this city, that did not escape my notice."

"There was a pack of barghests, a gang of Salamandra, and a raging fire on top of it. Do the math," Shani hissed, ""I don't see you having done anything about Mikul."

"Because I cannot make an arrest on purely circumstantial evidence," Thaler replied, letting go of her, "Although if there is something you know that I do not…"

Throwing up her hands and slapping them down at her sides, she exclaimed, "I want whoever drove that poor girl to suicide to see justice."

Thaler smirked at her, and she resisted the urge to strike him. "If I could tell you how many 'innocents' lay among the gutters of Vizima, we would be here all night."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," she murmured, her glare hardening.

The smirk grew more prominent, and he touched his hand to the side of her face, stroking her short hair out of the way. "Can't say I would disagree."

Shani pointedly looked away. "Am I free to go now?"

His hand fell. "Pity, I was hoping that you would wish to stay."

"I have to work," she muttered.

"Doubt you would say that to me if I was Geralt or Siegfried," he observed, his voice taking on a more sinister tone.

"Keep your hands off of him!" Shani snapped, shoving him back a step. "Whatever Geralt has gotten himself into, I, quite frankly, don't care (Thaler's attempt to cut her off with a snort was blatantly ignored), but as for Siegfried, he hasn't done anything worth your raking him over the coals, as well." Indicating herself with her thumb, she declared, "You won't drag me into this, you won't drag Alvin, and you won't drag Siegfried. Now, if you'll excuse me." At that, she took off, circling the furniture to reach the front door, and pull it open.

"Keep telling yourself that, Shani," Thaler called after her. The door slammed shut hard enough behind Shani to rattle in its hinges.

Burning torches illuminated Shani's path as she walked the quiet path back to her home, nodding to a guard as she passed. The city watchman was dozing at his posting before St. Lebioda's hospital. With a passing glance at it, she turned onto the side street, stopping short to press her back against the wall, and slide alongside it, whatever drowsiness she had felt evaporating at the sight of a mace-bearing, muscular member of the Salamandra looming victoriously over a viciously-beaten victim. Angered exclamations sounded from the gate to the Trade Quarter, followed by heavy footfalls of the watchmen to assault the outlaw.

Shani sprung from her spot, dashing to the right side of the pathway, and pressing against the stalls to keep herself out of sight. With a war whoop, the mace bearer descended upon the watchmen. Bracing her hands on the market stall, she sprung forward, landing before the bludgeoned man. Much to her anger, she found his skull was caved heavily in, all traces of life eliminated. Swinging her head up, and unsheathing her knife from its holster, she sprung up with a grunt. The Salamandra man whipped his head about at the new source of sound, and locked his ice blue eyes with hers.

The next moment, however, his head began to lift slowly off of his shoulders with a crunch of bone, and waterfall of scarlet pouring down his bare shoulders and chest. The sword that sawed into the side of his neck, its silver coated with the crimson of his blood, stopped, becoming stuck. Shani blinked, the tip of her nose and her forehead splattered with blood as the outlaw's head sagged on his heavily-cut neck, his eyes wide open, and his gaping mouth releasing a strangled scream. His eyes darted down to the knife in her hand, and he attempted a botched head shake, his head wobbling precariously upon what remained of the stalk of his neck.

Ignoring his plea, Shani grasped the knife with both hands, and jammed it into his back. Blood erupted from the man's mouth as she drove it in further, her fingers becoming sticky as it spurted from the cavity the knife had created. She bent her head low, the shadow of the sword swinging over her head with a sickening crunch as the head was torn off, showering her in a rain of blood. With a grunt of exertion, Shani tugged out the knife before the body hit the ground.

"Thank you, miss," the watchman commended, "Do you need an escort home?"

Wiping the blade upon what little green remained on her shirt, she replied, "I actually live a few doors down from here, thanks. Will this man receive a proper burial?" She pointed down at the body of the victimized man.

The second watchman rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh well, we need to identify him first, but don't worry, we will. You just get along home now."

"Good enough," Shani replied simply, sheathing her knife to walk off. Rubbing her temples at the door, she found it rather disturbing how soon Thaler's words became reality. Turning back, she looked over her shoulder as the guards began to pick through the murdered bystander's clothing in order to determine his identity. She doubted heavily whether the incident was a rather ridiculous and overly-intricate attempt by Thaler to gaslight her, given the fact that his allegiance was south of the Salamandra.

Closing the door behind her, she resolved not to think any further on it. The first floor of the house was dark, her landlady having passed away. Not to say she had been necessarily happy to see her go, but she had felt a sense of relief once Geralt had informed her about the hag's demise. Without the home bequeathed to a descendant, the crown took possession of it. For as long as she paid her taxes, she could live within its entirety.

Light from above shined down on her, bathing her speckled hands and clothing in a warm orange color. She held up her hands before her face, turning them back and forth. Dropping them, she decided to climb up to her bedroom before washing. Her friend was waiting upon her, and it would be better to check in first. Climbing slowly up, Shani reached above her head to grasp the top of the railing, tugging herself up.

The light, cast by a lamp, glowed out from a side table. Sitting upon the main table was a gently-arranged plate of fruit, two bottles of wine, one opened and half-drained, and the other closed and full, standing beside it. Soft breathing whispered over to her from her bed. Shani followed the noise to see the nun, fully-clothed with her headdress drooping, fast asleep, one hand curled at her side.

With a sigh and slight smile, Shani turned to descend back down the stairs.