Rosemary and Thyme was a proper cabaret now, with even an outside stage for mummers and troubadours. The Dandelion and Callonetta duet drew guests near and far, both well-cultivated and muddleheaded ones. It was becoming quite a tourist attraction.
But one room was off-limit for guests, for it contained a secret passage to outside Novigrad's walls. Here, Tamara, Graden and Renata finally caught Geralt.
"Thank you, Geralt of Rivia, for everything you have done for us."
"Really, I know it was witcher's work, but there is no need for payment," Geralt turned down coin again, "so, what is the next step for you?"
"Well, can't stay in Novigrad no more. Even if I escape the pursuit from temple guards, I wouldn't want to be here when Radovid comes. We will go to Velen, to Crow's Perch."
"Really, Tamara, I didn't expect you to be willing to return to that place," Geralt startled.
"Neither did I. But when I saw Dea, when I saw my sister, I was convinced that my father had seen the guilt and offense he had done," Tamara continued, almost failed to contain her voice, "I was convinced, that he… he was a changed man, for however short a time it was."
"Crow's Perch needs you, baroness" said Geralt, "I've seen firsthand the coldhearted rule of the sergeant after your father departed. People there missed you, Tamara. And I think you'll make a decent baron, Graden."
"Ha ha," Graden chuckled, "funny isn't it. When Tamara came to me, I thought I was offering her her salvation, but it turned out, she was offering me mine. We will go there, beyond the reach of the witch hunters and the imperial legion." He paused, and asked, "So, what's next for you, Geralt of Rivia? Please know that you will always be an honored guest at Crow's Perch."
"Thanks," Geralt said. But he was not going to Crow's Perch. He was there staring into Graden hugging Renata when he was wounded in their fight. He was there staring into Graden hugging Renata when she was healed. For the first time he felt something missing in him that he saw complete in others. Renata was waving to him now, and those emerald eyes, the puckish, confident smile somehow blurred and reformed into a picture of another young lady, one that Geralt would go through even more than Graden and Tamara did to see her and save her again. And Graden and Tamara, a pair of broken lovers, reminded him of another woman, whom always finds a way back to his life despite the breakups. If even the relationship between the Bloody Baron and Tamara could be mended, then perhaps so can his with Yen. Even if it meant to sail across the stormy ocean to Skellige Isles, even if it meant to risk his life following the Wild Hunts, Geralt would do it. In fact, for the first time since he arrived in Novigrad, he was certain where he would go next.