Eskel didn't expect Lambert to accept it so readily, but he just did, shrugging off the fact that Maya was a high vampire as if it wasn't a big deal.

Was it a big deal? Maybe it wasn't.

"Look," Lambert said. "I don't care what she is. I know you wouldn't have her here if you thought she was a danger to anyone. She seems to have gotten that stick out of your ass anyway and that's good enough for me." He snorted, smirking. "Besides, Keira's probably more dangerous."

Eskel shook his head. He had a point.

Lambert refilled his tankard and Eskel's from the bottle, draining the last of the vodka and tossing the bottle into the fireplace where it shattered into pieces. He raised his glass up in a toast.

"To dangerous women," he said, his words a little slurred. "And the stupid ass Witchers who love them." He knocked his tankard against the rim of Eskel's and drank deep, draining at least half of it like it was water. Eskel did the same. At least he knew how to be drunk.

"You do love her right?" Lambert asked, putting his elbows on the table. "I means, she's cute and all, but..."

"Yeah," Eskel muttered and took another drink. As if it wasn't strange enough already, he was going to sit here and talk to Lambert about his feelings?

Lambert chuckled. "Damn it, man, that's the best you can do?"

"What you want from me?" Eskel shrugged. "It's fucking weird."

Lambert seemed to agree. "Well, if anyone told me you were going to fall in love, I would have told them they were crazy. Then add on that she's a vampire? Shit." He laughed. "Geralt's gonna love this."

"Great." Eskel emptied his tankard. He should have been drunk before even attempting this conversation. "I'm never gonna hear the end of it."

"Nope," Lambert said, reaching across the table and slapping him on the arm. "Never."

Across the room, near the fireplace, Keira was reading. She didn't bother trying to drink with them. She'd have to use magic to even keep up and besides, they were just being boys. As much as she had come to enjoy Lambert's company, as surprising a development as that was, she didn't have much patience for their male bonding.

She overheard enough for her interest to be peaked however. Eskel's plump little elf girl was not an elf, or half-elf as Keira had assumed, but a vampire? Well, that was interesting. And perhaps it explained the bandage on Eskel's wrist where he didn't have a wound the night before. Very interesting indeed.

She'd wondered more than once about some of the creatures the Witchers' hunted. Many of them lived a long time and though she knew there was a magical component to it, their body parts often maintained those qualities after they were dispatched. She had experimented with a variety of monster pieces since joining Lambert; mostly the common, drowners, ghouls. But a high vampire, well, that was another thing entirely.

Not that she was going to dissect her of course. She had a feeling Eskel might protest. But perhaps she'd be willing to part with a little hair, perhaps a blood sample?

It appeared she would have the opportunity to broach the subject as Eskel's little vampire made her way into the hall. She certainly looked better than yesterday, all rosy cheeks and shiny hair now. Her dress was fairly threadbare, but it seemed to suit her. She stopped in the doorway, leaning against the stones and looking over at Eskel and Lambert, smiling faintly.

My, my, she really does love him, all gruff and quiet and scarred as he was. Though, she supposed those adjectives would describe Lambert as well, save for the quiet. There were times... Keira shook her head. Emotions were strange, foolish things. She'd given up on trying to figure them out. There were more important things to be done.

She stood up and as she hoped, the movement caught Maya's attention. She waved her over to join her, gesturing to the other chair in front of the fire. Lambert had scrounged these up somewhere, dusty and old, but with a good cleaning they were cozy. He'd gone to great pains to try to make her comfortable. He really was a dear, when he set his mind to it.

Maya came over to her, stealing a few glances in Eskel's direction as she did. He looked up at one point and saw her and smiled. Keira wasn't entirely sure she'd ever seen him do that before. Despite the scars tugging at his mouth when he did it, it was like he lit up when he saw her. Lambert laughed and grabbed his arm.

Keira smirked as Maya came and sat down with her. "You'll have to excuse them," she said, still smiling. "They're bonding."

"I see that," Maya said, shaking her head and turning her attention to Keira. "I'm glad to see it, honestly."

"Oh?" Keira didn't elaborate.

Maya tucked her legs up under her. Her feet were bare, and Keira knew the floor was cold. "I used to worry that when he finally left, that he didn't really have anything to come back to. I'm glad I was wrong."

Keira was intrigued. "You expected him to leave?"

Maya shrugged. "Of course. He fell into my door half dead. It wasn't a choice he made after all. I always assumed he'd leave." She furrowed her brow. "I'm still very surprised to be here, on a number of levels."

"Yes, I've heard," Keira said, leaning back in the chair, resting her hands casually on the ends of the armrests. "So," she paused, probably over dramatically. "A high vampire. It is unexpected."

Maya looked nervous. "So, he told you?"

"No," Keira shook her head. "He told Lambert and also has no idea how voices carry in this hall."

"Wonderful," Maya groused. "Is this going to be a problem?"

"No, no, not at all, in fact, I have rather forward question."

Maya just made a face but didn't reply. Ah, Eskel must have warned her about sorceresses. She knew he didn't trust them, especially not after that display by Triss Merigold.

"It's less horrifying than it sounds, I assure you," Keira continued. "I am trying to find a cure for the Catriona plague. I believe it has a magical origin, which is why traditional methods of containing it and curing it have failed. But it's not magical in the sense that it can be cured with a spell. Believe me, I've tried." Keira leaned forward. "I've been experimenting with...pieces of creatures Lambert acquires for me, but those are mostly lower beings with limited power."

Maya looked mildly horrified but managed to mask it with disdain. "Are you asking me for a piece of me?"

"Well not without your permission, and nothing untoward. Just a blood sample perhaps, if you're willing. You are a high vampire, after all. There are not many creatures here with your powers."

Maya pursed her lips. "I'm not sure I enjoy being referred to a creature." She sighed. "But I think you may be on to something. What you likely don't know is that I've been living as a healer for the last, what, 150 years? I've seen what the Catriona can do. And I do seem to be immune to it. But-" She raised her hand. "You'll have to wait for your blood sample. I will need some time. I was injured and I ingested some silver tainted blood. It may be a while until my blood is entirely mine again."

"Of course," Keira said, leaning back again. "There's plenty of time. It's likely to snow again and we did promise to wait until Geralt and Yen arrived. He won't take a portal, so we'll need for the weather to break. Though I had planned to send Lambert into the forest to see what else I could experiment with. I understand this area tends to attract forktails and griffons."

"Exactly what are you trying to do?" Maya asked. "I'm not really an alchemist, but I tried to expand on some traditional remedies and it seemed like some helped a bit, though ultimately they didn't work. But I haven't seen any Catriona since then, so I wasn't sure. And I couldn't exactly go dissecting victims without attracting attention, especially not after the rotfiends showed up." She chuckled softly. "They hired a Witcher," she said, glancing back at Eskel again, "To clean out the cemetery. I had to make myself scarce for a while."

"That is an interesting coincidence, in a few ways." Keira commented. "But If you're interested, I certainly wouldn't mind another set of hands and eyes. And perhaps your background will add things that never occurred to me. I do tend to look to the esoteric first."

"I've been trying to avoid anything magical for a long time," Maya said. "But it may be a good way to spend what remains of the winter, until I...we...figure out what we're going to do."

Keira had the good sense not to comment. It was certainly an odd situation, though hardly the strangest she'd seen. She debated for a moment, doing what she always did. She assessed them. Maya just stared into the fire. She looked a bit wistful, but Keira would need more information to fully understand why. Eskel and Lambert clearly hadn't overheard them, but apparently they'd at least slowed down with the drinking and had moved on to cards instead. Lambert was losing. He was terrible, worse than terrible, at bluffing.

At first, Keira herself only planned to have Lambert acquire some samples for her. She'd never expected to like him. Certainly, she expected to sleep with him, but that wasn't related. It was an unexpected twist, finding herseld enjoying his company, crass and out-of-sorts as he often was. So Keira supposed she understood this one's reluctance, though it was obvious to the blind that Eskel was smitten with her. Admittedly that wasn't always enough.

How many years did it take, how many tragedies, before it was enough for Geralt and Yennefer after all?

She wasn't getting involved certainly; That would be ridiculous. But it would be interesting to see what happened.