Because I Can
"He's breathing."
The moment Meril heard her words he collapsed on his knees in relief. He panted heavily as the tension left his body. "That…I can't tell you what a relief that is to me," he said between breaths.
"He's not out of danger yet. His head wound needs to be dressed," Ciri said. She got up and opened the door of her bedchamber. Standing outside was a pair of guards in black armor carrying halberds. The shock on their face when Ciri emerged was plain to see. Clearly, they thought they had been guarding an empty room. "Fetch me a medic and a handmaiden, we have someone injured here."
"Your Highness!?" one of the guards said surprised, "when did you? How did you?"
"No time for questions! We have someone bleeding out over here. Now go!" she ordered.
The guards saluted her and ran off to fill her orders. As they left Meril observed her go over to an ashen colored wardrobe that sat on the left side of the circular bedchamber next to a matching ashen colored dresser. "Clearly, she has a favorite color."
Meril's nose twitched. "What's that smell? It smells sweet and soothing in here, vanilla and lavender I think. Those are very expensive fragrances, you'd have to be of nobility to afford it. Shit, that's right! She's the princess! Fuck, what am I supposed to do here? No one at school told me anything about what to do in the presence of royalty!"
After rummaging through the wardrobe a bit Ciri pulled out a long silken sheet, which she promptly tore into strips and brought back to the unconscious Halfling. "I have to dress his wound, help me prop his head up."
Meril did as she asked. "Gentle now," she continued, "I'm just going to wrap it enough to stop the bleeding, the medic will have to sterilize and sow it shut later."
Meril watched as she took the strips of silk and wrapped it around the Halfling's bloody head. Her fingers moved with practiced precision. She had clearly done this before. "You're quite good at that, um, your highness."
Ciri nodded, "I've seen more than my fair share of blood. I had to learn how to do this sort of thing as a necessity."
They sat in silence for a moment as Ciri finished wrapping the Halfling's wound. "What's your name Witcher?" she asked.
"Meril…your highness."
"Meril off?"
"Um, the Dragon Mountains I guess. I don't really have a home country or anything like that."
"Not uncommon for people in your trade. You say you're from the Dragon Mountains?"
"It's where my school was…is sorry."
"I've never heard of a Witcher school in the Dragon Mountains." Ciri leaned in and appraised the medallion hanging on Meril's chest. The silver pendant featured the head of a snarling dragon. "I've never heard of any Dragon School for that matter either."
"It's a new school, I'm its very first graduate," Meril said as pride picked up in his voice.
The princess gave him a critical look as if she found something absurdly suspicious about what he had just said. "How long have you been on the path?"
"Not long, only about five to six months now."
"And you started up north at the Dragon Mountains?"
Meril nodded, he saw no reason to lie about this, it wasn't as if anyone besides he and Otto knew how to find the school.
"All the way from the Dragon Mountains to Novigrad. Slay anything interesting along the way?"
"Not really, mostly just the common pests, drowners, ghouls, nekkers, those sorts of things. Oh, I did have a run in with a bunch of wraiths earlier today though. Barely escaped with my life. That's actually part of how I ended up at the river looking for this Halfling," he said with a laugh.
"Which reminds me, who is he to you?" she asked.
"No one, don't even know his name," he answered.
"You're telling me you dived into a river with oncoming boats to save a nonhuman you don't even know?"
He paused for a minute not sure how to answer. "Well, when you put it that way I guess it does seem rather silly. If you want to know why I tried to save him, I guess you could say I felt guilty. It was my fault he ended up like this in the first place."
"Care to explain?"
"Well, it's like this. I was in the sewers hunting drowners for the city guard, then all of a sudden a huge swarm of wraiths poofs up out of nowhere. There are dozens of them, far more then I could handle. So I decided to make a break for it. Not very brave I know, but the Witcher's code is pretty clear on these matters"
"Ah yes, that famous code," she said with a slight laugh. "Then what happened?"
"I ran through the tunnels and the wraiths chased me. They were fucking relentless. I don't know what kind of marmy whoresons they were when they were alive, but whatever killed them, it had to have been something they're still sore about."
"That's strange."
"What is?"
"The wraiths chasing you. Normally, specters haunt a fixed position that they can't wander too far from. Usually, it will be wherever their remains happen to be lying. How many of them did you say there were?"
"At least a dozen."
"And did you notice any bones or corpses lying on the ground?"
"Actually now that you mention it no. I was wading through raw sewage. So it's possible there were lots of bones submerged that I didn't see."
"It doesn't take much to anchor a spirit, even a hangnail can be enough if the spirit is determined."
"You seem to be quite knowledgeable on these matters your highness."
"I know a thing or two, still even if there was something there to anchor all those spirits they shouldn't be able to materialize and be able to chase you freely. How far did they follow you?"
"Until I got out of the sewer, that's actually where my story with this guy begins." He said pointing to the Halfling.
Ciri nodded and waited for him to finish.
"Well, with a dozen specters on my tail, my first priority was to get out of there. I don't know if you know anything about those sewers but it's a complete labyrinth down there."
"I'm familiar."
"Anyway, I figured if I followed the flow of the water eventually I would find a way out."
"Smart."
"So I follow the current, while simultaneously fending off wraiths mind you, they pop up out of nowhere it's really annoying."
"Hahaha," she laughed.
"Did I say something funny?"
"Sorry, it's just you talk about fighting undead supernatural creatures so casually as if you were discussing the weather."
"Well, I am a Witcher. Dealing with these creatures is my trade."
"I know, I know. A Witcher that's afraid of monsters would be like a cat that's afraid of rats."
"I actually know a cat that's afraid of rats, or rather one rat in particular, but to be fair it was one very nasty rat. Anyway, I follow the current and eventually I find a tunnel where the sewer opens into the canals. However, there is big metal grate blocking my way out. I don't have a lot of time to think because again, I have wraiths on my tail. So I do the first thing that comes to mind and reach for a bomb. Just as I throw the bomb I noticed on the other side of the grate was a Halfling, but by the time I yell out a warning I've already thrown it. The bomb explodes giving me an opening to escape and I'm out of the sewer. But the Halfling is nowhere to be seen. I figure that the blast had to have knocked him into the canal, so I followed it downstream to the river. And that's where you found me trying to fish him out."
"Why'd you go looking for him?"
"Hmm?"
"You didn't have to seek this Halfling out, you could have just gone about your day."
"I could have I guess. But…well…it wouldn't have been right. I mean if he was injured that would have been my fault, I figured finding him and making sure he was okay was the least I could do."
"Is that so? Hmm, interesting."
"What is?"
"Most people in this world don't give one whit about one another and that's just between humans. When it comes to nonhumans, most people would say that it's no different from killing monsters."
"And how about you your highness? What do you say?"
"I say that most people are fucking stupid."
It was Meril's turn to laugh, "hahaha."
"What?"
"In all the stories I've read about beautiful princesses, none of them are ever described as foul-mouthed ruffians who don't flinch at the sight of blood."
"You know, I could have your head for that comment," she said flatly.
His grin evaporated and his eyes widened in sudden fear.
Seeing his change in expression brought a grin to her face. She got up from her position at the Halfling's side and over to the wardrobe. She pulled some clothes and washcloths out and went behind a black silk screen.
"In any case, I'm hardly the first princess in history to be more action-oriented, and history is full of stories of mighty queens who fight bravely alongside their armies to protect their kingdoms. My grandmother was, in fact, one such queen."
"Sorry, my knowledge of history is a bit lacking, who was she?"
"Ever heard of the Lioness of Cintra?"
"Sorry no, the history books back at my school related mostly to the conjunction era, don't know that much about more recent events."
"You should learn, knowledge of history can often mean the difference between life and death for someone in your line of work."
Meril got up from where he was kneeling and realized that he was still soaking wet. He reached into his magic satchel, pulled out a washcloth and began drying himself off. "You seem to know quite a bit about my line of work your highness."
"I've spent quite a bit of time around Witchers," she answered, "I learned a few things." She hung her soaked gown over the screen.
"Where are we?" Meril asked.
"My bedroom," she answered.
"I figured out that much from the wardrobe. Where is here though?"
"In the Imperial Palace."
"Imperial?….Wait, is this Nilfgaard!?" He shot over to a nearby window. The first thing he noticed was that he was at least thirty stories high up a tower with a cone-shaped roof. The next thing he noticed was the sprawling metropolis of black and gold laid out before him. Huge masses of people filed up and down roads like packs of ants through a tube. To the east side, he saw a massive harbor filled with boats and overlooking the entrance, a giant black arch with a glowing green portal big enough for a dragon to pass through. The shock of it rushed straight to his head as he lost his balance and fell backward.
"No fear of monsters, but terrified of heights, is that it?" he heard the princess say.
He looked up. She was standing directly above him. Her hair was wrapped in a white washcloth as was her body. Part of him was able to register how shapely she was through the cloth, but that part was rapidly overwritten by the adrenaline coursing through his brain as his fight or flight instincts kicked in. Reflexively he began reaching for the blade at his back but before his hand even gripped the hilt she grabbed his wrist and twisted it around.
"Calm down," she ordered curtly, "you're not in any danger."
"Aghhh, let me go!"
"I will as soon as you stop struggling!"
He thrashed and rolled over to try to shake him off, but she rolled with him. As they began to struggle her washcloth flew off. His sudden exposure to her charms stunned him for only a split second, but it was a split second long enough for her to lock her arms around under his arms and around his head, followed by locking her legs around his legs completely restraining his movement.
"Your Highness we have brought the medic as you ordered one," the guard from before said as he barged into the room before freezing. Confusion followed by anger lit up his face as he reached for his sword.
"HOLD YOUR BLADE SOLDIER!" Ciri screamed.
"But your highness!" the guard protested.
"WAIT OUTSIDE!"
"But!"
"OUT!"
The guard broke into a nervous sweat as he hastily let himself out. Meril finally calmed down enough to stop squirming and start noticing the soft feeling that was pressing down on his back. Even through his armor the soothing sensation of having her pressed against him seemed to seep through, he had never been this close to a woman before, it made him feel strange. He felt his trousers start to tighten when she finally asked, "Are you ready to calm down?"
He nodded to indicate yes. "I'm going to take your sword. Understand? Do not resist."
"Why do you have to take my…agh!"
"I said don't resist."
She loosed her grip on his head with one hand and pulled his katana from out of its scabbard before letting her lock go completely and backing away. He got back up to his feet and stretched his limbs out. "Why'd you do that?" he asked.
"Why did you reach for your sword?" she answered.
He was silent, not sure of how to answer until she answered for him. "It's because your survival instincts kicked in, just as mine did."
He turned around to face her and was once again stunned by her beauty. Her slender frame showed gorgeous pale skin blemished only by occasional scars scattered throughout and a rose tattoo on her inner thigh. "Hey! No gawking!" she shouted.
He blushed, immediately closing his eyes and turning away. He heard her continue to speak as she stepped about the room, "you're extremely lucky that I'm familiar with how Witchers behave and that I know you lack experience. Anyone else would have had you killed by now. But seriously getting worked up over a little teleportation, you have to learn to contain your surprise or you're not going to survive very long on the path."
He heard a clink of metal scraping against stone. He opened his eyes fearful that she may have been dragging it along the floor. He spotted his sword propped up against the wall next to the black silkscreen where the princess proceeded to robe. From behind the black silkscreen, her voice came forth, "That's a beautiful sword you have, by the way, I've never seen one like it before. Where is it from?"
"My friend Ryu forged it back at my school, but the design of it hails from his homeland."
"And where is that?"
"A place called Nihon far to the east past Zerrikania."
She was quiet for a minute as if he had just said something thought provoking. "He must have traveled very far."
"He did," he answered simply.
"Where is your other sword? That blade is silver. Where is your steel?"
"I put it away, it's hard for me to roll when I have two swords on my back."
"Doesn't that go against Witcher tradition? You're supposed to have two swords on your back, one for humans, and one for monsters."
"Don't worry, I always have it when I need it." He didn't want to reveal the secret of his satchel. He was fully aware of just how priceless a treasure it was, the fewer who knew about it the better.
"How did you get us here?" he asked, "I thought teleportation required complex tools like megascopes and long spells. I don't think I saw you cast while we were in the water."
"It's my ability, I control time and space, I can go wherever I want whenever I want."
"Why bring us here then, why not just put us back on your ship?"
"This was easier. I can go wherever I want, but I have an easier time going to places I'm familiar with. Today was my first time on that boat, so I don't have a particularly strong familiarity with it."
"I see…hold on a minute if you can go wherever you want whenever you want, why build a giant elaborate portal?"
"Oh that's not for me, that's for the Empire."
"I don't understand."
"I think it's fairly obvious. Having stable portals to key economic and strategic locations will boost trade and give us a superior military advantages."
"So there's more than just two!?" he asked incredulously.
"There will be, for now, there is only the portal between the Imperial capital and Novigrad. And as you saw today it works perfectly. Merchants will pay through the nose to use it and we'll reap a profit so huge the project will pay for itself within a year or two. After that, we'll have the funds needed to build portals in every major city on the continent. "
"Wow, that is…that is…" Meril didn't know how to respond. The sheer scale of the project she was describing would be unlike anything the world had ever seen before. Magic on so massive a scale could not be possible, could it? You would have to have been trapped in delusions of the highest grandeur to even conceive of such an idea. Either that or be royalty.
Ciri stepped out from behind the screen, now dressed in a plain white silk gown. "COME IN!" she hollered through the door.
The soldier from before walked in. His blade was sheathed but he still had a hand on the hilt. He looked at Meril crossways as he held the door open for an elderly gentleman in a black wax coated plague coat with a matching black medical bag walked in. The old medic's attention immediately went to the unconscious Halfling on the floor. "The patient I presume?" he asked.
Ciri nodded, "he has a head wound."
"How did it happen?" the medic asked as he kneeled down next to the Halfling and began to examine the situation.
"Some fucking racist thought it would be funny to hit him with a paddle," Meril spat contemptuously.
He caught Ciri giving him a questioning glance. "I forgot to mention that part earlier," he said to her.
The medic pulled out a pair of scissors and cut open the dressing that Ciri placed earlier. Blood immediately started gushing out, "oh my!'
He swiftly pulled a clean cloth out of his bag and immediately pressed down on the wound. "That is going to require stitches. I need someone to hold the cloth down while I prepare the equipment."
Ciri took her place by the medic's side without a single word. "She's kind," Meril noted.
As Ciri applied pressure to the wound the medic began fiddling around with the contents of his bag. He pulled out a needle, a spool of thread, and some tweezers. He also pulled out a small glass bottle of clear liquid. When he popped open the cork Meril's sensitive nose immediately recognized the strong alcoholic odor. "Is that vodka?" he asked.
"Twelve times distilled, extremely potent. Want a sip?" the medic asked with a grin.
"Not in the mood now thanks," Meril answered.
"Just as well, it tastes like death," the medic threaded his curved needle and dipped it into the vodka, "but it's an incredibly powerful disinfectant."
The medic finished prepping his tools then turned to the princess, "I must elevate his head, do you mind if we use one of your pillows your highness?"
"Not at all," she pointed towards Meril. "Grab the biggest the one," she ordered.
Meril did as he was bid, grabbing the biggest pillow at the head of the grand bed that took up the center of the room. The pillow he picked up was plush and luxurious. Even through gloved hands he could feel the richness of the material, the golden lacework interspersed throughout was clearly the work of a master seamstress, and the stuffing was firm yet malleable. "This looks really expensive, you sure you want to…?"
"It's just a pillow," she cut him off, "now bring it here."
They propped the pillow under the Halfling's head and the medic went to work. He poured some of the vodka on the wound, the clear alcohol mixed with the Halfling's blood and ran off into the pillow. The medic dabbed the wound a few times with the cloth to dry it out and began the work of sewing the parted flesh back together. Meril kneeled down next to the princess and watched as the medic worked. The old man's hands were gnarled and speckled with liver spots, but they moved with the deftness of a true virtuoso.
"What's your reason?" Meril whispered.
"Beg pardon?" Ciri asked.
"I told you why I'm helping him, but why are you helping?"
"Because I can," she answered simply.
A/N: Ok, so a few announcements. I'm back in school so my updates will be a little slower. I won't let that stop me though. I've made a commitment to see this story through to the end, and I won't let anything get in my way.
I'd like to give a special shout-out to me readers and reviewers on both AO3 and fanfiction you guys really motivated me to keep going.
WhiteWolfWhispers: You're one of my earliest readers and your continued support and patience means a lot to me.
Aragon365: I wrote this chapter with you in mind specifically, hope you like it.
XxxJerza4everxxX: I made the deadline just like I said.