Chapter Eight: Doublets, Dresses, and Dancing

Spring 1274, a week later

North of Lan Exeter, Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss

Sybrius Residence

Triss was getting nervous, pacing back and forth on the balcony of the Sybrius mansion. Edgar Sybrius was a wealthy nobleman, whose family owned one of the largest diamond mines in Narok. He owned a massive mansion outside of the winter capital, and was hosting a party celebrating his 25th anniversary with his wife. Everyone who was anyone in Kovir was invited, and fortunately for Triss, that included well known members of the royal court. However, she was worried Damien wouldn't be able to make it; he had only arrived back in Pont Vanis the day before, and Lan Exeter was a full day's ride from there. She knew there was nothing to worry about; Damien was a smart and resourceful man. Nothing would happen to him. Nothing.

Right?

Everyone else is here. Triss was getting anxious as the minutes grew and grew, but Damien was nowhere in sight. She walked down to the main garden area where everyone was mingling before dinner would be served.

"Miss Merigold!" Triss was pulled out of her own world of worries by the call of someone by the fountain. She turned to see Ambassador Sheitkof.

"It's good to see you darling!" Sheitkof was very obviously intoxicated, as his breath gave away. He gave her a very large hug, which only made Triss feel incredibly uncomfortable. "What happened to Damien?" He asked, looking quite concerned. "Are you two not together-?"

"No no no, Ambassador, it's nothing like that. Damien's just running late. He only returned yesterday from an expedition to Poviss." Triss explained, drawing the intrigue of some of the ambassador's circle.

"Are we talking about Damien of Oxenfurt? The Silver Blade of Hengfors?" One brunette woman to the ambassador's right said. She was wearing a red and black dress, quite different from Triss' white and blue dress. Triss nodded and smiled.

"Well by Meliteles' tits, girl, you lucked out." She turned to another woman, this one a blonde, wearing a similar dress. "Did you see him at the ambassador's party? Chest like that, I'd let him break my curse all night long." The two women starting laughing at the insinuation, which only made Triss blush and look away.

"Tell me, how good is he?" Triss looked up, surprised at the question. "You know, at-"

"I'd like to think I'm quite good at giving a lady the proper time, thank you very much." With that, Triss turned to see Damien right next to her, as he bowed to the ambassador, and took Triss' hand and kissed it. She blushed again, but was ecstatic to see him here. She got a good look at him; he had cleaned up very nicely. He smelt of oak and honey, his beard was shaved, as Triss liked it, and he had his moppy black hair in the perfect balance of disheveled and proper. He was wearing a stunning doublet that fit him perfectly, and its combination of black and blue contrasted Triss' blue and white quite nicely. All of this, the sight of him again, the conversation, the worry, mixed with a little bit of champagne made Triss pull Damien into her arms and kiss him wildly in front of everyone.

While it threw Damien off at first, he quickly responded, embracing her completely, his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck, and he pulled her up to him. She lifted up both of her legs, before letting one hit the ground and finally pulling away to see him smiling wickedly, with some of her lipstick on his lips. She smiled back, and took one of his hands into one of her own. Their fingers interlaced and they turned back to the rest of the circle.

The lady Triss had been talking with looked amazed; her jaw was dropped, her face surprised. Everyone was beaming ear to ear, most notably the ambassador.

"Damien my boy, come here!" The two men embraced each other strongly. When he separated, Triss handed him a handkerchief to wipe her lipstick off with, which he did, while suppressing a chuckle.

"What happened? You had your lover here worried sick!" Triss looked away, blushing again as the ambassador pointed to her. Damien smiled.

"It took us longer to get everyone and everything off the ship then I had originally anticipated. As a result, I was late leaving Pont Vanis, and showed up to Lan Exeter a mess as I tried to cover for lost time. It took me a while to get rid of the smell of monsters as well." With that, he had several women, including Triss, intrigued. The other women swarmed around him, bombarding him with questions. Did you fight something interesting? Did it give you this scar? Can you flex for us? In doing so, they had pushed Triss aside, angering her.

"Relax ladies, one at a time! So first…" Damien had gotten them to hush, and was enthralling them with every word that came from his mouth.

Triss took a glass of champagne from a serving boy and drank the whole thing in one shot, furious that the women were hogging her man after she hadn't seen him in a week. She turned to the ambassador, who was just chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

"Don't worry Miss Merigold. Eventually he'll get a respite and the two of you can make a break for it."

Triss nodded, realizing that it wasn't really that big of a deal. After all, Damien was one of the few well regarded witchers in the area. While it meant people respected him, it also drew him a lot of attention at events like this. Attention that could easily become annoying to others.

"You two seem happy together." The ambassador looked wistfully out to the rest of the party. "That's not very common in these sorts of circles, so you should treasure it." With that, they watched patiently as Damien struggled his way out of the ladies' entrapment and got back to Triss.

"Let's go somewhere quieter, shall we?" He smiled, and Triss nodded in agreement. They said goodbye to the ambassador and made their way into the lower garden, where there were far less people. They decided to claim a gazebo in one of the corners of the garden, and Triss sat down as Damien rested himself on one of the pillars of the gazebo.

"It's good to see you again, Damien." She couldn't stop herself from beaming ear to ear as she looked at him.

"It's good to be back."

"How did the expedition go?" She was curious; Damien didn't have any new scars, and his face communicated it went well.

"Excellent. Had some issues with mages not cooperating, but other than that, no problems. Made some interesting notes, and learned something useful that I wish to experiment with when we get home." His tone indicated it was definitely something of use.

"What was it?"

"An interesting way to control golems that I hadn't really seen before; it allows the original caster to train the golem, so to speak. I'll show you my notes when we get back-" But before Damien could finish his sentence, they heard a loud bell indicating that dinner was being served. They walked back to the main garden, and then through a wooden archway to the dining area. The food was exquisite; there were a dozen different meats, assortments of soups, pastries, three different cakes, a vast array of fruits and vegetables. The duo took a spot at the center table, reserved for the Sybrius' and the royal court. They both received glasses of the finest Toussaint Reds available (supposedly aged from the coronation of King Vizimir II of Redania).

Edgar Sybrius, and his wife Matilda took a seat at the front of the table, a few spots down from Triss and Damien. The raised a toast, and everyone sat down and began eating.

"Damien! How good it is to see you again!" Edgar said, as he took a long swig of his wine. "When was the last time we saw each other, two maybe three years ago?" The man was struggling to remember.

"Almost three, sir. Shortly before the last Northern war with Nilfgaard." Damien responded, and the patriarch nodded in agreement. He looked to the man to his right, who appeared to be a brother or cousin of some kind, and said, "That Damien boy is a true professional. Set his terms at the beginning, didn't try to weasel out, and got the job done perfectly. Plus, he gave Erik here some great swordfighting lessons!" With that, he pointed to his oldest son, who appeared around fifteen or sixteen.

"Was he the witcher who broke the curse in that warehouse in Lan Exeter?" The man next to Edgar inquired.

"Indeed indeed. Saved me a bloody fortune he did. The Swanns' wanted me to buy a different one, said it help them with their debt! Bloody Swanns." The Swann family was a large clan in Lan Exeter who had a big role in the shipping in the region, but had been going through some trouble of their own as of late. They were all socialites, and many others detested them but associated with them out of need, not want. "Damien here made sure I didn't have to have ploughing dinner with them again."

"Did you invite them here daddy?" Edgar's youngest, who was seated directly in front of Triss and Damien, asked. Edgar's face scrunched up in disgust. "The Swanns apparently had other business to take care of son." He proceeded to finish his glass and order another one.

Triss and Damien finished their meal and continued to talk to the other guests. Triss got into a very heated discussion with the Novigrad ambassador about the safety of the city, when Damien motioned for her to come with him for some fresh air.

They walked away from the table back to the gardens, and sat next to the fountain on the benches around it. Damien looked into Triss' eyes and leaned in to kiss her when he was interrupted by the noise of a glass being rung.

"The dance floor is now open!" They heard Edgar's voice ring out through the gardens, and saw as other couples that had sunk away for a moment of privacy were hurrying back to the dining area to head to the dance floor.

"We should go, they'll be expecting us." Triss said, giggling as she saw Damien pout, and grabbed him by his hand and led him back to the dining area. When they did, they saw that dozens of couples had already taken the floor.

With a good look around, Damien bent over, extending his hand, smiling, "May I have this dance?" Triss put her hand into his, and he escorted her onto the floor.

The couple, both having gone ages without waltzing, still took the challenge with gusto, and soon found their rhythm after a few missteps and awkward pauses. Soon enough, Damien had the two gliding across the floor with ease, and stepped up the difficulty with each passing moment.

They made their way into the center of the floor, with numerous important individuals surrounding them; not like they would have noticed, however, as their eyes were glued to each other. Damien stopped and twirled Triss with one hand; she smiled as she spun around, the complex patterns of her dress blurring together in a haze of blue and white. Damien stopped the spinning with her facing him, and on cue, Triss leaned over onto his waiting arm, as he held her waist. He bent down, looking directly into her eyes, hovering over her face. Triss wrapped her arms around Damien's neck, and the two reached in for a kiss.

They could have stayed in that pose forever if their passion was any indication; however, rapidly, the couples around them paused to look, and erupted in a massive array of cheers and clapping, mixed with some gasps. The attention pulled the couple out of their personal world, and they pulled apart to see everyone looking at them.

While Triss was happy, she was also surprised and stunned. She didn't know what to do in the moment, but decided to show some theatrics and bowed. Damien followed her cue, and the two returned to dancing, with Triss' arms around his neck. They danced on, and finally returned to their seats after a few more rounds of waltzing.

They were immediately bombarded with questions from other partygoers; how did you guys meet? How long have you been together? Etc. etc. It was quite overwhelming for both of them, but they made the best of it, answering questions in indirect ways that often led to more gasping or intrigue from the people around their table. This little game of theirs continue for what felt like hours until a chamberlain came to escort Triss. She was apparently needed for something, and gave Damien a kiss on the cheek before following the man.

Without Triss, Damien was successfully able to get away from the intrusive partygoers and get a moment of fresh air. He rested on a ledge overlooking the lower gardens, behind all of the dinner tables. He let his mind wander, until he heard a young person's footsteps.

He turned to find Erik Sybrius, the eldest son of Edgar Sybrius, whom Damien had tutored in sword fighting all those years ago.

"Master Damien, I was thinking…" He stammered as he took a spot next to Damien on the ledge. He came below to Damien's shoulder, his black hair long and drawn across his face.

"Always a dangerous thing." He smiled, looking to Erik, who smiled weakly in response to the joke.

"There's a girl, who I like. She's at this party. She's really pretty and smart and funny, but I am afraid to ask her to dance with me. I feel like she'll only do it because of who my father is, not because she actually wants to." With that, he turned around, looking back to the dinner tables. Damien followed his cue, and looked. In a corner on the opposite side of the room, there was a group of young girls, all around Erik's age. In the middle was a girl with hair as black as Erik's, shorter in height than the rest of the girls, and hiding behind her hair, exactly like Erik.

"Is that…"

"Sabrina Radgar. Her father is the Duke of Velhad." Damien nodded, understanding the significance that would have to someone like Master Sybrius. "You guys go to the same academy in Lan Exeter, I presume?" Damien looked to Erik, and saw him nodding. "Do you two ever talk?"

"Sometimes." He looked away, making Damien chuckle in his head. He remembered when he was this insecure and shy around others. "She likes painting and reading." Erik looked back out at over the hills. "And bunnies." With that, Damien started to giggle ever so slightly. Erik snapped his head around at him, and Damien silenced himself immediately.

"Do you think Miss Sabrina would dance with you?" To that, Erik nodded, and Damien leaned back, thinking. As he did so, he saw Triss return, and a crazy idea came into his head. He told Erik he would be right back, and went to Triss.

When she saw him, she looked relieved. "I was looking for you. We have a summons with the King in Pont Vanis two days from now, when he returns from his hunting trip." Damien nodded, and asked her to follow him. He brought her to Erik, who was pacing nervously back and forth when he returned, and explained to the two of them his crazy plan.

"So, first off, Triss, meet Erik. Erik, meet Triss." The two smiled, and Erik bowed, to which Triss curtsied. Damien looked to Triss. "Erik here is having an issue asking a girl to dance with him. I think I have the solution." Triss looked confused, but listened as he explained his crazy plan.

A few minutes later…

Damien walked away from the ledge, heading directly in the direction of the young girls. They were still standing approximately where they were a few minutes earlier, near a table full of different drinks. Damien came up to the table, within earshot of the girls, as he poured himself another glass of champagne.

"…damn, what I'd give to find a man like that." He heard, and turned to see the tallest, and seemingly oldest in the group say as they saw him. Another girl from the group also piped up, "Yeah, no one like that ever offers to dance with me!" Damien smiled, and walked towards them, careful not to look too closely at Sabrina; she was looking away, making quick glances towards Erik, who was back with his friends at his table.

"Did I overhear you young girls correctly? You would like to dance with someone like me?" He asked, smiling from the corner of his mouth. The girls had moved apart so they could all look at him.

"Yeah." The oldest said, indignation in her voice. "All of the boys here are too lily-livered to offer any of us to dance with them." She motioned to the table of young boys, all of whom were huddling around each other, catching glances at the girls. Erik, however, was missing from the group. With that, Damien looked back at them, and smiled.

"How about I help break the ice between all of you then. I'll take one of you out onto the floor. Maybe that will encourage more of them to come out and ask you to dance with them. How about you, darling?" With that, Damien offered his hand to Sabrina, who was not even looking at him, but looking at the floor, her long black hair covering her face. When she saw Damien's hand she blushed really strongly.

"C'mon Sabrina, have some fun!" One of the other girls said, pushing her towards Damien. She looked up to try to look at Damien's face. She came up short of his shoulder, but looked to see his face very open and welcoming. She smiled weakly, and said, "Okay." She was barely audible, but all of her friends started cheering, and she smiled much more strongly to that.

They hit the dance floor, and they looked adorable. Numerous old ladies started awwing at the sight of Damien dancing with the young girl. And while it looked all simple and innocent, it was all part of a series of calculated moves. Damien guided them over to the other side of the dance floor, where Triss and Erik were dancing. Damien and Triss locked eyes, and saw that their plan was working so far. Triss and Erik disconnected, and at that moment, Damien started the final part of his plan.

"I'm sorry, Sabrina, but I must answer the call of my lady. However, it appears there's someone else who can dance with you…" They disconnected, and Damien smiled to see Sabrina thank him and walk over to Erik, who got into the appropriate position and started dancing with her. Triss and Damien being waltzing as well, and Triss couldn't stop smiling at the sight of the young pair awkwardly missing steps to the rhythm. As they made their way around, they found that most of the boys were now dancing with most of the girls; it seemed Triss and Damien's plan had gone perfectly to plan.

"Solid planning, witcher." Triss smirked at him as they approached their table.

"What can I say?" He shrugged as they walked off to take a seat. "I'm a sucker for young love." Triss chuckled and rested herself on his shoulder following that remark.

"Well, well, would you look at that?" Edgar had returned to his spot, and looked out to see Erik dancing with Sabrina, both of them having an excellent time, if their massive grins and bursts of laughter were any indication. Damien and Triss turned to look at Edgar, who was beaming with joy. "My son's become a man!" With that, he raised his champagne glass and downed it in a single shot. Edgar looked to Damien and Triss, and smiled.

"Thank you for helping him. I knew he could do it, he just needed someone else's support."

"He's a good boy, Master Sybrius. We were proud to help." Sybrius nodded, and the two looked out over the mansion, enjoying each other's company as the night went on.

End of Chapter Eight