The room was silent since the guard had left.

Geralt fixed the door without daring to look at Jaskier. He had a lot of questions for him. The trick the bard has played earlier was certainly bothering him. He hadn't felt any magic coming from his medallion. The bard had lied, that much was clear. How he had managed to regain his voice long enough to speak to Amaury was something else.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wonder for long, because Jaskier sighed and, in the most depressing voice he could find, said:

"I guess you have some questions."

Geralt didn't know he could be taken aback again in the same evening, but he was. He knew that the medallion part had been a lie, of course. That didn't explain how Jaskier had been able to speak. Had Jaskier faked muteness all along?

"They said you were mute."

Geralt did not bother to say who they were because in this case, they meant everyone. Jaskier frowned as if that was not the questions he had been expecting.

"Well, I'm obviously not. I'm cursed Geralt, not mute. You should feel that with all your witchery senses."

There was a lot that didn't make sense. Geralt hadn't felt anything magical around Jaskier, which is why he had so strongly believed the rumors about the bard's muteness. Knowing how the bard couldn't keep quiet, they most likely made sense too. Learning that they turned out to be false was opening his mind to a whole new world of possibilities, none of them pleasant.

"What is this curse about?"

"Ah, actually... What I said was true. I was cursed to follow you until the end of my days apparently. I believe the correct words were 'Follow the witcher, that you must; At the expanse of your own voice'".

"Then why didn't you come back?"

Jaskier turned silent, and a vague reminder of how he had seen the bard at the mansion crossed Geralt's mind. It left as quickly as it came.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me around." Jaskier didn't elaborate. He grabbed his lute and started strumming mindlessly.

He smelled of fear. Jaskier was not often in such low spirits. Geralt could count on one hand the number of times he had smelled fear on Jaskier, and never was it aimed at him, probably never would be. Geralt wasn't having it. He had walked alone and had learned how important of a companion Jaskier was, it was time to make the bard understand it too.

"Jaskier, I told you I wouldn't leave you there. It still holds."

He had caught the bard's attention now. The fingers had stopped dancing on the lute. Geralt hated repeating himself on things that weren't important.

"I'm sorry for what I said on the mountain. I like your company."

"I'm sorry for my behavior too, and I don't hold you to your words," Jaskier answered. "If I was less annoying, more people would want me around. And not only for lineage."

Geralt could see a small smile on Jaskier's lips now. He wanted to reply something, but suddenly remembered Jaskier's written request and the guard 's apologetic look.

"What did you ask for, exactly?"

"Oh, that's a silly thing. Not much to talk about. I just... hum..."

Jaskier fumbled around and suddenly decided than it was better to just shove his notebook into Geralt's face than answer his question. It read "How much to tell them I am dead?". Geralt was shaken. Had Jaskier thought about the consequences? A lie like that meant that Jaskier never planned on going back to the mansion again. With the bard's curse, there was no way he would be able to provide for himself. Did Jaskier really have no plans when he had asked him for help escaping?

"So you were set on never going back."

"Yes."

"Hmmm." Geralt mused. "Where were you planning to go?"

"Oh just here and there. I have a lot of good relations, you know. They can get me a job if I ask nicely."

Considering that Geralt had found Jaskier's lute in someone else's hands, he didn't believe the bard one bit.

"Jaskier..." Geralt said in a low, scolding voice.

"What! I don't know!" Jaskier yelled. He pulled up a face. "I just couldn't stay with people that were lying to me, and I couldn't ask you, because your point of view about me following you around was perfectly clear at the time."

He let a second pass, and his hands went to grab something solid. He found comfort in his lute again.

"Thank you for finding my lute Geralt. It means a lot to me. I'm sorry for being so loud all the time, I'm working on that."

"I... I'm sorry too," Geralt apologised, "for what I said after the dragon hunt. I was angry and you were there.

Jaskier smiled widely. He approached Geralt as if he wanted a hug, but decided on just grabbing his arm. Geralt rolled his eyes and hugged Jaskier. The bard sank in the hug instantly. It was better than what Geralt remembered, and for Jaskier, it healed him much more than all the reasoning he had convinced himself of. They broke the hug at the same time.

"Who cursed you?" Geralt asked.

"Not someone you can beat up. It's Destiny."

"I don't care if it's f*cking destiny or not, you're not staying like this. Who is it?"

"No, I... It was really Destiny, the goddess Destiny. She talked to me and she cursed me. I am to be your eternal pet until I die apparently."

Geralt let the words sink in. Somehow, Jaskier had managed to anger a goddess. How much trouble could the bard get in when he was not there to supervise him? He remembered Jaskier's words to the guard about having to follow the witcher to be able to speak. That much had not been part of the act, apparently.

"Do you not want to?"

"I'd love to, my dear witcher, but I understand that you must need quiet and reflection in your work. I can't even defend myself. I'm really glad that you want me around, but this is a choice that you should do because of my curse."

"It should!" Geralt answered immediately. "Your voice is important, Jaskier. It's your work and your passion."

The bard paused. He was suddenly realising that maybe Geralt was really concerned about him. It was not a choc per se, because Jaskier knew in his heart that, despite everything, Geralt was a good friend. But the understanding that yes, they were friends, and yes, Geralt was caring, had him smile broadly. He was not feeling forced anymore.

"Anyway, you said that you wanted me around, right? So it's not like this is important. You'd have to me bear with me for quite a long time I'm afraid."

"Of course."

"So where are we heading next?"

"Hmmm. North."

And, as easy as that, they fell back into old habits.

They were so comfortable that they never noticed how Jaskier kept talking and singing without Geralt there, in a small town ahead that needed a witcher's help.

And none of them saw the feminine figure that was watching them from afar, hid by the moonlight, mysterious as always. She was smiling at a job well done. Destiny was looking after them.