In the early afternoon Geralt and Ciri stepped out into the courtyard to gather some more firewood for the night.

"I think we should leave tomorrow. At dawn," she said now they were out of earshot of Zoltan and Eskel.

"What makes you so sure?" He bent to pick up another dry branch. "You counted the route and the time it would take?"

"I mean, I would like to leave tomorrow. I am getting restless here." Especially with Avallac'h hovering. "And we only have one chance to get Imlerith. I don't want to miss it if we get delayed on the way."

"What will you do with Avallac'h? You keep saying he always knows things about you. Is he reading your mind?"

"When he suspects something, yes, it would seem he does. I don't think he knows. If he did, we'd be able to tell by my being unconscious already," she added under her breath. "I will leave him a note."

"He will love that," Geralt murmured.

"Yes, well, honestly, right now he has it coming. I don't like how he has been treating me lately. We used to be… well, not equals. Not in his eyes. But closer to it than we are now. Now he is like an angry father trying to guard his daughter's virtue."

Geralt stopped walking and looked at her with a serious, scanning gaze. "What did he say to you?"

Ciri hesitated, not wanting to make this worse than it already was. "He… was fearful I had been with Kain. You know, been with him. I told him that was none of his business."

"Why does he think it is his business? And…" the Witcher hesitated, a shadow of brief shame passed through his features, "have you?"

"Geralt!" she threw her hands in the air.

"What? It's me who's supposed to be the protective guardian. Not that I'm particularly good at it – or have ever been – either."

She shot him a glare. "Can we just focus on Avallac'h, please? It's this strange Aen Elle belief that they own me."

"What can you do about it other than beat it out of them? Avallac'h is not keen on listening to what anyone human or partially human has to say on any matter at all."

He picked another branch, then balanced a thick dried log on top of his pile.

"I know. Thus, I will leave a note and think myself generous for doing so."

"And you still believe you need him," Geralt added in a musing tone, strolling further into the forest along the keep's walls.

"I do," she murmured solemnly. Or rather, the world needed him. How was she supposed to stop The White Frost without all his knowledge? "So, what do you say? Tomorrow morning?"

Geralt nodded. "What about Kain? You talked to him? No more 'staying away' mood?"

"Yes, we talked," she admitted, coming to a brief pause when he reminded her of her initial plan. She had forgotten all about keeping her distance. As though the moment she had seen Kain that thought had been washed clean of her mind. "He is ready to go when we do, I think."

Geralt regarded her pensively. "He's not pushing you away, I take it. Was it something you said?"

She contemplated that a moment. "I don't think so. We haven't really talked about it since that day. We haven't talked much at all really. Been preoccupied with other things," she said, picking up a twig and adding it to his armful.

He squinted suspiciously. "Preoccupied with what?"

She looked at him, uncertain why he was peering at her in that manner. "Training," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Training," he repeated, eyeballing her pensively. "And what new has he taught you thus far that Avallac'h couldn't?"

"He is teaching me how to connect with my power. How to not be afraid of it. That it is a natural part of me. And he does not belittle me while he does it," she said, smiling a little dreamily. "He… encourages."

"Strange how he knows better than a Sage what to teach you."

"Perhaps we just connect better than Avallac'h and I do?"

Geralt arched an eyebrow ironically, "Connect?"

"Get along better?" She frowned. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

Geralt shrugged with a small apologetic smile. "I miss the times when you had no secrets or reservations concerning what you could or couldn't tell me."

"I am telling you things," Ciri insisted. "There are just some things I need to work out in my head before I can share it with anyone else."

"We could make sense of whatever you don't understand together," he reasoned. "It's just..." He sighed. "It hurts to think that level of trust is impossible to restore."

"Geralt…" she exclaimed, brow furrowed in concern. "Do you think I don't trust you?"

"Not the same way it used to be when you were a child, and I'm guilty of missing it." He smiled meekly. "I know you're all grown up now and things changed. Too many things. But I haven't seen it. A huge part of me is still there where you were twelve. I didn't get to see how it changed. And it's confusing. More than both you and I like at times."

She smiled a little, eyeing her feet. "There are… things that are not so natural to talk about now I am no longer a child. Woman things," she said with a flush of color to her pale cheeks. "I suppose that is the biggest change. Also, I was alone for so long with no one to confide in other than Kelpie. And then even she disappeared. And so, I haven't been able to tell anyone anything at all. It is hard to change that so suddenly. But don't for a second think that I don't still need you Geralt. Because I do."

"I understand your reservations, Ciri. But you need to know that you can tell me anything at all and always count on my understanding and help. I need you to know that. Always."

"I do," she said, picking up a few more twigs and adding them to the now overwhelming pile in his arms. "Just be patient with me. I am working on it."

"Avallac'h is not about to be patient, though," he remarked, turning to the route back. "You don't explain anything to him, and so he thinks we're all conspiring to keep him shunned and in the dark. If you had a tighter bond with him before your return and now it suddenly changed - he's confused and getting angry, impatient. You'll need to do something about it. Offer him something to calm his suspicions. Before he starts using his magic to spy on your thoughts."

Ciri frowned, pausing in her stride. "What do I have to offer him?"

"Anything you can tell him to put him at ease?"

Ciri considered that a moment. "I don't know. I have no promises to soothe him. Nor do I wish to discuss the matter of me 'mating with a suitable subject'."

Geralt couldn't hold a disdainful grimace. "Is that what he kept telling you? All those years you have been together?"

"No. That one is new," she admitted. "I think he worries I am going to run off with Kain and start a family somewhere."

Geralt scowled. "And he's not good enough for the Elder Blood. A royal lady would never be with a druid rogue."

"They would want a bloodline similar to my own. Someone who has been bred to make the most of the Elder Blood." Ciri paused. "But it doesn't matter what they want. I am never going to give it to them."

Geralt nodded. "They don't own you. You and only you rule your life and make choices. No Aen Elle will ever take that away. I won't let them."

Ciri smiled up at him. "Nor will I. I have decided never to have children at all, actually."

Geralt had to smile, shook his head. "Oh, Ciri... Decisions like that - they tend to come back to be reversed right when you make that statement. I had made a decision to never request the law of surprise. And life made me do it twice. I guess, just to spite me."

Her expression was severe. "I would never willingly bring a child into this world knowing what awaits it."

"Things can change, Ciri. The world does change sometimes. Or the circumstances change."

She wrapped an arm around his waist, amused by the huge pile of wood he was forced to carry while she practically had none. "We will see. I have come to the realization this magic thing might mean I can become very old. So I suppose I have time."

"I prefer to think you have all the time in the world. So try to not make any statements. Just live and see what comes next."

"You sound like Kain," she smiled. "He says I need to start living in 'the now'."

Geralt thought about it, directing his steps toward the keep. "That's something I can agree with. I think."

"I think there are lots of things the two of you would agree on. Perhaps you will get some time to get to know each other better during our upcoming journey." This was said in a subtly innocent tone. No ulterior motives whatsoever.

Geralt hemmed, not really sure he liked the idea.

"So what do you think I should do about Avallac'h?"

"I don't know, Ciri. I don't know him as you do. No one knows better what to do about him than you. He's never let anyone as close as you."

"I haven't really seen this version of him before. He has always been severe and strict but never… cruel. He says cruel things now and tries to intimidate me. And I don't really want to forgive him for that unless he tries to change."

"He pretended to care while all he cares about is your blood. And now he feels his power over you is failing. Out of fear, he says things you aren't ready to hear."

Ciri swallowed and averted her gaze, not liking that if it was the truth. It would make her an idiot. A naive idiot. And it would mean whatever comfort she had felt from Avallac'h's presence was a lie. "Perhaps. Perhaps he has fooled me all along."

"Even if it is so," Geralt said, seeing the shadow on her face, "I'm grateful for his care for you. For keeping you alive."

Ciri forced a smile. "Yes. There is much to be grateful for." She was silent a moment before gesturing for the doors. "Let us get this inside before Zoltan freezes to death."

Zoltan was nowhere near freezing; he and Eskel were busy taking care of Vesemir's stash. The bottle they were working on when the two came back had been waiting for its hour for a few dozen years. They both were laughing.

"I will go tell Kain later," Ciri whispered for Geralt's ears only as they deposited of the kindling. "We will need to leave a message for Zoltan and Eskel as well."

"Do as you planned."

He carried the wood past the drinking duo and deposited it next to the fireplace.

"Hares for dinner," Eskel informed. "The traps weren't empty."

"Don't forget my two!" Ciri demanded, hands on her hips. "I caught them all by myself! I have come a long way since my rat hunting days."

They burst into roars of laughter, refilling their mugs with unsteady hands.

"We will have to catch up, it seems," Geralt told Ciri, tipping her a wink as he sat at the table and Zoltan pushed a mug his way.

"Let's," Ciri said, grinning, blinking over to my seat to claim Eskel's mug, drinking deeply.

Ciri and Geralt caught up with them somewhat under an hour and a couple bottles later. Then Zoltan picked himself off the chair and went to start on the dinner, still telling stories and laughing as he did. Eskel held out a hand as if to put both Ciri and the Witcher at ease, and got up to help Zoltan with the hares. They stayed at the table and refilled our mugs.

The dinner was ready in another forty minutes.

"Ye gonna check on the elf, lassie?" Zoltan asked, setting up the plates around the table.

"Fine," Ciri said, reluctantly getting to her feet. "If I am not back in half an hour, he will have married me off to some elf brat," she murmured, heading for the stairs to Avallac'h's room.

Neither the dwarf, nor Eskel heard the second part, but Geralt did. It put a frown on his face as he took another gulp of wine.

Ciri did not bother knocking on Avallac'h's door. He never awarded her any privacy.

The elf was seated on his meagre cot, sketching something on a collection of parchment. Several loose sheets lay sprawled on the stone floor around him. It did not take her any time at all to recognize the face there.

Kain.

She frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Pondering," Avallac'h said without looking up from his work.

"Pondering what?"

He didn't answer.

She leaned down and picked up a few of the drawings, examining them. They were good.

"Got a new obsession?"

"Jealous?"

She dropped the papers. "Leave him alone, Avallac'h. I mean it."

"Giving me orders now, Zireael?" he sneered, finally looking up to meet her gaze. "You know that will not work."

Ciri stepped close, meeting his gaze with a cold fury. "Stay. Away."

"I will if you will, me luned. Shall we make a deal?"

She shook her head. "Why are you so worried about him?"

"He is a man. I know what he wants from you. What all men want from you."

"Yes, you would know," she hissed under her breath. "And that's the only reason anyone would want anything to do with me, yes? This cursed blood?"

Avallac'h lowered his gaze to his sketch again, continuing. "And what is between your legs."

Her hand struck out before she could control herself, palm smacking his pale cheek so hard his head turned. She was flushed with heat, furious. "The more I get to know you, Avallac'h, the easier it is for me to understand why Lara left you."

He was on his feet before she could blink, his fingers wrapping around her throat before he pushed her back against the nearest wall. The back of her head smacked against the rock and she groaned.

Avallac'h's pale eyes blazed with indignant anger as he squeezed her, making her gasp for breath.

She had crossed the line this time. But damn it, so had he.

Ciri disappeared in a flash of green.

She wasn't back soon enough.

She wasn't back when they all had almost finished their meals.

"What's keeping er?" Zoltan asked eventually while refilling her mug.

Geralt merely shrugged his shoulders. Eskel glanced between them and spread his arms momentarily.

"Want me to get her?"

"No, I'll go," Geralt said, getting up.

She wasn't in the tower, but Avallac'h was – and one of his cheeks had a flushed look.

"What happened here?" Geralt asked, scowling. "She went to call you for dinner."

"She got out of hand completely," he said, and for the first time since his stay, his voice barely contained anger. He paced. "All because of that boy. She's rash, reckless, and set on defending something she doesn't even understand or have or can have. If it's you who's encouraging—"

"Encouraging what?" Geralt demanded, his hands balling into fists in an unwitting effort to contain his own rising anger. "Where is she?"

"Where would you think?!" Avallac'h nearly screamed, his eyes blazing at the Witcher. "She used her magic! She uses it all the time now – to run to him!"

"What did you do to her?"

"I?! I did nothing, and she slapped me! For telling her once again to be careful and not spend so much time around the boy she doesn't truly know."

"Is that all you said?"

He scowled as if chewing on lemon. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Geralt realized that if he opened his mouth again and went for that talk, he wouldn't be able to keep it peaceful. His eyes swept over the drawings scattered around the bed, catching the face on them. The same face on each paper.

It wasn't who Geralt would expect to see.

The Witcher turned and left him alone.

"She ain't comin?" Zoltan asked, watching Geralt intently.

"She's not around. Maybe decided to have her dinner elsewhere."

Zoltan laughed. "Youth… whatta ye do…"

Kain. Bring me to Kain.

Ciri re-materialized somewhere near the lake, throat hurting and her breath slightly labored as though she had been running.

For a few moments she looked around wildly, almost as though she had been escaping the Hunt itself. And then, she calmed, forcing herself to take a few deep breaths while her gaze sought him out. He was not far away, resting against the griffin. She blinked back tears, put a smile on her face, and approached him.

With his eyes nearly closed, Kain watched the lake surface and the sky reflecting on it, trying to think of nothing and just be still. He had spent too much time trying to figure out the elf and that strange intense face he made studying Kain. As if he truly thought he would remember the halfblood. It was impossible. Kain was certain of it.

Something like an instinct made him turn before he even heard Ciri's footfalls. She wore a smile, but her colors were muddy and at a disarray. The only reason he could imagine was her Aen Elle mentor.

"What's wrong?"

How did he know? How did everyone always know? Was she so transparent?

"What…" She hesitated. "Um, I just came to say that we leave tomorrow. At dawn. Will you be ready?"

He thought about it a moment, regarding her. "All right. I'll have to be ready."

"Good." She nodded. "That's good. Will you… Will you meet us down where the road forks? A little ways from the keep?"

"I can find you," he confirmed. "Or the other way around – you're very good at it."

Her smile was genuine this time. "Yes. At least there is that."

He studied her closely. "At least?"

Ciri shook her head. "Never mind. I am in a funny mood. Tensions running high and all that."

"Tensions," he said, arching an eyebrow ironically.

She didn't know how to explain that. How to explain what had happened or why. It was too complicated at that moment.

She gave a small smile again. "I will see you tomorrow at dawn. I'll try to bring some of Zoltan's bread for our breakfast."

"There are forests and fields on the way – we can get food when we need it." She didn't want to explain her uneasy emotions, and he didn't want to push it. He didn't know what he could say to make it seem any better. It wasn't his place.

"Plenty of chances for that," she said, tilting her head and tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear. "I thought you said you liked Zoltan's cooking?"

"I do. I merely mean it's all right for you to not take a bag of food with you. Unless it's what you and Geralt prefer to do." Kain gave a small awkward shrug.

"I haven't travelled with him for so long, I actually don't know what he prefers. As for me and Av—" She paused, a sour taste in her mouth. "As for me, I have rarely had extra to bring on my journeys."

"You have Kelpie now to consult on what to bring."

Was it really all she came here to tell him? She surely didn't look like it when she appeared.

Ciri smiled a little. "She prefers grass to grain so I doubt I will have to bring too many rations for her." She sobered a little, looking him over. "Are you alright? You wouldn't have happened to have seen anyone from the keep lately, would you? Today?"

And that was something he didn't want to reveal. There wasn't even much to reveal. Probably nothing she didn't already know.

He squinted inquisitively, "Why, someone was going to visit?"

She shook her head. "No. Not that I know of." Ciri absentmindedly rubbed a hand across her throat. "Probably letting my mind run off with me again. Avallac'h is very angry with me for coming to see you. Remember when he 'captured' you on Skellige? That whole display was for my benefit. All about power. To make me heed his commands. I worry by coming here to you as I do… I worry he will try to make life difficult for you. You will be on your guard, won't you?"

"You shouldn't worry about me, princess," Kain said with a small, short smile. "I can take care of myself. And your elf friend could've done something already if he intended to. I don't think he wants to lose your trust by doing so."

The elf was losing her trust more and more every day, but Ciri decided not to bring that up.

She nodded. "Alright. As long as you are safe."

"You do worry too much," he remarked with a small sneer.

She couldn't bring herself to smile even if she knew what he said was true. But she did not worry without reason. There was always a reason.

She lowered to her haunches and reached for him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her forehead on his shoulder, purely selfish as she subtly inhaled his scent to calm her aching heart. She was trembling ever so slightly and it was not from the cold. "I'm so tired."

She was shivering as if from chill, but the muddy aura said otherwise.

He gently enclosed his arms around her.

"What happened to you?"

Ciri closed her eyes once his arms wrapped around her, almost relaxing then.

"Avallac'h," she whispered. "I can't tell if he is my friend or enemy anymore. The things he says…" She hesitated. "And I don't like the person I am when I am with him. This angry, furious girl. Violent."

"What did he say?"

"He wanted to know whether you and I had..." Her voice fell away for a moment. She was certain his mind could fill in the blanks. "I should have just told him no. The truth. But I hated the entitlement in his voice. As though he had a right to know, as if he has a say in what I choose to do with my body.

"When I told him it was none of his business, he made it clear he would not let centuries of breeding and experimentation go to waste by me mating with someone who was unsuitable in Avallac'h's eyes.

"And later I found him surrounded by sketches. Sketches of your face. When I asked him about it, we started to argue again. He told me no man can be trusted with me, because the only reason anyone would want anything to do with me is my blood and 'what is between my legs'." She swallowed. "I hit him."

Some vaguely familiar strings were being pulled in his head, as if Kain was about to remember something. It was right there - just reach out and grab it.

But he couldn't quite grasp anything solid, only the teasing hints.

"What did he do then?" he asked quietly.

"He grabbed me by the throat and pushed me back against the wall," she said. "And I… I just blinked away. Here. Instinct."

"His reactions to what you're doing are not those of a friend," Kain reasoned in a quiet voice. "None of my mentors, not even at the Cat School behaved like that."

He pondered a moment, then decided to be honest in return.

"He's been here earlier. You're right. He said you're not to be touched, that you're special. I don't blame him for protecting you, even though his reasons might not be all in solely your interest."

Ciri tensed, hating that Avallac'h had been here, that he had talked to Kain about something so personal that had nothing to do with the elf at all.

"And then…" Kain frowned. "He somehow thought he saw me before. He stared as if trying to remember. But I'm sure I haven't seen him before Skellige."

Ciri sat back to watch Kain, brow creased in concern. "Perhaps he has seen you in one of his visions? Sages get those every now and then. Of the future. It is how he knew I would eventually come to the world of Aen Elle. We had never met and he was waiting for me. Had waited for weeks at the other end of the portal.

"Maybe he has seen you in his visions but does not remember?"

"I don't know what he can remember and what visions he could have had. His stare was so intense. I think that feeling threw him off and he left hastily."

"Did he threaten you?"

"No. He just left in silence."

That was a small relief, at least. "I think it is good we leave tomorrow. I need some time away from him."

"You're not telling Geralt about all this? Worried he might do something to Avallac'h?"

"I will tell him. But yes, I am worried about what he will do. He is very protective."

"He wouldn't leave it without repercussions."

Her brow furrowed. "You think I should not tell him?"

"You have to decide that on your own. I have no say in any of it."

"I am asking your advice, Kain. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?"

"I have been in your shoes, doing what I was told, learning magic, learning to be a witcher, and then hiding away where no humans could find out about my powers. And then I found that the only way to be safe is to be on my own, without anyone else's ideas of how to stay safe. Because ultimately every idea that wasn't mine was a form of manipulation. And that meant my life didn't fully belong to me."

She smiled a little. "Because even the people who love you have their own motives? Whether good or bad?" she asked quietly, then nodded. "I understand."

"Because until you start making your own decisions and be responsible for them, you won't learn to trust yourself. You will always depend on those who are trying to protect you."

"I trust my instincts," she said. "I would not be here right now if not for them."

They kept leading her to him but she was not sure she should say that aloud. It might scare him away.

"My instincts led me to Kelpie for the first time as well. There was a man and something told me to follow him. So I did. And he was Kelpie's owner at the time."

Kain peered at her pensively. "What happened to him?"

"Um, he took an arrow in the back and… died."

"And you were around to claim the horse."

"To claim his bracelet," she admitted shiftily. "He did not care about her. He saw horses as disposable creatures. I think he felt the same about women."

He nodded in acknowledgement. Magical bonds always had their ways.

"I wasn't the one who shot him. I feel that's an important point to make," she said. Yes, she was a murderer. But she didn't kill to steal and she did not want Kain thinking she did, either.

Kain smiled a little. "I figured."

She swept her hair out of her face and prepared to stand. "I should get back. Geralt will be worried."

Kain nodded, agreeing.

"Thank you for listening. Not that you had much of a choice." Poor thing couldn't exactly run away.

Ciri got to her feet and brushed some fallen leaves off her knees. "See you both tomorrow then. Be safe."

"Get some rest. You need it."

"I will," she promised and blinked away.

She appeared moments later outside the keep and slowly, reluctantly, made her way into the main hall, praying Avallac'h was not there.

Eskel left Zoltan and Geralt after their forth bottle ran dry, and they had to entertain themselves with stories and Zoltan's tea.

They turned and gaped as Ciri walked in.

"Lassie!" Zoltan exclaimed, jumping off the chair. "We thought you fled for good. Hungry? I'll get yer rabbits."

"Are you all right?" Geralt asked, scrutinizing her.

"Thank you, Zoltan," she said, managing a smile seeing as the room was void of elves. She sat down next to Geralt and nodded, her voice for his ears only. "Yes. But I am glad we are leaving come dawn."

"He said you slapped him for pointing out how you shouldn't trust someone you don't know so easily."

"There ye go, lassie." Zoltan put her plate and mug on the table. "I'll be right back - gotta have a moment with the nature."

He went for the door.

Her temper immediately flared but she contained herself until Zoltan disappeared outside.

"I slapped him for saying no one will ever want anything to do with me, unless it is for my blood or what's between my legs!" she hissed. "I am done letting people try and convince me that is my only worth."

Geralt's expression turned deadpan as cold fury began to fill his gut. "He said that to you? Out of the blue?"

"After I asked him why he was so worried about Kain, yes." Ciri stabbed at the meat on her plate with her fork, though, in truth, she had lost some of her appetite.

Geralt grinded his teeth, seething. "I'm gonna beat the ancient shit out of that elvish skunk."

Ciri put a hand on Geralt's arm to soothe him. "Just leave it. I will have to handle this myself. Our journey will give me the time to think things over and find out how to approach it all when we reunite with the others."

Geralt considered her, slightly surprised. "If you want to swallow this, I'm not feeling as generous. No one speaks like that about my ward while I live and breathe under the same roof."

"I didn't… swallow," she said with a frown. "He obviously told you of my reaction."

"Now that I know what he told you, I'm not about to swallow it, either."

"And what do you intend to do?" she asked solemnly. "He is not exactly defenseless, Geralt. And beating him into a pulp won't do any of us any good."

"You need to eat," he said, getting up, and strolled to the door and past Zoltan who was walking in.

Ciri sighed, following him with her gaze. She had just made everything ten times worse.

Zoltan caught her poking at her meal and frowned. "Somethin' wrong with yer food, lass?"

She looked up to meet his concerned gaze and shook her head, giving him another small smile. "Of course not. But there's a lot going on up here–" she tapped the side of her head with one finger, "–today. I am simply a little distracted."

"A good hearty meal will help with that," Zoltan insisted as he found his place at the table again.

Dutifully, she ate.

Avallac'h was where had been earlier - on his bed sketching.

He raised his head with a coldly inquisitive arch of an eyebrow just in time as Geralt came up and socked him one in the jaw.

The elf fell back on the bed, his drawings fluttered around like giant dazed butterflies. Faces, eyes, chins and mouths, silhouettes covered the parchments.

"I bet you know what this is for," Geralt said when he jumped on his feet gaping at the Witcher with heating anger. "If you ever tell my daughter something like that filth again, I'll come with a sword."

"Sometimes you have to tell her harsh things to spare some bigger trouble than her hurt feelings, Gwynblaidd." It was hard for him to control himself, his hands balling into fists, but he tried. "You weren't there with us. You don't know, and your ignorance is your only excuse. I shall not seek another next time."

Geralt set his jaw and left before his knuckles decided to break one of his sharply chiseled cheekbones.

Ciri ate in silence and Zoltan, seeming to understand she needed it, said nothing either. He simply sat with her until she had finished, then claimed her empty dishes to go wash up.

She left the table and headed outside, needing to check on Kelpie for the night before checking on Geralt.

She was grassing with Roach near the stables, serene and perfect as always. Ciri gave her some cuddles and she nipped at her clothing. Ciri chose to interpret that as affection.

Once Ciri made sure the horses had enough food, water, and warmth for the night, she made her way back, searching for her father and praying she would find he had calmed down.

When Ciri failed to find him, she assumed it meant he did not want to be found. Otherwise he would not hide from her.

She slowly made her way to Vesemir's room, empty of life as it now was. Cold. As a witcher, Vesemir's decorating had been sparse. But she did know he would have quill and paper in one of his chests, which she helped herself to. She did not think he would have minded.

There she wrote the goodbye notes for Zoltan, Eskel, and Avallac'h, explaining where they had gone and that they would catch up with them in Novigrad when they had completed their mission.

When she finished, she tucked the letters into her coat, put everything back where she had found it, and headed outside.

Geralt strolled across the bridge outside the gates, trying to focus on the wind and its chilly touch on his heated face. He hoped for it to cool down his anger, but for now it was doing a poor job.

After a short walk, he returned to the keep and found Zoltan smoking his pipe on the stairs just outside the door.

"Ye all right?" he asked, considering Geralt. The Witcher nodded, so did he. "Good."

Geralt was about to go in when the door opened to let Ciri out.

"There you are," she said, almost bumping into him on her way out. She held the door open for him to allow him inside. "Did you go for a walk?"

"I did."

He walked in past her and went in the direction of the kitchen.

She eyed him as he walked past, unable to read his expression. She followed. "Are you angry with me?"

He turned a look of disbelief to her. "Why would I be angry with you?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "Sometimes you are hard to read. Your brooding-face can easily be confused with anger." She paused. "Are you alright?"

"I am."

He picked the pitcher with Zoltan's tea and a mug, poured himself some, and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Are you?"

"Yes. I've had worse." Ciri threw a quick glance around to make sure they were entirely alone. "I spoke to Kain. He will meet us at dawn."

"Fine." Geralt sat at the table and drank the tea.

"Alright." She still could not shake the feeling something was wrong, but she did not know how to pry further. "I suppose I will go upstairs and get some rest."

He nodded, "Sure. Have a good night."

She squinted at him, lingering one moment longer before turning and heading upstairs to her room.

Once there she removed her coat and weapons, lit the candle on her bedside table and reached for the flask containing Mousesack's sleeping draught. She had a sip and lay down. She wasn't so sure she would be able to sleep, but she would try.

Geralt heard her hesitate, then go, her footfalls further and further.

He rubbed his face tiredly, finished his tea, then went to his own room.