Ciri took her time with her meal this time, feeling like that was something she had not been able to do for a while. It would have been nice if not for the incessant thoughts that kept racing through her mind without pause. Most of them about Kain.
He'd seemed so miserable she wondered if it had been a mistake to ask him to come. He did not want to be here. And apparently, spending time in her company was a chore. Or so he had made it sound. Was it because of what Ciri had done? The man with the crossbow? Was he disgusted by her now he knew how truly vengeful and cruel she could be?
She knocked on his door once she had finished eating, intending to offer to bring him a meal as well. But Kain was not in his room.
Puzzled, she carried her empty tray downstairs to clear it away.
"Oh, Ciri, you shouldn't have," Dandelion took the tray from her and put it on the counter. "We have a maid. You go back and rest."
She gave him an affectionate smile. "You know I am not an invalid, yes? Nor am I an old lady. I do not need as much rest as everyone seems to think."
"We just want to take care of our favorite girl!" Dandelion exclaimed. "You will have to let us. No other way. We haven't seen you for so long and now wanna shower you with all the care we have collected and failed to spend."
"I appreciate it," she said earnestly because in truth, she did. It was just a lot to get used to after being on her own for so long. "Have you seen Kain? Do you know if someone has offered him anything to eat?"
"Of course, Zoltan and I did. Don't worry, we take care of your friend. He's fine."
"He is not here, though," she remarked. "Did he go out to the forest?"
Dandelion shook his head, setting the tray off the counter before wiping it. "No, not the forest. He went for a stroll. He seemed like he needed some time to... um... shed some tension."
"Alright." Sounded more cryptic than Dandelion usually was, but Ciri decided not to question it.
"I have a few errands of my own. I will be back later," she said with a small smile and headed for the door.
"But, Ciri," Dandelion turned to her with both concern and pleading. "You need to get more rest! You still look tired, and if you want to go out later, you have to be rested. Or Geralt will kill me, and Yennefer will turn me into a toad, and you know I can't create art if I'm a toad!"
Ciri paused and looked at Dandelion with affectionate exasperation. "You exaggerate. And I am not a little girl anymore, Dandelion."
"Tell that to Geralt and Yennefer - I don't think they caught up on it yet."
"I have tried. Don't worry so much, Dandelion. You will get wrinkles."
"Ah, Ciri," Dandelion rolled his eyes like a martyr. "Gods forbid. I work with my face as much as my voice."
"You will be alright." she smiled. "I will see you later. Let Geralt know I am out if he returns before I do."
"I doubt he will," Dandelion murmured, watching her go.
She headed for the stable and Kelpie, digging into the saddlebags someone had carefully put aside with the rest of her mare's gear. Within them, she found the coin purses she had been seeking.
During her last visit to Novigrad, separated from Avallac'h and still searching for Geralt and Yennefer, she had received some unexpected help from various people throughout the city. Back then she had been unable to fully thank them, but now she had time. And the means to repay them with more than words.
Bea, a friend of Dandelion's and a waitress at The Golden Sturgeon, had once concealed Ciri when the ashen-haired princess had witch hunters close on her tail. By doing so the girl had put herself at great risk. Those who corroborated with wanted individuals tended to meet their end in public at the town square. Ciri knew for her, coin was rare and hard to come by. What Ciri had managed to scrape together would make a world of difference for a woman like Bea. At least for a while.
Ciri pulled my hood up before she left Dandelion's Inn and maneuvered through the darker and less crowded side-streets of Novigrad to reach her destination. People who needed to go unnoticed had less of a risk of being discovered there. On the other hand, the alleys were crawling with criminal activity and you had to be on your guard.
There were only a few other people wandering the street she slipped onto, most of them drunks who swayed on their feet and emptied their bellies on the cobblestones. Up ahead there was a woman with a shawl draped over her head and hair. Her wailing had reached Ciri from two streets over. She was darting from foot to foot trying to get someone, anyone's, attention. When Ciri approached, the woman was on her immediately.
"Please! Please, I need help!" Her claw-like fingers dug into Ciri's upper arms and Ciri had to gently, but firmly pry her off.
"Calm yourself. What is the matter?"
Her dark eyes were wide with tears and fear. "My son! He was climbin' one of the cabinets and the blasted thing came free from the wall. Fell on top of him. I can't lift it on my own. Please help me!" She wailed once more, a bout of fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "He says he can't feel his legs."
Ciri looked around for a moment, surveying the others nearby. No one seemed to give a damn. Most were too drunk to walk anyway.
"Where is your house?" she asked and the woman took her by the arm again and began dragging her down the street.
"Down there!" she said and pointed once they were close. "At the end of the street. The door that's open."
Ciri hurried forward and stepped inside, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the poor lighting. The house was indeed a mess but she couldn't see signs of an injured boy anywhere.
The door slammed shut behind her and she heard the sound of a deadbolt sliding into place from the outside. From the semi-darkness ahead, new voices rose.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here, lads?"
"Looks like we'll get both gold and cunt tonight."
Three men appeared from the adjoining room, sneering nastily as they approached. One of them carried a knife. Ciri was not sure about the others.
Angry with herself for being lured into such a ridiculous trap, she tensed and fixed them all with a dark look. "Don't do this. Walk away."
They laughed uproariously.
"Hear that, boys? The little whore is tellin' us what to do!"
They laughed again.
"Nah, sweetheart. We're hungry. And we ain't leavin' here until we've had our fill."
She exhaled sharply. "So be it."
The first attack came from the man on her left, the one with the knife. She did not pull her sword. She should have if only to scare them off, but her conscience kept screaming. No more killing.
The man sliced out with his knife and she avoided it easily, again and again as he made clumsy attempts at catching her skin. Someone grabbed at her hood from behind and caught hair as well, trying to hold her still. She spun and punched him square in the throat, forcing him to his knees to gasp for breath.
She turned back just in time to feel the tip of the blade caress the exposed skin over her collarbones, creating a cut that instantly bled, and quite frankly, ignited her fury. She smacked the man's knife-holding hand away and jabbed at his nose with her fist repeatedly until he dropped his weapon and staggered back.
Ciri dove to the floor and picked up the knife before the third could get his paws on it. He watched her hesitantly as she pointed the blade at him.
"Leave. Now."
He ran for the bolted door and pounded on the barrier. "Oy, Teresa! Let us out!"
The deadbolt slid away and the door opened again. The man slipped outside, his gasping friend following him, clutching at his throat and fighting for breath. The third lay still on the floor, breathing, but clearly unconscious.
She tucked the knife away and stepped outside. The men and the woman she assumed was Teresa had vanished.
"Idiot," she muttered to herself as she pulled her hood back up, and groaned when she noticed how her clean, white shirt was drenched in crimson. The cut was not deep, but it had produced enough blood to make it look as though she was severely injured.
She could not go see Bea like this. As far as Novigrad went, The Golden Sturgeon was a respectable establishment. They would probably not even let her stay.
She sighed and turned back. She needed a change of clothes.
The sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly and warmly, making the village look like an oasis of heaven on sinful earth. Bees were buzzing and birds chirping as Kain strolled the path into the village, out of it among the fragrant fields, and back again. It felt good to just walk and let the thoughts and doubts be quiet.
When he felt ready, he asked about Melika. The dwarf grinned and pointed in the right direction.
"That house over yonder, see? Almost outside, the peace and quiet. Ye go and knock."
He stood at the door, going through doubts. Once again, he wasn't sure what he was doing or what he hoped for. It was one of those hunches he couldn't put to actual words. Nevertheless, he learned to trust it.
And as soon as he thought it, the pull from inside the hut became stronger, more palpable, and he didn't even knock as he went in.
And froze on the threshold while the door slowly closed behind him and some bells jingled gently in the background.
He knew it before she turned around and stared at him wide-eyed.
"Fealinn," he breathed.
Her shock lasted a mere instant, and then she rushed to him and squeezed her arms around his neck.
"Kainarel! You're alive! Gods, you're alive!"
She leaned back, holding his face in her hands, her eyes sparkling with genuine joy.
"I thought you died in that battle when I heard about Morénn. I didn't return to find out. I was a bit scared to know for sure how many of ours perished."
"I didn't think I'd see you again, either," he said, smiling. It was a bit like coming home where you had been remembered all this time. He barely ever felt anything like that.
"How come you're here?" She frowned in momentary dismay. "It's them? You're doing it again?"
"No, no. No more. I left Brokilon after the battle. She died and I felt I had nothing left there. Nothing at all."
"It's true," she said, pulling him to her kitchen by the hand. She gestured for the table where she sat. "Not like you had much of your own there to begin with."
She put two mugs and a pitcher on the table, then poured them drinks.
"I don't—"
"I know," she smiled, still pouring. "Me neither. I prefer my mind clean. Now that I work with my true gift. But this is cider. Appletrees are everywhere around here. Gods-sent nectar. I make it myself. You trust me?"
Her smile was infectious, just as it had been back in the days when their paths crossed mostly on missions.
He tried the cider and hummed in approval. "That's very good."
She grinned and drank. "How did you find me?" she asked.
"Dandelion."
"Ah," she smiled, nodding. "I should ask how you know that one, but I'm just glad you do."
"I don't really know him. I only met him today. He said you were human."
"Oh, that... Yes." She pulled on the chain around her neck and produced a garnet pendant from under her shirt. "I direct them all to think so. Desperate times."
"You've always been a master of thought suggestions. They don't even notice your ears?"
"They never have," she sneered, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "I could wear a high hairdo, and no one knew. Humans are not keen on seeing things."
"Especially not under your hypnosis."
They drank, studying each other. It was all right to just be silent - as if they had lived alongside each other all these years.
"You knew it was me when you came here?" she asked eventually - with a casual air as though they never stopped chatting.
"I had a feeling, but didn't quite think that."
She sneered shrewdly. "You're always the instinct kind of guy."
"I'm glad I came."
"I'm happy you came. Perhaps we both need it." She drank, pensive. "Why did you come? How is it through Dandelion? He likes to be friendly with useful people, and I don't see you posing as such to anyone."
Kain sighed and let her refill his mug. "It's a long story. You got time?"
"All the time in the world for you. No clients today until after sunset."
He peered at her sharply, curious. "What do they come for?"
"You know," she said simply. "But not in traditional sense. I work through my hands and they get what they seek, be it relaxation, pleasure, dreams or fantasies, revelations or new ideas. Dandelion is big on the latter, but I suppose you figure as much."
"I do."
Ciri ducked back into the inn a little time later and made her way through the clientele so she could get to the stairs. Kain had still not returned; she could sense as much. But she tried not to let that worry her.
Upstairs, she opened the door to her room and surveyed her now slightly more limited option of shirts.
She changed and used the bloodied shirt to dab at her chest, making sure the bleeding had stopped entirely before she left her room again. She had managed to avoid Dandelion coming up, but he caught her once she made her way back downstairs again.
"That was quick!" he said, glancing over with a look of relief before he went back to examine a new shipment of alcohol.
"Yes, I… forgot something," she said. "Had to double back."
"And you've changed your clothes," he remarked, his youthful face splitting in an impish grin. "This color suits your eyes. Someone you are trying to impress?"
She snorted and tugged on the hem of her shirt, uncomfortable. "Don't be ridiculous."
"What? It is not so silly to imagine!"
She stared. "That I have a potential lover in the city? It is very silly to imagine."
"Please be back before dark," he called after me as she made for the door again.
"I make no promises!"
Kain told her how he got here - all the way from the battle and up to Skellige and Kaer Morhen. She listened eagerly, nodding unwittingly at times like people do to acknowledge the tale and its twists.
When he was finished, she was quiet, mulling things over while refilling their mugs.
"I know how you feel," she said, setting her sharp, knowing gaze on him. "I know why you feel it."
He smiled meekly. "Do you treat those who seek answers?"
She smiled, reaching over the table for his hand to cover and squeeze it. "I'm a conduit for whatever the universe sends you. Those who seek shall find." She paused, reflecting a moment as she took a sip of cider. Her gaze reached deeper as though she read some scrolls inside her mind he couldn't see.
"You always trusted your path; you trusted that life would put you where you had to be - for any reason necessary. But now you're feeling confused because you resist. It seems far from what you've known before, and you resist because you doubt. And when you resist, you can't go on. You can't be on the path when you fight it."
"I don't want to fight it. I merely want to know that it's the right step."
She smiled a bit sadly. "When it comes to the most important steps, we don't always know for sure. It's the part of the game. At the most crucial times, you have to walk over the dark bottomless abyss on mere trust that there will be a bridge to support us. How big are you on trust?"
"I've been doing fine before..."
"Yes, because now is that time. I will not tell you what is right or wrong to do because you have the answers. You just need to find the trust, the faith that you will recognize them."
"Faith gets harder."
She nodded, "I know. But it's easier when you're not alone." She smiled another knowing smile, holding his eyes with hers. "No one is meant to be alone here or in any worlds, Cath. Not even you. If you're being pulled to places where you're not alone, it's not necessarily wrong if it feels so because of how you fight it." Her eyes narrowed with a ghost of a smile as she drank, watching him.
She poured herself some more, letting him digest it for a bit. Sunshine was seeping through the windows between the curtains turning her hair into a halo.
"You haven't been with anyone since her, have you?"
Kain shook his head, eyeing the mug and the cider sloshing in it as he rocked it from side to side meditatively.
"Have you ever wished we got closer back then? When you helped me with that fat coin master?"
He raised her eyes to regard her, surprised with the question, but didn't need time to ponder. "Yes. Those times on Beltane altar, I wished it was you."
Her lips twitched in another sad or melancholic kind of smile as her eyes dipped to her mug. She nodded. "You didn't have to help me back then, you risked everything in your own mission by doing it. I'm grateful." She raised her gaze to meet his. "It sobered me up. I realized I didn't have to settle for too high a price."
"It's why you left," he nodded.
"Yes. This life here might not be utterly honest - not where humans are concerned. But I'm alive, free, and I'm me. It's worth a lot, I came to discover."
She finished her cider, put the mug on the table and got up.
"Let's see if we can hurry your answers to come to you."
She beckoned him to follow and walked into another room that looked like a pantry with bunches of herbs hanging on the strings from wall to wall under the ceiling.
She peeled the carpet away on the floor revealing a basement door.
"Will anyone hear me scream?" he jibed.
She shook her head, shooting him an impish sneer, and led the way down the stairs.
Ciri made it to The Golden Sturgeon without incident this time and stepped inside. It was still a bit too early for most people's suppers, so the tavern was not terribly full.
Therefore, the few who occupied the tables looked up when she entered. Most looked away almost at once again. They had no interest. That was good.
She moseyed up to the counter and leaned over to capture the barmaid's attention.
"Pardon, may I speak to Bea?"
The pretty blonde turned to look at her.
"Sorry, love. Bea ain't in yet. She's due to come this evenin'."
She sighed and pushed away from the counter.
"Can I get you a cup of mead, love?"
Ciri shook her head but smiled. "No, thank you. Not right now."
She would have to find something else to occupy her time.
It wasn't a basement one would expect to see in a hut. The walls were draped with silky curtains, adorned by tapestries and a few torches that flickered to life when she came around and snapped her fingers. The candles placed around the room flashed and twinkled like yellow fireflies. In the middle there was something between a table and a bed, draped with sheets and with a puffy pillow roll resting on it.
She waved a hand at it, smiling at Kain with a sort of humorous challenge. "Take off your clothes and lie down." She went past him to what happened to be a fireplace nicely hidden in the dark. She lit it, then turned to him from the crackling flames framing her head to check his progress on her command. She approached, helped him out of shirt and pants, then pulled something from a small dresser at the wall. She turned to him, smiling, brandishing a strap of black fabric.
He chuckled. "Really?"
She nodded. "Part of the quest. There's nothing to see here and a whole lot to see inside."
He let her blindfold him and got down on his stomach. He heard her open some vials, the fragrances gently snuck around the room. Cinnamon, oranges, mint, wild lily…
She approached him, rubbing the oils between her palms, then lay her warm hands on him.
Her touch was tender, and yet she knew exactly where to press and what to do. His muscles unrolled beneath her dexterous fingers like uncoiling ropes. He couldn't hold back the moans of pleasure and he felt she was smiling.
It was another world what she made here around them, and he once again felt at home. His mind relaxed like his body, and thoughts were passing by slowly, languidly like clouds on a windless summer day. She watched them, listened to them, and let them pass. She was like a lake beneath them with a clear and calm surface, reflecting their path.
After a while, she helped him turn onto his back and pushed a pillow beneath his head. Kain couldn't remember ever feeling that relaxed when he didn't feel like moving at all and just lying there was so comfortable as if there was a cloud supporting his weight.
Her hands traveled down his torso, warming up and working every muscle with the same mastery. And when every cell of his body was vibrating with electrifying energy while being filled with peaceful relaxation at the same time, she revisited her oils and went for the final part of the session. She made him moan and feel like there was liquid lightnings flowing and zinging through his nerves, flashing like stars in his darkened vision and flaring like fireballs.
He forgot why he came here and where he was. The world he knew stepped away into shadows.
It felt like an eternity – there was no way to tell time in the dark of the endless tunnels and rooms and hallways – but eventually, Geralt came to a room occupied by a huge water hag. She was furious with his invasion and threw him around a great deal before he got his blade through her head up under her chin.
There was a rotten wooden panel on the wall, and the next room seemed like there had to be a passage. The wooden panel held no lever. He searched the whole room, every nook and cranny, feeling around the floor under the murky water tinted with the water hug's blood, but the lever was nowhere.
He found it in another room on another panel that didn't seem to open anything he could see. He detached the lever and managed to attach it to the needed panel. And then carefully turned it down.
At first, nothing happened. And when disappointment began to spill through his mind, something clicked in the stony walls, deep inside, and a patch of the wall tried to slide away. Due to the ages it had been here, the bricks began to fall out, and the passage crumbled open.
A bunch of ghouls waited on the other side, all through the corridors covered in wet moss and mold. Another hour – or so Geralt felt it could be – it took him to find a passage into the sewers beneath the city and a little dead-end with a broken wall.
It led him directly into a room in the dungeon they were looking for. And a group of witch hunters eager to slice him into small pieces.
When he found his path to a foully smelling room with two big cells, he was covered in a great deal of blood and barely resembled himself.
"Geralt?" Magrarita asked in a husky whisper, squinting to see in the poor light of the torches. "Is that really you?" She was too weak to move and just sat there, shivering and rocking slightly. "I could swear you are a hallucination…"
"No, it's really me," he said, shooting a glance at another cell. There was another figure lying on the floor resembling a broken doll.
With red hair.
"Triss? Triss! You hear me?" Geralt shook the cell door, but it didn't budge. It only seemed feeble, but he couldn't open it.
"You need a key, Geralt," Margarita said. "The overseer should be upstairs. Hurry, please, I don't know how badly they hurt Triss. She's been lying like that for hours… or days… I do not know, anymore…"
With his heart squeezing in fear, he hurried for the stairs and the way outside into the inner courtyard.
Ciri wandered the streets for a while, aimless in her direction, simply taking in the life and busy streets of Novigrad. There was still some activity going on despite the terror that had spread through the town lately. Mostly whores. But also a few jugglers and musicians plying their trade.
None of them held her attention for long. It dawned on Ciri she had forgotten how to be idle, how to spend free time and not have it be a fight for survival. Would she ever be able to do something as simple as have fun again? True, carefree fun like she had felt when she was a child? She feared not.
In the end, she stopped by a bookshop and perused the various titles. A lot of them she had read before while under Yennefer's care. The ones about magic, anyhow. The romance ones… Triss had given her in abundance. Ciri didn't think they had done much good. She still did not know how to romance a man. Or anyone for that matter. And the romance she had experienced, well… that was not really romance, was it? All rough hands and lewd words. Nothing like Triss's books at all.
A faint pull coaxed Kain from the peaceful dark, and as he slowly woke up, he realized he fell asleep.
Fealinn was in the chair by the fireplace; she approached him when he stirred.
"I don't know how I passed out," he confessed, sitting up.
"It's all right, you needed it exactly this way," she said. "Your body demanded what it needed. How do you feel?"
He swung his legs down and stood; she picked his clothes from the dresser's top and put it next to him, watching him dress.
"I feel much better," he said. "Renewed. But you know it, I guess."
She smiled, folding her arms. "You look it."
"How long was I out?"
"Does it matter?"
"It might."
She shrugged. "About two or three hours. The sun is setting in one."
He was buckling the swords' harness when he caught her curious gaze. He smiled, "What?"
"That witcher look is really good for you. It belongs. Fits."
"It does feel… familiar," he agreed.
"It also helps to have human ears these days," she added, but there was no envy or bitterness, just a simple voiced fact. She smiled good-naturedly and climbed the stairs, pushing the door up as she did.
They came back up, and she gave him water. Kain realized he was thirsty, and she smiled knowingly.
"Dandelion will be asking—"
She laughed, waving a dismissive hand. "He'll believe he forgot to ask."
She hugged him again at the door.
"When you need me, I'm here."
"I know. Now I know."
It was with a lighter heart that he left her hut and strolled back toward Novigrad.
Ciri spent time in the shop until the proprietor tried of her loitering without purchasing anything. Then she left, eyeing the sinking sun on the sky as she slowly made her way back towards The Golden Sturgeon.
Most of the town's more suspicious characters had come out to play at this point and more than one appeared to mistake her for a prostitute. She ignored them, in a daze of her own until she bumped into someone familiar.
Kain.
"Oh," she said awkwardly, as if he was a stranger she had run down. She blinked the feeling away. "Kain. Are you feeling better?"
Kain didn't expect to find her out and about, and gave her a baffled once-over. "I was feeling fine before, as I do now. I thought you were still at the inn."
"Dandelion said you felt tense," she supplied before shaking her head. "I have business in town. Thought I might get it out of the way while Geralt is busy elsewhere."
"Seems like that town is not a safe place for a lone girl," he remarked. "I'll go with you."
Ciri smirked. "Because a little girl such as myself needs protection?"
She did not mind him coming. As always she enjoyed his company.
They started to walk and she eventually leaned in to sniff him after a few moments of silent contemplation.
"You smell funny. Like herbs and incense."
Right, because I was just heading to wash it off, he thought.
"Dandelion sent me for a massage," he said, seeing no point in thinking out a lie.
"Oh," she said, thinking that was a nice gesture on Dandelion's part. Until some other thoughts seemed to snap into place.
"Is that a euphemism for a brothel?"
She wasn't sure how she felt about that. A little sick, she supposed. Which was strange because she had never thought much of prostitutes and their practices before. She knew Geralt had been to several in his day. Dandelion, too. And Ciri did not feel disgusted about that.
But with Kai… there was a feeling. And she couldn't name it. It was new.
"No, it's not."
He could tell she bristled at the expectation. He wasn't sure why, but it was a rather common reaction among women and Ciri might not be an exception.
That was a relief to Ciri. Possibly.
"You get sent to get a lovely massage and they try to send me to bed. The injustice, I tell you."
Her lips twitched in a slight smile.
"They worry about you. As for me, Dandelion tried to offer the attractions that he himself prefers and thinks you might not enjoy. The brothel was his first suggestion."
Ciri shrugged. "Not sure if I would enjoy it or not. Never been in one long enough to get any kind of impression."
She steered him down a narrow street, though not the same where she had been attacked before.
"We are going to see a girl named Bea. She works at a tavern close by."
It was sort of funny that she felt the need to specify about her lack of brothel experience. But Kain didn't suppose she asked Geralt or Dandelion to share theirs, either.
"You want me to come in? I can wait outside."
"Come with me. We won't stay long. She helped me last time I was here. I would like to give her my gratitude."
"All right. Has Geralt returned?"
Ciri shook her head. "No. Though if he is with Yennefer… he might be a while."
She leapt onto the front porch of The Golden Sturgeon and pushed the door open for them.
It was a lot more crowded now but Ciri could not see Bea anywhere. She gestured to Kain she was going to search for her in the crowd, then set off.
Kain had no business lingering in the doors, so he followed close on her heels. Too many heads turned when she walked by.
They found Bea eventually near the back entrance, surrounded by a small group of men. Their stance was clearly threatening.
"We gave you a chance, bitch," one of them growled, leaning menacingly over the redheaded girl.
"That's no way to talk to a lady," Ciri said, purposely shouldering her way through the barrier the men were making. "You should leave. Right now."
"Oh yeah?" one of the men stepped toward Ciri menacingly. Half of his face hid behind a bandit mask. "I suggest you stay out of it, cunt, before we decide to teach you a lesson."
"I don't suggest you do that," Kain said, pulling his medallion from his jerkin's collar.
They seized him up with sharp eyes.
"Ye witchers should stay out of people's business, ye freaks," one of them said and spat under Kain's feet. "Doncha have some shit to kill in the sewers?"
"Leave the girl be," Kain said calmly. "Or I might decide you're something that crawled out of there to disturb people."
"Aw ye little fuck-" the third of them started, but the masked one pulled him back by the shirt.
"Don' wanna get yer hands dirty with those butchers," he grumbled. "C'mon, lads."
They pushed their way past the three and out the door.
"Thank you," Bea said once the brutes were out the door.
"Thought I told you to stay out of trouble?" Ciri responded, lips curved in a smile as she lowered her hood.
"They want us to stop servin' non-humans. I'm not goin' to give into that foolishness." Bea put her hands on her shapely hips a moment then extended her arms towards Ciri so they could embrace. "It's good to see you, Ciri."
"And you," Ciri murmured into her hair before they parted.
"And who might this be?" Bea asked, looking Kain up and down, her eyes narrowing at the Witcher medallion. "Is this the infamous Geralt?"
"I'm Kain of the Cat School," he said. "I'm familiar with Geralt but I'm not him."
"Does he look old enough to be my father?" Ciri teased her, who shrugged and grinned.
"Looks can be deceiving. It is a pleasure to meet you, Kain of the Cat School. Any friend of Ciri's is a friend of mine. You are always welcome here."
She was so kind, this girl, though Ciri knew she had no true reason to be. Life had treated her unfairly, like it did most. Especially women of a certain class. But Bea seemed to always discard the cruelties that had happened to her in her youth; discard them and turn them into something beautiful. Courage and compassion.
"I can see you are in one piece," she said, looking Ciri over. "I take it the witch hunters have not yet caught up?"
Ciri had not told her the full truth of who Ciri was and who beyond the witch hunters had been pursuing her. To do so would only have put her in danger.
"I am fine," Ciri said, smiling. "I found my Geralt. And Yennefer." She looked to Kain with a glimmer of affection. "And made new friends along the way. I am better equipped at facing the dangers that follow me now."
"I am glad," Bea said, one hand resting on Ciri's arm.
"I want to thank you," Ciri added. Bea held up a hand as if to stop her but she powered through. "No, I need to, Bea. You did not have to help me that day, but you did anyway. Risked your life by doing so. I cannot put into words how grateful I am. But I hope this measly gesture will be a start."
Ciri reached into her pocket and withdrew the full coin purse, pressing it into her hand.
Bea's eyes went wide. "Oh, Ciri. No… I can't…"
"You must," Ciri insisted. "Please, Bea. It is all I have to give you at the moment."
"This is a small fortune," she continued, looking gobsmacked.
"Not nearly as much as you deserve."
Bea looked as though she would cry for a moment, but she held back and gave them a dazzling smile. Over from the bar one of the other maidens called for her, gesturing to the large crowd that had gathered and expected to be served.
"Promise you will come back to see me when… when times are better?" she asked, clutching Ciri's hand and searching her eyes.
Ciri nodded. "I promise."
She pulled Ciri in for one last hug. "Goodbye, Ciri. Goodbye, Kain of the Cat School."
Ciri turned to watch as she sashayed away and was swallowed by the crowd.
"So long," Kain said in parting, and they watched her disappear among the patrons. He looked at Ciri expectantly.
"There are others," she said, turning to Kain. "Others outside of the city. Down by the river. Do you wish to come or go back to the inn?"
"I'm going with you, and we return together."
She nodded and led the way outside again, breathing a little easier once they were free from the crowd.
"We should stop by the inn to get the horses. Walking will take a good long while," she said. "But the horses will get us there quickly."
He shrugged. "All right." He turned to study her a few moments. "You feeling better?"
"Yes," she said without looking at him. "And that makes me feel worse. I should be weeping and on my knees pleading with forgiveness. To some… higher power. Or to the soul of the man I killed.
"But I don't want to. Because I hate him. Even if he was possessed, I hate him for what he did. For what he made me think he was going to do. And so I hate myself for hating him, for being so vengeful and filled with wrath all the time. It feels like I am going to burst.
"And so I try not to think of it at all."
Kain was taken aback by her confession, but he did understand where she was coming from. What seemed bizarre to him was his role in that matter. Had it been Geralt...
But it was him. Just him.
"It's easier to stop hating someone when you understand what that someone is going through, their motivation," he said. "His world as he knew it has ended, he was so scared that he happened to be the easiest victim with a weapon at ready."
"And how do you stop being selfish?" she asked. "How do you stop being selfish so you may care about another's motivation?"
Because at the moment she found no understanding for it. Still only anger and fear.
"Don't tell me you have no compassion, because it won't be true."
"Of course, I have compassion. I even feel it for those who have hurt me. But for those who have hurt someone I… someone important… I don't know."
"I don't think he aimed to kill me. The Crone aimed to scare."
"She aimed to wound. To cause destruction. And she succeeded," Ciri said, slipping into the stable attached to the inn, locating Kelpie so she could take the horse outside.
Kain clicked his tongue and Onyx threw his head up, snorting, and headed to him.
"Why are you so scared for me? I'm not that easy to kill."
"It does not matter whether or not someone is easy to kill. All it takes is one second, one mistake, one opportunity, and any one of us could be dead. You included."
Ciri climbed onto Kelpie and directed her towards the road, keeping her to a walk while within the city walls so they would not run over any poor pedestrians.
Kain hopped onto his horse and followed her down the street, contemplating her arguments.
It was out of habits to have anyone worry and fear for his life. He didn't enjoy what came out of it.
They rode in silence until they were out of the town and onto the green pastures outside the city walls. Ciri got off Kelpie and left her a few feet from the camp up ahead where two familiar faces were conversing.
"Valdo! Aegar!" she called out when she approached, smiling warmly at the two elves, one of who was wearing facepaint.
"Ciri!" Valdo exclaimed, turning to face them. "You devil incarnate! Where have you been?"
"Come here, darling!" Aegar added, his arms extended before he caught sight of Kain over her shoulder. "Hello, what's this?"
"Valdo, Aegar, allow me to introduce Kain of the Cat School." Ciri bowed in jest, the way they did at the end of a performance. She turned to Kain. "They are part of a non-human travelling circus."
Kain nodded, looking around. "I can see that. Nice to meet you."
It made sense that they would help her. There were many common enemies, as well as interests.
"You've come in the nick of time," Valdo said. "Would have been gone this time tomorrow."
"You're leaving?"
Aagar nodded. "They are to start resettling non-humans shortly. We'd rather stay ahead of events. Problem is, we just lost two horses, and the other two are too weak to haul anything."
"Oh, we'll manage somehow," Valdo shrugged. "We don't leave until tomorrow, so naught to worry about today."
Aegar looked grim. "Yes, for some. I am off to see a merchant. There's a chance I can make a trade for a healthy horse. Wouldn't want Valdo to have anything to worry about tomorrow," he said as he turned and strolled away.
Ciri frowned. "Anything we can do to help?"
"Oh, don't fret about us," Valdo said. "We always get by somehow. You know that, Ciri."
She nodded but felt a twinge of guilt nonetheless.
"What brings you here?" Valdo continued.
She straightened a little. "I have come to apologize. I disappeared so suddenly."
"Oh, pish-posh." Valdo waved her off. "What matters is you are back and you are well."
Smiling, Ciri stepped forward and reached for yet another coin purse. "This is for you. All that you loaned me, plus a small premium."
"Ciri, you know I can't take that." He shook his head, much like Bea had done before him.
Ciri placed her hands on her hips. "And you know I shan't let you refuse."
He was silent as they stared each other down; a battle of wills. He caved eventually and only because she knew his people desperately needed it for their journey ahead.
"Thank you," he said.
She smiled again and looked to the heavens. Darkness was coming. Geralt should be back by now.
"We can't stay," she said with some regret and again Valdo waved her off.
"Not to worry, dear heart. This is a troublesome time for all of us." He gave Kain a nod and reached out to embrace Ciri ever so quickly. It was over before she had even registered his arms around her.
He strode back to the camp. She watched him for a moment longer then turned back to Kain.
"Come on. That's enough for today."
Kain regarded her, then jerked his chin toward their camp. "If you want to stay for a bit, it's fine. They're your friends and they are leaving."
Ciri shook her head a no. "I want to go back to the inn and see if Geralt and Yennefer have returned." She climbed into Kelpie's saddle. "Have you even eaten since this morning?"
"No. I'm used to one meal per day, so it's fine. Are you hungry?"
"I already ate. It's hard not to when you live with Zoltan," she said with a small affectionate smile.
She already knew she wanted to pay Whoreson Junior a visit, as well. He and Ciri had an unfinished business. But considering what had happened back at Bald Mountain, what Kain had seen her do and how she felt he'd pulled away ever since, she did not think it would be a good idea to bring him. It would have to be something she did on her own at one point or other.
They headed for the nearest bridge. "So, what do you think of Dandelion?"
"He's a fine fellow and a good friend to Geralt. Despite selling his secrets to public ear."
Ciri snorted. "Yes, I tried to call him out on that. He did not care for it."
"He has his own perception on that. He sees no harm in telling stories that inspire him."
"Know him that well already, huh?"
"I wouldn't say I know him too well. I sense people when I talk to them or watch them. He's not closed, not too hard to read."
Ciri hummed in acknowledgement and took the lead onto the bridge.
The sun had climbed behind the horizon now and dark had settled. The streets seemed even more filled with prostitutes now, all flashing thighs and coaxing words. Also accompanied by the lovely stench of vomit outside of the pubs and taverns.
She slipped off Kelpie when they reached the inn, removed her saddle and gear, and was just about to start with the brushes when the stable boy took over, insisting.
She waited for Kain, then stepped inside, looking around for familiar faces. Geralt… Yennefer… They had to be back by now, right?
"Oh, Ciri, thank gods you're back," Dandelion said, hurrying from the bar to meet them. He surveyed Ciri as if looking for injuries. "Are you all right? You've been gone so long."
"I'm fine," Ciri assured him, gently prying his fingers from her arms so he would not twist her shirt to reveal the scratch across her chest. It would do them no good to know.
Dandelion looked at Kain, his eyebrow perking with the subtlest of smiles, but he refrained from asking.
"Neither of them is back yet," he informed her. "Nor Triss."
Ciri's heart sank at the news of Geralt and Yen not being back yet.
"Where is Triss anyway?"
"You think they ever report to me?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "She left some days ago, so did Yennefer - they always had their own business they never tell me about. Triss never returned."
She frowned, contemplating that, but no good explanations rose.
"Geralt was supposed to meet Yen at Crippled Kate's, right? Maybe I should go there. Make sure they're alright."
"You think they're still there?" Kain peered at her with an ironic expression.
"Probably not," Dandelion said, folding his arms. "They might be anywhere at all. But I would bet my lute they're not at Crippled Kate's."
"No. But I know how to follow a trail," she pointed out, turning and heading for the door again.
"Let them handle it," Kain reasoned. "Trust them. Just wait."
"Right," Dandelion said, folding his arms. "You better wait here."
"Handle what, exactly? They never even told me why they were meeting or why Yennefer did not have the time to see me for five minutes."
Her gaze darted from Kain to Dandelion.
"You know what they are up to?"
"What they said - tracking the Lodge members," Kain reminded. "If you add your energy to that trail, you might attract unwanted attention and ruin their mission. We don't want that."
"Listen to your smart friend, Ciri," Dandelion piped in. "Geralt won't be happy if you decide to help. He prefers you away from any of the Lodge mages."
She rolled her eyes at Dandelion. "You'd all prefer me locked away safe and sound, I know. But that is not our reality. Nor will it ever be."
She turned and headed for the stairs anyway, brushing her hair back from her face with an impatient sigh.
Dandelion grinned, looking after Ciri as she went, then turned his cunning eye to Kain.
"So, how was it?" he asked eagerly. "You do look... more relaxed."
"I am," Kain confirmed. "Thank you."
"I'll need more details," he ventured.
Kain leaned in as if to share a secret, and when he did the same, his gaze glowing with curiosity, Kain said, "It was the best massage in my life."
He groaned. "I should've known. You witchers are truly all the same when it comes to being frustrating."
"They don't teach us that at the School," Kain supplied, settling at the counter.
"A drink?" he asked.
"Water would be nice."
"That's not Geralt's drink of choice."
Kain smirked, "I bet."
Ciri went to her room and closed the door behind her, immediately moving to the window and opening it so she could climb out onto the roof.
There she sat, looking out over the street below, searching the passing faces for signs of familiarity, trying to squelch the intense urge to jump to wherever her guardians were hiding.
"Thank you for helping with Ciri," Dandelion said, pushing a glass of water Kain's way over the counter. "Backing me up."
"I didn't help with anything. She listens to me no more than any of you. She doesn't really like to listen to anyone when she's worried."
Dandelion threw a tortured look his way. "I know! And then Geralt comes back and finds her missing, and it's my fault - because it's my watch! My inn! You know? It's all so stressful. I feel like I need a vacation in some quiet place filled with divine concubines."
Kain smiled, sipping water.
"They really should be back by now..." Dandelion murmured, looking concerned. "It's not like I worry something's wrong, but what if it is? What will Ciri do with me if it is?"
"She can't blame you for the risks of his work."
"But she will," he assured, his eyes blazing. "She will."
Thirty minutes were all Ciri could manage before her nerves got the best of her. The silence and quiet were too… stifling.
She darted back down the stairs, adjusting her hair and jacket. Dandelion and Kain were at the bar.
"Let's go to the Kingfisher and see Priscilla."
Concern didn't disappear from the poet's face at Ciri's proposal. "It's another hour or so before it yet," he said. "Would you want something to eat before you go? I'd love to go myself, but I'm afraid I'm stuck here tonight. Someone needs to watch Zoltan before he loses his last breeches in Gwent."
She looked to Kain because he had eaten far less than her today. "Hungry?"
Kain pondered a moment, glanced between them. "I suppose I could do with a small meal before we go."
"Then we stay for a while longer." She took a seat beside Kain at the bar and fixed Dandelion with an impish look. "What are you serving tonight?"