Yennefer finished off her meal, pushed aside her plate, gaze darting between Zoltan, Geralt and back to Dandelion, and then slowly rose up off her chair to head back upstairs. But not before Dandelion had offered her that drink. Coming down, Yennefer expected an update about Emhyr and what he wanted Ciri to do for him this time, but neither had come up with any kind of explanation before everyone else appeared.

Neither would they.

She stepped into Geralt's room again, lighter on her feet, the only solace she had in this place, and wondered if she should have asked Dandelion to sort out another in which she could stay. Things weren't the same as they were before, Geralt hardly knew her apart from what she'd told him—what Ciri informed him of—and if last night's activities had been of any indication, their connection was without its usual hold. At least where Geralt was concerned.

"Will you finally tell me what really happened?" Geralt said, coming quietly behind her. "The room smells of blood. More than one would expect from a minor nosebleed."

"It's just blood, Geralt," Yennefer stated offhandedly. "It's not important. It's not as if I hadn't shed enough of it over the last seven days."

"This is a safe place, so it's different. The more you brush it off, the more it assures me it's something significant." He approached her, hovering over her, his hand taking her chin. "What happened to you, Yennefer?"

"I had a disagreement with your brother. He doesn't take kindly to interrogation or any other guiles."

Geralt's face darkened. "Interrogation? What the hell did you do and why?"

Yennefer sighed, tilting her head back to free her head of his hand, and proceeded to undo the laces on her corset. "Because I can. And he'll live."

"Yennefer," he growled. "What were you thinking? What did you do? Tell me."

"I was thinking that I wanted to get to know him a little." Yennefer shrugged unapologetically. "I didn't do anything. I spoke to him—offered to take him to his griffin, and he had a meltdown."

"He never gets any meltdowns. That means you're lying to me."

"Seems to be a lot of that going around," Yennefer deliberated. She spun on her heels, fixing him considerate look. "How was last night?"

His mien creased with bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

Yennefer lips twitched into an eloquent smile. "I could use another drink."

He glared at her, trying hard to rule down his anger. "Tell me what happened between you and my brother."

"Why don't you go ask him?"

"I'm asking you. Why can't you tell me?"

"Perhaps for the same reason you answered my question about last night with a question."

Geralt emitted another growl of frustration. "What the hell are you talking about? I was at Passiflora last night. What about it? You know why I've been there."

Yennefer's smile didn't falter, but her eyes insisted he keep talking. "And why's that?"

"We met with Dijkstra and Roche. Then we stayed for the night. You know all that. Now tell me what I want to know."

In the past, when it came to telling her that, Geralt might have done so with caution; this time, however, there wasn't even a touch of it – not even an inkling.

"We talked. That was it."

Yennefer turned her back on him and proceeded to undress so she could make decent use of the bath before attempting her hand at rest.

Geralt tightened his jaw, annoyed to no end, as well as concerned. "We both know he wouldn't attack you for just talking, Yennefer. Tell me the truth."

"He attacked me because I took a slight peek into his head, offered to take him to his griffin, and then followed him when he left."

Geralt mulled it over, trying to piece the story together so it made sense. She certainly wasn't going to provide details that were important.

Kain would tell him if he asked.

Geralt sighed, feeling tired.

"You just can't help yourself," he said quietly, lowering to sit on the bed, rubbing his neck. "Invading people's minds for the hell of it like it's nothing. No one likes to be treated like that. That's why you mages are despised and hunted. But you never learn."

"You don't despise me," Yennefer added with a confidence that came from years of assurance. "So it never mattered." It still didn't. "I didn't hurt him. He's fine."

"But you fought and he hurt you. It shouldn't have happened. He trusted you because of Ciri and me, and you showed him he was wrong. That is not what I would call fine, Yennefer. You broke his trust by reverting to your ugly habit and then he hurt you."

"What would you like me to do about it?"

He peered at her, deadpan. "What can you do about it? Changing your ways around people who are your allies is not in your nature, apparently. So what is there you can do about it?"

"I suppose I could promise not to take such liberty around him again."

He gave an ironic sneer. "As if you would actually do as you promised."

"Then what's the point of having this conversation?"

"I wanted to hear what happened and how serious it was." He thought of something else, and his brow furrowed once again. "You mentioned interrogation. What was that about?"

"Ciri. I was just inquisitive about his intentions toward her."

Geralt couldn't help but laugh, quietly, in helpless irony. "Yes, I see why he wouldn't be so fond of that conversation. You're not the first to pry."

"As her mother, I assumed I'd be allowed some reserve about that."

"You're not his mother. Ask Ciri if you feel that curious, but why demand any answers from him? What intentions do you expect from him when they just recently met? You give them no time to even think about any intentions among our battles. We have to leave them be."

Yennefer laughed with a touch of cynicism. "And I assume you've asked neither of them about their feelings?"

"I didn't interrogate either. Ciri shared a few things with me. Whatever she thinks she feels doesn't change whether he's receptive of it or not. They have to be left alone with that subject. It's no one's business but exclusively their own."

"He said the same. That family resemblance is beginning to show more."

"It's nothing but common sense rather than resemblance. Do you enjoy being interrogated about your own feelings? Why would you think you had the right to force things out of him?"

"Not by people that are set to harm me. You think I'm a threat to them?"

"He doesn't know you. He's been taught that all mages could be threats. He's been taught to hide himself and everything about his true feelings and identity. He's been a spy for years. Revealing personal secrets to you goes against his habits. So why would you expect him to view you differently from any other sorceress he's met here when you prove his caution right the first chance you get?"

"I didn't do anything to him that was the least bit hurtful. Invasive, maybe. But I wasn't trying to harm him like Philippa."

"What you think it feels like doesn't mean it feels the same to another person, Yennefer. Due to his life and past, he perceives your actions more acutely than you mean it. If he chose to fight you, it means you allowed yourself to push too far. Good thing he didn't hurt you too badly."

"Given the state Kain was already in, would you have suggested I just let him go? With what you know is out there? Ciri asked me to keep an eye on him. I did. I could have let him go when he stormed out, but I didn't, because of that, and because I knew that if anything serious happened to him that neither of you would have appreciated it."

"The difference is that I trust him to be able to take care of himself - he's been successfully doing so for over thirty years. He's not a child, but a witcher. One of the best."

"That doesn't mean that any of our enemies can't take advantage of him."

Geralt had to smile, a tiny bit condescendingly. "He's a grown man, a witcher and a mage with powers exceeding that of the Lodge altogether. His other skills make him hard to trick. I assure you, he doesn't need to be guided or protected."

"You're quite capable of protecting yourself. Ciri is, too. Does that stop us?" Yennefer shrugged since they were running circles around the point.

He shrugged. "I'm trying to not make Ciri feel smothered. But she has been taken from me for years, and I couldn't protect her. With Kain it's not the same. He's my equal. I've seen what he can do. I trust he's capable of more than I am. I don't need to protect him. Rather he can provide aid in that field."

"And yet, it still doesn't matter. Even Kain has weakness and it only takes one person to find it and exploit it. You know this."

"Nothing we can save him from," he spread his arms. "We don't see the future."

A maid and the man that served as innkeeper came in with a knock bringing three buckets of hot water. They poured it into the tub, then added a few hot boulders from the fireplace to heat it better, bowed and left.

Yennefer watched the inn staff come and go, unconcerned with her partial state of undress as they tended to the bath. She removed the remainder, eased over the rim and made swift work scrubbing her troubles away.

"How was Ciri dealing with Emhyr so soon after the last?"

"She did fine," he began to undo the belts of his jerkin. "She also can stand her ground without anyone's help. She's grown. She can handle him."

Yennefer nodded, wondering if he actually thought that made a difference to her. Ciri was her daughter, part of who she was, and therefore–no matter what she had to face–she wouldn't do it alone.

"Then I suppose she's the only one who can."

"Perhaps so." He discarded his jerkin and shirt on a chair and toed off his boots, then checked the water in the tub. It was hot enough, and he pulled out the boulders, one by one, returning them in the fireplace.

He took off his pants and lowered himself into the tub.

Yennefer turned within the tub to make space, drawing her knees against her body, letting her hands sweep over her legs, and down to other parts of her body. "Did he have anything of interest to say to you?"

"He ignored my existence - he was talking to Ciri."

Yennefer hemmed her acknowledgement. She'd had a similar experience when she and Ciri had gone to the palace.

"That won't change." She rather preferred it.

Yennefer splashed water onto her face, scrubbing her hands against her cheeks, finished off periodically with the rest before getting out. She toweled herself off and then headed for bed.

The Witcher washed his arms and chest, watching her wistfully. And furtively gauging if she was feeling as fine as she had stated to both Ciri and him.

"Why did you ask about last night when you knew exactly what we were doing there?"

"Curious."

Yennefer pondered, pulling the sheet back from the bed, sliding beneath the covers to make herself comfortable against the pillows.

"Why do you think I asked?"

"You can be curious when you don't know," he reasoned with a hint of a smile. "You knew. You've been there and saw it. So why would you ask? You were expecting me to lie or avoid answering?"

"You don't feel that way inclined, considering?"

Geralt laughed, and reached for the towel before getting up. "Boy, you mages are vague. Inclined to avoid or lie considering what?"

Yennefer rolled her eyes lightly. "Doesn't matter."

To spell it out felt preposterous.

"We should get sleep. We've a lot to prepare for tomorrow."

He contemplated while drying himself off, then hung the towel over the chair's back and went to bed.

"You wanted me to pass on sex. I get it. What I don't get is whether you have been faithful to me all these decades since the Rinde incident. You weren't the type - that much I do remember."

Yennefer chuckled bitterly. To compare the trouble and doubts their relationship had before to what she'd hoped they'd become after the ship and the djinn was insulting. Not that he'd know that.

"Neither of us was faithful. We're not now, either."

Yennefer sunk into her pillow, twisting slightly, pushing it beneath her head so she could roll over onto her shoulder and find a touch of actual comfort.

"And yet you wished to see my guilt," he marveled. "If it's of any consolation, I wouldn't be there if not for Dijkstra."

"It's not," Yennefer retorted honestly—but without heat—and closed her eyes. Geralt had been there, he did get intimate with that elven whore, and he had written it off as though it were nothing. That couldn't be changed.

Geralt stretched, placed his hands beneath his head and thought of how her violet eyes flashed in his mind when the elf girl's hands roamed his body and her green eyes searched his face. He closed his eyes and thought of that passion in the rubble Yennefer shared with him in Rinde. He thought of an uncharacteristic vulnerability he glimpsed in her then, and in Skellige.

He slept.

Geralt had still been asleep beside Yennefer when she woke, easing out from beneath the covers to go in search of a fresh pair of clothes. Her last. She needed what remained of her garments to be washed. There hadn't been time for that, and she rarely let people manhandle her belongings unless she knew she could trust them. There wasn't time in this setting.

Yennefer did her usual routine, reapplying her make-up, doing her hair, and once she'd dressed, carefully made her way downstairs to check on breakfast.

She had a little research she wanted to look into and with The Wild Hunt coming in to destroy the city, she had to be sure her options would endure.

When Ciri had dressed for the morning, she opened her window and climbed outside onto the roof. She leaned against the chimney, not sitting down this time but instead using her full height to try and get a good look at the city.

She wondered where The Hunt would appear. Would their portals open in the middle of the city? Or would they come from the forest? If from the forest, would they make sure to create havoc among the houses outside of the city walls as well? Fealinn?

Ciri's brow creased in concern. They needed a plan of action. One for every variable.

She climbed back inside and made her way to Geralt's room, prodding him with two fingers. Yennefer was already gone.

"Geralt. Wake up."

The Witcher groaned in protest and tried to turn away from the disturber of peace.

"Why, Ciri..."

Ciri took hold of his broad shoulders to keep him from turning away. "We have so much to do. We have to make a plan!"

He rubbed his face with an almost pained wince.

"It's not our keep. We can't plan where to meet them. They will come where they please. We need to remove as many people as we can out of town, but can't do it without Dijkstra and those local faces of authority they will listen to."

"Then we should start doing that now," she said, peering down at him. "Where can they even go?"

He cracked an eye open, peering at her with a reprimand. "Why should I know these things? Wherever they please. Just away from the city."

"'Cause you're the old one," she explained. "You're supposed to know these things that I do not."

Geralt slapped her thigh, grimacing. "I'm not that old, child. Go see about the breakfast and let me get my pants, if you will."

"You're ancient," Ciri argued, standing and heading out the door.

Downstairs, she found Dandelion, looking dead on his feet and with dark circles under his eyes. No doubt, the last few days had been stressful for him as well.

"Morning," she greeted gently.

He replied with a groan, chin in his hand on the bar counter and eyes close to falling shut.

Taking the hint, she moved on to the table where Yennefer had made herself comfortable.

Unlike the night before and the bitterness Yen and the poet had shared, today Dandelion appeared to be a bit more somber, as if the night before had taken its toll. And it had. He'd celebrated through the night once more.

"Thought any more about leaving?" Yennefer asked.

Unlike before and the defense he'd carried every time she brought it up, this time Dandelion appeared to think about it, to consider what she said for half a second.

"No, I'm not going anywhere without Geralt."

This was still a bad idea as far as Yennefer was concerned, but what else could be done? The sorceress shrugged, smiling at Ciri once she appeared and moved to join her table.

"Do you still have your draught left? How'd you sleep?"

"I could use some more after tomorrow. But last night was fine." No unwanted visits.

Ciri sat down beside her, pouring herself some water from a pitcher.

"After tonight," Yennefer began, scooping up eggs onto her fork. "Hopefully, that'll no longer be a problem at all."

"You're much more optimistic than me." Ciri stole a sausage off Yennefer's plate and nibbled it. "Part of me has started to believe it will never end."

"And if it doesn't?" Yennefer asked. "What will you do then?"

"I will have to move on to another world. Draw them away from this one. And when they find me, I will jump again. And then again. Like I've been doing."

"We'll do what we can to make sure that doesn't become a choice."

"As long as you, Geralt, and everyone else I care about stay safe. That is the most important."

"You should convince Dandelion to get out of town." Yennefer slipped more egg into her mouth, scooped up on the added bits with it and then fixed herself a piece of dry toast.

"To abandon his home? His pride and livelihood? I doubt we can get most of the people out there to leave," she gestured to the front door.

"Dandelion has no pride," Yennefer stated. "And if The Wild Hunt come upon his inn – he'll die. No livelihood to nurse. You also know that the troubadour being here will prove as a distraction to Geralt."

"Then Geralt should talk to him. He rarely listens to me anyway."

It took the Witcher a bit to push himself out of bed and down the stairs, but he eventually made it and sat down next to Ciri at their table, nodding at Yennefer in greeting.

Yennefer smiled softly, nibbling on her toast, gaze shifting between the two. "What's our plans for the day?"

"Shouldn't we make some sort of strategy for when The Hunt comes? Magic to protect the city?"

"We need the Lodge to come up with their strategy, and all we, the swordsmen, can do is fight them where they come." Geralt nodded his thanks to the maid that served him a plate of eggs and tomatoes, and dug in.

"You should speak to Triss," Yennefer offered between bites. "That'll speed things along so we know where we're supposed to be."

Ciri picked a tomato off Geralt's plate and ate it. "They better come through after all the trouble we went through."

"They will," Triss said, approaching. She smiled. "We shall hold council and decide on how we shall defend the city. When you're ready, come to the suite."

She went to the kitchen to see about the breakfast for the sorceresses. Geralt watched her go, chewing, and reached for his cup of mead.

"I'll go see if Kain is up," Ciri said, getting to her feet and going for the stairs.

Yennefer followed Ciri with her eyes and then lowered them to her plate to finish off her breakfast in peace before the arguing would commence.

Kain opened the door to her already dressed with his sword behind his back. There was a tray with an empty plate in his hands. "Had my meal earlier," he said, stepping out into the corridor. "You wanted to wake me?"

She smiled. "Not like I wanted to disturb your sleep but... we are meeting with the sorceresses to discuss what we can do to prepare with The Hunt. Assumed you would want to come."

"I guess I have to come," he said, heading down the stairs. "Is it right away?"

"I expect everyone wants to finish their breakfast first," Ciri said, following him.

Kain left the empty tray in the kitchen, and when he returned to the main room, Geralt was getting up from the table.

"We need to take a walk before the Lodge," he said, then looked between Yennefer and Ciri. "You, ladies, are also invited."

"As if you could stop us," Ciri smirked impishly, strolling for the door while the rest of them got ready.

Dandelion was retreating up the stairs when they left; the poet was yawning and muttering something about just a couple hours and no more.

Ciri inhaled deeply once outside, glad to be in the fresh air and to feel the sun on her face. Who knew how much longer she would have that luxury?

Yennefer linked arms with Ciri's. "We shouldn't keep them waiting too long, otherwise they'll get vindictive."

"Even if we manage to get some people out of town, we have no way of predicting where the Hunt chooses to appear," said the Witcher, looking at Kain.

"Only a few moments prior," Kain nodded. "Which is too late. Where do we want them?"

Geralt shrugged. "Tough question. Outside of the city walls could be it, but why would they want that? Their goal is to instill more fear - not to be considerate."

"If they come from outside as well as inside, we get more than we can handle," Kain said. "It would be nice to limit their choices."

"How's that?"

"Dimeritium disrupts their portals. So what if we spray some powdered dimeritium around the city to prevent them from opening their portals there?"

Geralt pondered. "It would require much more than we have."

"If Triss could get us more from Kovir or Poviss, we can try."

"Won't the wind carry the powder away?" Ciri asked, looking from Yennefer to Geralt. "Is there some kind of spell that can be cast on the soil itself to keep portals from opening? Or at the very least will damage those who come out of them?"

"Yrden does that," Geralt said. "But it fades quickly. I'm not sure if there is a way to lock it on the ground. Witcher signs are temporal."

"It's possible," Yennefer mused in favor of Ciri's question. "I could contain it, the same way I did in Kaer Morhen, and then use the bombs."

"Then we need more bombs," Kain said. "And someone who can sense their portals before they open fully." He turned to Ciri. "Can you?"

Ciri considered it. "I am not actually certain. I suppose I have always known just before they appear, but that might only be because I expected them to. Every time I jumped, I knew they would not be far behind."

"I believe you have a natural ability to sense magic, and especially their magic," Kain said. "If you learn to get into a trance, your ability will sharpen and you will be able to react immediately when you sense them. That would help limit their numbers. We cannot preventively spray dimeritium where we please because there are many non-humans living in the village around. We could harm them and their land. We'll have to localize the use of it to the portals.

"Same goes with the city itself - if the Lodge will be using their magic there, dimeritium will work not only on the Hunt's magic, but their own."

"Which calls for placing them strategically," Geralt said. "Somewhere higher than the portals. The roofs?"

Yennefer said, "Ciri getting into a trance is fair, she's the one with a direct link to Eredin, but how are we going to make it possible for her to know if she's doing it? Focus like that takes a lot and any little distraction will throw her off. One of you are going to have to stay close to her – protect her. Even if that isn't what she necessarily wants."

Ciri was quiet for a moment, trying to absorb everything that was being said. "I don't know how to induce anything like that. The trances I have experienced before were sudden and entirely without my control." She eyed Kain. "You know how to teach me?"

"She won't be able to maintain it for too long, but we don't need long," Kain said. "Merely to cut down the portals. I will help with that, but I can't jump through space like she does. I can deal with a certain territory, but she can do more by jumping to the location as soon as feels a gate opening." He looked at Ciri, "You already know how to connect to nature's power. It's that."

"How many times can you jump at once before you get worn down, Ciri?" Yennefer asked. "We can't afford to have you make yourself vulnerable."

"When it is on the same plane it does not tire me at all. And short distances are much easier."

Still, she felt nervous. Not by the thought of exhaustion, but of failure. What if she let them all down?

"Her power is our best bet to shut down as many portals as we can," Kain said.

"You mean outside of city?" Geralt asked.

Kain nodded. "Inside there will be the Lodge. If they don't know any blocking magic, I'll have to cover that territory myself. With Griffin."

"They know a lot of magic, but their focus is attack," Yennefer put in. "You should definitely make a point of staying with within range of Ciri as much as you can. On your griffin, in the air, I assume you'd have a better advantage to do that."

"Griffin cannot appear in different spots as quickly," Kain reasoned. "Ciri and I will have to take care of different territories to cover more ground."

"I will be fine," Ciri assured Yennefer. "If it is one thing I am good at, it is jumping."

"We can use those dimeritium bombs as a shortfall. You should both carry them on you in equal measure. We'll give everyone else one or two to pick up any slack there may be."

"We have a limited amount of bombs," Geralt said. "Each has to be put to use exactly where it's needed. We can't afford losing any. So Ciri and Kain get the most of them, and Zoltan with Dandelion will take care of the additional aid."

Ciri looked between them. "Shall we return to the inn? Get this sorceress business over with?"

Yennefer was beginning to feel better now that they finally had a plan in place and something that they could do if The Wild Hunt was to show up. "We'd better. They'll think we're scheming."

When they came back, Zoltan was the only one they found in the main room - he was finishing his meal.

"Merigold asked about ye," he said, jerking his fork in the stairs' direction. "Dandelion's snorin' and Priscilla's still asleep."

"We might need more bombs," Geralt said.

Zoltan scowled but nodded. "I'll do as much as I can, but it won't be a quick work as ye know."

"I'll help if we can find some more dimeritium," Ciri promised Zoltan on her way to the stairs.

She took the lead to the third floor and knocked on the sorceresses' door once they were there. Triss opened and smiled at them all, stepping aside to everyone could shuffle inside.

Margarita and Fringilla were both seated beside one another on the foot of a large bed. Philippa was leaning against the open doorway leading out to the balcony. She turned to regard Geralt, Yennefer, Kain, and Ciri. "About time."

"Have you been speaking amongst yourselves?" Triss asked once she'd closed the door behind them, purposely moving to join Philippa at the balcony door. They looked like a government trying to gauge the response of their subjects and any pitiable suggestions they might have to work with.

"We have," Yennefer added without trying to pretend. "Ciri will take care of closing the portals for as long as she possibly can to cut down their numbers, and Kain will maintain to pick up on whatever she missed, and anything else."

"What about the dimeritium?" Triss asked.

Yennefer glanced with Geralt's direction, leaving him to explain that battle-hardened function to the sorceresses more thoroughly.

"Zoltan has made a few crates of bombs," the Witcher said. "Each bomb can interrupt one of their portals, exploding in powder. Which means none of you mages should be around those places when it comes to that. You should place yourselves higher up to see more and react more effectively. Maybe on the roofs."

The enchantresses contemplated, exchanging glances and shrugs.

"I suppose it's not a bad idea," Philippa said. "The only thing is to determine the location for each to form the most effective figure."

"We shall settle it among ourselves," Fringilla said. "I suppose we are to do that within the city fences, is that right?"

"Right," Geralt confirmed. "Also, if there is any sorcery you know to attract their portals to certain places where we would be ready for them, it would help."

"Attract?" Margarita canted her head like a curious bird.

"Something to create a magical pull," Kain explained. "A pull strong enough to sway their wizard's navigational magic."

"We will have to see if we can, flip through some books, perhaps," Triss said, looking preoccupied.

"What do we do if they don't come when we expect them to?" Ciri asked, a question for the room. "If they come early? Catch us off guard? Does the plan still stand?"

"We do what we can if that happens," Kain said. "You, Ciri, might want to be on the lookout, tune into your finer senses and look for any changes. Geralt and I should visit Dijkstra now that the spell has ended. We need to make him arrange for the people who cannot fight to leave the city."

"He tried to kill you," Ciri reminded the witchers. "What makes you think he won't try something as stupid a second time?"

"Because it's too late to try anything now when the treaty is signed," Geralt said. "And with the Hunt attacking, he has no better option than to accept our help."

"Doesn't mean he won't be vengeful."

Ciri nodded. "At least if you expect it, you're likely to stop him should he try something." After everything that had happened the day before, she trusted Kain and Geralt's capabilities more than ever.

"We always expect it," the Witcher responded. "We'll be fine."

"Alright." Ciri looked to Fringilla. She seemed to be in a better state than last night. "Are you feeling better?"

The sorceress smiled and nodded. "I am. Thank you, Ciri. I promise we shall do our best to help defeat this scourge on our earth."

Ciri managed a small smile, just for her. "I appreciate it."

"We'll go with you," Yennefer mused, her attention directed to Kain and Geralt. "The sooner we have Dijkstra deal with the public, the sooner we'll know what we'll have at our disposal."

"No need," Geralt said. "Kain and I will go alone."

"I'll meet you there and help if needed," Philippa smiled.

Geralt sighed, but nodded. "Fine. Only if needed.

"Triss, you and Ciri will need to see of you can get us more dimeritium."

"Of course," Triss said. "I'll see what I can do."

"It will have to be brought to our basement here," the Witcher continued. "Zoltan will be waiting. Help him with the bombs, Ciri."

"I will," Ciri promised. "As soon as we get the dimeritium. Will you join us, Yennefer?"

"I can only take you through my portal," Triss said tentatively. "And only you can touch dimeritium crates to take them back here, it seems."

"Alright. I'll play the donkey," Ciri said with the hint of a teasing smile, imagining herself lugging crate after crate.

"I'll stick around, see if Zoltan could use an extra hand with his bombs," Yennefer suggested.

"You can't work with dimeritium, Yennefer," Kain said. "It will make you immediately sick, and you'll be useless for the battle."

"She's being her self-centered self," Philippa snorted. "Gods forbid something will be done without her destructive touch."

"There are other steps to those bombs than just dimeritium," Ciri pointed out. Mostly because she hated the way Philippa was talking about Yennefer. "We'll all find our use." She looked to Triss. "Shall we? Or do you need to prepare?"

Triss looked from Philippa to Geralt and finally settled on Ciri. "I am ready."

Yennefer didn't mind the guidance Kain offered, but she wasn't all that enthralled with Philippa. "Be safe," she said, directing a look at Ciri, and then at Geralt. "I assume we're done here?"

"You are not done here," Philippa responded. "Unless you wish to get out of the city or join the battle with a sword."

"We're going to plan our defense," Margarita said. "You should be with us here. The witchers should go and tend to their cause."

Yennefer had assumed that the Sorcerers would have their own meeting on that, and that she'd be left to her own devices.

She nodded lightly.

"Let's discuss," she added, assuming everyone else would be on their way.

Triss turned towards an empty corner of the room and waved her hand, a golden portal opening before them. Ciri threw one last look at her family, then stepped through. The redhead followed.

They emerged in a forest a second later, to sunshine and pleasant birdsong from the treetops.

"Where are we?" Ciri asked once the portal vanished and it was just she and Triss again.

"Kovir. Just outside Pont Vanis," Triss answered, gesturing for Ciri to fall into step beside her.

The tension that had been strong and unpleasant between the two yesterday, seemed to have vanished. At least for now.

"We are going to see an old friend of mine," Triss continued.

"A mage?"

"No. Though he is very knowledgeable on the subject of magic. Mateosh owns a few mines to the east of the island. He has dimeritium aplenty and should not deny us to purchase more. As long as it is readily available."

They moved out of the tree-line and followed a dusty road winding up towards what seemed to be a large settlement of houses and establishments.

"How do you know him?" Ciri asked.

Triss shrugged her shoulders. "We met when I was in service of King Foltest. Mateosh had run away from his familial responsibilities in order to seek his luck as a musician. He dreaded the thought of going into the family business – mining. Though in the end, his father managed to drag him back home. Which was just as well. It is hard to make a living as a bard and Mateosh was not very talented. But don't tell him I told you." She winked conspiratorially.

Ciri was silent for a while as they walked before she finally asked: "Were you lovers?"

Triss blushed and giggled. "Ciri! No, of course not. Though I suppose I would not have minded back then. I am afraid to say age has caught up with him. He used to be very handsome."

Ciri pondered that, too, wondering to herself if men no longer had any romantic value to women once they lost their looks. It certainly seemed to be the same the other way around but she had never considered men having to suffer that fate.

Silence stretched between the two again as they began up the hill for the settlement.

The eunuch who had been meeting all Dijkstra's guests in the bathhouse showed them to the library where Sigi was hunched over the maps and plans of the city scattered all over his desk heavily lit by candles flickering all over the study. Francis Bedlam was across the desk from him. They turned and straightened up when the witchers came in.

"Ah, there they are, the ones who dipped us in this shit," Sigismund smiled, but there was not a sliver of friendly demeanor in it.

Bedlam folded his arms and said nothing, studying the two closely.

"We came to discuss the evacuation of the civilians who can't fight," Geralt said. "Women, children, elders, cripples and so on."

"Well, not that I would object if the cripples decided to stay and club the elves with their crutches," Dijkstra chortled, but sobered when caught Bedlam's glower.

"Most of those cripples ensure you get your share of coins to put in that treasury of yours," the Prince of Thieves said. "Especially after you lost a significant part of it recently."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Sigi dismissed, wincing in annoyance, and bent over the maps once again. "That stupid cult of Eternal Fire – those are the ones we need to convince. They're still trying to undermine the work we've been doing on the citizens. They hate your guts for what you did – mostly Cirilla, that is – and yearn to get their paws on her to hand her over and thus save the people. Ambitious plan, I know, but the suckers are fanatics, all crazy as shithouse rats. They see no reason."

"My people are withdrawing since last night," Bedlam told Geralt. "It's a chain-like communication: those who know tell their relatives and friends who tell their friends and so on."

"How many would that be?" Geralt asked.

"About half the population at the least," Bedlam estimated and shrugged. "Not everyone wants to leave. And those who could fight refuse out of cowardice and leave along with women and children. You know how it gets."

The Witcher hemmed. "We can't force them. What we should do is talk to that… ehm… Eternal Fire."

Bedlam chuckled, "You can try, but then make it to the leaders ring."

"You know any names and where to find them?"

"Given you took care of Menge," Sigi said, rubbing his chin, "now it's Cyrus Engelkind Hemmelfart you should get to. Good luck with that." He sneered darkly.

"The Temple Isle itself will be hard to get to, especially after your Radovid stunt on the bridge," Bedlam said. "I can't help with anything, I must add – all my people withdrew from there by two days ago."

"Hmm." Geralt folded his arms, glancing between the two. "Are you saying that he is the sole person to facilitate the evacuation?"

"Not the only one, of course," Sigi said, sneering suggestively.

"I'll go see about my business," Bedlam said, nodded curtly in parting and went out the door.

"What does it mean, Dijkstra?" Geralt demanded as soon as Francis left.

The sneer slipped off Sigi like a badly manufactured carnival mask with its string snapping. "What the hell you think it means, you whoresons? What the fuck did you do to me? Think I don't know? Think I'm stupid? I'm used to Phil's tricks – mean, dirty and filthy – but you?" His small eyes full of rage flicked to stab into Kain. "You did this, fucker, didn't you?"

Kain folded his arms with a deadpan expression. "I've no idea what you're hinting on. We met in the theater yard and celebrated the treaty. Then we all left. You might've had too much wine and it played a bad joke with your blood pressure."

"Don't you fuck with me, little shit," Sigi squinted menacingly. "What did you do?"

"Saved your useless life," Philippa said, walking in, skirt shuffling. Sigi's eyes widened as he stared into hers regained. She smiled. "We've talked about this. Stop being difficult and do what must be done."

"Fuck you sideways, Phil. I told you already—"

"I believe you told me many things that sounded very differently when they were coherent enough to perceive," she sneered at the sight of his cheeks bulging in anger.

"Ah sod you all, fine!" he yelled. "If those two witcher shits manage to get through to that bald idiot with his cult – it's decided."

She smiled, "Good," and turned to the witchers, gesturing for the door. "Don't lose your time."

They left her with Sigi and removed themselves from the study. The eunuch followed their progress through the corridor with languid boredom, then returned his eyes to the book he was reading on the bench facing the door.

"I doubt he'd help much with the priest," Kain said when they were walking up the street and away from the bathhouse. It gave Geralt an idea. He looked at his brother with a small smile.

"I know who will. Come on."

Mateosh's home was one of the largest in the settlement from what Ciri could see and yet, like with Emhyr's palace, it felt cold and void of life. It was all the art and luxurious furniture, she decided. To be looked at but not touched. Never touched. A child's worst nightmare.

The servant who let Ciri and Triss in went to fetch her master, and they waited in the entryway. It did not take long before Mateosh joined them.

Triss was right; age had certainly caught up with him. It seemed strange that Triss had known him as a younger man, for as a stark contrast, her looks had not faded at all.

Mateosh was a tall man, though slightly hunched over now as though he had back problems. He had a glorious greying beard that made him look like a gnome, in Ciri's opinion.

His moustache twitched when he saw Triss, his lips curving in a smile.

"Back so soon?"

Triss displayed a friendly smile of her own and stepped forward to take Mateosh's hand. "Afraid so, darling. We seem to be in need of quite a bit more dimeritium."

"I see," Mateosh said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Strange thing - sorceresses buying dimeritium."

Triss laughed softly. "I told you when I was here last: we need it for protection. Not all mages are good."

"The Wild Hunt," Mateosh declared, making Ciri's eyes widen in surprise. He caught the look on both women's faces and chuckled. "Ah, rumors spread quickly here in the north. We've all heard what's happening in Novigrad. I'll have my man supply you with what you need."

An hour later, Triss and Ciri sat atop a horse drawn cart with one of Mateosh's employees, heading for the forest.

"Are you sure this is where you want 'em?" the man asked as he and Ciri unloaded the crates off the cart a little while later.

"This is perfect," Triss replied.

When the cart was empty and back on its way to the settlement, Triss opened her portal to the inn's cellar.

After they had brought the crates through, Triss quickly excused herself from the cellar and left, stating she didn't feel comfortable being around so much dimeritium. Ciri and Zoltan did not argue this.

Zoltan stood by a low workbench and Ciri sat, both of them filling premade hollow grenades with the powder they had purchased. It was tedious work, but necessary, and neither argued or complained as they worked.