They went to Kaer Mohren anyway.
Maya protested but Eskel wasn't fucking around. He didn't bother debating or arguing it with her; he just stared at her with his arms crossed over his chest until she finally relented. He put her on Scorpion in front of him, not willing to screw around with walking either. She didn't fight him on that, just curling up against him in the saddle.
He knew this entire idea was absolutely insane but at this point, all he wanted was the safe, albeit broken walls of Kaer Morhen around them so he could heal the hole in his shoulder where Maya had to yank out that crossbow bolt, and where he could get blazingly drunk in peace.
It was just too much. He wasn't built for this.
While it wasn't true that Witchers were the heartless machines a lot of people made them out to be, that didn't mean they sat around holding hands. They were taught to suppress emotions - can't fight some horrid half-rotten thing if you're shitting your pants about it.
Emotional complexity wasn't really something Eskel had experience with. But he wanted her with him or him with her, one way or the other. Didn't matter what she was, not really.
He expected that they'd have the place to themselves, at least for a while. He'd have time to figure out just why in the fuck he felt entirely too much like cracking into pieces. No such luck though, because there were lights flickering in the windows when they came across the bridge into outer courtyard.
No horses. Whoever was in there traveled via portal. Wasn't Geralt then; he hated those things.
Lambert then. And Keira. Great.
Maya was a wreck, after what happened; all the blood she lost and the obvious pain in her mouth from the raw sockets where she pulled out her fangs, so she was hardly in a condition to stand. He considered just carrying her inside, but that could only make this weirder than it was going to be already.
She was trying though. She smiled at him, even though it clearly hurt to do it. He kissed her forehead.
"Just a warning," he started as he limped her towards the door.
She sighed. "Someone going to try to kill me in there?"
"No, nothing like that," he said, trying a laugh that sounded more like a sad grunt at best. "It's just, that's probably Lambert. He's a good Witcher and not going to attack you but he's-" He paused an made a face, considering. "Well, he's a fucking asshole."
"Oh, that all?" she said, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Frankly, after all this, I'm pretty sure a few insults aren't going to be a serious problem."
"He'll save those for me, just watch."
She looked at least faintly amused and he was grateful for it. They'd be safe for a while, no matter what bullshit came out of Lambert. Besides, Eskel hadn't figured out what Maya was until she tore that bastard hunter's throat out. No reason to think Lambert would be able to tell either.
He pushed open the door.
The main hall was lit up with candles, a fire roaring in the tallest fireplace and Lambert had Keira bent over the table in the middle of the room and was banging away at her like a teenager at a brothel.
Oh wasn't that a fucking picture.
Once Keira noticed the door open, she bucked Lambert off like an unruly horse and with a flick of her wrist she was dressed again in some illusion or another, leaving Lambert scowling at her with only the table to cover himself. Not that he particularly seemed to care about being bare ass naked.
"Eskel, you motherfucker." Lambert looked absolutely pissed off. His face was redder than it had been and he was sweating hard. "What the fuck are you-" He spotted Maya at that point and raised his eyebrows. He deflated in a rather literal fashion. "Great."
Eskel looked at Maya out of the corner of his eye as she crossed her arms over her chest, smirking.
"This must be Lambert," she said. "Just like you described him."
"I'm so glad Eskel likes to talk about my dick."
Eskel snorted. "That'd be a fucking short conversation."
Keira cleared her throat and threw Lambert's pants at him, hitting him square in the chest with them.
"As interesting as this is, can perhaps we have introductions without the nudity? Hm?" Keira said, hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes at Lambert, but clearly with affection.
Damn, she actually has a real thing for him. Who would have guessed?
"Welcome to Kaer Morhen," she said, gesturing to the hall. "I'm Keira Metz, sorceress. You've clearly already met Lambert." She gave Maya a little smirk.
"So you own the place now, do you?" Lambert interjected. He managed to get his pants on, tugging at the waist as he made his way over to them. Keira gave him a look and elbowed him in the ribs. He jumped back out of the way and then sprung back and grabbed her around the waist.
"Dangerous woman," Lambert snarked. He cocked his head at Maya. "You don't look real dangerous though."
Eskel actually laughed at Maya's completely deadpan expression when she replied. "Harmless as a kitten."
"Oh shit, well now I know she's trouble," Lambert said. He grinned. "Good for you Eskel."
Lambert looked good. Happy. Fuck, he didn't look like he was likely to punch anyone and he'd just been interrupted mid-screw. Shit, if he didn't know better, he'd think the bastard was in love.
"So, how'd you end up with this dour asshole?" Lambert put his chin on Keira's shoulder. She just smiled faintly.
Maya seemed to consider for a moment. "That's a long story."
Eskel put his hand on her back. "Yeah, it is. And we can tell you about it later, after we get some rest." He nudged Maya forward, toward the stairs that led to the bedrooms. "We'll just let you get back to-" He made a gesture with his free hand. "Whatever."
Keira made an irritated sound pretending to be a laugh. "We'll be sure to do that, naturally."
"You did't even introduce us, you fucker," Lambert said after they'd took a few steps.
Maya turned her head back to them.
"Maya," she said. "Very, uh, Interesting to meet you."
Lambert laughed. "Oh I like her."
Eskel just shook his head and got her through the doorway. Maya looked up and the long spiraling stairs with disdain.
"Shit," she muttered, half under her breath, leaning against him.
Now, when they couldn't see, he scooped her up in his arms to carry her up the stairs. The wound in his shoulder throbbed and screamed and he ignored it. He felt it start to bleed again, soaking into his coat. She noticed as soon as he did.
"Put me down before you kill us both," she said, but without anger. He let her down on to her feet. She looped her arm around his waist and he put his across her shoulders.
"Come on," she said, looking up at him, trying to smile through her pain. "We can help each other, just like always."
Eskel couldn't help but return her smile as they started up the stairs.
They'd been saving each other since the day they met. It was nice.
It was not easy, but they managed to get up the stairs. They also managed a fire, stripping out of bloody clothes and cleaning each other up, before bandaging his wound and collapsing into a heap on the bed.
Eskel wasn't sure he'd slept that hard in a long time, but even Maya's little cottage never felt as safe as Kaer Morhen did. Even after everything that happened, this was still home. It was the one place a Witcher didn't have to sleep with one eye open.
It felt so good to actually sleep. Even better to wake up and there she was, in a little ball in his bed, still asleep when he surfaced back into consciousness. She'd moved all the way over to the side of the bed and he rolled over towards her, grabbing her and pulling her back towards him. She felt cold and whimpered a bit but let herself rest back against him.
She never felt cold before.
"Maya," he shook her shoulder, unnerved by how cool and clammy her skin felt. She groaned, but didn't wake right away. He had to almost shake her, rolling her over on to her back before she blinked up at him. Her face was deadly pale.
"Hi," she managed and even that sounded strained.
Eskel felt his eyebrows furrow as he frowned. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "I'll be fine, I just...I'm fine."
Eskel grit his teeth. "You look like shit."
She laughed half heartedly. "You are a sweet talker, Eskel."
"I'm serious," he said, putting the back of his hand on her cheek. "You're cold as ice."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you accidentally swallow blood from someone who's been drinking silver." She made a face. "I'll probably be like this for a while."
"I didn't know they knew that trick." Eskel was irritated, both at those bastards and himself for not thinking of it. Not that he had a clue how to help her, even if he knew this particular vampire hunting maneuver. He knew how to hurt vampires, not make them feel better. Wasn't really part of Witcher training.
"They know all your tricks." Maya was trying to be upbeat but her voice sounded thin. "Or at least it seems like it. About ten years ago, they suddenly got smarter."
Eskel gritted his teeth. Fucking Berengar. What little he knew he told Salamandra and their lackeys sold the supposedly unimportant bits on the Black Market. Scary, what information might still be out there.
"Not all," he said through his clenched teeth, "But enough. I guess that doesn't matter. What does, is that you look like you're dying."
"I don't think that's very likely," she said and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples with her finger and thumb. She squinted up at him from behind her hand. "But I can't guarantee I'll be conscious in a day or two. And I suppose that'll give you a shit mess to explain."
"I don't care about that," Eskel said, grabbing her hand away from her face. "I planned to tell Lambert what you are anyway. No more surprises. But what does this mean exactly? A day or two of sleep?"
Maya swallowed, shook her head. "I don't know, but last time I got seriously injured, I crawled into a nook in a cave where I'd stupidly went to pick mushrooms and got ambushed by a half dozen drowners, and I slept for three years."
"Three-" He paused with unintended emphasis. "Three years?"
"Short of being totally destroyed," she said, sounding as if she was running, not lying on her back. "We can come back from almost anything. But only minor wounds heal quickly. Major wounds take time, unless..." She trailed off suddenly and looked away, off over his shoulder. "Nevermind."
"What?" She was hiding something and that immediately pissed him off. When she didn't respond, he grabbed her face and forced her to look at him again. "No more fucking secrets. Tell me."
She couldn't turn away this time, so she just closed her eyes and took a long, struggling breath. For a moment he thought she'd blacked out, but then she opened her eyes again. She blinked at him.
"Unless we...drink," she said. "But I don't do that. Not anymore. And I don't expect you to just sit around waiting for me to wake up." She swallowed. "I'd leave and make it easier for you, if I thought I could get out of this bed."
"Just how the fuck would you leaving make this any easier?" He snapped at her, maybe too harshly, but he couldn't stop himself. "I came back for after you for a reason."
"But why? You couldn't possibly still..." He cut her off.
"Shut up," he said. "Of course I do. I can't just turn it off. Fuck, I tried."
Eskel sat up and leaned back against the headboard, looking up at the ceiling. There was an obvious, practical solution to this. It was utterly fucked, but this was all so far beyond his experience, what did he know?
"So blood then."
She made a bitter sound that was nothing like a laugh. "What're you gonna do? Go find me some nice bandit?"
"No," he said and still not entirely believing he was doing this, he looked back down at her. She was so pale and she seemed smaller, diminished. This was idiocy; it went against every instinct, every bit of training beaten into him all these years. He was going to do it anyway. "You can't have some of mine. Gods know I've given up blood for lesser reasons."
She tried to sit up. "Absolutely not!" She got only propped on her elbow and then had to give up, her muscles refusing to cooperate. "I haven't willing taken blood from anyone in over a century." She shook her head. "The last person before that hunter...was the other Witcher. I spent a hundred years making up for that. I'm not doing it again."
"I'm not suggesting you kill me, for fuck's sake," he said, leaning down over her. "You told me yourself you didn't do that."
She sighed in frustration. "Yes, but I haven't drank in a long time. I don't know that I can control myself. What if I...what if I lose control of myself and I hurt you?"
"You won't do that," he said and shook his head.
"You don't know that," she said. She sounded near tears. "I don't know that."
Eskel rolled on to his side until he was facing her. The words that were threatening in his mouth were more frightening than letting a high vampire have a taste of his blood. "You love me, don't you?"
Her lip trembled. "Of course I do."
"Then you won't hurt me," he said. "So don't hurt me by leaving me here for three years, watching you sleep, not knowing if you'll ever wake up or if I'll live long enough to see it. Please. If this will solve this, please. Do it."
He watched her face as she battled with herself. Eskel just waited. He was good at waiting, but this was harder than usual. She seemed to be slipping away by the minute.
"I won't bite you." Her statement didn't leave any room for argument in its tone. "But if you cut yourself...fuck, do you know what you're asking me?"
"Yes," he replied immediately. "I'm begging you not to leave me."
Before she could respond, or either of them could lose their nerve, he got out of the bed and got his knife. He stared at it for a moment, turning the blade over against his fingers. He'd used this knife to gut lesser vampires, skin monsters, take trophies. He never expected to use it to save someone, least of all himself. He sat back down on the edge of the bed, sliding back until the length of his body was pressed up against Maya.
She was so cold.
Without ceremony, he sliced his wrist crosswise, not enough so he might bleed out, but enough that blood would flow easy. Eskel offered his arm to Maya. She looked up at him with wide eyes, her lip parted slightly. Drops of blood flowed down Eskel's forearm and left ruby colored stains on the worn white sheet.
Reluctantly, Maya took his hand and drank.
