I'm not dead, I'm sorry it took me so long. I wanted to look at Geralt and Ciri with Yennefer's eyes for a change and that proved to be more challenging than I thought.
I hope you're going to enjoy this entry. There are feels, there is some trauma raising its ugly head and a bit of Ciri allowing herself to be the teenager she is, now that she is travelling with the two guardian/parental figures she has.

Chapter 6

Geralt said nothing more about his surprise. Yennefer had her suspicions, but didn't push it as he clearly changed his plans and the big mystery simply turned into a meeting with friends. They sat long in the night and drank a lot, every single missing person deserving a toast or two.

Dandelion once again proved to be invaluable. Where Geralt withdrew and brooded in grim silence, the poet had a lot to say, the more the less sober he was. He shared their adventures with light heart and good natured melancholy, and soon the mishaps and absurdities he brought up got Ciri snickering. Even Geralt smiled, right before he started correcting the facts when the poet got carried away.

Yennefer hadn't had the chance to meet any of Geralt's companions who paid with their lives for her and Ciri's freedom. She had the general picture from the witcher's scarce comments, from his rare offhand remarks, but Dandelion brought them back to life – if just for a while – in his vastly exaggerated tales. Yennefer wished she had known them. Their deaths cast a long shadow still.

Dandelion being Dandelion was curious about Yennefer and Ciri and their whereabouts from the last year. Unwilling as she was, the sorceress shared some bits from the time before her imprisonment, if only to drag the poet's attention away from Ciri. That didn't stop the girl from sharing some exotic details, things she found peculiar during her brief visits in another worlds. She left out most of the things Yennefer and Geralt were still only vaguely aware of, memories she didn't want to bring up. Ciri had told them a bit when they travelled, when they visited places with her. It wasn't hard to guess what she left out, but she clearly wasn't ready to share everything. Not yet. If ever.

What she did share in the inn left the dwarves wide eyed and Dandelion searching for a pen as he listened, muttering rhymes as he already tried to weave Ciri's stories into songs. Geralt stopped him right there and Yennefer reminded him of the last time he had sung about the Lion Cub of Cintra. Dandelion promised to leave the matter be, albeit reluctantly.

Both Yennefer and Geralt made him repeat that promise once he sobered up the next morning.

xxx

Vengerberg bore signs of war like pretty much everything around, but life was slowly getting back to normal. Within a week Yennefer closed up all her matters and provided them with provisions for the journey. It would have been quicker to head to Kaer Morhen directly from Vengerberg, but they agreed to visit Ellander first.

The more they travelled, the farther away the war-ridden lands stayed behind, the more their moods lifted. They no longer passed burned villages and torn fields bearing more graves than crops and no longer met groups of Nilfgaardian farmers being brutally relocated. It also seemed the claws of the Lodge loosened around them. Yennefer contacted them once, just to prove that she wasn't going to avoid Filippa, and she did so in the presence of both Ciri and Geralt, though the other sorceress could not see them. Not even a blink on Yennefer's side betrayed them standing just beyond Filippa's gaze. If the Lodge leader was aware of that, she let nothing on. She didn't push Yennefer for details of their whereabouts, just bid her to contact the Lodge within a month.

They took their time. There was no need to hurry, the summer had just started and they still had months ahead of them until the turning weather would force them to head for Kaer Morhen to reach the fortress before snow.

During one of such late mornings, as they lazed before travelling, Ciri asked Geralt for sparring.

"As soon as we have blunt swords," he nodded over the supplies he was packing.

"But that's not before we reach Kaer Morhen!" groaned Ciri. "I saw you train with Eskel once. You used sharp swords."

"That was our mistake, yes." Geralt nodded again. "I will not risk it with you."

"I know you won't hurt me."

The witcher turned. "I have not sparred for leisure since we left Kaer Morhen," he said more sharply this time, the supplies laying forgotten at his feet. "That was over a year ago. During that year every time I drew my sword, it was to kill. I hope I can still stop in time. But I am not certain. Are you?"

Ciri's defiant look lost some of its intensity as she looked away, unable to answer.

"You don't have to wait till Kaer Morhen," Yennefer decided to step in. "I can secure the blades for your training."

They didn't leave the camp before noon.

xxx

"Master Witcher! Oh thank the gods!"

Geralt halted his horse before the group of men, who stopped their heated conversation upon seeing him. They seemed agitated but mostly wary, worry plain on their faces.

"Please wait for me at the inn," the witcher asked Yennefer before nodding at the farmers and bidding them to lead. He ignored Ciri's clearly intrigued gaze, as well as the ghost of a knowing smile playing on the sorceress's lips.

They barely managed to find themselves some place and ordered whatever the innkeeper offered as fresh, when Geralt joined them.

"We'll stay here for the night. There is a manticore threatening the passage ahead of us and not a village within next fifteen miles." He said nothing else and tried to look away, but Yennefer fished and caught his gaze. Once their eyes locked, he held it steady, clearly waiting for her to oppose. She didn't comment.

Ciri, however, lit up with interest. "And you're going after it. I want to see. And help you."

"No."

"I'm not a child!"

"Then don't act like one," Yennefer interrupted her coldly.

Geralt sighed and took a seat in front of Ciri. "Listen. We've taught you basics in Kaer Morhen. You are good to match even a skilled swordsman, yes. I've seen that. I know you are and I know I can trust you to have my back. But there are monsters you are not yet good enough to fight. I will not risk it."

"What if I don't get a chance to choose?" Ciri challenged him, furious. "What if I meet one and you're not around?"

"Then you fight for your life and run if you can." There was steel in Geralt's voice. "Listen, Vesemir let us on the Path after a decade of training. And right now I do have the luxury of choosing, so I will not take such risk."

"And you are sure you can take it down?" Yennefer asked quietly. She knew he still didn't have any potions since he couldn't get all the ingredients in Vengerberg. Her own supplies in her shop had been largely destroyed.

"Two brothers went after it yesterday and never returned," Geralt ignored the question. "Either they succeed, or-"

"Or the manticore is full," Ciri snorted angrily, not looking at him.

The witcher nodded. "Don't wait up, it might take a while."

Yennefer mirrored his gesture, knowing he didn't really expect her not to wait for him. She nodded to the other plea of his, one he couldn't voice but probably kept repeating in his thoughts. She didn't check; she nodded anyway. 'I won't let her go after you.'

Geralt left them in heavy silence interrupted briefly by the innkeeper serving their dinner. Yennefer busied herself with her bowl, but Ciri lasted about a quarter of angry staring at her soup before she stood up.

"And where are you going?" Yennefer brought another spoon to her mouth.

"Not after him," she snarled. "I'll see to the horses." She hesitated, then ostensibly placed her sword in front of Yennefer between their plates and stormed out.

The sorceress finished her meal and waited for a bit, but soon it was obvious Ciri wasn't coming back. Yennefer wasn't worried she had left; an easy tracking spell used in such close proximity on a person she knew well was a child's play. She could, if she wanted, track Geralt as well. The amulet she had placed in the sword head would let her locate the witcher, but she dismissed that urge. Geralt would surely feel that and distracting him, perhaps in the middle of fighting, was the last thing she wanted.

Yennefer grabbed the sword from the table and followed Ciri to the stables. She found her brushing Roach, seemingly preoccupied with her task. Apparently the manticore's nest was close enough that Geralt decided to leave his mare behind. Roach seemed pretty content with the extra treatment she was getting. Kelpie kept nudging Ciri for attention, though she must have already been brushed.

Ciri heard her, but didn't turn. "This is wrong. I should have gone with him."

"Ciri."

"What?!" The girl swirled around to face her. "I was trained in Kaer Morhen for that! For keeping people safe, for fighting monsters. Monsters! Not-" Ciri's voice faltered, but she swallowed tears, wiped her eyes with her sleeve. A strand of hay caught against her hair. She turned away.

Yennefer waited. Ciri didn't move from Roach, but her shoulders trembled.

"Just once. I want- I want to use those skills the right way."

"Your skills, the skills you got in Kaer Morhen, they kept you alive," Yennefer reminded her calmly. "Never forget that."

"I was- lost. I-"

"Cry if you want."

"There is nothing more pathetic than a crying sorceress," Ciri shot back, but it was a lost battle already. "Or a witcheress, probably. Lambert would likely say so too."

Yennefer placed her hands on Ciri's shoulders. "It doesn't matter."

It seemed permission was all the girl needed. She sniffled, looked away and stopped her hand half the way to wipe her nose. And then the dam broke.

Yennefer held her close. The outburst didn't last long, but with a quick spell she made sure no one would disturb them. Every man Ciri had been forced to kill, every man that had robbed Ciri of those last bits of childhood and innocence, every one of them Yennefer would have killed ten times over. Preferably with Geralt by her side.

But all she could do was hold the girl and wait it out.

"I still want to go after him," Ciri mumbled finally, her voice still thick. She slipped from Yennefer's embrace and picked the brush from the ground.

Oh, I understand, thought Yennefer as she combed hay from Ciri's hair with her fingers. "Geralt can look after himself, you know that. And when it comes to monsters, he's the expert here. Don't let your overconfidence cost you too much. Or him."

Ciri didn't answer. She let Yennefer fix her hair and returned to the brushing.

xxx

It was well after dusk when Geralt finally got back to the inn. He looked weary like he never did after a whole day of riding, his clothes dusty. Yennefer couldn't help it. She prodded at his mind carefully and sighed in relief when she found no signs of pain or any injuries he could be hiding either from her or from Ciri. He was simply tired. And hungry.

"What took you so long?" she asked casually once he slipped on the bench next to Ciri and took a generous swig from Yennefer's mug.

"There was a young one nearby. I had to find the nest and the mother was a bit troublesome," explained the witcher, then turned to Ciri. "We can go there tomorrow, I can show you both of them if you want. It's always better to work on a real example rather than a picture in a book," he offered, hesitation plain in his voice.

"Sure!"

"We used to have some stuffed monsters to learn on. Vesemir even brought a basilisk once." For a brief moment something odd and almost nostalgic appeared in Geralt's eyes. "Very useful to get a grasp of the actual size of the creature, its claws and fangs."

"Stuffed monsters? Hmmm," Yennefer hummed thoughtfully and looked the witcher straight in the eye. "Wonder if they are still there."

He held her gaze and abruptly narrowed his pupils in a way that unnerved most of the people. Yennefer didn't even blink.

"There aren't any, or uncle Vesemir would have showed me," Ciri said gruffly, then apparently remembered she was cross with Geralt for his earlier decision. "I want to see the manticore. But I didn't like the waiting. Not one bit."

"You'll get used to it," replied Geralt.

No, she won't, thought Yennefer, watching seemingly unmoving as the witcher leaned his sword against the wall and reached for the stew the innkeeper brought him. And you just wait, witcher. Just wait until one day she asks you to stay behind in an inn while she goes and risks her life for a few crowns. Let's see what you are going to say then.

Yennefer chased these thoughts away, though neither Geralt nor Ciri could hear them. There were very few situations in which Geralt would ever agree to such scenario and she wished to never witness any of them.

Once the witcher ate, they all headed upstairs to retire for the night. Both Ciri and Yennefer were already fed up with the stuffy hall and there was nothing interesting going on. The girl marched to the last doors at the end of the corridor, but Yennefer stopped Geralt earlier. His eyes widened slightly in surprise when he realised she rented two rooms. He probably didn't even think about such possibility, used as he was to sharing a room with his travelling companions.

"Not much chance to get some privacy on the road," she muttered. "Let's use what we can."

Geralt hummed in agreement.

There was no mirror in the room, so Yennefer just sat on the bed and watched Geralt undress while she combed her locks. She felt him glance at her whenever he could. She knew he loved it. Still loved it. That was an oddly comforting thought.

She noticed bruises forming on the witcher's thigh, but as Geralt said nothing, she didn't mention them either. Even Ciri after a year in Kaer Morhen didn't pay attention to such minor inconveniences.

Geralt dropped on the bed, but not before stealing a kiss. He stretched on his back and with one movement dragged her to lie beside him. He looked exhausted, but this was the kind of exhaustion she had known for years, not that odd, lingering fatigue that seemed to plague him still. This, she could deal with.

There were spells, tiny, useful spells Yennefer had not used in a long time. Spells that chased away soreness and sleep.

They did not want to sleep that night.

I'd love to hear what you think.
We are going to see Nenneke next. I can't wait :D