Auri sat between his legs and shook with anger, her hair kept whipping at his face. Cahir felt her thighs lock up everytime they stepped over a puddle. She either had no idea how to sit on a horse or she actually contemplated stabbing him in the leg. The latter was very likely based on how close to her weapon her hand was.

When he woke up days ago this was not at all how he thought his life would turn out. When he left Cintra his mind had been clear.
Find her. Kill her. Return.

Now, he had a different plan. A plan that made her rely on him and possibly trust him enough to let her guard down. He'd still kill her, yes. The fury intrigued him. The way her eyes flared when she was angry made him want to fight her even more. Killing defenseless people wasn't his preferred method if it could be avoided. He liked the tactics and wanted to learn her patterns. He wanted to parry and tear apart her offenses before he killed her.

If he came back to the Emperor with her head in a sack and had found a way to help him take the Isles- He'd be welcomed back a hero. Skellige had been unattainable for years, she could change that.
She would be able to tell him everything she knew about the fleets and the armies without even knowing what she did was a mistake. He had said he was a fugitive, and she'd have to divulge enough information on their journey there to get them to safety.

'We're losing the light.' she said and looked at the sinking sun.
'There should be an inn between here and Carreras. We'll reach it before nightfall,' he replied, and tried to keep his arms still as he led the horse through the winding paths of the marshland.
'Does he have a name?' she asked suddenly and ran a hand through the sweaty mane draped across her thighs.
'No, he didn't need a name to fight in the war.' Cahir said and tried not to pay attention to her hand resting on his knee.
'He's very regal. I'm calling him Sir.'
'Sir what?'
'Just Sir.'

Cahir let her keep her hand on his knee until it pained him. The touch physically hurt him. It took an hour before he realized it was the fire. It took another hour before he finally shook off her hand under the pretense of moving his leg further back to move Sir to the left while crossing the Ismena. He thought the name was dumb, but he'd rather have a horse with a stupid name than another dagger at his neck.

'We're being followed.' Auri whispered when they passed the outskirts of Carreras. The castle itself sat nicely situated on top of a hill overlooking the city below. He'd heard them too. Soldiers.
'I know. They've been following us since we crossed the last river.' he said and moved his wounded arm across her lap. 'Don't look at them, if they see you looking we're fucked.'

Truth be told he didn't want her to look to see what he saw. They were a band of Nilfgaardian scouts, and the moment they saw him they'd bow to him and his meticulously crafted cover would be blown. His horse recognized them too. He struggled to keep the reins pulled tight and force the giant black stallion to keep his head turned away from the looming soldiers.
'Do as I say,' Cahir began and begged her mentally to not put up a fight.
'Do what?'

Cahir extended a hand over her left shoulder and pointed to the copse of trees two hundred meters away.
'Take the horse, ride there. They are probably hunting you and not me. If they follow you, you flee for Vizima. If they don't, you wait there for me.'
'And you? What are you going to do?' she asked and took the reins when he handed them to her.
'I am going to bribe them. If they refuse the offer I'll kill them,' he said simply and poked at her hand holding the reins.
'Stop here.'

Cahir leaned his head over her shoulder and swung his leg backwards out of the stirrups. She scrunched her nose at the smell of him and for once in his life he agreed with her.
'I can help you fight them if you have to?' she offered when he hit the ground with a soft thud.
'You have been squirming in the saddle for four hours. You can't even walk in a straight line, I assume the blisters forming on the back of your thighs are already impressive-' he said and unsheathed his sword.

'Go.' he breathed.
'If you die now, Sir and I will be fine without you.' she smirked and spurred the horse on, heading toward the trees just like he'd said.

Cahir stood exactly where he was when they came for him. The golden Nilfaardian sun stood in stark contrast to their black armor. Two of them rode up to him and the other two stayed behind. He knew what would happen now. Either they'd take his word for it, turn around and go back to Cintra, or, more likely they'd think him a traitor and hunt Auri down until she begged for mercy, foiling his own plan of redemption so completely he might as well use the stirrups to hang himself in the woods.

The shortest of the men slid off his horse and bowed his head.
'Commander.' he said tentatively and Cahir curled his lip. The man reeked of alcohol, sweat and filth. The other one stayed on his horse but bowed his head nonetheless.
'Why are you following me?' Cahir asked, narrowing his eyes at the still bowed soldier.
'We're not following you, Commander. We're following her. We have order-'
'I have orders!' Cahir snapped. 'My orders are to bring her somewhere secluded, kill her and take her head back to the White Flame.'
'Then why haven't you killed her yet?' said the one on the horse and quickly shot his glance to the ground when Cahir narrowed his eyes at him, one hand still holding his sword by his side.
'I have a plan, you insufferable idiot. I am not bringing the Emperor just a head. I am bringing the Emperor a head and Skellige along with it. I would be most appreciative if you would fuck off back to Cintra and leave me to do my assignment!'

The soldiers gaped at him. He outranked each of them twice, to disobey his orders was a capital offense and they knew it, then again, if the Emperor had sent them for her head disobeying that was also a crime.
'Did he send you for her head?' he asked and dragged a palm across the flat side of the blade in his hand.
'No, he said you had a month to bring her, if you don't we're to come back for you, and you won't be alive to feel the punishment this time.'
'Tell him he'll have her head and the Isles before the fucking moon turns. If I see any of you before then, what happens next will be on your heads. Stay out of my way and let me do what I was commanded to do!'
Cahir watched them ride across the plains and felt a growing need to shoot them all in the back. Then again, dead Nilfgaardians would attract more of them and he liked having his head. This was not the time to test the Emperor.

Cahir sheathed his sword and walked across the darkening plains to the copse of trees. He expected her to have been halfway to Vizima. Yet, he found her next to his horse, sitting on the ground dragging a whetstone across her blade.
'What happened?' she asked without looking at him.
'They left. They were not hunting you.' he said and looked down at her.
'Why did they bow to you?'

Cahir stilled. Of course she'd seen that. She had been watching the entire thing-
'If I threatened to kill you, steal your gold and your horses you'd bow too.' he said, and tried to sound convincing. He'd been lying to her for days, and even he heard it sounded less-than convincing. He needed to keep his wits. He needed her to tell her everything she knew about the armies and the fleets of Skellige without raising her suspicions too much, he could not simply go back to Cintra with just her head.
'I would have burnt you to a crisp.' she said and rose from the ground.
'Ah, yes, but they were not mages. They were dumb, gullible soldiers eager to make easy coins and get drunk at the nearest inn.'
'You gave them coins?' she asked and eyed him.
'No, I gave them the contracts you fulfilled for me and told them to claim the rewards. They'll die before they even get there, you know what the King thinks about scouts.'

She said little else. She walked next to him in heavy silence until they reached the inn. It was closer to Vizima than to Carreras, but she didn't seem to mind.
'I still think we should have gone to Oxenfurt.' she said as she grabbed her belongings off his horse. Again with this?
'Then tell me, little Islander, how the fuck we are meant to get out of there alive?' he turned to her and crossed his arms. 'I am wanted. Every soldier alive probably knows my face, the reward wasn't little mind you. I may have used up all our luck with the four from earlier, and you, well-'
'I know that!' she hissed and stepped toward him. Her face didn't even reach his chin. She stood there with her hands balled into fists by her sides and glared up at him.
'How did you think we'd even be able to get on a ship if everyone knows your face? Jaskier is our best bet! If not him then Priscilla, or even Triss! I hear she has a place in Novigrad. Regardless, I want to go to Oxenfurt!'
'No.'
'You do not command me, general. I will go to Oxenfurt after a good night's sleep. Go and die in whatever way suits you best.'

Cahir grabbed her arm. His fingers brushed over her heated skin for a moment and he stilled. Did she walk around with fire underneath her skin at all times? Was that why she was angry all the time, because the fire was about to consume her just like it had consumed Fringilla's mages? Cahir swiped a thumb across her arm, no. She was sweating. She was tired, in pain and exhausted.
'I may not command you, but your continued survival is my way to safety so I'd prefer it if you didn't end up on the pyres in Novigrad or in the hands of Nilfgaard.' he let her go and chuckled under his breath. She was closer to Nilfgaard than she believed and it amused him. She'd knife him down the moment she found out that much was clear to him. The only way to make her stop asking questions and poking holes in his cover was to get her home and make her spill her fucking secrets.
'Fine. But you're paying for your own room.'

The inn wasn't as bad as he had assumed. Sure, it smelled of old sweat, alcohol and burnt pork, but the warm glow from the lanterns and the smell of herbs reminded him of home. He walked across the threshold and made his way to the counter by the fireplace. The logs crackled behind the ancient man now staring at him. His muttonchops were unkempt and nearly met at his chin. The man kept staring at him with foggy eyes and raised a brow when Cahir placed a hand full of coins on the worn counter.
'Do you have two rooms available for one night?' he asked and removed the hand from on top of the coins.
'Aye, we have rooms.' he said simply and extended a liver spotted hand for the coins.
'We ain't got two, love,' said a plump woman coming in from the side. She'd been stirring a pot in the kitchen, she waved at the man with a wooden spoon. 'Ya gave the las' one to that rude man from Aedirn' she said and turned to Cahir.
'You and the lass can 'ave the las' one. Is in bad shape mind you, so I'll get ya more blankets, the stew is just finished. I'll bring you some ale too for a few more coins.' she said and eyed the gold in her husband's hand.
'Where are you from?' the muttonchopped man continued and eyed Auri by the door.
'Skellige,' she cut in when she walked up to the counter. 'We're going home, the continent isn't the best place to be right now,' she said and placed a hand on top of his. 'Isn't that right, my love?'