The inside looked disappointingly unsuspicious, insultingly normal even. The small entrance area was separated from the rest of the spacious room by a wall of low book cases. There were comfortable chaise lounges and a fluffy but slightly worn fur in front of a fire place. A dining table was located right behind, the wilted flowers on top if it being the only sign that something was not quite right.
A few candles and oil lamps were lit and illuminated the room which would have been rather cozy if it had not been for the circumstances.
Geralt quickly disregarded a staircase on the left as the smell he had picked up on the torn skirt fabric pointed towards another direction. He listened but there was no sound. The building seemed to be empty. He quietly stepped forward, temporarily managing to ban the gruesome 'what if' images from his mind, concentrating only on the smell. He walked further into the room. No door, no window, no way of escaping.
When he set one foot on the fur, probably a bear's he thought, the floor beneath squeaked ever so slightly.
"Has been moved recently," he remarked upon inspection of the area, noting the difference in the tone of the floor boards where they had been covered by the fur for an extended period of time versus where the sun had bleached the wood over the years. Sword still in hand, he rolled the entire fur aside and out of the way.
"A trapdoor," Yennefer suddenly realized.
Geralt listened closely before he opened the heavy hatch that had previously been hidden from view. Darkness revealed itself, the trapdoor appearing like a gaping mouth that threatened to swallow him whole. Only the first few steps of the stairs were visible, the rest seemed to vanish in the gloom.
Without hesitation Geralt took the stairs into the unknown.
Someone gasped. He would not have needed the oil lamp, the dim as well as only source of light, placed carelessly on a work bench in the middle of the room, to know it was Kit who he had startled. After all this time her heartbeat had become so familiar to him, he could have singled her out amongst hundreds of people. With a flick of his wrist he illuminated several more candles in various corners around them.
"Geralt!" Kit called out when she recognized him.
She looked pitiful the way she sat on the bottom of a small cage, her dirty dress spilling out in between the bars, a bloody gash on her forehead. The view filled Geralt with rage so completely that, for a moment, he forgot to be relieved to find her alive and well.
"Kit!"
With difficulty she managed to stand up, her legs not quite obeying her, probably because they had fallen asleep in the crammed space – the cage was just wide and high enough for one person to fit.
Kit desperately reached out for him in between the bars. Geralt took her hands, the familiar rush of her energy washing over him, proving without a doubt that it was her this time. He noticed that she had been crying. And now that she was standing upright, he could see all the missing pieces of her skirt. He cupped her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. He was relieved to see that the laceration on her forehead had already ceased to bleed. And yet, whoever had done this was going to regret it dearly.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his critical gaze flitting over her, making sure he did not miss anything vital.
She nodded. "Apart from some nightmares to come and this," she gestured around her as much as the narrow cage would allow her to.
"Do you know who did this to you?" he asked, his voice more of a growl between clenched teeth than actual speech.
Kit shook her head, new tears spilling from her eyes. "I have never seen him before." She sniffed and put her hands on Geralts'. "I went away with Annie and next thing I know, someone hits me over the head. I woke up on some cart, covered beneath bags of trash. Had a panic attack, I think... When I woke up with all that weight on me, I thought I had been buried alive." She looked down as if she was ashamed of herself while admitting total defeat. "Had I been more in control, I don't think I would have ended up here. He only had a knife. A stupid, small knife. I should have been able to handle that. But I was confused and I panicked and… and… I was too scared to try anything."
"Hey, stop that," he interrupted her and forced her to look up to him again. "It's my job to protect you. I'm the one who screwed up, not you. I'm sorry."
The puzzled look on Kit's face told Geralt that the poignancy of his admission must have taken her by surprise. Still holding her face, he bent down a little so their noses could touch, giving her a moment to gather herself. She leaned into his touch as far as the bars would allow her to.
"What happened next?" he finally asked.
"I don't think I was supposed to wake up that early but you know…" She continued after some hesitation. "He wasn't happy to see me conscious, abandoned the cart and dragged me all the way here."
"Why a cart though?" Of all the questions Geralt had, this one might not have been the most important one but he was trying to get a feel for who they were facing and what to expect.
"Been thinking about that for a while since, unfortunately, this grand reveal of the villain's plan thing is nowhere near as common as spy movies had me believe." She sniffed before she continued. "I guess it was simply the easiest way to smuggle me past the guards who would have made a pretty big deal out of him trying to take me home against my will, being temporarily suspiciously lifeless and all…"
Geralt felt one corner of his mouth twitch into what could nearly have been described as a smile had it not been for the circumstances. Only Kit would ever use a description like suspiciously lifeless.
He carefully felt the gash on her forehead with his thumb.
"Why didn't this heal when you were unconscious?"
"It happened after, when he shoved me in here." She shrugged. "Lost my footing and hit my head on one of the bars. Turns out I'm much better at handling myself when I think I've been abducted to a fake world instead of dealing with a real abduction…"
Geralt remembered their first meeting, how calm she had seemed back then. There was no calm now, just fear. He did not blame her. Coming from a world and life as sheltered as hers had been, it was no wonder she did not see the danger all those years ago. But she had been living here for a while, had seen what life was like. The fact that it had rattled her confidence only meant she had understood that new reality of hers.
"You left a trace," Geralt said, trying to smile, to reassure her.
"I was hoping you'd come and look for me."
"Of course I was coming. Did you doubt that?" Despite the uncomfortable situation, he took a moment to be insulted.
"I was afraid you might notice my absence too late…" She looked down at her feet again.
"Has it occurred to any of you that it would be nicer to talk if none of you was stuck in a cage?" Yennefer commented as she had reached the bottom of the stairs as well.
Kit bent her neck to see past Geralt.
"What's happening?" Kit wondered at the sight of the sorceress. Geralt caught a glimpse of unease in her eyes.
"I'll explain later." He rattled the cage door which would not budge. He had been so relieved to find Kit that actually freeing her had somehow not crossed his mind. But he wasted no time chiding himself – there would be time for that later on.
Kit was about open her mouth but Yennefer cut in:
"Let me have a try," she said as she stepped forward. "Opening a simple lock is child's-" She did not end the sentenced but instead hissed and pulled back the hand that she had placed on the lock - quickly as if she had been burned.
"Dimerithium. Sorry, it appears I am out of my depth here," she admitted, a strange expression crossing her youthful face.
"Why a dimerithium cage?" Geralt wondered.
"Because he thinks I'm a sorceress," Kit explained. "He has no idea that dimerithium doesn't affect me. However," she gave the bars a lackluster kick, "this steel on the other hand affects my personal freedom a lot."
Geralt chuckled briefly. The stoic and pissed expression on Kit's face told him she was fine. Or was going to be, eventually.
"Interesting," Yennefer murmured as she eyed up the trapped Kit. "It doesn't inhibit your powers at all?"
"No," Geralt and Kit answered in unison even though Kit's response was a little questioning since she probably had no idea how Yennefer knew she had powers to begin with.
Yennefer raised an eye-brow. Geralt shrugged and tried his best to look not too suspicious because his thoughts drifted back to the day they had discovered said fact and he thought it would be best if it did not occur to Yennefer to read his thoughts on the matter.
Years ago, when they had started to renovate the unused buildings on Corvo Bianco to turn them into guest houses, they had to finally declutter the one that Geralt had chosen to stash all his souvenirs from his journeys in: pieces of armor, swords, pictures, statues and many more things. In the middle of the cleanup process Kit had cleared her throat and held up a pair of dimerithium shackles, throwing him a questioning glance. Geralt himself was not quite sure where these had come from, probably had taken them off some witch hunter he thought. But one thing had led to another and sometime later Kit found herself chained to their bed, her patience being brought to its very limit as Geralt gave every inch of her body the attention he thought it deserved whereas Kit would have been quite content with less attention in some places and more in others.
The shackles, in any case, had had no influence on the degree of energy that washed over wherever Geralt touched her.
And something told him that it would be better for all of them if Yennefer did not look into his head to experience the heat, the bliss and all of that in her usual secondhand, thought-reading manner.
Kit who, unlike Yennefer, did not need to read his thoughts to know what Geralt was thinking about, cleared her throat.
"Can we put the science aside for a moment and concentrate on the matter at hand? This guy brought me here so I would heal his wife but when I told him that I couldn't, he put me in here – until I changed my mind."
"Not that that should matter – but why couldn't you?" Geralt wondered.
Kit said nothing, just nodded towards a corner of the room. Geralt followed just to discover another person. No, not a person, he corrected himself. A body.
A woman sat in a rocking chair, her chin resting on her chest as if she had fallen asleep. She looked peaceful – as people tended to do once their heart had stopped beating.
"I see," he said, chiding himself for not having surveilled the room better before focusing his attention on Kit. In different circumstances this could have been a lethal mistake. As if to make up for his lapse in judgement, he scanned the room. But apart from tools, none of them out of the ordinary for a blacksmith, cages in all shapes and sizes, and a few bear traps, there was nothing that caught his attention. It seemed Antony Desroubin had specialized in supplying hunters with adequate equipment.
Kit pulled Geralt's attention away again. "He's crazy. He doesn't understand she's gone, has been gone for a while now..."
The doppler had finally joined them and took in the scene.
"I told you, he's not right in the head anymore," it said quietly, it's borrowed face pained.
Kit let out a small scream when she saw the creature that still wore her face.
"For fuck's sake, will you take on another shape?" Geralt bellowed.
"I'm… I'm sorry," the doppler said and started to turn back into Annie, the maid, while stepping back into the shadows, crouching against the cages that were stacked up against the wall.
Yennefer, cold expression as always, examined the body of the deceased woman. She noticed a small bundle that sat in the woman's lap. She carefully unwrapped what was inside, promptly averted her gaze and stepped back.
After she had gathered herself, she asked no one in particular: "Why is there a mummified woman, who has been dead for months, with an aborted fetus in her lap?"
"Look at her wrists." Geralt figured that Kit must have been truly exhausted. Not only did her voice sound empty but it appeared she did not care at all for the fact that Yennefer was present. Yennefer, a figure who she had always feared.
"Cuts."
"She killed herself. If I had to guess: She lost a premature baby and couldn't handle it. And yet had the decency to do it down here, where her blood would just leak into the gutter."
Yennefer glanced at the floor where gutters were inserted to lead away anything right into the sewers of the city. A common feature in what might once have been a wine cellar. For a fleeting moment she admired the dead woman's composure. Not one drop of blood on her clothes. Only a faint stain on the floor was left as a reminder of what had transpired here.
"And her husband refuses to accept that she's dead," Geralt reasoned. "I still don't understand how he knew about your powers."
"He said he saw me using them. I really don't know how, I swear I was careful. A few weeks ago there was this kid, he was playing on one of the fountains and fell – right on his head. I got to him even before he could start screaming properly. A cracked skull, blood… I took just a moment but apparently that was enough. He saw me, thought I was a sorceress and decided my skills were what he needed." Kit looked up, trying to gain back her countenance. "He doesn't seem to care much about the child," Kit nodded at the woman in the rocking chair. "He just cares about her and yet, at the same time, doesn't seem to understand her at all."
"We can evaluate his feelings later. Let's get you out of here. Is there a key somewhere?"
Kit nodded at the table. "Just over there."
Geralt grabbed the key, opened the lock and pulled Kit into his arms immediately. He buried his face in her hair.
"Are you alright?" he asked again as he carefully felt around the gash.
She nodded. "Let's just get out of here."
"And leave that lunatic to run around freely so he can sack her at the next opportunity?" Yennefer sneered. For a moment her remark stunned Geralt. He would have never assumed that she cared.
"Don't expect me to help you out a second time," Yennefer continued. "This scavenger hunt was one more than I needed in my life."
Geralt nearly snorted, relieved to find out that Yennefer still only ever acted in her own interest. Some things never seemed to change.
"We know where he lives, I can come back later," Geralt argued, one arm wrapped around Kit's shoulders to steady her.
"What is going on?" a new voice sounded from above.
"It's him," Kit said, flinching, before the man climbed down the stairs.
Geralt knew at once that the man was no danger to them. Only a fool would have run down these stairs without first making sure who he would face. But this one, Geralt thought, he had lost it all.
He was about Geralt's size, his skin tanned and nearly too smooth in contrast to the hair that was mostly gray already. He looked emaciated, there was obvious confusion in his eyes, his gaze flickering inconsistently between his visitors.
"Have you healed her yet?" he asked Kit, apparently oblivious of the fact that she had escaped her cage and invited a few guests. His gaze wandered to the body in the rocking chair. "Genevieve?" He approached her, went down on his knees and put his hands on her arm to shake her cautiously. "Genevieve, my love, are you well?"
"He's completely lost it," Geralt whispered.
"I told you…", the doppler uttered in a breathy voice, directed at the witcher.
The tragedy that unfolded in front of him made Geralt forget that mere minutes ago he had wanted to kill this man. It was abundantly clear that he was suffering as much as a person possibly could. And the doppler too, he realized as he looked into its pleading face.
"It's better to end it now," he said, directed at it. "He will not recover from this."
The doppler widened its eyes in panic. "No, you can't… Please, don't… I…"
Yennefer cleared her throat.
"It loves him," she stated, approaching the creature. Geralt raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How much are you willing to give?" she continued, now addressing the creature directly.
The doppler shrugged. "I don't have much but you can have it all if you can just find a way…"
"No," Yennefer shook her head. "I want nothing from you. The question is: Are you willing to give up your life for him?"
"I don't understand."
"Answer the question."
"If it's my life for his, then yes." The doppler seemed to shrink as she looked away from Yennefer to the broken man who pleaded with his dead wife for her to wake up.
"Good." Yennefer nodded. "Geralt, I need you to wait with him upstairs. Make sure he understands that he and his wife need to leave and may never return here."
"His wife is dead, Yennefer."
"Please, keep stating the obvious. It never ceases to amuse me." She sighed in annoyance. "Just do what I tell you to do."
Geralt looked at Kit, who just shrugged. "I want him gone," she said. "Insane or not, he scares me and I want him to leave."
He nodded hesitantly.
"And you," Yennefer turned her attention to Kit, "need to announce that you will take just a few more minutes to heal his wife."
"But I can't," Kit whispered in protest. "What do you want me to do here?"
"Lie," she said. "And tell him you need a moment longer with her. Alone."
And in the end, they did as Yennefer had instructed them too.
Once Kit had asked him to wait upstairs for just a few more minutes, Antony Desroubin got up immediately. Accompanied by Geralt, he waited upstairs.
"And now what? I cannot revive the dead. And believe me, I tried," Kit informed Yennefer, her glance wandering back to the dead woman and her child. "I feel sorry for her," she added quietly. "She must have wanted this child so badly."
For a moment Yennefer halted. "You will never have children with him. You realize that?"
Kit nodded. "I don't care about children. But for people like her, in a world where women don't really have much else to do but to raise children… It's tragic. I wish I could just send them to my world, my future. I'm sure they could have saved the baby."
"It's too small, it was never going to live," Yennefer stated while reconciling the term 'future' with the images Geralt had shown her. She had not been entirely sure what she had witnessed then but suddenly it all made sense.
"Not here. But where I come from… It's a struggle still but it's doable. And even if not, there is hope, so many different possibilities. IVF, surrogacy and what not. I lived in a day and age where a child could have three biological parents. And we were just at the beginning…" A woman from the future with very peculiar knowledge – this promised to be interesting.
"You seem to know much about this. Surprising, since you claim not to care about children," Yennefer wondered.
"I care for the people who want them." The look in Kit's eyes made it abundantly clear that she knew about Yennefer's wish. But she did not prod, did not insinuate. "This," Kit continued and nodded at the corpse, "this should not have happened."
There was a worry in the eyes of the woman – as if Yennefer might just be on the verge of killing herself too. Which was absolute nonsense – and yet she could not help but appreciate the stranger's empathy towards her. Oh, what a curious woman Geralt had chosen…
"We need to return to the problem at hand," Yennefer announced. While she would have loved to learn more about the possibilities the future held, she did not want to give in to that urge, did not want to give that woman power over her.
"You," she addressed the doppler. "You said you were willing to give up everything for him."
"Yes. But what is it that I need to give up? I don't own much."
"Yourself. You need to give up yourself." Yennefer nodded at the dead body. "For him, you need to give up yourself. Live your life masked as someone else."
"Oh," the doppler said as the realization struck.
"He's obsessed with her. He would have never loved you the way you love him anyway," Yennefer added, trying to appear blasé.
"It's quite alright. I understand. I will have his love, even if it is not for me. And he will have his wife, even if he's unaware it's just an illusion." Annie's voice sounded somber and her lithe body seemed to once again shrink into itself.
"What are you guys even talking about?" Kit wondered quietly.
The doppler smiled sadly and then started to shift – it became a little taller, Annie's smooth black hair turned into thick brown curls. Just a moment later it had taken on the appearance of the dead woman. Gone was any trace of mousy Annie. The doppler suddenly carried itself with a grace and sophistication that made it seem impossible that there had been a different person just a moment ago.
"I shall go to him now and comes morning we will be gone and start a new life elsewhere," the newly revived copy of Genevieve told them, her voice as gentle and calm as her smile. She looked over her shoulder at the corpse of the woman she was impersonating and would be until death would part her from him. "She was loved dearly. I hope she can gather some peace from that." The doppler closed its eyes for a moment. "It wasn't the first child she lost. There were many before. Each one breaking her a little more," Genevieve recounted as she took in the deceased woman's memories. She walked towards the stairs then halted. "Will you make sure she is buried properly?"
"We will," Kit hastily agreed. Yennefer could tell that she was still digesting the consequences of what had just happened. "I hope both of you can find happiness," she added.
"Thank you," Genevieve nodded and climbed the stairs.
Yennefer and Kit followed suit to watch the reunion of Antony and his wife.
"Genevieve," he whispered as he saw her climb up the stairs from the basement. Geralt watched them, stunned. For a moment he wondered whether Kit, with the help of Yennefer, had worked an actual miracle. But when he noticed that only the two of them had emerged from the basement, he realized what had happened. Clever, he thought.
The moment he saw his wife, Antony himself seemed to transform: He stood up taller, the confusion seemed to clear from his face and was replaced by a wide smile as he took his wife into his arms.
As promised, they left soon after, only packing up some necessities. Genevieve had convinced her husband that the place held too many memories and they needed to leave at once or she was to become ill again.
"Thank you for letting us go," Genevieve said before they left.
Geralt only nodded, watching the scene with mixed emotions.
The doppler was about to turn away, but then added. "You are familiar with my kind, aren't you? You know that I not only take the shape of a person but also get an insight into their innermost thoughts?"
Geralt nodded again, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
"She loves you so much," the doppler told him.
"Don't," he begged. "Don't tell me."
The newly revived Genevieve nodded and smiled. For an instant the doppler's eyes flashed yellow – the witcher stared at his own eyes in the face of the formerly dead woman. She changed back and smiled still.
"You truly are a good man."
How unusual, Geralt thought. He remembered an encounter he had had in the past with another doppler who had taken on his shape but given up quickly – it had not been able to stand the witcher's skin and what it had seen on the inside. Now he wondered if this one was less squeamish or if maybe that darkness, unbearable to the innocent creatures that dopplers were, had lightened.
He glanced at Kit.
They parted ways when the sun rose. Once the doppler and Antony were gone, Geralt, Kit and Yennefer went to the cemetery to give Antony's wife a proper burial. While Kit sat and watched, Geralt lowered the corpse and her child into a hole that Yennefer had quickly dug by magical means. Nobody was able to say a few final words about the stranger, so they stood at the open grave for a little while before they covered the unhappy soul beneath with earth.
After all was said and done, they parted ways in the early hours of morning.
Geralt and Kit trudged back to the palace to pick up their horses before they set out for home. Kit stayed silent all along – something Geralt had come to understand as a sign of something worrisome going on in her head. One had to be cautious when a personified chatterbox was suddenly silenced.
He cast her an occasional worried glance, eventually rode over to her so their legs would touch. She looked up to him, smiled briefly before she turned her head back to watch Nugget's mane in front of her.
"You have returned early," Barnabas-Basil remarked, once they reached Corvo Bianco. The majordomo had not expected his master to arrive at this time of day. Usually all of Corvo Bianco was still sleeping with Barnabas-Basil being the first to wake up and greet the new morning with a smoke from his pipe while he watched the sun rise from his designated spot on the terrace.
"Weird night," Kit said before she slid off her horse's back. "I need a bath, I smell like a trash can," she continued as she looked at herself and her destroyed dress. Geralt silently agreed and yet offered: "Sure you don't want to go straight to bed?"
She shook her head. While she walked off, Barnabas-Basil gave Geralt a glance that was half questioning, half accusatory in nature. Knowing both of them well enough he had to have realized immediately that something was off.
Geralt shrugged at the unspoken question.
"It might be the lack of sleep," he started. "Or the fact that she just met Yennefer for the first time."
Barnabas-Basil nodded. "That would be a rather trying incident."
"That, or the fact that she was abducted last night," Geralt shrugged as if all the possible explanations he had just offered for his wife's silence were absolutely equal in their importance.
Barnabas-Basil seemed to disagree when he subtly twitched at hearing about the last option. His glasses slipped off his nose.
"Sir, would you mind to elaborate on that last one?" Barnabas-Basil wondered as he readjusted his glasses and put away his pipe.
Geralt recounted what had happened during the past night. The horses snorted softly while he took care of them.
It was not at all unusual that he would share what had happened to him at work with Barnabas-Basil – but more often than not it would happen over a glass of wine in the evening.
"Should I ask Marlene to set up breakfast in the bedroom then?" he wondered.
"Thank you," Geralt nodded.
When he entered the bathroom, Kit was watching the already overflowing tub. A stream of water poured out of a little pipe that was connected to the river behind the house – a neat installation that Kit had arranged for a few years ago. She had beamed brighter than the sun at the idea of making bathwater appear much quicker.
But now her stare was empty, Geralt noticed, as he shut the water off since it did not seem like she was about to do it.
He sighed. He had learned to be patient, waiting for her to tell him what was on her mind rather than pestering her with questions. But today he lacked said patience. When she did not move, he stood behind her, placing his hands on her naked shoulders, rubbing his thumbs over her neck and the base of her skull. He lowered his chin on her head, feeling the bristles of his beard combing through her silky hair.
"Please talk. I'm worried."
She leaned back into him, eyes closed, head tilted upwards.
"Help me with the dress, will you?"
He did as he was asked to, his fingers slowly travelling from her neck, feeling soft hair beneath his fingertips, down her spine before untying the knot that held her bodice together. He had done this frequently and generally enjoyed it very much – but today the air was heavy with something unwelcome. The fabric of the dress folded on the floor with a familiar rustling sound. Kit was about to step into the tub but Geralt grabbed her arm.
"Wait, it's still cold." He formed a sign with his hand to heat up the water.
"Thanks," she murmured before stepping in. The water splashed onto the floor when she lowered herself and dove beneath the surface.
Geralt grunted as he started to strip down himself and vowed to not leave her side until she spoke so he knew she would be alright eventually. In his determination to figure her out, he threw her favorite bath salt into the water with a bit more force than would have been necessary. Then he stepped into the water as well, wasted no time and grabbed her, forcing her to resurface. She gave into him easily – even slippery wet she would have had to struggle to free herself from his tight hug.
"Talk to me," he demanded again. She huffed and wiggled to turn around in his arms, her head resting against his chest, her legs tightly knotted with his.
"I'm angry," she disclosed. "I shouldn't have let this happen."
"It's hardly your fault he chose to kidnap you."
"No, not that…"
"Is it Yennefer? I had no idea she would be there."
"What? No, I mean, I shouldn't have let her… it… the doppler I mean. Nobody should have to live a lie like that. Forever. It's cruel."
Geralt took a moment to understand.
"This is about the doppler? You're in a sour mood because of that?"
"Yeah… It… She… They love him. And he'll never reciprocate. This is sad. I mean, I really wanted them gone but now I feel terrible. Everybody should have a chance to be loved for who they are. And the doppler won't get that."
"It got what it wanted," Geralt tried to argue, at the same time relieved and yet in disbelieve about the reason for his wife's behavior. Her seeming lack of instinct for self-preservation worried him. He would have understood if being kidnapped had traumatized her. He would have understood if a deep-seated fear of Yennefer had upset her. But pity towards a stranger – one that nevertheless had helped to abduct her, that was just insane.
"Yeah, maybe," she said. He felt the tips of her fingers drawing circles on his chest. "But it's not real." She paused. "I don't think I could stand it if I was them, loving you and you only loved me because I made you believe I was someone else."
At that he went silent. Absentmindedly he started to stroke the skin on her back, his other hand following the familiar curve of her hip and thigh, fingers digging into the soft flesh as if to reassure himself that she was still there.
Even after all this time Kit still managed to surprise him. Geralt was aware that any person's life mattered more in a world like Kit's than it did here. If someone got murdered and the case was not clear cut, nobody bothered to employ any resources to find the murderer. If an elderly person got sick, they were left to die. He remembered Kit telling him about even the worst cases in her world receiving all the medical attention that was available – even if resources like blood were always a little scarce and likely wasted on what was going to turn into a corpse soon after. But that was how they did things and Geralt had accepted that.
However, moments like one this showed him that he was far away from truly grasping what that really meant: That every life mattered, that every life was equally worth supporting. Even if the person in question was crazy or not even human. As much as Geralt tried to remind himself that Kit came from a world that was rich enough to support this kind of attitude, he sometimes struggled to make sense of her behavior. But there was no way to change her. And did he even want her to change? No, I don't, he said to himself and prayed that her empathy was not going to be the demise of her one day. Kindness in this world could get you killed. But kindness was also the reason he fell in love with her all those years ago.
Later, when they settled into bed to catch up on a night of lost sleep, Kit said:
"I don't mind her. Yennefer, I mean," she quickly added. "That you can stop worrying about."
He kissed her shoulder.
"Less scary now that you met her?" he mumbled into her neck.
"Not like that. She scares the shit ouf of me. But after all this time, all you've done for me – I absolutely refuse to believe that you'd ever leave me for her. Or for someone else. I refuse. Just so you know."
He smiled and let his lips graze over the sensitive skin on her throat as he buried his nose in her hair.
"Made your decision. Who am I to argue against that?" He playfully nabbed at her ear. "Just took a mere 6 years to convince you."
"You did that a long time ago. We just never talked about it again."
"Seems like I never got the message."
"Do you really think that I'd have married you if things were different?"
Kit turned her back to him as she lay down. Automatically, Geralt followed suit and wrapped himself around her.
"No, of course not," he said, only now realizing that this was actually true.
"Did you know that dopplers not only replicate the outside of whoever they copy but their whole persona as well? They know how the original feels and thinks, how they would act… A doppler is never just a copy. They become that person to an extend that we cannot imagine."
"Are you trying to make me feel better by arguing the doppler now is that woman and that therefore he actually does love her?"
"Is it working?"
"A bit," she conceded, turned around and snuggled into him.
As Kit fell asleep, Geralt stayed awake. She started to twitch and murmur.
Nightmares, he thought, and hugged her tightly, whispering softly into her ear.
Yennefer felt uneasy in a way she rarely ever had before. She had come to Corvo Bianco several times in the past but this time was different. This had all been before Geralt had seriously taken over the place, before he had started putting in the work as a vintner.
She was not the lady of this house anymore, she was merely a guest. An uninvited on at that. She clenched her fist a little tighter around the small object in her hand. A quick mission, she told herself. In and out and then be gone for good. She would have rather stayed away but the woman, Kit, she knew things that were potentially of great value to the sorceress.
Observant violet eyes scanned the area before she closed them, letting her instinct take over and guide her, stretching invisible feelers until she found what she was looking for.
The woman was sitting by the river behind the house, a book by her side which she paid no regard to as she stared at her feet that were submerged in the cold mountain water. The familiar splashing of the cool liquid against the stones stirred up memories of hot summer days when Yennefer herself had rested beneath the shade of a nearby tree, listening to the soothing gurgle of the river.
Yennefer cleared her throat. Kit slowly turned her head, greeting her with a surprised expression. And maybe a smidge of shock? Look who was not so confident anymore when Geralt was not around to protect her.
"Yennefer?" Kit wondered, her eyebrows raised.
The sorceress nodded curtly.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything of importance."
Kit shook her head. "Not at all. What did I do to deserve this honor?"
That question out of another's mouth might have sounded harsh or defiant. But the woman's face merely showed confusion, maybe a little worry.
"I would like to trade with you. It seems you are in possession of knowledge that is rather interesting. And perhaps I can offer you something in return."
Kit shrugged. "No need to barter. Just ask."
Should it be that easy, she wondered? Not having to trade or fight or blackmail anyone for information made Yennefer feel uneasy. Nobody just talked. But maybe… What was there to lose?
She cleared her throat.
"You said something yesterday and I was wondering if you were serious about it. You said that they could have saved the woman's child in your future. I keep wondering how. It looked too small to be viable. Much too small." This was not quite what she cared about but she would get there.
"Oh. That. I can give you a few pointers but I'm not an expert. Sorry if I gave you that impression." Kit scratched her head. "It really depends on what the issue is. There are ways, surgical ways that is, to keep the fetus inside the womb for longer. For premature babies they will try to recreate the conditions inside womb as closely as they can, to help the baby grow until its lungs are capable of making sure it can breathe on its own. Apparently, lungs are damn complicated. They take the longest time to develop."
Infusions, incubators, neonatal surgery, means to reduce infant mortality – the information that Yennefer was able to gain from Kit was indeed superficial but offered interesting insights nevertheless. Apparently, they even worked on creating artificial wombs outside of any human body. Yennefer's mind instantly wandered to images of creatures suspended in colorful liquids inside of glass tubes – she knew mages who liked to collect certain items and artefacts of that variety. But she had an inkling that what Kit was describing had nothing to do with that. Her explanations were devoid of colorful descriptions, no sensationalism, just fascination for what was possible.
Carefully, Yennefer nudged Kit into the direction that would generate the information that was probably the most valuable to her.
"I remember you mentioning that a child can have three biological parents. I wonder what the point of that is."
"There are two main reasons, if I recall correctly. One is to eliminate certain genetic diseases. The other is plain old infertility."
"How would introducing more genetic material combat infertility?"
Kit shrugged. If she had caught a hint of the sorceress' desperation she did not let on. "I don't know for sure. Something about the mitochondria I believe. But this is rather extreme. They have been looking for various ways to combat infertility. Depending on what the cause is, there are a few workarounds. There are hormone treatments and in-vitro fertilization. If the defect is with the egg, then taking a donor egg, emptying it out and shoving your DNA into it can work. And if that fails, there is still the option of having a surrogate carry your fertilized egg to term."
She elaborated in more detail and patiently answered Yennefer's questions.
When the sorceress went quiet to digest all that she had learned, Kit spoke up: "I know it's not my place to say anything but… You are basically immortal, aren't you? If having a baby that is biologically yours is so important to you, I'd suggest that you wait it out. I'm not sure how fast things will progress here compared to my world but if development is comparable then we are talking about 700 years, give or take. It's a long time… but at least it's a possibility."
Yennefer nodded absentmindedly. Could one really wait for 700 years? Did this mortal woman understand what it meant to live even a single century? The contempt that Yennefer felt for Kit's lack of perspective must have displayed on her face because Kit continued:
"This must be really important to you."
"You don't understand."
Kit shook her head. "No, I don't. Never wanted children. I honestly don't understand why you'd want them either. If I had your powers I'd explore the world, go to places that normal people can't reach. Try to advance technology, make life better for everyone. Change the world."
Yennefer cocked her head. "Why don't you do it?"
"Change the world?" Kit asked. "I don't have what it takes to do that but from all I've heard about you..."
Yennefer was not entirely sure whether her honesty was charming or stupid. But she was not in the mood to dislike Kit today.
"I promised you something in return," Yennefer announced, effectively ending their discussion.
"Huh?" It seemed Kit had forgotten about it already. The expression on her face suggested that her thoughts had been drifting – to that ominous future perhaps? For a moment Yennefer considered looking into Kit's head but then thought better of it. Maybe she would notice and would never volunteer information again. And what a shame that would be.
Yennefer stretched out her arm towards Kit, her hand a fist. As Kit reached for it, Yennefer opened her fist and let Kit take the item she had been holding the entire time. Kit's fingers briefly touched Yennefer's palm, sending a shock through the sorceress' body. A pleasant shock that was. No wonder Geralt was attracted to her, she suddenly realized. She resisted the urge to touch her again and try to analyze what was happening. Maybe there would be an opportunity in the future to learn more. But for now, enough was enough.
Kit curiously examined the item that was given to her and held it up: A little five-pointed star, not unlike the one Yennefer was wearing around her neck, attached to a velvet band.
"That's… um, pretty. Thanks?"
Yennefer chuckled. "It's not for looks. I think Geralt will appreciate it more than you. Should you ever be in danger again, he will be able to trace it." She waved her hand in a complicated motion.
"Oh… Thank you. But what exactly does that mean?"
Yennefer raised on corner of her mouth into a smile. "I just forged a connection between this necklace and his medallion. The magic will guide him should the need arise."
Kit's eyes grew big.
"Thank you, that is very nice of you. But, just so you know, you can ask about… about these future related things anytime. No payment needed."
Yennefer felt caught. Had her intentions been that obvious? And did she realize that, maybe, she wanted that woman to stay alive not for Geralt's sake but so that Yennefer could always return and ask more questions?
She faked another smile, turned around to leave but then stopped.
"You should consider trying to change the world. I think you can succeed. After all you managed to change the one thing that was supposed to be forever unchangeable."
"What do you mean?" Kit wondered as Yennefer walked away through a portal.
"The witcher," was all she said before she disappeared into the blackness.
Kit was still scratching her head when Geralt stormed around the corner.
"Kit! What happened?"
She looked up to him in confusion
"Nothing. Why?"
"My medallion started to act up and lead me right here," he explained, checking for possible threats around them.
"Huh. It really seems to work."
"What?"
"I just got a visit from Yennefer. She gave me this," Kit held up the little necklace. "She said if I ever was in danger you'd be able to find me. And that she did something to your medallion."
This information seemed to shock Geralt no less than it had Kit. But even if he had not just been told that Kit had been gifted the curious little item by Yennefer it would have been obvious and beyond any doubt. The five-pointed star clearly was of her making.
"That's awfully nice of her," he said suspiciously, very aware that Yennefer hardly ever did anything for altruistic reasons. But whatever the reason, it seemed to work.
Geralt relaxed. After what had happened last night he did not care. If this would help him to sleep better knowing Kit was alright, then he did not care why Yennefer suddenly had discovered some philanthropic tendencies within herself.
"You should wear it," he said, took it from her and busied himself putting it around Kit's neck.
"No, not there," she stopped him, putting her hands on his. "I honestly don't mind her, but I refuse to look like her. I'll wear it around my ankle."
Geralt shrugged and kneeled down as Kit lifted her skirt for him to fasten the little piece of jewelry on her ankle. Once he was done she gave her leg an experimental shake to see if it stuck. She nodded contently when it did.
"What did you talk about?" Geralt asked a few minutes later when they were both lying in the grass, watching the clouds pass over their heads. The hint of grey in them told them summer was coming to an end, to be followed by a mild autumn and a short winter before the explosion of life that was spring would find them again.
"Medicine. Children. In that regard she is exactly as I always imagined her."
"And in others?" Geralt tilted his head to the side to study her expression.
Kit hesitated for a moment before replying.
"She seems a lot nicer than in the stories Dandelion told me. But…" She paused again. "Maybe she's only nice to me because I had something to offer her."
Geralt hummed. "With her it's hard to tell."
He rolled onto his side to watch her.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he had so many times before.
"I already told you Yennefer doesn't bother me anymore. I'll be cautious around her but…"
"Not that," Geralt interrupted and placed a hand on her cheek to force her to look at him. "This entire abduction thing." His thumb gently rubbed over her skin. "Those were pretty intense nightmares you had last night."
Kit finally rolled into her side as well and covered Geralt's hand with her own.
"Consider me scared shitless. I will take a while to come back from that. I feel like I went back to square one, like back then when I first learned that monsters were real."
Geralt nodded and craned his neck to kiss her.
"You'll come back from that," he assured her. "No more healing strangers in the streets, alright?"
"I cannot promise that, you know that."
He sighed. "I know."
Before he could even attempt to frown at her unsatisfying answer, Kit sat up, smiled at him and then bent down for a kiss.
"I'll be careful. I feel like… attempting to change the world. A little."
Geralt had no idea what that was supposed to mean but the mysterious smile she wore was probably the most beautiful thing he had seen today. And who knew – if she was busy changing the world, maybe that meant there was less time for her to get herself caught up in danger.
"This world could use a little change," he agreed with her.
Notes:
The handcuff thing was entirely inspired by the movie Gerald's Game (which is apparently based on a book by Stephen King). I considered adding a bit of a flashback for that but didn't have the time. So no smut today