To Thaw A Frozen Heart

~ chapter 5 ~

Thankfully, the rest of the night passed by without any more disturbances. The occasional grunt every now and again, but that was expected. Geralt wasn't in the bed anymore by the time I awoke, and as I got up from my cot my hand flew to my throat. Holy shit. I'd be lucky if I could talk today. Scurrying into my bathroom I viewed myself in the looking glass. Yep. What a lovely accessory. My brand new purple, hand shaped necklace sat around my slim neck. I coughed and a searing pain was brought to my throat. I winced and gripped my washbasin firmly. Fuck you, Geralt. Yeah, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?

As I stood to try and search for something to cover this monstrosity, my door opened and in walked Mr. White hair. He placed a vial on the counter and looked at me.
"Drink" he said.

"You first." I countered. "I'm not drinking some suspicious vial you put in front of me because you said to! You could have poisoned it."

He sighed and raised his eyebrows. He took a sip from the vial and gestured that he was fine. He told me it was to heal the bruise, and my demeanour softened slightly. I drank the potion and eyes him curiously. From all the stories i'd heard about witcher's, they were ruthless killers devoid of all human emotion, but other than the fact that he freaked out and tried to kill me, Geralt didn't seem too bad.
After a few minutes I could feel the potion come into effect. My throat began to burn, and sure enough when I went to check my appearance, my necklace was gone. How about that?
I went back into my room to thank the witcher, but he wasn't there. Running out into the tavern, his absence was also noted.
I walked outside and saw him petting a gorgeous chestnut mare. She was saddled and had a carry bag thrown over her, ready for a long journey, it seemed.

Geralt POV

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, now, were you, Geralt?"

The words left her mouth with a hint of humor, and I turned to look at the young woman in front of me.
"Yes. I was." I replied.
I was sure I saw her shoulders fall when I said that, and immediately regretted my words. She intrigued me. Her curious green eyes bore into mine, and I had to pull myself away before my eyes wandered elsewhere. I turned to Roach and began packing things up, getting ready for my journey.

Antea POV

He turned away from her, and focused his attention back to his horse. Why a dick. I walked around him to the horses nose and began to stroke it lightly. He looked at me like I had just told him I'd murdered his family. Touchy about the horse - interesting. Sending the horse a wave of love and calm, I let her face once more before she nuzzled into me, which made me giggle. Geralt seemed surprised about Roach's reaction.

"She's not usually a big people person." he said gruffly.

"Takes after her owner then." I smiled in reply. "Where are you off to then?"

"Wherever the coin takes me."

Pleasant. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head, and sure, I was full of bad ideas, but this one was by far the greatest bad idea yet.

"So, guess i'll pack for all weather then." I said with a smirk, heading back into the tavern before the witcher could call after me.