HIM & I || The Witcher

XXV. HIM & I

The following days were calm and hopeful. Gertha agreed to Katla's suggestion and Weg selected two Skjaldmærs who would seek out a boy in Novigrad when the birth date would be close in a few months. I had told my sisters about the vision of Gideon, and we had restrengthened the shield that was around and above Taalen. The Wild Hunt should not be able to enter our grounds and monsters wouldn't come through as well.

Ciri had joined a few classes with Skjaldmærs her age and enjoyed them a lot. She still received private training with me and Geralt, sharpening her reflexes and techniques. Her progress was impressive, there was no doubt she would make an excellent Skjaldmær in the future.

Jaskier seemed a bit happier, if he wasn't talking Geralt's ear off, he sat in silence somewhere around us and worked on his new masterpiece.

"What rhymes with Skjaldmær?" He asked out loud and stared into the air as if the answer would fall from the sky.

"Don't ask me," Geralt said and drank from his water. He and Ciri were taking a break, catching their breath from their fight training on the bench Jaskier and I were sitting on. "You're the poet."

"Yes, but some words are just hard to rhyme with ..."

"I don't have any idea either, sorry." Ciri said and shrugged. "Maybe try another word? Warrior?"

"Hmm ... that might work!" Jaskier bowed back down over his paper and wanted to change the line but a cat jumped up onto the bench right onto his neatly written work. "Oh, by the Gods!"

"Magnea!" Ciri called out happily as the cat walked over Jaskier's papers towards her. "Haven't seen you all day!"

"Must have been up to shenanigans with Þór," I chuckled as Ciri put her on her lap. "You never know what they have planned next."

"Weg's dog?" Geralt asked.

"Thank the Gods, she didn't ruin anything," Jaskier sighed in relieve. "And yes, the Queen's dog. And he hates me."

"Maybe he just doesn't like the way you play the lute."

"Geralt ..." I tried to scold him but couldn't resist a chuckle.

Jaskier rolled his eyes and went back to work. "Ha ha, very funny, old man!"

The cat froze when it noticed Geralt next to Ciri. She hissed at him, started to growl and got down low to keep an eye on her opponent.

"Oh, come on," I said, reached over Geralt and grabbed the cat from Ciri's lab. Magnea turned her back at Geralt, settled in my arms and started to purr as she stretched herself, putting her head against my chin. "He's not doing anything right now, no need to get angry."

"I don't blame her, I don't like her, either." Geralt commented.

"But she's such a sweetheart," I protested and scratched Magnea between the ears. The cat closed her eyes and purred louder in enjoyment. "Just look at her!"

"Geralt would rather tame a wolf than pet a cat," Ciri commented and got up from the bench, grabbing her sword. "Right to left, left to right?"

Geralt nodded. "And take your time with the steps, make them precise, or else you'll fall down."

The girl nodded and got onto the training course, balancing on one of the poles to start her round. "It's crazy how fast she learns, always surprises me," I said as she had jumped to the next pole, cutting the air with her sword. "I'm glad she came here."

"Shall I go then?" The Witcher laughed.

"I'm glad you came to Taalen as well, Geralt." I grinned and turned my head to him. "You're not that bad of a company."

He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

My grin got wider. "Maybe?"

"You two make me sick," Jaskier commented somewhere to my left because all I could see right now was Geralt. "Love is all around you and neither of you is doing ANYTHING to catch it! Do you know how rare that is? I mean, I had what you had but-"

"Jaskier, don't get yourself into an emotional rage," the Witcher interrupted him. "It's not worth it. Because Visna now knows her fade."

"She does?"

"My fade?"

Geralt looked back to me with a smile. "Well, you finally accepted that I'm your Destiny."

"Alright, that makes me feel a lot better." Jaskier sighed relieved.

I leaned forward to be able to look at the poet. "I didn't know you were that invested in it."

"Are you kidding me? I couldn't sleep at night, this tragic love story that played out like-"

The Witcher exhaled loudly. "Alright, alright, keep writing your poetry, bard."

"I'm going inside," Jaskier announced and got up from the bench. "For once, I don't want to interfere with you two lovebirds, and I ran out of ink. See you at the dinner table!"

"Later, Jaskier!" I waited until the bard had made his way over to the castle's door. "He's going to write a poem about us."

"Yep, the ink was just an excuse, he needs new paper. But so be it, let him write his little song." Geralt put his arm around me. Magnea started to growl immediately. "I'm not going to hurt her, kitty."

The cat squinted her eyes at him like she didn't believe him, and I could feel her tensing up. My pets didn't help to distract her, and I gave Magnea free with a deep sigh. She fled over the training course towards the stables but kept staring our way as if she wanted to be around to interfere if it was necessary.

"I just hope he sticks to the truth and doesn't make up anything."

"You know Jaskier pretty poorly, if you believe that!"

I leaned against Geralt and turned my attention back to Ciri, she was already halfway through the course. "I can still have some hope, can't I?"

"I'm going inside as well, I still have to write a letter to Vesemir. Want his opinion about what we've learned in the woods."

"Paper, ink and feather should be on my desk," I said distracted, still focused on Ciri's movement. „Feel free to use what you need."

"Thanks."

He gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I looked over to him with a surprised and slightly shocked scare. But he just grinned, winked at me and was off. I laughed and shook my head as his steps echoed into the distance.

Ciri grinned at me, she had seen it. I raised my eyebrows at her. "Nothing to see here, keep going!"

She did a pretty good job completing the course. Afterwards, I let her summon all four of the Skjaldmærs signs and ended her training for today. We brought the weapons back and Ciri ran off to her friends who had just finished a lesson as well and had free time to spent before dinner.

I headed back inside to see if Geralt was done writing the letter. If he wasn't done yet, he could add greetings from me to Vesemir. I turned around the corner and frowned at the open study door. Although Geralt was always cautious, he would have closed the door to not be disturbed while writing the letter. The door was open enough to take a peek inside if I would walk past the room ... why was it open?

Pushing the door open, I noticed that the Witcher wasn't alone in my office. Katla was with him. He was sitting on my chair, our sorceress stood in front of him between his knees. I stopped in utter shock when I saw what was happening.

Her hands were on his cheeks, his lips were on hers.