His Little Bird: Jaskier

Chapter 18

"Jaskier, where the fuck are you?" Yennefer whispered to herself as she stood in the road where they last saw him. She had sent Y/n to search just the perimeter of the street to see if they could find anything on where he could've been taken, leaving her alone to watch as the men from before strung up a beaten Ba'lian, and call for the last ride on the ship. "Shit," she muttered, and saw the hooded figure of the familiar siren come up to her.

"There's nothing. Whoever took him is very good at covering their tracks," Y/n told her, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. "Fuck, how could I be so stupid? We should've been more careful."

"Don't blame yourself. At least, not yet," Yennefer quieted her, and let out a sigh. She saw the sun was beginning to rise over the hills, and an idea came to her mind. "Come on. I've got an idea."

"Good or bad?" Y/n questioned as she began to follow the former mage.

"We'll see soon enough." The two women worked their way through Oxenfurt, Y/n following Yennefer in whatever she was looking for. When they reached the more lowly part of the town, Y/n could see multiple older whores calling towards passing men, looking for a little but of coin. One particular one was quite loud, showing herself off at the passing men who brushed her away. Yennefer approached her, telling Y/n to remain just behind, and said, "How would you like to make some money on your feet instead of your back?"

"Hmm... Aren't you a pretty thing?" the woman said as she looked Yennefer up and down with something akin to jealousy in her voice. Or lust. "I could be convinced. A twisted mermaid. Cost you extra, though. My knees aren't what they once was."

"My friend. He's missing," Yennefer cut off the woman quickly, and Y/n grew tired of waiting, coming up beside Yennefer's side. "I fear he may have got into some trouble with one of the guards down at the dock. I need you to go to the garrison and see if any little shit-birds under the name of Jaskier have been caged."

"You're going to all that trouble, paying someone, for such a simple task?" the woman asked Yennefer, but she drew forth a coin bag, jingling the innards to let the coins be known.

"Half now. Half when you return," Yennefer said, and the woman took it, biting the coin to make sure it was real.

The woman chuckled lowly, stating, "Well, then. Never look a gift whore in the mouth. I'll be seein' you."

She wandered off, and Yennefer pulled her hood further over her head as Y/n said, "That's you're idea?" Yennefer gave her a sour look, and Y/n went on to say, "I'm not saying it's bad, but we've already got two of us. The more people know about this, the more danger Jaskier could be in."

"You might know the innards of a monster, Little Bird, but I know the innards of a city like this one," Yennefer said, stopping and turning to the former hunter. "Whores like that had contacts everywhere, can get in places we can't. If anyone can find your missing lover, it's one of them."

Y/n let out a sigh, and nodded her head. "You go search ahead. I'll pace back a little bit and see if we missed anything. I'll meet you back here." Yennefer nodded her head, and quickly headed off through the town. After a few hours of searching, Y/n traced herself back towards the docks, seeing if there was anything there that she missed from before in her state of panic. She drew down her hood, and her eyes combed over everything she could. She saw where she left Jaskier's broken down lute, and approached it. There had to be something. Kneeling down beside it, she furrowed her eyebrows when a sudden ping of throbbing echoed in her head. She huffed through her nose at the feeling, and looked down in confusion at the lute. Trailing her fingers over it, she felt the throbbing in her head grow. Pulling away, she let out a gasp as the throbbing stopped, standing up with realization. "It was a mage."