A Midsummer Dream

Chapter 4

Jaskier quickly forgot about the mysterious woman in black and the rest of the day passed in a pleasant blur of drinks and carnival rides: Geralt only agreed to take a spin on the teacups after he had had a go on the dodgems. He was less keen, however, to go on the pendulum ride with Triss, so he opted to ride the merry-go-round with Jaskier instead. After going on the swing ride, the helter-skelter and waltzers, Triss (who Jaskier thought was looking a little green around the gills) declared that she'd had enough of the funfair for one day and was heading to the shisha tent to 'catch her breath'. Jaskier and Geralt continued to work their way around each ride at the carnival, and as the sky turned dark and night beckoned, they hopped onto the ferris wheel so that they could get a bird's eye view of the festivities below.

"So, what do you fancy doing next?" asked Jaskier.

Geralt shrugged. "We could always go on the dodgems again."

Jaskier scanned the ground for the bumper car ride but when he found it, he shook his head. "The queue's massive right now. We can go back later. Oh! How about we check out the silent disco? That'll be starting up soon."

Geralt pulled a face. "You know that I don't like dancing."

"Urgh, you're so boring," he sighed. "We could always sit with Triss in the shisha tent?"

"Hmm, I don't fancy smelling like an ashtray."

"Well, what do you suggest?"

Geralt quirked a smile at him. "We could always go for another swim."

As much as Jaskier would love to see Geralt disrobe twice in one day, he laughed and shook his head. "It's a bit cold for that, I reckon."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Geralt conceded. He was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat and suggested, "We um...we could always just head back to the campervan."

Jaskier frowned at him. "Turn in for the night? It's barely past ten!"

"I'm not saying that we go to sleep," Geralt retorted. "I thought that we could do something else. Something fun."

"And the carnival isn't fun?"

"It's alright," he replied, rummaging through his sporran. "But what if I told you...that secret catacombs have opened beneath the city of Cintra, and it's guarded by ancient undead who will let no one pass?"

Geralt pressed something small and hard into the palm of Jaskier's hand. It was a plastic figurine with a feather cap holding a lute—Jaskier's Dungeons and Dragons character, Dandelion the Bard. Jaskier looked up sharply at Geralt. "You brought a campaign book with you?"

"Maybe."

"We drove to the other side of the country to attend a midsummer festival—to partake in far too much rich food, alcohol and sunshine—and you want to play D&D?"

"Don't judge me." Geralt smirked at Jaskier. "You know that you want to play with me."

Jaskier fixed Geralt with a steely glare. "Is there treasure to be plundered in the catacombs?"

"Of course."

"Right." Jaskier pocketed the figurine. "Let's get off this bloody ride and get back to the campervan."

As the pair made their way back to the campsite, Jaskier's eyes fell on a gilded horse-drawn carriage and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ooh, check that out!" he exclaimed, pointing at the carriage. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before: highly decorated with an intricately carved wooden exterior painted green and red. Four steep wooden steps led to the entrance, where instead of a door was a purple velvet curtain. Jaskier hurried towards the vardo and noticed a sign at the foot of the stairs.