The Witcher and the Seawolf

Chapter 47

Yennefer

Yennefer stopped right outside Fenris's door when she heard him talking to someone. At first, she thought he was speaking to one of the girls, but there would be a pause in the conversation, a pause of silence, then Fenris would answer that silence, usually with insulting words. It wasn't until Fenris let out a gasp of pain that she knocked on the door. Suddenly, the conversation went quiet and Yennefer could hear muffled footsteps on the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" Fenris spoke louder, or she assumed it was Fenris. Now that she could hear his voice clearer, it sounded nothing like her son, more like a man that consumed large amounts of sand, causing his voice to be as dry as a desert.

"It's Yennefer." She said softly and as clearly as she could manage. "Are you--"

"Prove it." Fenris ordered.

Yennefer's brows pinched in confusion. "How?" Yennefer had a thousand other questions other than 'how can I prove I am your mother,' but her son sounded worried, scarred even. She could easily push off her own worry if it meant easing Fenris's.

Yennefer could hear Fenris breathing heavily, letting out long, raspy breaths before sucking in air almost like he was being strangled. "Melitele." Fenris said he sounded much closer to the door and Yennefer could have sworn she could feel his forehead through the wood. Yennefer raised her hand to the door and gently touched it, running her hand down the grain where she could feel her son on the other side. "What you said to my father when Ciri and I were walking away, what did you say to him."

Yennefer didn't know Fenris heard her that night. "You asked me if I was still going to be there in the morning." Yennefer smiled when she remembered how nervous he looked when he asked her. "I promised you that I would be there. You and Ciri walked off, to 'break the bed' I believe you said, and your father asked me what was going on between you and me. I told him that I found out that you were his son. And that made it easier for me to pretend you were mine." Yennefer could hear a sniffle behind the door. She rested her forehead against the door. "Please open the door, sweetheart. I'm getting nervous."

The door was suddenly thrown open, but before Yennefer could even process it, she was pulled in and pushed against the wall with a broken bottle pointed at her neck. Yennefer blinked away her confusion when the door slammed shut. Looking down at her son, she saw his eyes red rimmed from drunkenness and tears. He was shirtless, which wasn't too odd since it was usually when he went to sleep, but the large purple bruises around his right shoulder, elbow, and hand, and the equally nasty one on his left shoulder made Yennefer's blood boil.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Fenris covered it with his free hand. Yennefer did her best to keep her breathing calm as Fenris annualized her face closely. He turned her face from side to side, looking at her very closely, as if trying to find a flaw or a marking that wasn't there. He then leaned closer and looked deep into her eyes. Fenris's drunken and sad glare slowly fell the longer he looked into Yennefer's worry-filled eyes.

He suddenly dropped the bottle and backed away with more tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry." He rasped out. "I- I'm so sorry." Yennefer reached out and pulled her son close in a bone crushing hug. For a moment, Yennefer was about to pull back, fearing she would cause further harm to his bruises, but the way he matched her bone crushing hug deterred Yennefer from pulling away.

Fenris's shoulders were shaking, and Yennefer could feel two wet spots leaking through her gown and onto her shoulder. Fenris kept mumbling that he was sorry over and over again. Yennefer looked up and felt a slight stinging sensation on her neck. She raised her hand and rubbed the stinging away, and when she looked at her fingertips, she saw a couple droplets of blood. At least she knew what Fenris was sorry about, but his reaction before his breakdown only filled Yennefer with more questions.