Liability (Geralt x OC)

Chapter 5

A week had passed since the incident with Geralt. It's all been a blur since then because the brothel was preparing for its high stakes Gwent tournament. Every year, the Passiflora hosted this Gwent tournament for serious and accomplished players. In the week leading up to it, us strumpets tend to work harder to make up for the day without customers. When the tournament began, all other patrons would be kicked out while the tournament occurred. This meant a whole day without earning a single coin.

Still, the day came. As I perused the main floor in search of any patrons I could sneak in before the tournament, more and more players came in to sign up for the tournament. I recognized a few of them: Finneas and Count Tybalt specifically. Finneas was an annoying prick who always had a temper and made racist comments every other breath. Count Tybalt, however, is the one who officially hosts the Gwent tournament. He paid a handsome amount to rent out the Passiflora, and I know Marquise could never complain about losing customers. Not seeing many regular customers in sight, I gave up my search and instead decided to approach Amrynn.

"Big day, isn't it?" I nudged Amrynn's elbow to grab her attention. She glanced at me from the corner of her eye and nodded.

"It's certainly a nice break from the humdrum of every other day. Though I wish I could compete," she grumbled unhappily. Amrynn was, in my words, addicted to playing Gwent. Get her started, and she'll challenge every man in a pub to try and defeat her in a game. I personally didn't find much appeal in it. While I could hold my own, I still never bothered to play much. Only when Amrynn pesters me enough will I play.

"You know Marquise said we weren't allowed to enter. Besides, I don't think you have all the right cards to compete with Count Tybalt's standards." Amrynn grumbled again and turned to face me instead.

"That's it. Tonight, you have to play some Gwent with me. I might go insane otherwise," she stated with a pout. I rolled my eyes at the elf.

"You know you would easily win, Amrynn," I countered matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but it's still fun. Plus! I believe when we play together, you're improving slowly." I was about to shoot back a sharp response when I felt a weird sensation in my stomach. Something, and I'm not sure what, compelled me to look around the room. My eyes instantly landed on him. Geralt. He was talking to another woman on the other side of the room. I didn't recognize her, but she must have been one of the players for the tournament. Was Geralt here to play Gwent? I suppose having lived so long, witchers might be skilled gwent players.

After his conversation finished with the woman, I watched as he began to mingle with the other players. As if feeling my stare, Geralt's eyes glanced away from a halfling and his gaze found mine. A small smile played at his lips. When his conversation finished, he made his way towards me. Amrynn swatted my arm playfully before finding something else to occupy her time.

"Play Gwent often?" I asked when Geralt was close enough.

"When the situation presents itself, I normally don't turn down a round of Gwent. It's a fun way to pass the time." I nodded, his deep voice resonating within my chest.

"You must be fairly decent if you spent that much coin to enter a high stakes tournament." Geralt shrugged and glanced around at the other players.

"I like my odds. And, I'm not one to turn down a monetary prize." The room began to quiet, and I spotted Count Tybalt descending the stairs.

"I guess the tournament is starting," I whispered to Geralt as we both turned to face him. Even as we watched the Count, I felt my face burning as if someone was looking at me. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Geralt still hadn't looked away from me. The look in his eyes was, odd. I couldn't quite place what it meant. Before I could ponder on it more, Geralt finally looked away as Count Tybalt discussed the rules, and the pairs for the first round were announced. Geralt was paired with Bernard Tulle, the halfling he talked with before.

"Good luck Geralt!" I said to him with a smile. The witcher thanked me before going off to a table to play. Even though I didn't have much interest in the game, I still watched Geralt's match with curiosity. Amrynn had joined my side once more to observe to match as well, more than likely curious about Geralt's Gwent skills.

After some time, Geralt turned out victorious. Bernard, thankfully, was a gracious loser and shook hands with Geralt. Before I could go up to congratulate him, the woman from before, Sasha as I learned, walked up to Geralt to speak with him. Slowly, Sasha whisked Geralt away upstairs. While I was burning with curiosity about what they needed to discuss in private, I didn't follow.

"What do you think those two are discussing?" I asked Amrynn, my eyes still following the two until they disappeared from sight.

"Beats me. Why, are you jealous of that woman? Wish it was you?" Amrynn teased. My cheeks flushed red, and I scoffed as if that was the most preposterous thing in the world.

"As if! What do I have to be jealous of? I'm just curious about what they have to discuss in private. Especially since they might face each other in the tournament," I shot back, crossing my arms in a defensive manner. Amrynn rolled her eyes at my childish behavior.

"You can say that all you want, Tanea. But your cheeks are flaming red." Covering my cheeks in embarrassment, we watched the rest of the round one matches. Geralt and Sasha came back downstairs at some point, and I was able to congratulate him properly. With all of the matches now finished, the winners move on to round two. Geralt was to play Sasha. The two exchanged a few words before beginning their match. You could tell that both players were highly experienced. They went back and forth for so long and their match was the last to finish with Geralt reigning victorious once again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third round. The heat is on!" Announced Count Tybalt. Geralt and Finneas were the only players left. Finneas spat out some disgusting comments before finally settling down to play Geralt. I watched nervously as Geralt and Finneas played their match. I hated to admit it, but Finneas was a good player. The two were neck and neck for the longest time, until Geralt played a card that defeated Finneas.

"The mutant cheated! I'll gouge those devilish eyes out with my bare hands!" Finneas yelled in a rage. Before anyone could step in, Finneas threw a punch at Geralt. Despite how angry the half elf was, he was not physically built enough to take down Geralt, who eventually knocked him on his ass.

"Serves him right," I muttered angrily. Geralt rolled his neck and turned to Count Tybalt who approached him to discuss the final round in which they would play against each other. Finneas got himself up and moved into a corner to sulk about being beat twice. Count Tybalt led Geralt to a table, and their match began. Everyone was crowded around to watch. Well, almost everyone. I noted that some of the early players had left after their loses, including the halfling. I had figured Bernard would have wanted to stay and watch considering he enjoyed the game so much. No matter, before everyone knew it, Geralt had won the Gwent tournament. Myself and some of the other strumpets clapped in praise as Count Tybalt congratulated Geralt and offered him the prize money.

"Thief! The coin's gone! The guard's been stabbed!"