Reincarnation ➵ The Witcher

xxi

EDITH watched as Geralt woke up with a jolt, his eyes searching around the camp for a presence that was no longer there. She really attempted to hold back an eye roll, her hands prodding at the small fire she had restarted not 30 minutes before. His golden eyes had glanced at her, and she avoided them distainfully.

"The market." He announced, standing up in a hurry Edith failed to see. "Get up, Edith."

He approached gathered Roach's equipment, saddle and reins, as if he had somewhere to be other than here. Edith knew where he wanted to go, and why he wanted to go. But she didn't want to go, especially what happened the night before which Geralt seemed to push under the rug without care.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Get up."

"..What if I don't want to?"

"Then you can walk all the way back to that town of yours, girl." Edith tried not to flinch at the words, a pang hitting her chest once again. Geralt's mood had turned sour; and she desperately stopped herself from biting back with a retort of her own.

She sighed before stamping out the small fire with her foot, watching as Geralt unseathed his sword from his side. He had resaddled Roach, but left the horse in case a quick getaway was needed. Edith watched him begin to stride in the direction of the town, gaze looking over his shoulder to urge Edith to follow. She did follow, with little hesitation after Geralt's promising words but distainful jealousy still filled her body.

Their pace evened, and Geralt often glanced at the side of her face at the silence emitting from her. He'd guessed it had to do with what happened last night, but he wouldn't bring it up. The forest around them seemed to scarcely diminish as their trek went on, filled with a palpable tension that hung in the air like a plague. Edith would be lying if she said she didn't often glance at him, either. She couldn't help but thing what had happened, and she was sure Geralt knew of this as well.

"You ignoring me now?" Geralt questioned.

"..Depends, are you ignoring me?"

"No." Geralt rasped.

"..Then no."

Edith knew it was far from the truth, because apart of her, the hurt part, was ignoring him, but she wouldn't admit it. She watched Geralt's tight grip on the handle of his blade, silver glimmering contrastingly with his golden eyes that wished Edith would insult him like she usually did. But it didn't come, as the only thing that was present was the murky tension hanging over the atmosphere like bog.

Geralt's pace slowed near the outskirts of the forest, Edith mimicking him questionably, "Stay here, girl." He rasped, eyes narrowed onto hers as if that would make her stay like a dog. Edith frowned, but didn't respond. She knew that as soon as Geralt was out of sight she would follow soon after, but that wasn't something Geralt needed to know. He gave her one last glance from over his shoulder, jaw clenched in anticipation to what was to come before leaving Edith.

Edith waited a few seconds before following after, footsteps light through the remainder of the forest before she came face to face with the small town of Blaviken. She could see Geralt ahead of her, striding with confidence through the town streets as people effortlessly made way. Many people still sent him the odd glance, but a few didn't care enough to bother.

Once Geralt had turned a corner, Edith followed behind. Her footsteps were light but cautious, but she had agreed to take a different route through town that Geralt took. Her eyes scanned the town, noticing an alley that cut through Geralt's location. Perfect.

She began making her way down, posture tense and eyes alert. She knew this trip had something to do with Renfri, but she didn't know what it was about. Edith was about halfway through the tight alley before she heard echoing footsteps behind her. She froze, and looked back briefly to see the sight of a shrouded figure feet behind her with a blade pointed towards her throat. Oh, for fuck sake. Couldn't a girl stalk a Witcher without someone attempting to kill her?

Edith looked closer through the small amount of darkness, and she was able to see Renfri's hair poking out from underneath her cloak with her pin holding it all together. Edith bit her lip in anxiety.

"Stay still." Renfri ordered, and Edith obeyed. Renfri approached her further, gripping Edith's frame from behind and holding the sword inches from her throat. Edith held back a gulp.

"I take it back, I don't like you." Edith admitted.

"Move."

Renfri pushed Edith down the alley way, grip bruising her skin underneath all the cloth. But Edith was confused. What did she have to do with her revenge plan, she had no business with Stregobor and she definitely hadn't done anything to upset Renfri from what she could tell. But Edith stayed painfully quiet. A fear for her helpless little life overwhelming her body, and she knew if she got out of this situation alive, she'd force Geralt to teach her how to get out of these situations despite his refusal.

Probably no double update today, this chapter was wrote with 2 hours of sleep & lots of coffee to keep me going lmaoo enjoy ♡