Kill Your Darlings (Jaskier x Assassin!Reader)

Chapter 12

Morning came relatively quickly despite the fact that you didn't sleep a wink. It pained you to nudge the girl in your lap asleep, even more-so when she woke up with fear in her eyes. The fear washed away as soon as she saw who she was with, but you couldn't help the anger that filled your veins at just how much her initial reaction reminded you of yourself.

Before you knew it, the three of you had eaten the rabbits Geralt caught the night before (with most of them going towards Lilla — though none of your admitted it, you pretended you weren't all that hungry just so she would get her fair share), and soon you were headed back to the small cabin to reunite the daughter and father. Ever since that night, Lilla had been glued to your side instead of Jaskier's — he only made three jabs about it on the way back, all of them only making you smirk in response.

When you made it to the edge of the woods, and as soon as you saw the cabin in view, Lilla bolted towards the home with her arms outstretched towards Toby.

"Daddy!"

Toby looked up from the porch, and though you couldn't quite see his face from where you were, you could tell he was crying.

"There's nothing quite like a family reunion," Jaskier said beside you, turning to you with a smile. The smile wasn't exactly happy; there was a sadness in his eyes just as your own. Neither of you said it, but you both knew you would miss the little girl when you left.

As for Geralt, you couldn't tell. He definitely wasn't ecstatic, but he wasn't sobbing either. He had already begun walking over to the two, not bothered by the fact that he might be intruding on a precious moment. Either way, you and Jaskier followed in suit.

"I can't thank you enough. Really, I can't." Toby clutched Lilla to his side, not bothering to wipe his tears. "Where did you find her?"

You faltered. Explaining that his daughter was stuck in a locked cage with a bunch of bandits wasn't exactly easy. But Lilla didn't seem to mind.

"There were bad men, daddy. They locked me away."

Toby's fear filled eyes turned back to yours, asking for more explanation. This time, Geralt took over.

"Bandits. We don't know why they had her, but from the looks of it, they didn't hurt her."

You bit your tongue. At least not physically.

Toby nodded and patted down his daughter's hair. "Thank the gods you got there in time."

You looked back to the woods and tapped the knife hidden on your wrist. If you had left any later, or not gone to this small village with Jaskier and Geralt, this little girl may not be alive. You never believed in fate, but something inside you was saying that this wasn't chance.

You blinked away the thought when Toby grabbed your hand, placing a coin pouch in your palm.

"Here. It's the least I could do."

You frowned at the pouch in your hand. It was light, hardly enough to feed the two people in front of you for a couple of days, much less a week. Despite the lack of coin in the pouch, it began to weigh your hand down, so much so that you pushed your hand back out towards him. "We don't need it." You were surprised to not hear so much of a groan from the bard or witcher beside you.

Toby frowned, his eyes still glazed over from the tears that fell. "What do you mean?"

"We found coin at the camp she was being held. Enough to hold us over." You shifted under his gaze; he wasn't convinced. Stretching your hand further towards him, you lifted your eyebrows and nodded, "Really. It's fine."