Geraskier Oneshots

Kingdom AU!The End of Boredom (Part One)

Jaskier had dealt with boredom all his life.  His overly serious parents kept him on a leash so tight that sometimes it felt more like a noose.  Yet this was a new sort.

His father had begun to make him sit in on court meetings, votings, even executions (which were horrible, and Jaskier always fled during the actual beheading, but the earlier proceedings were interesting enough); he said they would help him to be a better monarch, to teach him to rule his own kingdom.  

But Jaskier didn't want to be king.  He wanted to learn music, to ride fast and fight and fall in love.  He didn't want to marry a princess; marriage was far too serious, and princess's were all prudes, boring and frivolous, not interested in anything interesting; they wanted love and power and riches and all those boring things, and nothing interesting like philosophy or fine arts or anything along those lines...  silly girls.  Jaskier had grown so tired of silly girls.  He wondered if perhaps he was broken; there was no connection to any of the princess's he'd met, nothing above petty attraction, based on looks alone.  He dreaded marriage, and dreaded being tied down.

That was, until he met the knight.

He was stuck in meetings all day, this time without his father, or mother for that matter.  This was a meeting involving areas they didn't normally get to see; the dungeon guards, castle farmers, a lot of botanists and animal handlers.  They wanted a pay raise, and it was up to him to decide.  Jaskier assumed his father didn't care enough about this to come himself, so he was to make the decisions.  If his father was angry with his choice, he'd simply shoot back the "this will teach you to be a king" bullshit his father spewed at him all the time.  

Since there were so many groups here he rarely interacted with, there were a lot of new faces.  Many of them even had their own guards.  

There was a particular one that caught Jaskier's eye, however.  He was tall, and didn't look weighed down by the heavy armor, which meant he was muscular...  which wasn't out of character with knights, but Jaskier thought he knew all the knights?  His hair was stark white, contrasting with the silver and red of his suit.  He seemed to be focused on the groups pleading their cases...  but Jaskier knew the look of boredom far too well.  His spine was sloped, his spear held loosely, in a way that suggested the lulling of the mind.

The man must have felt his stare, for he turned his head. 

Jaskier almost gasped.

He was the sort of beauty you only hear about, ethereal and almost false.  His eyes were...  there was no way he was processing the color correctly.  They were golden, the color of a cat's, or freshly reaped wheat.  He was gorgeous, chiseled features that threw him into perpetual shadow.

Jaskier felt drawn to him.  He was close enough Jaskier could have spoke to him, but since he was still looking, he held up a finger and twitched it back, gesturing for him to come forward.  

You would think someone in a full-body suit made of solid metal would be jangling, loud and slamming the floor, but the man was near-silent.  This further elucidated the cat-like qualities.  

He stopped very near to Jaskier.  The prince looked around, made sure everyone was focused on the court itself, then leaned close to the man's ear, so close they were almost touching.  "Who are you?  I've never seen you before,"

The man returned the whispered conversation.  His breath tickled Jaskier's side.  "My name is Geralt of Rivia.  I was knighted after being a guard for a long time, your highness, since I was born,"

Jaskier shivered a little at his voice; low and gruff, like a growl.  He didn't seem like a loud sort of man, but if he were, he could certainly make people cower.  "Why have I never seen you?"

"Like I said, your Highness, I wasn't knighted until very recently.  I've been serving smaller areas until today, for lesser nobility.  Today it was decided I was well enough to come into your throne room,"

"Hmm," muttered Jaskier.  "Well, if I'm entirely honest, I have no clue what's happening...  do you know, Geralt?"

The knight smirked slightly.  "I'm just here to keep you safe, your highness,"

Jaskier chuckled.  "And you weren't paying attention.  Don't worry, I wasn't either," he sighed.  "I think I'm going to just give them their pay, no?"

"Would you like my opinion, Highness?"  Asked Geralt.

"Oh, yes, very much," Jaskier's eyes widened.  He hadn't expected this.  "I am truly tired of people walking on eggshells around me.  I would like to hear whatever opinion you have, no matter how caustic.  I don't even care if it's about this silly case, just tell me something interesting," 

Geralt laughed.  "I think they should be paid more.  They do a lot of work for what little they earn,"

"Hmm...  I agree," he pushed himself to his feet.  "Alright.  C'mon,"

"What, you're going now?"  The knight hurried after him.  "Are you sure?"

"Yes, that's what I was leaning towards anyways," the Prince sighed, and slid through the crowd blocking his way.  No one had realized who he was until he made it through the circle of workers, then the bowing started.  He refrained from rolling his eyes. 

"Your highness!  Shall we-" the mousy advisor who clung to the King's coattails squeaked.

"No need, Mortimer,"  Jaskier held a hand up.  "I have already come to a decision,"

"Oh?  Are you sure-" said he, doubtfully.

Again, Jaskier cut him off.  "Quite.  I've decided to give the needed money, taken from any surplus we have this year,"

"Are you sure your father wi-" 

"I am completely sure.  Do not question me," The prince drew himself to his full height (which wasn't very tall), and used his most commanding voice.  The ratty man cowered, his already-large suit bunching around him.  

There was a flurry of thank-you's, that Jaskier was unable to respond to.  He was beginning to become overwhelmed when he felt a chain-gloved hand grip his own.

"Your highness, you're needed elsewhere immediately," said Geralt, dragging him away without any confirmation.  

The doors were pulled open, and the second they shut, they were off running, sprinting down the hallways and down staircases to a part of the castle Jaskier didn't recognize.  He was tired, but in a good way, his crown falling off.  Geralt pulled it from his head and handed it to a maid, yelling directions to bring it back to his room.  If this were anyone else, Jaskier would have had them imprisoned, but since it was Geralt he just laughed.  

Geralt lead him down, through a small kitchen, and out a small woven door.  "Come on, I have something to show you."

General Authors Note

Please let me know if I have made any mistakes in this story, grammatical or otherwise. There is a human being behind this keyboard, and like everyone, she makes mistakes. Please feel free to criticize, but all I ask is that it be polite and constructive.

Woo, two chapters in two days?  Who am I?

Anyway, I NEVER thought I would like this AU but I'm actually having so much fun writing this.  Sorry for the cliffhanger but I promise the next chapter will be fun.  

Love you all, and stay safe until next time!