and so cried the witcher

Sassanra moved to push away from the counter, only to freeze when Geralt's hand wrapped around her upper arm. Her head whipped upward so that she could look at Geralt. She was confused by his question and it was evident on her features as she gave a small 'uhhuh'. She couldn't not answer him. His gaze pierced through her and she straightened slightly, a warmth coming to her that she wasn't sure how to even comprehend. Princesses did not marry for love, they married for allegiance and power and very little else. She had been calm at first but then Geralt was saying he might be able to show her some techniques. Her eyes grew as big as saucers as her jaw opened. She leaned toward him, unable to stop her smile even if she had wanted to. "Really?" The princess wasn't one that was used to being told no from those below her but her father had always been a hard figure to please. Her mother tried to be more kind but there was only so much she could do with her husband nearby. "I promise. I will not eat anything before you check it and I'll get stronger." Sassanra gave a firm nod of her head because as far as she was concerned, it was a promise to Geralt that she didn't intend on breaking.

Looking to Geralt's hand, Sassanra hesitated to for a moment before she took his help in standing. She leaned against him, just as she had on their venture downstairs. Her hand tightened around his hand as they moved, not wanting to deny her the simple pleasure of holding his hand. After all, she needed help to get up the stairs. She was too weak to do it on her own and she knew that she could trust Geralt. There was nothing to indicate that she shouldn't.

It was only once they had managed to reach the top of the stairs that Sassanra realized just how badly her legs were shaking. She bit into her bottom lip, swaying slightly as she grabbed his arm with her free hand. Her fingers were bruising as they tightened, trying to keep herself close to him so that she wouldn't fall and hurt herself. If she got hurt, there was no telling how long it would take for her to heal.

Sassanra's face formed a determined look as they took another step forward. Each one was harder than the last but she refused to voice that - she didn't want to appear any weaker than she already was. Once they reached her room, Sassanra was all too eager to drop herself down onto the bed. "Wait!" Sassanra called, afraid that Geralt was going to leave her alone. "Um... what about when I'm sleeping? We... don't know who's at fault yet."

Geralt kept a strong grip on the princess as they slowly moved up the stairs to her bedroom. Geralt looked down at the stairs as if they were an enemy, wondering whose bright idea it was to keep a sickly princess locked up in a tower? What if she ever started to choke or seize from the poison? No one would know until it was to late. He held his arm around her waist, making sure no matter how shaky her legs seemed to get, or how slowly she had to move up the stairs, he would make sure that she wouldn't fall.

Once they reached the top step, Geralt reached out to push her bedroom door open. He could feel how excited Sassanra was getting the closer she got to her bed, and before he could even help her into it, she dropped down on it herself and pulled herself into the sheets. The princess didn't even give the witcher a chance to help her straight the covers out before she yelled for him to wait. He raised an eyebrow, looking down at her a bit confused; he wasn't going anywhere.

Her question seemed to hit a nerve that Geralt had already been nursing. Just on the steps he had been worried about something happening to her all alone up here. "I will be sleeping outside your door as guard." He spoke it quickly, almost as if he knew he was going to do it before she even asked. Geralt would protect her until she could protect herself, or so he intended.

@ castle.

Sassanra wanted to ask Geralt to stay. To sit by her bed so they could continue to talk, so that she could ask him about his travels but she wasn't so sure that Geralt welcomed her questions. She didn't want to put him off, particularly when he had saved her life. That was all it came down to really, wasn't it? Was it too much? She was trying to debate whether it was too much to ask of him. He'd already given so much so why would she start to demand more? She wondered if Geralt would feel some sort of obligation because she was a princess. The thought was jarring to her because she didn't want to take advantage of the man who had undoubtedly saved her life.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Sassanra looked up to Geralt. The look on his face was so brief that Sassanra was left wondering if she had just imagined the sort of sadness that she had thought she had seen. Witchers, they weren't supposed to feel emotions. Surely she had been. "You... don't.. have to, I mean. But you could stay inside of here. That way you won't be lonely and.. neither will I," Sassanra added, her lips twitching upward.

"Besides, what if someone tries to sneak through the window?" Sassanra quipped, looking every bit as triumphant as she felt because she thought she had thought of something that could help her sway Geralt to stay in her room.

Geralt frowned, not out of annoyance or lost patience, but because he couldn't accept Sassanra's invitation if he wanted to. "Sassanra..." He held her hand, though he wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort himself, or her. "I can't stay in your room overnight." That was all he could say, not wanting to go into more detail. If anyone noticed him staying in her room overnight, he feared the rumors they would try to spread about him. The last thing he needed was someone to accuse him of laying with the princess.

He hated seeing the way her face fell, the deafening silence as she didn't even have try to argue him, "but if it may cheer you up, I could stay until you fall asleep?" He sighed, hoping he would be able to leave the room before the sun completely disappeared below the horizon. Geralt grabbed a chair from the small table in her room, pulling it over to the side of the bed, knowing he would most likely have to drag it out of the room and sleep on it for the next unforeseeable time frame. He hoped it was at least comfortable.

Sitting down on the chair, Geralt crossed his arms tightly over his chest and tried to relax, though it was hard for him to while knew where he was. He didn't even believe he would be able to fall asleep, especially just sitting out in the hall outside of her bedroom door, soldiers pacing back and forth in front of him... He already felt his anxiety rising, and truthfully, part of him couldn't wait until he was no longer stuck inside of these castle walls. Looking back over to Sassanra, he frowned, feeling something tugging at his heart. The witcher also knew it would be heard to leave her.

@ castle.

She felt her excitement do an immediate nosedive when Geralt denied staying in the room overnight. Sassanra knew that her offer had been a bit preposterous but she thought she had had at least a chance in convincing him to stay but he'd shot it down before he even seemed to think about it. Her face fell as she lowered her gaze to her lap, beginning to fiddle with her hands. She was all too quickly reminded of who she was. A princess in a home where she didn't feel like she belonged but her lineage would keep her here. There was no leaving, no matter how much she may have wanted to.

Sassanra shrugged her shoulders at Geralt's offer to stay until she fell asleep because, despite his offer, all she could bring herself to focus on was the sigh that he let out the moment his offer had finished being spoken. She cleared her throat, deciding that it was best to not get too used to Geralt's presence. He wasn't here to be her baby sitter and it wasn't fair to put so much weight on his shoulders. He was here to help her to get better. Not anything else.

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have asked in the first place," Sassanra forced her voice to remain strong despite how disappointed she felt. Geralt was the first visitor that she had seen in so long, she had thought she would face her death soon, just a few short hours ago. She was only attached because he'd changed her reality. Sassanra huffed, gritting her forced before she forced herself to smile. She had to be kind, she couldn't let Geralt think she was upset with him. That wouldn't be the least bit fair.

"You should see if you can find a maid. I'm not sure what they would be capable of but you might at least be able to get something more comfortable than a chair or floor to rest outside of my door," Sassanra added as gently as she could convince herself "If you want to, of course."

Geralt ignored Sassanra when he she told him he didn't have to stay. He could sense the disappoint in the way she spoke, the way her voice slightly trembled before she coughed and cleared her throat. He may be a master at disguising his own feelings, but it was also rather easy to read other people's. After being taught to push his down and ignore them, it had become so much more obvious how normal people wore theirs on their sleeve.

"I've slept in far worse than a chair, don't worry about me." He smiled for only a second, showing his canines to the girl before his lips straightened back out, his arms bulging as he laid them over his chest. "Would you like to hear more stories? Would that help you fall asleep faster?" Geralt wanted to help her to sleep as quickly as he could, knowing she had to be exhausted. He couldn't get up and leave this room, leaving her alone to deal with her own thoughts. He would make sure she was sound asleep before he left to the hall.

He let out a gentle breath, already beginning to rack his brain for stories that might interest her, but not too much... He didn't want to excite her into staying awake. "Would you like to hear of what a real curse can do you too?" He sat up in the chair and rested his hands on his knees, "Or will that frighten you? I don't intend to give you nightmares."

@ castle.

"But you don't have to," Sassanra pointed out with a huff. She didn't understand why Geralt was so against the idea of asking for a bit of comfort. It was being offered and she was sure if Geralt just went to find a maid, that the maid wouldn't object. Certainly not if Geralt mentioned that it was under Sassanra's urging. She wasn't her father by any stretch of the imagination but the maids knew better because her father didn't take too kindly to being told 'no'. If a maid thought they could say no to Sassanra, it was only one short step away from telling the king himself no.

Sassanra wanted to demand Geralt leave. It would be better that way, wouldn't it? She opened her mouth to do just that but she couldn't bring herself to. It felt like some sort of betrayal that she didn't want to be part of. "Please," Sassanra relinquished after a moment, settling into her blankets. She twisted and turned while she tried to get comfortable, eventually settling down with the blankets pulled up to her chest.

"Would a curse be... worse than what I dealt with?" Sassanra asked. Sure, there were tales that she had heard of but she didn't know how true they were. She was almost positive that whatever Geralt had to say would hold more truth than the fairytales she'd been told as a young girl. She dropped her gaze, her voice coming out as barely above a whisper as she spoke this time. "I'm just happy that I wasn't losing my mind like some feared I was."

"Much worse." Geralt nodded, watching the princess's silhouette as she buried herself deeper under the covers. Moonlight trickled in through the windows of her room, the large circular one opposite of where he was sitting illuminated the room while also casting large shadows over the bed. He stood on his feet
and moved crossed the room, grabbing the thick, purple curtains in his hand and slowly pulling them close together.

The room was completely filled with darkness now.

"I once saved a princess who had been cursed. I saved her from a crumbled palace, after fighting her long into the wee hours of the night. Her body had been twisted and contorted, transforming into a wolf like beast, but not to be confused with a werewolf. She had no relief from this bodily prison, until I was able to break the curse." Geralt moved back to the bed, letting his hand glide across the smooth fabric before he sat back down again. "A curse usually will change your body and mind, until you're nothing left of your former self."

Geralt wasn't trying to say Sassanra was lucky, by any means. She was still bring tortured, but by an outside source. One he hoped to find soon.

@ castle.

Sassanra's eyes widened at Geralt's verdict. Her eyes followed him as he crossed the room and she couldn't help the small smile that graced her features when he pulled the curtain shut. She listened intently to his story, her shock more than evident as he spoke about the horrid fate that the princess had suffered. Hers had been terrible, there was no room for argument but Sassanra thought it was preferable to being turned into a beast. "The princess is lucky that you saved her life. Just as I am," Sassanra added lowly.

Her trip down the stairs had tired her out, Sassanra couldn't even begin to deny it. Sassanra yawned, rubbing her eyes. She was sure if she shut them, she could drift off within a few short moments but she didn't know how long she would have Geralt around. She wanted to soak up his company as much as she could, while he was still around the castle. "What happened to her castle? Her family? Did they just abandon her or did she..." Sassanra trailed off, not wanting to say the words because they didn't seem right. It didn't seem fair to say that the princess killed her family because while it may have been the truth, it wasn't because the princess had done it of her own free will.

Nodding at Geralt's answer to her question, it wasn't long before Sassanra started to drift off to sleep with her blankets wrapped tightly around her.

"The crumbled castle she lived in had been abandoned by her family long before she was alive. They had taken her there, to act as sort of a cage." Geralt frowned, folding his arms over his torso again, but loosely this time. He felt more relaxed in Sassanra's room, knowing no one else was inside and the hall outside her bedroom looked like it barely saw people passing by. "Her father had been the person to call on me for help." A witcher's story always starts with someone paying him some coin. A witcher's tales never started with, I saved this person out of the kindness of my heart from a.... Geralt scowled, looking away as he asked himself why he even cared either way?

Grinding his teeth together, he turned his head back towards the princess's bed, "But it was a happy ever after story, I believe she may be a Queen by now or something..." The witcher grumbled, his voice was low and coming out of his mouth just a bit slower, lazier. Fatigue was starting to catch up with him, his eyelids were feeling heavy and he found it harder to keep them open.

After a few minutes, Geralt caught himself falling asleep and quickly had to jerk himself awake. "Sassanra?" He whispered, but once she didn't answer, he knew she was fast asleep. Geralt rose to his feet and stretched his back out, feeling it pop in a few places. "Goodnight princess..." He whispered, calling her by her title for the first time before he slipped out through her bedroom door.

@ castle.

Sassanra had vivid dreams that night, her mind giving into her desires. She wanted a life outside of these walls, she wanted to travel. She wanted to learn and to experience things that she never had before, that no princess had before. In her dreams, she had accompanied Geralt to the next city. Her father had asked Geralt to accompany her because she was to marry the prince of a neighboring kingdom and he would meet her in the nearby city before returning home - the prince's father had been ill. Her freedom had been short-lived in her dream but at least she'd a taste of what it might be like.

When she awoke in the morning, Sassanra felt more rested than she had in as far as she could possibly remember. She actually felt as if she had a bit of energy, like she may be able to venture out of her bed on her own. That thought in mind, Sassanra groaned as she pushed the blanket off of her. She sat up and stretched, wondering what time it could be. She pushed to her feet and started toward her wardrobe. She didn't think that she could draw a bath herself so she would ask a maid to accompany her back up the stairs but she thought she was well enough to have breakfast with her family.

Breakfast wasn't in any way an occasion to dress up but it had been so long since she had the chance to put on one that she didn't think it would hurt too much. Pulling out her personal favourite, Sassanra took a bit longer than she would have preferred to pull the dress on. Once she was satisfied, Sassanra brushed out her hair and opted to leave it down before she started for her door. She took a deep breathe, wondering if she would - or could - impress a certain witcher. But would it matter? As soon as he finished his task here, he would be gone.

The chair Geralt slept in was pushed up against the wall to the left of the princess's door. His head was tilted back, resting against the stone wall, his arms loosely laying over his chest. His legs were stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles and he was snoring, just slightly. The sound of the turning door knob startled him awake, shooting upright and mumbling something incoherent as he looked around, the witcher finally looked towards the door and blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"Good morning." He grumbled, stretching out his shoulders and back as he stood up from the rickety chair. "How did you sleep?" Geralt's glowing eyes roamed over the princess, noticing just how bright her face seemed to be. Her eyes weren't as shadowed or sunken in and her lips weren't pale anymore, the baby pink color had returned to them. It was also apparent that she had the energy to dress herself, the day dress she was wearing suited her much better than the slips she had been wearing for comfort. "You look much better." Geralt didn't mean it in a negative way, just that it looked like life had returned to her face.

He ran a hand over his messy hair, feeling a few tangles as his hand glided down the back of his head. "Dressed for breakfast? I'm sure that will be a nice surprise for you family." A smile appeared on his face for only a second, before it was replaced with an annoyed look. A nice surprise for all but her father, Geralt thought to himself as he picked up the chair and placed it back inside of Sassanra's room. "Let me accompany you down." He motioned to the stairs, intending to follow the princess to the dining hall.

@ castle.

“Morning,” Sassanra greeted Geralt gently. It was evident that he haddn’t rested well and it sent a surge of guilt through her. She was the reason. If she didn’t have someone actively trying to assassinate her, then she wouldn’t need a Witcher guarding the door to her room. “Good. I rested well, real well... for the first time in ages. I actually feel rested,” Sassanra added softly. She wanted so badly to reach out and hug Geralt, to thank him but she felt like that was perhaps pushing the boundaries a bit further than she should. So she didn’t. Instead she looked down to her dress, reaching out to smooth out the skirt of her dress when he complimented her.

Looking back up to him, Sassanra gave him a little grin. “Thank you. It’s a bit fancier than maybe breakfast calls for but I’ve been holed up in that room, eating the same boring soup for so long that I thought I could indulge a bit,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Sassafras’s felt a need to defend her decision to wear the dress because she could practically already hear her mother berating her for wearing something so fancy to something that was intended to be a bit more casual in nature.

Sassafras’s couldn’t help but frown with the annoyed look that passed over Geralt’s features but she figured it was best not to ask. They were out in the open, there was no telling where prying ears would be.

“Thank you,” Sassanra replied when Geralt offered to join her. She knew it was because he would want to check anything she tried to eat but it was still right to thank him. Clearing her throat as she started down the stairs, Sassanra paused at the bottom as she waited for Geralt. When he joined her, Sassanra started off in the direction of the feast hall. Her face broke into a wide grin when she stepped through the doors and her mother gasped audibly, even from here.Her mother pushed to her feet and scurried forward, dragging Sassanra into a tight hug.

“What’re you doing out of bed? You look so... healthy!” Her mother beamed and Sassanra couldn’t help but match her enthusiasm. She opened her mouth to answer before remembering that Geralt thought it best not to mention to anyone until he figured out a bit more information. She paused and cleared her throat, starting to walk forward with her arm linked through her mother’s. “Geralt found a potion that has helped to restore some of my energy,” she answered after a moment, her gaze flicking over to the Witcher. Had her excuse been good enough to please him?

Geralt stepped off to the side quickly when Sassanra's mother jumped from the table and all but ran over to her daughter. Geralt narrowed his eyes, for a second wondering if the theatrical response her mother had was just a front to make her look innocent. At the moment, the witcher couldn't rule out anyone even if he thought he knew who was to blame. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest when the princess mentioned some magical potion, the exact opposite of poison. He grunted under his breath and just shook his head, but for a second, maybe there was a little smile.

"A potion?" Her mother looked over her shoulder at the white-haired witcher, sitting back down in her seat at the table. "What were you able to concoct that not even our best healers could?" The princess's mother seemed grateful, but at the same time, offended.

The witcher stepped forward, only stopping when he stood right next to the table, propping his elbow up the empty chair next to him. "Your mages weren't trained at Kaer Morhen, now where they, your highness?" It was the rudest he could come across without being thrown out on his ass. "They didn't think to use eyebright."

It was a good thing witchers were trained in potion making. However, a human could never use a witcher's potion, it would kill them instantly. Almost every ingredient a witcher uses in his potions are extremely poisonous to mortals. Geralt cleared his throat, letting his eyes move away from Sassanra's mother, to her left where the king sat. He looked somewhat agitated.

"Why the sour look, king?" Geralt questioned, pulling the chair out from the table and sitting down.

The king looked forward to Geralt and grimaced, "Do you have any actual answers? Do you know what's happening to her? Or are you just going to mask it with potions?" He spat every word out like it was disgusting to taste.

Forcing himself to bite down on his tongue, the witcher looked away from the king before answering, "Almost. I know what's happening, but I don't know why, or who." He would keep any further information than that to himself for the time being, knowing if the king suspected that Geralt was on to him, he would be tossed out of the kingdom before he could even try to run.

@ castle.

Sassanra stiffened slightly when her mother questioned the story that she had come up with no thinking at all. She was suddenly worried that she would see right through it but then Geralt was covering up for the two of them. She breathed a small sigh of relief, nudging her mother with a little grin. "I feel better than I have in months. It was a good idea on the healer's part to bring Geralt in. Even if he is not able to sort it out completely, I am able to have some energy. That is far better than I was, even this time yesterday. I owe him my thanks," Sassanra spoke, her gaze lingering on Geralt for longer than it probably should have at that. She had meant every word, deeper than most would realize it because she knew that Geralt had figured out the culprit behind her so-called disease.

Just as she sat in her chair and smoothed out her skirt, Geralt was addressing her father. Sassanra wasn't one to speak up during such a time but she owed Geralt her life - she didn't like the way that her father was talking to him. Almost before she could even stop long enough to speak, Sassanra was speaking up to defend Geralt.

"Geralt has managed to find a potion that makes so that I can at least get out of bed on my own... I managed to dress, on my own today. Without him here, I would still be laid up in my chambers. When was the last time I was able to join you for a meal?" Sassanra countered, keeping her voice as pleasant as she could because she knew that she was already stepping out of line for speaking out of turn in such an unpleasant way. But she didn't find it in herself to care. Geralt had saved her, it was only fair to repay him.

Sassanra started to reach out for a slice of bread and she moved to start spreading jam on it, only for Geralt's warning to run through her mind. She exhaled slowly before looking toward Geralt, unsure of what she was supposed to do here. He didn't want to tell anyone until he figured out more but wouldn't him smelling her food make it more than obvious that something more was going on?

Geralt looked across the table at Sassanra, surprised she would speak against her father in such a manner. For a moment he was worried how her father would react, but he just seemed to clench his fists and glare at his daughter. Odd, but Geralt didn't question it. He shook his head slightly, hoping her father wouldn't notice how the young princess was beginning to feel towards the witcher. He was starting to see it himself and it worried him, knowing this affair wouldn't end very nicely when the truth came out. They would never see each other again.

He continued to stare at the young princess, watching as she reached forward and picked up a slice of bread and cautiously grabbed a butter knife and picked up some jam on it. "I hope you won't mind if I join you for breakfast?" Geralt looked towards the king again, glaring as he reached across the table and plucked a piece of the bread from the loaf, before picking up his own butter knife and beginning to spread jam across it.

The king just motioned to the food, as if giving Geralt hadn't already given himself permission. He lifted the bread to his mouth and let it linger in front of his lips for a moment, before he took a bite, nodding to the princess that it was safe to eat. Relaxing back in his chair, he let an arm rest gently on the arm of the chair, finishing the rest of the bread slowly.

The demeanor at the table had shifted, every person becoming tense and quiet. No one wanted to have breakfast with a witcher, Geralt was aware of that, but he was here for Sassanra. If it weren't for the princess, he wouldn't be bothering the royal family at all, this was the last place he wanted to be. He turned his head to look out the window, staring down at the court yard, wondering for a moment how Roach was doing out in the stables.

He hoped Sassanra would finish her breakfast and not linger on it, but he was sure that she would want to spend time with her family. There was no way the witcher would leave the princess alone with her father, though. He couldn't, he knew the king was who he had to protect her from.

@ castle.

Sassanra nearly faltered under the heat of her father’s gaze. She knew that she had angered him but thankfully he didn’t say a thing. She was sure that it was because her mother had already been so excited that she had been able to join them. The king wouldn’t want to upset her because who knew when the next time that Sassanra felt well enough to travel down the stairs would be. She briefly wondered but she felt secure at the moment. At least while Geralt was here, she was sure that she was safe.

She didn’t quite look at the Witcher when he reached for a piece of bread and jam but she noticed the subtle nod that he gave. The food she had picked was safe to eat. Sassanra was only able to eat two slices before she found that she was full but that wasn’t surprising to her. It had been so long since she was able to eat anything of substance that it would take a long while yet before she was able to eat a substantial meal.

Sensing the tension in the room, Sassanra felt desperate to escape. She cleared her throat, taking a sip of her water before she started to push her chair back. She didn’t look at Geralt, figuring that she would leave the decision entirely up to him. “It’s been so long since I was able to do anything. I think I’m going to go walk through the gardens. Surely fresh air and sunlight will be good for me,’ she declared as she pushed to her feet. Sassanra had no way of knowing how long she would be able to walk but anything to get away from this brewing tension.

Geralt looked over to her father, watching as his hand tensed around the knife he was holding when the princess spoke about going to walk through the gardens. Something was definitely off, her father didn't seem pleased in the slightest. His daughter that he apparently, so desperately, wanted better, was better and he looked more annoyed than anything. Geralt cocked his head to the side and forced himself to look away before the king noticed him staring.

He scooted his chair back, not caring to be discreet as the chair screeched across the floor. He tossed the last half of his bread back on the clean plate that had been sitting in front of him, before he headed for the exit, waiting for Sassanra to meet him. The princess didn't seem to need help at the moment, and if she could walk on her own, he wanted her to do it. He would be there to help if she needed him to.

Giving the king and queen a last look over his shoulder, he pushed the door open and led the princess from the dinner hall. "Well, your mother seemed enthusiastic to see you." Geralt raised one of his brows as he looked down at the young girl, hoping she would understand what he was hinting at. He was hoping he could get her to come to the realization about her father on her own, without him having to speak it. It would be a hard pill for her to swallow if she couldn't see the anger that had been all over her father's face.

@ castle.

Sassanra could only bring herself to give a pained smile at Geralt’s mention of her mother. It was true, her mother had been excited to see her but they had always been close. Her mother had never been cold toward her, simply had tried to raise a proper lady. It was the duty of a queen, after all. Sassanra’s duty was to one day become queen. There was no escaping that, as far as she knew. She didn’t think that there was any point in truly entertaining the thought. Freedom was just a day dream that she would never get to properly experience herself. She was okay with that. Or at the very least, she would have to be because there wasn’t really an alternative option.

“Father wasn’t,” Sassanra pointed out. SHe kept her voice as cool as she could because she didn’t like the idea that her father wasn’t happy with her, or her recovery, but it wasn’t something that she could really shake. It had become rather clear, over the course of the breakfast, that her father was annoyed with her presence. That perhaps there was more to it. It took several seconds before the thought sunk in but when it did, Sassanra’s movements stopped as she stood still, staring straight ahead as her eyes widened. She opened her mouth and closed it, several times over.

The new mage... the timing... Sassanra let out a strangled noise, one that she didn’t even know what to call. Was it close to a sob or was it an angry growl? She felt her cheeks heating up as her thoughts turned far more concrete than she would have ever wanted them to be. There was no way... not her father... but all the evidence pointed in that direction.

“Geralt,” Sassanra uttered his name. She spun to face him suddenly, stepping closer to him. When she spoke again, her voice was barely loud enough to be considered a whisper. “You need to leave. It’s not... it’s not good for you to be here. I will gather you some coin then you need to go,” she said, nodding her head firmly. THe thought didn’t sit well with her but if her suspicions were correct, it truly wasn’t safe to Geralt to be here. He had already saved her, he didn’t owe her anything else. And she wouldn’t ask him for more.