If life could give me one blessing...

The light is still there - part 3

"Lambert! I am done with my training," he heard Ciri's excited voice before he even saw her, as she ran into his lab hair plastered to her forehead with sweat and cheeks red.

"And what am I supposed to do about it?" he teased her, as he took off his gloves and leaned on the table behind him. He saw the frown forming between her eyebrows and it was a struggle to keep a straight face.

"You promised, that you would take me to see Jaskier after I was done," she stomped her leg for a good measure and he lifted his eyebrows, even though the corner of his mouth was twitching upwards.

"Did I? Really? I remember promising to take Ciri, not some wild smelly witcher cub," he drawled slowly, lifting a finger to his chin in thought.

"You are terrible," she groaned, her face even redder now.

"Thanks," he smirked.

"But for real. Go take a quick bath and I'll meet you at his room. You smell like Geralt, except the onion," he said and she opened her mouth to protest, before sniffing herself and leaving begrudgingly. He chuckled before taking the freshly made salve and leaving the lab headed for the bard's room.

When he entered, the bard was awake, staring at the ceiling again. He sighed and shuffled the stool to the end of the bed, before lifting the blanket and checking the feet. They were healing nicely, and the bard didn't even need the gauze at this point, only having to rub the salve in twice a day.

"It's healing nicely," Lambert said as he put the new salve on before covering the feet again. They didn't need the bard to catch a cold, even though Lambert didn't know, if that was even a possibility for unicorns in human bodies.

"Hmm," hummed the bard and Lambert turned at him with surprise to find out that Jaskier was watching him. His gaze was still hazy, but for the first time since he woke up, Lambert felt like he was at least a little bit present. Huh.

"Ciri is coming to see you," he said, watching the bard's eyes open a little more, a flash of alertness appearing and he felt his heart speeding up a little.

"She shouldn't see me like this," he said and Lambert couldn't believe his ears, because what was that sentence if not a sign of care?

"She already saw you. She sneaked into your room before when you were asleep," he said, watching the bard close his eyes and take a deep breath.

"Did something happen today?" he couldn't help asking and waited until those blue eyes were looking at him again. They were looking at him!

"Letho came," said the bard and Lambert felt a little confused.

"What?" he looked at the bard with furrowed eyes and couldn't help when he saw a slightly sad expression take its place on the bard's face. It was... weird after so long of him looking like a statue.

"We talked a little," the bard admitted, but Lambert still couldn't imagine what talk would warrant this kind of change. He knew well enough that his talking apparently didn't help at all. He tilted his head and the bard seemed to understand.

"He said that Geralt is a dumb asshole and that the fortress smells of his guilt," the bard said, a tiny smile forming on his lips. It was a bitter thing, but Lambert has never seen something more amazing in his life. He guessed he would have to thank the viper.

"Well, he was right about that. I have never met a more dense witcher than Geralt," he agreed, but before he could add anything more, the door opened and Ciri looked inside.

"Hello?" she greeted, before coming inside, eyes wide and cautious. Lambert felt his heart squeeze again as he stood up, so she had a place to sit, but he felt a hand on his thigh, as Jaskier shook his head, made him sit down again, and he smiled at the former princess.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, my lady," he greeted her and patted the bed next to himself. It only took a few seconds, before Ciri's eyes watered and she rand to the bed sitting on it, taking Jaskier's hand.

"You're so thin and pale," she said, as her lip trembled and the bard closed his eyes.

"That's okay. It's going to be all right, remember? Right now, we are struggling, but the light is still there, even if you cannot see it," he said painfully optimistic for someone laying in their death bed. And if the words sounded a bit insincere and the smile on the bard's face didn't really reach his eyes, Lambert didn't plan on mentioning it. Who was he to sadden Ciri by his observations, when the bard finally seemed to care a little again?