Kyana Of Cintra

39

Geralt spoke whimsically, clearly not understanding the weight of his price.

"No! What have you done, Witcher!" Calanthe cried out in horror. Geralt smiled gently.

"Fear not, Your Majesty, if I am seen in your kingdom again, it'll be to kill a real monster, not lay claim to a crop or a new pup. Destiny can go fu-" In that second, Pavetta was sick. Kyana's eyes went wide as she stared at Pavetta, who's hand went to her stomach.

"Pavetta! Are you?" Calanthe asked gently. Pavetta, Calanthe and Duny all stared at Geralt.

"Ah fuck." Was all he could respond with, before storming out as best as he could with Kyana leaning at his side. Kyana lifted her dress slightly in an attempt to make her walking easier, but his pace was too much for her, and she ended up putting weight on her broken leg to keep up. Neither registered that they were followed by Mouseack. Geralt ripped his sword away from a chair, carrying it by his side. Mouseack tried to talk to him to make him see sense.

"Clearly the girl has access to immense primal power." he tried to reason. Geralt sighed.

"Yeah, and with no idea how to control it." Mouseack could see Geralt had clearly already made up his mind, yet he hoped he would be able to bend his will. Mouseack had decided to remain at the castle to help Pavetta control her powers, something Kyana was in admiration of. 

"I'm gonna stay. Guide her." He rubbed his hands together at the thought of a new task, something actually useful. For years Mouseack had floated around with no real purpose, no job to do or a task to complete. Guiding Pavetta felt like the best choice for him.

"You're a good man, Mouseack." Geralt said, a small grin playing at his features. He knew Kyana would go back on occasion to be with her family, but he had no intention of returning. When he claimed the Law of Surprise, he expected a some bread or accommodation, not a literal child.

"You should stay too. Kyana, this is your niece." Kyana nodded, having weighed her decisions.

"I know, Mouseack, but I've been missing for the entirety of Pavetta's life, and most of Calanthe's. It's a miracle they were this welcoming; it will take a while to reform a bond, and that bond is better formed without me breathing down their necks." Mouseack nodded sadly, but he understood.

"This has been enough partying for me. I'm getting out of here." Geralt's voice was gentle, but firm in his statement. Having known Geralt's stubbornness for quite some time, Kyana knew he wouldn't change his mind on this matter any time soon.  

"You're bound to this now, Geralt. Whether you like it or not." Mouseack stated, drawing closer to Geralt and Kyana. He hoped shock factor would help him plead his case, yet Geralt was so afraid of losing control through the idea of destiny, it only made him more certain.

"I'm not for changing. You know me better than that." Geralt's smile was slowly dripping from his face. He had made up his mind, anyone trying to change it now was just annoying. 

"Yes, I do, but you can't outrun destiny just because you're terrified of it. It's coming, Geralt. Not believing won't change that." Mouseack insisted. Geralt, as well as Kyana, was afraid of losing control of his life, which destiny would do. He refused to believe in destiny as a way of coping and controlling his life. Geralt scoffed. 

"Bullshit. This was just a girl using her magic to stop her mother from gutting her lover. Nothing more." Geralt frowned, explaining it in the simplest ways possible for Mouseack clearly wasn't simple enough. 

"So you say. But the bond that will come into being between you and this child when it is born, will be extraordinary. If you dismiss it, leave without claiming this child surprise, you will surely unleash true calamity upon us all." Mouseack pointed his finger into the room where Pavetta lay ill on the floor. 

"I'll take that chance." Geralt huffed, a small grin forming. "True words are rare birds in courts like this. Watch for daggers in your back. They're more likely poison." Geralt placed a hand on Mouseack's shoulder. "Be careful, old friend." He said lightly, before grasping Kyana tightly and leading her slowly out of the room, then the castle all together. 

TWO WEEKS LATER

Calanthe wrote joyfully to Kyana to tell her about Pavetta and Duny. Kyana held the letter with happiness, devouring each line. Calanthe wrote that the doctor was keeping an eye on Pavetta, as her morning sickness got worse every passing day, but she was healthy.

"Geralt, come here!" She called gently. Geralt looked up from sharpening his sword, noticing the small smile on her face. Placing the sword down, he walked over to her, wiping his hands in a rag. Over the past few weeks, Kyana had been reading endlessly in an attempt to busy herself while her leg healed. It was still bandaged and sometimes painful if she moved on it incorrectly, but it had nearly healed, thanks to the potions Geralt had brewed.

"What is it?" His voice was always much deeper than Kyana could memorize, especially when all was quiet. They were out near the forests trying to catch a 'sea demon' that had been terrorizing the lake, which they had just killed. Jaskier was downstairs in the tavern, singing and drinking, while the Witchers enjoyed their temporary lodgings. They had purchased one single room and two conjoined rooms, which was a bed on either side, separated by a screen.

"It's Pavetta, she's healthy and happy, the baby seems to be healthy, although the doctor can't really tell. They have yet to decide on a name for the baby, but they tell me Serana is being considered." Kyana told him, her happiness seeping over every feature of her face.

Geralt took his time in admiring how she looked. So light and joyous while the moonlight painted her into a black and white portrait. "I'm glad that she is healthy and so is the baby." Kyana nodded, folding the letter and placing it on the writing desk.

"Come and sit with me." Kyana pulled up the second wooden chair next to hers, the wood scraping on the floor. He did as she said, his huge frame balancing precariously on the small chair. Geralt looked expectantly at her, his forearms leaning against his parted knees. "You seem troubled. What's wrong?"

He sighed, his head tilting towards the letter laying innocently on the desk. He saw the seal of Cintra, his conscious worsening and screaming at him for leaving his Child of Surprise.

"Do you think I made the wrong decision?" Kyana gave him a questioning look. "About the child of surprise? Do you think I should have stayed?" Kyana gave him a small smile, shuffling closer to him and leaning off of her chair.

"Geralt, if you could, would you have children?" Geralt shook his head immediately, no hesitance need be taken.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because this life is in no way good enough for a child. All this killing and deceit." Kyana placed a comforting hand on his forearm, her soft but worn hands a vast comparison to his scarred and hard skin.

"Then no, I don't think you did. You were trying to help them, you didn't want a reward, that's why you claimed the Law of Surprise, something you wouldn't have to take." Kyana's thumb traced small lines back and forth on his skin, small but present tingles emerging where she trailed. "You have the best intentions for that child, Geralt. You know if he or she came with us, if we had stayed, trouble would be there wherever they turned. We're the Witchers now. I think you did the right thing."

Geralt marvelled her, he really did. How was someone who was torn away from her family because she was a bastard at 14, had gone through the cruelest of training to enter an even worse life, be so kind?

His head slumped downwards onto her knees, eyes closed in tiredness. "We lead a downright tedious life, don't we." He stated, his voice conveying how warn out he was.

Kyana smiled, running a brush through her hair and separating some knotted strands. "Unfortunately, we do. But I wouldn't have it any other way."