Chapter Text
Geralt races out of the forest. He makes promises and excuses as he tries to get out of there as quickly as possible. He promises that it’s taken care of, even if he’s not quite sure that’s the truth. All he knows is that he needs to leave, and quickly.
Roach is anxious when he can finally get to her and he can do nothing to soothe her as he saddles her. The only time he slows down is when he ties the lute case onto her saddle. He’d found it a few feet away and he’d placed the instrument carefully inside before his mad dash to get back into town.
After she’s fully saddled and ready it’s only a matter of leading her out and mounting before he’s off and clicking her into a gallop. He knows later he’ll have to apologize and give her more carrots and sugar than is strictly healthy for her, but she’ll deserve it after this. They ride hard, Geralt only pausing to dismount so he can lead her in the dark.
He needs to get to Yen’s, immediately.
Jaskier had been left alone for almost six months now and the thought made Geralt’s skin crawl. Who knows what had happened in that time? Hell who knew how long it would appear to him? He doesn’t exactly know when he’d woken up after the incident, one of Lambert’s bombs his ass, but it hadn’t seemed like a full day had passed. At least he hoped so.
And of course the incident of his waking gave him questions. The others hadn’t remembered Jaskier either, and hadn't seemed to know him. Lambert had even griped about finding the singer of Toss a Coin, but no mention of knowing their identity. Surely they had just forgotten as well. Surely he hadn’t been the only one. He couldn’t be.
When Roach can not go any longer he stops them for a rest. His mind continues to race, running and jumping from conclusion to conclusion. What if they had known? What if they’d just been hiding it? Why would they hide it? What if-
A portal flares to life next to him and he jumps, a hand immediately closing on the hilt of his swords, but Yen steps out. Geralt doesn’t relax. She eyes him up and down before sniffing. “Do you remember too?”
Geralt nods once, watching her wearily as she lets out a long breath. “Then you have a lot of explaining to do. Come.” She turns and disappears through the portal. Geralt eyes it for a moment before whistling and leading Roach through the portal. The other side is not Yen’s house like he’d expected. Yen has taken them back to Kaer Morhen.
Vesemir and his brothers are already gathered, even the Cat is there. Ciri is too, but she looks much too tired to know what’s going on, half-asleep and resting on the bags of his fellows.
“Geralt.” Vesemir greets him, eyes wandering over him to take in every detail. Every Witcher seems to do the same, eyes looking over him critically and if he weren’t so exhausted he might shift under the attention.
“Vesemir.”
His instructor huffs. Next to him Lambert rolls his eyes, “Okay, we’ve said hi. Now cut to the fucking chase. What the fuck happened in winter? I was in the middle of a hunt when I realised I fucking know who sings that damned coin song, and-”
Aiden nudges him sharply, making Lambert hiss and flinch as he clutches at his ribs. “What he meant is that we want to know where the fox went last year and why the Witch showed up and was not the Witch we’d spent a good chunk of the winter with. Not only that, what the hell happened? I wake up from meditation with a name on my lips and memories that I did not have before. I’m looking for some sort of explanation.”
Eskel clears his throat, “I had the same happen to me.”
“And me.” Yen cuts in.
“Me as well.” Vesemir ends, the look in his eyes changing as he turns away, “But the courtyard is not the place to discuss such matters. Come inside.”
Vesemir gently rouses Ciri, leading her away and leaving the others to grab their bags. Yen huffs but follows Vesemir inside while giving Geralt a look.
Lambert watches them leave before he turns back to Geralt, mouth open to no doubt make an inappropriate comment. Aiden elbows his none too gently and uses Lambert’s surprise to spin him and push him towards the bags. “Yell at your brother later. It may be Summer but this place is still freezing at night and I want to go in. Get moving.”
Lambert glares and rolls his eyes at the Cat, but obediently heads in without a word, making Geralt and Eskel raise eyebrows at the pleased cat. When Aiden saw their looks he gave them a sly smile and turned to follow Lambert in.
When the footsteps of the other faded away Eskel turned to Geralt and the two stared at each other for a long moment.
“So the Bard…” Eskel trails off, looking out of his depth before he shakes his head, “The fae… The Cat was right?”
Geralt huffs, “Not really, but-”
“Get in here you two! We don’t have all night!”
Geralt looked into the Keep and then back to Eskel. Eskel nodded and turned, grabbing his own bags before looking back at Geralt. “I trust you Geralt.” Eskel turned back in just as another shout for them reached outside.
Geralt watched Eskel go before sighing and turning to Roach. He sighed and led her to the stables, making sure she had plenty of grain and water before he took her saddle off. When he grabbed his own bags he noticed the lute case and picked it up to take with him.
Entering the Keep in the summer was odd. It was oddly quiet. No sounds of falling snow or fire crackling. There was no loud scurrying from mice. It feels empty. Geralt pushes the door to the dining hall open and is immediately focused on by everyone in the room.
Ciri is absent, probably put to bed as he gathered his things. Geralt sets his bags down, knowing he won’t be allowed to put them away. He takes the lute from the pile and brings it forward. All eyes are on him as he brings it forward and places it down on the table.
There is a long stretch of silence.
“So,” Vesemir starts, “We all remember another version of last year's winter?”
Geralt grunts, his fellows giving nods. Yen shakes her head. “I only remember getting here, opening the dining room door and then nothing else beyond being me back in my workshop with a summons from Vesemir appearing that says Geralt got caught in a bomb blast and had hit his head.”
“I remember sending the letter, where I was before I can’t recall.” Vesemir chimes in, eyes narrowed.
“I remember being in the dining room, looking for Geralt and then waking up in the dining room and panicking because Geralt wouldn’t wake up.” Lambert adds, shrugging as Aiden leans on him. “Me too.”
Eskel swallows before replying. “I was training with Ciri. We heard a bang and we came running.”
Vesemir hums, “Different times. We remember different times.”
“Forget about the different times. Forget about us.” Lambert interrupts Vesemir as he turns back to Geralt. “Where the fuck did you go? You were gone when we got in here.”
Geralt sighs. “So Yennefer wasn’t Yennefer.”
“Obviously.” Aiden scoffed.
Geralt gave him a look but continued. “Jaskier’s Lady-”
“Lady?” Yennefer asked, and Geralt sighed.
“Queen. They all call her their Lady, but she’s their queen. She was disguised as you.” Geralt nods at Yen. “She surprised us, we ended up beyond the veil before we could do anything. She was talking to Jaskier about him bringing me back-”
“So Jaskier was playing us the whole time?” Lambert cut in, looking smug.
Geralt shook his head. “No. He had no clue-”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Lambert shut up.” Yennefer cut in, shaking her head before motioning Geralt to continue.
“She kept talking about words having consequences and how he should have known better. Then we were dragged into a cell.” Geralt goes silent, remembering that first night, he closes his eyes. “I said some things and the next day Jaskier was pulled out and I didn’t see him. When he got back he was in pain, but I wouldn’t talk to him. He promised to get me out. Next morning we were brought back out and he was given a choice.”
“What choice?” Vesemir asks.
“He could kill me and rejoin his siblings. Or he let me go and he had to stay as a slave.” The room is dead silent.
“So let me get this straight. The fae you trusted, and let into the Keep was going to kill you so he could rejoin his gentry?”
“He got me out.” Geralt protested.
“Because he felt guilty. Win-win. You were free. He got to stay.”
Geralt nearly growled in frustration. “As a slave! That’s no-”
“Boys!” Yennefer snapped, glaring at the both of them. “Settle down.”
Lambert and Geralt huffed but didn’t say another word to each other.
“What I want to know is why we all remember. That’s the important part here.” Yennefer said, looking between them all. Geralt bit back a retort and cleared his throat. “I think I know.” He reached forward and pulled out the lute, setting it carefully down on the table. “I found this.”
“Jaskier’s lute?” Yennefer asked, eyes narrowed at it.
Geralt nodded. “I found it and said Dandelion. After that-”
“Why did you say dandelion?”
Geralt looked at Vesemir and tried to find an answer before shaking his head. “I felt like I had to-”
“Where were you? How did you find it?” Vesemir prods further, eyes focused on Geralt.
Geralt sighs. “I was near Lettenhove-”
“Didn’t Jaskier say that’s where he was from?”
Geralt glared at the Cat and Lambert nudged him in the ribs. The Cat raised a hand from the table in mock surrender before looking to Geralt expectantly.
“I had been having problems. I kept stopping, freezing every time I got somewhere. It was random. I’d just black out and then wake up with no memory as to what I was doing. The trigger seemed random. The only common link was dandelions. I was on my way to Yennefer’s to figure it out.”
“What did you think it was?” Yennefer asks, eyes narrowed where they’re focused on the lute.
“A curse.” Geralt answers, waiting for Yen to say something but she only nods. He continues slowly. “I was just passing through when I was begged to stop.”
“Begged?” Vesemir asks. Geralt holds down his frustration and nods.
“Begged. They were desperate. Asked me to check out the woods, kept talking about weird noises and everyone who wandered in-”
“Didn’t come back?”
“Can I fucking finish the story?” Geralt sniped back. Lambert settled back.
“They’d come back.” Geralt gave Lambert a look. “But they didn’t remember having gone in. I wasn’t going to stop, but I needed the coin and I thought it’d be kids fooling around in the woods or just some old legend. But it wasn’t. I couldn’t get anything from anyone in the town and I went in alone.”
“Fucking dumb.” Geralt gave Lambert another look.
“At first there wasn’t anything. Then I found the dandelions.”
“Flowers?” Aiden scoffed. “Why are flowers important?”
“Jaskier can be translated into dandelion depending on which town you’re from.” Yen cut in, giving the Cat an unimpressed look before motioning for Geralt to continue.
“They were perfect, unnatural, and I didn’t black out at the sight. So I followed them. It was like I had to. I couldn’t escape from it. I was being pulled and I started finding things on the way there, all of them-”
“Were Jaskier’s?” Yennefer asks.
Geralt nods. “His perfume, his clothes, a journal or two. They all lead into this field and this tree. There was nothing else, it was odd. And I couldn’t help feeling like I was missing something. And I approached the tree and it started moving. The roots moved away and-” Geralt motioned to the lute on the table. “There was this.”
There was a snort from far down the table and Geralt sighed internally.
“A tree? A fucking tree showed you the lute?” Lambert choked out a laugh. “Fucking brilliant. Trusting fae and now this.” Geralt glared at Lambert and opened his mouth to retort-
“The lute?”
Geralt stops and nod’s at Yen’s question. Yen hums and picks up the lute carefully, her hand glowing purple as she waved a hand over it. She narrowed her eyes at it before sneering and placing it back down.
“Yen?” Geralt asked, eyes moving between her and the lute as she shook her head.
“It was a trap.”
“What?” he asked incredulously. “Yen there was nothing there. Just-”
“A tree and dandelions. I know, you’ve said that,” she tapped a string before pulling back, “but this was a trap.”
Geralt bit down an insult as Vesemir leaned forward. “What kind of trap?” He inquired, fingers ghosting over the strings without plucking them.
Yen scoffed, “If I’d have known I’d have said it. I don’t. Probably a basic trapping, just something to keep one stuck.”
“So a trap that wouldn’t work on a Witcher.” Eskel asked, eyes on the lute.
“Exactly.” Yennefer agrees with him, before she waves a hand over it again. “Though I’d hate to think about it...“ She trails off and looks at Geralt before sighing, “This was set up with the intent to capture. Jaskier did this.”
Geralt swallowed roughly as all eyes turned to him, Lambert giving him an expectant look when his silence stretched. “He wouldn’t.” It was weak, even to his own ears and it made Lambert scoff.
“He wouldn’t? The same fae that didn’t tell us his Queen had infiltrated? The same fae that obviously had the ability to turn back and said nothing? The fae who traveled with you for twenty years and was obviously only gaining information?” Lambert’s voice raises with every question until he’s vibrating with anger and yelling. “Such a prime example of his trustworthiness! Why don’t we just invite a Succubus up to the Keep next year? At least we’d fucking know what they’re here for!”
“Lambert!” Vesemir snapped at his youngest. Lambert stopped, eyes seeking out Geralt’s own. Geralt only stared at him before shaking his head.
“He wouldn’t.” Geralt said again, anger rising. “He wouldn’t. And you want to know how I know?” Geralt fumbled at the tie to the left shoulder of his armor. “I fucking know because-” Geralt hissed as he pulled the buckle too tight and it snapped. “I fucking know because this…” Geralt trailed off as the scar was revealed, massive and all encompassing, right over his heart, spanning down to his elbow, “is the wound he spent three months patching up in some back-road-” Geralt spit, “shit-town where he was almost killed because I didn’t fucking pay attention and rest when he asked me to.”
The room is dead silent.
“So yes. I do. Twenty years he has been at my side. Twenty years where he travelled with me despite all the shit I did to him. Eighteen of those he spent singing praises. Sixteen of them he would see me at my most vulnerable.” Geralt pauses, eyes closed as he shakes his head. “Twelve of them he followed me after I abandoned him to deal with Calanthe’s wrath. Six of them he well fucking knew the path to Kaer Morhen and said nothing, Lambert.” Geralt gave his brother a pointed look. “Jaskier had plenty of chances. He took none of them. Did he even go into the library if one of us wasn’t with him?”
Vesemir hums, eyes closing in thought while the rest of the Witchers move uneasily.
“Even if he didn’t-” Yen starts, almost reluctant, “he still set up a trap. Even if it wasn’t meant for you, he obviously meant to catch someone.”
Geralt shakes his head. “The town-Lettenhove, no one-”
“Did they go in that far?” Vesemir cuts in.
“Wha- none of them-”
“None of them remember?” Vesemir sighs, disappointed. Geralt’s heart sinks. “Why would none of them remember? Think about it, Geralt.”
“It’s only going-”
“Geralt!” Lambert interrupts. “Stop it! You know we’re right! The fae was a fucking liar like they all are, now-”
“Fae can’t lie.” Geralt tries, but he only watches Vesemir shake his head.
“Old stories lad, and we’ve seen plenty to disprove any of that.”
Geralt looks to Eskel. “Eskel-”
Eskel shakes his head.
“Yen-”
“The magic doesn’t lie Geralt.”
Geralt looks at Lambert and the Cat but both of them shake their heads.
Geralt scoffed and turned away, suddenly feeling too suffocated and he’s in the courtyard before he can even blink. When he reaches the top of the training wall he’s choking on his breath like he’s been drowning.
The yell from behind him is not unexpected and he yells something back, not even hearing the words as he hears the creak of old wood and Vesemir cursing.
~~~~~~
Vesemir watches Geralt storm out with a sigh and shake of his head.
Eskel looks lost and he begins to move forward, stopped by Vesemir standing. “I’ll talk to him.”
Eskel lets him go with a nod as he turns back to talk to the Sorceress, most likely asking about the trap. Eskel had always excelled in magic, far beyond his brothers and Vesemir knows he’s fascinated by whatever the damned Bard could have done.
Stepping into the courtyard he knows exactly where Geralt is. It had been his favorite spot to go when he was upset as a trainee and Vesemir’s sure it hasn’t changed. “Geralt!”
“Fuck off!”
It hasn’t changed. Vesemir hums and begins the course. Getting up there is always a challenge, but Vesemir takes it in stride and curses the whole way up. At the top Geralt isn’t looking at him, turned away and somber.
“He wouldn’t Vesemir. You didn’t see him there.” Geralt shook his head, gritting his teeth as he continued staring ahead.
Vesemir holds back a sigh and tries reasoning. “We don’t know that Geralt. You don’t know that. Can you honestly tell me the Bard wasn’t in it to trick us? To get information?”
Geralt stays silent, staring into the dark.
Vesemir puts a hand on Geralt’s shoulder and gives him a fond squeeze.
“Get back on the path in the morning. I’ll make breakfast before you go.”
Geralt doesn’t reply and Vesemir sighs before turning to make his way back down.
~~~~~~
Her laughter fills the room as she watches the Witcher storm off.
Her pet stays silent and she looks down at him.
“Flower, aren’t you happy? He remembers you.” She runs her hands through his hair, watching for any tremors or flinches. There’s nothing. Dandelion stays perfectly still and quiet, a perfect pet, as she knew he would be.
She looks back up, eyes watching the swirling water and the image it shows. The Witcher would not be gaining aid from his fellows. His white hair glows in the moonlight as he paces, back and forth, back and forth on the walls of his home.
His breath does not fog the air, but she can tell he is breathing hard and his pace quickens.
There is a yell and the Witcher stops, looking over the wall before snarling something out and continuing his pacing. When the other white haired Witcher joins him she rolls her eyes and lets the water calm, the image fading.
“A lost cause then Flower. So sorry.”
When there is still no reply or motion she scoffs and stands with a roll of her eyes. “Put it away. I’ve no use for a monster tonight.”
~~~~~~
Jaskier watches his lady leave, keeping himself still and complacent as his siblings drag him to his prison for the night. When they push him in he steps forward before going back to his knees. They scoff and laugh behind him before leaving. As soon as they are gone he stands and makes his way to the bare bed.
He curls on it and settles himself as comfortably as he can. His Lady had been kind today, almost. Showing him the Witchers had been cruel, but that one Witcher had true named him, knowingly, so Jaskier feels like he should have expected it. And he had, at least he’d expected the hatred he would see.
He hadn’t heard words, he learned in the beginning that listening when he shouldn’t be would only bring him pain so he’s selective now. All he had seen was the anger on the faces of the Witcher’s he’d shared a Keep with. And it’s understandable, completely. He’d brought a monster into their Keep. It’s his fault.
Hopefully they hadn’t realized what they could achieve by true naming him, who knows what they would do? It’s better that Jaskier’s stuck here. It’s better that none of them can reach him. He deserves this, though he’s not saying he wouldn’t accept any punishment the Witchers and Sorceress might give to him.
His death would even be justified, deserved. If they asked for it, and they could. With how much debt Jaskier has accumulated over twenty years he deserves whatever price they would demand him pay. Every inn room, every song, every story, every healing, every bite of bread, every day, and night. Jaskier’s debt is massive. And if the Witchers should decide to call him he’ll accept it.
His mistakes are his own and everything is paid eventually, oh. Jaskier’s mind stops. Oh, she had wanted him to know they knew. She wanted him to know they remembered and had seen past her trick. She wanted him to know that they would be looking for repayment and that she could do nothing. That’s why she’d given him the night alone. A special treat before he was forced to repay whatever price will be demanded of him.
She’s so sweet. His Lady is always so calm, so thoughtful. Were she not his queen Jaskier would owe her a lot more than he could ever pay. At least she’ll never demand a price from him.
Small mercies. Jaskier sighs and exhales. His mind feels tired and he allows it to drift. He blinks and everything suddenly feels distant.
Tomorrow is another day.