Novigrad (Part 3)

"Miss Laux-Antille I presume? My name is Alan, the witcher. A pleasure to make you acquaintance." - Alan bowed slightly in an obvious display of noble etiquette.

"A charming young man with talents and manners. What a sight nowadays." - answered darkness while transforming into a cat with the size of a palm. It shifted through space and landed on his shoulder.

Alan never tried to resist, as he didn't feel any ill will from the sorceress.

"The pleasure is mine. What brought you here to my humble abode?" - Rita transformed again and flapped a two pair of feather wings to fly around his head. Darkness fluctuated constantly, yet brought a rare sense of beauty. While looking at it Alan felt a strange emotion of closeness and relaxation.

It wasn't magic, more like inner intuition told him he could afford to loosen some constraints in her company.

"I need your magical services." - with that, he took out a figurine of an elven woman in tight clothing of a wandering mage. She held her hands in a protective posture as if prepared to guard against incoming attacks.

"Oh, artifact compression? That is simple." - darkness landed and became a woman. This time a genuine one.

She was breathtaking.

Golden hair fell across her back in a slightly wavy manner and entangled with a simple but elegant blue dress. She had a straight nose and sensual lips that looked enticing on her perfect face. But what attracted Alan the most were her eyes colored like a clear sky. She looked at him with a slight smile that seemed too pure to be there on the face of a sorceress as old as she was.

"Like what you see?" - she asked while slightly tilting her head to the side and giving him a charming smile.

That smile was unique because her lateral incisors were slightly longer than one would expect from a human. Still, that gave her smile an aura of primal wildness and a seductive vibe that was hard to resist.

"Indeed. You are a rare beauty. And a rare memory to be." - although Alan was young, he never belonged to the drooling youths. So his answer was too bland to the taste of the sorceress. Bland to the point of sparking competitiveness and fire of intrigue.

She was a proud woman and had a certain level of arrogance due to her looks.

"So..." - she said with a seductive voice and sat on the edge of the little outdoor table, crossing her legs, that showed all attractive curves of well-developed muscles. - "You want me to help the girl? That will cost you."

Alan ran through all her visage with his eyes and felt nothing. Somehow her beauty gave him a somber feeling of a threat and not intoxicating desire to push her down here and now. Yes, she exuded tremendous magic pressure.

She was deadly dangerous.

Margarita stood up and came closer to him. Alan didn't move away. It was unnecessary. He just waited for her to state the price. Or to take the payment directly.

And she did, leaning closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"A rather cheap price, if you ask me. You want something so trivial?" - he stopped her right when the tips of their noses touched. Her breath was hot and fragrant, she smelled like mild jasmine.

"You are quite a catch, Alan. Yes, I know who you are. Yen spoke highly of you. Unexpectedly. But in one thing you are right, a night of pleasure is not what I want from you." - she stepped back and smiled warmly. This time her facial features were less aggressive and seductive, but more genuine. - "At least for now. But one day... who knows?"

She laughed and sat on the stool that materialized with a wave of her elegant hand. With another, she created the second one as an obvious invitation for Alan to take a sit.

"I was about to go out to find you or your companion myself." - she said while brewing tea.

Alan took the teacup from her hands silently under the appreciative gaze. She liked men able to listen properly.

"There is a place I have to go and as you can guess I'm in a severe need of a person with your expertise."

"Can you be more specific?" - the tea taste was the one to remember and sweet. Too sweet for his taste. He knew she noticed his preference after the first sip and remained silent. The next cup was different. It was sour and strong, just like he liked it.

"There is no need for now, as this place is far away. In Toussaint." - she suddenly chuckled, outlining the beauty of her sensual lips that shone with an attractive luster under the sun. - "Yes, don't make such a face. It is far away and I don't need you there immediately. After all, there are many things to do for me here, in Novigrad and Temeria. In a year, my dear. In a year I would like for you to come back here and we will depart. It will at most take five jumps through portals and a week at most there if everything will go well."

"You ask for a lot. Why can't I pay you with money or something else?"

"Because you want to save her, no? And I won't agree to anything less."

"Miss Laux-Antille, I can find another sorceress or sorcerer."

"That where you wrong. Albeit artifact compression is a rather well-known spell, few mages can solve and do it. Here in Novigrad I'm the only one." - Rita played with a cup using her index finger. Even this slight motion was full of charm in its unique way.

She could have lied. But she didn't. Alan knew she told the truth.

"Fine. I promise you. In a year I will be here again. Can you decompress her now?"

"Easy." - Rita stood up.

Alan expected to see some casting, but what he felt was a tremendous influx of mana from all around. It came like a tidal wave, lasted for a fraction of a second, and went into the figurine.

In a blink of an eye, a simple stone statue became the otherworldly beautiful girl in her twenties that immediately reacted to the environment and threw a spell in front of her. She was still dizzy and delusional after being transformed and thought enemies were all around.

Alan reacted even faster than Margarita. He learned to do that hard way. The hand raised in a protective gesture and created a frontal shield that met a sharp jet of water. The impact sent a ripple through the barrier that forced magical water to flow down on the ground.

It was red. Like blood.

The elven woman shifted backward and only after blinking several times her vision cleared enough to take in the surroundings. She stood on the spot, blinked again as if misunderstanding something or someone. Finally, the roaming gaze of her mesmerizing eyes glued to a familiar figure of a youth... no, he grew and matured, becoming a man.

He was just like she remembered, exuding the same charm and warmth that was hidden under the veil of tranquility and indifference.

She remembered all the fear that lingered in her heart and teared up, breathing out heavily.

"We finally meet again, Alan." - her voice sounded low.

"I'm thrilled for your reunion, but can you leave my home, darlings? I have enough of this drama for today." - Rita sat on the chair and took the cup again, looking at the two with a bored look. - "Don't forget your promise, darling. I'm eagerly awaiting our reunion." - she smiled at Alan with so much hidden lust and seductive intent, that the witcher felt shivers run down his spine.

'That woman is dangerous.'

"Let's leave. I want to know how you even ended up in that form? Didn't you go to Gwendeith years ago?" - Alan leaned on the wall near the entrance, taking a glance at the girl. Still the same perfect look and silky straight hair that can attract envy from both men and women alike.

He marveled at her beauty even more because during travels he saw no small number of elven women.

And he concluded that the girl in front of him won over them all with ease.

"I did. But eventually stayed in Vergen as a simple herbalist. I lived quietly there until my former employer found about my whereabouts and sent people to... retrieve his lost asset." - she said hanging her head low. All the while she was clenching the hems of her skirt.

It wasn't nervousness.

No.

She was sad and insecure. She was afraid.

Alan sighed and patted her head like he used to do with Ciri and even earlier with Fleur. He didn't know what to say and found her story rather trivial compared to the regular shit that the world can give out to people daily.

Still, that insignificant gesture was the final straw of a terrified girl. She leaned further and hugged him tightly.

"I still don't understand you. Why do you act like that in front of me? Why do you trust me?" - he said, reciprocating her hug. - "And make your answer truthful. I don't like lies. It is hard to pretend not to notice that someone has lied to me."

She sighed and tightened the hug, finding peace here and now. He smelled nice. Not the faint smell of steel, blood, and medicines. It was just outward senses, no. The smell of his aura and magic, his pure mana... it was a calming smell of velvet and pine forest. It felt like a long lost home.

"I was the one who controlled sparnox in Dillingen. And I saw you through that connection."

She expected reproach and anger. Even aggression was within her calculations.

But not silence. Just tranquil silence and stillness with no movement and same even heartbeat.

"Say something. Don't ignore me."

"Is it necessary? I mean words." - he finally said.

She raised her head and looked into his unusual eyes. They were not smiling, neither they were sad. But there was this trace of neutrality. The neutrality that forgives and didn't take to heart many things, unless pointed as vital for him.

And her act during the war had nothing to do with him. At least he never blamed her.

"No. I guess not." - Naevis said in an indistinct voice that was strangely attractive and rested her head on his chest again. - "A bit more. Just let me be like that a tiny bit more. Please."

He said nothing again, but this time Naevis felt right.

He was right.

There was no need for words.