Monastery (Part 1)

"Shall we stop here? This place is rather famous among the traveling people." - said a young man in his early twenties to the coachman who was steering a cart absentmindedly. Turning his head sideways, he was engrossed in some deep thought. - "Hey, Yohir! Get your years out of the gutter, will ya?"

"Ah? Oh. What did you say?" - a man slow on the uptake showed meager response on his cloudy face devoid of complicated thoughts.

"For Eternal Flame, can't you hear me clearly? I said to drive there." - a young man waved in direction of the meadow that was hidden behind a row of trees but had a tricky road to approach it. - "See? I told you here will be that resting place for merchants and it seems only a small party took it so far. Did you hear that? There is even a small river nearby. I decided we will stay here for the night."

With a command of a young man, several carts of goods descended to the meadow and were placed in a protective perimeter. While merchants were traveling, common sense taught them many tricks of survival, especially in such unstable times like today.

War songs and calls for arms were ringing in the ears of every northerner. The smell of conflict and the tingling sensation of bloody skirmishes covered the lands. Any able man and woman can understand one simple truth. Soon the black-armored invaders will knock on their doors.

"Prepare the food, I will go say hello to our neighbors." - the young man moved to the other side of a meadow with a jug of wine. It was a custom of sorts to welcome fellow travelers on the Path.

The Path is ruthless and unforgiving, so it was an unspoken rule to treat fellow travelers with respect and help them if necessary. One won't decline the request for help if he or she wants to receive the helping hand in the day of need.

Naturally greeting the others is but one of many courtesies of the merchants.

He came up to the duo, who were sitting near the campfire.

"Greetings milady, master. Turhip at your service. As custom requires, I came to request your permission to stay, as the ones who took the camping place first." - the young man bowed slightly, as he could at least tell that the woman was of lofty status. Even while sitting and not doing anything, her aura alone made the young merchant nervous.

His eyes ran through the duo and noticed two swords behind the back of a man.

'Witcher? Now that is a rare sight.'

"We are but two people. This meadow can accommodate many more." - came a pleasant voice and woman removed the hood, showing perfect face to the world. Her lilac eyes gave an electrifying look to the man.

"S-So beautiful..." - the merchant said enthralled by her appearance. His face went in all shades of red, stopping and glowing crimson straight from the neck. - "I... I'm sorry for my... hic..."

"Hey, boss, how long are you going to stay there?" - someone from the crew screamed on top of his lungs.

Alan watched that and sighed. It was not a good idea to make so much noise on the route between Carreras and Ellander. Nowadays this quite place became rowdy with thugs and Scoia'taels. And if they could negotiate with the former using money, then later killed people without mercy.

"Yeah! Wow!" - the kid of no more than eight ran to Alan and stared at his swords. - "You have a sword and it is big! Are you a knight? Why do you need two swords? Why is that sword black, is it dirty? It is not good! You need to take care of swords properly, yeah!"

"I'm not a knight." - simply said Alan and continued cleaning the blades. He didn't do it often before, because using magic was better, but now that he can't do it, Alan found this simple menial task calming and even helpful. He got used to the swords even more these several weeks of travel with Yen.

"How can you not be a knight? My father has a sword, and he is a knight. He said that knight wields swords!"

"I am a witcher."

"Witcher, smitcher..." - grumbled the boy while pouting. - "Is it better than a knight? I don't think so. My father is powerful."

"Guri! Don't talk about unnecessary things! I'm sorry for his behavior. The boy is young and stupid. Don't take it to heart, master witcher. He doesn't know what he is saying."

"He is just a kid, let him be." - said Alan with a slight smile.

"I'm not a kid, I will be a knight one day, just like my father!" - the kid pouted even more and ran to the campsite. Alan watched him snatch apples from the cart with a gleeful smile.

Meanwhile, a young man was smitten by Yennefer and tried all ways possible to get to know her name, which she dodged splendidly with a smirk. She took pleasure in playing mind games with others.

"Why do you need two swords?" - the boy couldn't help it. His curiosity went through the roof.

"Guri, master witcher is a monster hunter. They use silver sword against monsters and steel one... is for humans." - hurriedly clarified Turhip.

"They both are for monsters."

"Yes, yes, of course. As they say, some humans are worse than monsters."

"No, both swords really are for monsters. Some monsters are weaker to iron than they are to silver."

"Really?" - Turhip wasn't convinced as the common knowledge said otherwise. But it was a witcher himself who told this. There was no argument to present in front of such firsthand information.

"But we don't use silver swords in a fight with others, only monsters. That is true, too. Yennefer, the food is ready. Wine?"

"If it is your collection, I will never decline." - a small smile adorned her gorgeous face. She elegantly summoned a cup and inclined it at a perfect angle.

"This... she is a witch! A witch!" - a hand of an old man came crushing down like a flood, smacking the head of a young guy as huge and stupid as a buffalo.

"Shut up, idiot! What witch? Sorceress! She is a sorceress, ya understand, youngling! Wacha ya do screaming like a little girly! Stop shaming us. Magicians are not bad folks, okay. Who stood at Sodden to protect us? I say, toast milady for the victory, yeah!"

"Imma just saying, old man! Stop hitting me! Ouch!"

"Go toast, I said! Unfilial youngling! Your mother should have smacked ya arse more often, yeah!"

Alan watched the drama from the side with rapt attention. Rarely in this world, you will find such a live performance. After years here, he understood why people were so expectant of any bards and musicians.

Let alone TV and internet, they didn't even have a theater in every large city. In general, density of the local population was very low. So even a little village can be considered a town by the local standards.

Alan sometimes was really bored and now he enjoyed even this rare display of emotions. He suddenly came to understand Geralt a little. The part of him that can tolerate Jaskier. The latter was a real troublemaker alright, but to tell the truth, he was also one hell of a showman.

There was no boring minute with him around.

So Alan decided. Next time when they met, he won't kick his ass outright. He will wait for at least a couple of minutes and see how it goes.

"Your wine." - Alan poured some into her cup and got one for himself too. - "We should be near?"

"Half a day, but the night is coming." - said Yennefer in a slightly annoyed voice and looked at Alan with a clear gaze. - "Ha, so much trouble. It was hard for me with Ciri, but you are on a different level."

Alan said nothing, only took a sip from his goblet. He knew she will elaborate. She always does.

"You have so much power. Raw, untamed, yet in your hand surprisingly docile. But your weight parameter in the spacial portal equation is through the roof! Do you even know how much power I need to keep the World Road from collapsing while you are around? We can't use portals to travel with you at all!"

"You could have gone first and wait for me with Ciri."

"I could have." - she said with her elegant eyebrow twitching. Alan knew that it really irritated her.

"Thank you, that you didn't." - he said and noticed her eyebrow relax. Even corners of her eyes were slightly uplifted. It was the only sign that she smiled.

"Hmpf. At least your wine is good." - Yen said calmly.

After several weeks of travel with Yennefer, Alan found she was nothing like rumors portrayed her to be. Cold, yes, but only on the outside. In some sense, they both were similar. She was a very affectionate woman deep down, but many times close people hurt her and betrayed her.

Her sarcasm, coldness, and indifference were only a shield. A way to protect her inner heart from being hurt again. And a way to mask the fear of it she felt deep within.

Some called her unprincipled, but Alan knew that she had a very strict principle, albeit only one. She will protect the closest people no matter the means and costs. If she needs to condemn a town to slaughter to save Ciri, she will.

And Yen won't even hesitate. Her flaw wasn't a cold heart. It was an overly affectionate one.

Alan glanced at the perfect profile of a woman, sitting near him in an elegant pose while swirling wine inside her goblet. She was deep in thought. He contemplated asking but decided not to. Yen didn't like to be interrupted at such moments, although she never showed it to him, always staying surprisingly patient.

Just as they were ready to continue the conversation, a sound of hurried hoof steps brought them back.

"One rider. He should be a messenger." - noticed Alan and looked at the road through the line of trees.

Yen nodded silently, but her gaze locked on the road too.

Not long later a horse came running at top speed.

"Poor horse, it is done for. No more than a couple of miles and it will die from exhaustion." - commented someone from the caravan.

"Hey, look! Look at the guy! He is like a porcupine! His back is full of arrows!"