Chapter 24:

And hence one master-passion in the breast, Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest. - Alexander Pope

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A Few Days Later:

Current Year: 1259

I had spent a few of my days sulking a little bit. Getting over the grief of all your loved ones dying was going to take some time. Whenever I had the chance, I would try to sleep as much as I can. I did not want to be awake for any longer than I must. Call me what you want, but I was not taking their deaths well. I frequently skipped out on meals and was silent for most of the time, not that I would have wanted to talk anyway. I was mainly just focused on trying to heal and hide my sadness by staring out the window with a dreary gaze.

In other news, I had healed up rather nicely if I do say so myself. My arm felt a lot better and my chest no longer hurt whenever I breathed. Over the past few days, I asked mousesack to bring me some alchemy materials in order to make some witcher potions for myself. He brought me some dwarven spirit, celandine, drowner brains, ribleaf and nekker hearts. A few hours ago, I was able to use these ingredients to make myself some White raffard's decoction and some Swallow. It's true what they say, witcher potions certainly are disgusting, but I've been healed up very nicely. Mousesack was proving to be a rather understanding and kind master, so far. Although, I haven't actually learned anything from him yet.

Speaking of Mousesack, he was very disappointed to hear about the true story regarding his mother. It's understandable, considering that he befriended the people who did the deed. Korin and Visenna didn't exactly mean to do it, but that's not a very good excuse for killing one's kin. He was sad to hear the news, but he is already quite an old and wise man. He didn't break down crying or anything like that.

Ciri had also made a point to visit me a few times while I was healing up. She was a tad bit annoying as a seven year old, but I enjoyed her company. The few times she was able to sneak away from her lessons to see me, that is. I generally didn't want to talk to anyone, but Ciri has this way of getting what she wants. She just annoys everyone constantly until they finally cave in. Mousesack got a little frustrated that Ciri kept trying to skimp out on her lessons. As her tutor, it gave him a headache when Ciri was more interested in fooling around rather than focusing on learning her courtly manners.

Besides those few downsides, Ciri was always a bundle of energy whenever she came to see me. She always had more and more questions to ask about the witcher lifestyle and what exactly being one entailed. I told her the basics of what the training entails and what we do, but I might have sugar coated it a little bit. She asked me if I could teach her a bit about swordsmanship, which I acquiesced to after she hampered me on and on. It was… nice… to see someone so happy, even though this world isn't such a happy place.

"Harkon," A gruff old voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yes master Mousesack?" I questioned the old man who stood in the doorway to my temporary room/healing station.

"Please don't call me that." Mousesack said while rubbing his eyes. "Respect might be necessary, but if you have to call me by something, just call me your Hierophant."

From the little time I've spent with Mousesack, I can say that I definitely do like him. Skellige culture teaches a lot of values that I respect. They are a no nonsense type people and they are mostly very honest. Some of them could act like an arrogant piece of shit, but if you beat them in a fight you would become friends. It's a strange way of life, but they're honorable to a fault.

The reason I wasn't liked very much in my village is because most of the villagers were fearful of my origins. When the wild hunt attacked, it became known what happened to my mother during the battle. All of them became suspicious of my origins and thought I would bring down disaster upon them. Some of the druids liked me, except for Gremist. The reason he didn't like me at first is because… Well, because he's a dick.

"The queen requests your attention." Mousesack said again, bringing me out of the thoughts of my upbringing. "Get dressed quick, I'll lead you to her."

Damn, If I had my way, I would never try and meet the queen. I don't exactly like her personality all that much. She is very controlling and temperamental from what I remember. She thought she could cheat destiny, in exchange her kingdom was destroyed.

I quickly got out of my bed and made my way over to a desk inside the room. On top of it were a few pieces of clothing that fit my size. Nothing too fancy, just a rather plain shirt and pants of Skelligan origin. They were both black with some yellow stitchings in between. Skellige and Cintra had a very close relationship, so I'm not surprised to see them giving me this type of clothing.

I hurriedly put both pieces of clothing on. It's not good to try and keep the queen waiting for long. As soon as I had dressed myself appropriately, I followed Mousesack out into the halls. We moved at a mild pace down the long marble hallways. This place is quite beautiful. This palace isn't as macabre as the one in Nilfgaard, much lighter colors decorated the large passageways instead.

After a few minutes of walking within the beautifully decorated halls, we reached the throne room. We stopped outside the grand doors before stepping inside.

"Are you ready to meet your king and queen?" Mousesack asked me with a tinge of a smile. He probably thought I was nervous or something.

I wasn't, but if Eist Tuirseach is here then I'm actually a bit excited to meet him. He is currently the Jarl and King of Skellige. I am technically still a citizen there, so in his eyes I do owe him a debt of fealty. I've heard a lot of stories about him. It's claimed that he is an incredibly strong and fierce warrior. The fact that he was elected as the king of the isles means that he has proved himself.

"I'm ready." I stated plainly.

Mousesack nodded at my words and opened the foreboding door. A graceful court stood within my gaze. It looked eerily similar to how it did in the Netflix show, but it was twice as grand. Her grace, Queen Calanthe - The Lioness of Cintra, seated herself upon the luxurious throne. Eist himself stood a few meters to her side. From what I remember, he left all of the actual governing to her. So it makes sense he's not sitting on the throne.

"Your grace." I spoke while doing a very simple Skelligan bow. Mousesack did the same and gave a small bow next to me. The bow itself consisted of me holding my fist against my heart and slightly moving my upper body forward. It was nothing fancy like they do in Nilfgaard.

"Well," The queen intoned. "It seems this boy is a lot more respectful than the last witcher we hosted."

"Ha!" I gave a small laugh. "I heard about the infamous 'white wolf' causing quite a show the last time he was here. 'Tis true that I'm a bit different than him."

"You from Skellige boy? I can hear that accent." Eist spoke from the right of Calanthe. He had a small smile on his battle hardened face. He isn't really much of a talker from what I remember in the books. He is known to crack a few jokes here and there though.

"Yes, King Tuirseach. It's an honor to finally meet you. My mother used to tell me of your exploits and your prowess with a sword. Perhaps we could have a spar sometime?" I said kindly while showing some battle loving spirit. People from Skellige love when you are direct like this. As I already said, they hate nonsense.

"Aye, that would alleviate my boredom. I hope that small stature of yours doesn't get in the way though." Eist said while giving a small chuckle at his little pun.

Damn. I hate this child-like body. Don't worry old man, once these Viking and Aen Elle genetics kick in, I'll be a tall muscular monstrosity. Just you wait.

"Well, my King," I said with a small smirk. "This 'small stature' of mine can be quite fierce. I hope those old bones of yours can keep up."

Eist and, surprisingly, Calanthe both gave a small chuckle at the quip from me. It seems I was doing a good job at trying to remedy some of the 'tension' that came with me arriving in this palace unwelcomed.

"Well, this could be interesting." Queen Calanthe spoke out while adjusting her position in her chair to gaze at me more clearly. "You've somehow been transported into this palace unannounced, but Mousesack has told me that he wishes to take you in as some sort of 'apprentice'. Is this true?"

"Yes, Queen Calanthe. I am completely unaware of how I arrived here. If I could tell you exactly what happened, I would. As for the apprenticeship…" I paused for a moment. "My… mother… was a druid. She has now passed on from this world. I wish to experience some of the lifestyle that she dedicated her life to."

What I said was kind of a half truth. I did want to experience what the druid life entailed, but that's not why I want to apprentice myself. I wanted to learn magic as fast as I could. Mousesack was just the only teacher that was available and had a willingness to teach me.

"I'm sorry to hear that young man, however…" Calanthe said while pausing to look at her husband. "We do not know you or your intentions. Now, normally I would have just sent you on your way or tried to interrogate you. However, instead let's do this another way…"

"What are you proposing?" I stated plainly. I looked at Mousesack for assistance, but he just shrugged and told me he didn't exactly know what the queen was getting at.

"Instead of trying to interrogate you, let's do this my husband's way." Calanthe replied with a smile. "Eist tells me that when two warriors from Skellige fight, they are able to learn all they need to know about each other. Through battle, they are able to come to an understanding. My proposal is this, duel with my husband. You and King Tuirseach will fight tomorrow at midday."

I swear, I thought I heard a pin drop.

"After that," Calanthe continued. "We will see about letting you apprentice yourself to our druid."

Well… Fuck.