Chapter 62: Chapter 8
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***
Damian.
The year 1251, 20 October. Cydaris, Kingdom of Cydaris.
I was training with the old captain of the guard of the ruler of Cydaris when a maid arrived and called me in at the behest of my mentor Eastredd.
He and I have been travelling for six months now and have gotten to know each other quite well. Although we knew each other's habits quite well before, if he sent the maid, then he was hinting to me that: "you'd better make use of this girl, and not go wandering about somewhere in the back alleys looking for adventures in the place you owe Jennyfair to give your grandchildren."
That's true, because I've looked into brothels on occasion. I've been sexually active for two months now, and even though I'm only thirteen, I look about fourteen or fifteen, thanks to my height and training. And here kids grow up faster, and I'm a special case, so "don't judge me harshly", ha-ha-ha. Istredd kept an eye on me, but he couldn't know that I wasn't just running around the backstreets and surrounding villages to get under someone's skirt, but also to take part in underground fights and have a few contacts with mid-level criminal circles. Not much use now, but the couple of healing, counselling and enchanting services I've done for them is enough to leave some nice memories of each other and make a little money for my own needs. Not that I'm short of money, it's more a matter of principle and respect.
So Eastred sent for me and wanted to talk to me.
So I followed her to his chambers, which were given to him by the king of Cydaris, Etain, who was a patron of scholars and men of the arts. So he offered him a place, at least temporarily, as court sorcerer and counsellor.
No sooner had I reached my teacher's old tower, clearly of elven work, than I met him in a good-natured mood in the company of a sorcerer unknown to me, wearing strange old clothes and a grey beard that looked more like a street broom than a beard.
- Damian. Meet my old friend Myshovur. He's a druid from Skellige.
I smiled good-naturedly.
- Good afternoon, honoured Myshovur.
- Ha! He's really quite interesting. I wasn't even surprised we were friends. - chuckled the druid.
- Damian is not stupid, and he realises at a young age that wizards and druids are not necessarily "natural and sworn enemies". - Eastredd answered him. - He's smart.
I stood there silent, trying to understand what this person was doing here, he is a counsellor and servant of King Bran Tuarseh.
- Myshovur is passing through here, with a delegation from Skellige to King Etain. But it seems to me that you and I will soon be travelling with them to Cintra.
- Cintra? - I questioned, realising what I was getting at - "A matter of Price!". - Why there?
I made an ignorant face, and Istredd grinned and answered:
- Queen Kalanthe has decided to marry off her daughter Pavetta, so she has summoned all possible suitors. The Skelligs will have their own suitor for Pavetta's hand, and Etayne will not miss the opportunity to breed with the Kalanthe family and get Cintra. Politics. So soon we'll be sailing to the Yaruga Delta. So pack your bags fully today-tomorrow just in case, and don't plan any important matters for the near future.
- Understood. - I smiled.
- Good. Go get ready.
He let me go, and I was frantically thinking about how not to screw up my presence and the birth of Ciri, as well as the wedding, which should take place according to the canon. Of course, I'm happy to attend such an event and see everything myself, but I don't want to spoil anything. It's not good for me.
I will need to find out the entire network of acquaintances and relationship ranks of my friends and relatives, not only at Eastredd. I was not aware of such a twist in the form of friendship between Eastredd and Myshovur in the canon.
Three days after this information we did indeed go to Cintra, where Etain was serious about marrying Pavetta and getting Cintra as a dowry.
We, of course, were also taken as part of his retinue.
The minutiae of the journey and settlement in Cintra were rather grey and unexciting, though I enjoyed looking at the city and observing its inhabitants, and met everyone I could.
After another day, a feast was scheduled, at which all the guests and candidates for Pavetta's groom were to be present.
Over forty people could be seated at the huge rectangular table. At the head of the table on a high-backed throne sat the powerful and beautiful Queen Kalanthe.
At her right hand sat Geralt, who was hiding under a different name for the sake of fulfilling the mission that Kalanthe had given him. Anyway, when I looked at him with the help of magic, I realised that he was an unusual person, and I could see it in his face right away.
On my left hand was the glorious Drogodar, a grey-haired bard with a lute. Two more upper chairs to the left of the queen were empty.
To Geralt's right along the long side of the table sat Castellan Gaxo and General Wissegerd. Farther away sat the guests from the Principality of Attre - the sullen and silent knight Rainfarn and his ward, the plump twelve-year-old Prince Windhalm, one of the contenders for the princess's hand both now to Pavetta and in canon for her daughter's hand in the future.
A little further away were the colourful and variegated knights from Cintra and the surrounding vassals of the crown.
We sat on the other left side of them, in the "guest" seat. Our delegation was one of the first to arrive. And Etain was one of the first to introduce himself.
- Baron Eilembert of Tigg! - The herald announced the next guest and the pretender to the princess's hand and what was between Pavetta's legs.
It was a rather thin and mustachioed, already not young, richly dressed knight. He bowed low, but his lively cheerful eyes and the wandering smile on his lips contradicted the servile mien. This old geezer is still married, but if anything, he could easily drown his wife, or she could have a "brick fall on her head." And he'll be a "merry widower," for the cause is worth it. To have the whole of Cintra in his hands. Even though he won't make much of it during Kalanthe's life, but still the cause is worth it.
- An embassy from Skellige! - shouted the already slightly hoarse herald again.
The islanders entered with youthful strides, four in number, wearing shining leather jackets trimmed with kitty fur and belted with plaid woollen scarves.
First came a wiry warrior, swarthy and eagle-nosed, and next to him a shoulder-bodied young man with red hair. All four bowed to the queen. It was Aist Thurseach of Skellige. Even a blind man could see him looking at the queen and drooling. It's funny, though... I've got my eye on the lady myself. A mature mum that really deserves a lot. Powerful, predatory, beautiful and intelligent. It's a rare combination of those virtues in a woman that I like and turn me on so much. Even Eastredd pulled me back when I stared at her again. Fucking hormones!
But it wasn't Aest that came to match, it was Crath an' Kryt, Bran's nephew. A mouser I already knew well and had even taken a couple of botany lessons. And the fourth was Draig Bon-Dhu, the famous skald of Skellige.
Soon after mutual greetings with Kalanthe, Aist took a vacant seat on the narrow side of the table, separated from the queen only by an empty chair and Drogodar's seat. The rest of the islanders seated themselves on the left, between the court marshal Vissegerd.
The castellan clapped his hands and the servants with dishes and jugs in their hands moved in formation to the table, greeted by a joyous roar.
Kalanthe ate almost nothing, only indifferently picking at the dishes with a silver fork. Drogodar quickly swallowed something and began to strum on his lute.
But the other guests were actively emptying the dishes, as if they were eating them for the first time and everything was going to be taken away from them. The kitchen was quite large and rich: roasted piglets, poultry, fish and shellfish, fruits, vegetables, soups, roasts, pies and many other things. With each new jug, it got more and more fun. Toasts sounded, less and less collapsible.
It reminded me of the feast at Winterfell, when Robert used to visit his old friend. Only the roles are a little different and the balance of power is different. Robert and Ned Stark's scorcher, however, is a different world....
I ate and drank as well. But in moderation. I wasn't afraid to eat too much or drink too much. I only ate chicken, turkey necks, turtle soup and fruit. I could drink a lot, but I didn't see much point, because the wish I made to the genie made me immune to harmful poisons. And alcohol is a poison, so there you go. I can drink, but I don't get drunk, and alcohol is like water to me. But maybe in the future I'll need that ability to stay drunk.
Suddenly one of the barons sitting next to me clapped me on the back.
- Damian, my lad, did your master tell you that you are a singer and musician no worse than the honourable guests from Skellige and the local bards?
- My merits are very small. - I denied it. - I have no great talent, I sing more for myself, for my soul. And not the well-known songs, but my own. Not many people like them.
- So maybe you, Damian from Wengerberg, will sing them? - Kalanthe heard us and smiled. - Don't deny me this request. Today I have not heard anyone singing, I want to see a magician singing.
Mentally wishing for my teacher's diarrhoea, I smiled and nodded.
- Of course, Your Majesty, but I ask permission to take my guitar and I'll sing you a couple of my songs on my return.
- So be it. - She replied good-naturedly.
I bowed to her and again mentally wishing impotence for life to Istredd, teleported back to my room with my guitar and thought about what I would sing to the queen and the guests, and only then did I come back.
Placing myself in the middle of the feast hall, I first sang "Eternal Love", and then "On the Border the Clouds Walk Gloomily", only in the latter I had long ago replaced the tank troops with the brave knights' cavalry. It doesn't sound as good to me as the original, but the locals like it.
Kalanthe was as impressed with my "talent" as the rest of us. Even her future hubby hugged me and asked me to sing something else, and the skald that was with him asked for the lyrics to this song so that he could share it with others, of course, the authorship will remain with me. I don't care, let them sing it.
But in the end, I was sat down again with the support of the Cintrian Lioness for three new songs and "Eternal Love" for an encore. I had to sing them as they wished, first for the encore, and then sang "The Student's Song." The audience accepted it favourably and I decided to experiment, to throw them the song "Animals" by the American band Linkin Park, of course, in the local language, not in English, and I changed the motive a bit. But I think the Hedgehog would appreciate it if he heard it. And the audience was probably drunk enough to swallow that too. The band itself is good though, so I decided to do another experiment. And in the style of typical popadanets, which are written about by uncles 50+ years old at least, to become famous finally as a great pesnyar-bard-poet-rhyming-poet and so on down the list. But this time not western songs, but good old "Black Raven".
Once again, everyone loved it. I wonder, if I try to sing Buzova to them now, will they throw tomatoes at me or kiss me the same way?
No, I'm a cruel person sometimes, but not to the extent to present her to them. Even I have my humanity.
And as soon as I accepted the flattering words in my address and sat down at my seat, I heard heavy footsteps accompanied by the rattle of lats.
It was just at the moment when the Hedgehog appeared, he was even Dan, aka Emgyr var Emreis, Pavetta's future husband, Cyrilla's father and Emperor of Nilfgaard. Or rather, he showed up when I was already seated, and was welcomed as a guest. No one could see his face yet, for he was wearing a helmet that was tightly closed.
I sat quietly and did not glare, but listened attentively to the conversation between Emgyr Batkovich and Kalanthe. Here the canon did not fail and it seems that all the events with the dispute, the promise of the queen's late husband, the desire of Krah an Kryt and the rest of the failed suitors to cut Hedgehog under the nut had happened.
Istredd sat quietly and just smiled, he might have known something, or maybe he guessed that it was better to keep quiet and just enjoy the show. So it's like they say, like the teacher, like the student.
Soon Geralt came forward, revealing his incognito, and advised to ask Pavetta, herself, if she wanted to marry him and whether she recognised the Right of Surprise. Everyone agreed, and Pavetta was called into the hall.
But before Pavetta could open her mouth, Kalanthe again showed that not only did she still have a pretty face and a firm arse, but that she was also a pot-boiler. Referring to the fact that the cherished twelve o'clock had struck, he should already throw aside his visor and show everyone his face. Emgyr did so, and as a result, everyone saw the man's prickly green face.
The already smug Kalanthe, thinking that the deed was done, was very much surprised when Pavetta said "Yes" with a smile and determination. Such a sepulchral silence I haven't heard in a long time. Hopefully I was able to restrain my face from blurring into a silly grin.
Though Istredd didn't bother with manners and tact, and was laughing, albeit not loudly, I was just being a goody-two-shoes.
Here not only Pavetta's mother could not stand it anymore, but also all the others and they were ready to tear him with their bare hands, some knights rushed to Emgyr, Kalanthe called the guards and then Pavetta presented her miraculous voice.
- Da-ah-ani! - Pavetta shrieked subtly, jumping up on a chair.
The witcher with sword in hand rushed across the table towards the fighters, scattering dishes, plates and goblets. Pavetta's shrieking became increasingly unnatural. One of the baronials raised his dagger again to try to kill Hedgehog.
Geralt rose to Hedgehog's defence, throwing the baronial farther away.
He smashed the uncomfortable piece of furniture to the floor, and with what was left in his hand, lunged at the approaching guards.
This signalled that the Hedgehog had another defender.
The hedgehog, who had been caught by two of the gizarmes' hooks at the same time, fell to the floor with a clatter, screaming and snorting. A third guard jumped up and brought his glaive to strike. Geralt jabbed him in the temple with the point of his sword. The guards dragging Jozha bounced away, dropping their gizarmes. The ones running from the entrance flinched from the wreckage of the heavy chair whistling in Aist's hand.
- 'If you want to, go ahead. - Eastredd said suddenly, turning his head towards me. - You choose which side to take. But be warned, it may be a foolish thing to do, it's in your hands.
Had he noticed my desire to help Emgyr? Hmm. All right.
I drew my sword and flew at the hedgehog with a spell, sending five guards flying, who were aiming at Pavetta's fiancé from the other side.
The three of them, I-Heralt-Eiste, surrounded him as a barrier from the others.
Twirling my sword and hand I channelled the flames around us so that no one would disturb us. The hedgehog stood up and thanked briefly all three of us.
Pavetta's squeal reached a peak and abruptly cut off. Geralt, like me, guessing what awaited us all, quickly dropped to the floor. I caught a glimpse of the greenish flash that illuminated the princess's figure, immediately felt a terrible pain in my ears, heard a monstrous rumble and a wild scream, bursting out of the numerous throats of the guests. And then the steady, monotonous, vibrating howl of the princess. A nasty sound!
Tables, scattering dishes with viands around, spun, rose, heavy oak chairs swung across the hall, smashing against the walls, clouds of dust flew, tapestries, carpets and personal belongings of the guests.
The throne with Kalanthe sitting on it jumped, arrowed across the hall, crashed into the wall with a crash and collapsed. The queen fell, helpless, like a rag doll. Eystes Turseach, barely able to stay on his feet, jumped to her and embraced her, shielding her from the hail of debris hitting the walls and floor with his whole body. A hero-lover...
Geralt crawled with all the speed he could muster to where Myshovur and Eastredd were.
Pavetta howled!
Whirling around, she whipped everyone and everything with her scream like a batogom. Those who tried to get up from the floor immediately fell and wriggled or stuck to the wall. Plaster fell silently from the log ceiling. The table was spinning under the ceiling, and Krah an Kryt, who was sprawled on it, was hurling monstrous curses at not only Hedgehog, but probably everyone else he could think of.
I cast good spells to protect my ears and internal organs, and tried to put up a barrier so that I and Hedgehog wouldn't get nailed by anything flying above us.
It collapsed quickly, though. The primordial and pure Force was stronger than all my spells. At times like this, you just feel like a bug.
It's infuriating!
Myshovur, Geralt, and Eastredd struck a spell together at Pavetta to calm her down, but they had little success. Meanwhile, her power grew and grew.
I even think I heard cursing in Nilfgaardian from Emgyr's side. Though I myself swore in Russian like a cobbler who had been bitten by a drunkard working as a dock loader.
I don't remember what happened next, but the three of them managed to pacify Pavetta, who collapsed in a faint. Kalanthe and Aest were cooing under the tapestry, but my sensitive hearing, though affected by the girl's shrieking, still heard several indecent suggestions from Aest to Kalanthe. To some, the islanders need to get laid. I can understand them, though. I'd have a drink myself and drag a woman to the hayloft....
The hedgehog got up first, though he was more weakened than I was. I just wanted to lie down and rest, but the guards came and broke that wish.
- If you try to tie us up again, I'll burn this place to the ground! - I promised them. I was already feeling pretty weak. I'll have to make a storage unit like my mother's.
They stopped, seeing that I was serious and angry. They don't have a wizard of their own.
- Look! - Someone in the crowd exclaimed.
What might be called "Emgyr's appearance to the people" had taken place.
The curse had broken, and now he looked normal, human.
- What...," said Eystes Turseah, stammering. - Who is it? Yozh?
- Dani," Pavetta said affectionately.
Kalanthe gritted her teeth and turned away, swearing quietly to herself.
- Bewitched? - Aiste grumbled. - But how...
- It has struck midnight,' said Geralt. - 'Exactly now! The ringing we heard earlier was a misunderstanding and a mistake... a ringer's mistake. Right, Kalanthe?
- Right, right," said Dany-Emgyr, "But perhaps someone, instead of talking, could help me remove the iron and call a healer? There are many here who need help.
- That's enough. - Kalanthe straightened up, proudly raising her head, and addressed the main participants of this evening. - Enough! When this is over, I want to see you in my chambers. All of you! Everyone standing here: Aist, Pavetta, Myshovur, Eastredd, Geralt, and you Dany. - And then she looked at me. - And your apprentice, Eastredd.
At about six o'clock in the morning we all appeared before the Queen's bright and slightly angry but fair eyes.
Dany-Emgyr told us who he was and how he had come to be in this position. Then I explained myself for standing up for Hedgehog. Referring to my magical gift and logic, I replied that I had smelled almost immediately that the prince was bewitched and that it was possible to break the spell. For I know a great deal about this sort of thing. Eastredd, also "confirmed" that it was true and he also "noticed" it. So we're on the side of "justice".
I still can't understand what Eastredd's motives were in allowing me to intervene, but I am grateful for his trust. He did give me a little lecture about discretion a little later, but I wouldn't say it was a rebuke, more of a formality. Eastredd allowed me to show myself, and he was not mistaken. Perhaps he thought I would interfere on my own and without support I might hurt myself, I don't know for sure. But he didn't want to harm me, that's for sure.
Then came the awarding process. Geralt requested from Dany, when he insisted, the Right of Unexpectedness. Aiste would become Kalanthe's husband, as Pavetta was already taken, and they needed an alliance with Skellige. All the right persons were rewarded, as were Eastredd and me.
Istredd received a large reward, as did I, rare books and manuscripts from the library of the Cintrian kingdom, and we also received a white horse each. That's from Kalanthe. And from Dany and Pavetta we received an offer when the time came to come to the court of Cintra and serve them.
A little later, a couple of days after the already double wedding of Kalanthe with Aiste and Pavetta with Dani-Emgyr, the latter dragged me out for a private chat on a fishing trip. He'd heard I loved it, so he suggested we go fishing together. But our conversation was not about fishing, but about the future.
He was probing me for the possibility of recruiting me. A short-sighted person who had not spent as many years in politics or as a spy as I had, would not have understood the essence of his questions, or rather, their purpose. But I understood and gave Emgyr hope that I was free of the idea of "the North" and loved battle, glory and knowledge. That should have been enough for him to form a general impression of me that favoured me.
He was clearly pleased with this conversation.
We didn't stay long in Cintra, only two months, and then Istredd finally left the service of Etain and we left Cintra for the South - to Nilfgard!
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