The White Werewolf || Season One: Ties That Bind

Chapter Sixty

Rinde, 1256

Robin stared at Yennefer in the mirror as the other mage applied her bright red lipstick. Robin was magically bound to the bed, both her wrists and ankles tied as she leaned against the headboard.

Yennefer glanced in her direction in the mirror. "I apologize for the accommodations," she started, "but I didn't think you'd accept an invitation to stay and talk."

"We'll never know now," Robin replied dryly, arching an eyebrow.

"I suppose not," Yennefer agreed easily. "Are you comfortable, at least?"

"Well, usually being tied to the bed is my happy place," Robin admitted, recalling several nights with Geralt, "but not in this instance, so... no, not really. Though you are being more polite than I expected, so I have to give you some credit for that."

"Oh, thank goodness," Yennefer drawled, turning to face her. "I was so hoping for your approval."

Robin snorted, making Yennefer laugh. "You're more powerful than when we saw each other last, Robin," she observed, changing the subject.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before we crossed paths again," Robin revealed. "I had to be prepared."

"But you're not prepared enough," Yennefer pointed out.

Robin shrugged. "As prepared as I can be. You're more powerful than me, so I had to get creative."

"Bold of you to just admit it," Yennefer declared.

"Not particularly. I know you can sense my power, just like I can sense yours."

Yennefer nodded, then sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm going to be honest," she decided. "I thought that you'd be more angry."

"I will be once I see that not being angry is no longer productive."

"Shrewd." Yennefer adjusted her sleeves and then tilted her head. "So if you're not angry yet, what tactics are you planning to use, and for what purpose?"

"Stop trying to create the spell," Robin said bluntly.

"Is that the best you've got?" Yennefer wondered.

"It will never work the way you intend. You could get hurt, others will get hurt, and you won't get the result you want."

"You don't know that," Yennefer insisted.

"Yes, I do. You gave up your fertility for enchantment, Yennefer. No matter what you do, Chaos will never give it back to you."

"They only say that because no one has ever tried. The Continent is vast. Just because you don't know of a cure doesn't mean there isn't one. It's simply beyond your scope."

Robin shook her head ruefully and pursued another line of reasoning. "There are other ways to have a child, Yennefer. There are plenty of unwanted children in the world. You could adopt any of them and make them your own."

"It's not the same!" the other woman snapped.

"I know it's not the same, Yennefer, but it's much easier and less dangerous, especially since what you want isn't possible. Sometimes you just have to accept things the way they are because you can't change them."

"That's easy for you to say. You don't know what I've been through."

"No, Yennefer, I don't. But I do know that everyone has been through something, and no matter what it was, it doesn't give you the right to hurt whoever or whatever you want in order to make yourself feel better, or so that others have to feel the same pain you did."