Kyana Of Cintra

8

Kyana liked the new way of travelling. She hated being in her head, in her own thoughts, alone and without comfort. And so when Geralt had placed his hand comfortingly on her knee, she felt as though she was in the safest place she had been in weeks. Nothing sounded, except the crackling of the fire. Geralt, to lighten the atmosphere, turned to Roach.

"And they say the world needs us." Roach let out a neigh of agreement. A smile drifted onto Kyana's face. He could finally admire it, as it held for a while. Her cheeks curved up exactly how he expected, her eyes glowed just that little bit brighter. He would give every penny in his pocket to be able to see it again, and so made it his vow to try to summon it as often as possible. Kyana, who had noticed his admiration, rose an eyebrow, her lips closing and hiding her teeth, although she still held a closed-lipped smile.

The atmosphere was so calm and carefree, it was too good to be true. A crack in a branch suddenly broke the tranquility. Kyana sighed quietly, literally smelling the all too familiar beer that hung around Renfri. "Do you travel together often?" Renfri had reappeared, walking steadily towards a tree not far from the pair. 

"We met at the village." Geralt answered as Renfri watched from the trees. She looked up in surprise, clearly not expecting that answer. Her eyebrow arched upwards at their friendly nature towards each other, something that was not very usual for a Witcher.

"Huh. Anyone who sees you would think you've known each other for years." Renfri looked between the two beautiful people. "Tell me, Witchers, you don't believe in destiny or the lesser evil, then what do you believe in?"

Geralt didn't even hesitate when answering. "You mean 'who' do I believe. I don't pick sides." He shrugged, returning to his task of crushing the food. "I don't know what Blue believes in." Kyana didn't answer, silently confirming she believed the same thing he did. 

"You just kill monsters." Geralt continued to crush the leaves while Kyana attended the fire. Renfri hesitated, but decided it would be best to speak to them as a friend, not an enemy. She approached them, standing next to Geralt's seated form. He looked up at her, rose an eyebrow, then looked back down to his food, scooping some of the paste and putting it into Kyana's bowl. Kyana nodded gratefully and gave him some of the rabbit she had caught and cooked.

"I've made my decision." Renfri said at last. "You gave me an ultimatum and I found they work. Tomorrow I leave Blaviken. For good. My men, they love me and I love them, but it's been a long time since someone saw me. When I was a girl, my mother used to run her fingers over my forehead. She'd say she'd give a lovely lintar to know the thoughts going around in there." Her hand danced onto his knee. He stopped his crushing immediately, looking at her suggestive face.

Kyana pretended not to notice, removing some more meat from the rabbit to put into Geralt's bowl. The more she carved, the more he appreciated Kyana. She didn't have to give him any of that, not even a single piece, seen as she caught it and they'd only just met. With appreciation came respect, and he respected her enough to not want to kiss a woman in front of her. Besides, the more he thought about it, the more he didn't want to. He moved his knee out of her hold, continuing his crushing. Renfri looked a little surprised, nearly hurt even, before getting up and storming off into the woods.

Silence stretched between the Witchers, now that they were alone. Only the fire and the stone against stone made any sound, and that was as faint as it got. "You could've you know." Kyana finally spoke, pulling the last bits of meat from the rabbit and putting it into her bowl. She took the rabbit away from the fire, placing it in a hole she had dug earlier and burying it, kicking the dirt over the bones.

"Could've what?" Kyana huffed a laugh.

"Kissed her." Geralt gave her a blank look. "Oh come on, you must've seen the way she was looking at you." Geralt smiled slightly under his hair, although it disappeared when he lifted his head to face her.

"I know you certainly did." Kyana rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm not blind. I can't understand how you didn't notice." She pulled small bits of bread from her satchel, tearing her final piece in half. It tore unevenly, leaving one piece much bigger than the other. She gave that piece to Geralt, placing it delicately in his bowl. "She's beautiful."

"There is a lot more to a woman than beauty." Geralt tutted her. "And I know I could have." Kyana stood, picking up the bowls of food. There was a surprising amount of food in both bowls, which was something he was very unused to. He noticed the difference in portion sizes, slipping his hand into his own satchel and placing an apple on the log next to him. Kyana gave him a questioning gaze.

"I can see the difference in the amount of food, Blue." She smiled sheepishly, sitting down next to the apple and stretching her arm out to hand him his food. Geralt took the bowl, his fingers accidentally brushing against hers as he clutched the bowl. The pleasantest of lightening shot up his arm, almost as though she had warmed his very core with a single touch. She felt it too, that strange surge of warmth that shot through her. His golden eyes met her silver ones, both of them shining with new definition as they observed the other. The crackling of the fire, the small, calm breaths, the rustle of the trees when the wind blew them, nothing stopped them from their observations.

"You want to know why I didn't kiss her?" Kyana nodded, not once did her gaze move from his. "Because I didn't want to."