"Vesemir?" Geralt tried calling after his master as he was leaving the dining hall, half hoping that he wouldn't stop. But of course, he did. He looked almost the same as usual. The old, stern master, with a semipermanent frown. But there was something in the way he held himself, in the way he walked and talked and looked at them that showed just how tired he was.
"Geralt," the old master acknowledged him and waited for him to come closer. Geralt could see his jaw was a little tighter, his frown a little deeper.
"I... am sorry. Is... is there any way I can help?" he asked, looking down. He felt like a kid once again. If he could, he would bury himself into the cellar and never come out. But he had to at least try. He promised Ciri.
"I don't know, Geralt. I don't even know how you managed to do this. I know, that I didn't raise you in the most affectionate and emotional way, but I always thought that at least you would all grow up into decent beings," the old master sighed and Geralt felt another ounce of guilt adding to the pile in his stomach.
"It's not your fault, Vesemir. Please, it... it had nothing to do with the way I was raised. I am just... I didn't think at that moment. I was so angry at myself, and he was right there, and I just couldn't hold back, and... I am really sorry for saying those words. I never meant it. I..." he tried to find something to say, but he felt like nothing could fix this. He just failed. He failed as Vesemir's student, he failed as Ciri's parent, and worst of all he failed as Jaskier's friend.
"Geralt, you should be saying those words to him, not to me," Vesemir rubbed his forehead, and looked even more tired, and Geralt felt panic rising in his throat. He shook his head.
"I, I cannot! I cannot see him like that again and know it's my fault! I... I cannot imagine my life without him and knowing, that this is all my fault... I don't think I can hold myself together. I..." he felt tears stinging at his eyes, "I told him, that day. I told him, that if life could give me one blessing, it would be to take him off my hands," Geralt stood, blinking, fists at his side clenching painfully. "I told him that and left him there. I didn't return for him and I didn't look for him. And now? Life took him off my hands," he watched the tears leave his eyes and fall onto the stone floor.
He heard Vesemir sigh, turn around, and walk away.
YOU ARE READING
If life could give me one blessing...
FanfictionJaskier is done. He knows this is the end, this is his last journey. His heart could never recover from a wound so deep. If he was human? Maybe. He watched a lot of broken-hearted humans on his travels. Some died, but most lived. He admired the tena...
