alluring {𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖗𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖆} WATTYS 2022

chapter thirteen

"Good company, lively conversation, and the endearments of friendship fill the mind with great pleasure."

-Edmund Burke

WHEN AMELIA WOKE THE NEXT MORNING, GERALT WAS GONE. Her heart felt heavy in his absence. The medallion he had given her was heavy around her neck, but it was a comforting weight.

Jaskier had moved from the couch to the bed when Geralt left, but there was a barrier made of pillows between them. Amelia sat up and woke Jaskier in doing so.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." Jaskier chirped and she managed to muster up a smile. "I see you are down in the dumps due to your precious witcher not being here with us."

"It's just strange not having him here is all." She brushed off Jaskier's comment and slowly climbed out of bed.

"I imagine you would be this sad if I was gone for three days?" Jaskier joked making Amelia laugh.

"Why, of course, Jask." She shot him a smile. "What would I do without my favorite bard?"

Jaskier looked thoughtful and sighed heavily. "Crash and burn, I suppose."

"I would suppose." Amelia agreed playfully, pulling on leather pants and a large black tunic. With the medallion hanging around her neck, she looked like a smaller Geralt.

"Is that Geralt's witcher medallion hanging around your neck, my studious best friend of a princess?" Jaskier questioned and Amelia quickly hid it under her clothing.

"It was just a parting gift is all, Jask." Amelia waved him off, but he hooked his arm in hers and brightly smiled.

"A heartfelt goodbye gift with a touch of romance?" Jaskier sounded delighted. "Come, let's get breakfast and you can tell me all the gossip."

♘ ♘ ♘

After Amelia had told Jaskier the details of Geralt's goodbye, he looked at her thoughtfully with his chin propped up in his hand.

"Geralt of Rivia. A romantic." Jaskier brought a pint of ale to his lips. "I never would've thought."

"He's not a romantic," Amelia protested, pointing a spoon she was eating her porridge with at him. "We are not romantic in any way. He just knows that I need him to escort me to Oxenfurt."

"He eats off your plate." Jaskier pointed out.

"To make sure it isn't poisoned," Amelia argued.

"I stand by my point!" Jaskier exclaimed. "He begged for your life when we were captured by elves."

"He's a noble guy, he would do the same thing for everyone."

"He lets you touch Roach."

"He just doesn't let you touch Roach." Jaskier's jaw dropped at Amelia's words.

"You two sleep in the same bed, for god's sake." Jaskier lowered his voice so he wouldn't cause a scene at the tavern they were in.

"Jask, he doesn't want me sleeping in the same bed with you because you're a little perv." She smirked and Jaskier placed a hand on his chest, appalled.

"Me? A perv? Madam, I would never." Amelia rolled her eyes at Jaskier's attempt to salvage his reputation. He picked up the chain around Amelia's neck. "What about this then? This is his only piece of identity and he left it with you."

Amelia opened her mouth to argue, but Jaskier cut her off by lifting a hand.

"You can't convince me otherwise, Amelia Rosalina Gracelyn of Traven, that you two aren't hopelessly in love."

Amelia gasped and flung a spoonful of porridge at Jaskier, hitting him square in the face. "Don't use my full name, Julian Alfred Pankratz!"

Jaskier gasped as Amelia used his real name. "I told you that in confidence!"  

"You told me that when you were drunk," 

Jaskier took a spoonful of his own porridge and flung it. Amelia quickly evaded while laughing, but the laughter quickly died from both of them as Jaskier's porridge dripped off the face of a VERY scary looking man.

The man growled and his face turned red as Amelia slid off her chair and retreated towards Jaskier.

"Jask, leave your coin on the table and run." The man stood, a good three heads taller than both fo them, and Amelia screeched in delight, a full grin on her face. "RUN."  She grabbed the back of Jaskier's collar and dragged him out the door, the two friends ran for their lives.

Both of them were howling with laughter as they made it back to the inn, slamming the door closed.

"I guess we'll have to find another tavern to eat at tonight," Amelia laughed while clapping Jaskier's shoulder.

♘ ♘ ♘

And so they did.

Jaskier played his "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" song, which quickly grew to be a hit in most of the towns the trio visited.

Amelia sat in a corner and stared at her food. She knew she couldn't wait to eat until Geralt got back tomorrow and he would be mad if he knew she skipped meals.

She missed him, which shocked her. She didn't miss anyone from home. On some days, she missed Nathaniel. But she never missed someone as much she missed Geralt. And when she sat alone in the tavern in Cintra, watching her friend sing, she missed him the most.

An old man stumbled into the bar, yelling about how a witcher was swallowed whole by a Selkiemore. Amelia and Jaskier exchanged looks.

He was covered in blood and looked terrified. "I tell you no lie, I swallowed the whole village, it did. Not a bone to be found! Of, don't give me that look, shitling. That's why we had to call him... The White Wolf!"

Jaskier looked up at the man and was taking notes from the man. "And he stood in the middle of that frozen lake like he knew it was coming for him. The ice cracked open and a Selkiemoree shot out! Oh, you've never seen one, but it'd take down a ship with its cavernous mouth full of devil's teeth! And it... swallowed... that witcher... whole!"

"Oh, this is brilliant!" Jaskier cheered and Amelia shot him a glare. "Oh, sorry. It's just Geralt's usually so stingy with the details. Uh... and then what happened?"

"He died." The man said, dramatically and the crowd gasped.

"Eh..." Jaskier frowned. "He's fine."

"Look, I was there. I saw it with my own-" The man's sentence was cut off by the door being kicked open. 

"See?" Jaskier laughed.

Amelia whirled around saw Geralt storm into the Tavern. Relief flooded her chest and she ran toward him. He covered in a foul-smelling dark liquid, but she jumped into his arms anyway. Amelia clung onto him, her arms were around his neck.

Geralt wrapped his arms around Amelia's waist and lifted her off the ground slightly. He smelled of Selkiemore guts, but she was just glad she could hug him.

"Oh... What's that stench?" One of the villagers asked and Geralt set Amelia on the ground.

"Selkiemore guts. Had to get it from the inside." Geralt looked toward the man. "I'll take what I'm owed." He looked down at Amelia and smiled softly, his hard gaze turning soft. "Hello, princess."

He took the pouch of coin and went to the bar to count it, Jaskier on his heels as the tavern sang the "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher".

"I thought you were coming back tomorrow morning?" She smiled brightly but stopped Geralt before he could drink the ale. "You don't want it, it's terrible."

"The job went quicker than I thought."  Geralt touched the medallion that hung from Amelia's neck.

"You probably want this back--"

"Keep it. Looks better on you anyway." The two shared a small smile.