The Girl in the Woods

Chapter 18

"Still haven't answered my question. What is White Gull?" Elizabeth asked again.

"Poison, straight poison." Lambert answered with a wistful grin, taking a long gulp.

"He's fucking with me right?" Elizabeth asked Geralt who let out a chuckle at her wide eyes.

"For you Beth, it would literally be poison. Due to our mutations it's just a strong liquor to Witcher's though. Black Gull is even worse, quite a powerful hallucinogenic that would kill a human in a single sip."

"Shit."

"Where did you find this girl again?" Lambert asked, "She curses like a barmaid."

"I can say whatever the fuck I want." Elizabeth turned her nose up at the Witcher, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And why the fuck doesn't she have any of her own clothes?" He questioned.

"I didn't exactly plan for a vacation." The blonde mumbled.

"We don't have anything else for her to wear." Geralt said, "It's not like there's hundreds of women staying at Kaer Morhen."

"There have been a few." Eskel spoke up, arranging the cards in his hand. "Found some dresses in one of the empty rooms a few winters back."

            Elizabeth perked up at the thought of new clothes, thought the dresses would for sure be less comfortable than her current wardrobe, her leggings were not meant to be worn everyday and she felt silly swimming in Geralt's huge shirts.

"I can show you sometime." Eskel smiled at her gaining one from Elizabeth in return. 

       Though the gashes on Eskel's face had been shocking at first she was rapidly getting used to them. He was still rather good looking even with them and there was something almost radiating calm from him.

"Whoever loses the round has to drink!" Lambert yelled, and so the Witcher drinking game began. 

          Elizabeth watched in fascination as they played, the two men on the losing end of each round taking swigs of White Gull, they downed a whole bottle in only a few rounds but Geralt had brought two. Lambert was apparently very good at Gwent as he had Eskel red in the face and Geralt almost giggling after seven fast paced rounds of the card game.

"When did you get a card with yourself on it?" Eskel asked Geralt incredulously after he played it out of his hand.

"Found it in a shop, apparently I have Jaskier to thank for giving me at least a bit of positive recognition in some parts of the Continent." Her Witcher answered. "I thought it was a huge fucking joke at first until I saw someone actually play one in a tavern, asked me to sign it to."

"You bastard White Wolf with your famous songs and shit." Lambert complained, "You have no idea how many times I've been about to sack a prize of a woman and she starts asking me if I know you."

         Elizabeth giggled at the idea, she would love to see how Geralt dealt with actual fan-girls. She wished she could see more of those interactions than the outright abusive and fearful encounters she's witnessed so far.

"There's not that many." Geralt grunted.

"I'd ask you to sign my card if I had one." Elizabeth blurted out causing the other men at the table to laugh. Elizabeth could not deny that she was on her third glass of straight vodka and she was feeling pretty good at the moment.

"I bet you would." Said Eskel, Geralt surprising looked like he was blushing, though it could also be the 'straight poison' that he had been ingesting for the past few hours.