Cintra, 1263
Robin wasn't sure how long it had been when she finally stirred. It was becoming a trend she wasn't a fan of.
The battlefield was eerily quiet.
"Yennefer?" she asked, even though she barely had the energy to make her voice carry.
There was no answer.
She briefly pushed into Chaos, looking for Yennefer or Triss. But she found nothing.
Not just an absence of the two women, but nothing at all. She couldn't see anything or anyone. She could still sense Chaos flowing through her, but she seemed to be cut off from actually traversing it.
She didn't have time to think about why. For the moment, she'd chalk it up to exhaustion. Regardless, she had no way of knowing if either woman was alive, and she didn't have the time to look, especially since the Nilfgaardians were still combing the area around her.
She had no choice but to portal out. She wasn't very good at portals at the best of times, and she certainly wasn't at her best, but she'd be caught if she did anything else.
She thought of her family next. Of Geralt and Jaskier and Cirilla. She focused on them as hard as she could, then used the last of her strength to summon a portal.
As she stepped through it, she hoped it would take her somewhere safe.
She stumbled as she stepped out onto a road she didn't recognize. Two horses raced past her. A woman was on one, and she screamed for help as she rode by because there were bandits riding behind her.
Robin swept her hand and they all fell off of their horses. The animals scattered and Robin pulled out her dagger. By the time the woman stopped and turned around, they were all dead, stabbed quickly and efficiently through the heart.
The woman offered Robin a ride into the town she was about to visit. Robin agreed and mounted the second horse, then accepted the Law of Surprise as payment when the woman offered it.
When they arrived and she'd tied the horses up, the woman told Robin to rest. Unable to do anything else, Robin curled up in a corner of the stables and fell into a deep sleep.
She woke again when she heard the woman's voice. "Are you feeling any better? I have your payment."
Robin blinked rapidly and sat up, then stared at the two people standing in front of her.
"Jaskier?" she finally croaked.
He fell to his knees and hugged her. "I am so glad to see you, sister," he murmured, squeezing her tightly. "I thought you were dead."
"I thought the same of you," she admitted.
"I found her," he said proudly. "Princess Cirilla. She prefers Ciri, though. This is her."
Robin smiled at the girl, who had hair so blonde it was almost white. "Hello, Ciri. It's very good to meet you. I'm Robin, Geralt's wife."
Ciri nodded. "Jaskier explained who you are. But... where's Geralt?"
Tears filled Robin's eyes. "I don't know. He went looking for the two of you."
"We'll find him," Jaskier assured her. "He's always fine, remember? He'll be fine this time too."
He helped her up, then led her to Cricket. She climbed up into the saddle and Ciri got on in front of her. Jaskier took the reins to lead him.
"What happened to your hair?" he wondered.
Robin laughed. "It's a long story. What happened to your other horse?" she asked the woman. "I thought you had two."
"That's also a long story," she replied.
Robin put an arm around Ciri and held Jaskier's hand. "We're all connected by fate," she observed.
"What?" Jaskier chimed in.
"She offered me the Law of Surprise for rescuing her and I accepted it," Robin revealed. "And then she brought me you."
Jaskier grinned. "I'm not going to argue," he decided.
"Me either," Robin agreed.
They set out for the woman's farm, since they currently had no other place to go. It wasn't like they had a home to return to.
When they arrived, she offered them baths, warm food, and clean clothes. They were all very grateful.
Robin was still tired. She slept through the night, only waking in the early morning after dreaming of Geralt.
Ciri was sitting up in the bed beside her. "I dreamt about Geralt," she admitted. "He was looking for you on a battlefield."
Robin frowned. "That was exactly what I dreamed," she confessed.
"Does that mean something?" Ciri wondered.
Robin shook her head. "I have no idea."
Both of them went outside to get some fresh air. Ciri wandered into the treeline after assuring Robin that she wouldn't go far. Now that Robin was rested and thinking more clearly, she needed to find Geralt. They were going to have to start acclimating Ciri to their unusual family, and he deserved to be there for that.
She looked up as a cart drove into the clearing. The woman came out to join them and smiled. "That's my husband," she explained. "He's home."
"You're in luck, my friend," the man on the cart called to someone in the back. "Your payment for the Law of Surprise is a very pretty woman."
Geralt inhaled and his eyes widened. "Robin," he gasped.
As he jumped down from the cart, limping on his bandaged leg, she cried out his name. "Geralt!"
She ran to him and jumped into his arms. Despite his injury, he lifted her up and spun her around. When he set her feet back on the ground, he was grinning jubilantly. "I accepted the Law of Surprise as payment for a rescue," he revealed. "Now, if anyone tries to take you away from me, fate will have something to say about it."
"It's about time," Robin scoffed, making him laugh loudly. "And do you realize that this is the longest we've been apart since we met? I don't care to repeat the experience."
"Nor do I," he assured her, bending for a kiss. "So let's not do it again."
A quick discussion of the timeline of events revealed that Geralt was part of Robin's payment for the Law of Surprise as well.
"We're all connected by fate now," she mused. "Ciri was your Law of Surprise, you're mine, and now Jaskier and myself are given to you. And Ciri for the second time. Imagine that."
"A shared destiny, just like Borch said," he remembered.
Robin held out her hand and motioned to Ciri, who had emerged when she'd heard Robin yell Geralt's name. She was standing shyly in the trees, partially hidden.
"Come meet Geralt," Robin invited her kindly.
The girl stepped forward tentatively, then quickly walked the rest of the way to Geralt and hugged him fiercely.
Jaskier stumbled out of the door, his clothes disheveled, his hair sticking up in every direction. "What'd I miss?" he mumbled. "Oh. Geralt."
Robin waved him over with her head. "Join us, Jas."
The four of them embraced. "People linked by destiny will always find each other," Geralt quoted.
"But what now?" Robin prompted him. "I don't know what happened to Triss and Yennefer, because I can no longer traverse Chaos. And I was having visions before the battle that I didn't understand. Ciri and I are having the same dreams. Not to mention the magic she's probably going to begin to exhibit any time now."
"Already is exhibiting," Jaskier corrected her as Ciri nodded her agreement.
"We will deal with all of that in due time," Geralt soothed her. "For now, let's just enjoy being together."
"And bound so tightly that no one can tear us apart," Jaskier reminded them happily.
"It feels right," Ciri decided.
"It does," Robin gave in.
So they fell silent, just holding each other. They all knew there was much more in their future, but for now, they could be content that they were finally a family.
To be continued...
Geralt, Robin, Jaskier, Ciri, Triss, and Yennefer will return in Season Two.