Scorpion's hooves caused a rhythmic sound on the stones of the paved path that led across the bridge to the faculty island of the Academy of Oxenfurt.
A flock of wild geese flew over the city, the calls of the birds overlapped by the sounds of the people who populated the nearby marketplace. Like the migratory birds, the Witcher had left his winter quarter, but his path led him from the north to the city at the Pontar.
Ever since he had left before dawn to reach Oxenfurt as early as possible, the prospect of seeing Thalia in just a few hours had filled him with euphoria and excitement. Again and again he had imagined the moment of their reunion, had tried to arrange words. But now that he had finally reached his goal, he felt the uncertainty again that had clouded his mood for several weeks.
He dismounted and led Scorpion on the rein to the gate. As expected, the guards scrutinized him critically, barely concealed disgust.
"Where is the Witcher going?", the left of the two men asked, without prefixing a greeting."My name is Eskel and I wish to speak to Professor van de Wintervoord."
He hoped that he was correct in his assumption and Thalia had meanwhile received her professorship.
"So, that's what he wishes. Does He have a reason for his visit?"
"It's about an assignment for the alchemical faculty," lied Eskel. If Thalia found it unpleasant to be associated with a questionable person like him, he wanted to keep her a plausible solution.
"Ah. Well then. Wait here. I send a messenger. If the professor wants to see you, she will send for you."
The guard stepped through the gate and evidently summoned a boy to deliver the message to Thalia. The remaining security guard did not let Eskel out of his sight. When the guard returned to the gate, he easily made a dismissive gesture. He did not seem to quite believe that the witcher's visit was actually welcome, and apparently was looking forward to sending him off in plain words.
Eskel took a few steps back and leaned against the parapet of the bridge that spanned the Pontar and connected the Academy to the main island of the city. The water glittered in the midday sun and flowed calmly towards the northern sea. At the moment, Eskel would have been glad if he felt this kind of peace for himself - but contrary to his normal serenity, his inner feelings were in turmoil.
On the one hand, the anticipation of seeing Thalia again dominated. In the past few months, no day - if he was honest with himself, not an hour - had passed, in which he had not thought of her and missed her. But along with the joyous expectation, doubt had settled in his mind. Was it naïve to believe they could simply pick up on their time together in Kaer Morhen?
The same thoughts that had been occupying his thoughts in recent weeks circled his mind again.Had the months that had passed since their departure changed something between them? Her farewell had been very emotional, but Thalia was basically a pragmatic, rational person.
What if the spatial and temporal gap had led her to see their relationship in a different light? If her reputation was too important for her to want to be seen with a mutant? If she had come to the conclusion that there could be no future for both of them together - he was a traveling witcher who lived from one contract to another, she was a respected scholar who frequented the upper class ... Would she be happy about his early arrival? Or rather surprised that she had to explain to him earlier than expected that their time together had passed and was only a pleasant memory now?
A sound behind the walls of the campus aroused his attention - quietly and inaudibly for the guards, yet unmistakably approaching. It sounded like the staccato of heels, the wearer hurrying down a flight of stairs, not caring how loud his footsteps echoed on the pavement.
Suddenly the noise stopped. Eskel could hear soft breaths - someone tried to calm his breathing after a quick run ... A few seconds later, the footsteps behind the wall began again, slower this time.
And then he finally saw her as she approached from the campus forecourt.
Under the black gown that lay over her shoulders, she wore an emerald-green dress that caressed her figure. Her hair was loosely pinned, a few strands had dissolved as so often and now played around her face in soft curls. He wanted nothing more than run up to her and hugging her, but he kept calm.
She walked slowly, almost gracefully toward the gate. As it probably was suitable for a professor. She smiled as she looked at him - friendly but reserved. Eskel felt something tense in his stomach.
He stepped toward her, careful not to let his face show the emotions that were fighting within him. The two guards watched him carefully, ready to put him into place when there was a sign of trouble.Eskel took a deep breath before greeting Thalia. "Hello, Professor ..."
"Master Eskel. I'm glad to see you. Please come in." She turned to the guards. "It's all right, his visit was announced."
"Should someone accompany you, Professor?"
"No need. The witcher is known to me from another contract and enjoys the faculty's confidence." With that she turned away and strode into the forecourt beside Eskel, who led Scorpion by the rein.
Only when they had brought several meters between them and the guards, she spoke to him softly. "Please forgive this spectacle, but it has to be. I'll explain it to you soon. Not everything is as it seems ..."
Worried, Eskel looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. What did she mean by that? Was she in danger? Or he himself?
After arriving at the stables, Eskel put his saddlebags over his shoulder. On Thalia's instructions, Scorpion was well looked after and Eskel left him. Thalia led him to the main building of the alchemical faculty.
"We'd better go to my office, there we can talk. Did you notice anyone watching us?", she asked softly.
Eskel had been more than alert all along, but had not noticed anything suspicious. "No. What's going on here, Thalia?"
"In a minute."
Thalia strode ahead of him up the stairs, to her study on the second floor. She unlocked the door and stepped through, motioning him to follow her. The room was rather small and pragmatic, replete with books, notes and drawings. The desk, on which also notes and papers piled up, occupied most of the room.
If Eskel had tried to imagine her working environment in recent weeks, her office had always been a little more imposing in his imagination. He put down his saddlebags on the floor, between stacks of books and bundles of pieces of paper that took up almost any space on the wooden floorboards.
Eskel turned to Thalia. After she had locked the door from the inside, she leaned against it with her back and looked at him. The expression in her big brown eyes was difficult to interpret for him ...
"So," he began. "What's ..." He did not get any further, because Thalia had come to him in two steps, clasped his face in both hands and kissed him passionately.
It took Eskel a second to overcome his surprise, then relief seized him. He wrapped his arms around her and returned her kiss, just as hungry. Breathless, they held each other in embrace. Thalia pressed herself close to him and covered his face with kisses, before she pressed her forehead against his and enjoyed the sincerity of the moment.
Eskel let out a shaky breath. The tension that had gripped him in the last few hours and the fear that everything might be different between them had constricted his heart. Now the knot broke in his chest and he enjoyed the feeling of holding her back in his arms.
"I missed you so much, Eskel. So much ..."
How he had longed for these almost whispered words. How could he have doubted her?
"I missed you too, love. More than you can imagine."
She broke away from him and looked at him with a smile.
"This charade must have been very confusing for you. I'm sorry."
"It's all right. I already told you it wouldn't be an advantage for you to be seen with me. And as far as I got aware on the way here, the reputation of witchers in Redania has not improved."
Thalia sighed. "If it were only that ... my reputation has become pretty much the least important thing to me. Eskel ... things are just awful."
Tears gathered in her eyes. Eskel took her hands, holding them while she told him everything that had happened in Oxenfurt in the last few weeks.
"Do you think you're under surveillance?" Eskel asked when she finished.
"I'm not sure. Sometimes I have the feeling that someone is following me when I go home or when I leave the prison. Eskel, it's horrible there. By now, all but two of the infected prisoners have died. I have just received a message telling me to go back this afternoon. Supposedly, I get a new task - I have no idea what that should be, but certainly it's no good.
And my senior professor and the university management expect results quickly. The Redanian government is putting pressure on them to quickly provide an effective way to infect other people in the border regions. Laikos and also Yonka take a lot of risks to sabotage the research, but it's only a matter of time until they discover us."
"Us? Are you in danger, Thalia?"
"I do not know if they have a concrete suspicion against me. But I certainly do not enjoy the confidence of my superiors. They are aware that I do not agree with their plan. So ... if the last infected ones have died and we have completely destroyed the pathogen samples, I want to get away from here, Eskel. I no longer want to be a professor at a university that can be harnessed for such purposes. And I do not feel safe anymore."
Eskel pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. "I'll take you away from here, my heart. The sooner, the better."
"I cannot leave Laikos and Yonka, Eskel. So far we have only delayed research, but if we stop now, then the Redanian government will soon trigger a pandemic among the non-humans. I can not answer for that."
"They'll do it without you too." He cupped her face with his hands. "Thalia, I'm worried about you. Please do not put yourself in danger."
She smiled sadly at him. "I'll try, Eskel. Now that you're here, I feel like everything's going to be all right." Her smile suddenly blazed as she remembered something. "By the way, I have a gift for you."
She turned and pulled out a surprisingly large box from the bottom shelf. When she opened the lid and reached in, Eskel became aware of the slightly stinging smell of saltpetre. With a proud smile she presented him a roughly apple-sized ball on her palm.
"A bomb?"
"Not just a common bomb. Do you remember that I once asked you if you could use explosives that detonate with a time delay? Ta-daa ... I present: The first witcher grenade with acid activator - that's what I call my construction. Maybe I should apply for a patent ... if all this is over."
"I'm impressed, Thalia. How much time will remain after sharpening until the explosion?"
"That's exactly what's special about it: You have several periods to choose from! I'll show you how it works."
Thalia unscrewed the primer from the ball and pulled out a vial attached to a metal disc.
"Actually it is quite easy. I thought about how it would be possible to delay the contact of the detonator with the flammable explosive substance. That's why at the end of the detonator, I filled fuel into a small gap. But the fire has no effect on the chemicals inside, it only burns down there - up to ten minutes. If you ignite the bomb, you'll turn the firing head vigorously in that direction. This breaks the vial in which there is an acid that gradually eats away this copper plate. Only when the plate becomes permeable, the fire gets in contact with the explosive substance and then ... woosh! ..."
Thalia accompanied the sound with a gesture and a big smile. She was visibly pleased with her invention.
And Eskel was really impressed. "That's awesome, Thalia!"
"I know." She smiled mischievously.
Eskel critically examined her hands. "And still all nine fingers attached!"
Thalia knocked him playfully against the shoulder. "You are a bit too cheeky, Master Witcher," she replied, smiling. "Professor van de Wintervoord doesn't make such grave mistakes. Here, with this plate you can decide for yourself how long the delay should last. For this you have five different strengths of the copper plate to choose from. I spent a lot of time trying out how long the acid takes to etch a hole in the plates. Here, I have marked the number of minutes on each plate. Theoretically, one could achieve an even longer delay time by increasing the cavity for the fuel so that the fire can stay longer in 'waiting position'.
Before I left, I had noted the composition of your bombs and I made a small supply for you. Samum, grape-shot, north wind and a few others. As you can see, the box is full."
Eskel gave her a tender kiss on her smiling lips. "You know how to make a witcher happy, Thalia."
"I hope so ..." She kissed him long and passionately. When they parted, he remembered that he had not come empty-handed.
"I also brought you something. Not as spectacular as your present, but ..." He pulled a cloth-wrapped bundle from his saddlebag. When he had removed the cloth, a glass container appeared, filled to the brim with a clear liquid. Together with the glass he gave Thalia a long, multicolored feather.
Thalia took both in surprise, inspecting the liquid by holding the bottle against the light coming in through the window. "Eskel! Is that ..."
"Spinal fluid of a Griffin. I thought you'd still have use for it."
Thalia carefully placed the glass on the shelf. Then she hugged him stormily and kissed him again. "Thank you, Eskel! You also know how to make women happy ... "
"Well ..." Eskel was a bit embarrassed.
She ran her hand under his jacket and stroked slowly over his chest. "You know ... I have some time left before I have to visit the jail. I'm afraid I can not take you to my house, that would be too suspicious ..."
"I've already rented a room in an inn I've stayed in before. The Alchemy."
"Shall I come to visit you tonight? I could go with a friend, that would be inconspicuous. And then, by chance, I'll go up the stairs to the guest rooms."
"Room number 7."
Thalia smiled mischievously. "Room number 7, then."
Her hand continued its way over his chest, pausing on his abdominal muscles, tightening under his shirt. Eskel felt his pulse speed up.
"Like I said, I still have some time ... I really missed you a lot, Eskel. Everything about you ..." Her hand moved to his back. She kissed him passionately. A moan escaped Eskel's throat as she pressed herself close to him. Apparently she'd noticed his excitement. Thalia's accelerated breath showed him that she felt the same.
But the office didn't offer much space ...
Apparently Thalia had gone through similar considerations. But unlike Eskel, she had no inhibitions to ensure for space. She moved away from him and with a sweeping movement pushed all the books and notes to the floor that had barely covered her desktop. A challenging look in her eyes, she grabbed Eskel's hands, pulled him with her and sat down on the table.
"The bed in your room is certainly more comfortable ... but for now this is enough for me."
Since witchers were known to be satisfied with little comfort, Eskel raised no objections.
---
Two hours later Thalia crossed the bridge that connected the prison island in the middle of the Pontar with the main island of the city. Although the goal of her journey left her shivering as usual, her mood was much more positive this time than on her previous visits.
Eskel had returned to her. Finally. Knowing him in her vicinity and the certainty of seeing him again tonight made her much more comfortable with the prospect of her imminent hours in jail. She still thought she could feel the light tingling on her skin wherever he had touched her. Even the short time with him today had allowed her to regain her courage. To hear his voice, his calm, unshakable manner ...
How much had she missed him.Tonight they would plan the further steps of their early departure. The anticipation of having him alone for several hours drove away most of Thalia's worries.But when she came to the gate of the prison, her heart became heavier again. The guards, whom she now knew from her previous visits, greeted her and willingly opened the door.
The guards were instructed to let in the scientists of the research group day and night without asking.Thalia strode through the long, cell-lined corridor, penetrating deeper into the building. The further she came, the more shabby and bleak her way became. When she arrived at the section for non-humans, the watchman met her.
"Professor van de Wintervoord. Greetings. Unfortunately, Professor Basilius can not personally instruct you, but he has left me specific instructions. Please, enter ..."
The strong, bearded man unlocked the door to the isolation wing and let her go first. Initially, the scientists had still worn protective clothing when they visited the infected non-humans, but they renounced in the meantime on wearing the masks because there was not a single human suffering from the disease.
However, Thalia continued to put on protective gloves and a smock - she did not want to risk that the disease could spread among the other people living in Oxenfurt because of her carelessness.
"Well, the professor told me to bring you directly to this witch. The slut calls herself Keira Metz."
Thalia paused in the middle of the step. Keira Metz? Wasn't this the name of the sorceress Lambert had been with until a year ago? The one he was still attached to - even if he had vehemently denied it? Hadn't Triss mentioned Keira Metz working on a cure for Catriona's disease? Was the sorceress here to assist her in exploring the local plague?
"It was a lucky coincidence that this witch fell into the hands of the Order of the Eternal Fire in Novigrad," the guard continued. "As far as the professor told me, she probably knows more about Catriona's disease, and that's probably similar to the plague that infected the other non-humans. But surely you know that better than I do ..."
The guard kept walking down the corridor, not noticing Thalia's confusion at all. She quickly rejoined him.
"You should talk to her, the professor said. Ensure her cooperation. A sorceress who was picked up by the witch hunters in Novigrad a few weeks ago has probably reported that this woman Metz has found out quite a bit about the Catriona plague, which was previously unknown. And that should help you to research the disease here.
She arrived here today. Still had a witcher with her, probably defended her like a wild fiend. Did not benefit her anyway. Even less. Let's hope for the guy that he can take just as much as he spreads with his mouth. This mutant spits insults like a fountain. Not for the ears of a lady, Professor. But we will teach this bastard manners. Maybe that'll make this whore talk."
Behind the bars of the cell to which the guard had led her, Thalia saw a woman tied to the wall. Long, blond hair fell around her shoulders, disheveled. Her skin was pale. She was probably bound with dimeritium chains - the metal provoked a strong nausea and prevented any magic from the magically gifted. Keira Metz threw Thalia and the guard a hateful look, her lips pressed tightly together.
But even more than the woman, the man in the cell drew Thalia's gaze. Half unconscious, he hung in the chains that tied his wrists to the wall. Judging from the fresh abrasions and bruises, he had already had to endure some maltreatment.
Thalia tried not to show her shock. The witcher in the cell - only a shadow of his former self - was Lambert.
----
Notes: If you haven't read my Lambert spin-off "Eternal Flame" yet, I'd be happy if you'd take a peek. There you can find out how Lambert and Keira got into the bad situation in which they are now.