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Take My Hand, Hold Me Close (ch. 4)
Eskel and his elven lover Aniela have been together for some years when an accident occurs…
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Ch. 4: A reunion, and a protective Yennefer
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That night, the pair snuck onto the baron’s property, Jaskier dressed in one of Geralt’s black shirts and a pair of dark pants for better camouflage. Jaskier followed obediently behind Geralt, and they managed to sneak across the grounds as the guards moved about, then into the manor. Geralt knocked the dungeon guard unconscious, then they quickly opened the cell, Jaskier sneaking inside while Geralt kept watch.
“Psst, hello, you there, elf! We’re here to save you!” Jaskier whispered loudly as he crept closer. “Hello?” He came up beside the huddled figure and knelt down to shake their shoulder gently. “Can you hear me, are you alright?” He started to worry that the baron might have been wrong about the elf still being alive. He tugged at their shoulder to pull them away from the wall so that he could see their face. “Ani!” he cried out.
“Jaskier!” Geralt whispered harshly.
“Geralt, it is, it’s Ani!” Jaskier whisper-shouted back, trying to keep his voice under control.
Geralt cursed under his breath. “How…”
“Ani! Aniela!” Jaskier whispered desperately. “Geralt, she’s not waking up!”
Geralt took another moment to listen for anyone coming, then quickly crossed over to Jaskier and Aniela. Her heartbeat was slow and weak, and she looked pale and gaunt.
“Fuck,” Geralt cursed under his breath.
“I’ll carry her so you have your arms free if anyone comes after us,” Jaskier offered. He carefully scooped her up into his arms, tucking her against his chest. “Shit, Geralt, she doesn’t weigh anything. And she’s so pale and cold. And what happened to her glamour?”
Geralt growled. “Where the fuck is my brother?”
“Do you think she’s hurt?”
“I don’t smell blood. We’ll check her over more carefully once we’re out of here.”
“Alright.”
Geralt was on high alert as he led them out of the dungeon and across the baron’s estate, having not only his human lover to protect, but his brother’s unconscious one as well. They made it outside of the walls without incident and he relaxed slightly as they hurried back towards the town, but now that he wasn’t preoccupied with watching for guards, he was free to worry about Eskel and Aniela. It made no sense. They hadn’t seen his brother, nor heard anyone in town mention another witcher, and yet here was Aniela. They always travelled together. Eskel was never apart from her for more than a couple of days for a hunt, and he was anxious until they were reunited. They were never apart for longer than three days, unwilling to test the limits of Yennefer’s spell. Aniela being unwell and locked in a cell, having seen neither hide nor hind of Eskel, made worry grow like a stone in his stomach.
“Do you think—” Jaskier started.
“I don’t know,” Geralt cut him off with a growl. “Here, I’ll take her.”
“I’m worried too,” Jaskier said softly as he passed her over. “Should we take her to a healer first? Then if… if there’s nothing they can do, we’ll use the xenovox to contact Yennefer. Ask her to help us find Eskel.”
Geralt grunted his agreement, his mind whirling too much to be able to formulate a proper answer. Where was Eskel? What had happened? What happened to Aniela’s glamour?
“Her glamour! Her ears. We can’t bring her to a healer,” Geralt bit out.
“Fuck, right. Of course. Straight to Yenna, then?”
Geralt nodded. “We’ll gather our things from the inn, then call her.”
“Here, wait.” Jaskier set a hand on Geralt’s shoulder, and he stopped walking. Jaskier fussed with Aniela’s hair, making sure her ears were hidden from view. “That should do.” They hurried the rest of the way in silence, both wrapped up in their worries.
Up in their room, Geralt set Aniela gently down on the bed, before he checked her over briefly for injuries, not finding anything noticeable of concern. As Jaskier quickly packed their belongings, Geralt pulled out the xenovox.
“Yen, I need your help.”
A sigh. “What is it this time?”
“We’ve got Aniela, she isn’t well, something’s wrong.”
Yennefer’s tone instantly changed, full of worry and urgency. “I’m portalling to you.”
A moment later there was a zap, and Yennefer stepped into their room. She hurried over to the bed, kneeling down and assessing Aniela.
“Where is he?!” she demanded.
“Eskel?” Geralt asked. “We don’t know. She was in a baron’s dungeon. We haven’t seen him. Something must have happened to him, he would never leave her…” he trailed off, voice tight with worry.
“I am going to happen to Eskel! What’s wrong with her is they’ve been apart too long. She’s wasting away, Geralt, and she’s just about out of time.”
Geralt’s face turned even paler than usual. “Fuck,” he breathed out.
“You have no idea where he is or what happened?” Yennefer demanded. Geralt shook his head.
“I’ll use a locating spell, we’ll portal to wherever he is.”
Geralt nodded. Jaskier walked over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. Once Yennefer was ready, Geralt gathered Aniela in his arms, and Jaskier shouldered their belongings. They stepped through a portal into another dark room. A figure bolted up in the bed.
“Who’s there?” a sleep-rough voice demanded.
“It’s us, Eskel,” Geralt said, relief at hearing his brother’s voice battling his portal-sickness.
“The fuck?” Eskel grumbled, swinging his legs out of bed and reaching to light the candle at the bedside with igni. “What are you all doing here?” He squinted at the assembled group, then noticed the person in Geralt’s arms. “What are you doing with that woman??”
“Why wasn’t she with you?!” Geralt retorted.
“That woman was in my room when I got back from my hunt a few days ago… Do you know her?”
Geralt stared blankly at his brother.
“Do I know her?!”
“She’s your partner,” Jaskier said. “Do you not know her…? You never go anywhere without each other. Well, you can’t go anywhere without each other, really. Her life is tied to yours.”
Eskel stared at them in growing confusion and horror.
“Your lives are tied together by a spell. A spell you cried and begged me to do. One I cautioned you to be very sure you wanted,” Yennefer said, a dangerous edge to her voice. “How could you let her be away from you for so long and get to this state? How are you sleeping while–”
Eskel cut her off. “I-I don’t understand. I don’t remember. I don’t remember any of it,” he stammered.
“What do you mean, you don’t remember?” Yennefer demanded. “When I did the spell, I made the terms of it very clear. You had to be committed, and you swore you were. You begged me to save her life. I was clear that you can’t be away from each other for more than three or four days. So why did your brother and his bard find her wasting away in a jail cell?!” Yennefer’s voice rose in pitch and fury.
Eskel dropped back onto the bed. “I don’t–I don’t remember. By the gods, it seems I should, may they punish me, but I don’t remember.”
Yennefer glared at him. “What is wrong with you?!”
He looked up at her, his eyes haunted. “I don’t know. I woke up in a forest after a hunt, with no memory of how I got there. No memory of the contract. I came back to the village to find that woman in my room, a different horse in the stables…I think…I’m missing time. Missing memories of the past.”
Yennefer crossed the small room to him, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him up, jerking her head for Geralt to come over. He did, and she pressed Eskel’s hand to Aniela’s cheek, and something sparked. Suddenly images flooded through his mind. Aniela laughing; Aniela dancing with the crowd during a festival, face lit up; waking with her sleeping in his arms in his room in Kaer Morhen.
He gasped. Ani. He stumbled a step back and looked down at her. She looked like she had a foot through death’s door. Frail and pallid, dark hollows under her eyes.
“Fuck. Ani.”
“Welcome back,” Yennefer bit out. “You should take her. She needs to be as close to you as possible.”
“Will she…is she… Yennefer…” Eskel faltered for words as he took Aniela from Geralt’s arms.
“She was about out of time, this was dangerously close.” Yennefer’s words were clipped. “But I think if you keep her close to you for a day or two, she’ll recover.”
Eskel took in a shuddering breath, clutching Aniela close to him, and buried his nose in her hair, his eyes scrunched closed. “I–Thank you.”
Yennefer took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I take it you’re on your way up to Kaer Morhen?” Eskel nodded. “I’ll portal you there.”
“Thank you. But, my horse…”
“We’ll get Acorn,” Geralt offered. “Where are we, exactly?”
“Aldersberg,” Eskel said.
“We can ride her back to our inn, it’ll only add a day or two onto our journey up to Kaer Morhen.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. You just worry about Ani.” Geralt clapped a hand on Eskel’s shoulder before turning to Yennefer.
“Thank you, Yen.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” she replied, but she hugged him anyway.
“I know,” he murmured.
Jaskier quickly gathered Eskel’s things, then handed the bundle to Yennefer, who looked rather put out, but accepted them. He hugged her and she pulled a face, but didn’t attempt to push him off.
“Thank you, Yenna.”
“Get off,” she said, without any bite. “And don’t call me that.”
Jaskier grinned. “You like it.”
Yennefer made a noise of disgust. Jaskier wrapped his arms carefully around Eskel and Aniela next.
“Take care of yourselves,” he said softly. “We’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks Jask.”
“See you in Kaer Morhen.” Yennefer opened a portal and stepped through, Eskel following closely behind.
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