Night had fully settled over Kaer Morhen by the time Ciri returned, a decent-sized doe slung over the back of her saddle, snow beginning to drift down thick and steady over the courtyard as she led her horse in through the gate.
Inside, the great hall was warm with firelight, the others already gathered around the long table, Vesemir with a mug of something dark cradled in both hands, Lambert sprawled back in his chair with his boots up on the bench, Eskel turning a whetstone slowly over a blade. Seb sat closest to the fire, looking, at a glance, entirely at ease.
"There she is," Lambert said as Ciri came in, stamping snow from her boots. "Bring anything back worth the trip?"
"Decent doe," Ciri said, shrugging off her cloak.
"We were just talking about the curse," Vesemir said, cutting straight to it once she'd taken a seat. "Seb here seems to think Yennefer's is our best shot at sorting it out with no other solutions."
"I do," Seb said.
"I think you're right," Ciri said carefully, eyes flicking briefly toward him before returning to the fire. "She's our best option right now, too bad we don't know where Triss is."
Vesemir studied Seb a long moment over the rim of his mug, something assessing in his gaze. "What I want to know," he said slowly, "is whether you're actually telling us everything. Are you truly feeling normal, or just telling us what you think we want to hear?"
"Yeah," Seb said, spreading his hands. "What did I say earlier? Nothing's changed."
"No, you're not!" The words burst out of Ciri before she'd fully decided to say them, sharper than she'd intended, and the whole table turned toward her at once. Eskel and Lambert exchanged a quick, wordless glance across the table.
Seb's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, Ciri?"
She caught herself, "Nothing," she said, quieter now, looking down at the table instead of at him.
Seb studied her another second, then let it go or seemed to, offering a faint, teasing smile instead. "You know, you actually managed to bring down a decent deer out there. Didn't think you had it in you, for a city girl."
It landed wrong. Ciri didn't smile. She didn't even look at him properly, the compliment sliding right past whatever she was actually holding onto.
"Come on," Seb said, softer now, reading at least that much correctly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said again. "I'm just worried."
"You didn't use your powers out there, did you?"
"Of course not."
"Then everything's fine," Seb said, already turning his attention back to the fire.
Something in Ciri's chest twisted hard enough that she nearly said it right there, in front of everyone 'you're in pain and in you are bleeding from your nose and pretending you're not, and your only concern right now is still whether I'm all right... there are limits to being selfless!' but the words caught somewhere behind her teeth, and instead she simply stood, pushing back from the table without another word, and walked out.
A short silence followed her leaving.
"Something wrong with her?" Eskel asked, watching the door swing shut.
"Given everything we've just heard," Lambert said, dragging a hand down his face, "I'd say that's a fair guess. Another world, taken prisoner there, fighting your way out of it... that's not exactly a light time, even for us."
"Geralt and his damn secrets," Eskel said, shaking his head. "Should've told us the second it started. Ciri is part of this family. She shouldn't have had to go through that without us knowing."
"You need to understand why he kept it quiet," Vesemir said.
"Oh, I understand it fine," Eskel said. "Doesn't mean I like it."
Seb was already rising from his chair, something in Ciri's abrupt departure finally catching up with him properly, and he followed her out without another word.
He found her on the balcony overlooking the Blue Mountains, snow settling soft and silent over the stone rail, her breath fogging pale in the cold night air.
"What's wrong, Ciri?" he asked, coming to stand beside her.
"I know you're in pain, Seb." She didn't turn to look at him.
"...What?"
"You don't have to keep pretending." Her voice wavered, but she pressed on. "I saw you this morning. Bleeding. And I didn't say anything, because I respect your choices, and because I love you... you know that. But I'm done pretending I didn't see it."
Seb went very still. "You... you saw that."
"Of course I did." She finally turned to face him, eyes bright and fierce even through the tears gathering at their edges. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice?!"
Seb was quiet a moment, something loosening in his chest despite everything. "Then I appreciate you not saying anything to the others. Would've turned this into a whole production."
"Let me see," Ciri said, already reaching for the hem of his shirt.
He hesitated only a fraction of a second before letting her pull it off over his head, and the moment it came free, her breath caught hard in her throat. The dark lines had spread far beyond what either of them had seen before, climbing now across the whole of his torso, branching thick and deliberate up his neck, creeping close enough to his jaw that another few days might see them reach his face entirely.
"It looks so much worse now," Ciri whispered, fingers ghosting lightly over the darkened skin, as though touching it too hard might make it spread faster.
Seb's heart dropped seeing it laid out plain like that, reflected in the horror barely held back in her expression, but he kept his voice steady. "I can hold on. Look." He raised one hand, and flame bloomed easily in his palm, warm and controlled as ever. "Still works fine. I'll figure something out."
"What's fire going to do against something that's eating you alive from the inside?" Ciri's voice cracked, sharp with fear rather than anger. "And what happens if Yennefer can't fix it, Seb? What then?"
"Then, if this curse ends up killing me," Seb said, quiet and steady, "I die with no regrets." He held her gaze, unflinching. "Maybe a few loose ends left hanging. But I got you home. That's the part that mattered."
"Don't say that." Ciri turned away sharply, arms crossing tight over her chest, jaw clenched hard against the tears threatening to spill over again.
Seb closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin lightly against the top of her head. "Don't worry," he said. "I've got full confidence in myself. Once everything's sorted, you and I are going right back out there, and we'll finish tying off every loose end together. Promise." He paused. "There's something else I haven't told you, though."
She went still in his arms. "What."
"Your father," Seb said. "He never stopped looking for you. Not once, this whole time."
"Geralt already told me that," Ciri said quietly. "Figured as much on his own, honestly."
"There's a bit more to it than that, though." Seb's arms tightened slightly around her. "There's someone dangerous out there... I know for a fact he's hunting you too. Killed a couple of my friends doing it. Good chance he's working for your father in this, one way or another."
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Shadow Monarch: In One Piece / Shadow Monarch in DC
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my pat-reon / FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to More Chapters Ahead of Release on All of My Stories!