A Princess With the Strength of a Warrior

Image from PsychVamp who is just the sweetest person in the world.

Ciri was enjoying her winter at Kaer Morhen a lot more than she thought she would. The Witcher's were all welcoming and a lot kinder than she thought they would be. Geralt was there, and her bond with him was only continuing to grow as the snow fell. Yennefer was a fascinating mage, and Ciri loved their lessons, where she got to learn about the Chaos that threatened to consume her. And Jaskier was here, and Ciri has always loved whenever he came to court. For all that Jaskier was a sunny presence that made her smile, he also carried the worst memories. He made her think about Cintra and the life and family that she had lost.

Ciri was surprised the first time she saw Jaskier and Yennefer together. They were in the dark corner of the hallway, and they appeared to be kissing and laughing softly together. Ciri hadn't ever seen the expressions the two of them wore as they stayed close together, and she only saw them again when they were together. As the winter went on, Yennefer and Jaskier became more open with their affections, but Ciri could also see the way that their affections were impacting Geralt. He looked at the two of them like Eist would look at her grandmother, and Ciri knew that look. She listened to the ballads that Jaskier sang, she knew what love was, and Geralt was stupidly in love with both of them.

So when it became apparent that Jaskier and Yennefer were thinking of leaving and the only thing that could get them to stay was Geralt getting his head out of his ass Ciri more or less told him to do just that. Geralt wouldn't admit that he loved them, so she told him what he needed to hear; she told him to tell them what they needed to hear so they would stay. That was what it came down to at the end of the day; neither of them wanted Yennefer and Jaskier to leave, but Geralt needed to be the one to give them the right reason to stay. She knew they wanted to stay for her, and if she asked, they would, but Ciri knew that wasn't fair to either of them. So she sat back and hoped that her adopted father got his head out of his ass and figured out what they wanted to hear so they would stay.

The next morning Ciri went down for breakfast, and Geralt, Yennefer, and Jaskier were nowhere to be found, but there was food, and it did appear that someone had been in the kitchen. She walked on soft footsteps through the keep until she found the balcony overlooking the training area where she could see Geralt, Yennefer, and Jaskier having breakfast together out in the snow. The sun was out, and while it was cold, the sun made everything feel a little warm. They seemed calmer around each other, and they were all smiling.

"Did they finally figure it out?" Lambert said, and Ciri jumped. She hadn't heard him walk up behind her and took her by surprise. "You need to pay attention to your surroundings at all times, Cub, or someone is going to get the drop on you."

"Forgive me for thinking Kaer Morhen was safe," Ciri replied, and Lambert scoffed. "Yes, it looks like they figured it out, in more ways than one judging by the duel bruises on Jaskier's neck."

"You know what those bruises are?" Lambert asked carefully, and Ciri didn't think she had ever seen him so uncomfortable before.

"I may be young, but I do know what fucking is," Ciri said. Lambert blinked once, twice, and began to laugh. She wasn't sure what was so funny; he said fuck all the time, so it wasn't like it was a new word.

"So do those three down there know that you know what fucking is?" Lambert asked after he finished laughing, and Ciri narrowed her eyes, wondering if where this conversation was going.

"When we passed a brothel, Geralt told me he'd tell me what specifically went on in there when I'm older, so I don't think so," Ciri replied, and then it dawned on her why he was asking her this. "You want to mess with them."

"Geralt is my brother, and he has two obscenely hot lovers, so of course, I want to mess with him little Cub," Lambert said. "So I want you to use those giant, innocent green eyes of yours, and I want you to point out the bruises. I want you to ask where they came from, and I want to watch those three try to explain them without telling you what fucking is. It'll be hilarious; what do you say? You up for fucking with Geralt and his little harem?"

"Yennefer would gut you if she heard you call her and Jaskier a harem," Ciri said, and Lambert smirked.

"Jaskier would too the vicious little thing that he is, but you didn't answer my question," Lambert said. Ciri chewed on her lower lip and looked at the three of them and how happy they looked together. She didn't want to ruin that potential happiness, but it also seemed like it could be a lot of fun to tease them. They were kind of idiots if it took them this long to figure it out.

"Okay, I'll help," Ciri said, and the smile that Lambert gave her probably would have frightened normal people. It looked almost feral, but she wasn't afraid of him. Ciri wasn't afraid of anyone in this keep because they were all going to protect her.

She settled into the kitchen with Lambert, and they waited for Jaskier, Geralt, and Yennefer to eventually return. When they finally did, they were all smiling and all but giggling with each other, and all right maybe, Ciri could see why Lambert wanted to make fun of them a little. Jaskier sat down, and Ciri gasped as the bruises on his neck came into view.

"Jaskier, your neck!" she said, and Ciri was quite proud of how worried she sounded. "You have two horrible bruises! Did you get them while training yesterday? Did I hurt you?" Ciri has long since mastered the art of crying on command, it was an important skill for a princess to have, and she made tears well up in her eyes as he stared at her. All three of them went a little pale and then very red. Lambert sat at the end of the table, and out of the corner of her eye, Ciri could see him smirking.

"Oh, no, darling, you didn't do this to me," Jaskier said. "I must have hit my neck on a door or something like that or bumped it weird while training, but I know it wasn't anything that you did. I'm sure of that."

"I need to run upstairs," Geralt said and all but fled the room. Ciri blinked as he ran away and stared at Jaskier and Yennefer like they could provide her with answers, which they clearly did not.

"Isn't it time for training? Where is Vesemir?" she asked.

"Right here," Vesemir said as he walked into the kitchen. "Why did I just watch Geralt flee the kitchen?"

"Don't ask," Jaskier said, and he was still a little red. Ciri smiled and turned that smile on Vesemir, who seemed to know that she was up to something. She finished her breakfast and all but skipped out to training for the day.

+++

Over the course of the next three days, both Eskel and Vesemir learned about this plan to make fun of Geralt, Yennefer, and Jaskier. Eskel seemed to think it was the best idea in the world while Vesemir looked at the two Witcher's like they were children; he couldn't believe he still needed to discipline. He didn't tell them about her plans, though, and Ciri made sure that she brought up anything that could be linked to sex. The bruises that never seemed to fade from Jaskier's neck, the way that Yennefer's lips would get red and swollen if she was kissing Geralt or Jaskier, or how messy Geralt's hair would get. It made all three of them so uncomfortable that Ciri didn't ever want to stop with this.

Her fun was ruined on day four when Yennefer apparently decided that enough was enough and sat Ciri down for the sex talk that her grandmother never got around to giving her. It was a talk that she needed to have at some point since there were female things that were going to happen with her body eventually that she needed to know about. Yennefer, however, began to explain the concept of sex, and Ciri held up a hand.

"Yen, I know what sex is," Ciri said, and Yennefer stared at her for a moment until a realization dawned on her face.

"Oh, you little shit," Yennefer said. "You've been teasing us for the last four days. You knew exactly what those bruises were, and you just wanted to make fun of us. Oh, you are a conniving little thing. Are the other Witcher's aware of this?"

"Lambert and I came up with the idea," Ciri said with a shrug.

"I'm going to push him off of this fucking mountain," Yennefer said, but she didn't actually sound that mad. If anything, she sounded rather amused, and while Ciri knew the basics of sex, Yennefer did give her some information that she didn't know. She thought they were going to have their magic lesson now, but Yennefer took Ciri's hand and dragged her through the keep to Jaskier and Geralt, who were sparring on the training ground with Vesemir, Eskel, and Lambert. "Darlings, I want you to know that young Ciri here knows exactly what all of our ailments the last few days have been, and she, with the help of those three over there, have been making fun of us."

"Oh, the witch broke you," Lambert said, and Yennefer fixed him with a sharp glare that actually did look rather dangerous.

"I did no such thing," Yennefer snapped. "Instead, I decided it was time that she heard about sex anyway, and she revealed to me that she knew what we were doing." Geralt looked like he sort of wanted to fling himself off of the mountain, but Jaskier looked weirdly proud of her.

"Well done, little one," he said. "Those tears looked real. I'm very impressed by your ability to bullshit and lie. Maybe you would have survived court." Ciri smiled because she knew that that was a compliment from Jaskier, but it made her feel a little pang of homesickness inside. She didn't like to think about court and the people that she left behind that were surely dead now. Ciri did her best not to let anyone see that it was bothering her and went about her routine.

It bothered her for days until she was sitting in the library with Jaskier trying to hide that she was feeling heartsick and apparently doing a very bad job at it.

"For someone who can lie as well as you can, little one, you're remarkably bad at hiding your emotions," Jaskier said. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Ciri shifted in the chair; she was supposed to be reading a book on wraiths, but she didn't really care right now. She set the book aside and looked at her hands as she tried to put into words what she was feeling. It was complicated, and she didn't know how to tell Jaskier that she missed things like this, but it was all she had.

"I miss court," Ciri said. "I know it's silly with all of the rules with the stupid parties and everything, but I miss seeing a few people, and I miss my grandmother, and I miss Eist, and I wish Cintra weren't burnt to the ground." She didn't mean to say all of that, but once she got talking, it all just spilled out of her. Jaskier took her hand and guided her over to the couch near the fireplace and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a tight hug. "You remind me of it," she whispered. "When I'm around you, it's all I can think of."

"I'm sorry that I carry bad memories, little one," Jaskier said, and it really sounded like it broke his heart to hear that she associated him with bad things, but it wasn't that.

"No, it's not that you carry bad memories, it's that you remind me of good ones and the things that I'm missing," Ciri said. She needed to try and explain this, or Jaskier was going to keep away from her out of some sense that it would be for her own good, and she didn't want that. She didn't want that at all. "The last name day celebration that you came to there were a bunch of girls from around Cintra there. I didn't know them very well, but I still sat with them, and we still talked. And do you know what we talked about the entire time?"

"What?" Jaskier asked.

"You," Ciri said, and she could feel her ears redden. "We all had crushes on you, and they were all so jealous of me that you would come to all of my Name Day celebrations, and they wished you would do the same for them. They would whisper all sorts of things about me whenever you would dance with me during the night."

"You had a crush on me, little one?" Jaskier asked, and he sounded a little amused, and by the gods, Ciri wanted to crawl into a hole and die right now.

"They were kind of mean that you weren't there for my celebration and were talking about why you weren't there. It was just court gossip, you know how it is, but it still made me sad to hear the things that they were saying about you, and about me," Ciri said, and she sighed heavily. "I just miss all of it sometimes, no matter how kind everyone here is."

"And when you're with Geralt or Eskel or Vesemir or Yennefer, you don't have to think about it," Jaskier said. "But when you're around me, you have to think about it because I was part of that life." Ciri nodded and let him hold her. She couldn't believe she told him about the stupid little crush she used to have on the bard that always smiled so kindly whenever he played for her and how much those dances meant to her. "I can't bring those people back, Ciri, and I can't rebuild Cintra for you; if I could, I would in a heartbeat you know that I would, but maybe I can bring a little bit of court to Kaer Morhen." Ciri pulled away from his shoulder and looked up at Jaskier, and he was smiling. He stood up and offered a hand. She didn't know what was going on, but it seemed like a good idea to just go along with things. Jaskier grabbed his lute and pulled her through the keep.

Whenever they passed, someone Jaskier would tell them to meet him in the kitchen, and when they asked what was going on, Jaskier ignored them. He was grinning from ear to ear by the time everyone made their way to the kitchen, and Yennefer looked a little weary.

"Oh, little lark, what are you planning? Nothing good comes from that look," she said.

"Nonsense, I won't hear this kind of slander against my good name," Jaskier said as if he could wave this conversation away with his hand. "We need to move all of the tables out of the way and clear the room."

"You better tell me what you have planned for my keep, boy," Vesemir said. He didn't sound threatening, but Ciri knew that Vesemir could make Jaskier do some rather horrific chores in retribution.

"Ciri was telling me that she misses court and I missed her last Name Day celebration. So, I've decided that we're going to bring the Name Day celebration to Kaer Morhen," Jaskier said, and everyone, but Yennefer now looked confused. "Oh, for the love of, we're going to do some dancing and singing to cheer Ciri up. We need to clear the room, so we have room to move around. Now get to it." There was a beat of silence as everyone seemed to think about whether or not this was a good idea, and then they all began to move. Ciri wanted to tell that this was silly, and they didn't need to do this. She wanted to but as she watched Lambert and Eskel move the massive table and Geralt get some cups out so they could have something to drink, and Yennefer make the fire in the hearth have a warm glow and Ciri just sort of loved all of them so much it made her heart hurt.

"So, are you going to provide the music then?" Geralt asked, and Jaskier smiled brightly.

"Yes, but I also need to make sure that the lovely Ciri has her dance that I wasn't able to give her on her last Name Day," he replied and turned to Yennefer. "If I play a tune, can you enchant my lute to continue playing it?" Yennefer tapped her lips and nodded. Jaskier grinned and began to play a rather simple melody that would be easy to dance to. He played a few rounds of the melody and then stopped. Yennefer tilted her head, and the lute began to echo the melody without Jaskier touching the strings. "Eskel, do you mind holding this for me? Please guard it with your life," Jaskier said as he handed the lute, still playing, off to Eskel, who looked a little bemused by this whole thing. Jaskier walked over to Ciri and offered her a hand. "Your Highness? I would be honored to dance with you on your Name Day."

They weren't wearing fine clothes, in fact, most of them were wearing dirty clothes from a day of working and training, and her own dress was tattered. Jaskier's boots were scuffed, and his hair was a mess. Yet as he stood there, his posture changed, so he looked like the courtly bard that from her memories, and Ciri had to take his hand. He pulled her out onto the open floor, and they began the simple dance that he'd done with her since Ciri learned how to dance. It wasn't anything special but had little flourishes that the two of them had added over the years, so it was theirs. It was something special that only she and Jaskier knew about.

"Oh come on, Geralt. Let's see if we can teach a Witcher how to dance properly," Yennefer said, and Ciri grinned as she watched Geralt stumble out onto the open floor. Jaskier was smiling warmly as they watched Yennefer patiently show Geralt where to put his hands and how to move his feet. Lambert was grinning as he drank his ale, Eskel was laughing at the way Geralt looked almost afraid of the idea of learning how to dance like they were at court, and Vesemir was smiling fondly at all of them. Geralt was a quick study, and he learned the basic dance rather quickly.

"Now, tradition dictates that a member of the family would dance with the princess on her Name Day celebration," Jaskier said, and everyone seemed to wince at the same time, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. "I believe the man who declared the Law of Surprise should have that honor next." Geralt blinked as Yennefer all but pushed him over to Ciri. Jaskier smiled, kissed her forehead, and handed her off to Geralt. Geralt was a little unsteady on his feet as they began to dance slowly, but it seemed that Yennefer was a good enough teacher. Jaskier and Yennefer took each other's hands and began to dance, but they seemed to be moving more on instinct than anything else because they were watching Geralt and Ciri.

"This doesn't seem that hard," Geralt said after a few rounds of dancing. "I don't see why the nobles are always making such a big deal about this." Ciri watched as Yennefer and Jaskier both froze and immediately looked at each other. They both smirked, slowly, and Ciri didn't bother to forewarn Geralt. Whatever those two had planned, it was usually best to just let it play out and hope for the best.

"Yen, my dear, if I give you a few more notes to add to this tune and tell you how faster to make it, can you do that?" Jaskier asked.

"Why, of course," Yennefer asked as Jaskier leaned forward and probably hummed the tune in her ear. Geralt turned and seemed to notice that they were up to something. Yennefer smiled and waved her hand as the tune on the lute suddenly changed. There were more notes now, and the tune was faster. Jaskier pulled Yennefer close, and Ciri took Geralt's hand so they could have some space; she knew that tune, so she knew what was about to happen.

Ciri wasn't surprised that people like Yennefer and Jaskier knew more intricate dances, but the Redanian dance that they were about to do was rather complicated. Whenever Ciri saw someone try to do so, they always ended up stumbling over their partner and trying not to turn red as they embarrassed themselves. That was not going to be the case here, she was sure, and Jaskier led Yennefer into a spin, and the dance began.

They moved like two halves of the same person. It was the same way that Ciri sometimes saw her grandmother and Eist move around each other like they always knew where the other one was at all times. Jaskier and Yennefer moved across the floor in easy steps, a dip here, another spin, and Jaskier easily wrapped an arm around Yennefer and lifted her clear off of the ground. They were grinning at each other as they moved, and Ciri didn't think she ever saw people have fun with dances like this. They were usually done by people at court trying to make an impression and judging by Geralt's face; they were certainly making an impression; it wasn't the kind that she was used to seeing. This was two people just doing something impressive for the fun of it and because they could.

There was a hush that fell over the Witcher's as they watched Jaskier and Yennefer elegantly spin around the room. It was like something out of one of Jaskier's ballads, it was like a story, and it was beautiful. The dance finished as Yennefer reached a hand up and snapped to stop the music as well. She was nearly nose to nose with Jaskier, and Ciri smiled when the two of them kissed. Ciri also smiled when she heard Geralt make some sort of strangled noise next to her.

"I will throw you two into a snowbank," Vesemir threatened, and Jaskier and Yennefer broke away. Ciri laughed, really laughed, and felt light again. They spent the night listening to Jaskier's songs, and she got Lambert and Eskel to dance with her. She laughed when Yennefer insisted on teaching Eskel and Lambert how to dance, and they both looked a little terrified. Vesemir shared some stories, and Jaskier looked like someone was giving him the best gift in the entire world. The people that were becoming her family were flushed with drink by the end of the night, smiling and leaning against each other, and even though Cintra was gone, Ciri felt like maybe Kaer Morhen could become home too.

+++

The winter continued, and with it, her training. She got better with a sword, and so did Jaskier. She learned about the monsters of the world while also learning the history. She learned how to make potions, sharpen weapons, and mend armor. Ciri learned how to hunt one winter day and took her first life in the form of a deer. She cried, and Geralt held her close until she didn't have any tears left. Ciri didn't quite understand what her Chaos was yet, but she didn't feel out of control anymore either. It was all so perfect, and she didn't want it to end.

Yet one morning, Ciri woke up and realized that the snow was beginning to melt. The days were starting to get warmer, and she needed fewer and fewer layers to stay warm. Eskel and Lambert began to talk about when they were going to go back on the Path, and Ciri started to panic. The winter was perfect, but it was perfect because she didn't have to think about what was happening in the world that wasn't in this keep. The world was still at war, and there were still people out there that wanted her.

The first nightmare she had Ciri dreamt about someone hurting Yennefer and trying to seal her Chaos forever. The second nightmare was of someone taking Jaskier's voice before they took his life. The third nightmare was of Cahir as he stalked the continent no longer just looking for Geralt but for any Witcher. There were rumors, Cahir in the dream said, there were rumors that the White Wolf had Witcher friends. Ciri dreamed of Nilfgaard taking the people she cared about more than anything and ending their lives in an attempt to get to her.

After seven straight days of nightmares, Ciri woke up and walked through the keep. It was the middle of the night, and she was surprised to find Vesemir in the library, drinking what appeared to be tea, and there was another steaming cup sitting on the table. She blinked; she hadn't planned on coming here, so why would there be two cups?

"I listened to those boys have nightmares for many years," Vesemir said without looking up at her. "I can smell and hear one a mile away. You like the library, so I thought you would come here." He turned and gestured for her to join him. Ciri tucked her legs underneath her and took the tea. It warmed her, and it did feel like it helped. She thought Vesemir would ask about her nightmares, but he didn't. Instead, he was just a steady presence in the room as they both listened to the crackling fire.

"I'm afraid," Ciri whispered. "I'm afraid that someone is going to get hurt because of me. I don't want that, not again, not anymore."

"The people in this keep can protect themselves, child," Vesemir replied as if that was enough. It wasn't, but Ciri knew that nothing anyone would say would be enough. There wasn't any way to calm her nerves concerning this. She finished her tea and went back to bed, trying and failing to convince herself that wanting to keep people safe was not irrational.

As the spring grew closer, something began to shift. Lambert and Eskel talked about returning to the Path, but Geralt did not. Ciri caught him speaking with Vesemir, and she thought she heard him say something about staying. That made her heart soar. They would be safer if they stayed here, and the more people that stayed here, the better. That is what she wanted, yet as Geralt began to talk about staying, Jaskier and Yennefer began to act strangely again. It was like before when they were going to leave unless Geralt said the right thing, but now Ciri didn't know what anyone could say to make them stay. What anyone could say to make any of them stay.

One morning Ciri woke up, and she knew. The pass was clear, and she could no longer hide from the truth. The winter was over, and the safe haven they had built over the last several months would come crumbling down. Eskel and Lambert, who had become like dear older brothers to her, would go back on the Path. She knew they could fight monsters, but she didn't know if they could fight against the very human threat that came from knowing who she was.

Geralt seemed keen to stay, to hide because it was safer, and Ciri was grateful for that. She also knew that it was only a matter of time that Jaskier and Yennefer told him that they weren't going to stay. They had been captured and hurt because of her before. They had spent the winter recovering and training, they were both stronger now, but Nilfgaard was so much more dangerous than anyone realized. They would not hesitate to tear them apart if it meant getting to her. Ciri didn't think she could handle losing either of them, and she knew that Geralt couldn't either.

Ciri closed her eyes and pictured a home. It looked a lot like Kaer Morhen, and all of the people she cared about were there. It was warm, and it was safe. No one was hurt, and no one was in danger. They could live their lives free of worry and despair. There were smiles around a table filled with good food. She saw her new family, and they were open with their affections toward each other. They loved each other, and no one cared. There was no war, no bloodshed, only happiness. It was good, and it was everything she ever wanted.

Ciri opened her eyes, crawled out of bed, and prepared herself to face a reality that looked nothing like her fantasy.