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Sleeping Beauty Reloaded	By : dschinny Category: +S through Z > Witcher 2, The: Assassins of Kings Views: 1938 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Witcher, this is purely for fun, and not profit

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Chapter 15 - Arya and Balon
At the mansion, Velita came from the garden to take the horses from Gernot and his new guest. “Greetings Velita. This is Hector and Balon. They will stay at the chevalier’s house over night. Please take care of his horse while we check the pedigree books and finances with the Count.”
Hector dismounted as well, holding Balon back who strained to sniff up Velita’s skirts. She let Geralt and Adda pass first. Then she took both reins in one hand for the two horses to follow up and extended her palm to the huge rude while Hector gladly allowed the friendly advance, “Hello Balon.” – “He’s definitely interested.” Gernot approved as well. “Velita’s been taking care of Arya for me,” he informed Hector, “When you’re done with the horses, please bring Arya into the orchard. We will meet you there.”
The hunters went through the barn to return Adda to the kennel. Barks and happy whining ensued at the leader’s arrival “It is one thing to hear it, and another to witness it. I’ve never seen this place as deserted. Like the monster got all but a few men, even the stable boy is gone.” – “Yes. I’m glad our gardener is reliable and helps wherever she can.” – “You trust her with one as large as Arya. Impressive.” – “She’s even allowed into the kennel. Velita got a hand with animals as well as plants.” Gernot smiled, ‘and with witchers,’ he thought, glad to provide a distraction. So far, all was well.
The count approved of the pairing, paid the up-front and even went into the orchard with them. Velita did not hold Arya back who greeted Gernot happily then sniffed up Balon, who was immediately taken. The playful chase went a couple of rounds through the orchard before Arya was convinced of Balon’s fitness, stopped snapping and stood. She raised her tail to the side and Balon mounted up. While the dogs followed the call of nature, Velita withdrew among the vegetable patches silently.
The twiners at the hut were in full bloom higher than her head, and she recognized the flower Geralt had presented her. How beautiful was that? She noticed that the two plants had intermeshed in the middle. She arranged the twines away from the door once more so it could be opened and she wouldn’t have to cut into the rampant growth.
“Balon is doing good,” the Count commented, “Will you stay overnight?” – “I would like to. Balon has made enough miles for a day and I haven’t met Gernot in a while.” – “Yes, we’ve got a room for you in the chevalier’s house.” Gernot repeated his invite as a precaution. He would not allow the count to put another guest into Velita’s saddle chamber.
“You’ll use the guard’s dining room,” the count concluded. – “Would you like to have a beer with us afterwards, Milord?” Gernot invited. – “No, thank you. Ask your brother to come to my office.” – “Can I take a message for him? Alfred is still very sick.” – “Not your line of work Gernot, but I think he will enjoy this, especially because of his foot.” – “He can barely walk.” – “Tell Velita to come directly to the laundry room then.” – “Milord?” – “The guard’s dining room is taken, but I have to check her for damage somewhere. Got a problem with that?” - Gernot blushed so fiercely that even Hector diverted his attention from the rutting dogs to him.
“I would like to buy Velita. And I do not want my brother to hurt her again.” – “You? You of all people?” the Count laughed. – “Why not? Patching her up was no fun, but since that incident, she’s proven useful for the life stock and care for the dogs.” – “She does that anyway. Why the intimate interest?” - “I want her out of my brother’s hands and under my exclusive order. Once I take responsibility for her, she will soon be able to handle all tools safely and without hassle.” – “Especially yours, hm? Your brother has prompted you to remarry for years but you always denied.” – “I know he would have a say in my family affairs, but I’ve got my own money to buy things I want.” – “That addition to your household would make it more difficult to do the honorable thing.” – “I think I’ve done my part. If Alfred criticizes me, you could remind my brother to do his part as well.”
“It would be a matter of discipline, too.” The count pulled a pair of manacles from the pocket of his brocade doublet. “Get her ready to the laundry room for me, so I can see if you can handle the inconvenient aspects as well as your brother.”
“The question was, whenever the witcher hurt her? Velita, come here!” Gernot called over. “See, there she comes all by herself. Shackles are unnecessary on such an obedient servant,” the hunter nodded benignly, Velita curtsied, “Yes, Master Gernot?” - “The count wants to know whenever the witcher hurt you.” – “No milord.” – “Fine. Shackle her.” – “Why? The manacles just bruise her and scare her and hinder her work.” – “Because I order you… and you want to buy a slave to keep it around here, isn’t it?”
Hesitantly, Velita extended her hands to Gernot. The count smiled, “See, she already knows how it works. Now shackle her.” Gernot took the shackles hesitantly, and then clamped the first iron around her tender wrist. “…with her hands on her back,” the count upped the level. Gernot stepped around Velita to connect her wrists in the small of her back. This was getting uncomfortable. “Well done, Gernot,” the Count approved and stood, “stay with our guest. I’ll take it from here.” – “What are you going to do?”
“I will take her to the scales in the barn to weight her, check her teeth, clean her up a bit and examine for injuries. Just the usual. You can pick her up in one hour, before dinner. Have her serve the two of you. Just don’t forget that afterwards Alfred needs his medicine.” – “Shouldn’t we do the examination together before we pull up a contract?” – “I’m not sure whenever I want to sell her. She’s got so many uses… but I will keep the overview on what I own, that’s for certain,” the count took Velita by the elbow and went around the stable to the barn.
Gernot stayed with Hector. It had been good a moment ago, now he hated to sit it out. “Nervous?” the fellow hunter inquired by his side. “Is it that obvious?” – “Yes. Did you take responsibility for the witcher’s behavior during his stay?” – “No, no worries.” Gernot cut it short. - Hector shrugged, “Always a pity to see a good woman ruined beyond repair. You cannot interfere …but remember that the count has no reason to damage his own property. How much will that cost you?” – “175 to 200 orens.” – “Neat. That’s just half of the up-front Balor earns me as we speak. But then, he’s got a pedigree as long as the Counts’,” Hector elbowed Gernot, “Poor mutts like us have to pay for that sort of fun.”
“The price is not the problem but the upkeep.”
“True. She could earn her keep, but be careful with the contract, housing and so on. Don’t let the Count’s rotten remarks rush you, be aware of your options. Arya will have six to eight puppies of 800 Orens value - each. They are the Count’s, of course. You can up the stakes if Velita helps with the feeding around the clock, there is the possibility to keep any surplus whelps. But only if you show her how this works,” he hinted.
“Doesn’t it feel strange to you that a dog is considered more valuable than a woman?” Gernot complained. – “Depends,” Hector shrugged, “I bet each of the countess’ ball robes is worth as much as Balon, because the amount of work and materials that went into it is comparable. But nobody is going to ask me what I value higher.” – “In the end, there is no treasure worth dying for.” – “True.”
Before the hour turned, the dogs where done with mating and Gernot returned Arya into her box in the stable. Passing the saddle chamber, he entered to pick up the blanket from Velita’s bed, folded it up under his arm as he walked Hector over to the chevalier’s house. Gernot showed him the guest quarter then the dining room and lit a fire in the tiled stove. “Make yourself comfortable, I got to check …the laundry room.” – “Stay good and don’t let him provoke you,” Hector nodded.
Gernot controlled himself not to dash over the court, worried as he was. He knocked at the door of the laundry room but there was no sound. The door was not locked. He found Velita huddled in a corner, her hair uncovered and soaked, her bare body wrapped in a white sheet. “Gernot!” she stood. – “Are you hurt?” – “No, just cold. I’m so glad it’s you.” – “Did he take your clothing?” – “No. He just poured water over me, said I stank. I had to undress and then…” – “Can you walk?” – “I can walk, he had me lay on the folding table and… shaved me… there,” she pointed downwards. – “Of all the stupid!” Gernot shrugged off the surprise, “did he hurt you?” - “I’m alright. He did not cut me. But it’s one of the countess monogrammed sheets I’m wearing. I cannot leave the room in that and it’s just a matter of time until Anne comes to pick up the laundry. I did not soil it… I don’t want her to see me like this at all.” – “Here, I brought your blanket,” he passed it to her and faced the wall to grant her privacy. – “Thanks, Gernot, you’re too good to be true,” she wrapped herself up, picked her wet and dirty clothing from the gutter and wrung it out.
They made a beeline to the saddle chamber and Gernot fired on another oven.
The last sunrays shone through the pillars of the main gate and through the orchard in the hunter’s back. The dusk had settled on the hut at the wall at far end of the garden. The splendid purple flowers had closed and the stems had intermeshed further, the tiny blood red husks had turned inwards. There was a rustle in the pale red, pelted leaves, but it wasn’t the frosty wind that stroked the tips of the orchard trees.
The rustle ran up the twines from the ground level. The huntsman had long vanished around the stable corner. First a slight shiver ran through the plant growth under the hut’s roof, and then another, harder. The right stem cracked just above the ground, followed suit by the other. The already intermeshed twines compacted into a solid body, further twines slid of the lines and the grate that had held them. Otherwise, it rested in the shadows …until the sun had set and then a small, bi-ped leshen strode around the hut’s corner and flanked over the garden wall, nimbly without a sound it vanished out of sight. Only the roots remained embedded in the ground, sized and shaped like the rose stems of a red stag.
-oOo-
Meanwhile Velita washed her only set of clothing in a bucket and hung it to dry. When Gernot returned, she was dressed in her short robe, wrapped the blanket around her chest so it reached down to her ankles. She tied the vest on top of it with a length of rope. Her arms were still bare, but she had a mantle against the frost outside. Gernot nodded. “Let’s see Cass about dinner. Alfred might get a bowl in his room, but the Count’s guest, you and I, we’re not having gruel at the chevalier’s house tonight.”
Velita nodded. “I think we can clarify that... wait, you want me to eat in… the chevalier’s house?” – “Hector, you and I will have dinner in the dining room, sit together at the table as it is natural after a long work day.” Gernot looked at the goose bumps that spread over her bare arms. “Don’t worry. I had word with Hector and he understands. Sean and Kevin better keep their word and stay civil. Whenever the Count agrees to sell or not to sell - I will redefine my house’s rules while I have the upper hand. We will go to see to my brother’s medicine afterwards. You won’t be alone.”
-oOo-
They had dined together in fairly good mood since Gernot was finally telling the story how he had slain the monster together with the witcher. While Hector knew Gernot’s quality from a firsthand experience including a certain tusker, it got the guards thinking. What else could the average built man do whenever he put his creative mind, deadly patience and trim stamina on in? Not to mention his white haired pal who was ten times worse – easily. It had not slipped their notice that Velita had been taken to the barn by the count to be weighted, vanished in the basement and was now wearing other rags than before. But none dared to make a pass on her or even mentioned the captain’s queue.
The captain had been visited by the count and was in good mood when Gernot entered. “So the witcher is finally gone,” he smiled, but it looked more like a grimace because his face had taken on a yellowish bleach and his eyes were sunken into deep dark hollows. “Come in Velita. I’ve heard the Count had a good look at your dirty cunt, shaved it neat and clean. Don’t you wonder what he’s going to do with it next?”
“Actually no. I don’t.” she knelt, put the bowl on the floor and lifted his foot. He winced. A dark reddish streak ran over the inside of his ankle. Whatever the count had planned, this man would not be around to see it. ‘Satisfaction’, Geralt resonant voice echoed in the back of her mind. She smiled. The captain put his foot down and bent forwards to grab for her hair. She stood nimbly; he just caught her blanket at the thigh, tugging deftly. “Show me,” he bellowed.
“To excite you while you are so very sick would certainly be a transgression, Captain.” Velita clutched the overlay with her right and put the cloth over his outstretched arm. “I’m not evil, Sir. I will ask Kevin to bring you a drink against the pain. And some gruel. Really you should eat something to make you strong again.” She was talking to him, patiently as if he was a child. Afterwards she just left the room, because he no longer had the strength to clamp down on to her. Gernot closed the door behind him and she signaled, ‘Hush, don’t laugh.’
-oOo-
They went back to the dining room were Velita excused herself for the rest of the evening, taking the plates down into the kitchen to Cass could complete her dishwashing. “So Gernot wants to buy you, Velita?” The cook had gotten the message. “Yes.” Velita nodded. The warm water was good on her hands and would clean her after digging in the ground all day. She smiled and thought how little concern dirty nails had been just days ago.
“Now, that should take care of a few things. But the Countess isn’t going to like this.” – “What is the concern?” – “Anne. As her handmaiden, she shouldn’t come close to any impure relationship her father is having.” – “Oh. I see. It isn’t quite what I would call a relationship. Would it help Anne that I’m still going to live in a stable? Maybe further out in the hut again in spring, if the Count hires another stable boy?” – “Maybe. The Countess was furious when she came home yesterday. The mayor’s wife had told her that Mistress Rose took the ploughman’s daughter in, spoiling her pre-planned charity event for the poor orphan.”
Velita shrugged “I don’t know anything about it.” – “She said the working girl will be soiled before she -the countess- herself was allowed to do anything about that, to uphold moral of the next generation and so on.” – “Townsfolk helped themselves, oh my. If the countess is concerned, she could always start with the bigotry in her own home,” Velita ranted. - “Shhh,” the cook hushed her, “A woman shouldn’t talk that aggressive!” – “Don’t worry Cass. I stopped pointing knifes a while ago, but you sure got what it takes.” – “Don’t mention it. The witcher, he’s so hot. But what can you do with Gernot now, isn’t he jealous? You really have to sweeten him up. He won’t take you under his mantle just out of pity, so much is clear.” – “I don’t pity myself. Why should he pity me?” – “He said so before.” – “Hm. I understand. That could be a problem. I’ll just think he’s grown to like me, because I’m a nice person and get stuff done.” – “That’s so unromantic.” – “I doubt he’s going to fall for a moon calf. And if he does, I’ll be glad that I enjoyed respect and comradeship for a while.”
Velita went home and put additional logs into the oven before she turned in. There was no going out anymore during curfew and suddenly, that felt like being locked up. She washed with warm water, without her body hair she felt extremely cold. She put the blanket around her shoulders and mixed up oil with soothing marigold. Tomorrow morning, when she was allowed out again, it would be freezing in her tiny quarter and her skin would itch like hell.
How she missed Geralt’s warmth! And his huge blanket around them both. And his touch. His scent was still on her sheet, intermixed with sage and rosemary. She spread her mantle on her bed on top of her blanket, snuggled underneath and inhaled deeply. That helped. A little.
She had not slept through the last three nights and it did not take long until she fell asleep.
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Sleeping Beauty Reloaded