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It was mainly Regis who had convinced him to do it. Throw a proper feast for his birthday for a change, send out letters beforehand and invite some friends he rarely saw these days. Eskel and Lambert were both all on board for a real party, the two witchers had more or less moved into Corvo Bianco by now. Geralt had let them set up another building on the property that they shared between them as their own personal rooms. He wasn’t complaining mind, it was nice to have his blood brothers closer and more around than before. They often went on contracts together, especially the bigger ones, and had even built up quite the name for themselves here in Toussaint. Even the Duchess had let up on her hounding of Geralt after the two witchers joined them in Toussaint, he wasn’t exactly sure which of his brothers it was she was interested in… But it had to be the reason for why she suddenly started dropping by Corvo Bianco without yelling and huffing at Geralt for his failure with Syanna.
It didn’t much matter which of them she was interested in, she would be sorely disappointed with both of them. Lambert was practically a barrel full of joy now that Keira had replied, saying she would indeed come down to Toussaint to celebrate with them. And Eskel, well, Geralt thought the looks that sometimes passed between his brother and the vampire Dettlaff to be very telling. If they thought they were being discreet… He snorted to himself and shook his head.
Regis helped him formulate the letters before they were sent off, the vampire had claimed the witcher sounded like a stiff old man requesting an audience when he first attempted to pen them. Pretty soon though they got replies from all over the continent.
Dandelion would be bringing Priscilla from Novigrad, he had sent the letter on to Zoltan who was in Vergen these days. Roche would gladly escape from Vizima with Ves for some days, another hand had added “weeks” under the word days, Geralt suspected Ves. Triss and Yen would both come down from Kovir to celebrate, insisting on coming a few days early to help set up the celebration. Shani had returned to Oxenfurth and would gladly join the feast, she also informed she would bring a guest that claimed he knew Geralt. Under was a note from none other than Olgierd, hoping Geralt wouldn’t mind. The witcher sent a thought to the man’s brother and almost felt conflicted for a moment before he had to laugh at fate’s odd twists and turns. He also got a reply from the Blood Baron, now stationed in Novigrad, that he would gladly come down to sample the fine wines of Toussaint, with moderation of course.
Yen and Triss came first as they had promised, they practically ran poor Barnabas-Basil ragged with their orders for this and that. Geralt was sent about on all kinds of errands too, Regis the traitor had locked himself in his alchemy lab with the excuse of “brewing refreshments”.
It was on one of these errands for Triss and Yen that Geralt ran into another pair of his guests, Zoltan Chivay together with none other than the famed Scoia’Tael leader Iorveth. Geralt had grinned and greeted his old ally and friend with a hug that clearly surprised the elf, but he didn’t pull away. He abandoned the errand in favor of walking with the two back to Corvo Bianco, catching up with the man he hadn’t seen in ages. Iorveth had mellowed some with the relative peace they had up in Vergen, after Saskia had failed in her mission things had become shaky, but agreements with Temeria of all places had kept the non-humans safe as many opted to move to the new Vassal state instead. Non-humans had minority laws protecting them now, which was the curtesy of Anais La Valette who wanted all of her people in Temeria be safe and sound. She was perhaps just a teenager as of yet, but she showed great promise and even the Scoia’Tael showed her respect and prayed at night for the young woman to not change her ways.
Next to arrive was naturally former commander of the blue stripes, causing Geralt and Zoltan to exchange tense looks. After welcoming Roche inside, Ves in tow, the man’s sharp eyes soon landed on the elf seated by the table. Vernon Roche surprised everyone by striding over to the table and greeting the elf as an old friend, shaking hands and clasping shoulders.
“What, you didn’t know? Queen Anais wants to include the Scoia’Tael into the army, or as a special unit of guards,” Roche later elaborated when he saw the shock clearly visible in the others’ faces.
“You could have told us you cock sucking-“ Zoltan began at Iorveth before the elf interrupted.
“And miss the looks that just passed on your faces? Not very likely dwarf,” the elf smirked before putting his pipe back between his lips.
The Baron arrived with surprise guests as well, of the less potentially lethal variant but still. From behind him peeked two eager faces that soon ran over to greet Geralt. Little Johnny and Sarah were overjoyed to see him, and amused Regis to no end even if they were incredibly wary of him at first. Soon the two Godlings warmed up to the vampire though, and became faithful little helpers that were more than willing to run out to find herbs for the man. The witcher teased and called them the vampire’s mischievous little children. Regis retorted that that would make them Geralt’s children as well which had Lambert in stitches.
Shani arrived with Olgierd, all shy smiles and gentle blushes until she got into a medical discussion with Regis. There was simply no way to separate the two when they got into such topics and they could practically sit for hours on end talking about new findings and theories on the human physiology and cures for ails. When this happened Geralt would usually just slink away before he was asked his opinion on matters he had no idea about, and hurried over to Eskel or Lambert or any other guest really.
When Keira arrived Lambert resembled an obedient dog more than anything else, if he had a tail Eskel and Geralt was sure it would wag as he waited patiently for Keira to walk up the stairs. The other witchers didn’t complain though, Lambert had softened his edges some together with Keira, and the sorceress had mellowed together with the witcher as well. Even on bad days one could be around the two without risking injury in form of verbal lashings.
Last to arrive was Dandelion together with his Priscilla, they had brought barrels of mead and ale on a horse drawn cart, the Chameleon’s very own homebrew. Zoltan thanked whatever gods he believed in, for the lack of said liquids had apparently worried the dwarf.
“You like Regis’ mandrake brew though,” Geralt pointed out.
“Aye, but I’m not drinking that till everyone is properly sauced and cannae remember the secrets that will surely spring forth. I think your man does it on purpose!” He shot the vampire an accusatory glance, which the vampire replied to with a wide, innocent smile. To the extent such a fanged smile could be innocent.
The feast itself was a lavish affair, with a casual atmosphere which was just how Geralt had wanted it. Everyone was gathered round the table. Zoltan eagerly watching a gwent match between Iorveth and Roche who were both concentrated as if on the bloodiest battlefield, while Priscilla and Dandelion naturally on their lutes, producing comfortable tunes to the background. Ves was in a discussion with Eskel with the baron quipping comments here and there. The Godlings ran about in a game they had constructed themselves, and even Keira had given up trying to school them and did her best to ignore them as she spoke with Yen and Triss at the end of the table. No one could quite understand how Dettlaff and Olgierd of all people had gotten locked up in such a deep discussion by the table’s end, and by now everyone was probably a little too nervous to listen in to the topic. Shani probably would have, but she was of course swept up in conversation with Regis once again.
It was to this that Ciri arrived to when Barnabas-Basil opened the door for her, she had heard rumors so she wasn’t wholly unprepared but she hadn’t known all their friends would be here. She grinned and pushed between Triss and Yennefer with a small laugh, greeting them with a wink as Yen smiled and shook her head at her. Keira rolled her eyes, but she too smiled at the young woman. By now Regis had spotted her and walked over, greeting her with a long hug and a grin.
“We had no idea where you were, so you were a bit hard to pen a letter to,” the vampire chuckled.
“Oh, but I always come on his birthday you know that,” the ashen haired woman grinned back.
“I know, so I told him not to worry but you know how he is, he’s over by the alcove with Lambert,” he nodded over the table.
“Mm, I’ll go say hello. Ah, it’s so nice to be back here,” she went back for a smaller hug.
“It’s nice to have you home again, Ciri.” The vampire’s arms were firm around her for a moment before he pushed her further into the room with a wink.
She patted Eskel’s shoulder as she passed him and Ves, the witcher barely had time to give her a nod before diving back into the discussion on fight styles. The baron threw his arms open in greeting over seeing her again and she smiled broadly in return before moving on. She took a peek at Iorveth’s cards over his shoulder and smirked at Roche who cursed, knowing his doom was imminent. The elf knocked his head backwards against her stomach to get her to move away and not spoil his fun. She laughed as she picked up the mandrake cordial next to him. She had met Iorveth on occasion and she liked him, she preferred the Aen Seidhe over the Aen Elle any day in any case.
Looking up she spotted Lambert on the other side of the table who held his hand out for the bottle she held, arching a brow with a small smile. She tossed it elegantly, not even grazing Roche’s headpiece, and Lambert caught it without stumbling. So they hadn’t gotten that far into drinking just yet. Shani had joined Zoltan in watching the match, leaning over the table to see the elf slaughter Roche’s deck. Ciri made her way around her and the seated vampire and former immortal still locked in deep conversation. Dandelion lit up when he saw her, and she nodded in return knowing the bard wouldn’t let up his playing just for a simple greeting. But they had the whole night and coming days to talk, Priscilla smiled at her from the side table she was seated on just before Lambert passed her and came up to Ciri for a brief hug.
Behind him stood Geralt, lips drawn up in that smile that had become so frequent these last few years as the witcher found happiness with his beloved vampire. And Ciri found herself thinking that this was truly where her father belonged. Happy, surrounded by good friends who cared about him, respected him. She rushed forward into his waiting arms, feeling the sense of home finally settling over her properly as father and daughter hugged in greeting.
“I’m glad you are safe,” he said as they pulled back, his hand staying on her shoulder as he looked her over.
“Well, I was only taught by the best you know,” she smirked at his gentle scoff.
“Oh I know, I know… still it is my lot in life to worry for you,” he shook his head as he lamented in jest. “Welcome home, Ciri,” he chuckled, letting her go completely.
“It’s very good to be home, and to be greeted by so many friends,” she waved a hand out towards the room.
“It’s actually nice to have them all here,” he nodded in agreement.
“You say that as if you initially doubted it,” she huffed at him with an arched brow.
“Well….” The witcher drawled and she smacked his arm lightly.
“Oh stop it old man,” she tsked.
“Don’t start, Regis is already telling me often enough that I’m getting old,” Geralt sighed.
“Well here’s to the many years to come then.” She grabbed a goblet from the side table beside them and held it up in toast to him.
“Happy birthday, dad.”