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Not long after they had made camp that first night up the mountain supposedly to kill a dragon Borch approached the bard strumming softly on his lute by the fire while his witcher gathered wood and tea and Vea hunted for dinner.
For a long moment no words were spoken before the bard started to sing his strumming taking on the body of an ancient song.
“Far lie the mountains old,
Where fly the armored gold,
Embers of the ancient laws
When few had paid in loss.
And as the young bard played the man beside him took to singing the next verse his voice echoing something powerful through the chaos around them.
Bless those who find the queen of old,
prey see they never shine silver and gold,
As she is the remains of ancient laws,
For an age when were paid in all but loss.
And then the bard took back over his voice echoing with a depth of chaos the seemingly older man had never felt before and so much more controlled then he could ever hope to be.
And if you ever find yourself,
Deprived of home and love and wealth,
I Hope you find the royals of fire and trust
As they uphold the magic of laws
And you will never pay in loss.
And almost like those words were a spell the chaos in the air settled as a shield over everything it had touched including a witcher the two sat by the fire had not realised was quite so close and a ricocheting silence descended upon the clearing as the bard carefully placed his lute aside.
For a heavy moment afterwards it was like time froze before the bard weighed down by a look his witcher had never seen on his youthful face before asked, “What are we really doing on this mountain Villen” his voice carrying an exhausted but kind seriousness to it.
“The dragon they seek is Alianet” the answer confusing the witcher in the trees not just because of it’s brevity and lack of information but also because by Jaskiers body language it had been an answer to his bard, even as a different type of confusion settled on the bards face.
“Why not just move on then Villen?” His voice was so serious that Geralt was nearly overwhelmed by the urge to bundle up his bard in his arms and steal him away from whatever it was about Borch or maybe Villen that made the young man act so ancient and burdened. But he knew the two would stop speaking and that he would lose the chance to learn the last unspoken thing standing between him and his bard.
“She cannot shift at the moment” the older looking man said to Jaskier like it explained everything and based on the surprised inhale from his bard it did.
“We are here to protect your child and Alianet?” the weight in the bard's voice had shifted to wonder like all the worries he had over this job had floated away on the wind and he instead got to wonder in the joy of new life.
Geralt nearly cried from the trees at the devastation that wrought his bard’s face from the look on Borch/Villen’s face alone or at least he assumed as much since he could not see the definitely a dragon’s face from where he stood in the trees.
Quietly after a moment of silent sorrow Jaskier added quietly, “So just your child.”
The older looking man let out a small near silent sob, his body shaking in fear and grief as he shook his head in affirmation.
In a second Jaskier had wrapped the man in his arms tucking his head into the crook of his neck as he sang to who Geralt was almost sure was a younger dragon in his arms as the bard finally met his eyes over the shoulder of Villen silently acknowledging he had known Geralt was there the whole time and tearing down the wall that had been firmly between them since posada when Geralt hadn’t asked what he was and Jaskier hadn’t acknowledged he was anything but human even knowing the witcher could sense he wasn’t.
Geralt taking the look as the invitation it was walked up to the two near silently before sitting on Jaskiers other side and grunting, “Should we take the faster way up the mountain,”
Like nothing major had happened and he had always known his friend was a powerful dragon of some sort, the two of them could discuss that later. There was a child who needed protecting first.
The brilliant smile jasakier shot him around vallen who had shot up flailing it being just as obvious that he hadn’t known the witcher was there as it was that Jaskier had, telling Geralt he had made the right choice in how to handle the situation.
Just then tea and vea walked into the clearing dropping the rabbits they had killed on sight, almost eerily sensing Villen/Borch’s discomfort.
This predictably sent the witcher’s idiot bard into giggles, the musical dragon obviously not counting the two warriors as a real threat. This obviously annoyed the two as they rounded on the giggling bard angrily.
Thankfully Borch/Vallen gathered his wits enough to speak before the situation escalated unnecessarily, “Stand down” the two warriors did but stared at him like he had lost it to he elaborated, “I was simply startled by are witcher companion here, neither he nor his bard are a threat to us.”
This made Jaskier let out another guffaw of laughter before he seemed to pull himself together as he wiped tears from his eyes and stood with an air of regality that Geralt had only seen on him in brief moments when Jaskier had thought he wasn't watching.
“Thank you for trying Villentretenmerth but it is unnecessary, little Villen here was simply surprised My Witcher” Geralt barely hello back a grumbled purr at the Intensity that Jaskier had claimed him as his, “Knew I myself am a dragon.” the bard added on a dopey grin obviously taking joy in bewildering the two warriors in front of them.
Finally Vea or was that one Tea. Hopefully no one would expect Geralt to know the difference, gathering her wits enough to scoff at the statement, “As if you would be something as ancient and magnificent as a dragon” , her tone carrying her clear disbelief.
This set Villentre… yeah geralt was just going to call him Villen as long as it didn’t anger the dragon too much into a fit of laughter. This unfortunately for the nerves scuttling through the witcher at what the tearing down of that final wall between the two likely meant solidified Geralt's guess on just exactly what family of dragon’s Jaskier the dandelion belonged to. Afterall there were only so many dragons willing and happy to live a life so entrenched in the joy of others. But oh well it’s not like the witcher can go back in time in order to not fall in love with the trouble magnet now standing beside him.
Finally Geralt was pulled from his thoughts on instinct when his body almost independently threw up an ard sign to block the ruffled warriors that charged His bard.
After she rebounded off the witchers shield and before either he or Jask could respond, Vallen stood between the warriors and the bard growling even as he half transformed allowing gold scales to flicker over a human form as he growled his words backed by a dangerous edge of chaos, “Take one step towards him again, and I’ll roast you where you stand.”
To be honest Geralt was actually a little surprised despite having accumulated enough clues over the years to guess what colours Jask’s scales would take; he had thought Vallen would be a much more common green, red or even black colour. He had not even had a clue that the man could have been a near mythological gold dragon, seen even less frequently than the iridescent scales of dragon royalty because of their seclusion.
And for almost a minute the party stood rooted to where they stood silently sizing each other up before Jaskier flippantly said into the silent forest air, “Well that went well” his eyes drifting to his side and meeting Geralt’s “When you eventually meet my parents can we not mention I was attacked by a member of the royal guard.” then with a groan that was so Jaskier any and all trepidation at this new acknowledgment of information bled out of the witcher there and then, “Mom will make me go home more often.” The loving idiotic man who Geralt had fallen in love with so long ago but refused to acknowledge what lay between them when he didn’t know for sure what his bard was, gagged at the thought of going “Home”, and Geralt could do nothing but smile. It would be alright, Geralt wasn’t really sure how or really any of the details but that was alright because regardless of the details the two would still be Geralt and Jaskier. Both the witcher and His bard, and the bard and His witcher.
Before something seemed to register to Geralt, “Wait royal guard” and admittedly Geralt eyed Tea and Vea with far more intensity as he realised that should this escalate he would likely be fighting a member of the elite Angashazgi. Well that and that Villen whatever is likely his bard's family in one way or another and oh did that open windows into the possibilities of why there were so few golden dragon’s, Geralt wonders if Jask would be willing to tell Vesimir about such things to update the information at Kear Moren.
Tea and Vea puffed their chests at the witcher obviously still not realizing who the bard truly was and announced proudly and in unison, “Yes we are Tea and Vea Angashazgi assigned to protect the royal grandchild Villentretenmerth, Borch three jackdaws” before the one on the left let out a snarl and spit on the ground in front of two traveling companions and the other one asked disdainfully of the bard, “and you are?”
Jask the chaos gremlin that he is, and really now that geralt thought about it that should have been another tick towards who he really was, just smiled at the two and with that sparkling laugh that brought fire a joy to pits of Geralt's being just walked forward booping the one who had just spit at their feet’s nose and walking away as he said, “now why would I tell you that little one”. Inevitably causing Villen who Geralt was really hoping was Jask’s nephew at this moment to let out a loud groan as the man sank to a seating position burying his head in his hands and cursing in what Geralt assumed was the dragon royal family's unique language.
After a moment Villen seemed to pull himself together enough to turn to the witcher, “you should probably make sure uncle J doesn’t accidentally fall off a cliff, he will survive it but as you probably know he‘s the worst when hurt.”
Geralt for the first time since he was sold to the witchers felt the desire to laugh at something not said by his bard as he watched the dawning looks of horror on the royal guards face as they clocked who Villen would call uncle J. meanwhile Geralt studiously continued to ignore as he had since he realized Jask was a dragon the likelihood that Julian Alfred Pancratz III, Jaskier the dandelion, was almost certainly Julien Altas Pentriel, Flame of the Justice front, Butcher of seantrill, former Crown Prince of the Dragons . Because if nothing else the witcher was almost certain that that was the last thing his Jask wanted to be ever again, and if he could preserve his love’s life as a travelling bard in any way he would.
~~~~~~
When yennefer of vandeburg walked into a cave at the peak of a mountain two days later it was not to the sight of an unprotected and unaffiliated green dragon likely injured if they hadn’t vacated the area yet, but instead to the gleaming silver and gold scales of a colossal dragon from the ancient and rightly feared royal family, and almost scarier to her, curled up to the royal dragon was one Geralt of Rivia fast asleep and content in a way he only was around his bumbling bard. And as her eyes met familiar devious cornflower blue eyes on the royal dragon’s face the realization that dawned on her had her sprinting down the mountain determined to never see the witcher again. In doing so she totally missed the amused Borch, Tea and Vea sat against the dragon egg being warmed by its great uncle, drinking tea.
~~~~~~
When a united witcher and bard finally tracked Their child surprise down at a friendly family’s cottage after the invasion of Cintra, princess Cirilla of Cintra did not hug a stranger her grandmother had told her to trust, but instead her pseudo fathers who she had known for years. After all even the lioness of cintra isn’t dumb enough to fuck with the dragon royal family.
And when yennifer of vandeburg led baba yaga to his paw at Kaer Moran Julien Altas Pentriel, Flame of the Justice front, Butcher of seantrill, former Crown Prince of the Dragons made sure that baba yaga wasn’t the only witch he melted in dragon flame that day.
And many years later when Ciri returned to the continent from the far off lands of the dragons and broke the world apart she did not face it half baked and barely trained but instead she faced it as Princess Cirilla Fiona Atlantis Pentiel, Child surprise royal, and witcher of Kaer Moran, trained by the best of the wolves and the dragons to face the destiny laid out before her, and backed by two of the most feared non humans known on the continent.