The stars glittered overhead.
Walking alone into the eastern district of Loc Muinne, Victor entered the camp where Temeria's lily banners had still flown only yesterday. Today, it was nothing more than an open-air crematorium piled high with corpses.
Victor stopped.
Beside a bonfire in the middle of the square, he once again saw that granite-solid, powerfully built figure.
Angoulême sat nearby, the magnificent single-celled organism. Whatever amusing story they had been discussing, she was laughing loudly and without restraint.
Confident in a witcher's heightened senses, Victor was certain the giant had already noticed him. So he approached directly from the front.
With her Eagle Eye vision, Angoulême spotted her leader. She immediately restrained her laughter and nodded to him, then silently tossed several pieces of firewood into the flames, leaving the giant and the young man room to talk.
Sitting beside the bonfire, Letho resembled a hibernating bear. He raised his head toward Victor like a tiger awakening from sleep.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Young man, why do you never listen to advice?"
Victor calmly sat cross-legged opposite him, unfastened his sword, and placed it at his right side.
"Don't flatter yourself. I came here to save Saskia, the most dazzling presence at today's summit."
The giant let out a deep chuckle.
"I thought Letho of Gulet was the most dazzling presence today."
"Idiot! I'm glad to see you're still alive. I figured you'd either left Loc Muinne already or Geralt had killed you. Who gave you the courage to stay behind and face my wrath? You caused me one hell of a mess!"
Letho lifted a bottle and took a swig of vodka. His gaze was as hard as stone as he stared intently at the flickering flames.
"That's exactly why I thought I should stay and wait for you. After causing you so much trouble, I owe you an explanation.
"Geralt needed his memories restored, but you've been following the trail yourself and must have pieced together most of what happened. Where do you think I should begin?"
Victor accepted the vodka, took a long drink, and raised his head to gaze at the stars.
"The story began several months ago, when three witchers from the School of the Viper traveled north. They had been commissioned by the Nilfgaardian Empire to assassinate kings and plunge the North into chaos.
"First, the future Kingslayers encountered a mysterious and extraordinarily handsome alchemist on the banks of the Yaruga. With his help, they recreated the Northern Wind bomb."
A suppressed snicker came from Angoulême nearby.
Letho remained expressionless.
Victor ignored her.
"Then, through a series of coincidences, the witchers encountered several sorceresses in Aedirn who were plotting to assassinate a king. The sorceresses decided to hire them to carry out their plans.
"Those naive women thought they could control the vipers. They never realized that beneath the vacant stare and dull, simple demeanor of that massive bald brute lurked an exceptionally sharp and cunning mind."
Angoulême clapped a hand over her mouth and bent forward, desperately trying to suppress her laughter. Strange snorting noises kept escaping between her fingers.
Victor solemnly rubbed his cheek.
"I don't know how much assistance Shilard or Nilfgaardian intelligence provided you throughout the whole operation. Either way, you succeeded. First, with Síle's help, you killed Demavend. Then you persuaded Iorveth to assist you in murdering Foltest."
Angoulême's laughter faded.
"Unfortunately, Geralt got dragged into the whirlpool, and so began our journey across half the Continent in pursuit of the truth... Which brings me to my first question. Why did you try to kill Iorveth in Flotsam?"
Letho's voice was hoarse.
"The purpose of assassinating the kings was to create chaos. Nilfgaard never abandoned its determination to march north. Its armies have already crossed the Yaruga. The Third Northern War is upon us.
"The Scoia'tael are a useful resource, but only if Iorveth isn't around. So Shilard asked me to give it a try."
Victor folded his arms and lowered his gaze toward the flames.
"Then there's something you need to know. Auckes and Serrit died in Vergen. Dethmold killed one, Síle killed the other. Dethmold is already dead by my hand."
Angoulême sniffed, her eyes turning slightly red.
Letho remained expressionless.
"Thank you. There's no need to concern yourself with Síle. Geralt's mercy has merely reserved a far crueler fate for her. The royal witch hunters will soon teach her what it means to wish for death."
Victor continued.
"Finally, at the summit of kings, your testimony convinced the monarchs present. Both North and South placed the Lodge of Sorceresses on their wanted lists, while the mages present in Loc Muinne were massacred.
"From now on, there will be no miracle like the Battle of Sodden Hill during the coming war, and the attempt to restore the Council of Mages has failed as well.
"A perfect script, executed perfectly. Congratulations to you. Congratulations to Nilfgaard.
"And now my second question. Sacrificing Serrit and Auckes just to accomplish this mission, was that sacrifice really worth it?"
Letho raised his unchanging, stone-like face and met Victor's gaze.
"Resolve isn't simply preparing yourself for sacrifice. It's carving a path forward through a dark wilderness!
"You said that on the banks of the Yaruga. All of us liked the way you described resolve... The Kingslayers came into being precisely to carve that path through the darkness."
Victor suddenly coughed several times and covered his forehead with one hand.
"All right! Then the third question, and the last one. What exactly did Emperor Emhyr var Emreis offer you that made the three of you develop such magnificent resolve?"
The giant raised the vodka and took another deep drink.
"To explain that, I need to start with my relationship with Geralt. Do you know how we met before he lost his memory?"
"I do. He remembered it in Vergen and told me. After we parted ways in Vizima last year, he saved your life from a slyzard."
"That's right. Afterward, the three of us accompanied him out of gratitude as he pursued the Wild Hunt and tried to rescue Yennefer. Yennefer is Geralt's lover."
"Mm... No need for the introduction. I know far more about Yennefer of Vengerberg than you could possibly imagine."
Letho rubbed his broad chin, somewhat surprised that Victor knew Yennefer.
Then, remembering what sorceresses tended to be like, he decided to continue without asking questions.
Some things were better left unknown.
"Eventually, during the winter solstice two years ago, the Wild Hunt surrounded us at the Hanged Man's Tree. Geralt chose to exchange himself for Yennefer and the lives of the three of us. The Hunt took him away afterward."
Remembering how Geralt had suddenly appeared at Kaer Morhen early the previous May, Victor rubbed his wrist.
"Don't tell me Yennefer lost her memory too?"
"She did. For Geralt's sake, we decided to look after her. But she was extremely volatile. She constantly lashed out at everyone around her and even tried to seduce Auckes to drive a wedge between us."
Letho's face remained as dull and impassive as ever.
"We took her toward Nilfgaard in search of a cure, but Yennefer caused endless trouble along the way. You know what an uncontrolled sorceress inside the Empire means. Imprisonment, perhaps even death. We had no choice but to keep moving her from province to province.
"Unfortunately, in the end... the Nilfgaardian Secret Service caught us and threw us into prison.
"That was when Emperor Emhyr var Emreis personally came to the prison and made me an offer. Travel north, assassinate kings, and create chaos.
"If we achieved what he wanted, he promised to cure Yennefer, rebuild the School of the Viper within Nilfgaardian territory, and give witchers a designated place where they could live freely.
"I couldn't refuse such a tempting offer. Neither could Auckes or Serrit. That was the resolve the three of us shared."
Victor buried his face in both hands.
"So that's what happened. No wonder Geralt didn't kill you."
"If the White Wolf had chosen to fight, I would have fought back. Last time, I underestimated how badly injured his knee was. This time, I might not lose."
"Ahem! Ahem! Hrrrm!"
Angoulême produced several forceful and deliberately exaggerated coughs to express her displeasure with Letho's statement.
Neither man paid any attention to her.
The giant remained perfectly calm.
"Vic, do you have any other questions? If not, let me give the two of you some advice. The southern armies are bearing down on the North, and the Northern Kingdoms are in unprecedented chaos. Now would be a good time to head south and seek a better life.
"In fact, the School of the Viper wouldn't refuse instructors from the School of the Wolf. And if Angoulême needs somewhere safe to undergo the mutations, I should be able to provide that too."
The fire crackled.
For a brief moment, silence fell.
"Pfffft, hahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha!"
Victor suddenly pounded the ground and burst into laughter.
He laughed until he doubled over, laughed until tears nearly came to his eyes.
Angoulême stared at him in complete bewilderment.
Letho's pupils contracted slightly.
"No way! No way! You don't seriously believe a king's promise, do you? How can you possibly be that naive? In this day and age, there are still people who believe the promises of kings!?"
Faced with his merciless ridicule, the bald giant's expression turned cold.
"He is an emperor. The Emperor of Nilfgaard."
Victor made a face.
"Emperor, king, same difference. They only honor promises when honoring them benefits them.
"Just watch. Once you return south, the emperor will try to silence you permanently. Now that the sorceresses are taking the blame for the regicides, there's no reason to leave behind anything that could cast doubt on that story.
"I swear on my name as a Dragonborn, he has absolutely no intention of keeping his promise!"
Letho closed his eyes.
Then he opened them again.
"I don't believe you. Time will prove you wrong."
Victor didn't argue.
He merely smiled, both ridiculously and helplessly.
His memories from his previous life guaranteed that the last grandmaster of the School of the Viper would eventually be hunted mercilessly by bounty hunters.
But Victor also knew that convincing Letho now was impossible.
He had already invested far too much to abandon his return to Nilfgaard and the reward waiting there.
He had broken the rule against killing humans, crossed the taboo of regicide, and even lost two companions who had entrusted their lives to one another for this cause.
In Letho's mind, how could the emperor possibly break his promise?
The emperor had to keep his promise!
With nothing more to say, the giant slapped his knees and stood.
"I've given you the explanation I promised. Now I'm leaving. Hopefully we'll have a chance to meet again someday."
Feeling the stiff atmosphere, Angoulême opened her mouth and then closed it again, unsure what she should say.
Deep down, she naturally trusted her leader's judgment. With that filthy grin on his face, he definitely had prophecy backing him up.
But she didn't want to crush Letho's hopes either.
Victor, however, stood up and blocked Letho's path.
"Wait... You can't leave yet. You still owe me something."
"What?"
"Two punches. Back in Flotsam, Geralt punched me twice because I stepped in to save you."
Letho's granite-like expression didn't change. He spread his arms, silently telling Victor not to waste any more time.
The next instant,
"Bam!"
A solid left hook rocked the giant sideways.
Just as Letho turned his head back,
"Bam!"
A meaty right hook immediately followed, knocking him back a full step.
Letho pressed a finger against one nostril, then the other, blowing the blood from his nose in two sprays.
There was actually a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"That's it? Your fists are weak."
Victor returned the look as though staring at an idiot.
"I was afraid I'd break you! Now get back to your warm South. Stay alert, and remember, I'll be waiting for you to come back North."
Letho reached out with one huge hand and thoroughly mussed Angoulême's hair.
Then he brushed past Victor of Kaer Trolde.
Letho of Gulet disappeared into the darkness.
Above Loc Muinne, the stars glittered brightly that night.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810