O! 👀👀
Hello! Your random word is: ORDINARY!
They had arrived in Lettenhove a day ago. It had taken Geralt five minutes to realise why Jaskier had been so keen to remove himself from his family’s home. Their greeting had been icy, and it was clear that if it had not been for the creature terrorising their lands Lord Pankratz - Earl de Lettenhove - would never have tolerated Geralt’s presence in his home.
Jaskier’s mother was somewhat better - she, like so many women of her station, had been trained in the art of household diplomacy. It was clear her opinion of Geralt was no better than her husband’s, but at least she treated him with a modicum of respect.
The corridors of the Pankratz manse were wide and tall. They tunnelled through the building like paths through an ant’s nest. They created a perfect acoustic echo - something that Geralt was sure was not an intentional part of the design. It meant that for a man with mutated hearing, even the quietest conversations several rooms away would come echoing towards him, as clear as if the speakers were walking beside him.
Jaskier was having a rather heated conversation with his mother in her solar. Geralt walked a little slower.
“Julian,” his mother was saying, and Geralt winced at the use of Jaskier’s given name, “you cannot seriously think it’s acceptable to be gallivanting about the continent with that, that…”
“That what, mother?”
“You and I both know what he is, Julian.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Julian-”
“I care for him, mother. He cares for me, in his own way.”
“I just want you to be happy.”
“You want me to be like you and father, you mean.”
“You are a Viscount!” Her voice was rising, trembling in the same way Jaskier’s did when he was angry. “You need to start behaving like one! You’re bringing the family into disrepute, Julian. Why can't you find someone who’s…”
“Who’s what?”
“Ordinary! There’s no future with that--”
Her words were stifled by the sudden screeching of a chair being pushed back.
“Julian!”
Jaskier burst through a door to Geralt’s right, his face flushed and furious. He was so lost in his own rage that he didn’t even see Geralt, crashing right into him. Jaskier’s mother appeared in the doorway, equally angry looking.
“We’re leaving.”
It was all Jaskier needed to say. Geralt treated Jaskier’s mother to his best fuck-you smile, turned on his heel, and followed Jaskier down the corridor.
