[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV
Skellige.
...
...
"The princess is not with you?" Tissaia, one of the few sorceresses known by that title, said, looking with great interest at Madara, while Yennefer had a knowing look beside him, since Geralt had warned that Ciri would not return after they left the entrance upon seeing the unicorn.
"She is indisposed." Madara said, staring at Tissaia with a calm look, while the sorceress nodded upon hearing this.
"Well, that is a shame, but I will have the pleasure of greeting her tomorrow." Tissaia said, still analyzing Madara, she had not finished as her eyes stared at the boy she had not seen since the end of the war. Shocking images of the final battle still seemed fresh in her mind.
"You never left the continent, did you?" she asked, while Yennefer grew tense.
"No." Madara said calmly.
"We all searched for you, but never found any clue beyond what happened in Kaedwen. You were at the School of the Wolves, in Kaer Morhen, weren't you?" she asked.
"You know the answer to that." Madara simply said.
It was not something so surprising, given what had happened in the kingdom in the east of the continent. Everyone could already presume that Madara had been with the witchers of the School of the Wolves the whole time, since the trouble began as soon as the king began attacking Kaer Morhen by sending soldiers, resulting only in a one-sided massacre.
At least, he would no longer have to deal with Vilgefortz scheming behind the scenes, trying to attack Vesemir and the others in retaliation, though he still had the rest to worry about. He was also not concerned about the king of Kaedwen, since he had made it quite clear what would happen if he stood against Madara. But he could not help thinking about the other kingdoms and the other organizations across the continent. Either way, he had to keep his name dangerous enough throughout the continent after this marriage.
"So that means you also met Triss Merigold." Tissaia said, knowing that Triss had traveled to the School of the Wolves months ago.
"I hope that is not a problem for her. I owe her favors for the help she gave to Ciri." Madara said softly. Obviously, that was intertwined with a threat: if anyone went against Triss, he would have to act.
"I am not threatening Triss." Tissaia noticed this and did not fail to frown, but she kept a slight smile. "She is one of my students, just like Yennefer, who from what I see, is a sorceress you are fond of." she said, with a calm tone, but laced with some hidden intentions.
"Look, Tissaia, if you think I am using her or taking advantage to gain power from them, you are mistaken." Yennefer understood that immediately and clenched her teeth.
Tissaia looked at her. "Well, I have known her since she began her training at Aretuza, so I know plenty about her ambitions. So do not blame me for that." Tissaia said in a calm tone, almost like a mother to Yennefer.
"Anyway, I will return to King Bran, since he is already asking with his eyes over here, about what happened to Ciri." Madara said, not wanting to engage in that conversation, since he knew that other sorceresses at the banquet were approaching at that moment, using Tissaia as an excuse to talk to him.
It was something he was not very fond of. There was nothing more than sorceresses seeking power above anything else. It was no wonder they infiltrated courts throughout the continent and even tried to marry kings and other nobles. But despite their beauty being extraordinarily above average and the fact that they did not age, they could not bear children, so they served more as lovers, though that always granted them many privileges.
Madara preferred to trust only Yennefer, even being as ambitious as she was, like any other sorceress. At least he knew the woman, and even now she was being better than her original version.
And what she did for Ciri in the original work, she was now doing for him. Even committing crimes, stealing, meddling with dead souls... She did all that only to ensure those she loved were safe. Even if she had to step over others, manipulate, kill, or deceive, Yennefer had always been that kind of character. And she would do that for Ciri, and even for Geralt, despite having lied and betrayed him for many years. Despite her volatile temper, in the end of the work she was still more true to him than anyone else. Personally, it was a kind of relationship Madara would not want to have if he were the witcher, but he was not Geralt and he had the right to live his life with whomever he wished, and Yennefer had become trustworthy.
Madara knew he could trust this Yennefer, so different from the one he had known before the Battle of Sodden. That Yennefer, at the moment she saw him, seemed to see him as a tool to make her the queen of the entire continent, but that had changed, that Yennefer no longer existed.
Anyway, Madara left, while Tissaia and Yennefer already noticed the other sorceresses approaching like bees going to a pot of honey, disappointed to see Madara moving toward the main table.
"She is indisposed." Madara said at the table when asked about Ciri.
"I understand... and it was really the unicorn?" King Bran asked Madara, as he responded about Ciri's condition.
"Yes. Eira is truly a unicorn, white as snow. I am sure she will love to show herself to the entire castle tomorrow." Madara said.
"Ah, Charles outdid himself then. Well, it is not every day someone receives a unicorn. But I must say it is also a little concerning, since this comes from King Vizimir II." King Bran said, now with a more serious tone, looking at Madara.
"Do not worry about that. We will deal with him in the future, somehow. There is nothing in this favor that we cannot repay." Madara replied again, while Bran nodded, satisfied with his confidence.
The wife of King Bran, however, remained a bit sour at his side. She certainly wished with all her strength that it would be her son marrying the princess heir of Cintra even before they set foot on the island. Madara had seen some memories that the woman was always seeking information about the continent and about Ciri, wanting to bring her to Ard Skellige.
At times the servants had caught her boasting that she would make her son the king of Cintra years ago. A naïve thought, far from reality, since she did not even truly know the princess. Madara knew Ciri would never want to marry anyone else but him. She had always shown her intentions, even when she was a child.
He still remembered how they behaved in Cintra, he always focused on studying with Mousesack and training his jutsus and shinobi abilities, while Ciri wanted to fight and play all the time. Even so, Ciri always showed affection for him even when they were children.
Madara never cared about it and even found it silly for a child to talk about that kind of relationship. He remembered well when Ciri, still little, dared to ask him for a kiss. At the time she was only eight years old, saying that they would marry, Madara had to run from her as she wanted him to promise they would wed—after all, they were only eight, what kind of proposal was that. Even though he was everything but a normal child, already having killed a long list of people.
He never seemed to worry about being romantic with Ciri before, since he knew they were both bound for the rest of their lives from the moment they recognized each other. Since she appeared in the forest. And that was only confirmed later, when Ciri went alone to the abandoned house where he was living in the capital, at the time when he was facing gangs before entering the royal court. On that occasion, she felt a direct pull to his home and told him she had dreamed of Madara's Susanoo and of countless corpses scattered across a battlefield. Even the elves of the Wild Hunt, as she later described the bodies.
"Is she well for tomorrow? You know... does she need anything? I have some potions that could help her, if needed." Mousesack said, while Madara shook his head.
"No, Mousesack, I appreciate your concern. But we are fine. She is just fed up with politics, that is all." he said, while the druid observed him.
"I understand. Well, as future queen of Cintra, she will need to get used to all of this, unpleasant as it may be. Calanthe was a tough woman for a reason, politics and the battlefield made her the way we knew her." Mousesack said.
"Cintra is still a distant wish, Mousesack. We want to reclaim the kingdom, but we must also wait, because there are greater problems to be solved." Madara said with a solemn look, turning back to the banquet.
"I understand... but do not worry. You are not alone. Be it for Cintra or even against the horrors that pursue you." Mousesack said in a very serious tone.
"Speaking of that..." Madara changed the subject. "You still want to write a book about dragons, make the title official?" Madara asked, shifting the conversation.
The druid's eyes gleamed. "Of course! Dragons are a mysterious and very interesting subject. As a druid, I have always been fascinated by these creatures, though I have never had the chance to see one." he said, letting a certain anticipation slip. He knew Madara had arrived in Skellige with a dragon, and was practically begging for him to show it.
"Tomorrow." Madara said, recognizing the druid's expression. "When we finish the wedding, you will see a dragon waiting for us."
Mousesack's eyes widened before he smiled. "Well, that is quite unexpected... I would love to see that. I am sure this wedding will be remembered for a thousand years. No princess ever had the privilege of flying a dragon after her wedding with her husband." said the druid, while Madara walked away, turning to King Bran, who was watching them curiously.
"Well... do you mind if a dragon lands at the castle tomorrow? We will not be spending the honeymoon here." Madara said casually.
The king, at first, grimaced, but soon opened a smile and burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the nearby tables.
"That certainly sounds amazing! Well... can you promise me it will not burn down my castle?" he asked in a playful tone.
"Obviously not. As I do not plan to stay in the castle with my wife. It will be our mount to go to another place, difficult for anyone else to reach, at another point on the island, I prepared it this morning." Madara said calmly.
"Well... a dragon! By the gods, can you imagine that?" said the king, looking at Mousesack.
"Certainly, King Bran. But what else could be expected of those two? They are quite out of the ordinary." the druid said, laughing like a grandfather.
"Very well, just do not try to kill anyone with the dragon. I will leave a space for you to land the dragon, in case it is too large."
"It is best to leave at least thirty meters of open space so it can land without breaking anything." Madara said.
He already knew the castle courtyard was far too narrow, not to mention the city would not be a good place. It would need space. Either way, he had no choice: he needed to speak about the dragon, even though he wanted to keep it a surprise for Ciri as a wedding gift. What Madara did not yet know was that she could already see images of them flying through the sky the next day. And she kept silent about it.
"Very well, I will speak to the captain of the guard. But I can already picture his face when I tell him a dragon will land at the castle. There is a huge balcony on this very floor, where the men train beside the castle, with enough space. I will ask them to clear the place, then the dragon will be able to land. The structure also seems quite firm. It is the best place in the castle."
Madara only nodded, but soon everyone's attention was taken by a shout coming from the herald at the door.
"Representatives and envoys of the kingdom of Sodden are present!" the herald announced, drawing everyone's attention.
Men in robes bearing the symbol of Sodden, which Madara knew all too well, advanced through the hall. Whispers and comments arose around them as they passed between the tables until they reached the main one. They stopped before King Bran and bowed.
"King Bran, we are here in the name of our king, Thorne I, by his name." one of them began, while the monarch of Skellige watched them in silence.
"Well, you are welcome, as are all the other kingdoms. You may choose a table and make yourselves comfortable." King Bran said.
"More than that, King Bran, we are here to make a personal request." the envoy said.
The king raised an eyebrow. "And what personal request would that be?"
"We are here because our king asked permission to witness the wedding of Princess Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon of Cintra and Duke Madara Uchiha, also of Cintra." he said, since that was Madara's status when the kingdom fell, as he had taken care of the lands he received after the fall of Cintra's traitors. He had gone from nameless orphan to the youngest and most capable duke of the kingdom; it was no wonder Calanthe could finally marry him to Ciri, if Nilfgaard had not attacked.
King Bran frowned. No other king had asked to personally attend the wedding; they had only sent representatives—mostly members of the court and high-ranking nobles, such as dukes, marquises, and counts.
The mention made Madara attentive. He knew Thorne I personally, whom he himself had helped to make king in place of the lunatic father who had killed his own future daughter-in-law in search of a better marriage for his son... It had been years since he last heard his name. The request seemed, at first glance, quite reasonable. He could not deny the presence of that old acquaintance and his family at his wedding.
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