A Perfect Morning (Finale) (Page 19)

As we're walking to our destination in the early morning, I can't help loving this warm spring day. Ciri hasn't let go of my hand, at all, this entire time. I'm calmer when I'm with her. The more I look at her, the more beautiful she gets. I'm the luckiest bastard alive.

She takes a small breath and looks at me. "Cera, I want to know where you got all those scars." She cuts straight to the points. I guess some are pretty gnarly.

I'm thinking of a suitable answer as I hear her grow impatient. "Well, I'm waiting..." She still has the impatient attitude from Kaer Morhen. I admit I love that about her. I should just slow the conversation down and take control.

I do not want to share the horror stories I've been through. She might treat me differently. Baby me. "Which one do you want to know about?" Asking one at a time will slow this down. She's not amused at my attempt at a joke.

She thinks for a second, and I wait patiently. She stares at my chest, and I know which one she's going to ask first. It's currently covered by my shirt, but she saw it. "The one by your heart..." Hopefully, she won't be overprotective of me. This scar's story happened when I was young and hunting one of Gaunter's targets. It wasn't fun.

She looks into my eyes and sees me reliving the events, and she gently squeezes my hand. "I was 13... I was tracking a man for my boss at the time. He was an expert with traps, which was bad for me. I tripped one, and this is the result." I tap my covered chest. I nearly bled to death because of this.

I was healed by a nice woman. She was some sort of druid or sage. "How did you survive, Cera? I know a fatal wound when I see it..." I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that. She looks hurt at the fact I had such a wound. I have many more like it. Some of the things I lived through was because of dumb luck.

She's waiting for an answer, and while she isn't a fan of waiting. I do test her patience. "I was healed by a druid... After my wound healed, I talked to the locals, and they taught me how to identify and disarm the improvised traps. I finally caught him and got closer to my reward." I wonder just how much she is going to ask me. I don't think she's going to stop any time soon.

Much to my disappointment, she asks a question in a broad form, hoping to get an answer for most of her questions. "What were you trying to get for 11 years?" I should just tell her the truth. She deserves to know that much about why I was gone for 11 years.

I take a breath and calm my nerves. I know she's going to get mad. Nothing is stopping that. In a way, I deserve her anger. "I wanted information on how to defeat The Wild Hunt forever. I have it now." I'm telling the truth, but I'm going to keep it vague. I know I'm a hypocrite and a secret keeper, but in my way, it keeps me protected. As well as my loved ones.

I watch as her face contorts in anger, and she balls her free fist. At that moment, she takes her out of mine, and we are no longer holding hands. "That's why you left for 11 years!!! You could have stayed with us..." No, I wouldn't have turned into the fighter I am. I need to be this way to defeat The Wild Hunt. Gaunter made me the perfect warrior.

She's looking for me to make an excuse, a reason for my actions. I give her what she's looking for. "I never thought it would hurt everyone so much... I didn't know I would be gone for 11 years... If I did, I would've made a different decision..." Hopefully, my words mean something to her. She's pretty upset about my reason from the look on her face.

She turns me towards her and has the same confidence and determined look she had at Kaer Morhen. "I'll forgive you if you never leave me again. If you even try, I'll break your legs so you can't." I believe her too. I never thought I would have someone who loves me this much.

I smile, and it's because she forgave me so fast. She really has grown up in many ways while staying the same in others. "I promise I'll never leave you again, Ciri..." It's an easy promise to keep. I'm not going anywhere. At least, I don't plan to.

We start walking again, and she takes my hand in her again. We're almost to the bank of the river. We begin to hear yelling, and we rush over. Drowners are already attacking another carriage. We draw our swords as we're close enough to the first few. I look around and onto the bank of the river. I've never seen so many dead, half-eaten bodies. Surprised it hasn't attracted any griffins with the stink coming off here.

I start slaying some with my steel sword, and Ciri is already teleporting. She has a certain beauty that shows when she's killing monsters. Maybe it's just my personal preference. Taking inspiration from her, I start doing teleports too.

Slicing necks and stabbing chests left and right. It goes much faster than normal with the two of us. 12 drowners later, and we take care of the nest too. We go and check on the merchants. "Are you alright? You can come out now!" Ciri is the first to speak. They're a small family and have a daughter around our age.

She keeps making eyes at me. I've had reactions like this before, but I've never responded to them. I was too focused on my mission, along with Ciri in the back of my head. "We thank you for saving us. Is there anything you want from us?" We've already been paid for the job. There's nothing we could need from them, and I don't particularly want to take anything from them.

I sheath my steel sword, and Ciri follows suit. We walk up to the carriage so we can talk quieter. "No, we've already been hired and paid to clear out this area. You just happened to be here when we arrived." The young lady has other ideas, though. Much to my worry, cause I know Ciri is the jealous type. Anything that she wanted and some else got, she got a spoiled attitude about it.

I always thought it was cute, but now that we're both grown and are capable of inflicting serious harm, I'm worried. "Are you sure there isn't anything that you desire?" She emphasizes her body. Much to the amusement of her parents, knowing it won't work. The one I'm focused on is Ciri. She doesn't look happy at that.

She straights up and gets a stern straight to the point voice tone. "No, he's fine." She doesn't sound thankful. It's cute, but at the same time very worrying. I can tell she's on edge.

Not likely the fact that this woman is coming on so strong with me. "My, does your sister always speak for you?" Now that makes Ciri mad. I honestly don't know if she'll be violent or not. Ciri isn't above hurting people who deserve it.

For all I know, she might think this girl deserves it. That'd be bad. Ciri grits her teeth and speaks through a clenched mouth. "I'm not his sister, and if you're smart, you'll take the hint." That's scary. The face on the girl admits defeat.

Ciri's dominance in keeping me sort of turns me on. I'll never be unfaithful, but seeing her like this makes me feel special. Like I'm needed and wanted by her and her alone. "If you just follow the path, you'll reach Crows Perch in about an hour." I speak to the family in hopes of defusing the situation. With them gone and us checking to make sure the Drowners are all dead.

I have a foreboding feeling as I work. I look and see Ciri isn't happy anymore. "You could've said something, you know." I expected that to come up. What she says is true. However, I didn't really get an opportunity to thanks to her fast answer.

I could mess with her a little. Like we used to do back a Kaer Morhen. "You seemed jealous back there, Ciri... Do I have to worry about my health when I'm around another woman?" Let's see how she handles this.

Her face has a look of surprise and shock, seeing that her demand that I say something made her jealousy obvious. She tries to quickly deny, with rosy cheeks and all. "I was not jealous!!! I just think the girl should have some public decency, is all!!! Do I need to worry about you and another woman!!!!" Went off like a bomb. I love it. One simple question, and I can throw her off like this.

I should appease her now that I've had my fun. "I'd do the same if a man approached you like that, Ciri... Nice to know that I'm cared about so much..." I say all this in a teasing voice. I wouldn't like it if a man I didn't know tried anything with her.

I might even get violent if I think about it. The thought now makes my bloodlust rise. "Oh." What a big blush, Ciri. I wonder how she'd react if something worse than what just happened ever occurred. Some people don't understand the meaning and word no the first time. That'll be dangerous if Ciri is around.

Both of us don't like the thought of the other with another person. Does that mean we're both possessive? I don't know, but it's who we are. "C'mon, if we hurry we can get back before 2 PM. We'll still have the whole day to ourselves." I know she's looking forward to it as much as me.