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Geralt doesn't leave Kaer Morhen immediately.
He knows he has to take Ciri away quickly, but the (mostly) successful battle against Voleth Meir bought them at least a little time to prepare and mourn before setting off. Geralt, Lambert, Coen, Berengar, and Vesemir build pyres for the six other witchers that died to Voleth Meir and her summoned beasts.
Almost directly after the pyres are burned, Vesemir pushes Geralt to gather the supplies he'll need, decide who he'll take with him, and get going. Horses aren't an issue, seeing as several witchers will no longer be needing theirs. Food is, as are suitable clothes and camping supplies for winter away from the keep.
At the end of the second day, Geralt has nearly all the supplies he'll need, and all that's left is to rest well and decide who he's willing to take with him.
The other witchers aren't an option. His brothers have been severely reduced in number, and they all really have their work cut out for them now, between the Path and dealing with the new, stronger monsters Ciri has brought to the Continent.
Vesemir needs to stay at Kaer Morhen, to be both a point of contact for all of them and to work on fortifying the keep in case they do need to make some sort of stand here.
Geralt has been avoiding Yennefer, which isn't hard because she's also avoiding him, all while spending as much time helping Ciri understand her magic as she can.
Triss has other obligations now, though she has come back (for a few days at most) to help them recuperate and prepare.
Jaskier... is a different matter. Geralt isn't avoiding him, persay. But he doesn't feel right seeking him out yet. Jaskier hasn't actively sought out his company either, but they've spent plenty of time near one another, eating together, collecting supplies, making plans, entertaining Ciri.
The Bard isn't particularly strong, but that's not what Geralt needs anyways.
Really, all he needs is someone he can trust. Someone other than himself that Ciri can trust. And for all the shit Geralt has given Jaskier throughout the years they've known one another, he cannot deny that he is both reliable and good-hearted.
Jaskier, despite all appearances to the contrary, is not the flighty type. If he were the kind to abandon ship at the first sign of trouble, he certainly wouldn't have dogged after Geralt for the better part of two decades.
And not only that, but Jaskier has travelled with Geralt more often than anyone. He knows Geralt's routine, he's even picked up on a few useful survival skills. It took him a while after they first met, but he understands that when Geralt says to run or hide, that it isn't an invitation to argue. He knows when Geralt is serious and he knows that sometimes he needs to just be quiet and follow instructions for the sake of his own life (a concept which Ciri has not quite yet grasped).
There's more, too.
Jaskier is a bard, and can make decent coin with his lute. That alone is incredibly helpful, as a Witcher taking a contract is easily remembered when he visits a town, while a bard playing for coin can more easily blend in and leave less of a trail for any of their pursuers to follow.
So many reasons to bring Jaskier along, and yet Geralt knows he has no right to ask him for his help. The Bard has already done so much for him, and likely only out of obligation for the prison break.
Once upon a time, Geralt would have said that the day he actually needed Jaskier to stay by his side would be a cold day in Hell.
But now?
Now, Geralt is struggling with the realization that he not only needs, but wants Jaskier to come with him. He's struggling not because that realization is hard to come to terms with, but more because he has no idea how to ask him. What can he possibly say to Jaskier that would make him agree, after the way Geralt treated him on the mountain?
There's nothing. He's apologized, but he knows that isn't nearly enough. No words could be enough to express his regret, or his desire to make things right.
All he can do is ask, and hope Jaskier agrees. If he does, then perhaps Geralt will have the time to show Jaskier how appreciated he is, and always should have been.
If he refuses...
Well, it's no less than Geralt deserves.
The Witcher himself is stewing on this conundrum as the second day after the battle draws to a close, and most of Kaer Morhen's remaining occupants are eating latemeal together.
Coincidentally, they are having stew. A venison stew, cooked by Coen and Lambert. It's good, for all that Ciri wrinkles her nose each time she has to eat 'another boring stew, really Geralt?'.
Even Yennefer has joined them, looking leaps and bounds better than she did following their battle. She's sitting at the far end of the room from Geralt, which suits him just fine.
Ciri is at his table, as is Jaskier, and the two are having an animated discussion about... something... while occasionally asking for Geralt's input. He isn't paying close enough attention to it, but his vague hums seem to be good enough for them.
Until now.
"Geralt," Ciri calls his name, in a tone of voice that indicates she's said it at least twice now.
He pulls himself out of his brooding, focusing on the girl he's sworn an oath to protect. "Yes, Ciri?"
"Oh good, you have decided to join us," the princess remarks dryly.
The Witcher chooses not to respond to that, just taking another spoonful of his stew as he waits for her to get to her point or question.
"I'd offer a coin for your thoughts, but I know you only share them with your horse," Jaskier inputs in the same tone as Ciri.
The princess nods in sage agreement. "Oh, to be Roach and actually hear Geralt talk to me," she states mock-wistfully.
He fixes her with an unimpressed look, while his brother witchers nearby snort loudly at her dramatics.
He ignores them, and definitely ignores the way Yennefer and Triss cover twin smiles behind their hands as he pointedly takes another bite of his stew and doesn't say anything to their taunting.
Ciri waits until Geralt is chewing his chunk of Venison before she gets on with her point.
"Anyways, Geralt. I've been meaning to ask you for a story. I heard about something called the Aard incident?"
It's probably Geralt's fault for being lured into a false sense of security by her innocent tone, but as soon as she finishes her question, the surprise makes him swallow abruptly, and the half-chewed chunk of venison gets lodged in his throat, causing him to need to turn to the side and hack until his windpipe is clear.
He can hear several voices laughing, the loudest of them all being Vesemir.
Jaskier is at his side, thumping his back when Geralt finally recovers. He doesn't have the sense to thank him for trying to help though, as his focus is entirely on Ciri.
"Who told you about that?" He demands, voice hoarse from coughing and therefore slightly less intimidating than usual.
Most of the room is still laughing at his expense, and he overhears Lambert mockingly joke: "Ah yes, Geralt of Rivia, may he rest in peace. First witcher to die choking on his stew." Without looking, Geralt uses the Igni sign under the table to set his brother's bowl on fire, and is rewarded by a frantic squawk of "That's my dinner, you bastard!"
When Ciri recovers from her own fit of mirth, she grins wickedly at him. "Tell me the story and I'll tell you who told me to ask you, old man."
He growls, which does absolutely nothing to deter her, and in fact only succeeds in making Vesemir laugh harder.
"No." Geralt says, glowering at his ward.
Beside him, Jaskier finally ceases his chuckling. "Oh, this must be a good story. Please, won't you tell us Geralt?"
His superhuman hearing also picks up on Yennefer telling Triss, "ooh, let's move closer, I must hear whatever this is about."
Before he can snap at either of them, Vesemir manages to calm down and calls across the room. "Would you prefer I tell them, wolf?"
The expression on Geralt's face morphs instantly from anger to panic as his eyes snap to his father figure. "No!"
"Either you do, or I will!" The old man throws back, looking altogether far too smug for his own good. "It is a very good story."
Geralt bites back on the urge to whine 'Vesemirrr,' like he did when he was still below the old man's shoulder height.
Instead he grumbles, weighs his options very briefly, and huffs out a very reluctant "fine."
Ciri cheers, and those in the room who don't know the story move closer to listen to the rare event of Geralt telling any sort of tale, especially one about himself.
He's half-tempted to just grumble out the bare facts and leave everyone dissatisfied, but he highly suspects that will just result in Vesemir cutting him off and telling the story himself.
So to avoid that, he opts to actually put some effort into it.
"... what you have to understand," he starts slowly, "is that it wasn't my fault."
"Ooh, a grand tale already," Jaskier interrupts, and is immediately hushed by half a dozen different voices.
For once, Geralt doesn't have to be the one to quiet him.
"It wasn't," he asserts again, then continues. "It was Nenneke's plan. She was at the temple of Melitele in Ellandor, still a student back when I was learning to cast signs there. She was the troublemaker, I was just... gullible."
"And some things never change," Vesemir points out fondly.
Geralt is tempted to set his bowl of stew on fire too, but that would be extremely ill-advised.
Instead he just grumbles. "Let me tell the story, old man."
Vesemir lets the insult go, simply waving his hand for him to continue.
"How did she convince you to help with her plan?" Ciri asks, bursting with enthusiasm. "And what was her plan, anyways?"
"One thing at a time," he chastises her gently. "She convinced me to help by telling me that there was a secret test at the temple. And if we passed it, then we'd be trained in special magics known to only a few at the temple. I was in the same class as Eskel, and he was always better at Magic than me, so I wanted to get one up on him, for once."
The reminder makes him briefly sad for the loss of his closest brother, but most of his memories of that time with Eskel are fun, and he chooses to remember his brother with fondness, and not let the sorrow of his death tarnish all his memories of him.
His audience is listening intently, so he decides to stop stalling and move onto the meat of his story. "It was all a lie, of course. Nenneke had just gotten her library key confiscated after the last trick she pulled, and she needed someone to help her break into the high priestess' office so she could steal another one. She couldn't use her magic against the door or walls, but Witcher signs are different so she enlisted me to help."
"So you used Aard to break down the door?" Ciri asks, practically vibrating with glee at the idea.
"No," Geralt sighs, resting his forearms on the table and putting his weight on them ashamedly. "I thought that was too obvious, and I knew my Aard Sign wasn't powerful enough yet to break the door down. So I suggested that instead we climbed up the wall outside and used Aard to break through the window."
"Oh my goddess," Jaskier mutters, looking enthralled.
"It gets worse," Geralt grumbles. "I... er. Liked Nenneke. Back then. Different from how I like her now. I wanted to impress her, so when we got to the outer wall, I put more... intent into the sign than I usually did, and it was more powerful than I was expecting. We were nearly blasted off the wall, and I broke a hole through it that almost made the ceiling collapse."
"Oh, Geralt," Ciri whispers, torn between pitying and gleeful.
"But was she impressed?" Jaskier asks, also grinning.
Yennefer decides to finally speak to him, "yes, was she, Geralt?"
For all of three seconds, Geralt considers telling them both to fuck off. But he's already gone this far into the story, he might as well continue to play along.
So, he throws the two of them a wolfish grin. "I don't kiss and tell."
That earns him a couple wolf-whistles, and Yennefer rolls her eyes, which is about the best response he could hope for from her anyways.
"Gross," Ciri complains, but she still seems too giddy to really be all that bothered.
Geralt decides to have pity on her and hurries to tie things up. "She, and the head priestess, were more impressed that I managed to get us back to the ground without any broken bones. We didn't get her key, and we did get caught, and I was furious when I found out she lied to me. But we spent the next two months together in penitent study every morning, a candlemark before dawn, so I had to forgive her eventually, and it was pretty fun, even if we got in a lot of trouble for it."
"So you do know how to have fun!" Ciri explains cheerfully. "Geralt, when I'm safe and Cintra is mine again, I demand that you and I have some real fun for once."
"Mmh. I'm sure we'll manage to before then," he assures her, bemused.
And, well. While everyone is in high spirits, Geralt supposes there won't be any better time to make his request.
So he turns to Jaskier, and ruthlessly shoves down his nerves. "Especially if Jaskier agrees to join us on our journey."
The bard looks caught off guard, and Geralt knows that isn't enough, so he asks again more directly. "I've no right to ask, but... it would please me if you came with us."
He swallows then, and falls silent, hoping that's enough.
Ciri seems to take the cue to be quiet and wait too, though she doesn't know the extent of the damage done between Geralt and Jaskier.
It takes the Bard a few seconds to call forth his words. "You're asking me? To-- let me make sure I get this right. You want me to come along with you and your daughter while you go on the run from at least three very dangerous entities who all want Ciri for various reasons?"
When he puts it like that, Geralt once more sees the enormity of his request thrown into harsh perspective.
The witcher confirms it, a bit subdued. "Yes. Unless you don't want to."
"Of course I want to," Jaskier is, thankfully, quick to correct him. "I wouldn't dare pass up a chance to be in the middle of such an epic quest! I can think of no story more deserving of a proper ballad--" upon seeing Geralt's expression grow pained, he rushes to clarify "-- which I of course won't dare to sing publicly until well after the dangers have passed."
Geralt breathes a sigh of relief.
"You'll sing it for us though, won't you?" Ciri asks politely, sensing that the tension has eased.
"You'll be the first to hear it," Jaskier assures her.
Geralt doesn't look, but he knows by the fading scent of lilac and gooseberries that Yennefer has quietly left the hall. He should, perhaps, go and at least say goodbye to her before they set off. And perhaps make plans to meet with her eventually. Ciri does need to learn to control her magic, after all.
Though, he's still stung by the Sorceress's betrayal, and the large part of him that hasn't stopped seething about it says that she should have to come to him first.
There's a day left to worry about that.
At least he has his answer from Jaskier, which is a huge weight now off his chest.
The Witcher relaxes a bit, and listens quietly while the room dissolves back into individual conversations as its occupants finish up their dinner. He participates more actively in Jaskier and Ciri's conversation now, and the three of them stay and talk amongst themselves long after they've all finished their food.
It's a good night. Especially so, because one less worry means that Geralt is able to sleep quite soundly for once, which he will certainly need for the hard road ahead.
Tomorrow, their party of three goes on the run, for as long as it takes to keep Ciri safe.