Chapter 10

                                    

                                          
The longer the two women journeyed, the more Ciri grew tired of the silence. Often she would begin talking about a random topic just to break the obnoxious lack of words. She spoke about her past – about being raised by her grandmother Queen Calanthe, about her time as a young girl on the Isles of Skellige – but most of all she spoke about her short bit of training at Kaer Morhen. Occasionally, when the mood struck her, she spoke about the more tragic times of her life, such as the coup on Thanedd and her desperate trek through a desert after being dropped there by a portal while trying to escape a particular mage. Some topics, such as the death of those she cared about the most — Calanthe, Vesemir, Mistle — were memories she cared not to visit. When the notion popped into her mind to talk about such things, she quickly started giving tips on how to avoid being knocked off the gauntlet. She hoped after teaching Iespeth how to speak, she would give her a basic training in combat. Considering the deep wound in her hand, it seemed necessary.
                          
***
                          
"So we are riding along and he just won't let up. He told me I had qualities like "captivating appeal" and "uncommon beauty." I am embarrassed to say it, but his constant flattery and charming gazes made me want to take my pants off. And his horse, which eventually became MY horse, was just plain sexy. But I was determined to play it smoothly.
                          
At some point when we were not too far from Forgeham, we were set upon by horsemen. Hotspurn was hit in the back with a cross bow bolt. We were able to make it into some bushes and hide. He'd been injured but wanted to do it right then and there. He started unbuttoning my blouse. 'There may be complications tomorrow,' he said. So I let him take off my blouse. I didn't want to seem like a prude nor did I wish to seem too direct so I closed my eyes while hugging him around the neck. He was kissing me on my lips, then my neck and then—
                          
Oh look, there's some," Ciri burst out, interrupting her own story. "Teigisbloom or whelmsworth, as it is called by some of the locals. The roots, boiled with direswort, are just what we need for your hand. Luckily the two tend to grow together. They grow in tandem and function as an antiseptic in tandem. The direswort...ughh," she said, kneeling down, "almost looks like a small patch of moss, and if you look closely you'll see the small leaves." Ciri began digging around the thick, woody plant with a stick.
                          
"Those small leaves are exactly what we're after," she said, uncovering the top layer of loose soil.
                          
"Although I'm not even sure why I tell you this. You don't understand anyways," she mumbled.
                          
Ciri was wholly preoccupied, carefully chipping away at the brick-and-mortar-like fortress of rocks and dirt that the roots of the teigisbloom had grown themselves into, when a hand stretched out an arm's length away from her face with the small leaves of the direswort.
                          
"And then? What happened next?" asked Iespeth as if speech was not a novelty.
                          
Ciri couldn't believe what she had just heard. She looked up into the elf's intense emerald eyes which were waiting for the rest of the story. There were many questions Ciri wished to ask. Who are you? What do you remember? Where did you come from? What were you doing in the middle of an ancient elven gate? She wasn't sure where to start but needed to say something.
                          
"Um...well, then he died. With his mouth on my tit. The bolt had been filled with iron shot. Must have gone into his spine," she said blushing and looking sorrowful at the same time.
                          
Iespeth looked at her a tick longer than a normal person would have, studying Ciri's face.
                          
"Hmm. That must have been...you know, I have no word to express," Iespeth replied.
                          
"Awkward and unusual to say the least," Ciri stated, filling in Iespeth's lack of vocabulary. "So, you can speak?" she asked after a short pause.
                          
Iespeth smiled sweetly and gave a single nod. "I hear. I watch. I learn," she said pointing to her ears, eyes, and head, respectively.
                          
The ashen-haired witcheress opened her mouth as if to ask something but instead breathed out forcefully through her mouth.
                          
"You want to ask?" Iespeth questioned pointing to herself. "I remember little before you found me," she added. Though limited in words, she was careful to use the word 'little' instead of 'nothing'. But now was not the time to delve into that subject. Perhaps someday, when her understanding of this place was greater and her knowledge of those living here better known. Perhaps.
                          
"Well, do you want to find out?"
                          
"Maybe. Eventually. But there are more important things," Iespeth asserted.
                          
"Such as?"
                          
"Speech. Where we are. What the state of the world is. What I am," she said pinching one of the tips of her ears between her thumb and forefinger.
                          
"Ah. I understand. I suppose it would be hard for you to find out about your past if you know nothing about...well, almost anything. The short of it is that you're an elf, whereas I am a human. The long version is a bit more complicated. We'll have plenty of time for that after we treat your hand."
                          
She took the two ingredients of the antiseptic. That evening, after building an adequately sized camp fire, she got out a small kettle, filled it with water and let it boil. She explained how the direswort actually had no antiseptic properties, but rather contained an enzyme which broke down one of the chemicals in the teigisbloom that helped fight off infections in superficial wounds. She showed Iespeth how the water became soapy, which was how you knew that the enzyme had been released. Iespeth paid immaculate attention to every detail and asked rather involved questions — questions to which Ciri did not have all the answers. It was important that they spend the winter with those who could answer at least some of those questions, as Iespeth's thirst for knowledge about the world seemed insatiable.
                          
When Ciri had finally prepared the poultice, the two stood up and went over to a fallen log. Before they sat down, Iespeth fiddled with her cinch.
                          
"Why are you always fidgeting with that thing?" Ciri asked.
                          
"There is something strange. Here it is loose where I have no...you know?" she stated tugging at her skin and flab. "But here it is not! Don't worry though, I will adjust."
                          
Ciri wasn't sure whether she meant she would adjust her cinch or adjust to her cinch. She figured the fine tuning of Iespeth's speech would develop naturally.
                          
They continued their journey on to Kaer Morhen with Ciri telling Iespeth as much as possible, which, considering the extent of things to be told, amounted to very little. Nevertheless, Iespeth's command of the common tongue expanded immensely and she came to grasp the basics of the world around her, which became a relief to Ciri.
                          
Notes:

                          
1. Ciri's first sexual encounter with a man whose name was Hotspurn occured in the books.
2. Calanthe was the queen of Cintra and grandmother of Ciri. She died when Cintra was attacked by the Nilfgaardians.
3. Mistle was, I guess you could say, Ciri's first love. She was a member of the Rats gang which Ciri was a part of for a time. Mistle was killed in front of Ciri by the bounty hunter Leo Bonhart. Her head was removed in front of Ciri.