Chapter Text
“Where are you staying for the winter?”
Jaskier just shrugged and snuggled closer to Eskel. He entwined their hands and swiped his thumb over Eskel’s.
“Probably Oxenfurt. Give a few lessons, meet some old friends.”
That’s when the realization hit Eskel: Geralt probably never invited Jaskier to Kaer Morhen. He felt angry for his bard, twenty years of friendship, and not even once did Geralt trusted him enough to think about introducing him to his family and him. Eskel was going to do it differently from the very beginning. He hesitated for a moment because meeting the other witchers was a big step, and Geralt was going to be there, but then decided to fuck it and proposed the idea to Jaskier anyway.
“You could come with me to Kaer Morhen.”
Jaskier sat up, staring at him in disbelief.
“To the keep? I thought that was a witchers only place.”
“Not necessarily. Sure, there haven’t been many guests there since the sacking, but there are exceptions.”
Jaskier smiled widely, planting small kisses on Eskel’s neck.
“So am I an exception?” He murmured into his ear.
“You know you are,” Eskel groaned.
The road leading up to Kaer Morhen was long and halfway through they were hit by a snowstorm. He half expected having to carry Jaskier up on his shoulder, instead, he ended up being the one who needed carrying. The wolves weren’t unexpected at this time of the year, but not in such big packs, and not with someone to protect. Looking after and worrying because of Jaskier, divided his attention, made him less effective. Ever since he discovered they were soulmates he became twice as protective, which Jaskier hated, and in situations like this was a great disadvantage. One of the wolves got to him, logging its teeth into his knee. He fell back with a painful yell. Before he could swing his sword to kill the wolf its bite disbanded. He looked up and Jaskier was standing over the wolf, his dagger deep in its neck. Eskel didn’t have time to shout at his bard about how stupid this was. Instead, he sent an ard towards an approaching beast. The rest of the pack must have realized they were overpowered, because they left running, tails between their legs. Eskel prised the wolf’s jaw open, releasing his leg. His knee was shattered into pieces, the bone sticking out of it. It wasn't a pretty sight.
“Eskel, are you alright? Will this heal?”
Jaskier’s panicked voice snapped him out of the pain.
“Probably, “ He gritted out “With the potions.”
Jaskier turned around to get his bag and only then noticed that the horses fleed during the attack, probably terrified of the wolves.
“Fuck. What should I do Eskel? Can you walk?”
Eskel shook his head. There was no way he could make the distance with his fucked up leg.
“You have to go there alone, love. It’s only half an hour on feet.” For a witcher, but he didn’t add that.
“You can ask for help there, Vesemir, and maybe the others will be there, too. Lead them here, I’ll be waiting.”
“I’m not leaving you here! There is a fucking snowstorm, and you are injured! What if the wolves come back? What if something else comes back?”
“Jask, love, his is our only chance. And don’t worry, I have survived worse, I’ll be right here, waiting for you when you return.”
He didn’t completely believe his own words, but he needed Jaskier to believe them. His mate had to get to the forge, he had to be safe, even if Eskel wasn’t. Jaskier hesitated for a moment, trying to argue back, but he probably realized it would have been to no avail. So he leaned down and kissed Eskel goodby.
“I will be back soon, you won’t even notice I’m gone.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll, if for nothing else, the lack of constant chattering.”
One last kiss and Jaskier was on his way to Kaer Morhen. The road was definitely longer than half an hour, and a lot colder, too, than he anticipated. By the time he reached the forge’s giant door, he was freezing and could barely lift his arm to knock on the door. There was no answer at first, so he started banging on it and yelling.
“I need help! Please, someone! Eskel needs help!”
Finally, the door creaked open and a witcher with a sword in his hand stared down at him. He was too young to be Vesemir, so Jaskier assumed he must have been Lambert.
“Who the fuck are you?” Asked the witcher. “And what the fuck do you want?”
Jaskier could have come up with a witty answer, but he was too tired and cold, so he just said:
“Eskel broke his leg, you need to help me get him here. Please.”
“How do you know Eskel?”
Jaskier reached for his mask, his frozen fingers fumbling with the strings. He ended up just tearing it off, and he heard Lambert gasping.
“Come in.”
Jaskier stood in front of the giant fireplace for a few blessed moments, before Lambert returned with two horses.
“Get up, we need to hurry. Who knows what Eskel is doing in this fucking storm.”
The road on horseback was a lot shorter than on foot, still, it seemed like an eternity until he spotted Eskel’s crouched figure in the white snow. He rushed towards him, hugging his ice-cold body.
“Eskel, love, wake up! We are here!”
When he didn’t react, Jaskier felt the panic rising in himself, but Lambert put a hand on his shoulder.
“Calm down, he is alive, I can hear his heartbeat. Help me get him on my horse.”
Lambert sat behind Eskel, holding him up in the saddle, and they galloped back to Kaer Morhen, where they hurriedly carried Eskel down to the hot springs. They placed him in the water with his clothes still on.
“Stay here, make sure he doesn’t get drowned. I’ll get the potion.”
Jaskier shrugged his clothes off and joined Eskel in the water. He awkwardly embraced him in a half-hug, keeping his head above the water.
“It’s alright,” He murmured into Eskel’s ear “We made it to Kaer Morhen. And Lambert is here too, although he is kind of a prick, but he will help your leg. You must get better, do you hear me?”
“Oh, quit that fucking moping, he is not dying. Here, help me open his mouth.”
Lambert forced a blue potion that smelled horrendous down Eskel’s throat.
“This should work. Now that he is not an ice cube anymore let’s get him to his room, I need to take a look at his leg.”
They carried him up the stairs, and even though Lambert shouldered most of the weight, Eskel was very heavy, so Jaskier was out of breath by the time they reach the room. Lambert examined the leg, cursed, set it back with a pop, cursed, wrapped it, and made Eskel drink another potion, and for the lack of change, cursed. Jaskier didn’t think he heard such words in the worse of the brothels and inns he had visited, but he kept his mouth shut because Lambert was helping Eskel. One thing was bothering him, though.
“Where is Vesemir? I thought he stayed here all year.”
Lambert looked surprised by him knowing about Vesemir, but then just shrugged.
“The old man went out to hunt some meat, probably got caught in the storm and he is waiting it out in one of the caves.”
He covered Eskel with furs, and Jaskier didn’t miss the small pet on Eskel’s hair.
“He will be fine, just needs a few days of rest. And now, if you excuse me, I have shit to do.”
Jaskier had all his stuff on the horse, so he dug up a clean shirt from Eskel’s trunk, then crawled under the furs, and snuggled up to his lover. He placed his hand on his chest, counting each heartbeat until he slowly drifted off.