The King of Beggars (Page 51)

We leave the shop, and Ciri is beaming with happiness. We have a heavier responsibility with Ciri's pregnancy, as much as I don't want her being in danger. I know that she's more than capable of protecting herself. Ciri suddenly doesn't look so happy. "What's wrong? You were happy a second ago." Her mood has shifted on a dime, and now she looks worried.

She locks our arms together in a way to make sure we don't part. "What do you think he meant when he said that to you? A lot of people think you're someone that should be watched... I don't like it..." I don't disagree with her. I'm getting worried of how many people actually know me. They speak as if I'm not who I think I am.

That pisses me off... I've always been who I've been... "Do you have any idea what they're talking about, Cera?" Her guess is as good as mine. All I really know is that I'm a direct descendant of Lara Dorren... My parents were poor, but happy farmers... I'm their son... If I was supposed to be anything close to royalty, shouldn't I have been born into it?

I gather my thoughts as I breathe... The Aen Elle race doesn't have power in the governments here. People say that about me because of Lara Dorren... "I don't know, Ciri... All I can think of is my bloodline... At one point my abilities devoured an entire kingdom and its people..." Gaunter made sure that my identity was hidden. But not after I left his side...

Her face takes a solemn look, and she lays her head on my shoulder as we walk. "I understand that... I've been running from people who want my power for many years now..."Being the daughter of Emhyr must be hard... Sacrificing all these people in his conquest. Radovid is no better than Emhyr. Laying low has been in our favor, but the moments when I lost control haven't helped us.

We walk slowly, and I'm looking out for pickpockets and thieves. Novigrad has fallen far from the city I remember when I was a kid. "Wickerson told us where we can find Francis. We're getting closer from the looks of it. The markers are very subtle, just like he said." We're walking the path around the square. After looking at the clues we reach a plain door with a peek hole.

I knock on the door five times as Wickerson told us to. The peephole opens, and a man with plain dark eye's looks at us up and down. "What do you want?" I take out the letter I got from Wickerson that gives us permission to enter. The man grabs it and closes the peephole.

We hear some muffled talking and the door swings open. "Welcome to our little slice of heaven, hope you enjoy your stay." The man says that in a voice as if he had rehearsed it several times. We walk in and see all the mages and alchemists taking refuge from the witch hunters. This is a sad sight to behold after growing up with the greatest sorceress as my adoptive mother.

Ciri is growing pale from the sight before us. "I can't believe this is what the world has come to after I was gone for so long..." I feel the exact same way... I haven't been in this part of the world for more than a decade. I can only hope that everyone we know hasn't succumbed to the same fate as this... If any harm has come to Yen, I'll destroy whoever did it and everything they love.

We walk down the path to the house at the back of the alleyway and knock on the door. A bald man answers it and I can see old scars line his face from years of combat. "How may I help you? I  must say, I would remember such faces if we met before." For some reason he looks at me longer than I think he should. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened, but it's awkward. Ciri notices and isn't happy.

My hand lifts from my side, and Ciri looks like she wants to grab my wrist and put it down. We shake hands in a greeting and he turns around as he sits behind his desk. "We were tasked to bring you a letter from Feralda Kemora, she did us a favor." He has a look of surprise as I say that name. I take out the letter and hand it to him, he holds it for a few seconds until he opens it.

He looks at us and pinches the bridge of his nose as he finishes reading. "It's been so long since I heard from Feralda... Thank you for this... After all she's done for people, she never deserved that..." Feralda helped a lot of people by the sounds of it. I wonder how much she's lost. Nobody deserves punishment for doing good things.

He motions for us to take a seat and we do. He looks at us and has a knowing look as to why we where at Feralda's to begin with. "It looks as though you went there for a pregnancy test... She's quite known for those... What was the result? if you don't mind me asking." I look over at Ciri and she gives me the okay to tell him. She's more comfortable now that he knows our situation.

I unconsciously grab Ciri's hand in some form of anticipation. "We're having twins... It was a great surprise to have one... Let alone with two..." He nods his head and raises his glass in a celebratory way. He sets his glass down and goes to the bookshelf in the office. He pulls on a book and a secret passage opens up. Talk about unexpected.

He turns his head to us and motions for us to follow him. "Despite you paying your debt to Feralda, I still need help with something. I'll not force you, but I'll pay handsomely." I look down the passage and notice a room. We aren't hurting for money, but it would be good to have an ally like Francis.