- With the Continent at risk from Nilfgaard's rising power, Yennefer revisits her past, while Geralt reconsiders his obligation to the Law of Surprise.
- Cirilla wanders into a market and is looking at food in a stall. The man who runs it startles her when he asks her where she's heading. Nervously she tells him she's going to Skellig. She asks how far to the coast, he tells her it will take a week on a horse, but she's on foot. A woman overhears, she warns Ciri to be careful, it's not safe.
Geralt overlooks the Nilfgaard troops heading to Cintra, he contacts Mousesack in the capital, the wizard is aghast, the Witcher been gone so long they thought he was dead. Geralt wants to know the child is fine, he's surprised to learn Ciri is a girl, that Pavetta and Duny are long dead. He warns Mousesack he saw the army at the Amell Pass. Mousesack says since the night of the betrothal feast, Calanthe has fortified Cintra, but Geralt hears soldiers' footsteps, he realizes Calanthe heard he was there, she's sent assassins - the Witcher grabs Mousesack, using him as a shield; when they're attacked, the wizard opens a portal for them to escape.
Danek wanders the forge with Calanthe, inspecting weapons, and they talk of Eist's return. She tells her soldiers she wants reports from the Amell Pass, but then she sees Geralt and Mousesack - Geralt tells the Queen he was planning to stay away until she sent assassins. Calanthe is irate, she'll pay him whatever he wants, just leave! He tells her the Law of Surprise cannot be bought off, Mousesack echoes him. Calanthe laments Ciri is all she has left of Pavetta, and Geralt reassures her Ciri's survival means Pavetta lives on. Cornered, the Queen declares the Law of Surprise has been called.
In the market a Punch and Judy show makes children laugh at the mockery of Cintra's fall. Ciri approaches a stall and buys new gloves with a silver ring in her pouch. The woman who saw her earlier offers her a room at her farm, she'll finish her shopping and take Ciri with her on the horses she has tied up. Ciri swipes one of the animals and takes off.
Geralt walks toward the royal chambers and hears Calanthe telling her granddaughter it is her Destiny to go with Geralt. The girl - who is NOT Cirilla - looks apprehensively at Geralt. She asks Calanthe (dressed for the knights' benediction) if she can say goodbye to her friends and Calanthe assents, then the Queen sends the Witcher away, she'll summon him when it's time for them to go. Mousesack stands by silently, and Geralt continues down the hall, hears a door echoing and a predilection sends him out to the square where Ciri plays knucklebones with her friends. The stand-in princess bows to Cirilla, calling her Highness, and the Witcher knows he was lied to. He confronts Calanthe as she's heading for the ceremony, and she defiantly refuses to send Ciri with him. She tells Eist to escort him away. Geralt reminds Eist he had honored the Law of Surprise, and argues it's dangerous for everyone if he leaves without the Princess. He stops Geralt in the gateway, asking him to promise not to return, which Geralt refuses, and Eist lowers the gates, imprisoning the Witcher.
Yennefer approaches a huge archaeological dig in Nazair, she offers a Letter of Safe Conduct to the guards who ask how long will she be staying? She says, "That has yet to be determined," as Istredd approaches warily. He happily shows her around and recounts tales about his work to his old lover; as she listens, Yennefer drinks beer she is offered. He laughs at her expression, it's apparently not very tasty, but he says the people of Nilfgaard aren't starving, and they appreciate everything they get. Yennefer says it sounds like he capitulated, but Istredd hesitates, disappointing her attempt to draw him in again. He takes her to a mess hall and says she could have anyone she wants, she agrees, and she has had many, but she "might be missing him". She tries to persuade him she would go away with him, that he is the only one who offered her true love and she kisses him; Istredd responds, but he's still doubtful. Slowly, he tells her how he tried to go to Aedirn, but it was she who always refused his requests. Stregobor snapped him out of his heartbreak, forget Yennefer, get work, and Istredd says it was the work that saved him. He still loves her, she has opened fresh wounds, even after decades. He says sadly, "At least you kept your eyes," and leaves.
Vilgefortz of Roggeveen sits down in Istredd's empty chair, Yennefer thinks at first he's just trying to pick her up, but he's from Aretuza, he says he has no Letter of Safe Conduct, and hers is fake, so they need to GO. Vilgefortz tells her Nilfgaard has been picking up stray mages who have left Aretuza, putting them in service. He says Tissaia told him Yennefer was her best student: he convinces her to return with him.
In the halls of Aretuza, Yennefer watches novice students wander the halls, while Vanielle and Vilgefortz try to catch her up on everything at once. But Yennefer is interested only in Tissaia, and she is irritated to learn Tissaia did in fact NOT request her, she had only told Vilgefortz of her talents. Disgusted, Yennefer walks away from the mages and heads to the student dormitory, hearing echoes of her past. She barges into her former room, startling the new occupant giggling with her friends. They try to make excuses they were working on botany, but Yennefer tells them their work is pitiful, she should turn them all in, then amends her rebuke, she says Tissaia is an Old Bag, making the girls giggle. She tempts them into mixing herbs, but they've been cautioned not to experiment, and Yennefer tells them to think for themselves; then she mixes a potion and gets the girls high. They tell her their families bought them places in Aretuza, and Yennefer is truly shocked the school is being paid, no longer just bringing in students who are magical. One of the girls is lucid enough to argue with Yennefer, she's worried they'll be punished for following the sorceress' directives, the other girls start to worry about being expelled, but Yennefer tells them there are worse things. She takes them into the grotto beneath the Tower of the Gull, tells them how becoming mages means they won't be able to bear children, and then she shows them her friends, transformed into eels powering the Tower. The girls try to leave, while Yennefer scoffs at their lack of talent.
Tissaia interrupts and shoos the frightened girls away. Yennefer starts to follow her old teacher back to her office, but other mages arrive, and Yennefer sees Triss who tells her Nilfgaard has taken Marnadel and now they're after Cintra. In the council chamber many raise their concerns Nilfgaard will attack the kingdoms they support. Artorius tries to justify the actions Fringilla (his niece) has taken in Nilfgard, while Stregobor is his typical pompous self, loyal only to himself. He criticizes Vilgefortz and his military experience, but Vilgefortz and Vanielle try to persuade everyone to convince their kingdoms to fight Nilfgaard, to gather in Sodden to fight off the invasion. Stregobor continues to argue for letting Nilfgaard take Cintra, and Fringilla suddenly enters, praising Emperor Emyr, noting Nilfgaard supports their people, while Cintra does not. Tissaia accuses Fringilla of rejecting all the teaching at Aretuza and Ban Ard and their practices, and Fringilla says no, she's modified it, she has taken students who flunked out of the academies, she's teaching them anew. When Sabrina brings up the conditions she's imposed on them, Fringilla says they're treated like soldiers while they learn. When Sabrina tries to argue, she quips there is no such thing as dark or light magic, these are ghost stories made up to frighten students. She further says if Nilfgaard takes Cintra, they won't destroy the continent, they'll be saving it. She warns the school to stay out of their way.
Stregobor and Artorius demand a vote, and Vilgefortz is amazed, first Artorius installs his niece at Nilfgaard and now he wants a vote on them taking over? Fringilla says she owes her thanks to Yennefer for refusing the post at Nilfgaard, and Artorius concurs, if they'd sent Yennefer to Nilfgaard it would still be useless and ungoverned. Yennefer pipes up, but Stregobor says she has no voice, no vote, she abandoned her post, and Yennefer is further snubbed when she rashly says she'd vote to burn it all down, and Stregobor capitalizes on her assertion. Tissaia agrees Cintra is proud and smart and difficult, but they're scared, and she is critical that Aretuza also abandoned Cintra, she thinks the academies owe it to Cintra to try again. Silence takes the chamber, and then Stregobor urges the vote once more. The majority agrees not to support Cintra. Tissaia follows Yennefer out of the chamber, she tells the younger woman yes, Aretuza is all she has, secretly she tells her former student Vilgefortz and all the other dissenters are going to fight, anyway - she asks Yennefer to join them. Please. Yennefer smiles ironically: has Tissaia ever used that word before?
Back in Cintra, while everyone is in Calanthe's chambers, Geralt escapes the gate keep where he'd been imprisoned. He fights one-on-one with Nilfgaardian forces he encounters, while Mousesack and Lazlo try to take Ciri away. Before he leaves, Mousesack and Calanthe note Ciri's scream which rattled the table; while Geralt sneaks around the courtyard, he hears Calanthe fall from her window. Re-entering the castle, Geralt finds a Cintran guard who admits his traitorous behavior. Geralt kills him messily.
Cirilla sits in a swampy wilderness building a small fire, talking with the stolen horse, wishing she'd bought food instead of gloves. One of the boys she played with in the square, Anton, approaches with another man, they are there to kidnap her and turn her in to Nilfgaard for a hefty reward. Ciri fights, in a trance she warns them of the impending war, and again shrieks in the dark with her power.
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