Chapter Text
They’d gone through three portals when Jaskier gave up holding back, and threw up.
They were in a desert somewhere, the sun glaring down on them, and Rience just rolled his eyes, before hauling Jaskier back to his feet, and shoving him through yet another portal.
Istridd had left them after two portals, going off to do his own… traitorous business, and Jaskier wanted to just close his eyes and wait for it all to be over, but he needed to be looking for an escape.
He couldn’t get away from Rience between portals, the mage was watching for any sign of defiance.
But he could try to remember where they were portaling.
It unfortunately didn’t take him long to piece it together, even as Rience waited for his energy to come back after so many portals in a row.
He’d been to these places before, after all.
“You’re taking me back to Nilfgaard,” Jaskier gasped, the world swirling around him, hot spring air making him sweat, which mixed with the blood coating him and leaving him feeling incredibly gross.
Well.
Grosser than he already felt, with Dijkstra’s cum slipping out of him, drying on his skin.
“I don’t like being the delivery boy,” Rience commented, crouching down next to Jaskier where he lay on the ground. “Especially not twice. You gave my employer quite the scare when you ran off. But he knew where you were heading. It wasn’t too hard to predict where you’d go, but the fact that no one could find you- if we hadn’t had Istridd already on the inside, you could have caused quite the problem for us.”
Meaning he’d never really escaped.
Whoever Rience was working for, he’d still played right into their hands. “So what’s the angle here?” Jaskier asked, figuring if he could at least get some answers it might help, even if he did end up as a ghost delivering them.
What Gweld had seen had still helped, after all.
“What do you mean?”
“Why did Phillipa hand me over to you? An alliance between Redania and Nilfgaard? You hated each other.”
Rience rolled his eyes, grabbing Jaskier by the arm and hauling him up again before opening another portal and shoving him through.
This time when Jaskier threw up, there were tinges of blood, and it took him a moment to realize he was inside again.
The marble beneath him painfully familiar.
“Because I don’t work for Nilfgaard,” Rience hissed, planting a foot on Jaskier’s side and pushing him to the ground. “I’ve brought your little runaway pet,” Rience commented, and Jaskier tilted his head to see a man walking towards them, his black hair pulled back in a bun, sharp eyes eyeing Jaskier up and down.
Jaskier shuddered. He remembered this one.
Remembered he was one of the ones that would forgo the drug, just to watch Jaskier try to fight him, and fail.
“Istridd informs me you’ve become the Warlord’s lover,” Vilgefortz commented, standing above Jaskier, staring down at him. “I guess your job didn’t change that much after you left here, did it?”
By the time they had anything close to a plan, it was already morning, and Geralt had never felt more helpless.
Still, he needed to inform the rest of the keep what had happened.
The reaction was dead silence.
No one knew what to say, all of them processing that someone they’d trusted had betrayed them so completely.
Letho was the first to stand up. “So. Have you traced the bastard yet? Or are we just raiding all of Nilfgaard?”
“Yennefer has been trying to trace the amulet she gave Jaskier, but she’s had no luck, and odds are Istridd was well aware of it and has taken it from Jaskier.”
“So we’re raiding Nilfgaard?” Letho asked.
Geralt frowned. “…if anyone does not wish to be a part of this. This is a personal mission-“
“You’re our leader, dipsh*t,” Remus called over to him, “and the bard’s one of ours now. We’re all in this with you.”
A roar of ‘aye!’ came from every Witcher in the keep, and Geralt nodded his respect to them. “Talk to Triss, then, and once you’re cleared, ready yourselves for battle. Triss is dispelling all traces of memory magic, from us and the other mages, and Yennefer’s searching for Jaskier and Istridd. If she hasn’t found them in two hours, I’ll need volunteers to scout ahead through various cities and likely places Istridd might have gone. Including Aretuza and Ban Ard.”
Chains.
f*cking- why did it have to be chains?
He couldn’t use a dagger to pick chains- alright, technically he could, but it would be loud, and it would take time, and he’d have to time it perfectly.
Rope, he could just cut through and pretend to still be bound.
Chains were a lot harder to pretend with.
Rience was still guarding him, lounging on the heavy chair that Jaskier was chained to, as Jaskier sat on the floor, trying not to panic.
He didn’t know where he was, Vilgefortz had opened another portal which had caused him to pass out, and when he’d woken up, he was here.
It was clearly still a noble house, the fancy furniture and arched windows proved that much, but it was old and decaying, and looking out all he could see was a forest.
“You’re much quieter than I was told,” Rience commented beside him. “Has your time with the Witchers finally broken you?”
“Do you believe everything you’re told like a toddler?” Jaskier quipped back.
He flinched as Rience stood up, towering over him. “I’m bored,” Rience commented softly, placing a boot on Jaskier’s bad leg and pressing down. “Are you bored, Jaskier? Shall we play a game?”
Jaskier clenched his jaw shut, trying not to make a sound as Rience pressed harder, pain shooting up his leg.
After a moment Rience removed his foot, only to kick Jaskier in the stomach instead.
Jaskier coughed, curling over onto himself only for Rience to put his boot on Jaskier’s throat instead, over the collar chaining him to the chair. “You seem to enjoy your silence. Why don’t we play ‘what do I have to do to make you scream’, eh?”
Jaskier glared. “I don’t feel terribly incentivized to play,” he commented, and Rience pushed down further on his neck, Jaskier’s chains stopping him from moving his hands to Rience’s leg to try and stop him.
“Too bad,” Rience grinned, snapping his fingers and summoning fire.
f*ck, f*ck, f*ck.
Jaskier tried to pull away, but he couldn’t move, he was trapped by Rience’s foot on his throat.
Rience grinned, moving his foot only to kneel on Jaskier’s shoulder instead, holding Jaskier’s neck with one hand as the flame went out.
“There now,” he whispered, cupping Jaskier’s cheek and wiping away his tears with his thumb. “It’s alright to cry. That’s what I want from you anyway.”
The thumb turned to flame and Jaskier screamed, trying to pull away but with nowhere to go.
As quickly as it started, the flame went out, and Rience pulled back, leaving Jaskier gasping in pain on the floor.
Rience grinned, and Jaskier grit his teeth, trying not to let out the sobs that were building up in his chest.
“You cry beautifully,” he commented, dragging his fingers along Jaskier’s cheek again, causing Jaskier to cry out, the burn stinging horribly.
His hand didn’t turn to fire this time, instead he gathered Jaskier’s tears, bringing them to his mouth and licking them up.
Jaskier shuddered.
The door opened behind him, and Rience sighed, standing up and turning to face the person who’d entered.
“Must you play with the hostage?” Vilgefortz asked, and Rience just laughed.
“I didn’t get to play with him last time, someone else got all the fun. Of course I want my turn with him.”
Bastard, Jaskier thought, pushing himself up using the chair, even as his chains rattled on the floor.
“He is fun,” Vilgefortz agreed, “but we need him alive if we want the warlord to meet with us.”
“Why? It’s not like they’ll live long enough to know the difference.”
Vilgefortz sighed. “And that’s why I’m the strategist. We have to keep him alive till the exchange. Then we kill them. The Witchers won’t show up at all if he’s dead.”
Oh, oh this was bad.
This was very bad.
He couldn’t wait for the others. He needed to get himself out.
Now.
