The afternoon flew by. As the sun was setting, the young witcher left the academy’s gates and rendezvoused with his companions in the abode outside the island.
“Where did you guys go?” Roy sniffed the air and caught a whiff of alcohol and cheap women’s perfume coming from the Vipers. “I thought you guys went for recon.”
“Shut it. We have serious business here.” Letho hid and gave Auckes a look. “Tell him what we found.”
Auckes shot Roy a happy glare. He said slowly, “Someone followed us the moment we left the academy.” He snorted. “I bet they never researched us. We saw through their acting right away. It was obvious, so we played along.”
***
Auckes told them what happened, and they could imagine how it went down. Vlodimir, the leader of the Redanian Free Company, kidnapped Whishaw, who made big purchases frequently at the marketplace. They managed to extract news about the rare animals and set their sights on them. The Free Company had an agreement with some important guy too, so they were planning the kidnap for a while now. They had boats, meds, and equipment. Auckes thought the meds were sedatives for the animals. They would infiltrate the academy the next night to steal the animals and move them to Novigrad.
“And I had no idea about it!” Linus blanched, and he was drenched in sweat. He couldn’t imagine the agony he would feel if he lost his animals. “Good thing they underestimate you. Witchers…” Linus gave them a pleading look.
“Enough said, Mr. Pitt.” Auckes smirked. He put his hands together and cracked them. “We’re gonna finish the request. We’ll take them all out. Since they’re gonna gather at that place tomorrow, I say we arrest them all.”
“It won’t fly.” Linus said, “You saw through their plans, but you have no proof they killed Whishaw, nor can you prove they’re after my animals. And you also said Vlodimir’s involved…” Linus stopped for a moment.
“So what?” Auckes was curious.
“My faculty colleague told me that Vlodimir’s a rare name. If I’m right, he’s a direct descendant of the Everec Family, and their ancestors founded Redania with Radovid I. They’re the descendants of Redania’s founder. I can’t believe they would fall so far just to make a living. Oh, and their coat-of-arms is a boar.”
***
The next day, seaside villa.
“You don’t look too good, Olgierd. Didn’t sleep well?” Vlodimir looked at his brother. He had dark circles under his eyes. He teased, “Couldn’t sleep because Iris wasn’t around?”
The Everec brothers were muscular. Olgierd was handsome, while Vlodimir had a chiseled face, so he looked a little fierce.
“Enough. I don’t want to hear her name today.” Olgierd massaged his forehead in frustration. Iris’ parents took her back the day before, but that had nothing to do with his loss of sleep. It was because he had a vivid nightmare. The scenes he saw confused him, but he was terrified as well. It was a pit of despair. Dreams are usually the opposite of what happens in real life, he told himself.
“My poor brother. Look at you. Don’t push yourself too hard.” Vlodimir wrapped his arm around Olgierd’s shoulder and turned around to face the four dozen men in the hall.
These men were all twenty to thirty years old. They wore humble clothes, and their skin was tanned from the sun. They were lean, but they had this violent look in their eyes, unlike most peasants. They also looked excited and full of desire.
“They’re ready. Once we get the merchandise and take our reward, we’re gonna reserve the whole Silver Cloud and party!”
Olgierd took a deep breath and held his unease down. “What about the business at the marketplace?”
“Don’t worry about it. Punk ‘convinced’ the fish and meat seller to add the stuff into their meat. All we have to do is wait for Linus’ guy to come and purchase it. We told him to put a big dosage into it. It’s enough to knock a dragon out. The sedative will start kicking in two hours after the animals have their meal. They’ll be out for at least a day and a night. As for the witchers…” Vlodimir sneered. “They’re still having fun like yesterday. They’re not a threat.”
***
***