We were so caught up in love's elations that we have forgotten about the contract, which the witcher Geralt of Rivia was supposed to accomplish. Let's return to our hero's doings, as they are very important. When Jaskier was watching Anna's training for the first time, Geralt and Elsa went to the morgue, where the bodies of castle's servants were placed. All victims were in the same condition - their stomachs torn apart like ham by wild dogs, with their main veins ripped out. But the witcher found a detail, which turned out to be a helpful clue. There were remnants of perfume on the corpses. Said perfumes had crocuses' essence. After returning to the castle, the grey-haired man inspected the latest crime scene. The scent, although weak, was still in the air. By using his witcher senses, he managed to get to two places. First was the window, through which the bruxa had sneaked out. Second was a room, where he found an empty perfume flacon. As it turned out, it belonged to the queen. Next day, when the bard was teaching the princess how to play the lute, the witcher confronted the queen about the flacon.
"I must admit, I had been using perfumes like those" Elsa confessed back then. "But I stopped a long time ago. I've never thrown out the flacon, because it could be used for something else. Perhaps the bruxa have stolen it and poured crocuses' essence to it?".
The white-haired woman's suggestion gave Geralt another clue. If the bruxa knew where the bottle was, it meant that she perfectly knew castle's layout and had knowledge about what items were placed there. What it entailed, she must've been hiding among the maids.
     It was the same day as when his friend received the garland. White Wolf precisely examined and interrogated each of the servants. Unfortunately for him, the bruxa was knowhere to be found. The case was getting more and more entangled and the monster slayer was more and more determined to get the beast. He thought the entire story through. She couldn't have left the castle - it had been given under quarantine on the day of witcher and bard's arrival, the gates were opened only when he went to the morgue with the queen and during their return. She must've got rid of perfumes' essence and found herself a new hideout on the palace grounds. She had noticed that she's being prosecuted. But she won't be able to resist hunting for the next victim for long. Her rising hunger will not allow her to hold back. Not wanting to let another unnecessary death to happen, the witcher decided to set up a trap. The queen agreed to the plan, but there was a hatch - who would become the bait? It couldn't be someone from the guards, because all units should be ready to prevent bruxa from escaping. That left the servants, but these did not belong among bravest ones. It took a while, but finally the stable boy, Kristoff, volunteered.
     Only two hours after the princess and the bard had confessed their feelings to each other, when it was completely dark, Kristoff was in the kitchen, eating an apple. Geralt was hiding in the pantry, he had drunk the Blizzard and Black Blood to strengthen up, he had Swallow on hand. He also had covered his silver sword with vampire oil. He didn't have to wait long to hear the operatic singing. The stable boy dropped his snack out of surprise, and when he saw the beast, who had snucked inside, he took a close look at her. Black short locks fell on her face, her eyes were as yellow as a blossoming sunflower. Her name was Alcina. After revealing her identity, she began to tempt the man. She would do that with each one of her victims, so they would fall into her claws easier. While she was slowly approaching him, Kristoff tried to keep his cool. "Why the hell the witcher is not reacting?!" he thought, looking up from time to time in the pantry's direction. He started to back up until he bumped into the countertop. He reached behind himself with hand, then grabbed the handle of a frying pan, and when Alcina got close enough, he hit her with the mentioned item. The bruxa grabbed a sore part of her face and hissed at the stableman. Then Geralt came out of the pantry in order to kill her, however, she managed to escape through the door.
"Fuck" he murmured. "Stay here" he ordered Kristoff.
"Why only now?! Couldn't you have gone out earlier, I don't know, right after she had arrived?!" the stableman questioned.
"He evidently doesn't know a single thing about hunting" Geralt considered in his mind.
"I told you to wait and not react. Now I have more work. Do me a favour and politely sit on your ass, understood?" he asked upset.
"Understood..." Kristoff rebuked.
White Wolf left the kitchen and followed the operatic singing. Two corridors away, he saw the bruxa attempting to attack Jaskier, but Anna stopped her from it by striking her with a candlestick with all her strength. Alcina hissed and wanted to throw herself at the princess, but when she saw the witcher, she ran once again. "Shit" he thought.
"Are you alright?" he asked, approaching the pair.
"I wouldn't be if it wasn't for my nymph" the poet replied.
"You're exaggerating" the princess smiled to him, then she cleared her throat and turned to the witcher. "The bruxa has gone into the ballroom's direction... perhaps we could trap her there, so you could kill her?" she suggested.
"Anna, you're a genius!" Olaf said suddenly, going from around the corner.
"Good plan" the grey-haired man stated. "Have one of you go get the queen. We'll ask her to freeze the door".
"I'll go" Anna answered, when Jaskier caught her hand.
"We'll go" he corrected her.
"Awww, how adorable you two are!" Olaf marveled at them.
The pair immediately set off to find Elsa, Geralt ordered the snowman to not leave his side. They went to the ballroom, from which Alcina's voice could be heard, but in opposite from her previous vocals, which had seductive character like the sirens' ones, this one was filled with despair. The witcher told the snowman to stay in the corridor, and then he entered the room to face the monster. But Olaf did not listen to him and slipped inside, a moment after he hid behind the nearest phillar. Geralt tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and slowly approached the bruxa sitting in the middle of the hall.
"You..." she turned into his direction. "I've never eaten a witcher before... let's see how special you are... oh, yes... you'll be my most delicious meal!".
The doors to the room closed with a bang, they were frozen after that. There was no escape. Bruxa rushed at the monster slayer,  but he pushed her away just in time with the Aard sign. Then with help of Yrden he trapped her in a circle, so he was able to damage her for some time. When the trap stopped working, the witcher made a backward dodge. His goal was to decapitate Alcina, but first, he had to stun her. Bruxa started to shrill shriek, she pointed her scream towards her enemy. Geralt quickly put on the Quen sign, however it didn't help him much, as the sound wave almost immediately broke the shield, knocking down the witcher. He coughed and quickly looked at the monster. The bruxa swiftly appeared ahead of him, she already extended her nasty claws to pierce the grey-haired man's body. Nonetheless, he reacted in the right moment and warded her off with the Igni sign. As the beast fended off flames, Geralt trapped her in Yrden and cut off her head, which fell to the ground with a silent bang. Her body fell down next, the grey-haired man breathed deeply. Olaf left his hideout with his mouth wide-opened.
"Oh my, oh my, oh my!" he couldn't get out of his awe. "This was amazing! Phenomenal, spectacular!" he started to clap his hands with excitement, when suddenly an idea came to his mind. "I'll become a witcher".
Geralt turned into snowman's direction. At first, he wanted to scold him for not following the order, but when he heard his plan of becoming a witcher, he smiled lightly and shook his head. Then the ice disappeared from the doors, and the queen, the princess and the bard entered the room.
"Oh dear Freyja" Anna said at the sight of decapitated Alcina.
"The assignment is done, Your Majesty" Geralt informed the queen. "The bruxa won't cause any harm anymore".
"Thank you, in the name of all palace's habitants" Elsa replied. "Should we be worried about those black veins on your face?" she questioned caringly.
"No need for that. It's just a side effect of Black Blood. By consuming it, toxins appear in the organism. I'll drink the White Honey and it'll be fine".
Elsa nodded and asked the witcher to follow her into her office, so he would receive his payment.
     With the defeat of the beast, Geralt and Jaskier's departure from Arendelle was inexorably approaching, and what followed - the bard and the princess's separation. Both were deeply concerned by this fact. Although they knew each other for only a couple of days, but they have quickly realized that they cannot live without each other. Jaskier offered that he could stay, nevertheless Anna firmly stated she wouldn't want to stop him and deprive him of adventures in his friend's company. She wanted to spare him the boredom of living in the castle. That's when an idea came to her mind, which she decided to discuss with her sister. Olaf also took part in this conversation. It didn't went without an argument between the sisters, however Anna managed to convince Elsa with her argumentation. The white-haired woman wasn't a proponent of Anna's plan (and Olaf's one), but she decided to agree to it. The only thing left was to talk with the witcher. The grey-haired man wasn't thrilled at the beginning. He changed his mind only when he fought a duel with the princess. She didn't not beat him, - after all there wasn't a single creature on the entire Contintent that would be able to do so - but she proved she could handle herself and save people in distress. White Wolf agreed to the princess and snowman's plan. It was also agreed not to tell the bard about anything.
Stars residing high up in the night sky have that going on for them, that they shine with beautiful, blinding glow. But Jaskier in the day of departure from Arendelle was feeling like a star which faded and fell down to the ground with a bang. Whether he despaired because of splitting up with his love? Yes, indeed. Whether he thought the world ended? Yes, indeed. Whether was he hysterical? Yes, indeed. He went through the main courtyard and when he noticed Geralt preparing Roach for the road, his attention was brought by a black mare standing next to them. The saddle cap had dark green and dark purple colors, while the yuks were decorated with the emblem of the state. Jaskier furrowed his eyebrows.
"Who does this horse belong to?" he asked puzzled.
"To its' owner" Geralt replied ironically.
"Very funny" the bard snorted offended. "Who's this owner?".
"JASKIER!" they heard the princess's happy voice.
They turned their gaze towards Anna, Olaf and Elsa, who were heading in their direction. The troubadour took a look at the younger sister. She was dressed the same as the day him and his friend arrived to the palace with an addition of a dark purple coat, which was maroon on the inside, and a scabbard by the waist in which her sword was placed. The brunet winked a few times.
"Anna... are you going with us?" he asked, disbelieving.
"We are going" she corrected him with a smile, pointing to Olaf. "We're joining you on the trail. Before you ask, yes, Geralt agreed to that".
"It cannot be... Geralt, are you kidding me?" tears of happiness appeared in Jaskier's eyes.
"I would've to really not stand you to pull such a joke on you" the witcher stated. "No, I'm not kidding".
"This... this... this is the most excellent day of my life!" the poet shouted excited, and his companions laughed.
"Be careful, all of you" Elsa said suddenly. "Anna, remember to write to me".
"And you remember to write to me" Anna replied. "We're communicating through Gale".
"We're communicating through Gale" the white-haired woman confirmed.
"What's Gale?" Geralt was ahead of Jaskier with this question, who wanted to ask the same thing.
"Gale is a spirit!" Olaf exclaimed. "Wind Spirit! If you whistle in a special way, he will appear! He looks differently based on the season of the year, but it's always him! Look!" the snowman whistled.
Just a moment later a small levitating creature out of leaves found itself by their side. Because it was spring, the leaves were light green.
"The safest way of forwarding correspondence" Elsa declared. "Gale always travels above the clouds, so no one could see the flying letters. They go straight to the addressee, so there's no risk that someone unwanted will intercept and read the message".
"We can teach you how to summon him" the princess proposed, and the snowman nodded energetically.
"Thank you" the grey-haired man answered.
Anna and Olaf hugged Elsa for the last time and then they got up on the horses. Means Olaf with a little help found himself on Roach, taking a seat behind Geralt, while Anna sat on the black mare, which proud name was "Loki", and then she helped Jaskier to climb up the mount's back. At queen's order the gate was opened, the bridge lowered, and our brave heroes went on a long journey.
After a few days of traveling, the happy company crossed the border and found themselves on Temeria's grounds. With the sunset they stopped near the merchant tract and set up a camp. The sky got covered by dark clouds, but nothing have indicated that the rain was coming. Not long after lightning a bonfire, when they were sitting around it and talking, Anna turned to the witcher.
"Geralt, my friend, I have a question" she informed, the grey-haired man looked at her with his yellow eyes. "It's been stuck in my head for a while... perhaps it's stupid, but I must know. Do you kill all monsters?".
"Ooh, ooh, a good question!" the snowman added. "I'll gladly know, whether I must kill them all. If I want to become a witcher, I need to know such things!".
"There are few exceptions" Geralt admitted. "I don't kill dragons. The codex forbids. They're already pretty rare, there's no need in decreasing their number. Also, I like them. Hm... I remember, when I've been learning about them in Kaer Morhen. When I saw the engravings with them in Vesemir's books for the first time, I was amazed. Vesemir told me back then to close my mouth, because a fly will get inside" he smiled at the childhood memory.
"Awww" Jaskier sighed out of emotion. "Why have you never told me about this?".
"Because you would have put it in a ballad" Geralt answered.
"Of course not... alright, you're right, I would've probably done so. But I won't! Artist's promise!" Jaskier put both of his hands on his heart.
"Hm" White Wolf murmured. "Anyway... I don't kill intelligent beings too. Unless they prove that I have a reason for it, I won't harm them. Although it's difficult to come up with a proof for my contractor that I'd got rid of the problem, but I always manage to think of something".
"That's lovely of you" Anna said with a smile. "Do you have any interesting stories about such situation?".
"Well... once in Vergen I got a contract for an ogre, which lived in the swamps near the town. From what I've been told, he was stealing food from my then contractor. It was my first time encountering a creature like that. When I arrived in his lair, or I could even say hut, it turned out that the ogre was falsely accused. The margrave, who wanted him dead, simply hated him, because he had taken his wife away from him. Who, by the way, was an ogre too, but anyway. We drank tea together, he even offered me a mud bath, but I declined. Then we taught the margrave a decent lesson, he was running so fast that it was dusting behind him. Ever since then, the ogre promised me that if I ever needed help, I can always count on him" the grey-haired man told, and when he finished his story, Olaf widely opened his mouth out of amazement. Of course, Jaskier managed to write everything down in his notebook.
"If fate takes us to the kingdom of Aedirn, we definitely have to drop in for a visit there!" the princess stated.
"I'm in!" the bard agreed with her.
"Jaskier wanting to venture into the swamps?" Geralt raised his eyebrow, surprised. "I've never thought I'd live to see that day".
"I'm a poet, and poets need to make sacrifices in the name of art" the brunet replied, and Anna laughed lightly.
The witcher wanted to say something, when suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from afar. He silenced his companions and looked behind himself. He listened closely. The steps weren't heavy, but they did not belong to the lightest either. The monster slayer quickly recognized that they belonged to humans. He drew his steel sword and stood up, going into the danger's direction. Then he heard more footsteps.
"They want to surround us" he informed. "There are six of them".
Anna quickly dragged her weapon and assumed a fighting position. Meanwhile, Jaskier and Olaf hid behind her. They didn't have to wait long for the bandits to show up.
"Good evening, gentlemen, gentlelady" one of them greeted. "Allow us to borrow some stuff".
"But first, we kill y'all" his coworker added.
"How about not killing anyone and trying to work this out?" Anna suggested, even though deep down she knew that it won't help much.
"Oh fuck, people, hold me to it!" the outlaw with an eyepatch laughed. "Boys, we're keepin' her for last. She's funny".
"Do not even try to touch her!" Jaskier interjected unexpectedly. "Do you have any idea who this is?! You want to start a war?!".
"To be honest, we don't give a single shit" the "pirate" replied. "Ya know what, troubadour, I think we'll take her in stride. We'll dance with her a bit".
"Cruelists!" Olaf shouted indignant. "You're bringing shame to your mothers!".
"This little shit, he's insulting my momma!" the thief with a crossbow on his back got irritated.
"Calm down. We'll take him and put up for auction on black market. Maybe some collector of freaks will come forward" said the one, who greeted the heroes. The snowman gulped nervously.
"I advise you to get out of here while you still can" Geralt said. He wasn't going to deal with them.
"Hey, boys" the youngest one from the group turned to his companions. "Did you see his eyes? It's a freaking mutant!".
"Yer' shitting yourself before a witcher?" the herst asked surprised.
"Boss, it's not any ordinary witcher" the one with the crossbow informed. "I'll recognize these grey shags everywhere... it's the fucking Butcher of Blaviken!".
"Butcher or not, this conversation is tiring me. Get'em, boys!" the leader ordered.
Bandits attacked the travelers, Geralt and Anna threw themselves into the fray, while Jaskier and Olaf were doing their best not to disturb. Well, the snowman tried to help and threw a stone at the one of the thugs, but unfortunately it didn't do much. The poet and his snowy friend were carefully watching their fighting friends. Olaf tried to memorize as many as possible from the White Wolf's moves. The troubadour while watching the grey-haired man and the princess in action, he felt like he was a witness of a dance show. He's seen his friend in action many, many times, he always was thrilled by his skills. Nevertheless, when he was looking at Geralt fighting in synthesis with Anna, two best fencers he knew (although it was the first time he saw the princess fighting with a living being rather than a training dummy, it didn't stop him from thinking like that), he was under the impression of seeing swans whirling on the surface of the lake, spinning pirouettes, pushing away whatever would get in their way. That's when a new idea for a ballad came to his mind. The bodies of the attackers were lying on the ground, the witcher hid his sword back to the scabbard, while the princess was breathing heavily and looking with horror at her weapon, which was still covered in blood. It didn't come unnoticed by her loved one, who quickly approached her, put his hands on her face and made an eye contact with her.
"My dearest" he said with a caring voice. "Breath, slowly. Calm down. Are you alright?".
"Y-yes... it's just... I've killed someone for the first time and I feel weird about it" she confessed in one breath, lowering down her weapon.
Not saying anything, Jaskier hugged her thightly, Olaf joined a moment after. Geralt put his hand on Anna's shoulder and said:
"First kill never belongs to the most pleasant ones. It's not something that someone would like to do everyday. But sometimes you don't have a choice if you want to survive".
Anna peeked at her friend. She herself was well aware of the dangers present in the world and knew that if she wanted to survive and protect her close ones, it was necessary to go to the extent of fisticuffs. However going from theory to practice was a bit more brutal than she had expected. Before she managed to answer, rain, heavy rain started falling. The company also heard a thunder.
"Bloody hell" Geralt muttered.
"Wonderful! It couldn't get any better!" Jaskier said very unhappy of how the things turned out.
"We need to find a shelter" Anna stated.
A wooden sign by a tree nearby caught Olaf's eye, so he walked over to it and read the information on it. There was supposed to be the "Badger Inn" not far way, which he informed about his companions. The heroes packed their things and made their way to the inn.
     When they arrived, they saw a quite large building with green roof tiles and a huge signboard with the inn's name. It looked expensive, didn't match the surrounding area in which it was located. It even had a small stable standing next door. Roach and Loki stayed near the entrance, Anna took one of the money pouches from the yuks and then the four travelers went inside. They were greeted by a warm, homely atmosphere and... a view of a duck dressed in a blue naval uniform running away from the cook, who was chasing her with a knife. They could've sworn they heard the duck swearing. Nevertheless they ignored this incident and approached the bar, behind which stood a slightly obese man with a grim expression on his face.
"What?" he muttered unwelcome.
"How much for four rooms?" Geralt questioned.
"We don't serve your kind here" the bartender rebuked.
The grey-haired man sighed and the princess told him not to worry and that she would try to negotiate. She cleared her throat and spoke to the man with an official tone.
"Noble sir, we've been traveling for few days and we are very tired. Out the window, you see well yourself, sir, it's pouring. We've come across your inn and encouraged by its' friendly look we decided to make a stop here. We're asking just for accommodation for one night, nothing more".
"The mutant won't sleep here. This thing... this thing neither" he pointed at Olaf.
"I probably didn't make myself clear. We all need a warm place for rest. What's bothering about the fact that our friends are a witcher and a snowman?" Anna wasn't going to let it go easily.
"Listen, missy..." the bartender didn't finish.
"For gods' sake, Jonas! Don't you recognize?!" shouted the stout woman who had just came in. "You dare to argue with princess Anna of Arendelle?! What are you thinking?!".
"Shit, I didn't recognize Your Majesty... please, forgive me" Jonas said with remorse.
"What are you waiting for, take their horses to the stable! They won't be getting wet like rats in a sewer!" the woman answered and Jonas went outside without a single word. "Pardon my husband, the older he gets, the more stupid he becomes. Name's Ursula" she introduced herself. "How can I help?".
"Pleasure to meet you, Ursula" Anna smiled. "We need four rooms for one night... oh, and access to the bathroom to clean ourselves".
"Two rooms will be just fine" Jaskier interjected suddenly and his friends looked at him questioningly.
"Only two?" Olaf asked, scratching his head.
"Yes, one for Anna and me, one for Geralt and Olaf" troubadour explained. "Also, it'll come out cheaper".
"Mister singer is right" Ursula agreed.
"Clever... but are you absolutely sure? I wriggle terribly at night and could even inadvertently throw you off the bed" the princess warned. "Not to mention that I snore like a ghoul".
"If there will be a need, I could sleep on the floor" Jaskier declared. "Of course, the fall will hurt, but I'll be alright".
Geralt widened his eyes out of shock and winked a few times. For the first time he heard that his friend would make such a sacrifice for his love. Ursula smiled lightly, seeing two young people in love reminded her of times, when she met her husband. The terms of the heroes' stay were set, the landlady accepted payment, then handed the newcomers the keys to the rooms to which she escorted them. Almost two hours later our brave wanderers were all cleaned up and went to rest.
     To her great surprise, Anna, upon awakening, found neither a drenching quilt, nor tousled hair, nor Jaskier on the floor. She also found out that she didn't snore, which startled her. The solution for this riddle was the fact that when she was falling asleep in her lover's arms with head placed on his chest, the rhythm of his heartbeat had an extremely calming effect on her. After the breakfast, which Ursula prepared for them, the travelers thanked her, got up on their horses and wandered on a long journey into the unknown.

~⚔️~

Oh my, how much was going on here! Oh, and with accent we finish... hm... the first act of this story. I hope you liked it!
If you noticed any mistakes, feel free to tell me.
Now I'll say goodbye to you, see you soon! Be well!