Blood of Elves

Around the time of Dandelion’s concert, Triss Merigold arrives at Kaer Morhen. She is surprised to see Ciri training on the Trail outside the fortress, as she thought no children were taken in there since the witchers were attacked decades ago. Triss and Ciri ride the rest of the way back to Kaer Morhen together, and Ciri experiences a trance brought on by their conversation about the witchers’ bones being left unburied. During the trance, Ciri speaks in a voice not her own, and tells Triss she will die once more when the monument on the Hill reclaims her (this is an allusion to the Battle of Sodden Hill, in which Triss and several other mages participated; 13 of these mages died and Triss, who was severely wounded, was presumed dead, leading to her nickname as the “Fourteenth”). Ciri suddenly wakes from the trance, believing she merely fell asleep due to physical exertion. At Kaer Morhen, Geralt greets Triss warmly, but not as warmly as she hoped he would. Triss recalls a brief affair with Geralt while he and Yennefer were separated: “[S]he had seduced the witcher—with the help of a little magic” (76).