'Really? Was that really very good, Lambert?'
'Who said so?'
'You did! A moment ago!'
'Slip of the tongue. Attack! Half-pirouette! Dodge! And again! Ciri, where was the parry? How many times do I have to tell you? After you dodge you always parry, deliver a blow with the blade to protect your head and shoulders! Always!'
'Even when I'm only fighting one opponent?'
'You never know what you're fighting. You never know what's happening behind you. You always have to cover yourself. Foot and sword work! It's got to be a reflex. Reflex, understand? You mustn't forget that. You forget it in a real fight and you're finished. Again! At last! That's it! See how such a parry lands? You can take any strike from it. You can cut backwards from it, if you have to. Right, show me a pirouette and a thrust backwards.'
'Haaa!'
'Very good. You see the point now? Has it got through to you?'
'I'm not stupid!'
'You're a girl. Girls don't have brains.'
'Lambert! If Triss heard that!'
'If ifs and ands were pots and pans. All right, that's enough. Come down. We'll take a break.'
'I'm not tired!'
'But I am. I said, a break. Come down from the comb.'
'Turning a somersault?'
'What do you think? Like a hen off its roost? Go on, jump. Don't be afraid, I'm here for you.'
'Haaaa!'
'Nice. Very good – for a girl. You can take off the blindfold now.'
'Triss, maybe that's enough for today? What do you think? Maybe we could take the sleigh and ride down the hill? The sun's shining, the snow's sparkling so much it hurts the eyes! The weather's beautiful!'
'Don't lean out or you'll fall from the window.'
'Let's go sleighing, Triss!'
'Suggest that again in Elder Speech and we'll end the lesson there. Move away from the window, come back to the table… Ciri, how many times do I have to ask you? Stop waving that sword about and put it away.'
'It's my new sword! It's real, a witcher's sword! Made of steel
which fell from heaven! Really! Geralt said so and he never lies, you know that!'
'Oh, yes. I know that.'
'I've got to get used to this sword. Uncle Vesemir had it adjusted just right for my weight, height and arm- length. I've got to get my hand and wrist accustomed to it!'
'Accustom yourself to your heart's content, but outside. Not here! Well, I'm listening. You wanted to suggest we get the sleigh out. In Elder Speech. So – suggest it.'
'Hmmm… What's 'sleigh'?'
'Sledd as a noun. Aesledde as a verb.'
'Aha… Vaien aesledde, ell'ea?'
'Don't end a question that way, it's impolite. You form questions using intonation.'
'But the children from the Islands-'
'You're not learning the local Skellige jargon but classical Elder Speech.'
'And why am I learning the Speech, tell me?'
'So that you know it. It's fitting to learn things you don't know. Anyone who doesn't know other languages is handicapped.'
'But people only speak the common tongue anyway!'
'True. But some speak more than just it. I warrant, Ciri, that it is better to count yourself amongst those few than amongst everyone. So, I'm listening. A full sentence: 'The weather today is beautiful, so let's get the sleigh.''
'Elaine… Hmmm… Elaine tedd a'taeghane, a va'en aesledde?'
'Very good.'
'Ha! So let's get the sleigh.'
'We will. But let me finish applying my make-up.'
'And who are you putting make-up on for, exactly?'
'Myself. A woman accentuates her beauty for her own self-esteem.'
'Hmmm… Do you know what? I feel pretty poorly too. Don't laugh, Triss!'
'Come here. Sit on my knee. Put the sword away, I've already asked you! Thank you. Now take that large brush and powder
your face. Not so much, girl, not so much! Look in the mirror. See how pretty you are?'
'I can't see any difference. I'll do my eyes, all right? What are you laughing at? You always paint your eyes. I want to too.'
'Fine. Here you are, put some shadow on your eyelids with this. Ciri, don't close both your eyes or you won't see anything – you're smudging your whole face. Take a tiny bit and only skim over the eyelids. Skim, I said! Let me, I'll just spread it a little. Close your eyes. Now open them.'
'Oooo!'
'See the difference? A tiny bit of shadow won't do any harm, even to such beautiful eyes as yours. The elves knew what they were doing when they invented eye shadow.'
'Elves?'
'You didn't know? Make-up is an elvish invention. We've learned a lot of useful things from the Elder People. And we've given bloody little back in return. Now take the pencil and draw a thin line across your upper lids, just above the lashes. Ciri, what are you doing?'
'Don't laugh! My eyelid's trembling! That's why!'
'Part your lips a little and it'll stop trembling. See?'
'Ooooh!'
'Come on, now we'll go and stun the witchers with our beauty. It's hard to find a prettier sight. And then we'll take the sleigh and smudge our make-up in the deep snowdrifts.'
And we'll make ourselves up again!'
'No. We'll tell Lambert to warm the bathroom and we'll take a bath.'
Again? Lambert says we're using up too much fuel with our baths.'
'Lambert caen me a'baeth aep arse.'
What? I didn't understand…'
With time you'll master the idioms, too. We've still got a lot of time for studying before spring. But now… Va'en aesledde, me elaine luned!'
'Here, on this engraving… No, damn it, not on that one… On this one. This is, as you already know, a ghoul. Tell us, Ciri, what you've learned about ghouls… Hey, look at me! What the devil have you got on your eyelids?'
'Greater self-esteem!'
'What? Never mind, I'm listening.'
'Hmm… The ghoul, Uncle Vesemir, is a corpse-devouring monster. It can be seen in cemeteries, in the vicinity of barrows, anywhere the dead are buried. At nec- necropolia. On battlegrounds, on fields of battle…'
'So it's only a danger to the dead, is that right?'
'No, not only. A ghoul may also attack the living if it's hungry or falls into a fury. If, for example, there's a battle… A lot of people killed…'
'What's the matter, Ciri?'
'Nothing…'
'Ciri, listen. Forget about that. That will never return.'
