The King of Beggars

[Sorry for the long wait guys. Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoy the chapter.]

Ciri and I have just left the shop and I can tell how happy she is. A part of life is changing plans when something happens, and a lot has changed as of late. I know that we have a heavier responsibility with Ciri's pregnancy, as much as I don't want her being in danger I know that she is more than capable of protecting herself. She has grown so much stronger than I thought she could in a short amount of time. She is like a doctors knife, always tactical and precise with her moves. I have a hard time controlling my power when I get too emotional. I look to her and see she has a face that looks a little sad. "What's wrong? You were happy a second ago." She was happy earlier and now she looks worried.

She locks our arms together in a way to make sure we don't part. "What do you think he meant when he said that to you? A lot of people think your someone that should be watched. I don't like it at all." I don't disagree with her. I am getting worried of how many people actually know me, they also speak as if I am not who I think I am. That ticks me off because I have always been who I've been. "Do you have any idea what they are talking about Cera?" Her guess is as good as mine. All I really know is that I am a direct descendant of Lara. My parents were poor, but happy farmers. I'm their son, if I was supposed to be anything close to royalty shouldn't I have been born into it.

I take a breath and gather my thoughts, the Aen Elle don't have power in the governments here for all I know. Perhaps people say that about me because of Lara Dorren, its safe to say that I have to find out more about my family tree. Perhaps my mother and father knew more in detail about us. I'll never be able to find out now. "I don't know Ciri, all I can think of is my bloodline. People who want to conquer the world probably already know about me. I don't know the depths of my own power. At one point my abilities devoured an entire kingdom and its people...." If someone like Radovid the stern or Emhyr var Emreis knew about who I really am they would want me. Gaunter made sure that my identity was hidden, but he told me once I was on my own people would soon find out who I am.

She makes a solemn face and lays her head on my shoulder muscle as we walk. "I understand that. I have been running from people who want my power for many years now. If they try that with you I will kill them all...." She must be talking about her fathers army and empire. She really does hate the man, I cant blame her for her feelings. From what she has told me he is a very greedy and narcissistic emperor. Sacrificing all these people in his conquest of the world, and Radovid is no better than Emhyr. Talk about having enemies everywhere who don't know about you yet. Laying low has been in our favor, but the moments when I lost control have not helped us.

We walk in a slow pace as I am extra diligent for pickpockets and thieves. This place has fallen far from the city I remember when I was a kid. "Wickerson told us where we can find Francis, it seems we are getting closer from the looks of it. The markers are very subtle just like he said." We are walking the path around the square and make progress finding him. After looking at the clues we reach a plain door with a peek hole. The door is apart of a larger entry way for wagons and horses. This is the place by the looks of it.

I bring my hand up and knock on the door five times exactly like Wickerson told us to. The peek hole opens really fast and a man with plain dark eye's looks at us up and down. "What do you want?" It's a good thing we don't look like common people right now. The swords and gear shows that we can handle some sort of business. I take out the letter I got from Wickerson that gives us permission to enter. The man grabs it fast and closes the peek hole. We hear some muffled talking and the door swings open fast. "Welcome to our little slice of heaven, hope you enjoy your stay." The man says that in a voice as if he had rehearsed it several times. We walk in and see all the mages and alchemists taking refuge from the witch hunters. This is a sad sight to behold after growing up with the greatest sorceress as my adoptive mother.

I look at Ciri and see that she is growing pale from the sight before us. "I cant believe this is what the world has come to after I was gone for so long...." I feel the exact same way, I haven't been in this part of the world for more than a decade. On the other side of the massive mountain range that separates here and there. I can only hope that everyone we know hasn't succumbed to the same fate as this. If any harm has come to Yen I will destroy whoever did it and everything they love.

We walk down the path to the house at the back of the ally way and knock on the door. A bald man answers it and I can see old scars line is face from years of combat. "How may I help you? I must say I would remember such faces if we met before." For some reason he looks at me longer than I think he should. It wouldn't be the first time that this has happened, but it is very awkward. Ciri notices to and is not happy in the slightest. I don't like it when people stare or talk to her a certain way either.

I stick out my hand and Ciri looks like she wants to grab my wrist and put it down. We shake hands in a greeting and he turns around as he sits behind his desk. "We were tasked to bring you a letter from Feralda Kemora, she did us a big favor." He has a look of surprise as I say that name. I take out the letter and hand it to him, he holds it for a few seconds until he opens it. I watch him read the lines and watch his expressions change. After rereading the letter several times he puts it back into the envelop and lays it on the table.

He looks at us and pinches the bridge of his nose, he gets up and gets some alcohol from a cupboard near by. He pours himself a drink and fills some glasses for us. I am not rude to people so I take the drink, Ciri doesn't have any since she is pregnant now. "It has been so long since I heard from Feralda....Thank you for this. After all she has done for people she never deserved that...." Feralda helped a lot of people by the sounds of it. I wonder how much she has lost, nobody deserves punishment for doing good things.

He motions for us to take a seat and we do. He looks at us and has a knowing look as to why we where at Feralda's to begin with. "It looks as though you went there for a pregnancy test. She is quite know for those. What was the result if you don't mind me asking." I look over at Ciri and she gives me the okay to tell him. She is much more comfortable now that he knows our situation.

I unconsciously grab Ciri's hand in anticipation of answering. "We are having twins. It was a great surprise for her to be pregnant, let alone with two." He nods his head and raises his glass in a celebratory way. I raise mine in response and finish my drink. He sets his glass down and goes to the bookshelf in the office. He pulls on a book and a secret passage opens up. Talk about unexpected.

He turns his head to us and motions for us to follow him. "Despite you paying your debt to Feralda I still need help with something. I will not force you, but I will pay handsomely." I look down the passage and notice a room with some stuff in it. We aren't hurting for money, but it would be a good idea to have an ally like Francis.