"Ciri's safety is of the utmost importance, I understand, but she is also a young woman with her own opinions. Trust me, she's made them very clear." Ciri outright despises him so Istredd's got more than a few harsh words, and he's accepted them. They have agreed to tolerate each other existing and stayed apart, and that is probably the best thing for them. She can't look at him without thinking of the mages she hates, and he can't look at her without thinking of her as destined. Peace is better than nothing.
"She does get a say. You would feel the same way." Yennefer and her daughter are very much alike that way, which is why Istredd is saying it to her. So she understands that it's not so simple as what she and Geralt want for Ciri, just as it wasn't good for him to decide what to want for Ciri. If she wants to forgive Dean, and she wanted him to live, that is something she should get to decide. If she did, an in part so Geralt didn't have to kill someone he cared for, Istredd can understand that.
Istredd knows that asking her what she did would open up what happened and he is quiet, listening, letting her talk her way around it, letting her think out loud about what happened and all that it meant to her. They'd talked before about how she was planning on coming to Cintra, where he was waiting, but got waylaid.
Istredd more than anyone else in any sphere is aware of what power means to Yennefer. She knows it too. He waits for her to connect to what probably happened and what that all means, and he brushes his fingers through her hair, holding her close.
"Yennefer." Her full name rather than the nickname, his voice gentle. "You didn't know her. Not yet. You were powerless and scared and alone. An unknown girl in exchange for what you were? An easy trade, for a mage." And by that Istredd means all the things attached to them being a mage. That they're forced to survive at all costs, that they are taught the only thing of value they have is their power and their worth to the Brotherhood. It isn't simple, it's complicated, and her actions all happened as a product of her upbringing, same as him.
"But you know that Ciri got through that with you. She's older here. She cares for you. Whatever happened, it is not unforgivable by her." And didn't Istredd just say that Ciri's opinion on people matters separated from Geralt and Yennefer? She forgave Yennefer too, so they're well past that. "Geralt is not free of mistakes himself. He's angry now but he'll get over it." This just happened to them, apparently. Time has a way of healing things, he knows that much.
"It took us what, sixty years, and another sphere, to figure our shit out? It'll happen."
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"She does get a say. You would feel the same way." Yennefer and her daughter are very much alike that way, which is why Istredd is saying it to her. So she understands that it's not so simple as what she and Geralt want for Ciri, just as it wasn't good for him to decide what to want for Ciri. If she wants to forgive Dean, and she wanted him to live, that is something she should get to decide. If she did, an in part so Geralt didn't have to kill someone he cared for, Istredd can understand that.
Istredd knows that asking her what she did would open up what happened and he is quiet, listening, letting her talk her way around it, letting her think out loud about what happened and all that it meant to her. They'd talked before about how she was planning on coming to Cintra, where he was waiting, but got waylaid.
Istredd more than anyone else in any sphere is aware of what power means to Yennefer. She knows it too. He waits for her to connect to what probably happened and what that all means, and he brushes his fingers through her hair, holding her close.
"Yennefer." Her full name rather than the nickname, his voice gentle. "You didn't know her. Not yet. You were powerless and scared and alone. An unknown girl in exchange for what you were? An easy trade, for a mage." And by that Istredd means all the things attached to them being a mage. That they're forced to survive at all costs, that they are taught the only thing of value they have is their power and their worth to the Brotherhood. It isn't simple, it's complicated, and her actions all happened as a product of her upbringing, same as him.
"But you know that Ciri got through that with you. She's older here. She cares for you. Whatever happened, it is not unforgivable by her." And didn't Istredd just say that Ciri's opinion on people matters separated from Geralt and Yennefer? She forgave Yennefer too, so they're well past that. "Geralt is not free of mistakes himself. He's angry now but he'll get over it." This just happened to them, apparently. Time has a way of healing things, he knows that much.
"It took us what, sixty years, and another sphere, to figure our shit out? It'll happen."