[ yennefer feels gerat's eyes on her more than she sees them, her attention on the queen, and on grigory, more than the prisoner himself. she does a good attempt at it, too, keeping her head level, her expression unaffected. she's not trying to act like she doesn't know him, necessarily. there is no avoiding that fact, with how those rumors had been held over her since the first day she'd been brought into court. but, rather, yennefer holds true to the air of neutrality. the air that, while she does recognize him, while she knows who he is, it doesn't matter.
the truth is - she doesn't know what the queen is trying for, in this moment. she doesn't know if this is an actual attempt at knowledge of the free cities (in which case yennefer could have warned her away from geralt, that geralt cares little about being involved and was just as likely to have found some spot in the desert rather than learn anything of value inside. it's possible the queen wouldn't know that, and it's equally possible that this is for her. a proof of loyalty. a test, to make sure yennefer's words match her actions.
the queen steps forward and raises her hands, and yennefer's attention goes to her, first. there is a level of surprise that crosses her eyes that neither the queen nor grigory can see considering their current focuses of attention, but geralt probably catches it - she had not expected the queen's direct involvement, not like this. her eyes dart - briefly - to geralt, watching the glow leave grigory, watches the tendrils curls themselvs around geralt. she has studied the magic used here in thorne, she can piece together some clues about what the general idea of what they're looking to do, but she's not entirely sure. not yet.
and then there is geralt - bound, on his knees, in front of the three of them. a source of something that the queen is planning, but what? just as the tendrils tighten around geralt's frame, yennefer feels an echo of something tightening in her chest. something she takes care to ignore, to breathe through. she knows geralt has experience with guarding himself, with protecting back against intrusive magics such as this. so yennefer does as the queen bids, and waits. watches.
no subject
the truth is - she doesn't know what the queen is trying for, in this moment. she doesn't know if this is an actual attempt at knowledge of the free cities (in which case yennefer could have warned her away from geralt, that geralt cares little about being involved and was just as likely to have found some spot in the desert rather than learn anything of value inside. it's possible the queen wouldn't know that, and it's equally possible that this is for her. a proof of loyalty. a test, to make sure yennefer's words match her actions.
the queen steps forward and raises her hands, and yennefer's attention goes to her, first. there is a level of surprise that crosses her eyes that neither the queen nor grigory can see considering their current focuses of attention, but geralt probably catches it - she had not expected the queen's direct involvement, not like this. her eyes dart - briefly - to geralt, watching the glow leave grigory, watches the tendrils curls themselvs around geralt. she has studied the magic used here in thorne, she can piece together some clues about what the general idea of what they're looking to do, but she's not entirely sure. not yet.
and then there is geralt - bound, on his knees, in front of the three of them. a source of something that the queen is planning, but what? just as the tendrils tighten around geralt's frame, yennefer feels an echo of something tightening in her chest. something she takes care to ignore, to breathe through. she knows geralt has experience with guarding himself, with protecting back against intrusive magics such as this. so yennefer does as the queen bids, and waits. watches.
( for now ) ]