Hello there ! This idea just struck me some times ago and I decided to give it a go... I'm a non-native english speaker, so if there's any mistakes, please be understanding... And if you're willing to beta-read, you would be very welcome !

A few things to begin with : this can be considered AU as I ignored quite a lot of plot points from the Witcher games, but it takes place quite some time before the 3rd. Next thing is I hope you'll enjoy !

The sorceress' child

1.

Geralt of Rivia could rembember a few instances in his life when he had to hold a baby. He also recalled that none of these moments were nice experiences. But here he was again, a wailing young child in his arms.

The light had been blinding, illuminating the forest. Fortunately, he wasn't looking in this direction but Roach, surprised, had startled and bucked. With a sharp tug on the reins, Geralt has turned around and pushed his horse in a gallop. He didn't have to go far. The soil was burned in a perfect circle between the roots of a great tree, and a baby wailed in its center.

But what could he do with this child ? Geralt would have gladly left him in the care of the first willing family, but the little boy, looking just over a year old, reeked of magic. Not that he knew a lot about children, but this clearly wasn't a normal human approved behaviour. The witcher sighed. At least the kid was calming down, those cries would have attracted wolves, to the least. He shrugged his cape and managed, rather clumsily, to tie the little body against his armor. He wasn't too far from the village where he had to meet Yennefer. She would be a better bet than him to know what to do.

Yennefer prided herself to be a woman of control. She wasn't moved easily and her will was of iron. But seeing Geralt enter the room she was renting with a young child carefully craddled in his arms, an unsure expression on his ragged face and hope in his eyes, she almost dropped her book.

"What did you bring me this time ?" she managed to say, her voice a bit too shaky for her taste.

"Well…" Geralt looked at the baby, then at her. "I found him in the forest, it seemed to be some kind of portal, but no trace of it. Only the kid, crying his lungs out."

"Magic ?"

Yennefer left her chair and approached, letting her curiosity take a bit of her. She extended her hand to touch the tuft of black hair poking out Geralt's cape and recoiled immediatly.

"Oh yes, magic." She sighed and bite her lips. "A few kinds of magic, even, and none I am familiar with."

"So… What should we do ? I don't feel like dumping the kid in an orphanage like that. They all end up begging in the streets."

The sorceress suppressed a shiver at the idea of such a young babe in one of those places, but not a sigh. She sat on her bed, her fingers running through the heavy bear pelt on the covers. For a few minutes, she observed the sleeping child, still in Geralt's arms, his dark hair a mop upon his angelic face.

Her heart clenched. So many desires battled in her mind, and she wasn't sure reason would prevail this time. The opportunity of being a mother, passing her magical knowledge to an heir she might have not carried but still educated, groomed and moulded to her content. And, maybe… Maybe Geralt would be interrested in being a father figure ? She could convince him. But seeing as the witcher still hadn't made a move to put the baby elsewhere than against his chest, it was possible that it would not be necessary. He was cradling him like a precious treasure, slipping worried glances every now and then.

"Last year, I have read a lot about purifications. It is the first step, for me. As it is now, I would not be able to touch him."

Geralt looked up, straight in her eyes as he was trying to assess a potential threat. She wasn't accustomed to having this look thrown to her. The amber eyes seemed to search, assess, calculate. She turned her own and continued :

"Those different magics do not feel like they should. The only fact that there are more than one is troubling, but one of them is clearly impure, leech-like. The other is his. It is quite the priority to rid the child of this corruption. Fortunately, the spell I have in mind does not require much material, we have everything on hand."

She waited for Geralt to nod and turned to her books.

The baby was crying again. Hiccups wrecking his little body, snot and tears marring his crunched up face. Geralt was starting to feel a migraine coming but couldn't bare the idea to leave the room. He watched as the spell Yennefer was weaving worked around the boy laid on the bear fur. Strange, how he felt concerned about the wellfare of this child. There were hundreds outside, abandonned by poor families or unwilling mothers. Was it because of the magic ? The sorceress would have felt it if there was a charm on the kid. The strange way they crossed path ? It wouldn't be the fist time he saw something weird.

He realised that, since he had the baby in his arms, small and helpless, he hadn't considered leaving him to anyone except Yen.

He knew her, her deep want of a child she could never carry. The pressure of the Lodge keeping her from her desire of family. He thought of Ciri, stuck in Kear Mohren with a pile of old books and under the watchful eye of Vesemir. He smiled. It felt a bit like the first time he met the litlle girl. His conviction grew : neither of them would want to leave this child.

Suddenly, the light faded and he raised his eyes to meet his lover's. She looked tired, but she approached the whimpering baby with a gentleness he had never witnessed and scooped him tenderly against her breast. He smiled. Her eyes were alight with something akin to wonder and he knew, for certain, that she would never let go.

"He needs a name", he whispered. "We can't call him 'the baby' forever."

Yennefer did not answered immediatly, her eyes still on the child who was calming, clutching her longs locks in his small hands.

"Yes. He needs a name. But…"

"Don't. I know you, Yen, and I am more than sure you'll be a good mother."

Her violet eyes shined, and she batted her eyelids, trying not let see him see her tears.

"I can help find one ?"

This drew a smile from the sorceress.

"Coming from the man who named all of his horses Roach since a century ? I don't think so, but I allow you a say. Tomasz ?"

He curled his lips in distate. Yennefer smiled again, rocking slightly back and forth to lull the little boy to sleep. Behind the thick glass of the room 's only window, the sunset was casting an orange light and deep shadows. He got up slowly to light up the torches. Outside, they could hear the populace starting to congregate for another night of drinking.

"What about Radomil ?"

"Makes me think of Radovic."

"Right. I… have always liked the name Jaromir."

Her hesitation gave a pause to Geralt. It was a curious admission, and he was certain it was not a name given on the fly. She might have fantasised this name for a long time…

"If it's too long to pronounce for your prolix nature", she teased, "you can always call him Jarek."

He turned to her raising an eyebrow. Of course, he couldn't respond to her and gave her the right. Yen. He smiled.

"Fine for me. Jaromir it is."