He leaned against the wall of the cave and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“You’re not answering,” stated Nenneke, smiling faintly. “I’m not surprised. It’s not easy to speak with the voice of reason. You’re sick, Geralt. You’re not fully fit. You react to elixirs badly. You’ve got a rapid pulse rate, the dilation of your eyes is slow, your reactions are delayed. You can’t get the simplest Signs right. And you want to hit the trail? You have to be treated. You need therapy. And before that, a trance.”

“Is that why you sent Iola to me? As part of the therapy? To make the trance easier?”

“You’re a fool!”

“But not to such an extent.”

Nenneke turned away and slipped her hands among the meaty stalks of creepers which the witcher didn’t recognize.

“Well, have it your way,” she said easily. “Yes, I sent her to you. As part of the therapy. And let me tell you, it worked. Your reactions were much better the following day. You were calmer. And Iola needed some therapy, too. Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry because of the therapy, or because of Iola.”

“But at the voice of reason you’re hearing?”

He didn’t answer.

“A trance is necessary,” repeated Nenneke, glancing around at her cave garden. “Iola’s ready. She’s made both physical and psychic contact with you. If you want to leave, let’s do it tonight.”

“No. I don’t want to. Look, Nenneke, Iola might start to prophesy during the trance. To predict, read the future.”

“That’s just it.”

“Exactly. And I don’t want to know the future. How could I do what I’m doing if I knew it? Besides, I know it anyway.”

“Are you sure?” He didn’t answer. “Oh, well, all right,” she sighed. “Let’s go. Oh, and, Geralt? I don’t mean to pry but tell me… How did you meet? You and Yennefer? How did it all start?”

The witcher smiled. “It started with me and Dandilion not having anything for breakfast and deciding to catch some fish.”

“Am I to understand that instead of fish you caught Yennefer?”

“I’ll tell you what happened. But maybe after supper. I’m hungry.”

“Let’s go, then. I’ve got everything I need.”

The witcher made a move toward the exit and once more looked around the cave hothouse.

“Nenneke?”

“Aha?”

“Half of the plants you’ve got here don’t grow anywhere else anymore. Am I right?”

“Yes. More than half.”

“How come?”

“If I said it was through the goddess Melitele’s grace, I daresay that wouldn’t be enough for you, would it?”

“I daresay it wouldn’t.”

“That’s what I thought.” Nenneke smiled. “You see, Geralt, this bright sun of ours is still shining, but not quite the way it used to. Read the great books if you like. But if you don’t want to waste time on it, maybe you’ll be happy with the explanation that the crystal roof acts like a filter. It eliminates the lethal rays which are increasingly found in sunlight. That’s why plants which you can’t see growing wild anywhere in the world grow here.”