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It starts during an otherwise unremarkable supper. Cahir is listening to a few Vipers joyfully argue about daggers - a favorite topic - as the Warlord walks in and signals the start of the meal. Servants come out carrying dishes and drinks, including seven large, covered serving platters. Conversation all throughout the hall dies down again as the servants carrying the covered dishes set them down but keep hold of the lid of the dish, preventing it from being served. The servant at the Viper table is looking behind her with an expression like she is trying very hard not to laugh. Then at some unseen signal, all the servants lift off the covers of the platters to reveal…
Geese. Live geese. One goose per table, each curled up in a deep sleep.
Cahir looks around at the Witchers at the Viper table to see them eyeing their goose with suspicion and wariness. Morvran looks utterly baffled. He must not have heard about Princess Cirilla’s goose tricks. Cahir looks over at the Princess to find her pouring herself a drink from a pitcher, looking entirely composed. All of her companions at the Wolf table are looking at her, and she meets none of their eyes as she leans over to serve herself some vegetables.
Aside from the implacable Princess, it seems as if everyone in the hall is waiting for a sudden attack, and the suspense builds as the geese, strangely, continue their slumber. Then Cahir sees Serrit lean around the other Witchers with a wicked grin on her face, and catch Morvran’s eye.
“I dare you to touch the goose,” she tells Morvran.
The tension in the hall becomes even greater as hundreds of Witchers turn to look at Morvran. Morvran freezes, like a rabbit who has just seen a predator and is hoping it has not been spotted yet. Cahir knows that these goose tricks are meant in good humor, doing no harm to either the geese or the participants, but Morvran has no way of knowing that. The Witchers are wary of the geese, yes, but only of the havoc they are doubtless about to cause, but Morvran may be interpreting their caution as fear. And now, Morvran has been challenged to touch a creature that Witchers are afraid of.
From the conversations Cahir and Morvran have had since they have gained each other’s trust in Kaer Morhen, Cahir knows the tangle of calculations that would be going through Morvran’s political mind. Morvran has been challenged to a test of courage. The Witchers do not know what the geese portend, and still they have asked Morvran to face the unknown on their behalf. It is also a test of trust. Morvran must trust that no one here means him harm, and that if there were any real danger posed by the goose, Serrit would not have asked him to bear it, or at the very least another Witcher would have told him that she was joking, if there were any possibility that he might be hurt. Lastly, it is a test of how to navigate the social etiquette of Kaer Morhen. Is Morvran able to keep up with the strange and wild customs of a barbarian court? And as a suitor to the Princess, how does it reflect on his character if he is not able to adapt? If they were to be married, would Morvran be forever an outsider?
Cahir thinks it is more likely that Serrit simply looked around the people closest to her and decided without much thought that it would be funny to dare ‘the princeling,’ as the Vipers call Morvran. Probably if Morvran weren’t here she would have challenged whichever of her brothers had annoyed her the most that day, or perhaps even yelled the dare at her lover at the Wolf table.
As these thoughts run through his mind, he sees Morvran take a deep breath, brace himself, and reach out to touch the goose’s wing with a finger.
The goose jerks its head up, and Morvran pulls his hand back quickly as the goose slowly turns to look at Morvran. Cahir sees Letho and Master Ivan on either side of Morvran, positioning themselves to defend him. A few seconds stretch out into an age, as the goose slowly finds its feet, stumbling to stand up, always keeping its eyes on Morvran. Cahir realizes he’s holding his breath, waiting for whatever outcome the Witchers are so wary of.
Suddenly, the goose hops down to sit on Morvran’s lap, and curls around him like some sort of loving pet. When Letho attempts to extract it, the goose hisses and flaps at him until he backs off, then goes back to contentedly resting on Morvran.
The spell of silence is broken by a crash over on the Cat table. From what Cahir can make out, Kiyan had vaulted nearly the entire length to snatch up the goose, overturning at least one pitcher in the process. He’s standing on the table, heedless of his fellows, holding the goose in front of him, staring at it as it wakes from its slumber. This goose honks once, flaps as if to fly away, and when Kiyan releases it, the goose lands on his still outstretched arm, like a falconer’s bird. Kiyan pumps his other fist in triumph. “PET GOOSE!” he cries.
A small series of commotions later, all of the geese are claimed. The Bears are rumbling unhappily because a different Cat had backflipped onto their table and jumped into the rafters with their goose. Over at the Crane table, Jedrek is proudly presenting his goose to Princess Rhiannon, who looks to be cooing at it in delight. The Wolf’s goose has been claimed by Lambert, who put the bird on his shoulder like a pirate’s parrot and is looking extremely smug about it.
Cahir catches Morvran’s eye and smiles with genuine mirth and relief, and Cahir gestures subtly at Princess Cirilla. He’ll explain what he’s heard about goose tricks from his friends among the newly-medalioned Witchers later. As they both turn to look at the Princess, she gives Morvran a little smile and raises her cup to him in a toast. Intentional test or no, Cahir thinks Morvran passed this one with flying colors.