'Master!' shouted a sizeable woman sitting on a cart, the sides of which were painted with a sign for 'Vera Loewenhaupt and Sons', and which was full of wickerwork. Her sons, nowhere to be seen, were no doubt busy wasting away their mother's hard-earned fortune. 'Master Dandilion, what is this? Are you going to leave us in suspense? That can't be the end of your ballad? Sing to us of what happened next!'

'Songs and ballads' the musician bowed – 'never end, dear lady, because poetry is eternal and immortal, it knows no beginning, it knows no end-'

'But what happened next?' The tradeswoman didn't give up, generously rattling coins into the bucket Dandilion's apprentice held out to her. 'At least tell us about it, even if you have no wish to sing of it. Your songs mention no names, but we know the witcher you sing of is no other than the famous Geralt of Rivia, and the enchantress for whom he burns with love is the equally famous Yennefer. And the Child Surprise, destined for the witcher and sworn to him from birth, is Cirilla, the unfortunate Princess of Cintra, the town destroyed by the Invaders. Am I right?'

Dandilion smiled, remaining enigmatic and aloof. 'I sing of universal matters, my dear, generous lady,' he stated. 'Of emotions which anyone can experience. Not about specific people.'

'Oh, come on!' yelled a voice from the crowd. 'Everyone knows those songs are about Geralt the Witcher!'

'Yes, yes!' squealed Baron Vilibert's daughters in chorus, drying their sodden scarves. 'Sing on, Master Dandilion! What happened next? Did the witcher and Yennefer the Enchantress find each other in the end? And did they love each other? Were they happy? We want to know!'

'Enough!' roared the dwarf leader with a growl in his throat, shaking his mighty waist-length, red beard.