Blood of Elves

The Trail, or what the witchers colloquially call “The Killer,” is an intense natural obstacle course that surrounds the fortress of Kaer Morhen. The Trail largely obscures the route to Kaer Morhen, so the fact that Triss knows where Kaer Morhen is and how to get there indicates she is someone whom the witchers trust; the inaccessibility of the fortress is a sign that the witchers’ trust is not easily given. Their suspicion is partly reactive, as the nature of the witchers’ work and the mutations they undergo to perform it lead many to consider them as monstrous as the creatures they hunt; The Nature of Monstrosity is a prevailing theme.

The revelation that Triss sought Geralt out, took advantage of his emotional state after leaving Yennefer, and even used magic to seduce him makes that trust tenuous, although the novel largely ignores the question of consent that her actions raise. Regardless, Geralt repeatedly (though kindly) rejects Triss’s efforts to reignite the affair, telling her he cannot be what she needs. Triss is acutely aware that the only other mage who the witchers trust (and who is also friendly to witchers) is Yennefer and that the reason Triss was their first choice to train Ciri is due in large part to Geralt’s insecurity about his relationship with Yennefer. Yennefer is older than Triss and therefore more powerful and knowledgeable, but Geralt still chooses to contact Triss first. In Chapter 1, Yennefer admitted she had not seen or spoken to Geralt since before the Battle of Sodden Hill, which happened nearly two years before the present action at Kaer Morhen. He likely feels he cannot reach out to her because of their separation, but Geralt also displays caution in his correspondence: Every time he communicates with someone, he risks people discovering that Ciri survived the attack on Cintra.

Triss’s interventions at Kaer Morhen are essential to Ciri’s upbringing. Before Ciri’s arrival, the inhabitants of the witcher keep were exclusively male, with the occasional exception of a visiting sorceress. Considering Ciri was raised as a princess, she likely learned that there are certain subjects one does not discuss openly or with men, including the female body. It is unclear whether Ciri had any prior knowledge about menstruation, but it is clear that she is physically uncomfortable. Ciri does not feel she can tell the witchers about her period, and they do not think to ask; they are reclusive by nature and have never been responsible for a girl before. Lambert especially believes they can raise Ciri no differently than they would a male child, but Eskel’s respectful deference to Triss’s expertise helps open the conversation. Triss’s concern for Ciri’s developing body is understandable, as the herbs and mushrooms the witchers allow her to eat are stimulants that make her faster and more agile—what a modern reader might recognize as the equivalent of a performance-enhancing drug. Triss is justifiably worried about the effects such substances will have on Ciri, but for the witchers, who have only ever raised boys, the nuances of female hormones are unfamiliar.

The revelation that Ciri is a Source explains, at least partially, why Ciri has visions. Triss attributes Ciri’s prophesizing to “mediumistic powers.” However, Ciri’s abilities seem unknown to her. When she slips into a trance, she does not communicate with another being (e.g., a soul in the afterlife); rather, she speaks as another being, as though channeling or possessed by someone or something outside herself. It is particularly worrisome for Triss that Ciri is unaware of her trances, as it suggests she cannot control her abilities and could have a powerful episode with no warning. The effects of such an episode would be just as unpredictable as the episode itself.