Chapter 2- Kovacs seeks the help of a witch
While Shannon was busy being kidnapped, Jess K was just a mile away, trying to explain to a couple she'd never seen before that she was not their daughter, and what sort of a name was Rapunzel anyway?
Jess was finding her new parents so stupid she was almost happy when the witch turned up and whisked her away to live in a tower.
Not quite though.
"I've come for my payment, and I will not be turned away. I have come for your daughter, the fair Rapunzel" The witch spoke confidently,
"Why is it my fault that they stole something from you? Wouldn't it make more sense to punish them? Besides, you've got the wrong person. I'm absolutely no relation to them, and I'm certainly not named after a vegetable!"
This confused both the witch and her so-called parents, but after staring at her for a few seconds the witch decided to ignore this and try again.
"You cannot deny me! I have waited 16 years for this. Come with me, girl."
"Don't call me that! I have a name you know."
"Well if you won't answer to it, then I have no choice!"
"Rapunzel isn't my name. My name is Jess, and I think you should be busy looking for the real Rapunzel instead of kidnapping me!"
*sigh* "Look, if you stop being difficult and admit you're Rapunzel I might make you my apprentice. You'll learn all sorts of interesting stuff, and in my line of work your chances of meeting a handsome prince drastically increase…" The witch wheedled.
"…What kind of stuff?"
"Oh, potions, poisons, spells, all that typical witchy stuff. You may even get a broomstick if you're very good."
"Why didn't you say so? Let's go!"
"Well, this is your new room. You're not allowed to leave until your prince turns up. Sorry about that, but it's the rules. Anyway, if you go swanning off all over the place how's your prince supposed to find you? No, you'll thank me for this later. Now, you get unpacked and settle in, I'll be back tomorrow morning for your first lesson." The witch had obviously learnt the folly of letting Kovacs get so much as a word in, and gabbled her welcome so fast that it took Jess a few seconds to work out what had just been said. By the time she had, the witch was gone.
*sigh* "So bored…" Jess stared out of the window, almost completely ignoring the witch, who was busily tidying. Since she'd arrived at an ungodly hour that morning, all she'd done was potter around doing housework while occasionally wandering over to check up on Jess K's progress with her healing spells.
She had already made it quite clear that Jess wasn't going to be taught anything deadly, dangerous, or even mildly interesting, because it would lower Jess's "marriage value".
She talked about marriage value, appropriate activities for young ladies and manners far too much for Jess's tastes. She'd also made Jess wear a dress, which, while very pretty, was not particularly practical, especially for her rare broomstick flying lessons. Jess had already worked out that this apprenticeship wasn't going to be as fun as she'd first thought.
The witch had said that Jess would be working on housework spells next.
Oh the joy.
