Jaden had left the Dreamhouse an hour later with a spring in her step. She hadn't felt this happy in months, it was almost a surreal feeling. She had genuinely enjoyed herself, from the good food to the company of the other women to the invitation of the sex group. Spending time with Malibu always seemed to make her happier, Jaden noted. She wasn't sure why that was, but every time Jaden left her to go home, she felt a hollowness develop inside her chest, something that wouldn't heal until their next reunion. Nobody told her she would be getting sappy in her middle aged years, if somebody had, then maybe she could have prepared for it, give her time to close her heart off to anyone who might want to take it.
She looked over her shoulder at the Dreamhouse, which was now a speck on the distant horizon, the view of it sitting on the beach in the afternoon sunlight making it appear stunning. It was time for her to head home, she had avoided Ken long enough. Now she had experienced a short respite of happiness, it was now time for the man to take it all away. She still had to come up with a plan on how to lure this next victim to Goofy, as her earlier idea she presented to him about a promise of a shag was now throw out the window, thanks to Ken. That's when she remembered the small stash of cocaine in her jacket pocket that Goofy gave to her a few days ago.
When she stepped inside her house, she was still pondering over the situation, wondering how exactly she was going to carry out this plan of hers. She lit herself a joint as she went over the finer details. She had stolen a stash of weed from Goofy not too long ago as the cigarettes weren't cutting it anymore in regards to calming her nerves.
It wasn't long until Ken saw her standing in the hallway. He stormed over to her, slamming Jaden against the wall. "What did I fucking say, Jaden? Don't fucking leave the house!" He angrily bellowed, repeatedly punching her hard in the stomach until finally, he let her go, dropping her to the floor.
Jaden spat out blood as she slowly pushed herself to her feet. She didn't want to deal with Ken right now, she should have stayed at the Dreamhouse where it was more safe. She was so angry she felt like she was going to explode. How dare he treat her like that? She was going to be in so much trouble for what she was about to do but at this moment, she didn't care. The bastard deserved some payback. So, closing her eyes and welcoming the cold numbness that spread through her fingertips, she cast an ice spell on Ken, trapping almost his entire body in a block of ice, leaving only his head exposed.
"You can punish me later when I get back. Right now, I'm busy." She told him before walking to the kitchen.
She wasn't looking forward to whatever Ken had in store for her regarding her punishment. No doubt she'd be bed ridden. Again. Though it was very likely that this time she'd be stuck in bed for at least a couple of weeks. Now how would she explain that? A shitty suicide attempt gone wrong? She had a few hours to think of an excuse to fool the others, but in the meantime she had cookies to make.
Since cookies were Jaden's favourite food, she already had the recipe engraved in her brain. She was suddenly mentally transported back to her kitchen in Chicago with her two daughters, baking cookies together on a sunny afternoon, the sound of the two young girls laughter echoing in Jaden's ears. She shook her head sadly at the memory, ignoring the painful pang of loneliness nestled in her heart. There would be time to recreate those memories when she was back in the real world.
As Jaden was waiting for the cookies to bake in the oven, she sent a message to the guy she was supposed to be meeting up with. She took another glance at the photo Goofy provided her with, trying to familiarise herself with his features. He was nothing special to look at really. Miles was in his late thirties with short brown, wavy hair and startling blue eyes. All in all, he was just your average looking bloke who'd you just walk casually by on the streets and wouldn't think to take a second glance at. That was why he was so perfect for this operation. He was nothing substantial to the village and once the news of his disappearance died down, he would be conveniently forgotten about. Unless you were extremely popular or had lots of close friends, nobody cares about a random missing person they've never met before. If they were lucky enough, it would be old news by the end of the week.
Turning her attention back to her phone, Jaden using her charming and flirtatious nature to her advantage, outright asked Miles on a date. She twisted her tale by saying she encountered him at the plaza the other day and was intrigued to see him again. The only bit of truth she gave him was telling him she did some digging of her own and managed to find his phone number, an easy feat now that she was leader of the valley. Much to her surprise, Miles answered a few minutes later with an eager enthusiasm to the supposed date, telling her to meet him at the south beach in a few hours.
Two hours later and Jaden had successfully made two batches of cookies. One was laced with cocaine whilst the other batch was just ordinary chocolate chip. Once she was done, she packed them into two boxes and placed them into her large duffel bag, ready for her date.
Walking out of the kitchen, Jaden headed into the hallway and stopped by the block of ice that was still holding Ken. She kissed him sweetly on the cheek before making her escape. "I'll see you later, Ken." She said slipping past him and shutting the front door behind her. With that, she went straight for the beach to meet her date, oddly excited for the task at hand. She had her plan, she had her weapon in the form of a delicious snack and she had her charming, good looks.
This was going to be a piece of cake.
Miles was already sitting on the steps leading to the beach when Jaden arrived. The guy had punctuality, she'd give him that. It's much more than she could say for some of the other guys she dated in the past, at least.
The couple turned their heads to stare at each other, acknowledging each other's presence in silence. She set her bag down next to him before taking her seat beside it. "Ah, the beach at night, what could be more romantic than this." Jaden commented as she lit up a cigarette, gazing at the star speckled sky in awe.
Miles ignored her comment, using the opportunity of Jaden being distracted by the night sky to snoop through her bag, hoping to find some coins. The man was in desperate need of money, and if that meant mugging off Jaden and needing to make a dash for it, then so be it. However, luck was not on his side that day. An intense, blinding pain to his wrist caused Miles to cry out. He hadn't even managed to open the bag before Jaden caught him, causing a rush of failure and shame to overtake Miles before the anger could come out.
Not bothering to even look at the man in question, Jaden dug her metal fingertips into his skin, intending to cause more pain. "Has anyone ever told you not to go through a woman's bag? If you were hoping to steal from me, then you might want to rethink that. I'll just save you the trouble and let you know there's nothing in there worth stealing, not even a single coin."
Miles' expression of fear turned into intense disappointment. "Seriously? No Money? But you're the leader, surely you must be rich!" He has grasping at straws and he knew it. He just didn't want to believe that his attempted theft had accounted to nothing.
Jaden shook her head. "I spent most of my money on building a house, so no, I'm not rich." Her voice sounded just as disappointed as Miles looked. If anything, his comment kind of stung a bit. Yeah, how was it that she was the leader of the valley and she had no money? What was up with that? "You must need money pretty badly if you're trying to steal from me." She added, almost sympathetically, as if she could somewhat understand his intentions.
Miles sighed as he glanced around nervously, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. "I do," he nodded uneasily, "I owe Goofy a shit load of money and I can't afford to pay him back. I knew I should never have played poker with him the other week." He ended regretfully, envisioning his losing defeat as Goofy gloated over his own victory. The shame and humiliation still burned him with a fiery rage that was so great it was overwhelming. And here was this bitch in making him experience this dreadful event all over again.
Jaden couldn't help but laugh at his intense emotions as she released her hold on him. "Wait, you're telling me Goofy beat you in a game of poker? Damn, now I wished I never turned down his offer when he invited me to the game." Jaden said wishfully, hating herself more than ever if it meant she missed out on this loser getting his ass beat.
"Then I probably would have been in your debt instead. Which would probably be worse. Being in debt to the leader of the valley wouldn't be exactly good. Though knowing you, you would most likely send some mercenary to collect the money or have me killed." Miles was rambling now in his haste to try and lighten the mood. It was an anxiety habit of his he relied on to try and get him out of sticky situations such as these. Surprisingly it had worked in his favour up until now, otherwise he would have been dead many years ago.
"Clearly you don't know me very well," Jaden commented nonchalantly, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, being in my debt, I mean. Though if you couldn't pay in cash, there are other ways you can repay me." She suggested, leaving the interpretation up to him.
Miles raised a brow, his interest peeking. "Such as?"
"Oh, I don't know, how about amazing sex?" Jaden shrugged her shoulders.
"Amazing sex?" Miles scoffed, unable to retain his laughter. "Cocky little bitch, aren't you? I bet you can't even please a man." He mocked, enjoying her obvious discomfort that wasn't lost on him.
Jaden gave him a serious look, one that told him she was not impressed. "I've been having sex since I was a child. I'm pretty sure I know how to please a man. Never had a complaint so far."
Miles gave her a look of disgust, unable to hide his distaste at the remark. "Since you were a child? Dear God, that's not sex, that's…"
Jaden was unsure if the man had trailed off or left the sentence unfinished deliberately. Either way, she didn't give him a chance to continue his undisguised hatred. "Don't even finish that sentence. Trust me, I know. I was a slave as a child to help pay off my father's debts until I killed the bastards by accident when I discovered I had magic." She then shook her head, jumped to her feet and then started pacing around the outskirts of the beach, still in front of the stone steps. She was hating the fact that she had just shared this much personal stuff with a random guy whom she barely even knew, let alone someone she had only just met. Never mind the fact that the guy was soon to be good as dead by the end of the night anyway. She needed to get a move on and hand him over to Goofy, she was opening up too many open wounds for her liking.
Miles watched her for a moment before realising his perfect opportunity was slipping by as he continued to gape at this woman. He didn't have to listen to this shit anymore, not with the bag so close within his grasp now that Jaden was up and walking about. He started to open the bag, this time a lot faster than his first attempt in order to quickly snatch up whatever was hiding inside. Even though she had told him that there wasn't anything worth stealing, he still didn't believe her. Of course she would say something like that to stop him.
But as it turned out, she wasn't lying. Miles had to blink twice to fully comprehend that the only items inside the rather large duffel bag was two small boxes. In fact, one even had his name written on it, whilst the other had the initials J.C., obviously Jaden's. Miles hesitantly opened his box and saw much to his surprise a batch of cookies inside the small container. He assumed it was the exact same for the other box. But if that was the case, why the two separate containers?
Jaden, seeing his confused and flabbergasted expression, smirked to herself as Miles took a tentative bite out of one of the cookies from his box. She was just about to walk back over to him when she noticed from the corner of her eye that Ursula was watching them from afar in the middle of the ocean. Jaden guessed she would have to have a little chat with the sea witch about this encounter later, not wanting to break her cover. He didn't seem to notice Ursula, or if he had, he made no comment on it.
Making sure as to not dart her eyes away from the ocean too quickly, Jaden turned her attention back to Miles, sitting down next to him as he spoke.
"Some leader you are. I mean, look around, the beach alone has dozens of Night Thorns and you haven't done anything to clear them." His criticism was harsh but truthful. He couldn't help but gloat a little bit at her obvious awkward reaction, the way her body slightly tensed up before composing herself to appear unbothered by the snarky remark.
Jaden glanced around the beach and saw that unfortunately he was right. She really had neglected her duties in that regard. Now that Malibu's house was built, she can get back to work on the Night Thorns surrounding the entire valley. That was the reason why she was there in the first place, after all. But all of that would have to wait until morning, that is if Ken hadn't beaten her so badly that she'd be bed ridden for a few weeks. He does know she has a valley to save, right? She thought silently.
"I've been busy, but I will get to them," she replied to Miles in a calm manner. "But if you want to continue to question my leadership skills, then go ahead. You aren't the only one who has doubts." She shrugged easily, at this moment not caring for his opinion.
Miles frowned at this. "What do you mean?" This was the first time he had heard of any supposed doubts. If anything, he assumed the entire village thought the sun shone out of Jaden's ass, like she was the Second Coming or something.
"I question myself all the time. Do you really think I wanted this job? But still, even with my doubts, I gave my word that I would do whatever I can to save this valley, even if it kills me." She replied automatically, almost as if she's always known the answer to that particular question.
Almost feeling a momentary pity for her, Miles offered Jaden a cookie from his tub, to which Jaden shook her head, immediately raising his suspicions.
"I've got my own and besides, I made them especially for you." She told him sweetly, trying to pull the innocent act on him.
A sense of overwhelming dread washed over Miles as he comprehended what exactly Jaden had done, the point of this so-called 'date' was all to evident now. Miles was ashamed he hadn't seen it coming sooner. He immediately spat out the cookie he was eating and glared at her, his rage threatening to consume him.
"You made these? Alright, what kind of poison did you put in them?" He questioned her, a warning bleeding into his angry tone.
Jaden continued her act by pretending to be baffled by this outlandish accusation. "Poison? Now why would I do such a thing like that?"
"Don't play games, Jaden." He spat spitefully.
Frowning with a fake confused stare, Jaden continued her act, though finding it difficult to maintain her patience. "Games? But, I'm not…" She then sighed and stood up. It was no use in arguing with him. If he wanted to believe that she had put poison in his food, then so be it. She then smirked and held up her hands, letting the curtain finally fall. "Alright, you caught me. I did put poison in those cookies." She grinned brightly, as if she was a small child who was proud of an achievement they had been working towards.
In a sudden fit of rage, Miles jumped to his feet and shoved Jaden down the steps, knocking her to the floor. Kneeling down to the ground, he then repeatedly punched her in the face, his blows getting harder with each new punch.
Jaden knew she could easily overpower him in strength and kick his ass, but for now she didn't move a muscle. She allowed the man to deliver her his relentless strikes, until she could feel the thin trickle of blood dripping down her brow and the right side of her face swelling with the bruises that were sure to come within a few hours. By then there was only so much she could take before finally giving herself permission to fight back. Only when she did so, Miles chose that time to drive a knife into her side, causing her to scream out in pain. She mentally shrieked at herself to fight through the pain, standing up on shaky legs as she willed herself to teach this cheeky fucker a lesson. Nobody fucked with her and got away with it. Nobody. She managed to land a blow to Miles' unimpressive face, giving a small smile of triumph as she did so. She fought through the pain, suffering major blows as a result of her recklessness, not that she even cared that much to begin with.
The fight was over before it had really begun. Miles had made the grave error of tripping over his own feet as he tried to dodge a punch to his nose, the trip making him fall unceremoniously onto his back in the sand. Jaden had taken the opening to place her foot on his neck, his struggles becoming slack due to the drugs in his system kicking in. She would have killed him right then and there, but orders told her not too. Instead, she crushed his neck under the weight of her boot and glanced over at the sea witch, who seemed to be enjoying this little show. Ursula silently signalled to Jaden to meet her after she was done with the poor man's efforts, pointing towards the lapping waves just in front of her, signifying to meet right here on the beach. The mage nodded subtly in response.
With Ursula gone, Jaden turned her attention back to Miles, who was now struggling to breathe from his crushed windpipe. A cruel smile appeared on Jaden's lips, as his efforts resulted into pitiful flailing of his arms and legs. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed watching people suffer by her hand. After a short while she reluctantly removed her boot from his neck, letting him catch his breath.
She brought him up to his feet, pulling him in close to her inviting body. "You're lucky I didn't kill you." She whispered in his ear, the threat hanging in the air between them, "though I'm sure you'd be wishing for death soon enough." She ended with a dark chuckle. She dragged him up the steps, grabbing her bag along the way and made the journey to Goofy's shed, where Goofy said he'd be waiting for their arrival. She was hoping she hadn't taken too long and the humanoid dog wasn't getting impatient. With everything that was going on between her and Ken, she didn't fancy being on his bad side tonight. She wanted her first real job to be a success, to prove not only to him, but to herself that she was more than capable for this job.
When the pair had arrived at the shed not fifteen minutes later, Jaden noted the shocked glance that Goofy gave them, especially when he saw how Jaden was badly beaten up and in pretty rough shape. However, he didn't comment, something that Jaden was greatly appreciative for. It wouldn't be the first time this week he had seen her in a bad way and she didn't want his sympathy right now. Instead, Goofy simply gestured to an empty wooden chair. Jaden did as she was told and shoved Miles onto the chair, tying him up with rope into double knots at his hands, feet and his waist, holding the man firmly in place.
When she was done tying him in place, she sat on the nearby table, placing her foot against Miles' dick, ensuring not to put too much pressure on it. Getting herself comfortable, Jaden took a cookie from her bag and began eating it, all the while contemplating on what to do next. She wanted to do so much to this man, or more like, all the things she wanted to do to Ken but couldn't due to their deal. But she restrained herself from doing so. She understood she couldn't touch this man, not without Goofy's permission that is. Whatever compassion and sympathy she might have felt towards this man about his debt problems went all out the window when he decided to stab her. She had begun to even understand his thieving actions until he had turned on her with the knife. Now all she wanted to see was to watch him suffer. And suffer he will.
Goofy walked over to Jaden and stood beside her, admiring the work she had done on the poor bloke. She really did a number on him, that was for sure. The bruises all over his face were starting to appear, their grey and purple hue making their ugly mark. His left eye was also swollen and he had suffered several cuts to his brow, the blood now starting to become a dry, brown colour. That wasn't to say that Jaden was in immaculate condition herself, but compared to poor old Miles here, it was almost like she was a model for a fashion magazine; one with a few bruises and a stab wound that is.
That was when Goofy had really first noticed the stab wound to Jaden's side. He glanced at it briefly before sighing and walked back to the other side of the shed to grab a first aid kit. Walking back over to Jaden, he ordered her in a firm and authoritative voice to strip, earning him a bewildered look.
"You want me to what? In front of him?" Jaden gestured to the tied up Miles. She knew this must have sounded strange coming from her, refusing to strip that is, when she would be willing to walk around the village naked in normal circumstances. But that was all before the abuse from Ken. Now just the thought of her being naked and exposed made her feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. It wasn't the fear of being violated that sent her into a brief panic, it was the thought of Goofy and Miles seeing the bruises and wounds all across her body that was the most worrying.
However, a stern look coming from Goofy made her obey his request. Judging from his narrowed eyes and stiff stance, he wasn't going to take no for an answer. She started off with her jacket, then her hoodie and t-shirt, both of which were soaked in her own blood. She braced herself, ready for the inquisitive comments from her boss.
Goofy couldn't quite believe what he was currently seeing. He didn't know what shocked him the most, the bruises or the fact he was right about her losing weight. Still, he didn't question her, mainly because he knew he would immediately be shrugged off or might accidently send the fear of God up Jaden with her refusing any help from him. Instead, he got straight to work in treating her stab wound. She flinched at his touch, which was light to begin with. He could tell she was resisting the urge to move away but the fear of angering him kept her in place. He supposed his intimidating demeanour was good for one thing.
Once he was all done, Jaden quickly got dressed, not wanting the others to see her naked, battered body a moment longer. Although, she was feeling a little better now that she was completely covered up. She was only hoping that Goofy wouldn't have the sense to pull her aside once this job was over and hound her with questions, because he wasn't getting any answers out of her.
"You should go home and rest." Goofy instructed her with a stern glance that told her not to argue with him.
She was about to argue her case but another look at Goofy's hard, penetrating gaze told her she was better off without all the aggravation. Thinking better of it, she let out a sigh and jumped off of the table. "Make him suffer." She whispered to Goofy on the way out, her voice cold as ice.
Goofy grabbed her by the arm, stopping her from leaving. He saw the hard, cold look in her eyes, there was a hunger ignited in them, a hunger that held the need to make someone suffer. He couldn't let her leave in the state she was currently in, afraid she would simply hunt someone else down and kill them. He felt suddenly responsible for her upcoming actions, and now she was deemed as a risk if he decided to let her go home. What if she did end up hurting someone and spilling the beans about what they were doing? Or worse yet, decided to further harm herself? No, she was too dangerous to be left on her own. Maybe if she took out some of her anger towards this man she might cool off a bit. Now was a good time as any for her to prove herself to him that she can uphold her part of the deal.
Goofy released his hold on her and gestured towards Miles sitting in the chair, indicating that she can do whatever she wanted to the man. Jaden had clearly taken the silent message on board because she had turned around and was making her way over to the chair. Goofy just simply watched her as she knelt down in front of the man, clearly enjoying his struggle. Goofy leant against the doorframe, listening to the sounds of Miles' screams fill up the room as Jaden used her pocket knife to cut all along the man's chest and face. He marvelled at the fact that he quite liked this darker side of Jaden. She was confident, she was independent and more importantly, she slipped into the role of a hardened criminal easily, almost like it was a hidden second personality. Goofy was at this moment in time pleased that he had made the decision to take on Jaden, perhaps she was right about being capable for the job, she certainly looked it.
It didn't take much longer for Miles to completely give in to Jaden's torture, his face and chest now completely littered in blooded cuts. Having already been exhausted from the fight on the beach, both his physical and mental strength couldn't handle the pain anymore. Added with the fact that he was dopy from the cocaine running through his system, his only response was to try and save himself. His only strategy out of this was bargaining, and if that meant having his hard earned work wasted, then so be it. Hopefully he would still get to keep his life.
The man screamed to the heavens, his eyes streaming with pained tears. "There's a buried treasure chest on the north side of the beach, just outside the entrance to the cave that's full of coins! Please, just take it and let me go! We can work something out so I can pay you the rest, just please stop…" Miles ends on a pathetic sob, his snot mixing with the blood dripping down his face. His earlier bravado about being the tough, hardened man was replaced by the man he truly was, a pathetic, nervous wreck.
Jaden was just about to thrust the knife into his side, a little tit for tat if you will, when Goofy put his arm out in front of her, indicating for her to stop. Jaden gave him a questioning look and lowered the bloody knife to her side, thinking over Miles' proposition. "You want me to go and check it out?" She asks with a surprising calmness about her considering the situation.
Goofy shakes his head. "No, it's alright." He says brushing past Jaden, reaching over to grab a machete from the wall. He then stands in front of the man sat on the chair, brandishing the weapon in plain sight.
"But what if he's lying?" Jaden sensibly questioned.
Goofy gave a light chuckle. "It's fine, I'm not after the money, anyway. But if you want it, it's yours." He replied, not turning to look Jaden in the eye.
Clearly seeing that she was no longer needed, Jaden turned and left the shed to allow Goofy to finish the job. Good riddance was all she had to say. At least that was another scumbag gone from the world.
As she stepped out of the shed, she pulled out a cigarette, and using her fire magic to light it, began to smoke. What was there left to do now? She couldn't go home just yet, quickly remembering that Ursula had wanted to speak with her. It was either that or go back home to a waiting, angry Ken. She shuddered at the thought of what he might have in store for her. Yeah, he could wait another hour at least.
Jaden walked towards the beach and made her way down to the coast, finding the sea witch already waiting for her out in the middle of the ocean. She gave Ursula a knowing nod and approached the edge of the water, the sound of the calm, soothing waves relaxing her somewhat.
"Well, look who's here for a visit after freeing me from that horrid cave. Alas, nothing in the valley compares to my home in Triton's palace…or my little soul garden. Such comfort is only a dream now…unless, you could help?" Ursula added with a nasty, manipulative grin that sent a chill down Jaden's spine. How had Ariel thought this was a witch to trust? Now that was a new level of stupidity.
"I can give you a home…for a price." Jaden informed her with a smirk. She wasn't going to make this easy for Ursula. If the witch wanted to play games, then Jaden had a few tricks up her sleeve too.
Ursula, who had played right into Jaden's hand, had to ponder on this proposition for a moment. "Hmm, seems you aren't the pushover I thought. Fine, you want to swim with the big fish? Let's make a deal! Get me a house on the beach and help me with an errand and I'll give you exactly what you deserve." The sea witch bargained, thinking that was a good enough deal.
Jaden nodded her agreement, sealing the deal. She turned to walk away, thinking the conversation was over. That was until Ursula called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.
"Oh, and what a lovely show you put on with that poor man earlier. I see that Goofy has already gotten to you, making you do his dirty work," she remarked, before carrying on, "but the way you fought with him, you seemed to enjoy that. Who would have thought the hero of Dreamlight Valley has a dark side." Ursula chuckled darkly.
Jaden turned to face her but didn't say anything, wondering where this was going. She wasn't going to tell anybody what she saw, was she?
As if reading her mind, Ursula went on, "Oh, don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone. Just do as you're told and we won't have a problem." The sea witch told her a matter-of-factly.
Jaden sighed and walked away, pulling out her flask of whiskey and began sipping it on the way to the steps where she first met Miles. She found herself a spot to sit down on the steps so she could gaze at the sky in relative peace and quiet, thinking over what Ursula had just told her. Looking at the sky always seemed to put Jaden in a calm state of mind, it reminded her that she was free. Back in Ferelden when she was stuck in the Circle Tower, she never had many opportunities to gaze at the sky freely, and the only times that she had managed to, it was always filled with the reminder that this freedom was only temporary. At the end of the day she was trapped, locked away in a tower she was never allowed to leave. It was only when she became a Grey Warden and was free from her imprisonment that she was at last allowed to roam the outside freely. On her first few nights out of the tower, she always found herself looking up at the sky, priding herself that she had finally made it. Her life could truly begin.
But that was before everything. Little did she know that night of her choosing to become a Grey Warden had fully kick started her life into the spiralling nightmare that it was now. From becoming the Hero of Ferelden right up to her abuse coming from Ken, it truly felt like she was never given any freedom to begin with. This freedom thing was all a sham, it never really existed at all, it was only a myth to make people believe that there was any sort of hope to a freer, more fulfilling life to be had. She briefly wondered at how her life might have shaped out if she never helped Jowan escape the tower and had still remained there until her dying breath. Even being out of the tower now and she was still chasing for freedom, it didn't make any difference if she had chosen to stay there.
She sat there for a little over an hour, drinking heavily before deciding to get up and search for the coins on the north side of the beach. If anything, she told herself, this was to be her reward for the evening's hard work. Once the coins were securely in her pocket, she started the walk back to her house, ready to face whatever punishment Ken had in store for her.
The ice spell would have worn off by now. It was time for the real fun of the evening to begin.