𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽

Chapter 13
☽I make the rules honey☾

𓇣JUNIPER𓇣

The sun is high on the sky and shining down at her. The warmth of the day has shone through and all signs of the rain fall during the night has dried up. The cloak she wears has dried up a long time ago. Juniper's dark locks are all over the place for they had gotten wet and curly when they dried and the tangles became too much for her fingers to brush through so she left it alone and did not pay that much attentions to it. Sitting up on a roof on a house which she does not know who owns, she enjoys the sun.

All the worry which has caused her to need a bit time by herself. From where she sits, she can see the market which is below. When she had disappeared from him, she had climbed up the walls of the house and watched him from above. With a smirk on her face. After he had walked from her sight, she had not climbed down. Rather she stayed up there and there she has been for some hours. Not wanting to come down. Those worries will simply had to wait for her.

Her eyes are closed, but every so often she does open them and look below at the market and the people there. The sounds have found her up there as she cannot hide from them. However, she finds that she drowns them out with simply her own thoughts. With closed eyes and the thoughts within her mind, she can forget that she is up there and imagines herself somewhere else. The warmth of the sun does invite her into another world it would appear. The rays are not too blazing for her, they are simply comfortable for her to lie under.

The thoughts within her mind are however only of the man who carries cornflower blue eyes. The eyes that have her captivated without her knowing how or why, and perhaps those questions are what makes her not want the answers for the mystery of it is far better. A sigh leaves Juniper as she lies there. Opening her eyes and sneaking her hand into her pocket, she takes a bracelet which she had got. The people had many interesting thing for her, some she will keep whole others she will sell or trade for something else.

The bracelet is not much, it is made out of rope which has been woven so thin in this braid like style and decorated with small white rocks. Though, there is something about it that does catch her eyes. Without her knowing what that is. It's a shrug, she sits up and puts the bracelet on her right hand to see how it would look on her. Juniper has never been much for jewelry nor anything that decorates her body for she has always wanted the simplest things, though she does like having all the wealth that her heart desires.

She thinks of that man and she thinks of what he had offered her. This man is giving her something which none has ever done and it is not appropriate for an unwed woman such as herself to be with a man and staying where he lives. Juniper has never cared for those rules and she will throw them as far away from her as she can. Even stamp on them if she gets the chance. Her life is not controlled by society rules, the very same society that would sooner see her dead than alive and wed.

A marriage is what ties her down and she would never offer herself to be tied down. Never. They would have to force her hand and even then she would rather choose death over being a property of a man. A man that would take a mistress either way and would not care for her. Juniper would simply be a bedwarmer for him and nothing more than a toy which he uses and throws away as he likes. That is a fate that she would never be apart of and she would choose anything but that. Which is why she is doing all she can to secure her future and the future of her friend.

The wealthier that they become, the better they have a change to have a good life and will never have to worry for anything, not marriage nor any man to take care of them. For they are well equipped to do that on their own and do not need anyone to tell them what is best for them nor want anyone to control them. Juniper would always strive for what makes her hold the power and that cannot be changed for she will never again be the powerless.

The magic inside her body is strong and this she know. Standing up from the roof, she walks to the side where she had climbed and makes her way down. Her fingers ache when they are slightly scraping against the rocky surface of the wall and even hints of blood has begun to form. Ignoring all of that she jumps down when she has climbed far enough down, she lands on the ground and then walks towards where Poppy will be waiting for her, hopefully with answers from that man and if she has not gotten answers, then it will be Juniper's turn once more.

Entering through the door, she is met with a sight which she did not expect. Zeke is still tied up, but in front of him Poppy is with a tray of food and is feeding him. Both of them are laughing as she does so. With a raised eyebrow, Juniper slams the door. Poppy jumps up with a small yelp and nearly drops the tray. "Quite the hospitality, should we not just bathe him and clothe him as well?" Juniper asks as she eyes her friend. Thankful that Poppy is not harmed in any way.

Poppy rolls her eyes as she walks to the kitchen and sets the tray down. "Of course not. He grew famished. We are after all responsible for his life now, we cannot simply ignore the basic need" She says. Juniper scoffs. "Right. Our prisoner grew famished? Should we untie him if he grows restless or shall we take him to the market and allow him to scream at the people who we are if he grows the need for that?" Juniper harshly asks her. Then she takes a basket and hands her friend. "Take this and... do something. I do not care what" Juniper says when Poppy does not answer.

Somehow she needs to get her friend out of there before she has the need to release their prisoner and all of what she has worked for would be ruined, they would be ruined but most importantly they both would be dead. "He told me things" Poppy says and that does interest her. Her mossy green eyes look at her and gesture her to say what the man had said. "He told me that he is employed to a man named Carter. The one which you have met be-" Poppy begins to say but this does catch Juniper's attention.

Lifting her finger up, she does not allow her friend to continue. Walking over to Zeke, she kicks him in the leg and he groans. "Is that realty necessary?" He asks her and she sharply nods. "Well, of course. It would have been far better if you had led with the fact that you are employed to the man that I currently have been speaking to for the last couple of days" Juniper says through her gritted teeth for this does complicate a lot of things for her.

The man smirks at her and wiggles his eyebrows. "It was far more enjoyable for me to watch as a Witch had encountered the very man which loathes Witches with all his might" He says. The smirk on his face grows. It takes her a second to raise her hand and slap his cheek as hard as she could. The sound echoes in her ears as she does so. First she felt nothing and then she felt the stinging in her palm, which she ignores. At this, Zeke laughs at her. "So violent. It is not wonder that Witches need to be put down" He says in a challenging tone.

Enraged, Juniper walks to the kitchen. Poppy stands there, not certain what she is meant to do. Comfort the man or her friend. "What should we do?" She then asks Juniper who looks to be deep in thoughts. Then a smirk comes to her face as she turns to the man. "I have an idea" She speaks to her friend. The look of mischief can be seen within her eyes and Poppy is aware that this look will not mean that well, for anyone but Juniper for her plots are always devious.

Poppy had not taken the basket and left for she would rather stay there and prevent the death of this man and the death of her friend. Her blonde hair is sticking out everywhere from sweat. The girl does not know what she is meant to do. Juniper is unpredictable, this she has known. Being the older, and the one that goes far more often outside, Juniper knows the world and knows the dangers. Hides so much from the girl and while Poppy would want to see the world, see it all, she cannot for the dangers are everywhere.

"What do you plan on doing?" Poppy softly asks her as she looks at Juniper's palm. The redness has begun to form and she is certain that it mist sting. Taking her hand in hers, Poppy eyes the redness. Then traces some symbols over Juniper's palm. Whispering so softly in a language which comes fluently to her, Poppy closes her eyes. For a moment they remain closed and then when she opens them, the turn vibrant green in color and glow. When the glow leaves her and her whispers stop, she looks down at what she had accomplished with her magic.

Juniper's palm shows no signs of redness and there is no pain within it, the stinging had left her as quickly as it had come. "Thank you" Juniper speaks. "I can get us the life which we have always wanted. And he will help us" Juniper says. Walking back to the tied up man, she looks at him. His cheek does not show any sign of having been slapped, but she hopes that he had felt the pain as much as she had felt it. Though, while her palm has been healed, his cheek has not and the pain will remain with him.

"I have a proposal for you and I know that you wish to take it" She speaks. This does earn her a raised eyebrow from Zeke and then a shrug. "Tell me, unless you wish we were to wed one another, that sort of proposal has already been saved for another" He speaks. He looks at Poppy and winks at her and then looks back at Juniper. Missing how Poppy's cheeks burn with red when he says those words and gives her that subtle but clearly visible wink. The mossy green eyed one rolls her eyes.

"Of course now. I have standards. What I can offer you is your life. I can kill you right now or you will do what I say. You will become... shall we say puppet? Yes, that does seem like the right word for it. Since you are employed to the man which I am supposed to spend time with and you say that he loathes Witches. It would appear that I am a Witch. What you are going to be doing is reassure him that I mean him no harm and that I am simply an ordinary woman" Juniper says.

"You ask me to convince him that you are not what you are?" He asks her and she nods. "Why of course. I get to keep my life and so do you. And if you do what I ask you of, then I might consider to not ruin your book. It would appear it holds meaning to you. One that is important and would hate to have it ruined. I will not burn it. No. I will do something far worse" She speaks to him and smirks at him once more. "Do we have a deal?" She asks him.

It is not the first time this day that she is making a deal, does not want to reveal all though for there is a time and place for such. Zeke sighs and then he looks deep into her eyes. "Of course we do. After all, you will need me in order to keep your life" He says to her. While she does not understand what he meant by those words, she pays them no mind. "We shall shake on it" She announces to him. By that, Zeke laughs for some seconds. "As much as I would want to, I am quite occupied, if you had not known" Zeke tells her and gestures the ropes that he is tied up in.

With a roll of her eyes, Juniper unties him but does keep a dagger close to her. Just in case he were to try anything and he can see the blade. He should not fear the blade itself, he should fear the one that holds it and wields it for she can be far more dangerous than one might think when holding a blade. He puts his hand out, and this time she laughs. "Oh, you thought I meant like men do? No, of course not. We shall shake on it so it cannot be broken" She speaks.

Poppy steps forward to the man. "It is a spell. If either of you go back on your word or have ill intentions on breaking the deal, agony will take place to the one you love the most. It is done so the deal is respected and remains intact" She explains to him. Earning her a glare from her friend who gathers a candle. A white candle and sets it down onto the ground. Juniper walks over to him and pushes him in front of the candle.

Then she stands on the other side, across from him. The candle between them. With her dagger in one hand, Juniper reaches over and harshly takes his hand. Letting his palm face up, she slashes his palm without even a second thought. The crimson red begins to form and then she turns his hand down towards the unlit candle and lets the blood fall down upon the white candle. Some drops do fall and then she lets go of his hand and does the same to her own palm and lets her red blood drip.

Pain rushes through her body but she shows it not on her face. Juniper chants in a whispering tone three times and the candle lights up. The soft flame stays true for a second and then it goes out. Stopping her chanting, Juniper picks up the candle. The upper top of the candle remains crimson red in color while the bottom of the candle is still white and waxy color like it had been before. "This candle will insure that our deal will never be broken" She tells him. Then she puts it on a shelf. Poppy walks over to her and does the same thing she had done before.

Healing the wound. Juniper's skin stitches itself back together until there is not even a single scratch on it. Her palm is still bloody despite this. There is no wound there. It has disappeared and all the pain along with it. Then she walks over to Zeke and she gestures for him to lend her his hand so she could do the same thing. He shakes his head. "I would rather not" He tells her and she nods her head. "Then you are free to leave, but remember if you tell anyone of us or what we are or what had happened here, I will destroy all you hold dear" Juniper warns him.

She walks over to him and takes his hand. With the knife in her hand, she dips the blade into his wound and twists it. Not only making the wound larger but making it hurt far more than it had already done. "I will destroy you!" She speaks to him. Zeke does gulp at her words, or perhaps because of the pain. Or both. He nods. "Of course. I shall heed your words and you warning. I wish to give you... both of you a warning as well" He says to them and looks at Poppy when he says that.

Taking the dagger from his wound, Juniper raises an eyebrow. "Oh?" She asks. "In two days time, there will be a hunting party sent. I shall be leading them. To look for Witches. The Beast is on a hunt for one specific Witch..." He says. His eyes catching Juniper's for a moment before he looks at Poppy once more. "The hunt will find Witches that are outside during that time. There shall be a celebration to draw people out, draw Witches out" He tells them.

"If you are outside of your home during that time, even I will not be able to stop them from finding you. The least I can do is bid you time to escape. But, stepping outside would be a death-wish. Do not leave your home. Stay inside the whole day. No matter how tempting it will become. Do this and both of you shall live" He tells them or rather he tells her. For when he looks at Poppy, there is worry in his eyes, as if he worries deeply for the girl.

"We promise. Thank you for the warning" Poppy speaks and she does speak the truth when she says that. Relaxing that he was about to step towards her friend, Juniper steps in between then and clears her throat. "Yes. The warning is generous. You better leave now" She says and shows him to the door. Opening it, she pushes him through it and closes behind him. Not even saying anything. Looking at Poppy, she glares at her. She gives her friend an innocent. "What did I do?" Poppy asks her, but that earns her a scowl from the older one.

"You know what you did. Do you think I did not see that he was tied up in different ropes than the one I had tied him in. The knots were your knots, not my own. You set him free only to bind him once more upon my return. Tell me exactly what the two of you spoke of" Juniper orders her. She puts the dagger to the side and takes a cloth to wipe her hands of all blood and the dagger as well. Though, under his fingernails, her own blood stubbornly remains stuck where she cannot get it.

Poppy sighs as she sits down and looks into the fire. "We talked about many things. It was not much. He did not reveal that much about himself. I think he does not hold himself that high. Speaking of pain he has had to suffer through. Watching the mother of his unborn child die in front of his eyes and their child along with her. He is sad" Poppy speaks. Walking over to her, Juniper sits down next to her and takes her hand. "And it is in your nature to Heal what hurts" She speaks and sighs.

The younger one nods her head, her gaze still on the fire. Remembering how he could make it move to his will and he could channel it. Burn down this entire house if he wanted to. Burn down the entire island if his pain turned towards agony and anger and revenge. He has not done such a thing, yet he is in deep pain within his heart and somehow Poppy wishes she could do something for him regarding that. Heal him as if she would a wound, but Healing his heart might just break her own heart in return.

She then takes a deep breath before looking into Juniper's mossy green eyes. "What of you? What did you speak about before?" Poppy asks. Then Juniper begins to tell her friend all of which had happened this morning and the deal which she had made with Carter. She told her the plan that she has been plotting inside her mind, the same plot which she managed to make better when she had spent her time under the soft rays of the sun. It had been a time where her thoughts were able to relax. "What if you fall in love?" Poppy then asks Juniper who for a moment is stunned.

☽ 𓆱 ☾