A Coin Has Two Sides (Season Three) || Kaz Brekker x OC

9. Pick and Choose

Winnie didn't have large scale plans for her future.

She very much saw herself returning to Ravka if this job went well.

After all, what reason did she have to be anywhere else?

This helped significantly when it came to bidding her goodbyes to each of her friends.

Kaz had decided they return to Ketterdam that evening, not the next day like Winnie had hoped.

According to his reasoning, they had already wasted enough time waiting around for Winnie and her prior commitments.

Strangely, Kaz seemed to announce his urgency to get out of Ravka when Winnie was reunited with Willem after their meeting came to an end.

It resulted in an annoyed Commander who was hoping for a final night with the shadow summoner before she left with a threat to never return.

At that point, Kaz had tried to hide a smirk and walked away with Jesper and Inej to procure a carriage for their journey.

Winnie had a tearful embrace with Alina, promising her that she will be alright under Zoya's care.

The two were still connected through the tiny fragments of their old, shared amplifier, and thus could remain in contact when necessary.

This bought comfort to Winnie who was mainly concerned about leaving Alina without her guidance on the new shadow abilities she had.

But Zoya had managed to help her tame hers, so Winnie had full confidence that Alina wouldn't be facing it alone.

After quickly saying goodbye to Zoya, who reminded Winnie not to die, and Genya, who wished her the best of luck and safety, she had spoken to Nikolai.

"Back to your roots, moi tselai", he had said.

"Don't go thinking you're getting rid of me completely, moi malenchki", she had replied.

Winnie had never seen Nikolai tear up in front of her before, but he was desperately trying to conceal his concern for a girl who definitely didn't want it, and let an accidental tear fall from his eye.

It was then Winnie had pulled him into a hug away from the eyes of his subjects and whispered in his ear that she'll be just fine and will come back in one piece.

Nikolai had whispered back that if she doesn't return, he'll personally journey to find her. Wherever she may be.

After they had parted, Winnie had been escorted to her room by Willem where she packed up any relevant belongings she would need in Ketterdam.

She made a point of leaving anything worth stealing behind.

She also made a point of changing out of her extravagant ball gown into an outfit more suitable for the Barrel.

It had been so long since she wore such clothes.

When she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she was convinced she had travelled into the past.

But what reminded her that she wasn't that person again was her hair.

Winnie had made an excellent point that her hair was her main identifiable feature.

Anyone in Fjerda knows the platinum-blond and black striped mix of hair belonging to the shadow summoner.

As does everyone in Ketterdam, and thus Hellgate.

If she wanted to go without being immediately identified and arrested, it needed to be changed.

Genya had thus tailored the platinum-blond strips of her hair to become black. Leaving her with a full head of raven black hair.