Ariel Slick writes original fiction including short stories, novels, and memoirs to spread the joy of imagination and creativity. She also helps clients achieve their fiction writing goals with her ghostwriting skills on Upwork.com and Guru.com. Although she has  worked as a freelancer for three years, she has been dedicated to the craft all her life. Her fiction focuses on themes of love, justice, and magic, and her most popular works include romance and fantasy romance. 

What would make a girl, terrified of everything, go into the woods? Knights chasing after her, for starters. All Elaine wants is to stay in her small village forever, baking bread with her family. All that changes when she discovers that she is one of seven girls with the gift of magic. Elaine must leave behind her family and flee into the deep, dark woods where anything and everything can happen. Only guided by a talking fox, who may not be who he says on the surface, Elaine battles thieves, murderous plants, and magical creatures of all sorts. She will discover her powers and why they matter: to dethrone the evil king.  Will she be brave enough to embrace her powers?

Valient

As Elaine watched Alicia disappear into the darkness, she leaned against the cold, iron bars. 


"Psss! Zachary! Are you there?" she called. 


"Of course I'm here," he replied. "Where else would I be?"


Elaine paused, then managed to chuckle. "I suppose I deserve that," she said. Elaine paused again, not knowing exactly how to proceed. Her thoughts were in such a tangle that it was hard to think straight. The ritual was in less than a day, and she still needed to stop the queen; the king was preparing for battle; she was captured, and she had no idea when or who would send for her. "I guess...I just want to apologize," she said. 


"Apologize?" said Zachary. He came up to the bars of his cell. They could not see each other, since they were side by side, but Elaine could tell from his voice that he was close. "For what?"


Chapter 61