The Atonement of a Writer

Prologue

Arielle Dumont was an orphan who lost her family in a fire when she was young. Taken in by the Soules, she grew up with the Soule family heir, Killian. A Countess by her own rights, she fought to be emancipated as soon as possible and find out the real reason behind that unfortunate night's fire. Even as a high-tiered mage with the ability to tame beasts, and with Killian by her side, her road will not be easy...especially when the Crown Prince and his sister barge into her life. Read The Empire's Inferno to experience the journey of fighting against society and, of course, love!

~*~

A writer's block.

Lilianne Marineau, also known as Lili by her few friends, stared blankly at the screen in front of her. She was in the process of writing a book, entitled The Empire's Inferno, and she was well and truly stuck.

The heroine, Arielle, was currently on the verge of death. Of course, Lili knew the protagonist, Clovis, would eventually save her, since that was how stories usually went, but how? She didn't know. And what of the villainess, Princess Colette, Clovis's sister? Her mind was as blank as the document in her computer screen.

Lili was overcome with desperation and exhaustion as the blank canvas in the glowing screen continued to mock her. She knew it in her heart that she wasn't a great writer, and her novel was cliche after cliche, but writing was what she loved, even though she wasn't good at it. It was what distracted her from reality. She glanced at the clock. It was nearing one in the morning, and she was dead tired from a long day.

A student struggling to graduate by day, and a writer by night. Maybe this wasn't the path she meant to take. She could just try to battle it out in school, where she was studying business on her family's whims, even though it was a losing battle. It would be a pity, since she had already put in a lot of work into the novel, but if it didn't work out...well, maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Forget the nonsense about chasing your dreams. People who lived their dreams were nothing but a modern fairytale.

Leaning her head on her desk, her consciousness slowly faded as she succumbed to the tiredness she felt. Maybe I'll just take a short nap. Everything will be better when I wake up...