The Witch's Tempest

In the unassuming village somewhere south of London, all Elspeth “Ella” Flor wanted was to live a normal life without being reminded of her mother’s death. However, when nine year old Elspeth stole flowers to put on her mother’s grave, it proves to be much more of a consequence than she bargained for. In fact, these flowers were anything but ordinary— enchanted roses often used to trap unmagical humans into a lifelong apprenticeship in the dark magical arts. It was all because Elspeth happened to be naive enough to pass the Madame Peregrin’s first magical test: picking nearly every charmed bloom from the bush.

Seven years later since her disappearance, sixteen years old Ella has been living under the captivity of Madame Peregrin and forced to do impossible, daunting tasks under transformation enchantments in the Three Related Contorsi Realms with the threat of death. She’s not the naive little girl she once was, and becomes determined to uncover what plan Madame has for her... that is, until she’s sent in an exchange apprenticeship program to the mysterious young dragonologist, Bensiabel.

A loose retelling of the Italian fairy tale, Prunella.
(If you'd like to read the fairy tale, you can find it here: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/stories/prunella.html)