Merci remained at the window until nightfall. With no other howling of the wolves and no more mysterious talking in her head. There was one more day she had until freedom.

She closed the window panels and stripped off her clothing and slipped on a nightgown. Curling up in bed Merci let her eyes fall shut.

Upon her dream she dreamt once again of the beautiful kingdom. A bliss of wondrous colors and unique creatures, a true fantasy world.

Once the castle came into view, the voice echoed in her mind, “Home. Is just a day away.” The voice reminded her of hope and happiness. As it appeared he was showing her a world full of possibilities. A world she hoped truly existed as she wanted out of her current one.

“It is very real. Just you wait and see my darling.” The husky sounding voice said.

There was one thing that Merci was one hundred percent sure on. Whoever this man is, she trusted him. No matter how much she didn’t know about him. For all she knew he could have been a killer. But yet, she trusted him as he has helped her live.

Once she woke on her final day in Zanderia, she felt a jolt of happiness in her body. She made sure everything she had bought in town was still stuffed in her bag and left it in her wardrobe for the time being. She slipped on her clothes that she wore yesterday.

“One more day of work.” She whispered before marching down the stairs to her folks.

“On time for breakfast?” Her mother questioned as there was still a plate of food in her spot.

Merci’s eyes went wide. It had been a couple of days since she had a decent breakfast. She took her spot and began to eat the bacon and eggs.

“Can we talk about your magic Merci?” Her mother questioned after a few minutes of watching her eat.

“I…no.” Merci said as she ate the last bite of her food. She took a sip of the orange juice that was sitting there. “I am going to go work on the farm.”

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“Okay dear, at some point we will need to discuss this further.”

“Yeah, of course.” Merci said as she hurried off to the barn.

As her usual day followed, cows, sheep, pigs, horses and then plucking away at the garden all day. Twelve hours go by as night began to fall.

Before Merci went inside, she cast Animal Friendship one more time and walked back to the barn.

Turning on the light she spoke to all the animals on the farm, “I don’t think I will be here tomorrow. I am being saved by a man.”

“OOOO.” Velma the cow said, “Whooo, is hee?”

“I don’t know but he has been keeping me alive so far.”

“Stranger.” A sheep said.

“A trustworthy stranger.” Merci said to the sheep.

“Caution.” The sheep responded back.

“Well, duh. I don't like to make out or anything with him. But anything is better than here.”

“Amen tooo that!” Bella responded.

“I will miss all of you.” Merci said as she felt a tear slip out of her eye and fall down her cheek.

“We will miss you!” The barn filled with various types of voices as each animal responded back at once.

“I wish I could stay longer but I gotta get going before I get in trouble.”

Merci pulled the string to turn the lights off and closed the barn. Tomorrow she will leave. Tomorrow she will never see the animals in the barn again.

She ran towards the house in hopes it wasn’t too late as she feared her father would scream at her. To her surprise, the home was silent. The carriage was still there so her parents didn’t leave but they didn’t appear to be inside the house. Merci was curious but she wanted to sleep more as she had a day full of adventure ahead of her.

She quickly washed up and slipped on a new shirt and pair of pants and opened the window. She let out a sigh as she stared into the night sky, “My savor, when shall I meet you?”

“After midnight.” The voice whispered, “I need you to gather your things. Shift into a raven and fly south.” The voice responded.

Shift? Alright. She didn’t question and did as she was told. She grabbed her backpack and focused on shifting into a black raven. One that would blind into the night sky.

Once the shifting took place, Merci had to figure out how to flap her wings as she had never flown before. Once she got the hang of it she took off from the window and soared south of the farm.