She wiped at the tears gathering in her eyes, nodding. “I know,” she said, “I did what I had to.” She pulled him into a tight embrace, her breath warm on his neck. “And so will you, Aaron. So will Grinner and Hale, for that matter. We all know what is at stake now.” She stepped back, meeting his eyes. “Tell me, truly, do you think we can beat Kevlane?”
Aaron considered, wishing he could lie to her but knowing she’d see it in his face. “No,” he said finally.
“Oh, Aaron,” she said, pulling him close once more, “then what do you aim to do?”
Aaron held her tight, feeling her warmth against him. “I aim to fight,” he said, turning and looking once more in the direction of Baresh, at the dark fields and forest that were all that stood between them and an insane, ancient evil that sought their destruction. “It’s as much as any man or woman can do.”
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Thank you for taking the time to read A Sellsword’s Valor. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
The next Seven Virtues adventure will be coming soon. While you wait, why not check out The Son of the Morning: Book One of the Nightfall Wars?
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Note from the Author
And so we’ve come to the end of A Sellsword’s Valor, the fourth book in The Seven Virtues series. This one was a blast to write, and I hope you enjoyed visiting with Aaron and the others once again as much as I did. We have come far into the darkness now, dear reader, where enemies abound and the true battle fast approaches. I will not tell you not to be afraid, for there is much to fear waiting further along the path we travel, and I worry that not all those who we have come to love will survive what’s coming.
I cannot promise you safety where we go, nor can I promise that all will work out as we might hope, but know that wherever the path leads us, I will go there with you. And not only me but many others, a veritable army travels this ground with us, so many in number that their boots might shake the earth for miles in any direction. If, that was, they wore boots. Still, before the battle begins, I think that it is only decent of us to acknowledge them and their sacrifice, so I shall do so now.
Thank you, as always, to my wife for keeping the lights on while I venture into these worlds of shadow and sunlight. Thank you to my family for always standing at the ready, brandishing their weapons at the approaching hordes, and if sometimes they “accidentally” hit me in the back of the head with those weapons, well, I cannot fault them for that as the journey, and the book, always end up being better for it.
Thank you to those beta readers who have taken the time to journey into my world—they are the trailblazers, those who venture forth into the wilderness without home or hope and no idea of what they might find waiting for them.
Lastly, thanks to you, dear reader. Perhaps, you are not the first to arrive in this place, but you are no less necessary for all that, for without you, the battle cannot be fought at all. Now, this leg of the journey is done, but there is so much more waiting, good and evil both, I’ll wager. I cannot swear I know where the path ends myself, nor what waits for us along it—I have a vague vision but no more than that, and it twists and shifts like shadows in the darkness. So keep your torch handy and your sword steady. We will be needing them before long.
Yours in battle,
Jacob Peppers
About the Author
Jacob Peppers lives in Georgia with his wife, his son, Gabriel, and three dogs. He is an avid reader and writer and when he’s not exploring the worlds of others, he’s creating his own. His short fiction has been published in various markets, and his short story, “The Lies of Autumn,” was a finalist for the 2013 Eric Hoffer Award for Short Prose.
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