{Blog Tour} Crowning Keys By Catherine Downen (@CatherineDownen)

Crowning Keys
(The Markings #2)
By: Catherine Downen
Genre: Fantasy
January 2021

Summary:

Adaline has reached Libertas, but it isn’t the freedom she had imagined. A war is brewing between the gifted and the non-gifted, a line of separation that is slowly crumbling away.

Adaline and Alexander must learn how to use their gifts to fulfill the prophecy that declares them the saviors. But there is so much Adaline doesn’t know about her past and her future. While she feels in control of her actions, she soon learns that she’s at the will of another one of her father’s plans.

In this thrilling and emotional novel, Adaline rises to her new titles: the Princess of Libertas and the Savior of The Gifted.

“Maybe it’s in our blood to be fighters, but maybe we’ve never known to be anything else.”

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***Excerpt***

From a prisoner to royalty in almost two weeks. The transition here in Libertas keeps moving faster and my role in this new life keeps getting bigger.

“Okay, now about the rebellion. Adaline, you and Alexander have just over a week to learn as much as you can about your gifts,” my father says.

“A week?” I interrupt.

“We have word that King Renon is organizing his troops in Dather as we speak, and they will be making their move soon. He won’t come to us, not right away,” my father says waving his hands. “They are securing their borders now to keep us from going in. If we wait too long, we’ll miss our opportunity to infiltrate their lands.”

“Why won’t they come to us?” I ask.

“For many reasons,” my father says. “One is that King Renon isn’t interested in sending his soldiers on a voyage that could kill them. He’d want to keep as many alive as he can for when we come to them.”

“Which he’ll be expecting because of the prophecy?” I ask.

“If he’s discovered you and Alexander are the keys mentioned in the prophecy, he knows it’s only a matter of time until the rest of prophecy unfolds.” My father nods thoughtfully.

“What’s the other reason that he won’t come here?” I ask.

“The other reason is that he couldn’t find us,” my father says, letting a smirk cross his face.

“What do you mean?”

“Gifted with an enhanced sense of sight work around the clock to keep the island invisible.” My father studies my face, and he must know what my next question will be because he answers it. “When you sailed in, we made ourselves visible so you would know where to go. If King Renon’s army were to be sailing towards us, they’d see open blue water.”

“And when they got too close?” I ask, remembering how Max had explained invisibility. This island is still a solid body.

“They’d be dead before their boats could hit the wall,” he says.

“So, King Renon has no idea where Libertas is?”

No wonder everyone is so relaxed here. They have no fear of ever being ambushed.

For a moment, I second-guess why we’re fighting in this war. We could hide here, far from King Renon’s grasp, forever. But the gifted I left behind surface in my memory. Specifically the girl, the hound that got away from Paylon, comes back to me. She had told me she was going to try and free her sister. She is fighting. This war has already started. We can’t abandon the gifted back in Dather who have already begun to fight.

“Okay, so one week,” I say, swallowing away the idea.

“One week,” my father says and all of a sudden the weight of the rebellion seems to multiply on my shoulders. “I’ll show you to your new quarters.”

It’s at this moment that I feel the separation from my traveling group settle in. Cooper and I are royals. Even Alexander being a key component in the rebellion can’t match the important status that Cooper or myself hold.

But I remind myself that Alexander is royal by blood.

The wrong blood.

***About the Author***

Catherine Downen is the author of The Markings series. She recently graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She has always had a love for writing and a passion for telling stories. Currently, Catherine is working as a Sustaining Engineer in St. Louis MO by day, while continuing to write on the side.