Katherinepowell Presents: Silverkeep: A Draft

The kingdom of Aramoor, according to American census reports dating back to its founding in 1893, was nothing more than a small town tucked into the south side of the Absaroka Mountain Range. The people who lived there, according to those living in the towns surrounding them, were closeted and kept to themselves, never emerging from the borders of the town. There was no known trade or commerce between the town and its sister cities, and there were no records of the town ever interacting with anyone outside of themselves. They didn't answer to the state government, they didn't pay their taxes, and they didn't have elected officials.

Yet no one asked any questions.

The kingdom of Aramoor, according to their own records and history, was founded in 1893 by two intelligent and innovative men. They were educated, they were cunning, and they both harnessed powers that were shared by no one else. Yarrin Silverkeep and Lacros Hankala were Sorcerers, able to control aspects of the known and unknown universe no one else could. They created their kingdom from nothing, and harnessed it into what it turned into: a realm of angst and war between the two sides of every story.

The Good and the Evil.

The names Silverkeep and Hankala became something of legends in Aramoor, and for good reason: without the two friends from long ago, the kingdom would never have come to pass. Despite the vast differences of the people inside, Aramoor was a safe haven for those of magical tendencies, and those with powers that would frighten anyone from outside of their kingdom.

Time passed, wars ensued inside of the kingdom, and as one leader, one Ductor, died in battle, another inevitably took their place at the helm of the realm. The most miraculous part of the kingdom was the fact that no one died except in battle—the only people who had to worry about the cold hand of death were those on the front lines. Age had no power over creatures with such atrocious capabilities to distort time and space.

Aramoor grew to be home to many rules and regulations to keep their kingdom comfortable and functioning. The rules soon became restrictive, even ludicrous, yet the people found nothing wrong with it; they were hardly ones to argue against the leadership that were the Silverkeep and Hankala families.

A spouse was expected to be found by the age of thirty. Seven children were allowed to be born to each couple by the age of sixty—no more and no less. Children born out of wedlock and the mother they are born to are seen as lesser than the rest of the kingdom, no matter their status or family affiliations. It was up to the Council, comprised of twelve community elders, and the Ductor, their overarching leader, to decide if the mother was even allowed to remain in the town. More often than not, she was dismissed.

The people of the kingdom were the most fascinating part of all: there were seven different categories of people living in the town, all with their own unique abilities and powers. No one knew how they came to be in the first place, but after much research and genetic history, it was clear how they currently came about.

The Healers were the bottom of the swimming pool, since they had no capabilities of being Evil, and therefore no possible path that could lead them to gaining any power. They were all women with kind hearts who could heal others upon request or need, but often not themselves.

The Seers weren't too far up from the Healers, despite their ability to be either Good or Evil, male or female. Their quality of life and use was lessened by the fact that their short bursts of seeing the future were not always entirely reliable, and due to human agency, often didn't come to pass.

Illusionists were a step up from Seers, and a large step at that. They were nothing but Evil, and were able to shift forms at will to deceive anyone to their benefit. It was a terribly annoying trick, and during times of war could lead to fatal outcomes on both sides.

Warlocks made up the last of the four Lesser subsets of people living in Aramoor. They too were purely Evil and all male, with the ability to manipulate nature to their will. Their power was lost on human beings or any of the other magical beings around them, and thus they were consistently allied with one of the Greater groups to assist in their will.

Witches and Wizards began the ascent into the Greater subsets of magical beings. All the Greater subsets were capable of being Good or Evil except for the very highest, and had their own names based on whether they were male or female. Witches and Wizards dealt with the magic behind nature, and the four elements specifically—fire, water, earth, and air—to bend at their will.

Enchanters and Enchantresses dealt with a different part of nature, and therefore were consistently feuding with the Witches and Wizards as to who really controlled the greatest part of their realm. They possessed the ability to control the sun, moon, and stars, which they naturally believed to be of superior power to their magical counterparts. They were correct.

Which leaves only one subset to be the strongest.

Yarrin Silverkeep and Lacros Hankala were Sorcerers, and thus their kind had been a part of Aramoor for longer than any of the other magical beings. Sorcerers and Sorceresses were the most cunning and deceitful of the subsets, as they had the ability to control everything around them—nature and beings. They could exercise control over anyone they pleased, which made them a terrible force to reckon with. They were also completely Evil.

Except for a select few.

The Dissium were few and far between, but they existed in every generation of Aramoor residents since Yarrin and Lacros had founded the kingdom. They were Sorcerers and Sorceresses by nature and Evil by instinct—but they possessed the ability to have a Good heart. And more often than not, they followed that instinct.

And thus the seven roles of magical beings came to be. No one argued with it, and no one but they had been inside of Aramoor for over 150 years, and no one ever would be.

Or so they thought.

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek at my book that will be coming out very soon! It's the first of a few, and this is the rough draft of the Prologue--the first-ever look at it. Let me know your thoughts, and be sure to stay tuned on my profile to find out when it will be available to read on swoonreads.com for FREE!

-Katherine

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION: 

Katherinepowell will giveaway a Kindle Edition of 'Dear Sydney' to two lucky winners! My giveaway is open internationally. 

★ ★ ★

ENTER THE WATTPAD BLOCK PARTY GIVEAWAYS BY CLICKING HERE:

Shortened Link to Blog: https://goo.gl/oCHaqH

OR HERE:

Regular Link to Blog: http://kellyanneblountauthor.blogspot.com/2018/01/wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-iv.html