Book Spotlight and Excerpt: Skull’s Vengeance (Series: Curse of Clansmen and Kings, Book 4) by Linnea Tanner

 

A Celtic warrior queen must do the impossible—defeat her sorcerer half-brother and claim the throne. But to do so, she must learn how to strike vengeance from her father’s skull.

AS FORETOLD BY HER FATHER in a vision, Catrin has become a battle-hardened warrior after her trials in the Roman legion and gladiatorial games. She must return to Britannia and pull the cursed dagger out of the serpent's stone to fulfill her destiny. Only then can she unleash the vengeance from the ancient druids to destroy her evil half-brother, the powerful sorcerer, King Marrock. Always two steps ahead and seemingly unstoppable, Marrock can summon destructive natural forces to crush any rival trying to stop him and has charged his deadliest assassin to bring back Catrin's head.

To have the slightest chance of beating Marrock, Catrin must forge alliances with former enemies, but she needs someone she can trust. Her only option is to seek military aid from Marcellus—her secret Roman husband. They rekindle their burning passion, but he is playing a deadly game in the political firestorm of the Julio-Claudian dynasty to support Catrin's cause.

Ultimately, in order to defeat Marrock, Catrin must align herself with a dark druidess and learn how to summon forces from skulls to exact vengeance. But can she and Marcellus outmaneuver political enemies from Rome and Britannia in their quest to vanquish Marrock?

Trigger warnings:

Sex, Slave trafficking and abuse, Violence, Childbirth

Acclaim for other books in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series:

"[An] epic tale of love, betrayal and political intrigue." —InD'tale Magazine

"The requisite fantasy elements of magic and mystery abound...Tanner also does an admirable job weaving in the politics and mythology of a bygone people." —Kirkus

"Part fantasy, part historical fiction, Linnea Tanner has woven together a wonderful tale of romance, intrigue, mystery, and legend to create an entertaining and complex story." —The International Review of Books

"[A] captivating tale of triangles; love, lust and espionage; friend, foe, and spies; barbarians, civilized Rome and spiritual-supernatural beings." —2019 Pencraft Book of the Year Award

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Skull’s Vengeance

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 Buy Links for Books from Curse of Clansmen and Kings series:

 Apollo's Raven   Dagger's Destiny   Amulet's Rapture   Skull's Vengeance

 .•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨) ✮ ( ¸.•´✶

 Excerpt

Calleva, Southeast Britannia, 1 November, 27 AD

Marrock threw his head back to commune with his wolves. Images projecting in his mind from various wolves showed spearmen in chariots, cavalrymen, and foot soldiers concealed in the forest—a battle tactic often used by Epaticcus to lure opposing forces into the thick trees for his fighters to butcher. Also hiding in the woods were commoners—men, women, and older children armed with pitchforks, clubs, and sickles.

The earthy smell in the air signaled an imminent rainstorm lurking overhead. Marrock knew on this day of Samhain, portals from the Otherworld would open, allowing him to summon dark forces from his three skulls. Soon, he would learn how to conjure these powers on any day he chose.

After dismounting, Marrock retrieved from the back of his horse the three skulls that were interconnected by crimson rope threaded in and out of their eye sockets. After setting the skulls on the grassy ground, he lifted his arms to the sky and cried out.

I call upon ancestral souls

To open portals to the Otherworld.

God of thunder, lightning, and storms,

Thrust your bolts at the earth’s womb,

Stir her anger and crack open her crevasses.

Goddess of blood, quakes, and war,

Wreak death, destruction, and mayhem.

For a moment, it was silent. No bird chirps. No raven screeches. No human voices. Then, suddenly, charged energy surged from the skulls into Marrock’s fingertips. Dark clouds spiraled above him. Flashes of lightning webbed across the darkening sky. A gust of roaring wind swept back his shoulder-length, auburn hair. The earth rumbled beneath his leather shoes. Then, to his dismay, the charged energy fizzled out.

A streak of panic swept through him as he tried to summon the forces of nature again from the three skulls. Suddenly, Catrin’s image flashed in his mind. Sensing her essence, he snapped his head back in shock.

How can this be? She should be dead!

A multicolored aura only he could see rose out of his father’s skull. Shaken, he warily knelt and placed his fingertips on top of his father’s skull. Sensing Catrin’s presence emitting from the bony crown, he knew then that her soul was in the skull. He shuddered at the prospect that she’d possessed their father’s skull, as Rhan had at her execution with a mute girl named Agrona. How could this be, though? Catrin had not even been there when he’d struck off their father’s head. Or had she?

Enemy war chariots charging out of the dense woods drew Marrock’s attention back to the battle. The enemy line split to form gaps, allowing the wheeled vehicles through. The spearmen in the chariots brandished their weapons, while the drivers steered the fast-moving chariots toward the wedged formation of Marrock’s forces. To counter the assault, he had to remove Catrin’s essence from the skull before he could summon the dark forces.

He recalled his mother saying that Catrin was a soul traveler who could enter the minds of other living entities. Though her physical body was solid, her soul flowed freely like a fluid.

If Catrin has this ability, so must I.

Marrock’s soul took the shape of a dragon and flowed into his father’s skull. There, he found Catrin’s soul in the shape of a raven. He expelled a fiery breath to immolate her essence, then quickly returned to his physical form to focus on the battle.

Seeing a war chariot charging at him, Marrock jumped to his feet and lifted his arms to the heavens. This time, he successfully ignited the full destructive forces of nature from the skulls. The harvested field in front of him cracked like a broken eggshell as the ground rumbled beneath him.

The snaps of wooden wheels catching and breaking in the newly formed fissures echoed across the battlefield. Chariots flipped over, propelling spearmen and drivers onto the ground. Fissures continued to crisscross across the field, all the way to the edge of the thick woods. A cacophony of screams from the opposing warriors as they stumbled and plunged into the widening crevices resonated all around. A bolt of lightning struck down enemy fighters on the far side of the field like hewn trees.

When raindrops began to pelt Marrock’s face like shards of ice, he lowered his arms to calm the forces of nature to prevent further destruction of his enemy. He would sell the survivors as slaves to the Romans.

Linnea Tanner

 

Award-winning author, Linnea Tanner, weaves Celtic tales of love, magical adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. Since childhood, she has passionately read about ancient civilizations and mythology. Of particular interest are the enigmatic Celts, who were reputed as fierce warriors and mystical druids.

Linnea has extensively researched ancient and medieval history, mythology, and archaeology and has traveled to sites described within each of her books in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series. Books released in her series include Apollo’s Raven (Book 1), Dagger’s Destiny (Book 2), Amulet’s Rapture (Book 3), and Skull’s Vengeance (Book 4).

A Colorado native, Linnea attended the University of Colorado and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. She lives in Fort Collins with her husband and has two children and six grandchildren.

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