Book Spotlight + Giveaway: The Kingmaker by Gemma Perfect

“I am sixteen years old and I will die on the morning of my seventeenth birthday. As tradition dictates, I will be sacrificed and my life’s blood will determine which one of my two brothers will be King. My blood will kill one and crown one. My name is Everleigh and I am the Kingmaker.”

The legend of the Kingmaker goes back millions of years. Their magic chooses the rightful King of the Realm and they all die on their seventeenth birthday.

Except this one.

Everleigh is special.

She is the Kingmaker who will live, the Kingmaker who will rule, the Kingmaker who will be Queen.

But not everyone agrees with an age old prophecy that says that a girl will rule the Realm and soon Everleigh is locked in a deadly battle for the throne.

Halfreda

I have been sleeping so much more than
normal. I believe the dreams are sending me messages. I have such a strong
feeling about this one – stronger than I have ever had before; I think she
might be the one.

I know what people think when they look at
me, half of them revere me and half of them fear me.

I admit I exaggerate my persona but never
ever my powers. My powers are real. I know things and I see things. I see
things that haven’t happened yet but will happen. I know a person’s heart – I
can see greatness and badness, trust or ill will. I know if someone is cursed
before they tell me. I know if a woman is with child before she does. I know
the private thoughts of people. Some people. Not everyone – some people are
good at hiding their true self, blocking off the signals I pick up, but for the
most part I can.

My persona is something else. I do have a
little fun with the chanting – not all of which is strictly necessary. I enjoy
staring at someone and then letting my eyes roll back in my head as if I have
been overcome with some secret thing to do with them – that trick gets everyone
in a fluster.

But I’m a good woman and a useful one. I do
help the King. I use my powers to advise him. I use my knowledge to guide him
and I have never shown him wrong. The Realm is peaceful and prosperous and I
know that I have helped with that.

But my real purpose, the reason my teacher
placed me here at the castle, has eluded me thus far. Through no fault of my
own, I must add.

So, the blessing is over and here I am making
up a future fire to see what I can see.

I’ve gathered the wood and started the fire,
the flames licking upwards and warming my room. I’ve put all the necessary
ingredients in to my bowl over the fire. The liquid is swirling. I’m trying to
see if my hunch is correct. If I’m right about Everleigh.

Ah, I’m fed up of this puzzle. The fire will
not show me anything, but does that mean I am wrong or that the future is too
uncertain?

Where is my knowledge now?

Every time a Kingmaker comes to this final
countdown in their life I intervene. Everleigh is the seventh Kingmaker I have
known. That may give you an idea of my age I know, and yes, I am older than
anyone I have ever met.

The teacher told me I will live until my
life’s purpose is completed and my life’s purpose is to find the Kingmaker who
is not the Kingmaker.

Does that even make sense?

When I met my teacher, I was only a teenager.
I was rebelling against my power and trying to drown out my knowledge and gift
with drink. Alcohol dulled the power and the voices inside me.

My teacher helped me, guided me and allowed
me to live with my power, enjoying the help it gave me and embracing it fully.
He also told me that I had been chosen for a special and important purpose.

He asked me if I had heard of the Kingmaker.
Of course, I had – everyone had. The Kingmaker was a sacred tradition used to
choose the new King of the Realm.

The teacher had been privy to a prophecy
found years ago, which told of the one Kingmaker who would not die, she instead
would rule as the Queen and the greatest ruler that the Realm had ever known.

I was to learn my craft and then go to the
castle and work as a wise woman to assist the King. But every time the
Kingmaker feast came around, I was to secretly meet the Kingmaker and test if
she was the future Queen.

I have a feeling with this one that I’ve
never had before. I’m more excited than I’ve been previously to test her. I’m
nervous too. The one thing the teacher never told me was what happened next. If
I found the Kingmaker who should be Queen, how did I convince anyone else?

My fire has let me down. I leave it to die
and decide to finish for the night. After all, if she does as I’ve asked, I
will meet Everleigh at the river at sunrise, which isn’t that far away.

I lay in my bed, watching the embers of the
fire flicker away, and as I do I see a crown forming in the smoke. Is it a
trick of my imagination or is it a sign?

I drift off to sleep pondering.

Gemma Perfect loves to write. She’s been doing it since she was nine. After a few false starts – self publishing children’s books, and being traditionally published with her romance novella, she has finally found her feet writing young adult historical fantasy books. She is currently writing The Cursed Princess, set five years after The Kingmaker Trilogy finishes, following the adventures of Everleigh’s sister, Addyson.

Gemma lives in Wales with her husband Craig and their three boys, Sam, Corey and Oliver. She is happiest when writing, day dreaming and eating smelly blue cheese.