In Crown of Bones, Piper is an orange-robe savant who raises a phantom that takes the form of a two-headed snake. Her job in the company is to heal, boost strength and endurance and restore well being. She is also trained in hand-to-hand and stands as a strong ally in any fight.

In some ways, Piper is the heart of the company, giving of herself to sustain and care for everyone else. As a healer, she makes no distinction between savant, non-savant, friend, foe, animal, plant or even coral reef when asked for help. She’s always ready to do what she can.

With her passionate relationship to the caller/alter savant, Samen, another member of the company, and her enormous store of medicinal knowledge and lore, Piper is a joy to read and write.

She’s the moral compass of the group (along with Ash) and represents a powerful female character who, though kickass in her combat skills, doesn’t have to leverage stereotypical masculine traits to get the job done. Her power comes from belief in herself, something she doesn’t have to prove to anyone, ever. It is always within.

***

If you missed Piper’s backstory with Samsen, here is a little glimpse through Marcus’s eyes as he tells Belair about them:

“There’s a story there, I’ll wager.” Belair sounds more than a little

curious. “She’s older, right?”

“Not that much.”

“How’d it happen?”

“…Ten years ago, when Piper was sixteen, she’d just

earned her orange robes.”

“That’s young.”

“She’s an excellent healer. Anyway, she was in the hills behind

Baiseen, gathering herbs, when a band of Gollnarians cornered

her.”

“They were far from home.”

“A scouting party…Piper was badly outnumbered…Samsen,

thirteen at the time, was out hunting. He heard the fight and sent

his phantom in.”

“Form?”

“Golden eagle, talons like grappling hooks. But by the time

Samsen reached her, his phantom was pinned under a Gollnar

winged demon, and Piper was cornered in the bottom of a ravine,

her snake chopped in half, going to ground. Sam refused to give up…

He stayed in phantom perspective. Fought them off. Killed or cut

up every last one. By then his phantom wounds were so severe, he

nearly bled out.”

“So…the healer saved the hero?”

I nod. “And they’ve been bonded ever since.”

***

To celebrate this month’s special Giveaway on Bookbub, I am also giving away a signed, hardback copy of Crown of Bones. Just pop a comment in ANY (or all for more chances) of my July posts and the winner will be drawn from a hat on July 31^st. If you are following me on Instagram (@a.k.wilder) you get double the entries, so that’s fun.

See you in the comments!

xxKim (aka AK Wilder)