When you first meet Crown Princess Kir’Ana Touran in the young adult fantasy THE PROVING, she is already at her wits end. After spending her early teens rebelling against cloistered royal life, she now shows symptoms of veriance – a disease where teens exhibit supernatural powers before going murderously insane.

A veriant heir would be disastrous for her mother the queen, so heartbroken Kir’Ana decides to fake her own death and go into hiding far from the Touran Protectorates. Soon Kir’Ana falls in with bold young adventurer Annix Mastoro and a group of other veriant, hunted teens. But all is not as it seems; Kir’Ana and Annix learn they are not destined for madness. They are the Elect of the Silver Phoenix, a legendary creature from fanciful Bard’s Tales, chosen to battle in THE PROVING with the fate of the land in the balance.

Thanks to the magical artistic skills of the fantastic KatieJ, Kir’Ana has been brought to life!

I particularly love Kir’Ana’s expression in this picture; a mixture of sadness and resolve, of hidden fears and the weight of duty. I imagine this is Kir’Ana’s face when she sees her mother Queen Lorrelai and father King Regent Xanad for the last time before carrying out her plan.

Stay tuned! Artwork for Annix will be posted soon!

~Kevin