Kerra

**Kerra** was the daughter of King Pellanor and the Queen of the Cantii tribe. She was as skilled a warrior as any member of the Cantii tribe with a blade and bow. Kerra's impulsive and headstrong attitudes have unfortunately fuelled the feud between the Cantii and Regni tribes after she castrated Gildas, the son of Queen Antedia, at their wedding. Kerra loves her father, but his reverence for the Druids has driven a wedge between them. They decreed that her mother was to be flayed alive in front of her and her father. Kerra's recent actions have further spoiled their relationship, with Pellanor keeping Kerra a virtual prisoner at the Cantii citadel of Crugdunon. Kerra dreams of a life free from the tribe and the gods, but she soon finds that the fate of her people is in her hands.

## Biography

Kerra protects her father after his attempted marriage between the two estranged tribes goes wrong. When the group returns home, he reprimands her for being there at all and declares her as the reason for the irreparable division between the tribes. She asks if this officially makes her a prisoner, to which he declares she cannot leave unless he specifically allows her to.

Kerra watches an attempt at parley between the romans and her father, where her father spit on their request. The result of his outright refusal was a series of crucifixions of their people. Kerra rides out to the Roman camp and seeks parley with the General. She requests that he stop crucifying their people while she tries to get her father to see reason. The General concedes and orders his men to cease the deaths. Upon leaving, Lindon is seen tracking her, and when she is ambushed he helps fight the men off. When they return, separately, Lindon advises the king all he saw at the roman camp, minus Kerra's presence. Kerra leaves the throne room and finds her brother having ransacked her room, finding roman scrolls from when she was young, and is forced to admit that she attempted parley with the Romans. He fears she has roman demon blood and that their father will have him flayed like their mother for keeping her secret parley from the king.

Upon the torturing of roman captives, her father learns that she visited the roman camp, in spite of his forbidding it, and turns her over to the Druids for judgement. He stated she did it because she had her mother's demon blood in her from her Roman heritage. He declares that regardless of their decision, she is dead to him. She responds that regardless of their decision, she will do as her mother did and love him anyway.

At judgement, Kerra states that she defied her father to save her people. When asked what she was to give in return, or if it was a favor to her, she declared that she had vowed to try to persuade her father to speak with them. When asked who she serves, she declares loyalty to her tribe. Her scrolls are then revealed to the druid, having been provided to the king by Amena. Kerra is asked if she fears the gods to which she responded, if loving my mother angers the gods, then they are no gods of mine.

While waiting during the night for her judgment, Lindon comes to her asking her to run away with him. Kerra declines to run away but they lay together on this night.

The next morning, the druids come to deliver the judgment. Kerra is not to be sacrificed, King Pellanor is, and the king accepts this judgement. It is upon his sacrifice that the druids declare her Queen Kerra of the Cantii.

Once Queen, she met with General Aulus, who was looking for a young daughter of a blind father, and agreed that if she came across anyone like this, she would hand them over to him. Shortly after, she came across Cait, playing with a ball. They talked and Kerra gave her a dress which her mother had given to her when she was around Cait's age. When Divis started chasing Cait and her blind father, they ran into Kerra, who led them away. Kerra recognised Cait as the small daughter of a blind father that Aulus was after, and when fleeing they were spotted by Aulus. She called for her guards, who protected Kerra as she escorted Cait and Sawyer away, calling Cait "The One".

After not giving Aulus Cait, Aulus allied with the Regni queen Antedia, who together laid siege to the Cantii for four moons. When they were almost out of food their storage went up in flames, lit by the Regni spy Lindon, forcing her to surrender to Antedia and General Aulus. She discussed the terms of surrender with Aulus, in that if she gave herself over to Antedia, the Cantii will pay Rome's taxes so long as they were not harmed. Aulus agreed, but then attacked the Regni, killing Antedia's son Gildas and taking Antedia captive. Aulus then killed Kerra, stabbing her in the heart.

Two years after her death, Kerra's severed head was transported around the country, to be sold at auction. When the auction came to the North of Britannia, her brother Phelan witnessed the auction of former queen Antedia, after which Kerra's head was put on auction. Previously unaware of his sister's death, Phelan bought her head for 20 silver pieces, which he had recently earned selling a cow at the market. He took her head home with him and hid it, until he confessed to being a prince of the Cantii and was assaulted for buying his sister's head, wasting all their money and potentially endangering his wife and newborn son.

Phelan continued to take Kerra's head with him on his travels across Britannia, meeting with Harka and then eventually Quane. Believing himself to having atoned for believing Harka, he buried Kerra's rotten head in the ground, saying how he never stopped loving her. Though he quickly recovered her head to ask Quane what the runes said on her head, and then complaining how he has not been carrying her flame, as the runes said he would do.

The runes on her head read "Your beloved brother will carry the flame you kindled."

## Behind the scenes

Kerra is portrayed by English actress Kelly Reilly.