In the Dragon's Shadow

laimed the royal family had an entire garden of them up at the castle, just for l

, but not to give out food. I st

he line, full of children and y

ld Mudt

e was so great I forgot the rule about not talking to

other wasn't fast enough to pin my arms back to my side, and I punc

rised. Then he laughed and laughed

and hit me so h

asps and sobs as she hovered over me. They pulled her aw

n't have her whipp

me for go

guards who came for the reaping weren't kind like the everyday fireguards were. It was a hard lesson to learn. My mother's

ected us all hummed as the beast landed heavily on top of it, the metal gl

guards m

akes for dinner. I hated dirt cakes. They were bits of flour mixed with dirt and whatever herbs could be trad

ing. I'd hidden in the old tunnels that used to be mineshafts bef

ouble, but I wasn't going without a fight. It'd taken four fireguards to haul me out of my hole, covered in mud and dirt. The one who'd beat me five years ago was gone, but the others were the same, including my f

tick went nex

ds hadn't even bothered to stick their heads in the door to confirm I was ill-except for the older fireguard. He'd frowned

uards collected them on a cart. Rumors flew, saying they fed the bodies to the dragon.

ped

fireguards took all the older girls to make up for the d

ding

I'd lost my only protector and the closest

and their children. And the old crones. And the boys a

a woman of o

y mother had caught me adding the pergainsa berries to my water, which would have made me violently ill. She'd cracked me across t

ach illness. My friends had been gone for ages. There was a fresh slew of babies held by women with sad eyes an

furia

was indecently short, but it wasn't my fault that the edges kept fraying and had to be cut off. I think the dress itself had been red at on

eryone else, sticking out as a woman in the prime of her life amongs

.

d to nex