Kyra Dimwater has only two weeks left before her fourteenth birthday, a day that promises misery. She has seen the noblemen coming to her home, sneaking off to the parlor with her father for hushed conversations. They were suitors, she knew, but it didn't matter. Her father had long ago decided to whom she would be betrothed. These meetings were nothing more than his pitiful attempt to increase the price for her hand in marriage... moreKyra Dimwater has only two weeks left before her fourteenth birthday, a day that promises misery. She has seen the noblemen coming to her home, sneaking off to the parlor with her father for hushed conversations. They were suitors, she knew, but it didn't matter. Her father had long ago decided to whom she would be betrothed. These meetings were nothing more than his pitiful attempt to increase the price for her hand in marriage. Kyra pretended not to notice them, turning instead to her book of spells that her mother had given her to practice before her inaugural year at Kuldiga Academy. She knew magic was the only way to take control of her life. Upon her birthday, Kyra's father would announce the chosen groom, and then she would have only four years at Kuldiga Academy before she would be delivered to the altar. Such was the way of noble-born girls. When she arrives at Kuldiga Academy, Kyra's world collapses when she discovers that her betrothed works there as an instructor. As if his presence wasn't suffocating enough, rumors abound and the other apprentices soon ostracize her. There were other girls in similar circumstances, but Kyra was different. She was the only one betrothed to an instructor at the Academy. At least the others were betrothed to young men closer to their own age. She would have to use her wits, in addition to her budding magic skills, in order to escape and create some semblance of freedom in a world ruled by noblemen. On one such adventure Kyra finds a dragon egg, something not seen for centuries in the Middle Kingdom. She knows to hide it is an offense against the crown. There is a dark danger with all dragons, and they are to be exterminated upon sight. Kyra, however, cannot bring herself to destroy it. In that oblong egg she sees not the monster others did, but a creature deserving of freedom and a life of its own making. She seeks advice from an outlawed wizard and enlists his help to care for the egg. As the dragon hatches and grows, Kyra fights to hide and protect the fledgling dragon, all the while dodging her betrothed and the others at the academy who would surely condemn the dragon to death. The bond between lady and dragon grows fierce and strong, but will it survive, or is the dark curse destined to conquer the beast? less
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