Guardian of the Dragons

Soraya was chosen as a child to be a Guardian of the Dragons - the one person from her village allowed into the dragons' lair, the one who serves them and meets their every need or desire. Without the Guardians, one young woman selected by lot from each village in the valley, the dragons would have to provide for themselves. Although these dragons are strict vegetarians and would not kill to eat or for pleasure, the dragons do not much care for lives other than their own and would think nothing of burning a whole herd of cattle and their keepers, along with razing an orchard to the ground, just to get one juicy apple from one tree. As had been proven many times prior to the arrangement of the Guardians.

It has been a hard life and a lonely one, Soraya not being able to connect well with the Guardians from the other villages in their few hours off each day. But now she has reached the age at which her contract expires and after spending a couple of weeks training her young replacement, Hamila, Soraya is free to return home to her village.

But the homecoming is not all that she had imagined it would be. The years of virtual solitude have left Soraya with few social skills; none at all when it comes to dealing with young men. And although her former friends among the young ladies attempt to welcome her back, Soraya feels that they would enjoy themselves more without her.

So Soraya finds herself mostly socializing with Hamila's mother, Rahat, a woman about ten years her senior, telling her stories about what high points she can remember or manufacture of her life among the dragons in return for lessons in socialization and the occasional story of Hamila's life before the selection.

The social lessons help and Soraya begins to feel more comfortable among her peers, finding herself capable of participating in their parties and conversations at least well enough to not embarrass her friends in front of their suitors. And one of the young men, Farid, is starting to pay particular attention to Soraya. At least, that is what the other girls say.

But Soraya is also growing closer to Rahat and feels her pain at the loss of her daughter. And the stories of Hamila's childhood, as well as their experiences together while Soraya was training her, convince Soraya that Hamila could never be happy as a Guardian. And Soraya begins to feel that it is her duty to rescue Hamila from that fate. But how to do it without endangering their peace with the dragons or with the other villages in the land?

AAP by topsecret