To Seduce a Dragon - Poppy Rhys Page 0,1

be her.

She’d bet no one looked at her and only saw a womb. Someone who might produce sons instead of daughters and save their people—or grow old and weary trying over and over.

When people looked at that woman, Jaya imagined they saw what she did—a guardian.

Someone who protected others, provided for the tribe, and had real substance between her ears.

“I am Kelso,” the trainer spoke, her voice feminine, but deep and commanding their attention. “Have you come here willingly?”

“Yes,” she heard herself offer up first, echoed by the other girls. She’d been fearful, but after seeing Kelso, she was sure of her decision now.

This was what she was meant to be.

A guardian.

Home Village

Ten summers later…

“It stung me! What good is a guardian who can’t do her simple job?” Remmy huffed, her forest green eyes brimming with tears that Jaya knew were all for show. She’d been pulling that same stunt since they were kids. For some reason, when a pretty girl cried, everyone bent over backward to fix the problem. Remmy figured it out early in life and used that reliable trick often.

The others, Ferin and Sersha, circled Remmy and brow-beat Jaya—as if she were the one who stung the blond—while they softly crooned at Remmy, stroking her thick, golden hair to soothe.

Gods, Remmy was dramatic.

“I’ll try to do better next time,” Jaya offered tightly, proud of herself for not telling Remmy she hoped her face swelled. Knowing how often these birthers—not what they were really called—liked to admire their own reflections, it was satisfying to imagine Remmy absolutely wrecked if her face was anything shy of perfection.

“Get out!” Remmy shouted.

Without a backward glance, Jaya left the log structure and inhaled a deep breath of sweet spring air once she was outside again. The atmosphere could be suffocating in the birther lodge.

I should probably stop calling them that.

One day it would slip, and she’d never hear the end of it from Kelso any time she visited, which happened a lot these days.

It was the legend again. Their elders were whispering about a star. The kind of star that every tribe across the land would see.

That it would burn for many days and many nights and bring with it dragons.

She laughed to herself as she wandered around the village’s perimeter, the newly grown grass cushioning her footsteps as the afternoon sun shone down on her skin, darkening it. She welcomed the change. Her brown coloring always faded in the winter months, but once the sun stopped hiding, it came back.

Jaya loved and respected the elders of the village, but part of her thought they had nothing better to do but come up with fantastic tales, each one even more outlandish. Visiting elders from other villages spoke of beasts turning into men and seeding new blood into their people. One even claimed to have met one of these beast-men long ago, when they were a child, but no one in all the Mist tribes had captured one since the last died.

That was the story, anyway.

She stared to the east, the snowcapped mountains in view. The whole idea sounded questionable to her.

Yet a small part wondered what was out there…

“What are we looking at?”

Jaya startled and swore. “Chrishfa, you scared me!”

Grinda, a fellow guardian—all willowy bones and wild red hair—smiled, a hint of mischief in her honey colored eyes. She was always sneaking up on people. Her stealthy gait was unnerving, even if it made her one amazing hunter.

Kelso had sent her to their village just two summers ago to help with the seasonal hunt, but Grinda decided to stay. Jaya didn’t complain. It was nice having another guardian near her age, and her archery skills were extremely valuable.

“Wondering about the legends the elders chatter about?” she prodded.

“Legend is right.”

“Mhm… yet you stand here staring at the exact mountains they claim the dragons come from.”

Jaya didn’t like the accusing, if playful, tone. Mainly because she was guilty. And she didn’t ask for Grinda’s input.

“It’s a pretty view.”

Grinda snorted, and Jaya pressed her lips together to keep her smirk hidden.

“You know Remmy’s out to get you?”

Jaya rolled her eyes to the twilight sky, imploring the gods for patience. Her lower back pinged with a familiar ache, as if they were answering her pleas to be far away from Remmy and her fellow birthers.

“I think it’s time for a hunt. The meat supply is low, don’t you think?” Jaya side-eyed Grinda, her gaze narrowed and lips tilted. She understood.

Getting out of the village while Remmy