Dragonswood,
By Janet Lee Carey
X X X X X
Narrarator Meg Tess Poppy Laborer
Narrator: Dragonswood is a fantasy written by Janet Lee Carey. The king is dead. The witch-hunter is riding. Tess and her two friends are accused of being witches and are fleeing for their lives to forbidden Wilde Island. Tess has suffered the loss of all her siblings in infancy and has suffered torture from Lady Adela. From mystical Dragonswood and close friendships to harsh brutality and doubtful relationships, magical powers and prophecy guide the girls as they flee to Tess’s grandfather. We join them on their journey. Meg is read by ______, Tess is read by ______, Poppy is read by ______, the Laborer is read by ______, and I am ______the narrator.
Meg: Why would a dragon take her?
Tess: To save her, Meg. That’s plain enough. Saint Thecla escaped from burning at the stake when God sent a storm to put out the flames.
Meg: (arguing) Would God send a dragon?
Poppy: (wistfully) God can do anything He pleases, Meg.
Meg: But where would the dragon take her?
Tess: (suggestively) Someplace safe?
Meg: But why? Why would the dragons care to rescue anyone?
Poppy: Maybe it was the fairy riding on the dragon’s back who wanted to help rescue the girl.
Tess: It’s not like you to jest about such things, Poppy.
Poppy: I’m not. I saw a rider. A fey man on his back.
Meg: I didn’t see anyone.
Tess: (gently arguing) It was dark. I think you mistook the ridge along the dragon’s backbone for –
Poppy: It wasn’t a ridge, Tess! I saw a fey man clearly. His hair was as red as Meg’s!
Laborer: Contagion! Get back, lepers!
Poppy: Sing a song to cheer us, Meg.
Meg: I can’t. It’s not in me.
Poppy: Please Meg, you sing so well. It will help me walk.
Meg and Poppy: (sung to the tune ofTwinkle, Twinkle Little Star)
In the enchanted woodland wild
The prince shall wed a fair child
Dragon human and fairy
Their union will be bound by three.
And then these lovers intertwine
Three races in and child combine
Dragon fey and humankind
Bound in one bloodline.
Poppy: You think it’s true?
Tess: It’s just a song. Grandfather’s tales never mentioned any marriage between human and fey.
Meg: Fey men take lovers.
Tess: And leave a girl alone with child.
Poppy: A Pendragon prince might wed a fey maiden and she might go to him. The royals are different from the rest of us.
Narrator: Will Lord Kahlil protect the girls? Will fairies watch over them or will a sly dragon deceive them? Can Tess use her power to reach a better land? Read Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey to find out how their journey ends.