To Shape a Dragon's Breath

The first book of the Nampeshiweisit series is set in an alternate world where a colonizing Norse-English society called the Anglish has established dominion over indigenous peoples. On the small island of Masquapaug, the Masquisit people live under English law, their population dwindled by the "great dying," a generations-old plague that killed most of the island's inhabitants and wiped out the Nampeshiwe, the breed of dragon native to their land.

Fifteen-year-old Anequs is gathering mussels on Slipstone Island when she sees a Nampeshiwe for the first time: a red-and-gold dragon with great antlers and sorrowful golden eyes. The next morning, following her grandmother's instruction to offer tobacco and juniper at the island's ruined temple, she discovers a large speckled egg on the ancient stone. She carries it home and introduces herself in Masquisit, her people's language. The village places the egg in their meetinghouse, where everyone tends it for weeks. When it hatches in early July, the golden-eyed hatchling locks eyes with Anequs, who instinctively knows its name: Kasaqua. Sachem Tanaquish, the village's elderly leader, proclaims Anequs as Nampeshiweisit, "person who belongs to a dragon."

Anequs's older brother Niquiat, who left Masquapaug to work in a cannery in the city of Vastergot, returns with application papers for an English dragon academy. English law requires all dragons to be registered and all dragoneers to prove competency in skiltakraft, the discipline of shaping a dragon's breath through precisely drawn figures called skiltas. Unlicensed dragons are put to death. Their grandmother opposes sending Anequs among the English, citing a treaty that protects them from interference, but Niquiat warns that the English broke a similar treaty with neighboring Naquipaug when coal was discovered there, massacring its people in 1825. The debate ends when Kasaqua accidentally looses an unshaped breath that melts sand into glass and burns Anequs's younger sister. No one on Masquapaug retains the knowledge of shaping dragon's breath, lost during the great dying, so the community accepts that Anequs must attend the academy.

Frau Karina Kuiper, the academy's headmistress, arrives on a massive war dragon to accept Anequs on scholarship, her condescension toward Anequs's people immediate and unmistakable. At Kuiper's Academy, Anequs undergoes placement examinations. She performs well in natural philosophy and anglereckoning (mathematics) but cannot answer a single question on Professor Ezel's skiltakraft exam. Ezel forbids her from speaking in his class. Captain Johan Einarsson of the Ministry of Dragon Affairs interrogates her about Kasaqua's unregistered origins.

Anequs meets Theod Knecht, the academy's only other indigenous student, an orphan from the Naquisit people of neighboring Naquipaug. His parents were hanged for their roles in the 1825 Naquipaug uprising, and he was raised in an orphanage before being placed as a household servant. His dragon Copper chose him instead of the household's intended heir, prompting a legal battle that Frau Kuiper resolved by taking wardship of both Theod and Copper. Theod is guarded and bitter, keeping Anequs at a deliberate emotional distance.

Anequs's roommate, Marta Hagan, is a well-off English girl eager to guide Anequs socially but unwilling to defend her against bigotry. When Ivar Stafn, son of the thane (regional noble) of Vastergot, lectures on the supposed inferiority of "nackies," the derogatory English term for indigenous peoples, Marta says nothing. Anequs also befriends Liberty, a 16-year-old indentured Black laundry maid, and Sander Jansen, a first-year student who communicates through a wax tablet due to difficulties with spoken language. She draws these companions into an unlikely social circle with Theod.

When Ivar corners Anequs with invasive questions about indigenous women's sexual customs, she slaps him. Frau Kuiper lectures Anequs that she and Theod must serve as "precedents," proving indigenous students can be integrated into English society. Anequs pushes back, stating she came to help her people, not to become English. She throws herself into independent study with Theod, and both improve markedly. Ivar's father, Thane Arjan Stafn, publishes a newspaper editorial arguing indigenous peoples are unfit for dragons, and Frau Kuiper arranges counter-publicity through interviews and portrait sessions.

The Valkyrjafax ball, an autumn harvest celebration, marks a turning point. Anequs dances the opening waltz with Theod in an intensely intimate moment, then slips away to join the servants' celebration. In Liberty's room afterward, Anequs kisses her. Liberty gently pulls away, explaining that being a "tribade," a woman who loves women, is unlawful and could result in Kasaqua being taken from Anequs. They agree not to court openly, though the attraction is mutual.

During a visit home, Anequs has a critical revelation. While sketching skiltas, her hand slips into a curve, and she realizes the figure resembles both a flower and the pattern of a traditional Masquisit dance. She works out that the corn-planting dance, viewed from above as a dragon would see it, forms a compound skilta designed to enrich the soil. She hypothesizes that all her people's formal dances are skiltas meant to be powered by dragon's breath: the secret of how their ancestors shaped the world before the great dying. She shares the discovery with the elders and resolves to keep this knowledge from the English, fearing it would be seen as a military threat.

Over the winter recess, Anequs invites Theod to Masquapaug, where her father identifies Theod's executed parents as childhood friends. Theod's surviving grandmother, aunt, and cousins travel from Naquipaug to meet him for the first time. During Nikkomo, the midwinter feast, Anequs demonstrates the dance-skilta connection, and Theod recognizes it instantly. He kisses her. In the distance, Copper takes his first flight.

A threatening letter arrives, signed by a self-identified former guard to the jarl, the region's highest ruler, promising to kill Anequs, Theod, their dragons, and their families. Anequs rushes back to school, reasoning that the academy's hundred dragons offer better protection. Political tensions escalate: Frau Kuiper confines them to school grounds, and a massacre in the mill district kills five people, including the father of Anequs's young pen pal, Ingrid Hakansdottir. Twenty-eight students withdraw from the academy.

Anequs and Theod are summoned before Jarl Leiknir Joervarsson and his council of thanes. The jarl announces a thynge (formal assembly) on Naquipaug and declares the indigenous peoples of the outlying islands citizens entitled to legal protections. Thane Stafn objects, and Anequs, defying Kuiper's instructions, directly challenges him. At a luncheon afterward, an assassin in ministry uniform opens fire. One bullet grazes Anequs's ribs, deflected by her corset's steel boning; another wounds Kasaqua's wing; a third hits the jarl. Kasaqua, her consciousness merging with Anequs's, kills the assassin with her breath. The jarl survives, and 13 conspirators are arrested. Thane Stafn cannot be directly connected to the conspiracy but retains his position after a vote of confidence.

Returning to the nearly empty academy, Anequs and Theod face their skiltakraft examinations. Professor Ezel accuses Anequs of cheating, but Frau Kuiper dismisses his claims. During the practical exam, Anequs draws a compound skilta in sandy soil using the Masquisit clockwise tradition and instructs Kasaqua to power it, successfully separating water from air into its component elements. Ezel grudgingly certifies both students, meaning their dragons can legally leave school grounds. Frau Kuiper grants them liberty for the summer.

Theod plans to spend the summer with his family on Naquipaug. Anequs privately resolves to introduce Theod and Liberty when the time is right, envisioning a future in which she might court both of them. On Friday morning, Anequs and Theod go home to Masquapaug together.