Garatia

Garatia earns her keep through growing, refining, drying, and bottling fine spices. She mindfully tends to her gardens with loving care, nurturing them to grow with a combination of magic, natural compost, and good old-fashioned know-how. Her special eyes allow her to see anything that might be going wrong with her plants, and allows her to see which spices might cause allergies in which dragons.

Just as carefully, she cultivates an image of a relaxed, friendly, maternal dragon around the lair. Garatia wants to be seen as the momfriend, the caretaker, the mature one with her act together. She dispenses sage, advice, and sage advice, all with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. Or, rather, what registers as a twinkle to most dragons. Garatia wants to be liked. Trusted. Cared for.

Truth is, Garatia is relentlessly desperate and high-strung. She spends so much time on her herb gardens because earning her keep allows her to stay near to Adaro, her Charge. She was the first to see how worthy he is to be guarded and protected, and how beautiful his soul is. She was the first to see how much better the world is with him in it, and she tends to him lovingly, pouring her soul out for him day in and day out. So what if her poems aren't as good as his? He should see her effort, and reward it. So what if he doesn't like to date outside his size range? He should see her inner beauty and match it. So what if she was loud? Opposites attract; he'd have to be an idiot not to see that. But he wasn't an idiot. He was perfect, and beautiful, and he belonged with her. One of these days, he'd see it. One of these days, he'd kick all of the usurpers out and be with her. She was such a nice girl. He'd have to. Didn't she deserve to be happy?

Garatia is polite to their faces, but her mortal enemies are the other Guardians in Adaro's entourage. None of them knew how to care for Adaro. None of them loved him like she did. And especially not the interloper, Orion. How dare he make a mockery of her love? Her passion? Her need to be near her Charge? She hated him most of all.

One day, karma would hit them right where they hurt most for coming between her and true love. Or she'd have to help karma along.