Welcome to the second day of our book club readalong for OwlCrate's June book, Together We Burn!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 6-11 of Together We Burn, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! Don't forget, you can also post about the readalong on Instagram with the hashtag #OCTogetherWeBurn for another chance to win!
The story begins...
Chapter 6:
Zarela goes to Señora Montenegro’s home, a family that owns many businesses as well as the largest paper in Santivilla. Señora Montenegro previously coveted her mother’s dresses, and with a little manipulation, Zarela is able to sell them, making herself 1500 gold coins richer.
Chapter 7:
Zarela arrives at the Gremia and is escorted upstairs - the Gremia has been receiving complaints against her family all morning. She sits with the Dragon Master and he is not interested in her theories that the protestors (the Asociación) had something to do with the attack, nor that Benito was murdered. He tells her that the events of the previous day affect the entire Gremia and other arenas. In the end her family is put on probation and must pay a large fine, including compensation for the families that lost someone. Zarela is dismissed, and warned to make no more mistakes lest her family be removed from the Gremia.
Chapter 8:
While on her way out Zarela decides that it will be she that will become La Giralda’s new Dragonador and while lost in thought (literally) runs into a dragon hunter named Arturo, spilling her tea and cracking her teacup all over the papers he dropped when she ran into him.
Deciding it isn’t okay that Don Eduardo dismissed her claims against the Asociación, Zarela decides it is time to launch a formal complaint against them. The office to file a complaint is stuffed full of people, and coming up with a new plan Zarela causes a commotion and in the chaos the ensues grabs a handful of the already submitted complaints before leaving. Alberto, a member of the Gremia staff, tells her she must leave the premises now that her business with Don Eduardo is done, because although her father is a member of the Gremia, she is not.
Outside she finds Hector waiting for her, and although she tells him most of what happened with the Dragon Master, she doesn’t reveal that she has decided to become the new Dragonador. He disapproves of her decision to keep the arena running, but when she refuses to back down tells her of a ranch outside the city that may be able to help.
Chapter 9:
Zarela arrives at the Esperanza Ranch, in the middle of nowhere outside of the city. There she finds more dragons caged than she has ever seen before. She starts observing one tamer as he enters a dragon cell without a weapon. Everyone watched as he successfully managed to subdue the dragon and leaves the cell. The man standing next to her, Ignacio Aguilar, owner of the ranch, explains that the man is Arturo, previously a Dragonador, but now just a tamer. The same Arturo she ran into and spilled her tea on. She asks Arturo if she can hire him, and he immediately refuses.
Chapter 10:
Back at La Giralda Lola convinces Zarela that she must again try to convince Arturo to come work for her. Running out of funds and not knowing what else to do, Zarela sneaks into her father’s room and steals her mother’s engagement ring, selling it for enough money to keep La Giralda afloat for one more month.
Zarela heads back to the ranch, greeted by Ignacio, who brings her to Arturo. Ignacio is set to leave on a trip, so it’s up to Arturo to take care of Zarela. Once he leaves Zarela again asks Arturo to work for her, and he again refuses, saying he abhors the Dragonador tradition. He refuses to explain why he has come to this decision after completing training with the Gemia. When Zarela piles gold on to his desk, saying that he could take it and start anew somewhere, if he works for her. He tells her to leave, and she does, but leaves the gold behind.
Questions:
- What do you think happened to Arturo to change his mind about being a Dragonador?
- Do you think there's some mistake with Zarela not being a member of the Gremia?
- Why do you think Don Eduardo dislikes Zarela's father so much?
- Recommend another book with dragons!
Never miss a box! Subscribe to OwlCrate today with code OCBLOG15 to save 15% on a new subscription!
