imperial magician. He initially attempts to kill Ping under the Emperors command but later helps her in the defeat of the necromancer. Jun- A boy that Dong Fang Suo and Ping meets when searching for the Yu family. He is said to have the Dragon Keeping skills claimed by his parents but later, he reveals himself to be a false Dragon Keeper. Duke of Yan - The Duke who killed the guard who Princess Yangxin secretly loved, was hung up dead on the city walls of Chang 'an and forced her to watch rats devouring him every single day. Giving her a major phobia of rats so when she saw Hua for the first time she was ill for several days. Later, he took Princess Yangxin back to his palace and offered her a chance to become his wife once more. Master Lan - The man who buys Ping off her mother, knowing Ping is a possible dragon keeper but lies to her mother instead and says she will be a lady’s maid and be paid a huge fortune which can be sent to her. Instead he takes her to his castle, uses Ping as a slave for himself and makes her do barn work and feed the dragons Danzi another dragon. When the other dragon dies, he turns it into something called “dragon pickle” and ends up poisoning Liu Che’s father (The former emperor) and tells the guards Ping is a “sorceress”. Awards 2006 West Australian Young Book Readers Awards - Winner 2006 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards - Shortlisted 2006 Kids Own Australian Literary Awards (KOALA) - Shortlisted 2006 COOL (Canberra's Own Outstanding List) Award - Shortlisted 2005 novels Dragonkeeper books 2005 children's books