dragon born

1

My eyes were closed, my hand stretched out, my palms tingling for the touch of scales. I was not disappointed as a smooth, scaled, cool head pressed into my palm and I opened my kaleidoscope eyes to look up and see the dragon kneeling his head, touching my hand. "Hello."
The dragon acknowledged my words and I held my breath as he fell to one leg, allowing me passage onto his back.
"I can't," I whisper. "I'm not a Rider." I reluctantly pulled away and started pulling my hair back and pushing it under my cap. I rubbed off the last of the feminine as I pulled on the boxy uniform that hid my curves and tied the boots back on.
The dragon watched me intelligently and I stroked his face. "Goodbye," I whispered and started walking back to the building where they were eating.
"Hey, Remi!" someone yelled and I reluctantly waved. I got a tray and went through the line, avoiding eyes as I collected food and took a seat alone. I brought the fork to my mouth and chewed listlessly as I stared at the wall blankly.
"Remi?" I looked up to see a guy looking at me. "I'm Trevor, the new Tamer. I was told you could train me." He was tall, with a defined muscular physique and a shock of black hair. His green eyes were bearing into mine and I cleared my throat.
"Oh, sure," I say, dropping my voice a few octaves. "No problem." I stood with my tray and made my way to the scullery.
"Can we start today?" he inquired, following me.
"Today?" I verified, walking away from the scullery. "Um, no, sorry."
"Come on," he begged, still tailing me. "The sooner I start the sooner I can be prepared and trained."
I sighed, realizing he was wearing me down. I tried to avoid mentoring, but sometimes it can't be avoided. "Okay, we will in two hours."
"Oh, god, thank you," he said, a breath of relief escaping his lips. As he walked away, I shook my head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I opened the door to the small hut that I lived in with my family and took off the cap, my long hair falling out and down my back. I took off the constricting clothes and my breasts swelled in relief. A gust of air left my lips as I sat on the chair.
"How was taming?" my brother, Akfien, asked, looking at me, sipping the cup of tea in his hands.
"Same," I said, sighing and rubbing my ankles. "Care to make my clothes less stiff?" I teased him, standing and getting some tea. Akfien wished he could tame and ride, but dragons hated him. We learned when we went to the breeding stables a few years ago.
"Whatever, Tiamat," he said, rolling his eyes. "Just because they love you...." he trailed off. "Do you ever want to ride one?"
"Akfien, they always want me to ride them," I said, rubbing my temples. "I can't. I'm a Tamer, not a Rider. To cross that line means I'm risking everything by admitting I can ride dragons," I explained, sitting back down. "can you imagine how many male egos would be broken if they were shown up by a girl? Oh, and I'm mentoring a new Tamer because apparently, no one else can do it." I griped.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"A good thing? A good thing would be someone else mentoring him, but I have this stupid perfect affinity and I can't even enjoy the benefits. What am I supposed to do if a dragon I tamed acts up and tries to kill its Rider? I get the blame, even if it's behaving for me."
"Aeda, you're overthinking it," he soothed, using my nickname, the one I used when I was participating in neighbouring villages.
"So?"
"So, of course, you feel out of place," he explained. "In Western you're able to be Aeda, the female Rider who wins, but in this world, you're not. You're someone else, you're a Tamer, and you don't get too close to your dragons, regardless of what you want. It's the way of the Tamers."