New Wings

Summary: Jouster-fic. With tensions rising between the male Jousters in Aerie and the female messenger Jousters in Mefis, the decision is made to accept a female Jouster to be trained in Aerie in order to demonstrate the level of commitment and strength of Nofret's Female Jousters. When Mayat, the daughter of a scribe, finds herself unwittingly a part of this turmoil, she must learn to cope with both bullying and pressure to succeed. With the army of the Nameless Ones not quite as decimated as believed, Mayat must use all her learned cunning and skill in order to protect the fragile alliance between Alta and Tia.

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter One: Decisions

The dry season had well and truly set in. The stinging sand carried by the kamiseen did not reach down in the canyons of Aerie, but the pervasive howling of the dry wind and intense heat of the day more than made up for it. The only ones enjoying this time of the year were the desert dragons, and even they sought shade when the burning Sun Disk of Re-Haket, the Sun God, reached its zenith. However, in the late afternoon sun the dragons of Aerie were sprawled out on the cliffs, basking in the heat and looking like a wayward child had emptied his mother's jewelry chest out on the sand.

This sight of so many dragons was nothing new to the inhabitants of the city of the Jousters, but Mayat and her younger brother, Aryet-ke, were still awestruck by the images. The pair spared a moment to watch before hurrying into the shade of a small tavern. Businesses were still few and far between, but the business-like Akkadians who found themselves without much in the way of belongings after the collapse of Alta City were establishing inns where Jousters could eat something other than the staple bread and beef served at the mess hall (and get stinking drunk), and those not directly associated with the care of dragons could grab a bite to eat and socialize.

The drunks had not yet crawled out into the open, so Mayat and Aryet were relatively alone in the inn. As the son and daughter of a scribe who worked tirelessly, they frequented this place often and were recognized by the barkeeper.

"What can I get for you?" The kindly old Akkadian asked. With permanent laugh lines and a stooped posture, the pair looked up old Amphitryon as a grandfather-like figure.

"Fish, please. And two glasses of watered-down wine." Mayat plunked the coins down on the countertop.

"Fish, eh?" Amphitryon raised an eyebrow. "And what, may I ask, is the occasion?"

"The Jousters have announced a new method of distributing eggs and accepting dragon boys." Aryet said, settling on a stool in front of the counter. "Anyone who wants to be a Jouster has to work as a dragon boy for six months for an adult dragon and six months for a nestling before being entrusted with an egg. They are taking boys tomorrow, and my father gave me permission to join!" Aryet's eyes gleamed in anticipation. "I'm going to be a Jouster!

Amphitryon nodded. "So you are finally flying the nest, eh?"

Mayat grinned. "Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, he has made a good argument, and Father is willing to let him try with his blessing."

"Try?" Aryet scoffed. "I will get a dragon, and he'll grow to be the biggest dragon in the compound, and then you will be begging for me to let you ride him."

The old barkeeper laughed at the two's sparring. "You had better watch out, Mayat, he is determined. But I should correct you; the larger dragons are the females."

Aryet waved his hand as if this was of no consequence. "My dragon will still be the biggest and the strongest."

Amphitryon set a plate of thinly sliced and fried fish in front of them and carefully measured out the ratio of wine to water he thought the two could take. Mayat was fifteen summers old, and had a slightly more concentrated glass than her brother, who was twelve.

"Here you are." He said, before bustling off to attend another group of customers.

Mayat savored the rare taste of fish as it melted on her tongue. Who would have guessed that fish, which was the staple fare of the poor in Alta, would become so precious here. The contrast of the humid, swampy delta of Alta and the arid, scorching desert was immense. Mayat was grateful for this little taste of home, even if it cost all of her savings for the year.

As she chewed, Mayat reflected on the past events that had led to this point. Her family lived in the Fourth Ring of Alta City, among the working class, except that her father made the daily trek to the Second Ring where the priests and temples were located. When the Magi began taking the Fledglings, then the Winged Ones themselves, her father had been one of the first to know and bring his concerns to the temple's High Priestess.

Ignored, the family heard of the trouble brewing in the First and Second Ring nightly. And then the world of their home was shaken to its roots, quite literally. It was pure luck and the grace of Besh, the pot-bellied luck god, that they had been sleeping outside to escape the heat, as the tiny house collapsed on itself when the first great earthquake occurred. Her neighbors had not been so lucky. Mayat shuddered as she recalled the wreckage wrought by the quake, and felt a flash of anger that the Winged Ones had been so drained of power by the evil Magi that those with the Gift of Fore-Sight had not warned the populace.

From there, things in Alta city spiraled downward. First the earthquake, then the disgrace of one of the Royal Twins in line for the throne, Toreth, and his death, well, murder, then every Jouster in the Compound had left for combat…and never returned. When the Royal Kings were deposed and the two false-twin Magi substituted, her father, Rashet, deemed the city too dangerous for their little family.

Following the instructions of the Priests of the Temple of Thet whom Rashet worked for, the family sold most of their belongings and fled, traveling from the village temples of At-thera until they left Alta altogether. After bartering passage from the Bedu, the inhabitants of the deep desert, the worn group finally arrived at Sanctuary, the center of the rebellion against the Magi. When the wing of Jousters under the command of Kiron, rider of the scarlet and gold Avatre and Aket-ten, the first female Jouster, thwarted the Magi's plot and united Alta and Tia under the rule of Great King Ari and Great Queen Nofret, Mayat had been beside herself with joy. Now the nations were at peace, and being governed at the capital of Tia, Mefis, as Alta City had mostly been destroyed when the Magi's tower fell and unleashed a powerful earthquake on the city. Deciding that he had had enough of priests, Rashet moved the family from Sanctuary, which was now the center of religion in the combined nation of Alta and Tia, now Altia, to the Jousters city, Aerie, where he worked as a scribe under Haraket, the once-Overseer of the Tian Jouster Compound.

Mayat and her brother had been enamored with the brilliant colors of the desert dragons and in awe of the bond between the dragons and their riders from the moment they had set eyes on them. Everyone in Alta City had heard of the amazing tame dragon and her rider, but Mayat had not quite believed the stories until she saw Kiron and Avatre for herself, and all the other boys in his wing with their dragons. Resigning themselves to admire from afar, the news that Aryet, at least, would be able to have a dragon was cause to celebrate.

Mayat looked at her brother as he stuffed his face with both caring and sadness. She knew she would see him only on rare occasions, and she was worried for him. Yes, he had matured quite a bit on their journey, but he was still her younger brother and she felt very protective of him. She shuddered. The danger he might face was also gnawing at her innards.

Just two seasons after the fall of the Magi, the next threat to her world occurred. She could still recall quite vividly the image of the Jousters fighting the army of Nameless Ones who had come to conquer the lands of Alta and Tia, not to mention the awesome sight of the gods of the Altians warring with the evil Goddess of the Nameless Ones. She wasn't sure what happened exactly, but somehow various key figures had become avatars of the gods and defeated the cursed people and Tamat the Renderer. The awesome sight of the four Jousters, Great King Ari, Great Queen Nofret, Lord Jouster Kiron, and Lady Aket-ten fighting the column of lightning and shadow that was that creature was a sight that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

That occurred almost two months ago, and the Jousters were just now beginning to recover. Hopefully, the worst her brother would have to face would be bandits and caravan thieves.

"Mayat, what is the matter?" Aryet said, finally noticing her look.

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about the future." Mayat said shaking herself out of her reverie.

Aryet sighed. "I wish you could join the Jousters as well."

"Silly goose, there are no female Jousters." Mayat chided.

"What about Aket-ten?" Aryet countered.

"She only bonded to Re-eth-ke when Toreth died." Mayat pointed out. "And it was more accident than anything else. She was the only one who could calm the grieving dragonet. And she is a Winged One and can Speak with the dragons. I do not have that Gift, or any Gift at all."

"I still think you should come with me," Aryet muttered mutinously.

"It's touching that you are so concerned but seeing you up on a dragon will be good enough for me," Mayat said with a smile. She remembered how they wished and dreamed together, snuck into the dragon pens at Sanctuary when no one was around to gawk at the dragons, and that blessed moment where Kiron offered them a chance to witness Avatre's sand bath and help with the oiling.

"I apologize if I'm interrupting, but would you really like to become a Jouster?" A stranger they had not noticed sitting next to Mayat spoke.

Mayat look startled for a moment before replying. "Yes, of course."

The young woman held herself with a confidence she had only ever seen in noble persons, and her hair was cut short at her chin, in the hairstyle of the Jousters. The features of the lady were unrecognizable as she was in a position where her facial features were covered in shadow. "The Jousters are accepting the first female to present herself tomorrow. I have not found any girl yet willing to come from Mefis to live in Aerie, and you are the only female I've seen here who has expressed an interest in becoming a Jouster."

Mayat's jaw literally dropped, before she gathered her wits. "Well, I…" She stumbled over words in her astonishment. "Who are you?"

The woman paused before saying, "I am a female Jouster. I am training at Mefis, where a corps of girls is learning to become messengers under the command of Aket-ten and Great Queen Nofret. For reasons that I am not at liberty to disclose, Nofret has decided to begin to train girls here as well. I have been trying to recruit young women, but none seem to share your ambition."

"Mayat, you can train with me!" Aryet said triumphantly.

"I don't know-" Mayat said, unsure. It was one thing to wish and dream, but it was quite another to be forced into this predicament. On one hand, she was entranced by the idea of flying and sharing that bond that she had ached over for so long. Her natural instinct for helping others gave this idea another facet; if she was a Jouster, she could help and save people. On the other hand, it was going to be a lot of work. Not that she wasn't accustomed to work, but she had no illusions about what would be expected of her. Also, while her family might support her in this, her neighbors most certainly would not. Even her mother might have some objections to her only daughter becoming something other than a scribe or housewife.

The Jouster shrugged. "It is your decision, but make it quickly. Unless you want to make the journey to Mefis, you should act now before someone else takes the position." The woman drank the last of her wine before exiting.

Mayat looked after her before glancing at her brother. "But I-"

"Mayat!" Aryet interrupted her. "You want this more than anything, maybe even more than me. It will be just like we dreamed; we'll train together, and become heroes together, and we'll never have to leave each other behind!"

Mayat considered that. She and her brother were the closest she had ever seen two siblings. They had never had many outside friends, and they always came before others. Letting go of Aryet-ke would have been the most difficult part of watching him become a Jouster. If she became a Jouster as well, they never would have to part, and she could watch his back and make sure he never got hurt.

"Do you really want this to become the biggest regret of your life?" Aryet asked.

Mayat thought for a moment and then laughed. "From the mouth of babies comes wisdom." She quoted. "Alright, I will ask Father tonight."

xxx

Aket-ten smiled as she watched the brother and sister she had just talked to depart. The girl seemed level-headed, modest, intelligent, and most importantly, wanted to become a Jouster. Haras knew she had had a hard enough time finding a girl that even met that vital quality. The priestesses that she had relied on to fill the ranks in Mefis would have balked at the idea of living in Aerie and training with men, but the girl seemed confident enough, and already proved she was happy with the minimalistic attitude of Aerie.

She recalled the conversation with Kiron last night…

The two had been surveying the fruits of the long months of labor; a thriving city of Jousters and a large flock of dragons. Aket-ten had just filled in Kiron on the progress of the female Jousters in Mefis when Kiron cleared his throat. "About that…"

"What about them?" Aket-ten asked, giving him a warning look.

Apparently Kiron remembered what had happened the last time he had voiced his objections of female Jousters to her and hastily continued. "I have no objections, but, well, there is a bit of dissent in the ranks."

"Well? Do they not think we put in just as much work as they do?" Aket-ten snapped.

"Yes." Kiron said bluntly. "The truth is, they see Mefis as a haven, and are a bit jealous of the amenities the city provides. They do not know how the training works, and believe, however erroneously, that the girls are being coddled." He snorted. "The stories brought back by the younger Jousters are doing nothing to improve that image."

Aket-ten clamped down on her irritation. The four idiot messengers who had first flown the dispatches from Sanctuary to Mefis had been a thorn in her side since they arrived. The girls were just now starting to take over flying the messages, and they never stayed in one location for too long, including in Aerie. "So, what do you propose we do?" She asked belligerently.

"If you recall, I came up with the idea of letting boys who wanted to become Jousters undertake a sort of apprenticeship as dragon boys for several months before receiving an egg." Aket-ten nodded. "I am going to instate that program the day after tomorrow so that when their apprenticeship is completed they can receive their eggs immediately. Perhaps if you could find a girl you think to be a good candidate and inform her about this, we can show that a girl can work just as hard as a boy when raising a dragon. When her dragon is old enough to fly, you can guide her to Mefis and she can become one of your messengers."

Aket-ten opened her mouth automatically to protest before pausing to consider. "That's not a bad idea." She conceded after a few moments.

Kiron grinned at her. "I may have had my doubts before, but your female wing certainly works hard and, as far as I can see, is just as important to the country as the fighting wings are." He kissed her forehead. "Find a good candidate, and I'll present the idea to Haraket tomorrow."

Aket-ten grimaced, knowing full well what the Overseer's views on female Jousters were, before nodding and departing.

Aket-ten was quite happy with the girl she found, as she had not the slightest trace of uncertainty. Aket-ten recognized the longing in the girl's voice and knew that she would present herself at the Jousters Compound the next day.

Giving Re-eth-ke the signal to take off, Aket-ten turned her dragon towards the direction she saw Kiron and Avatre fly and began planning how to tell her beloved of her day's efforts.

Authors Note: So, I'm embarking on my next epic!fic, and am slightly nervous. I've noticed a distinct lack of Jouster fanfics, so I'm not sure how this will be received. I've attempted to formulate this so that those who have not read the series will understand what is going on, so please tell your friends. If there is any part that is unclear, please don't hesitate to send me a message or leave a review.

Please, please, PLEASE review, as it is amazing how motivational it is. I would love feedback on this, as I'm going to try my darndest not to let Mayat slip into Mary-Suedom, so if you see something that screams "self-insertion" or anything, I beg of you, TELL ME! I try to hold myself to a certain standard of writing, and I would feel mortally embarrassed to have any sub-par fic under my name. I'm writing this to explore the idea of what happened to the Nameless Ones' army after Aerie and the Female Jousters, so I'm trying my best to write a good fic and distance myself from the characters. As an incentive, I will randomly choose a reviewer to have a character play a minor part in the story.

Also, the dialogue has given me some trouble, as I don't want it to sound too stilted but wanted to preserve the formal speaking established by Mercedes Lackey. Tips are appreciated.