Dragon Reincarnated (Working title)

Fated Encounter

"Is this a bonded dragon?" I heard someone ask, pulling my attention away from the royal siblings.

"Worry about that momentarily." Stated the heroic guard, looking determined as her sheathed his saber. "Please stay in the carriage your majesties. We have no way of knowing whether or not there are more of the ruffians."

The prince held his trembling sister closer, and all I could see was the top of her pretty blonde head and the frills of her blue dress.

"Sir, if we could please pull the carriage away? The princes..." Asked the maid that was half seated on a bench behind the prince. She looked pale but also resolute. She had eyes only for her charge.

"Yes, of course." Nodded the guard before turning to one of his men. "Turks. You, Roberts and Carson lead the carriage down the road a ways, but stay in sight. Her highness does not need to see such gruesome things."

"Yes Sir!" Replied the uniformed man I could only assume was Turks. The younger man wanted no time hurrying over to the still skittish horses at the front of the carriage. I thought the beasts would be too on edge to more, but clearly they were just as eager to get away from the scent of blood and allowed the man to lead them and the carriage full of royals away.

I was feeling a little like a fish out of water, and found myself just standing there next to the dark haired man while the rest of the guards hurried about, dragging bandit corpses off the road and tending to the injured.

After about another minute the man turned to me with a sigh, eying me up and down with an appraising eye. "I thank you for your aid." He said, bowing slightly with a stiff back. 

"Um... Sure?" I said, feeling a little nervous. This was the first time I had spoken to anyone that didn't have feathers and zero conversational skills in quite some time. And lets be honest, even before my death, I didn't really talk all that much.

The man looked up at me, looking surprised. "So you do know the Common tongue? Does that mean that you are a bound dragon?"

"Er..." I honestly never even thought about the fact that I knew what these men were saying. How did I know a language from another world? Understanding my mother was easy to accept: I just assumed that the dragon language was something I either inherited though genetic memory, or it was one of the few personal memories she managed to pass on to me. Did she also hand down this 'common tongue' too? Or was this some side effect of reincarnation? "As far as I am aware, I'm not bound to anything." 

"You do not have a Rider...?" He asked, looking even more confused.

I shook my head on its long neck. "I am not a pack mule." I said, feeling a little offended that he would assume I was some person's pet. These men didn't have something to do with the dragon egg snatching, did they?

"He must be a wild dragon." Stated another of the soldiers, dusting off his pants and smiling at me. "And if that is the case, then we are doubly grateful for your aid, sir!"

Okay, now I really was offended. What about me screamed 'male'? I get that genders can be rather fluid, but I had pink scales! Pink! Even if there was a strong possibility -which there absolutely was, its not like only female dragons could be born pink- I was a male, I would have just assumed 'female' on the color alone. 

How masculine did I look? I get that I haven't been able to get a great look at myself, just in the reflection on the lake, but I thought I look quite beautiful! Thank you very much!

"This dragon is a female." Stated a soft, but firm voice behind me. "I think you should not assume things without any prior knowledge." The friendly guard went pale and jumped into a salute. "M-my apologies your majesty!" He  said.