Alta

Vetch was once an Altan serf, tied to the lands that had belonged to his family before the devastating war with Tia usurped a third of Alta's lands, and turned the few Altans who survived on them into virtual slaves. But Vetch had been rescued from this unbearable fate by one of the very dragon-riders who had conquered his country, and trained to be a dragon-boy.
And Vetch had been grateful - now he was well fed and cared for - no longer in danger of dying from exposure or starvation. But no matter how grateful he was for this lifesaving turn of events, he could never forget the family he had lost, the home that had been stolen from them, and the once-happy life that was gone forever - a casualty of war. A war that Tia had won due to their superior number of Jousters and dragons.
As Vetch adjusted to his new life, he slowly came to realize that Ari, the Jouster who had saved him, and Kashet, his dragon, were very different than the other Jousters and dragons in the compound. Kashet was naturally tame - he didn't need the tranquilizing tala plant to make him manageable, and Ari's relationship with him was one of mutual love and respect. Kashet let Ari ride him because he wanted to, not because he was drugged into submission. Ari's technique was very simple: he had raised Kashet from the egg, rather than abducting him from the wild as was traditional for Jousters. He had cared for him and hand fed him from the day he hatched, and they were deeply and naturally bonded. Vetch knew he could do the same thing if he ever got the chance.
When his opportunity came, Vetch did not hesitate: he stole a newly laid egg and hid it in the hot sand of an empty dragon pen. But as the weeks passed, and the egg matured and finally hatched, Vetch had no way to prepare himself for his reaction. His dragonet was bright crimson with golden limbs, fragile and helpless, stunningly beautiful, and completely dependent on Vetch for her survival. Vetch named her Avatre which meant fire of the dawn, and knew in his soul that she was, and would forever be, the single most important thing in his life. Vetch was hopelessly, helplessly in love. There was nothing he would not have done, would not have sacrificed for his dragonet.
Avatre grew and matured under Vetch's loving care. Fierce, strong, and completely loyal to Vetch, Avatre prospered in the light of Vetch's love. With stealth born of fear - the fear of losing Avatre - Vetch managed to keep her existence a secret, and when she was large and strong enough, he started to train her to carry his weight. And when she lifted her wings for her first flight, Vetch was on her back.
It was Vetch's plan to fly Avatre beyond the Tian border to lands still controled by Alta. He knew that he carried with him one of the greatest secrets of his world - how to tame dragons. If he imparted this secret to the rulers of his homeland, it might give Alta the edge it needed to throw off their conquerors despite their lesser numbers.
But Vetch's reception in Alta was not as warm as he would have wished. He had come over the border from Tia on a dragon raised on Tian soil. Could Vetch win the trust of his countrymen and take his place as a leader of the Altan Jousters? Or would he find that during a war there was treachery and wrongdoing on both sides of the border?