UNDAUNTABLE

From the window of the throne room, Undauntable could see half the world, and he found it all aggravating.

There were the jagged teeth of the mountain range stretching north and south, full of dragons who might eat Wren. There was the blue-green river winding away toward the sea, the one Wren always followed when she left. There was the forest that was supposed to magically produce her again, any moment, but there was no sign of her and she kept not being there, moment after moment, day after day.

It had been fifty-nine days since he’d proposed to her and she’d stormed off. If she stayed away a full year again, that meant hundreds more days like this, long and boring and Wren-less.

But she can’t, he thought to himself. She didn’t get the supplies she needed. She doesn’t have any books to read. So she has to come back sooner.

It was not all right with him that she cared more about books than about seeing Undauntable, but at least she’d have to come back to the Indestructible City.

And maybe next time she’ll stay.

The spiked helmet was oppressively hot and the spiky jacket was worse, jabbing him in weird places whenever he shifted his weight. He could feel sweat rolling down his back and gathering in his armpits. But he was only allowed to sit by the window if he wore his spikes, and this was where he had to sit if he wanted to see her coming.

Sometimes Undauntable wondered what would happen if he decided to leave with her one day. What if he snuck away from his guards and followed her to wherever she went when she left him? He had no idea where that was. He’d always imagined a small village down the river somewhere, but sometimes she would say things or buy things that made him think she lived alone, traveling around instead of staying in one place.

What would that be like? Seeing a new place every day, instead of the same walls over and over again?

It would be terrifying. Without the walls, the dragons could get you. Without the catapults and spikes and guards and weapons, you’d be the easiest prey they ever ate. Staying in the Indestructible City was the only way to stay safe. Undauntable knew that was true. He was terrified for Wren all the time; every time he heard a dragon overhead, he wondered if it had Wren in its claws. It made no logical sense to him that she’d survived all these years out there.

It made even less sense that she would choose that life instead of safety with him.

He heard movement behind him and turned to see his father entering the throne room with his usual entourage of councillors and sycophants. The Invincible Lord spotted Undauntable and beckoned imperiously.

Undauntable sighed and took off his helmet. He knew his hair must be slick and disheveled, and that his father was judging his appearance as he approached. The lord looked perfect, as always, each dark hair combed into a thick royal mane, rings on every long thin finger, ruby-red robes without a wrinkle in sight.

They reached the throne in the center of the room at the same time and Undauntable made a polite bow.

“Father,” he said.

“Sit with me, boy,” his father said, indicating one of the stools beside the throne. “Apparently we have a visitor with a story worth hearing.”

Undauntable unbuckled the spiked jacket with some difficulty and handed it and the helmet to one of the servants, trying not to gasp for air as it came off. His own pale orange robes were crumpled and damp, but he smoothed them out as best he could as he sat down.

Even when I’m not perfect, I have something no one else has, he reminded himself. No one else in the Indestructible City wore dragon scales like the ones embedded in his earring, rings, and necklace. Wren’s scales were completely unique. They made him special, even when he felt alone and awkward and out of place and convinced that everyone hated him.

The lord seated himself on the throne in a swirl of scarlet robes and nodded to the guards by the door.

Undauntable squinted at the man who strode into the room, all big shoulders and crooked teeth and rugged streaks of dirt everywhere. He had the aura of someone who would cheerfully kick anyone in the face for money. A mercenary, Undauntable guessed.

“Your Invincible Lordship,” the man said grandly, bowing until his forehead nearly touched the floor.

“Boar,” said Undauntable’s father, and it took Undauntable a moment to realize he was saying the man’s name, not commenting on how dull he was. “Welcome back. How was the city of Valor?”

“Very illuminating, sir, but nothing like as great as your city, of course. It was quite easy to get close to the Dragonslayer. He was willing to hire anyone who’d promise to protect him from you.”

Father rubbed his chin and frowned. “And what have you learned? Did you plant the stories I told you to?” he asked. “Is he coming here at last?”

“Much more interesting news than that, sir,” said Boar. As the Invincible Lord scowled, he hurried on. “There was an incident in Valor, my lord. The Dragonslayer is no longer in charge. In fact, he admitted in front of the entire town that he never killed that dragon after all.”

“What?” Undauntable could sense a new simmering rage building under his father’s skin. “But there was a dead dragon! The last two spies said he has its tail!”

“He does, but it turns out it was his brother who did the slaying,” said Boar. “But that one’s a lost cause, your great and powerful lordship. And the Dragonslayer has been utterly disgraced. Neither one is the hero you’re looking for.”

“Have you come to tell me that you are?” Father said with enormous disdain.

“No, no.” Boar raised his hands. “That’s not the interesting part of the story, milord. The interesting part is that the Dragonslayer confessed his lies because a dragon showed up in Valor and demanded the treasure back.”

“Demanded — what?” the lord growled. “How could a dragon say anything?”

“He didn’t, exactly. But he had someone with him.” Boar paused for dramatic effect. The room was deathly silent, everyone listening with wide-eyed fascination. “The dragon was working with a girl.”

“A girl?” The Invincible Lord snorted with disgust. “Impossible.”

“This girl was riding the dragon,” Boar insisted. “I saw it with my own two eyes. She stood up there on his shoulder, and she didn’t say a word, but you could tell: she was the one who understood the dragon. She was the one who really brought the message. She made him roar when she wanted to; she told him when to leave — with the treasure, mind you. There is a girl, sir, who can control dragons.”

The Invincible Lord stared at him for a long moment. Undauntable tried to study his father’s face without staring too obviously. It looked as though wheels were spinning in his mind, gears clicking into place. Undauntable knew he was already figuring out how to use this to his benefit.

“Where is this girl now?” he said in a smooth, silky voice.

“She left with the dragon,” Boar answered. “But she’s out there, sir. She’s the one you want. And she can’t be too hard to find, if she sticks with that dragon. I ain’t never seen one that color before. It was a kind of light orange, like the mountain dragons but all washed out.”

A shock like lightning ran through Undauntable’s veins.

Pale orange scales.

A girl who rides a dragon.

If there was anyone in the world he could imagine riding a dragon, it was Wren. Had she been bringing him scales from her very own dragon all these years? Hadn’t she been nine when he met her? Had she had her own dragon when she was nine years old?

And could she really control them?

He suddenly realized, with a cold, creeping feeling, that his father was staring at him.

“Everybody out,” said the Invincible Lord. “Boar, good work, and don’t go far. I want every detail of this story.” Undauntable stood, hoping to escape with the rest of the people in the room — but his father caught his arm. “You. Stay.”

Undauntable could feel his heartbeat like a panicked rabbit in his wrist; he was afraid his father could feel it, too, thrumming through the fingers pressed into his skin.

I can’t tell him about her. I don’t want him to take Wren away from me.

But … wouldn’t he be thrilled? Wouldn’t he be pleased that I could finally be of some use to him? That after all this time of doing nothing, it turns out I could bring him the one person he wants now?

He looked into his father’s cold, predatory eyes. This would finally make me the son he truly wants.

And yet, when he tried to imagine what would happen to Wren in his father’s power, his heart felt like it was shrinking into a little iron pellet.

Wren would hate being Father’s puppet. She’d hate being trapped here, or working for him. She’d hate me for giving her to him.

And he would crush her.

Wren was sunlight and wind and far-off horizons; she was claws and wings and bursts of flame. She was everything the Indestructible City was not. That’s why I love her, he admitted to himself.

“Undauntable,” his father said in his icy voice. The room was empty now except for the two of them. “That man described a dragon whose scales seem to match the ones you wear. I think it’s time you told me where you’ve been getting them.”

His fingers tightened mercilessly on Undauntable’s arm, cutting off the circulation so Undauntable’s hand felt numb.

“An old woman,” Undauntable blurted. “I met her once in the market a long time ago. She had a small bag full of the scales, so I bought them all, because I didn’t want anyone else to have them. I’ve just been adding them to my jewels one a time for — for effect because you said st-style was partly about t-timing and —”

“Stop sniveling,” his father snapped. Undauntable fell silent. The lord regarded him for a long, hooded moment. “You’re lying,” he said at last. “You’re terrible at it.”

Undauntable had thought that was a rather good lie, actually, considering he’d only had a moment to think of it. I’m sorry, Wren. I’ll try to protect you as long as I can.

“I will find this girl,” hissed the Invincible Lord, and Undauntable felt a stab of fear for Wren. “I will find her, and her dragon — or dragons, if Boar’s theory is correct. You can be of use to me, or you can be a stupid waste of space, as usual. But either way, one day I will control the girl who controls dragons, and then … then the whole world will be mine at last.”