"Bring me a dragon!"

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.

However…

“Bring me a dragon!” I said one morning in my most imperious voice, as I entered my breakfast room.

I, Queen Dondorinda-Talisa-Mantoret-the-Red of said Valley… I knew there were dragons. I had seen one.

A dragon, in glorious detail; a creature that materialized in my dream a few nights before my tenth birthday. It had a long curving tail, smooth wine-coloured scales edged in pink, and a sweet, impish face.

Like a large cat, it fit perfectly in my arms and laid its head on my shoulder, breathing out the delicate scent of smoke. I stroked its soft, folded wings and admired the sturdy little horns sweeping back from its elongated forehead.

Morning light came as a dash of cold water.

Perhaps you think the Queen of the Valley could have no concept of such a thing!

I assure you, I do. When I was quite young, a servant tripped while I was at dinner and icy spring water flew from his silver pitcher to splash in my face. I gasped, my lady-in-waiting screamed, and soldiers sprang from their positions to strike down the clumsy servant and haul away his twitching body. But no matter, he was soon enough replaced…

As I said, like a dash of cold water, light filtered through my curtains and tore me from my dream.

How could such a wonderful dream end, and the beautiful creature vanish? I felt the loss like a death. Reliving every detail, I told myself it was far too real to be merely a dream. My dragon must exist somewhere in life.

I wanted to feel it in my arms again. Never had I not got what I wanted in my long ten-year reign as Queen Dondorinda-Talisa-Mantoret-the-Red.

Therefore I would have it.

“Bring me a dragon!” I repeated, as I sat down to breakfast. Three servants in black tunics straightened my skirts about my ankles, and carefully pulled back my tangled locks of red hair so as not to hang in my face. On my head, they placed my velvet and gold breakfast crown. Not exactly gently, but then I do have riotous masses of hair. It is worse when not combed, and I had not allowed anyone to brush it for days.

As always, far more food was laid out on the table than I would have eaten in a week. Six rigid soldiers in full red and gold parade dress stood around the breakfast room; the servants waited for my next order; two white-garbed cooks scampered in with a covered dish of steaming eggs (fried sunny side up, just as I requested three years before); and the Queen’s Procurer stood two paces from the far end of the table, already on duty. I could see him picking surreptitiously at a yellow dribble on the hem of his embroidered vest: egg yolk, I suspected. How unpleasant.

Meanwhile, my lady-in-waiting hovered over the feast. She had straightened the gleaming gold cutlery, the spotless plates, and the never-before-used napkins, and now fussed over three magnificent bouquets of flowers, freshly cut from the garden.

“Queen Dondorinda-Talisa-Mantoret, I do not think the Queen’s Procurer will find a dragon anywhere,” said Lady Formetta, with one of her heavy sighs. She turned from the flowers and poured my bergamot tea. “Nor can I believe you would enjoy the taste of dragon meat. Would you like a little pepper on your eggs?”

“Not meat, Formetta,” I said, matching the drama of her sigh as I waved off the pepper. “I want a live one. A small, live dragon, about this big.” I sketched the size with my hands and then picked up a fork and pierced the yolks of all three eggs. Yellow ooze spread out over the whites and onto the plate.

She tutted. “There are no dragons, at least not here in the Valley! How unfortunate, Your Magnificence! Could the Procurer tempt you with a new dress instead, in time for your birthday? I shall have him bring you some designs and – yes! Why not? – in a dragon theme. He is excellent at painting designs!” Her eyes grew wide and vacant as she considered visions existing only within her brain.

The Procurer brightened noticeably, squaring his narrow shoulders. Perhaps he liked dragons. Or perhaps he enjoyed designing dresses. He was new, having replaced my old Procurer who had fallen down in a fit and died, less than two weeks ago. Thus far, I had not asked much of him.

“My lady Formetta…” I sighed again as if I found her exasperating. In truth, I often did. “My dressing rooms are stuffed full. Why would I need another gown?”

“But you have outgrown many of them, I am sure.”

“Not enough!” I snapped. “I am sure I could wear a different dress every day of the year, could I not?”

“I would hope so, Your Magnificence!”

“I want a dragon, not a dragon dress,” I said, giving Lady Formetta a demanding stare.

“But, Queen Dondorinda-Talisa-Mantoret, there are no dragons in the Valley, and it is unlikely there ever will be. Now, see… you have not eaten your eggs and they are growing cold.” She sighed again, snapped her fingers, and sent the cooks racing from the room to prepare a fresh plate of eggs.

I heard a small sound from the far end of the table and turned my glare in that direction. I raised my eyebrows, which are just as red as my hair, and opened my eyes wide.

Under my astounded gaze, the Procurer froze in place. His fingertip lingered on the stain, which he had almost succeeded in removing.

“I believe I heard a cough,” I said coldly.

Lady Formetta cringed in her beautiful green morning gown. It, as she knew, went very well with my hair, and almost matched my eyes. She said, “My nephew is new in his job. Please excuse him, Your Magnificence… He will not clear his throat again.”

“Is it possible he has egg on his clothing?”

“Certainly not,” my lady-in-waiting babbled, glancing in horror at the Procurer’s vest and shaking her head. “Of course not, Queen Dondorinda-Talisa-Mantoret.”

“I believe he does. How disgusting!” I picked up the plate of eggs and threw it at him. It landed on the end of the table and slid forward, splattering him with egg before it fell to the floor with a crash.

Three of the soldiers ran forward, their paths converging on the Procurer. Just before they reached him, an idea popped into my mind.

I raised my hand. “Wait.”

They froze in place like painted statues. I smothered a grin at the expressions of painful suspense on everyone’s face.

“I believe I will have him executed for my birthday entertainment. Yes, I shall.”

“Oh, Your Magnificence, please, no… my only nephew, he…”

“Do be quiet, Lady Formetta,” I commanded. I eyed her unfortunate nephew, who stared back at me, white-faced. His egg-smeared clothing hung loose on him as if he had begun to collapse within.

“Unless…” I said, skewering him with my meanest, nastiest scowl. I had practiced it numerous times before the mirror in my rooms, relishing the glow of my green eyes and red hair. I had never encountered anyone else with such brilliant eyes and flaming hair. The freckles on my nose, however, weren’t quite to my taste.

“Procurer, you have three days until my birthday. Bring me my dragon, or face execution.”

“But… Your Magnificence… there are no dragons,” wailed my lady-in-waiting, plucking with nervous fingers at the fabric of her gown. “How can he possibly find something that does not exist?”

“That will be his problem,” I said. “And this, Lady Formetta, is yours. He has three days to look for it. Meanwhile, you are held in his place. If your nephew does not return, you shall be executed instead. Take her away!”

The soldiers, who until that moment had been under Formetta’s orders like everyone else in my court, cautiously approached her. She drew a quivering breath, stood tall, and spoke very clearly. “I, Queen Dondorinda-Talisa-Mantoret? I, who have cared for you like a mother since the day of your birth!”

She turned her face from me and gave one short, sharp nod to the soldiers. I waved them off and then pointed my finger at the Procurer, who had not yet moved.

“Get out.” As he ran to the door, I shouted after him, “Come back in one hour with clean clothes and a plan!”

Then I picked, nibbled, and munched from the feast in front of me.

On the opposite wall, my dead father and mother watched from matching portraits, their red hair beautifully painted and their green eyes twinkling down at me in silence. Meanwhile, sunlight shone through the tall windows overlooking the garden and, beyond that, the vast and dragonless Valley I ruled.