Cage Sentineo wanted to marry a highborn woman whose family would sooner die than wed her to a creature. He was that creature. An ogre with pointed elf ears, two blue eyes that glowed like orbs, and a red scar splitting his right brow. Human blood did not run in him. Only strength did. So he decided to buy what his birth denied him. He would win the crown's favor with a monster's head. The tracks led him deep into the hills. They belonged to a direwolf the size of a horse, with a shadow coat and black fangs. Farmers had lost their flocks to it for a year. The crown had posted a bounty no knight dared claim. Cage claimed it. He lured the beast into a narrow gully with a slaughtered goat, then dropped from the rocks above. His blade found the wolf's throat before it turned. It died with one black fang buried in his shield. He carried the head down to the royal court at dawn. The hall went quiet when he entered. Guards gripped their spears. Nobles pulled their children close. Cage set the dripping head on the stone floor and knelt. "For the crown," he said. "The beast that emptied your western farms is dead." The queen leaned forward on her throne. She studied the head, then the ogre who brought it. A woman stepped from behind the throne to whisper in her ear. Loya Crasgard, the queen's handmaiden, small and dark-haired in a red gown trimmed with gold. She had served the queen since childhood and knew every face at court. She did not know this one. Her eyes moved over Cage's scar and his glowing stare, and she did not flinch. "He fights like no man can," Loya murmured, loud enough for Cage to hear. "That is worth more than a man's blood." The queen raised a hand. "You have earned a place in my guard," she said. "Kneel again tomorrow and I will name you knight." The court stirred, uneasy. Cage felt the respect he had chased all his life settle over the room. He had it now. But as he rose, Loya met his eyes and gave a small shake of her head. She walked him to the door. "One head buys their fear, not their blessing," she said. "The queen rewards you. But there is a greater beast in the eastern marsh. A dragon with green scales and poison on its teeth. It has killed three of her knights. The lords say no ogre can sit at a human table until he kills what no human could." Cage looked back at the wolf's head on the stone floor. His first prize had already shrunk to nothing. The crown's favor came with a price higher than he knew. He would have to find the dragon. He would have to kill it, or stay a monster at the door forever.