“I can try, Frankie, but I’d like to talk to Gugu myself. When we were in the North last time, he mostly had a lot of questions about my father, but I didn’t get to ask him questions of my own. Do you think the mice can do it? They will have to talk to her like a prisoner. They can’t talk to her like spies. This will have to be delicate. It should be me talking to her.”
I pulled Galen down, so his head was in my lap and brushed his hair off his forehead. “You’ll still get that chance, I think. We just need to get her out.”
Galen sighed and closed his eyes. “That’s the hardest part—deciding to leave. Locasta will have beaten her down like the Fisher King did me so she thinks she can’t.”
I tried to remember the maid. I didn’t look at her long because I was so focused on Locasta. She couldn’t see me at all. I was slipping. Dorothy’s features changed a little when I broke the glamour. They were more refined now. Her nose was slimmer, and her lips were fuller. She looked more like Galen now. Did this maid have a similar glamour and if I had just looked at her hard enough, I would have seen the similarities between her and Dorothy?
Would I even have put the pieces together? There was too much unknown then. This was like getting hit in the face with a bucket of ice water.
“We have to assume she’s a fighter. Gugu will contact me again in the mirror tomorrow with news.”
“Do you think it would be weird to invite Dorothy and Ozma to dinner tomorrow? I want to get to know her.”
I hadn’t kissed Galen on the lips yet, but I was sleeping snuggled in bed with him. I leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.
“I don’t think it’s weird at all. I think you should get to know your sister.”
Chapter 4
Oprix
I
t seemed like never-ending drama since we got to Emerald City Academy. I missed the simple life in the West, but I was happy for Galen. I knew this was hard for Dorothy, but I hoped she could come to terms with it. Ozma and Dorothy weren’t at breakfast with us, but they usually weren’t. We had told no one her secret because Glinda and Ozma showed her how to glamour herself back to how she looked before.
I thought Dorothy was beautiful with the green hair, but I didn’t know how she felt about it. I knew she was angry. Galen just looked stunned. When we slept that night, Frankie was wrapped around Galen, and Idris was sleeping spooning her back. I didn’t mind being the odd man out. Galen needed her right now.
Ozma and Dorothy were off at private lessons, and we were back in magical lessons. We were supposed to be starting our flying lessons today. Frankie had been training me to fight with my new scythe and she’d given me some flying tips, but I hadn’t taken to the air yet. What I needed to do required a potion and a spell. The ingredients for that were in magical class.
Frankie slipped her hand in mine on the way to class. “Are you excited to learn to fly?” she asked.
“Totally. It means I can fly with all of you.”
I was a little surprised to see Daxar sitting at our table when we got there. There was a staff resting against the table by his chair. He gave Frankie this dangerous smile.
“I’d say it’s about time I learned to fly too. I don’t want to get caught in the North with no way home again. Just because I’m the headmaster doesn’t mean I’m above learning with the students.”
Frankie grinned and sat down. “It will be good to have all my men knowing how to fly. A staff chose you?”
Daxar just winked. “Apparently.”
Equora was back to being nervous now that Daxar was in her class. Frankie had said something to Glinda about expelling students. Glinda said her reasons were that if they couldn’t handle a simple potion, then they probably didn’t have the kind of magic the Fisher King was after and the safest place for them was at home with their families. Frankie pointed out he had been snacking in the North and Glinda was thinking about her expulsion policy.
I was glad because the potion to enchant our objects to fly permanently was a doozy, and it had to be brewed by our own hands. Frankie couldn’t help at all or my scythe wouldn’t fly. Everything had to be ground by myself, and it was a lot of grinding. There were a lot of bones of flying animals in this potion.
It wasn’t just the bones. Some crystals and herbs needed to be ground too. Fight training had been canceled today because this potion would take all day to brew. We were told lunch would be brought in, but we were only supposed to eat when we had been approved.
Daxar and I were hunched over the desk, grinding and trying to concentrate while Idris tried to goof off and talk to us. Frankie, Saffron, and Galen were off helping the rest of the class and coming over to check on us from time to time.
“Do you think Glinda is teaching this to Dorothy and Ozma?” Idris boomed.
I swear, it sounded like his voice was echoing off the walls. I needed quiet. I was adding the agate to my mixture of bones and Frankie warned me it could explode if I weren’t careful.
I placed the agate in the center of the powdered bones and glared at Idris.
“I need quiet,” I hissed, starting to grind again.
Idris leaned back in his chair. “I’m bored.”
“Perhaps Idris should go find something else to do besides this class,” Daxar said in a clipped voice.
“What the—”
I could tell Idris was about to curse him out, but he leaned his chair back just a little further, and it tipped over, taking Idris with it. His huge wings went flapping everywhere on the way down. Daxar and I grabbed our mortar and pestle and jumped out of our seats. The Quadlings behind us weren’t so lucky. Idris’ wings sent their pestles and cauldrons flying across the room.
Everyone was frowning at Idris. He just jumped to his feet and brushed off his chest.
“I meant to do that,” he said.
That was the wrong thing to say, and he forgot Daxar was in the room today. He wasn’t just dealing with Equora today. Daxar scowled.
“You meant to send two hours of your classmate’s work to the floor?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then what exactly did you mean to do?”
Idris’ shoulders slumped, and his wings drooped. “I’m sorry. How do I fix it?”
“You said you were bored. You will help the people whose potion you ruined as much as you can without ruining it.”
“Yes, sir,” Idris mumbled, slinking off to the supply closet.
I sat back down with my pestle. “He didn’t mean it,” I whispered to Daxar.
“Oh, I know. But he’s bored and needed something to do. I actually found the entire thing rather amusing.”
I hid my smile. So, maybe Daxar wasn’t a total hardass. I was allowed to eat when I had a pile of blue powder in my pestle. It was a combination of bones and powdered agate. The kitchens brought in sandwiches. Idris must have been very sorry about falling out of his chair because he didn’t eat until the Quadlings whose potion he ruined did.
The rest of the class was mixing the powder with liquid ingredients into the cauldron. This part was complicated. There was a lot of throwing in pinches and teaspoons and stirring clockwise and counterclockwise at certain times. I had to raise and lower the heat at just the right time.
I was sweating. The heat from the cauldron was rising to my face and my blond hair was sticking to my forehead. I just had to toss the last ingredient in there. A crow’s feather was the last ingredient to go in, and then I would know if it worked or not.
Daxar was at the same stage I was. We had been working at the same pace. Frankie came to stand in front of us to watch. Daxar cocked an eyebrow at me as we stood in front of our cauldrons.
“Together?” he asked.
I gave him a curt nod, and we tossed our feathers in. There was a quick flash and my potion turned a crystal blue color. I looked over and Daxar’s was the same. Frankie didn’t demonstrate this potion because it took too long. She just verbally told us, but she said it was supposed to turn thi
s color.
Frankie clapped her hands. “You did it!”
Daxar and I were one of the first to finish. Emari and Emarus were close, but that was mainly because Frankie and Saffron had been giving them private lessons too. I finally looked around the room. Saffron was glued to Emarus’ table helping him, and Galen was flittering around helping everyone.
Galen must have an insane pain tolerance. He’d taken that arrow just a few days ago, but he was walking around like he wasn’t in pain at all. I was coming to admire Galen. I already knew he was one of us, but even through all of this, he’d never asked for anything. He’d been helping us and helping us, and all he asked for in return was dinner with his sister.
Frankie got my attention again. “Grab your objects and vial up your potion. Come up to the front of the class.”
I grabbed a ladle and Daxar and I funneled our potion into a big vial. I put the cork in and carried the vial and my scythe to the front of the class. This would be so badass. Daxar and I laid our objects on the floor and sprinkled it with the potion. As soon as I chanted the words to complete the spell, I heard my scythe sigh.
“Ah, it’s good to be useful. Command me to your hand.”
“Come to me.”
“In your head, silly Winkie. You don’t always want people to know you are summoning me. Think about it and I will always hear you and come.”
“To my hand.”
“Much better.”
My scythe disappeared from the floor and reappeared in my hand. It was so cool. The scythe had a female voice, so I just called it her.
“Do you have a name?”
“Do you wish me to have a name?”
“Only if you want one.”
“Concentrate when you call me. You may focus better if you give me a name.”
“I will call you Shibelle.”
“There is power in a name, young Winkie. Don’t speak my name to another living person.”
That was when it hit me. If there was power in a name, what was the Fisher King’s name? It wasn’t the Fisher King. He was a knight before he became the Fisher King. Maybe the answer to beating the Fisher King lay in finding out his real name. I’d have to ask Galen later.
Daxar looked like he was having a similar conversation with his staff. Frankie threw her arms around my neck and squeezed me.
“Don’t tell me what it is, but did you name your scythe? My broom has a name.”
I kissed her forehead and squeezed her waist. I loved that she hugged me even when I was sweaty and felt disgusting.
“Yes, she has a name.”
“So does my staff,” Daxar said, winking at her.
I heard my staff speak to me again. “You’ve done what is needed, young Winkie, but I am sharp. Send me back to your room before you hurt someone. Just command me back to your room.”
“Will you please go back to my bedroom?”
“You’re very sweet, Winkie.”
And with that, my scythe disappeared from my hand and went to my room. I needed to talk to everyone when we were alone. If I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone my scythe’s name, and no one knew the Fisher King’s name, that was probably important.
I was just learning magic, but had the answer to beating the Fisher King been in his name this entire time?
Chapter 5
Frankie
G
alen was so nervous about his dinner with Dorothy, and I wanted to do something special for him. I got Daxar’s permission to use the kitchens again and Glinda permitted us to play hooky from history. I would make them a full Winkie meal with some dessert recipes from the South I’d learned from Ufora. I want our dinner to be full of good food and laughter.
Galen wanted to chip in, and as much as I wanted to cook a meal for him and have him relax, I wanted him to feel like one of us. Idris, Oprix, and I always cooked together. They all had their duties. Oprix usually chopped and Idris was the bowl licker and sauce taster. Galen needed to fit into our group.
Emerald City had just gotten a shipment of shrimp from the Western coast, so I showed Galen how to peel shrimp. This just felt right. Galen was peeling shrimp, Oprix was chopping garlic, and Idris was hovering waiting to taste a sauce. I intended to make my mother’s lemon cakes for Saffron too.
We’d done this the last time I was in the kitchen with them, and I wanted to do it again. I bumped Oprix with my hip.
“Sing with me.”
“What are we singing?”
I saw Galen’s eyes light up. “I finally get to hear you sing when I’m not passed out sleeping.”
“Do you have any requests?”
“You said I liked that song about a moon when I was passed out. Can you sing it again while I’m awake?”
I smiled. “Yes, but Oprix and I will sing a more upbeat song when we are done. In the key of g minor, Oprix.”
We started singing about Mother Moon and her love for her children, the stars. Galen’s hands went still, and then his body went rigid. I saw his eyes water. All I was doing right now was grinding spices for the shrimp and fish, so I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I buried my face in his chest and finished the song that way.
Galen hugged me harder than he ever had before. It was a real hug this time. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and his body was shaking with sobs. I didn’t let him go. I refused to let him go long after I finished the song. Idris and Oprix knew what to do. They surrounded us and we all just held Galen as he wept.
I got the feeling Galen didn’t allow himself to cry growing up, and he was just getting it out now. Everything was hitting him all at once. I was glad he was getting it out. We just stood there in the Emerald City kitchens holding him until he let me go.
“I’m sorry, Frankie. I don’t know what came over me,” Galen said, wiping his eyes.
I touched his cheek. “It’s okay to cry, Galen. It’s okay to talk about what you went through with your father. You don’t have to pretend with us. You don’t have to pretend like you are okay with everything. You can talk about anything.”
Galen cleared his throat and moved towards his bowl of shrimp. “Later, okay? Can you sing that happy song now?”
“Do you have any requests?”
Galen hid his face with his hair, which meant he was about to tell me something horrible, and he thought I was going to get mad or judge him.
“My mother brought instruments to keep her occupied while she guarded the prison, but the Fisher King hates Oz music, so he refused to let her play them once they were together. His prison is in a mountain right next to the Deadly Desert. There was a forest to hunt game in, but no one to talk to. I always wanted to hear music, but we lived by the Fisher King’s rules. If he saw her instruments lying around, he would berate her for hours for knowing how to play them. He would talk about how inferior Oz music is to where he came from. I always wanted to hear music. The first time I ever did was at a Winkie pub when I went to the West to find you. I love music now, but I’m afraid I don’t know any of the song names to request anything.”
I wanted to go over there and squeeze him again, but he was focusing so hard on peeling those shrimp. That was his sign I couldn’t read yet. He was uncomfortable. Would touching him make it better or worse? I was still learning how to figure out his signs, and he’d had so much bad experience with physical contact, I didn’t want to turn good contact into something bad by pressing his boundaries.
“How about this? Oprix and I will sing you our favorites, and you can tell us what you like. If you have a favorite, we’ll sing it again and soon, you’ll have your own favorite songs.”
Galen practically had his nose in the shrimp he was peeling. “Thank you, Frankie. I’m sorry for being so ignorant of the world. Thank you for being patient with me.”
I shoved the fish into the oven and turned to Galen with my hands on my hips. Did he really think we thought that?
“Galen, we aren’t judging you because you don’t have a favori
te song. We don’t think less of you because you weren’t exposed to the same things we were growing up. It’s nice showing you our favorite things.”
“Totally,” Idris said. “I can’t wait to show you all the badass stuff the Flying Monkeys have.”
“Thanks, guys. Can you sing now?”
I could tell we had made him uncomfortable, but he wanted to move forward, so I did. Oprix and I sang the entire time we cooked. We sang duets, or we sang harmony. Galen was smiling and laughing by the time we were done. We plated everything up and the servants came in to bring it up to our rooms.
I pulled Galen into a hug. “Are you ready for dinner with your sister?”
Chapter 6
Galen
I
was petrified about dinner with Dorothy and Ozma. They accepted me as a friend, but not necessarily as a brother. They arrived early, and Ozma was carrying a bottle of Munchkin wine with her. Frankie had invited Daxar, and I wasn’t mad about it. He was one of us and I was learning he had a diplomatic side. He could handle it if I fucked something up.
Dorothy had herself glamoured, so she looked like her old self and less like my mother. I wondered if she did that for her or for me. I knew to have that dumped on her had to be hard. She didn’t let the glamour drop when Ozma closed the door. Frankie cocked her eyebrow at the wine.
Ozma just winked at her. “Just try it. I’ve been enjoying all the imported things Oz has to offer. It’s made with blueberries since it’s from the East.”
Frankie just grinned. “Then it should pair well with the lemon butter shrimp and the fish.”
“And those famous Winkie lemon cakes,” Daxar said, kissing the top of her head.
Frankie brought out hors d'oeuvres I got to help her make. There was dip made from yellow peas and another with cheese and jalapenos. It was all yellow, like the West. I’d never had food so good before. I was so intent on shoving cheese dip in my mouth, I almost forgot my sister was in the room. Or, maybe I was trying to avoid looking at her and seeing her look at me with hate.
Oz Has Spoken: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Emerald City Academy Book 3) Page 2