The Man Behind the Curtain #2
The wizard was an inconsistency. Historically, magic is only passed down through the matriarchal line. No man born in Oz had ever been born with magic.
The wizard was an anomaly. And anomalies are always seen as threats.
There had been six attempts on his life before then; every single would-be assassin met gruesome deaths, all by the wizard’s hand.
None of them would fess up to who had hired them, but we all knew it was the royal family.
“I’m sorry to arrive unannounced,” I say.
“Why have you arrived?” Glinda asks.
I could just as easily ask her what she’s doing here, but I wouldn’t dare. Glinda comes and goes here as she pleases.
“There was a matter I wanted to discuss with the wizard.”
“What matter?”
There is clear suspicion in her voice, and do I blame her?
I suppose not. Ever since the Great and Terrible War, our trust and alliance have been shaky at best. After the royal family was killed and the seat of power gone, the wizard and the West clashed over who would rule.
He thought he should. Once destined to the throne herself, the West thought a sole figure in power was exactly how we ended up in the mess we were in.
Glinda forced me and Delphine to join her in backing him and it was decided. He would rule at the heart of Oz.
The West retreated. Delphine grew hungrier and hungrier for power and decided the East Enders were hers for the taking. But even then, she was no match for the rest of us. So she descended into a haze of booze and drugs.
But I was the picture of loyalty. Everything Glinda wanted, I supported. She turned me into her lapdog, a role I took on with no complaint.
Is it so hard for her to now back me? To show a little grace when it comes to my ambitions?
Before I can answer, the wizard steps forward. He comes down the three steps off the dais and stops a few feet from me.
He takes another bite of his plum. The soft floral smell of it wafts toward me.
He regards me with his bright green eyes.
“Leave us.”
His voice rings out in the receiving room.
“Of course.” I give him a shaky bow and suck back the burning in my eyes. I will not show weakness or disappointment.
I turn to leave.
“Not you,” he says.
I stop.
I hear Glinda huff out a breath from the dais.
“Go,” he says, and when I turn back to him, he’s still staring at me.
I can feel his power dancing over my skin.
The light in the receiving room seems to dim a fraction, as if the shadows are creeping in.
“Whatever matter must be discussed,” Glinda starts, “I have a right to hear it.”
“No, you don’t.” He finishes the plum and then tosses the wet pit into the air. Before it falls back to his hand, it disappears in a puff of smoke.
The raw power he emits makes my belly dip.
Glinda comes down from the dais. “I would advise against this.”
“I didn’t ask for your advice,” he says. “So don’t give it.”
Damn! The way the wizard handles Glinda is almost orgasmic.
This is going better than I expected and I haven’t even gotten to the best part.
Glinda’s chest expands with a deep breath. “Very well. I’ll be waiting in the drawing room.”
She nods at both of us and exits through the double doors.
And I am alone with the Wizard of Oz.
“Walk with me,” he tells me and heads for the wall of double doors that lead to his garden and reflection pool.
I hurry to keep up.
The wizard is tall, his pace quick and decisive.
We exit the palace and emerge beneath the dark, ominous sky.
The wizard has taken care to drive away some of the dark with lampposts that dot the garden.
Moths swirl around the frosted globes. You can’t tell time by the sky anymore and most of us have stopped trying, but I have to know the wizard’s routine if I’m to be his wife, and I know he likes to have dinner just after seven, so I came just before four to be sure I caught him at a good time.
“Glinda admires you,” he tells me as we follow the zigzagging path as it winds down the gently sloping hill from the palace to the pool.
“No, she doesn’t.”
He comes to an abrupt stop.
I nearly careen into him.
He smiles down at me. He has the best smile. A smile full of secrets, and I want every single one. I want to eat them up like cherries, pits and all.
“Are you accusing me of lying?”
“Oh gods, no! I’m sorry! I just … there’s no way. I’m not as powerful as Glinda and she—”
“Who told you that?”
“Well…” I’m taken aback by the question and I have to give it some thought before answering. “I guess no one did. It’s just a fact that I think must be obvious to everyone. Surely?”
“You burn metal, Lacosta. You can travel through the Unseen dimension.” He tilts his head, narrows his eyes. “Surely that is proof of something powerful.”
Butterflies swim in my stomach. My mouth turns up, unbidden. I’m this close to giggling beneath his admiration.
This is going well. This is going so well!
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
He turns back to the path and continues walking. “Now, what did you want to speak to me about?”
I follow him on the path, fisting the skirt of my dress so as not to drag it in the dirt.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about my future.”
We turn left down another path, taking us away from the reflection pool and farther into the Emerald Gardens.
Personally I like the garden best. I don’t know who planned it or who tends it, but there is always a riot of color in the garden, with flowers defying the lack of sunlight, blooming in rows and rows, bush after bush.
“I think I’m ready for something more,” I go on. “I think the Land of Oz is ready for its next phase, something to show the people of Oz that we are strengthened and looking toward the future.”
“Hmm.” He stops again. I’m ready this time.
We’re beside a row of sculpted bushes. One has been trimmed into consecutive balls, another into a cone, a third into a triangle.
“I have to agree with you,” he says.
“You do?”
“Yes. Things are changing in Oz.”
“You see it too?”
“Of course.”
The nearest lamppost is several feet away and the darkness presses in. My head swims. I need to say this before I lose my nerve.
“I would like to propose a union between you and I.”
I gulp down a breath once the words are out.
He narrows his eyes again, regarding me with cool interest.
“What kind of union?”
“The most sacred kind.”
“Marriage,” he guesses.
“Yes.”
He bends down and presses his mouth against the soft shell of my ear. “I admire your mettle, Lacosta.”
I shiver from the warmth of his breath.
I’m already picturing my wedding day. The massive dress. The miles of gold chain. The huge emerald earrings captured in gold settings.
All of Oz will gather at the city gates just to get a glimpse of the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz and me, his radiant, powerful wife.
There have been rumors of the wizard’s dalliances here and there. And who could blame him? A powerful, wealthy man could have anyone in his bed, at any time.
But he’s never committed to anyone. He’s never plucked a woman or man from the street and claimed them.
I would be the first and only.
No one would ever say a cross word about me ever again.
“Will you marry me?” I ask, officially, just so he knows I’m serious.
I don’t want to lose this moment.
“I would,” he starts, pulls away, and I hear the hesitation, and the bridge to something else.
I’m suddenly feeling untethered, grasping at the whistling line as it flies out of my grasp.
“What is it? Is it Glinda? I thought you didn’t answer to her? I’m sure she could muster some support for us and—”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“The reason Glinda was here … there’s been an incident.”
“What kind of incident?”
“It would seem the West is plotting against us. She’s brought a house. It’s fallen from the sky on top of Delphine.”
“What?” This is news to me. It must have just happened.
“Is Delphine okay?” Like I care. But an injured Cardinal Witch would be very big news.
“I’m not sure,” he admits. “But that’s not all. There’s a girl.”
“A girl?”
Why does he seem interested in this girl?
“I need you to go there. Find out what you can about the girl. Can you do that for me? And then we can discuss our union.…”
“I am happy to help.” Lies. Lies! But if I do this one thing …
He smiles again and reaches over, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
All the air rushes out of my lungs as heat burns up to my cheeks. “Oh. Of course. I promise. I’ll go right away.” I step back from him and pull on the magic still coursing through my veins. Thank the gods I burned a lot of gold.
“And Lacosta?”
“Yes?”
“The girl, whatever it is she’s doing here, send her to the Yellow Brick Road. Send her straight to me.”
The butterflies dive. I don’t know anything about this girl, why the West would bring her, what the West has planned, or what the girl might want. But it doesn’t matter. If the wizard wants her, I’ll make sure he gets her.
“Of course!” I say, a bit too loudly. I inhale, gather myself, and say, “I will do whatever you need. You can count on me.”