Yellow Brick War (19 page)

“My dear, brave citizens of Oz,” Ozma began, her clear voice carrying without effort. “Long have you waited for this moment, and much have you suffered.” It was still a shock to hear her speak like this—to see infinite wisdom flickering in her deep green eyes. “I am so happy to return to you, and to promise you that Oz is ours again—a free kingdom, with liberty and justice for all its subjects.”

A spontaneous cheer rose up from the happy crowd at her words, and the full impact of what I was witnessing hit me. For now, anyway, Oz was
free
. Dorothy was gone. We'd done it. All that fighting, all that loss and sacrifice—I'd never actually
thought we would
win
. Without thinking, I reached for Nox's hand. He looked at me, surprised, and then squeezed mine back. I put my head on his shoulder. He was just the right height for us to fit perfectly together. After a minute, he put his arm around me, and I relaxed into the warmth of his body, closing my eyes as Ozma's words washed over us.

“As many of you know,” she continued, “we owe much of this victory to a very special warrior who has risked much to help us, though when she began this fight she was not even one of us. She believed in the freedom of Oz, even though it was not her world. She has shown extraordinary courage in the face of great danger, and she was the one who set me free from the prison of my own mind.” Nox elbowed me in the ribs and my eyes flew open. Everyone in the tent was looking at me.

“Amy Gumm,” Ozma said in that beautiful, rich voice. “We owe you our lives and our freedom. We will never be able to repay our debt to you, but you will always have a home among us.” And then, to my total astonishment, she moved through the crowd until she was standing right before me, and went down on her knee. After a second, everyone else knelt, too. To me. Like I was a queen. To my absolute horror, Nox knelt, too. I had no idea what to do or say. I wasn't a ruler. I was just a teenager from a trailer park in Kansas.

“I can't—” I stammered frantically. “I mean I didn't—I didn't do anything special. Anyone in my place would have done what I did.”

Ozma remained kneeling for what felt like a million years but
was probably just a few seconds, and then she stood with that same effortless grace and held out her hands to me. “Stand beside me, dear Amy,” she said. “It would be an honor to be crowned at your side. I owe this—all of this—to you.” The crowd around me, also rising to its feet, parted wordlessly. I stood frozen to the ground in terror until Nox gave me a gentle shove.

“Dorothy was way scarier than this,” he whispered. “You're fine.”

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered under my breath, but I stepped forward. I was glad I'd gone with the dress after all, now that what seemed like every eye in Oz was on me. My heart was pounding so hard I almost laughed at myself. Nox was right; I'd faced down Dorothy, but couldn't handle an appreciative audience?

Ozma beamed at me as I joined her at her side. She took my hand in one of hers, and gestured to Lulu with the other. The little monkey should have looked ridiculous in her bedazzled dress, which was over the top even for her. But instead she looked perfect. Sort of like a really dignified chandelier, but in a good way. She was weeping openly as she slowly carried the crown toward us.

When she reached us, Ozma curtsied deeply, dipping her head low enough for Lulu to set the crown on her dark hair. Everyone around us breathed out a sigh of combined relief and awe.

“At last, our queen is returned to us,” Lulu proclaimed, holding Ozma's hand aloft as they turned to face the crowd. There was a brief second of complete stillness, and then the pavilion erupted. Everyone was hugging and shrieking and clapping and
cheering. Munchkins jumped up and down, waving their arms. Winkies high-fived each other. Even Gert and Mombi were hugging and dancing around like little kids. Nox ran up to me, picked me up off my feet, and twirled me around while I giggled with delight. Lulu had her arms wrapped around Ozma's midsection and was sobbing noisily. Only Ozma remained calm and collected, smiling down at Lulu and at all the other citizens of Oz who tried to touch her dress or embrace her.

Finally, the mayhem died down enough for Ozma to call out, “And now we feast!” Another enormous cheer erupted from the crowd, and everyone surged toward the banquet.

Nox and I were swept up in the tide of people and carried along with them to where long tables had been set up. Sunfruit hung in the air, casting a warm, gentle light over the piles and piles of food.

Nobody had to be told twice to eat, including me. Ozma had decided on an informal party, given the circumstances—no servants, no seats, just banquet tables piled high with food and heaps of cushions and bright woven carpets scattered around the floors of the tent city. Most people elected to take their food outside, finding spots in the grass or under the trees. But I noticed as I filled my plate that people were getting out of my way, or even bowing to me. It was a strange feeling, one I didn't really like. I tried to make myself as unobtrusive as possible as I carried my plate outside and found a place far from the crowd.

That was when Nox found me. At last, we'd gotten away from the rest of the Quadrant. For how long, I didn't know.

“You don't have to tell me,” he said in a low voice. “I know. There's something wrong, but I can't figure out what it is.”

I set my plate in the grass, my appetite gone. “I have to find a way to get back to Kansas,” I said. “If the Nome King has my mom . . .”

“The Quadrant will try and stop you. And I don't know if I can stop them.”

“Because you're bound to them?”

He nodded. “I can try to undo the spell that binds us together, but I might not be strong enough to do it on my own.”

“I can help.”

“Even with the shoes, Gert and Mombi are more powerful than you are. I don't know.” He shook his head, his expression bleak. “I want to help you, but I don't know how to get away from them.”

“Come with me,” I said impulsively. “If we find a way back. Just come with me. We'll defeat the Nome King somehow. We'll prevent him from coming back to Oz. We can stay there together and forget about all this war.”

“Come with you to the Other Place?” he asked, startled. “For good?”

I realized what I'd asked of him as soon as the words were out of my mouth. “You're right,” I said. “I'm sorry. That's totally unfair. I can't ask that of you, any more than I can stay here.”

“I didn't say no, Amy.” His dark eyes searched mine. “What's left for me here?”

“Uh, everything? Your entire life?”

He shrugged. “My family is dead. My home is gone. But I can't leave Oz until I know it's truly safe. In a perfect world—”

“We don't live in a perfect world,” I finished. If I left Oz now, Nox wasn't coming with me. And I wasn't sure, deep down, if that was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

He looked at me and I knew he saw everything I was feeling in my eyes. Without speaking he leaned in and kissed me. He slid his hands down the side of my waist as I ran my fingers through his thick, soft hair. I knew I'd be smelling sandalwood in my dreams for the rest of my life. Nox fumbled with the buttons on my dress, sliding it down one shoulder and kissing the curve of my neck. A shudder ran through me—like magic, but something completely new. I felt the lean, rippling muscles of his back through the soft fabric of his jacket.

“Nox,” I whispered.

“Shhhh,” he said, kissing the words away. “We've earned this. Just this once, forget—” Footsteps crunched across the gravel and we both sat bolt upright. I could hear the murmur of familiar voices. Nox grabbed my hand and tugged me upward—into the air. We floated into the branches of a gnarled old tree and hovered there, hidden by the foliage.

“. . . think you're worrying too much,” Mombi was saying. “Ozma defeated the Nome King once. She's strong enough to keep us safe now.”

“In the past she might have been,” Glamora argued. Her voice had a strange, harsh echo to it. “But the Nome King is stronger now than he's ever been. If he finds a way to control Amy, we're
all in danger. He could easily turn her against us. And Glinda will have made Ozma more cautious. United, we're as powerful as she is. She won't trust us. The Quadrant is in danger.”

“Amy's in love with the boy,” Mombi said dismissively. “And the shoes protect her. Nox is tied to the Quadrant. He'll keep Amy under control.” Despite the situation, I blushed furiously. Was it really
that
obvious?

“And you saw what happened when we tried to control him,” Glamora snapped. Nox and I exchanged glances. What was she talking about?

“What exactly are you suggesting, Glamora?” Mombi's voice was cool and distant. “Treason?”

“Of course not,” Glamora said. “Nothing done for the good of Oz is treason.”

“The good of Oz, of course, being dependent on our control of it,” Mombi said drily.

“Whatever you think of Ozma, we have to gain control of Amy,” Glamora stated. “She's a danger to all of us.”

“She won't use magic again,” Mombi said.

“Can you guarantee that?” Glamora asked.

“I'd bet my life on it,” Mombi said. For the briefest second, her eyes flicked upward.
She knows we're here
, I thought. So why wasn't she revealing us?

Glamora looked as though she was about to object, but she bit down on the words and smiled, yielding unexpectedly. “Very well, dear sister. I'm sure you know what's best. Shall we return to the celebration?”

“You go ahead,” Mombi said. “I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet a little longer.” Glamora gave Mombi a searching look, but she nodded and turned back toward the clamor of Ozma's celebration.

Mombi waited until I could barely make out Glamora's slender figure. “All right,” she said, looking up at us. “You can come down now.”

Warily, Nox and I eyed Mombi. Whose side was she on? What about what we'd just overheard?

“You're going to tell me you think Glamora is Glinda,” she said gruffly. My jaw dropped, but Nox nodded. Mombi sighed. “It's more complicated than that. She's still Glamora, but Glinda's a part of her now. I think they're still battling it out in there. Glamora is keeping Glinda in check for now, but who knows how long that will last.”

“When did you guess?”

“Right after the battle. Gert should have known, too, but Glamora is using Gert's ability to read minds to cloud her thinking. The connection runs both ways if you're powerful enough. It wasn't safe to move openly against her. But now, with all this talk of controlling Amy . . .” Mombi shook her head. “She's going to do something soon and we have to be ready to stop her. Glamora might still triumph but Glinda is incredibly powerful.
And if she wins, she can use the Quadrant magic that binds us together to control us.”

“Why didn't you
tell
me?” Nox asked.

Mombi shot him a sympathetic look. “Sorry, sonny, but it wasn't safe. And no offense, but Gert and I are stronger than you, Quadrant or no Quadrant.” Mombi sighed. “The Nome King in the Other Place, Dorothy who knows where, Glinda trying to defeat Glamora and take control of the Quadrant . . . Not good, not good at all. And if the barriers between Oz and Ev are as malleable as the barriers between Oz and the Other Place, we're in trouble. The Nome King has a whole host of nasty creatures at his disposal.” She shook her head. “Never a dull moment in Oz,” she said.

“I have to go back to Kansas,” I said urgently. “I have to help my mom against the Nome King.”

“Not a chance,” Mombi said dismissively. “Even if we knew how to send you back—which we don't—you wouldn't last for a second against the Nome King without magic. He's already shown that his power isn't limited in the Other Place. He'll crush you like a bug.”

“But the shoes—”

“No buts. First things first: it's time we figure out how to stop Glinda and get Glamora back.”

“Well, well,” said a voice from the darkness. “We certainly do learn a lot when we eavesdrop, don't we?”

Glamora stepped out of the shadows. “It's not very nice of you to run around behind my back, dear sister,” she said. I
recognized Glinda's menacing, sickly sweet syrupiness in her voice. Mombi met her gaze steadily. She didn't look too surprised that Glamora had been spying on us.

“I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to try anything before now, but apparently I was wrong,” Mombi said. “You know that even as strong as you are you can't defeat the rest of the Quadrant and Amy combined.”

“Oh, I don't need to be,” Glamora said with a smile. “I have help.” The air beside her began to glow with an all-too-familiar silver light. A twisted metal wand appeared in Glamora's hand and she held it aloft. More silver light ran down its length like mercury, dripping to the ground and spreading outward into a flat pool of molten metal.

“Get back,” Mombi said urgently. She didn't have to tell me twice. The pool's surface shimmered and grew transparent. I could see through it as if it were a window to another world—and it was. Below us was the main hallway of Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior High. I recognized the worn tiles and watery fluorescent lights immediately. A perfect square of less-faded linoleum marked where the diorama had once stood. The windows were boarded up where the Nome King's storm had broken the glass but the rubble had been cleared away. The hall was empty, but daylight filtered in through the few unbroken windows. Class must be in session. Nox grabbed my arm as if to restrain me and I realized I was leaning toward the pool as though I wanted to jump through it to the other side. “You can't, Amy,” he said urgently. “It's not a portal.”

“Not for you it isn't,” Glamora said. “But for some of us it works quite nicely.” She smiled and waved her wand. “It's time,” she said. At first, I had no idea who she was talking to. And then Assistant Principal Strachan strode into view in the deserted hallway. And he wasn't alone. He had Madison by the shoulders. Dustin Jr. was held tightly in her arms. Dustin Sr. ran behind them. His mouth was open as if he was shouting something but I couldn't hear him.

“Get out of there!” I yelled, but it was obvious he couldn't hear me either. Whatever window Glinda had created, it only let us see into Kansas.

“Oh, it's no use,” Glamora said. “They can't hear you. But
he
can. And if I were you, I wouldn't upset him. Just because he thinks he can put you to good use doesn't mean he won't punish you if you provoke his temper. Our friend is very old—and don't tell him I said so, but sometimes he's
awfully
grumpy.”

Assistant Principal Strachan looked up, his eyes meeting mine through Glamora's window. And then he smiled. Silver smoke billowed up from his feet. His body began to ripple and his skin peeled away in long strips that dissolved into silvery ooze. Madison's mouth opened in a silent scream of terror as Assistant Principal Strachan dissolved, revealing the Nome King.

“Now it's time to finish the work the Wizard started,” Glamora said. Her tone was almost cheerful but her eyes sparkled with an insane light. I wondered if the struggle between Glinda and Glamora had resulted in something that was a combination of the two. Something more than a little crazy.

“I thought the Wizard wanted to rule Oz,” I said.

“Oh, his vision was limited, make no mistake,” Glamora said. “But he had the right idea. After all, two worlds are better than one. In exchange for unlimited access to Oz's power, my new friend has offered to help me rule this world—and yours.”

“You can't do that,” Mombi growled. She was edging almost imperceptibly toward Glamora as if being closer to the deranged witch would somehow make it easier to stop her. At my side, Nox was tense, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two.

“I can do whatever I
want
, you old bat,” Glamora snapped in a little girl's petulant tone. “I can smash Oz into
smithereens
if I feel like it. But for now, I'm just going to throw a little welcome party. I hate to overshadow Ozma's big day, but this can't wait.” She dodged away from Mombi and pointed her wand at the silver pool. The Nome King reached upward, still keeping his grip on Madison. His body began to stretch and lengthen as he rose to meet Glamora's outstretched arm. It was like watching sand move through an hourglass in reverse. Madison's face was filled with absolute terror as the Nome King pulled her toward Glamora's window. I watched in horror as the baby slipped from her arms. Nox gasped and Mombi jerked forward as if she could somehow catch him. But we were too late. The baby tumbled toward the ground.

And then, incredibly, Dustin dove for the baby. In that second I understood exactly what it was that had made him Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior High's biggest football star. He moved with almost superhuman speed, reaching for Dustin Jr. as if he was
going for the biggest touchdown of his life. He caught the baby seconds before he hit the ground. At the exact same moment, the Nome King burst out of Glamora's window, sending drops of molten silver flying. I screamed in pain as the hot liquid burned through my dress and seared my arms and legs. Next to me, Nox slapped at his smoking clothes. Glamora giggled in triumph. And Madison Pendleton, still in the Nome King's bony clutches, was screaming bloody murder.

“That's quite enough,” the Nome King said curtly, letting go of her long enough to slap her. Madison shut up immediately. Her eyes were huge, darting around the clearing, and she gasped in shock when she saw me. She was shaking so hard I thought she would fall over.

“Now then,” the Nome King said. “Miss Gumm, I believe you have something that belongs to me. I'd like it back.”