“I want it to stop!” I yelled, and a wave of power burst out of me like water crashing through a dam. Mombi, Gert, Glamora, and Nox were thrown backward across the clearing. My fingernails lengthened into claws, my arms rippled with muscle. “Leave me ALONE!” I roared through a mouthful of jagged teeth. And then I felt a gentle, cooling surge of magic from the boots. Reminding me of who I was. Not a monster. Not under Oz’s control. Just Amy Gumm, a girl trying to save her family. The monster’s talons retracted back into my fingers. I pushed myself upright from where I’d crouched on all fours as the witches picked themselves up and brushed themselves off. Nox looked stunned. Glamora looked thoughtful.
“Well, then,” she said. “I guess we’ll have to find a different way to free you from the shoes.”
Mombi was looking at me with an unmistakable expression of worry. I knew they thought I was dangerous. I didn’t blame them. But they wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. Not yet anyway. I wished I could talk to Nox, but there was no safe way to do it.
“Fine,” I said. Let them think I’d given in. Let them think I was willing to give up the shoes as soon as they found a way to get them off my feet. I’d figure something out. I always did. “I’m going back to bed.” I didn’t look back at the witches when I left.
The next few days were a bustle of activity. When Ozma had insisted the coronation be held on the site of the Emerald Palace, I’d been pretty dubious. Why not start over somewhere that wasn’t a former battleground? The scarred wasteland looked worse than post-tornado Dusty Acres, and the city itself was in even more terrible shape. But the land had significance for her. And for Oz. And Ozma, with the help of the Wicked, went immediately into full cleanup mode. First, she deputized a handful of Lulu’s monkeys as messengers and sent them out to all the corners of Oz with the news that Dorothy had been defeated and the coronation was coming. Joyful citizens of Oz came pouring into the city, eager to help rebuild. At all hours of the day and night the streets were full of Munchkins, Winkies, Pixies, and talking animals industriously carting wheelbarrows of debris back and forth, carefully repaving the streets with salvaged gemstones, and repairing the buildings that were still standing. Ozma and the Wicked—Nox included—devoted their energy to constructing an elaborate tent city where the palace had stood and carefully coaxing the ruined gardens back to life. The monkeys busied themselves in the remaining trees, hanging streamers and lights and an elaborate network of bridges and platforms, with Lulu barking orders from the ground like a drill sergeant.
I helped where I could, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It had all happened so suddenly that Dorothy’s defeat hadn’t really sunk in, but everyone else in Oz seemed to think it was totally normal that a tyrant had been defeated, the old queen had been reinstated, and the Emerald Palace had been completely destroyed.
The morning of the coronation was as sunny and clear as every other day had been since Dorothy’s defeat. Ozma herself was directing the final touches: a small army of Munchkins was busy cooking an enormous feast. Pixies fluttered about from tree to tree, hanging streamers and long strands of glass balls that must have been some kind of decoration. Mombi, Gert, Glamora, and Nox were busy putting the last details on the newly planted, magic-enhanced gardens. They were still a far cry from the splendor that had once surrounded the Emerald Palace, but they were a lot better than the wasteland they replaced.
Dorothy’s surviving ex-soldiers had shown up for the party, too. At first I was startled to see the mangled, mechanized figures as they wheeled and creaked around, and the other Ozians gave them a wide berth, too. But they made themselves indispensable, helping with heavy lifting and the most unglamorous tasks, like doing dishes and cleaning up. They, at least, had been through even worse than me. I remembered the Scarecrow’s laboratory, and shuddered.
Finally, it was time to get ready. Ozma had set up a bathing tent that was as luxurious as a fancy spa. Big, claw-foot bathtubs were curtained off with walls of pale, billowing silk. As soon as I entered one of the rooms, invisible hands turned on the taps, and the tub filled with steaming, scented water as a pile of thick towels materialized next to me. I’d no sooner taken off my clothes and climbed into the tub than the same invisible presence began to briskly lather my scalp with a floral shampoo. “No thanks,” I told it. “I think I’d rather do it myself.” I thought I heard a sulky little sigh, but the hands withdrew, and I knew I was alone.
I stayed in the bathtub for a long time, magic boots and all (turns out they were waterproof), dreading the night ahead. I’d never been much for parties, and big banquets still reminded me of those awful days when I’d pretended to be one of Dorothy’s maids. I remembered what she’d done to Jellia, and a chill ran through me despite the hot bathwater. I was going to have to get a grip if I wanted to make it through the night, but I couldn’t let go of all the pain and suffering I’d seen. Maybe people in Oz were more used to it and that was why they could get over it so quickly, but before I’d come here Madison Pendleton had been about the worst thing I’d experienced. Well, that and my mom’s addiction. I splashed my face angrily with hot water and stood up, sloshing bathwater over the sides of the tub. A towel floated into the air and wrapped itself around me. “Oh, fine,” I sighed, stepping out of the tub. If it was possible for an invisible handmaid to towel me off smugly, mine did.
While I’d dozed in the tub, a rich, embroidered dress had been laid out on a chair next to the rack of towels. I looked at it in dismay. I’d feel like an idiot in a ball gown, even at Ozma’s coronation. I hadn’t worn a dress in months. “Maybe something else, please?” I said politely to the air. There was a frosty silence, and then the elaborately beaded and sewn dress disappeared and was replaced with a maid’s uniform. I laughed. “No, come on,” I said aloud. The maid’s uniform vanished, and finally a plain but pretty dress appeared. I picked it up. It was made of a soft, gray material that felt like clouds, and it was simply cut and unembellished. “That’s perfect,” I said. “Thank you.” I heard a little sniff of disapproval, and hid a smile.
Outside, twilight had fallen. I gasped when I saw the open space at the heart of the tent city where Ozma would be crowned. The glass globes the Pixies had hung were filled with tiny, glowing insects that cast a beautiful amber light over the new gardens. Tendrilly vines, heavy with sweet-smelling white flowers, reached up into the warm air and climbed around a canopy the monkeys had erected, creating a high, broad pavilion of blossoms. The citizens of Oz were already beginning to assemble in respectful rows, looking solemn and happy. Lulu’s ball gown was so heavy with rhinestones I saw her as a dazzling blur from a hundred yards away. The rest of the monkeys all wore neatly cut suits—surprisingly dignified, I thought. Even Dorothy’s former soldiers had done their best to dress up. Their metal parts were polished to a blinding glow that reflected the lamplight, and their furry bodies were brushed to a shine.
“You look beautiful, Amy.” Nox was walking toward me. He looked amazing; he’d let Ozma’s invisible handmaidens deck him out in a well-cut and closely fitted suit that looked equal parts James Bond and millionaire, like he was headed to a super-fancy dinner but wasn’t too overdressed to take out a couple of villains if he had to—which, actually, was true. Instead of looking silly, the purple cloak on top made him look like a prince. His longish dark hair was slicked back, which only emphasized his high cheekbones. He’d even found dress shoes.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, looking at my own diamond-studded boots. They were out of place in Oz, but they felt exactly right to me. Besides, with my cool gray granny dress the whole effect was kind of nineties. All I needed was a velvet choker.
And then I realized it: now was our chance. Finally, we were alone. But as soon as I opened my mouth, I saw Glamora swooping down on us, grinning like she’d PermaSmiled herself. “Nox! Amy! Are you ready?” she cooed.
From behind her came a voice I hadn’t heard in what felt like years. “You clean up nice, Amy.” Ollie! And hi
s sister, Maude, was at his side. I swooped in and gave them both hugs. I hadn’t seen them since Mombi had made me leave them behind in the Queendom of the Wingless Ones.
But there was no time now for catching up. The sound of trumpets cut through the air, and Nox gave me a helpless look. I followed him and Glamora across the newly planted lawn.
Ozma stood at the far end of the canopy of flowers, dressed in a simple white silk shift that spilled in shimmering waves to her feet. Her long black hair was bound up with more of the huge, fragrant white blossoms. Her glorious gold-veined wings fluttered behind her. She looked tall, and beautiful, and radiant, and wise. She looked every inch a queen. Tiny Pixies buzzed through the air, carrying more of the luminous glass globes. A line of monkeys holding sunfruit lamps was arranged on either side of a long, richly decorated carpet that unrolled to Ozma’s feet. At its opposite end, Lulu stood in her amazingly jewel-encrusted dress, holding a delicate golden crown with the word OZ spelled out in a curlicued font. I found a place next to Nox at the back of the audience. The trumpets sounded their final notes, and the crowd fell into an expectant hush.
“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.
THIRTY-SEVEN
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?