I was so relieved when he started walking back to the main building that I almost blew out a breath of relief, but managed to contain myself until I was safely inside with the door closed.
“Well, that was weird.”
He chuckled, I could see his shoulders shake, but I didn’t hear anything and kept moving.
I waited a moment, trying to decide what to do.
“What do I do now?” I inquired, as he turned toward the staircase in the next room. I was relieved when he tilted his head, an invitation to go with him. I managed not to grin.
He led me to a living room. It wasn’t fancy, but there were a few couches, bookcases, side tables, and pictures arranged around the space. The fire wasn’t lit, but it looked like it had been recently, and the fireplace was simple but elegantly carved from red marble.
“Is this your room?” I asked, looking to him for his answer.
He nodded once and gestured toward the couch closest to me, then moved toward a bookcase. I sat and waited as he thumbed the spines of the books on a shelf, wondering what he was looking for. Eventually he found it, a small leather-bound journal, and brought it to me.
Taking it, I looked up and saw him give me an encouraging nod, then he turned and left the room. I didn’t open it straight away, but I sat and thought about him. It was incredible how he didn’t speak, but could let me know exactly what he wanted to say. And so far, he’d been such a support that I was sure I couldn’t have managed all of that without him. The room was well lit now that the cloud of flying monkeys had removed itself from above the fortress, so
I opened the book. The leather binding cracked with the strain, it clearly hadn’t been opened in a very long time, so I took care not to open it too far and break the spine. It was handwritten, the writing thin and spidery, and was dated oddly. Thankfully, it was written in English.
It turned out the journal was a handwritten account of the major events in Oz, beginning with the feud that set the witch sisters at odds and ending when the Emerald City was destroyed. It took me hours to read. Fallon came back periodically with food and drinks, but largely just left me to learn the history of Oz from the point of view of his ancestors.
To their credit, it wasn’t incredibly biased, the wrongdoings of each witch was recorded without opinion. It was simply stated as fact. Particularly Evanora’s undoing. The handwriting changed depending on the steward at the time, and as I reached the final pages I realized it must have been Fallon’s father’s hand that recorded the fall of the city. It made for an enlightening read.
When I was finished, I closed the journal and rested my head on the back of the low couch I'd spent the afternoon on. It had been the strangest of weeks, with today being the easiest to process by far, despite the world changing event. I had taken control of an entire realm. The West belonged to me. The monkey legion was under my control. I held the power Evanora had amassed and hadn’t the faintest idea what to do with it. The whole scenario was insane. But then, I came from a long line of insane. My crazy great grandma had come to Oz at the tender age of twelve and slaughtered two powerful witches before taking herself home, leaving the place at the mercy of two more crazy women.
I’d make it right, I told myself. That was why Glinda had brought me here. She’d realized just how badly they’d handled everything and she wanted my help to undo the mess. I could do that. I would do that. And then I would go home.
I frowned at the thought of that. Going home. Away. Away from Sayer. Away from Fallon, who at the very least made me feel safe. Away from the first two people to give a crap about me in… well, a lot of years. Did I really want to go back to being a pole dancer in a bar, when I could stay here and live in a great big castle?
I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all and closed my eyes. They were stinging from all the reading and my back was starting to ache again. There was no sign of Fallon. He’d disappeared again, leaving me to read in peace, so I stretched out on the couch to ease the muscles in my back, and fell asleep.
Chapter 16
I woke up to shrieking monkeys. Not the angry shrieks I was greeted with two days before, it sounded more like fear, and I leapt from the couch with a blanket tangled in my legs and tripping me.
Fallon burst into the room behind me then rushed to the window. I untangled myself and followed. He had his quiver and bow on his back. That didn’t mean anything good.
“What’s going on?”
Of course, Fallon didn’t answer. Instead he pointed to the sky where all hell was breaking loose.
“What the f—”
The general appeared at the window, looking altogether flustered.
“What’s happening?” I shouted, as he flew inside and landed in front of me.
“Lady. Incoming from the Northeast. Lioneag,” he gasped out.
I couldn’t say a damn word as I watched the legion of monkeys clash with their feathered counterparts. I’d been close enough to a Lioneag to know just how sharp those talons were. With no weapons to speak of and in their aged leather armor, the monkeys stood little chance against the larger, more muscular Lioneag. From this distance I couldn’t see who led them, but I didn’t need to. I knew who she was. I knew what she wanted. “Shit... They went on the defense?”
He nodded solemnly. “They serve you. This is an attack on your lands, your fortress. Lady, this is an attack on you. They needed no command,” the general responded sagely.
Dark, humanoid shapes fell from the sky, one after another, as the eagle-lion hybrids tore the monkeys to shreds. There was no contest. It was not a fair fight. I didn’t know how to respond, and neither the general nor Fallon seemed to be coming up with anything either. I knew I held power, but I didn’t know how much or exactly how to use it, but I had to do something. They were fighting for me, to protect me, after all.
I looked at my feet. The sneakers looked new, shining in the weak morning sunlight streaming past the aerial battle raging outside.
“But they’ll follow a command?” I asked.
He nodded. “If you give it.”
“Take me down there.”
He looked at me with a concerned frown.
“Now,” I ordered.
He obeyed the command, grasping me around my waist, and leapt onto the windowsill then took flight. Despite being so much shorter than me, he didn’t have any trouble getting a firm hold. He also didn’t seem to struggle carrying my weight either, and I watched the yellow grassland pass beneath me, trying not to vomit as memories of my last flight flashed into my head.
I could hear the angry shrieks of the monkeys and the cries of the Lioneag as we drew closer and I looked up, searching for one Lioneag in particular, knowing who it carried.
When I saw her on the back of her dark, feathered mount, I realized how stupid I looked in the arms of a monkey. I had to make myself look more… powerful. It was probably a terrible idea, but there was no better time to test the power I’d inherited than in an emergency. “Drop me.”
“Lady?” There was confusion as well as concern in his voice.
“I said drop me.”
Obediently, he released his hold around my waist and I closed my eyes, waiting to feel the rush of chilly air as I fell. When I didn’t, I had to work very hard not to whoop in triumph.
Spreading my arms wide, I hung there, suspended in the air before her and her vicious pets and yelled, “Stop.”
I was completely ignored.
“Lady, they are too focused,” the general explained at my side. “Your men are frenzied after seeing their brothers fall.”
I couldn’t tell which of my emotions were more powerful, fury at her for provoking them and for forcing them to defend their home, confusion at her obvious show of aggression without provocation, or sadness at the unnecessary deaths she’d caused.
Moreover, I didn’t know where this was coming from. The shoes? The magic I’d taken from the tower? Whatever it was, it was powerful.
The wind whipped up a
s they built to a crescendo, and clouds formed above me, twisting, and turning in a physical representation of my turbulent emotions. I had her attention and I watched as she turned her mount to face me, but she didn’t call back her force.
The storming clouds above spun faster, moving away from me to settle over her, and the battle raging between both our armies. If either side noticed, they showed no sign. The Lioneag continued swiping at the monkeys with those cruel claws and the monkeys teamed up to bind the wings of their foes, making them tumble from the sky.
She didn’t seem concerned by either the losses to her own numbers or the cloud formation, and I wasn’t sure what I could do to stop the fight other than force their attention away from one another. As the clouds turned, the tip of a tunnel began to form. I don’t know what I thought would happen, but the general touched my elbow.
“Lady, our men…”
The warning was clear. If that tornado formed it wouldn’t just stop the fight, it’d probably kill every single one of them, and I didn’t want to be responsible for that many deaths. There had to be another way. There had to be a way to stop the battle without anyone else getting hurt.
I watched for a few seconds then got to work. I didn’t click my heels. I didn’t close my eyes. I fixed them on the warring forces in the sky before me and I willed them all to stop.
Time seemed to stand still. They all ceased moving. All except one. The dark shape rose above the frozen scene and I could feel eyes on me despite the distance. I didn’t have long. I knew she could counter it. “Enough. There’s no need for this. If you want to speak to me, come knock on my door and introduce yourself,” I scolded, irritated by this unnecessary show of force and violence.
I knew she’d heard me. I lowered my voice and turned to the monkey at my side, and instructed, “General, pull them back. Now. Send them home, keep them inside the walls, and they aren’t to attack unless she attacks us, do you understand?”
He nodded and turned to his forces, my forces, letting out a high-pitched scream. Time restarted and my monkeys turned, flying straight back to the castle, and I remained where I was, staring down the witch over the distance between us. My monkeys flew overhead at high speeds, flocking to the fortress behind me—to safety, I hoped.
I kept my eyes trained on the Lioneag, on the witch, and waited for news from the general.
“Lady, they are safely home.”
I nodded and turned, whatever magic I was using propelling me in a wide arc back to the fortress. I didn’t take my eyes off her as I flew. I couldn’t. If I looked at the ground, all I would see would be the bodies of monkeys who had died in my name.
I flew through the window, back into Fallon’s rooms, and finally closed my eyes feeling safe. Even if it was just for a second. He was still there, I don’t think he’d left the window, and I could feel his presence at my back. Collecting my thoughts, I let out a breath then turned to face him, before reaching out and laying my palm against his chest.
I had no idea why I did that, nor where the compulsion had come from, but it felt right.
He looked at my hand, then at my face, before his eyes finally fixed on my mouth.
I wet my lips and paused. If he’d been Sayer, he’d have kissed me. From nowhere, a thought popped into my head. What would it be like to kiss Fallon?
He moved fractionally closer as the thought formed and I was so tempted to close the distance between us… Instead, I stepped back, saying, “Okay, I’m going down there to actually speak to her.”
He held my gaze for a few beats then grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him as he strode to the door. I didn’t complain, even though it was uncomfortable, and rushed down the staircase and toward the main doors.
“Will you come out with me?” I asked, trying not to sound nervous.
He took my face in both of his hands and stared into my eyes. I didn’t know what he was searching for, or what he was trying to tell me, but I felt like he was certainly trying to reassure me, if nothing else. Then he released me and held up his right hand with his fingers splayed.
“Five minutes?”
He nodded and hauled open the door, turning me toward it, then took off back into the building, dashing around the corner and out of view. Not knowing what to do, I stood and stared after him for a moment. I had no idea what could have been so important he had to rush off and leave me to face down the Witch of the North and her griffons. I didn’t think my monkeys were much of a threat to the Lioneag, given their lack of claws or beaks, and I wasn’t much of a threat to her, but I supposed I had to put on a brave face and see what the hell she wanted.
With a steadying breath, I stepped out of the door, pulling it shut behind me. The general landed at my side and I glanced at him without flinching. “What’s your name?”
“Remi, my lady.”
“Right. Well, I’m Ella.”
“But I don’t—”
“I’m not your lady. By all means, keep up the act in front of the other two, but when it’s just us here, I don’t want the formality. It isn’t necessary. What is necessary is a change of behavior from your guards.”
He gave me a questioning look but didn’t speak.
“You lost someone just a few days ago,” I continued. “That could have been avoided if he’d just not attacked me. I’m not here to kill my way around Oz. I’m not here to pick a fight. But I will defend myself. Fallon wouldn’t have fired that arrow if your guy hadn’t flown off with me. He was defending me. I won’t sit by and watch any of you be hurt, Remi, but I won’t let you hurt others without good reason. Does that make sense?”
He didn’t look like it was making much sense to him, but he bowed his head and said, “Yes, Lady Ella.”
I looked up. The Lioneag had circled around and were hovering at the gates in an arrow formation. At the point was the largest Lioneag I could have imagined, and on its back sat an armored warrior, complete with helmet, sword, and shield. Their black and gold armor matched the plumage of the magnificent bird, but my attention was pulled to the left. Flanking them was the red Lioneag that had chased Sayer and me over the border. There was no mistaking her. There was no way there was another with those colors, and she was staring right at me.
“Is there anything I need to know?” I murmured, as the lead Lioneag landed and the rider slid from its back.
“I cannot say,” he replied honestly, watching the birds closely. “I have never had dealings with the Witch of the North. I did once hear that Tatiana is reasonable, but this does not look to be reasonable behavior.”
I wanted to tell him that he would know, but managed to keep my thoughts to myself. “Okay. Well, remember what I said, I don’t want you to attack, but don’t hold back if you have to defend yourself.”
He bowed his head and I turned to face her, waiting for her to come to me.
Chapter 17
She pushed open the gate and walked casually down the path, my monkey army parting to allow her to pass. I took a few steps forward and held up my hand to stop Remi from following me. I didn’t know if he was or not, but I didn’t want to do anything that might be seen as a threat, and bringing the general with me could be seen as such. And where the hell was Fallon? I wanted to know what he was doing and why he’d left me to face this on my own. I still had no clue what I was doing but I was determined to protect what was mine.
I didn’t see her give a signal, but her Lioneag didn’t follow her. They didn’t pass the gate at all, watching her advance through the crowd of winged chimps as though they weren’t even there. Halfway toward me, she sheathed her sword and slung her shield on her left arm, then removed her helmet. There was nothing about her that would suggest she was Glinda’s sister. She looked no older than thirty, about my height, and of slightly larger build. Her hair was dark, like mine, but it hung straight when freed from the helmet, while mine was a tangle of curls since I hadn’t had time to brush it out. She strode toward me with a small smile on the corners of her mouth, look
ing me over carefully, before her eyes finally settled on my feet.
At some point my sneakers had changed to red gem encrusted, shin length Doc Martens, but I was still wearing the cropped yoga pants and shirt from the day before. I knew I didn’t look like much of a powerful witch and I didn’t feel like one either. But I knew enough now, thanks to the reading material Fallon had provided me and my display out on the fields, to know how to handle her.
“Good morning, Tatiana. You should have said you were stopping by, I’d have made sure to avoid this unpleasantness. Hell, I’d have baked a cake.”
“It was a last-minute decision,” she said lightly, finally making eye contact. “I wanted to meet my new neighbor.”
“Meet…” I was furious. She’d stormed in unannounced and caused who knew how many deaths. But then, I didn’t see it unfold, and I didn’t know whether my forces had attacked hers without warning. While I had the temporary advantage of her alone within my walls, her massive birds were only feet away with their talons and sharp beaks. I had hundreds, if not thousands, of lives in my hands. I knew I had to be careful and play this smart. “Well, here I am. I’m Ellana.” I held out a hand and was surprised when she took the last step forward and shook it. Her grip was firm, but not uncomfortably so, and she maintained eye contact with me, which said a lot about her personality. She was nothing like her sister.
She watched me then looked up at the fortress, searching for something. “Tatiana, of the North. Where is your steward?”
“I don’t have a steward. I have a general,” I corrected, looking over my shoulder to Remi. He gave her a subtle nod of acknowledgement, but that was all, before his attention turned back to the Lioneag at the gate. “And you’ve met my people,” I added, sweeping my hand to the side to indicate the winged monkeys who were watching our exchange. “I’m afraid I don’t know all of their names, still settling in.”
The Ruby Fortress (Kingdoms Of Oz Book 1) Page 12
