“We don’t,” Ozma said. “They are still checking the property, but how would someone has gotten through the gates? They vet everyone before they are let in.”
I pointed out something Ozma wasn’t thinking about. “We know the Wizard was the Fisher King’s pawn and Locasta was manipulating the Wizard. How do you know this spy hasn’t been here since the Wizard and the Wizard let them in because Locasta told him to?”
“Shit,” Ozma groaned. “It could be anyone then. I’ve been looking at all the people let in since Glinda moved to Emerald City.”
Just then Dixius, Ethar, and Aldor came storming in. “We found the bodies of the midwife and her husband. They were buried in their farm and they made it to look like they had just tilled the land. We decided to just check anyway and found them.”
It horrified me. We didn’t just have a mole; we had an assassin. I couldn’t freak out, I needed to sort this out so we could catch them. This wasn’t happening again under my watch. I might not have the full training to be Sentinel of the West yet, but I was the only option they had right now.
“Were they killed with weapons or magic?” I asked.
Dixius looked grim. “Both. Someone threw a potion at them, then they were stabbed. They must not have done it inside the house, because the floors are wood and there were no blood stains. It must have been done in the gardens and the soil disturbed and buried where the blood fell.”
“Oh, no,” Glinda said. “Helping me cost that poor family their lives.”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself,” Ozma said. “This is Locasta and the Fisher King. Were there any clues at the house?”
Ethar shook his head. “There was just burning on their chest like a potion had hit them, then they had been gutted.”
“How exactly do we catch them if we don’t know when they got here or even where they are from?” Ozma said.
“We plant a trap,” Glinda said. “Obviously, the Fisher King wants me back because he needs my magic and he wants my child. We lead a trail of crumbs that make them think it will be easy for them to snatch me again.”
I hated that plan. For one, I wasn’t about to use a pregnant woman as bait. I agreed, we needed to plant a trap, but not like that. The entire Sentinel line in the South was at stake if we used Glinda, not to mention she was pregnant even if she wasn’t a Sentinel.
“We’ll set a trap, but you aren’t the bait. We find another way,” I said, crossing my arms and challenging Glinda with my eyes.
She didn’t back down. “One of us will have to be and I’m the one he wants the most right now. He’s not strong enough to make his move until he’s stolen the magic of a Sentinel.”
“Not necessarily,” Galen pointed out. “He’d prefer it, but he’s been stealing magic from the North for as long as I can remember and he’s got my mother to back him up. If he’s lost Glinda and Esiro goes missing too, he’ll make his move. You could use me as bait.”
“No,” I snapped.
“Then me,” Dorothy said. “Locasta really wanted me to stay in the North. Ozma and I can pretend like we are fighting. I used the excuse I wanted to come back to Emerald City because I had friends here. If I pretend to fight with everyone and make it a show to run off somewhere, you can all be waiting there. The mole will follow me, either to turn me or kidnap me.”
Ozma shook her head. “No. Not after I saw everyone you brought back from that jail. We aren’t using anyone as bait. I will not be that kind of queen.”
Glinda sighed. “I can already tell you will be a good queen, Ozma, but to lay a trap, you need bait.”
Ozma tossed her pink hair off her shoulders. “I know this. But it doesn’t have to be a person. We can’t keep Emerald City in the dark. We need to call an assembly and make a speech. We can do it in a way that it does not break the forgetting spell and hurt people. We can just say that there is a great evil threatening Oz, but there are powerful sorcerers working on it and we have a plan to beat it. We have spies giving us intel. If Locasta thinks we have a spy, then she will want hers close to us to find out who so she can deal with them.”
I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. “If Locasta and the Fisher King even suspected what you would be like when you were older, they would have wound the threads of your spell tighter and put you with someone other than Mombi. I think the Fisher King would have kept you by his side to use that mind of yours for evil because if I was an evil madman, I certainly wouldn’t want it plotting against me.”
Ozma just gave me another haughty hair flip. “Then I guess it’s a good thing the Fisher King doesn’t respect women and thinks the only thing they are good for is babies and stealing magic.”
Ethar grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I think we should prepare for everyone to be a suspect, even my fellow men in the Oz army. Think about it. We’ve been having all these meetings in secret from them and they didn’t know about our trip to the North. If Locasta had a spy that managed to find out Glinda was pregnant and was portalling to the North, how did Locasta not know about the raid on the jail? She had the perfect opportunity to capture Frankie, Saffron, Galen, and she would have the Flying Monkeys to make a new Cap.”
“Ethar is right,” Dixius said. “If Locasta’s spy had all the intel, what happened in the North would have gone down much worse. You have to admit, most of the rest of the men in the army joined up for prestige. They enjoy living in the palace and the respect they get with their badges.”
“You had just been in the planning stages to take them off to the Nome King’s realm when I was taken,” Glinda said. “You had them on a punishing schedule. I don’t see how any of them would have had time to murder my midwife and her husband.”
Ethar just snorted. “Oh, they had the time. After training, they hit up the pub for mead and wenches. I’m shocked any of them could function the next morning. It got rowdy, and they were out at all hours. If the mole was in the Oz army, he could have snuck out while everyone else was drunk or screwing.”
“Fucking and drinking don’t mean you’re a spy,” I pointed out. “They could have just been blowing off steam. Just because they aren’t ideal candidates for an army, doesn’t make them traitors.”
“It makes sense,” Ozma pointed out. “They aren’t allowed inside the school. The only time Galen’s hair is uncovered is inside the school or in private with us. His hair is some big shit. If the midwife and her husband were, Locasta or the Fisher King would have ordered a hit on Galen. Whoever the mole is, they aren’t inside the school and they aren’t attending our meetings. They don’t know about Galen yet.”
“They have to be somewhere because they found out about the midwife,” I pointed out.
“That wouldn’t be hard,” Glinda said. “I told you I vetted a lot of midwives. It wouldn’t be hard to guess someone in the school was pregnant with all of them visiting. I was vague when I was questioning them, but one of them could have been cornered and revealed she met with me. I trusted the midwife I chose, but I also know what they did in those jails in the North. She could have revealed anything with the torture they do there.”
It was our best lead so far and our only plan for finding the mole, but were they really in the Oz army?
“Are there any Gillikin in the Oz army?”
“Yeah, there are four Gillikin soldiers. The rest are Winkies and Quadlings, but we do have two Munchkins that signed up. They are short, but you don’t want to fuck with them. The two Munchkins are the only two I’d trust to bring into a fight,” Ethar said.
“You said Locasta has been turning Munchkins, so they are suspect too,” Kazax said. “We can’t just look at the Gillikins and the Munchkins. It’s too obvious. If Locasta were going to plant a spy in Emerald City, she wouldn’t want it traced back to the North if they were caught.”
Glinda shook her head. “It would be very hard for her to turn a Quadling to her side. The South is a very happy, free region. They are intense with the games they like to play, whether it be spo
rting or in the bedroom, but they are a forgiving bunch. They don’t hold grudges.”
“I wouldn’t take the Winkies for working with her either. They may have turned against my mother, but they didn’t come for me after she died. They made fun of me, but they said they would only arrest me if I committed any crimes.”
Kazax just gave me this grim look. “That’s why you have to look extra hard at the Winkies and Quadlings. You know your enemy is evil. She’s not above turning your people against you to get what she wants.”
I knew Kazax was right, and I hated it. I had to look at everyone, even the people I grew up with and the people I’d come to call friends.
Chapter 9
Frankie
O
zma was off planning her big speech. The Scarecrow would be the one to deliver it since he was still king of Oz until she could stop hiding. I’ll say this for the Scarecrow, for someone with stuffing for brains, he knew how to rally a crowd. Dorothy was calling all her friends for backup too. Nick Chopper was coming, and so was the Cowardly Lion. I had all kinds of things to say to Nick Chopper about taking over my mother’s castle and turning it into a tin abomination, but all I would say was that it wasn’t Adora that enchanted his axe.
As for us, we were all back in our rooms crowded around my mirror, waiting to see if Gugu would contact us he got Esiro out and had talked to her. When my mirror shimmered and Gugu appeared, he looked frazzled.
“Did something go wrong?” I asked.
“Seventeen-year-old girls with bad tempers are not my forte. Either that, or my charms don’t work on her. She wants to talk to her brother for proof before she trusts me.”
Galen peered over my shoulder. “I’d love to talk to her.”
Esiro practically shoved Gugu out of the way, and I finally got a better look at her. I could see some similarities between her, Dorothy, and Galen, but if she had the same spell on her as Dorothy and Ozma, the deeper resemblance had been hidden with a glamour.
Galen tried to give her a friendly smile. “Hello, Esiro. It’s nice to meet you finally.”
“Finally, being the operative word,” Esiro snapped. “You couldn’t have gotten me out of there before? Locasta is a horrid bitch, and she’d catch me and beat me when I would try to run away.”
“I’m sorry, Esiro. I thought I was an only child until I met our other sister recently. She had similar spells on her as you do, so I didn’t know. Our parents sent her to an entirely different realm instead of leaving her with Locasta.”
“Anywhere would have been better than with Locasta.”
“Do you want to help bring her down, Esiro?” Galen asked. “I have information about our father, but you went everywhere with Locasta. You could fill in some pieces.”
“I want to bring the bitch down. The other people in the North were kind to me if they weren’t in her army. I want to see Locasta pay and someone deserving handle the North.”
“Can you get here soon?” I asked. “I can remove any spells Locasta, or your mother put on you and you can meet your siblings. Have you ever teleported before?”
Esiro gave me this bitter laugh. “Not only did Locasta teleport me with her, but she was also stupid and did all her magic in front of me. I can make teleportation powder too. I made some when she teleported out her bedroom for her nightly visit to who knows where then used it to run away. She still managed to find me. I can’t believe that fucking bitch enchanted a ring to find me and told me it was the only thing left of my mother’s so I never took it off.”
“What did you do with the ring?” I asked.
“I hung it from a tree branch with a little love note about what a bitch she was.”
Oh, I liked Esiro. I liked her a lot. Was she going to be our answer to a Sentinel in the North? Galen didn’t want it, and if Dorothy took it, it would mean being away from Ozma. Esiro sounded like she wanted to fix the North. Would she take it if we asked? None of us would force any of them, but these triplets were our only options to balance the four points.
Idris cracked up laughing. “I like you. You will fit in here just fine.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Esiro demanded. “You don’t look like anyone in Oz.”
“Idris. I’m one of the princes of the Flying Monkeys.”
Esiro frowned. “Then why don’t you look like a monkey.”
Idris just winked at her. “I can look like a man or a monkey when I want to. That’s top-secret, by the way. Do you think you can teleport here now?”
Esiro crossed her arms and glared at us. “This leopard said I have two siblings there in Emerald City and I’m supposed to have green hair. I only see one person there with green hair. Where is my sister?”
I whipped out my parchment and started writing messages to Ozma and Dorothy. “I’ll get them in here now if they are still awake.”
Almost as soon as I finished writing, the parchment started warming underneath my hand.
“They are awake and coming now. It’ll be nice to meet you, Esiro. If you have the same spell on you that Dorothy did, I won’t break it unless I have your permission.”
Esiro just scowled. “I’m permitting you now. If there’s magic on me and it’ll beat that bitch Locasta, you could take it off yesterday.”
Gugu finally came back in the mirror. I liked Esiro. I liked her fire and temper, and I got why she was so angry. Gugu looked like he had no idea what to do with her. If Gugu had met me after my mother died, I would have been just like Esiro. I had five years to grow up and mellow out. I had a support system.
Hopefully, we could be a support system for Esiro too. Even if she wasn’t Galen’s missing sister, she still had intel on Locasta, and we needed to get her out of there.
Chapter 10
Frankie
O
zma and Dorothy appeared alone without the rest of her boyfriends right as Esiro teleported in. I finally got a good look at her. How did I not notice the similarities between her and Dorothy when we were in the North? It was subtle, as she had a glamour on her like Dorothy did, but her entire appearance hadn’t been changed as drastically as Ozma. They had the same almond-shaped eyes and pointy chin that Galen did. Dorothy’s eyes were brown before the glamour and now they were hazel like the rest of the Sentinels. Esiro had violet eyes like a Gillikin.
Galen might just be getting used to hugs, and we were now openly snuggling in bed at night. Now that we had our first kiss, we were doing it often. Galen looked like he was sure Esiro was his sister and he was forgetting how uncomfortable he was with me touching him at first. He was about to go charging at her and hug her. Judging by the look on her face, Esiro was more of a punchy person than a huggy person.
We all just kind of stared at each other for a minute. No one knew what to say. Esiro’s eyes were flying from Galen to Dorothy since she had been told they were her siblings. I honestly didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know the first thing about Esiro. Knowing she grew up around Locasta, I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
Ozma cleared her throat. “Welcome to Emerald City. My name is Ozma, and I will be queen soon. I’m hiding as Glinda’s niece until we can defeat Locasta and the Fisher King. They also stole me as a baby and made to think I was someone else. An abusive, awful woman raised me. It was your sister, Dorothy, that helped me heal.”
“I’m not here for hugs and singing,” Esiro said. “I’m here to beat Locasta and help fix the North. Gugu said I might have magic and be as powerful as Locasta or more powerful. Instead of standing around talking about our feelings, someone needs to figure that out.”
This was the part where I came in. I couldn’t do a damned thing about Esiro’s anger. The only thing that would fix that was time and being away from Locasta. Beating Locasta and the Fisher King would go a long way, but I was sure if I scanned Esiro and she was Galen’s missing sister, we had just found the next Sentinel in the North. Maybe Galen had been right all along. He said Oz had a way of righting itself. The Sentinel in
the North went bad, and now we had three options.
I let my eyes go out of focus and scanned Esiro. It was the same spell, but they wove it more like Dorothy than Ozma. The spell on Ozma was similar, but it was sloppy and didn’t have the same finesse. If I had to guess, their mother did the spell on Esiro and Dorothy and Locasta did the spell on Ozma.
I looked Esiro in the eye. “You have the same spell on you that was done to Dorothy and Ozma. Based on the threads and how it was woven, the same person put a spell on you that put a spell on Dorothy. I’m guessing it was your mother. I can remove it, but everyone will need to step back.”
“I don’t care if it hurts. Do it,” Esiro said.
“It doesn’t hurt,” Dorothy said. “It tingles. It’s just there’s a small explosion when the spell breaks, and Frankie always gets blasted back.”
At the rate we were finding cursed people and missing children of the Fisher King, I would have a bruised tailbone. Thank Oz, I had a lot of padding on my ass to cushion my fall.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
Esiro straightened her spine and nodded. I found the ends of the threads. I was getting used to unbreaking this curse. I did it in the same order I did Ozma and Dorothy. I knew Esiro was Galen’s missing sister when I unbound her magic and felt it hum. She could be the Sentinel in the North with the right training.
The other two threads were woven a little tighter than they were on Dorothy, but I got them undone and was blasted on my ass again. Oprix hauled me to my feet, and I snuggled into the sofa with Oprix and Idris. Galen was still hovering around Esiro.
I was shocked by how much she looked like Dorothy now. Esiro was a little taller than she was and was slimmer. Dorothy was strong and had muscles from doing farm work. If she wanted to, she could do some real damage with her staff. Esiro was built more like Saffron—slim and willowy.
That was almost the only difference between the two. They both had wide-set hazel eyes, and upturned nose, and a pointed chin. Galen had the same features, just more masculine. Galen even had the same long eyelashes that any girl would be jealous of. They were all beautiful.
Oz Has Spoken: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Emerald City Academy Book 3) Page 4
