“Frankie? What the dickens are you doing here? If the Munchkins see you, they will have your head.”
“Can we get inside? Glinda is up to something with the Sentinels. I think she means to replace us.”
“What? She can’t. We’ve both been training since we could walk, and there’s still shit we need to learn. She can’t just make new Sentinels. It’s a lifetime of training.”
Saffron led us inside her cave. She’d made it pretty homey. I had a rucksack on with Idris’ clothes. I tossed him some trousers after he transformed into a man before Saffron got a good view of his man parts. I liked looking at all his bits, but I had a feeling my cousin may faint at the sight of a naked man.
Idris knew this too. The Flying Monkeys were notorious for causing trouble. It was the whole reason they got cursed in the first place. Idris knew exactly what a prude my cousin was, so he just pulled the trousers on and plopped on her couch with his muscular chest exposed. Saffron refused to look at him.
“I was spying in Emerald City. She’s setting up an academy for new Sentinels. She’s calling it the Emerald City Academy, and she’s taking anyone in Oz who wants to learn magic.”
“Is she insane? My mother had a full-time job in the East trying to figure out who was cursing all those people and saying it was her. She was trying to clear her name when the house fell on her. I’m trying to do that now. Nick Chopper is high profile now. He’s emperor in the West. If I can find out who really enchanted his axe, it’ll go a long way towards proving my mother wasn’t a Wicked Witch.”
“I agree,” I said. “There are already too many people who can’t handle magic responsibly — teaching a greedy Munchkin or a Quadling who likes to argue how to use magic? That’s just asking for some sort of war and with what army? You and I are both strong, but we can’t take on that many people at once.”
“Has Glinda been asking to talk to you? She’s been trying to find me. I’ve heard around she’s asking the Munchkins where to find me. Maybe it means something less sinister.”
“No, I don’t think so. Locasta told Dorothy to take your mother’s shoes instead of leaving them for you to get. She also told Dorothy to go to the Wizard. Glinda could have asked for your mother’s silver slippers back, but she gave them to Dorothy and asked her for the cap that controls the Flying Monkeys. She could do way more damage with that cap than with those shoes. She told everyone she was going to give the cap back to the Flying Monkeys so they wouldn’t be slaves anymore, but it’s been five years, and she still has it. I’d ask yourself why Glinda has that cap with the school when you’re so curious about why she wants to talk to us. I don’t think she’s on our side.”
“I don’t think Locasta is. The Wizard has always been afraid of your mother. Locasta knew how important those shoes were to my line, but she gave them to Dorothy. She knew if the Wizard saw those shoes on Dorothy’s feet and found out she killed my mother, he was going to send her after yours. Why do you think Locasta wanted our mothers dead so badly?”
I just shrugged. “They’ve always been stronger than she is. Out of all the four Sentinels, Locasta has always been the weakest, and her line was given an easy region to manage.”
“My mother never really talked about her, and she never came to visit. She was in the East the day the house fell on my mother. She said it was just to visit with the Munchkins, but she’d never done that before. What do we know about Locasta?”
“I asked my mother after I found out she was in the East when your mother died. Everyone has been enchanted to forget, but there was this great evil in Oz a long time ago. It was our families that banded together to banish it. Someone from Locasta’s line was strong, and she was a part of it. A lot of people died on all sides. Only the weakest were left from Locasta’s line, so they gave them an easy region. Our family got the rest.”
“What great evil?”
I rolled my eyes. “She was murdered before she could tell me. According to our training, you have to be a certain age to hear that story. I was only sixteen when she died. I wasn’t to hear the story for another two years. No one else in Oz knows about it. It’s this big Sentinel secret.”
“Let me guess, like everything else, it’s passed down orally. No one bothered to write it down.”
I just grinned. “You know it. How does Glinda expect to teach Sentinels with no teachers? There’s more to being one than just magic. There’s fighting, history, battle magic, governing, politics, and how to deal with rulers when we actually have one.”
Idris just cleared his throat and flexed his chest muscle, trying to get Saffron to notice him. “I think you forget the most upsetting news, Francesca. I believe you let out a shriek like a howler monkey when you found out.”
I slung my arm around Saffron’s shoulders. Hearing it just pissed me off, but Saffron was a lot more sensitive than I was.
“Glinda invited Dorothy Gale to the Sentinel training.”
Saffron surprised me. I expected her to get upset and cry. Instead, she flung my arm off her and started pacing.
“Can she get here this time without killing people’s mothers? She murdered two Sentinels and two mothers, and we are just supposed to be happy she’s back?”
Idris just shrugged. “I’m not too happy she grabbed the cap on her way out of your mother’s house and gave it to Glinda, nor the fact that she’s a mother killer, but the Wizard left when she did. At least she got something right.”
“So, what do we do? I don’t want to lose my place as Sentinel, but that school is a trap. What if that’s all it is? A trap to get us out of hiding?” Saffron asked.
I just frowned. “That sounds exactly what it is. Glinda has been trying to reach both of us. What better way to do it than threaten to take our birthright? I’m not going anywhere near that school.”
Chapter 4
Oprix
F
rankie was going to murder me, but if she wasn’t going to go looking for answers, I was. I decided to go to Emerald City and ask for an audience with Glinda myself. I knew she’d see me once she found out Frankie was staying with me. I was a Winkie. I wasn’t small like a Munchkin. Winkies were big and strong because we were farmers. I learned to fight with Frankie. I could handle myself in Emerald City. Frankie liked to tell me how Oz didn’t have an army, so it wasn’t like there would be soldiers there to arrest me to hold me hostage.
The Flying Monkeys liked to stay close to Frankie, so I asked Idris’ brother Eiran to take me to the Emerald City. I needed to get there and get back before Frankie got home. Eiran was trouble on a good day.
“Frankie will kill me if I take you.”
“Glinda may have Dorothy kill Frankie. I need to know this isn’t a trap for Frankie and Saffron.”
Eiran just grinned at me. “How do you know they won’t just kill you?”
I just shrugged. “I’m not a Sentinel. Better me than Frankie or Saffron.”
“Do you just intend to march in there and ask Glinda if she intends to murder your beloved?”
Did everyone know I was in love with Frankie? I’d been in love with her since we were children, and Idris couldn’t shift into a man. Things got complicated when we were fourteen, and Azami gifted the Flying Monkeys the ability to change into men when she was trying to break their curse. It used to be Frankie and me hanging out with a Flying Monkey. Now, Idris preferred his man form around Frankie, and I knew exactly why. He loved her too.
“I intend to be a lot more tactful than that.”
Eiran just shrugged. “My brother will lose his mind if something happens to that girl. Very well. I’ll take you. When did you want to leave?”
“Right now,” I said a little too quickly.
I wanted to get this over as soon as possible. I wanted answers for Frankie. I wanted to be her hero, and I could do that by meeting with Glinda. Eiran just laughed at me.
“Very well.”
Eiran preferred to stay in his monkey form. He swooped down and grabbed
me around the shoulders and took to the air with me. I’d flown with Idris a few times. It was pretty exhilarating. Everything got smaller underneath me, and I could feel the wind on my face. I understood why Idris didn’t carry me this time. With the Munchkins out for blood, there needed to be extra stealth entering the East.
We got to Emerald City in no time. Eiran dropped me by the front gate and went to hide. He told me to meet him when I got out. A man met me at the gate and asked my business. He said I could try, but I might not see Glinda.
I’d never actually been to Emerald City before. The buildings were tall and studded with emeralds and jewels. The buildings reached to the sky, and it was unlike anything I’d seen before. Everything in Winkie country was yellow. Everything in Emerald City was green. Everyone was wearing green clothes and green jewels.
I was led to a palace where another guard with green whiskers asked my business.
“I’m here to talk to Glinda. Tell her I know Frankie.”
The guard just grumped and disappeared, but he wasn’t gone long. He came right back out and said she would see me. I was led down a long hallway to a throne up at the top of some stairs. Glinda stared down at me from up on her throne. She was a brilliantly beautiful woman, but nowhere near as pretty as Frankie to me.
“How do you know Francesca?”
“Only Idris calls her that. She lives with me. What is this Emerald City Academy you are building? Is it a trap for her and Saffron? Why are you stealing their birthright?”
“What is your name, boy?”
“Oprix. It’s not right. Frankie was born for this.”
Glinda just smiled gently. “Yes, she was. But she hasn’t completed all of her training, and neither has Saffron. Saffron is younger than Francesca and needs more training. I mean to help them, not steal what is rightfully theirs.”
“Doesn’t seem like it. I heard your school is taking everyone. That many people learning magic is going to be a disaster. Aren’t you supposed to be a Sentinel too?”
“I’m shocked you remember the Sentinels with the enchantment that went on. So many people don’t. We have to make them remember. That’s partly what the school is for. We need Sentinels in the North and South.”
I frowned. This didn’t sound right. Something was off.
“What about you and Locasta?”
“I’m trying to find a lost ruler of Oz. The man the Wizard disposed of had a child. I’m trying to find the child. There’s where my attention lies right now, not in my Sentinel duties. Someone will need to take my place if this takes too long. As for Locasta, that is a conversation I will only have with Francesca and Saffron when they come to my school.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?”
“So, enroll with her if you think it’s a trap. We’ll take you in.”
He was my competition, but I’d feel safer with Idris with us. “What about a Flying Monkey? Would you take one of them too?”
“Ah, yes. The women of the West and their Flying Monkeys. I have use for the Flying Monkeys, and the school is taking everyone. It wouldn’t hurt to have one as a student.”
“Is that why you haven’t returned the cap as promised? You lied.”
Glinda just sniffed. “I never lie. I said I would return the cap when I was done with it, and I’m not done yet. The Flying Monkeys will get the cap when I’m done with them.”
I felt my anger rising. Idris was technically my competition with Frankie, even though she kept insisting she didn’t have time for a relationship with either of us. He was bigger than I was, and he always made her laugh. But all of us were just playmates once, and Idris was still my friend.
Winkies had honor. I’m almost certain it was the spell that got most of the Winkies to think Azami made them slaves. She’d always been good to us. Whatever the spell was, it didn’t affect my family or me. I’m not sure why other than we may have been with Azami when it was cast, and her castle had magical enchantments on it that could have protected us.
The Munchkins in the East were not like the Winkies in the West. The East was a wealthy country, and everyone used to be hospitable and share. Whatever spell turned the citizens of Oz against the Sentinels had the Munchkins thinking Adora was taking their resources for herself. She wasn’t. The Wizard had imposed some bizarre thing called taxes no one in Oz had ever heard of, and everyone was supposed to send part of their earnings to Emerald City. All the Munchkins thought Adora just made that up and was stealing their resources.
I have no idea what it was like with the Quadlings and Gillikins in the North and South. Glinda and Locasta never visited. Adora and Azami avoided them after the Wizard made everyone think they were Wicked Witches, and Locasta and Glinda were Good Witches. The spell that changed all four points only could have come from someone with strong magic, so Locasta and Glinda were suspects.
I was suspecting Glinda pretty hard right now. Locasta was always just this sweet old lady who wasn’t as strong as the other three Sentinels. Everyone loved Locasta. It wouldn’t shock me if the Wizard had just fooled her with some grand story, and that was the entire reason she told Dorothy to go see him.
“You’re keeping the Flying Monkeys as slaves, you know. They got cursed to that cap for a simple prank. Instead of trying to break their curse like Azami was, you’re holding them hostage. I thought everyone called you Glinda the Good? It sounds like you are doing a lot of nefarious plotting to me. You invited Dorothy to this school. How do I know you don’t want Frankie and Saffron in one place so you can have Dorothy kill them like she did their mothers?”
“Pass this message to Francesca and Saffron for me. Dorothy couldn’t help what happened to Adora. Her house was caught up in a storm, and it just fell out of the sky. She didn’t do it on purpose. To this day, Dorothy thinks she only threw water on Azami. Dorothy was a nine-year-old child when she ended up in Oz. She didn’t have the mental capacity to murder anyone, so I sent her home thinking she killed a Wicked Witch with water, and Adora wasn’t her fault. She’s eighteen now and has information we need.”
“Let me guess. You will only share that with Frankie and Saffron. I still think this is a trap. I know how Sentinel's training works. I sat there and watched Azami teach Frankie. It’s passed down from mother to daughter. Nothing is written down. How can you expect to teach anyone in Oz when there are only two of you left with that knowledge?”
“Sentinels are not the only people in Oz who know how to do magic. I’ve carefully selected staff of strong, sorcerers in Oz from all the four points. They are responsible people who I know and trust. I’ve used a knowledge transference spell to train those with the disposition on how to fight. They will handle the fight training portion. The former governors of the four points have either sent children or come themselves to teach diplomacy.”
“And you and Locasta? You’re the only Sentinels left. Are you actually teaching anyone a damned thing?”
Glinda gave me this serene smile like she thought my suspicion was adorable.
“I’ll be teaching history. Locasta doesn’t know about the school, and I won’t tell her unless she finds out and asks me. Locasta is better off knowing nothing in the North for now.”
“You’re up to something, Glinda. If you hurt Frankie and Saffron, I’ll kill you myself.”
Glinda just gave me this peaceful smile. “So, come to Emerald City Academy with her. Protect her from me if you’re so worried about it. Bring as many Flying Monkeys as you’d like. The pieces will fit together, and you’ll see the land of Oz has bigger problem than me. I’m only teaching one class because Oz needs a ruler. I intend to find the missing Oz heir and restore Oz to what it was.”
That right there was a lie. Oz already had four Sentinels if Frankie and Saffron could get the rest of their training. Something just needed to be done to remove the spell that made everyone forget the Sentinels were protectors and not Wicked Witches. Oz needed a ruler now that the evil Wizard was gone.
What Glinda was su
ggesting was irresponsible, and it was almost like she was training Oz to fight to take her place as Sentinel of the South so she could be the one to rule Oz for good like she was doing now.
I didn’t think it was safe, but if Frankie and Saffron didn’t go to that academy, half of Oz was going to have powers that rivaled theirs and could come for them. We needed to figure out what Glinda was up to, and the only way we could do that was by enrolling in that stupid academy.
Idris and I would protect her, and Frankie could protect herself pretty well on her own.
I took a deep breath and signed our names to the school roster. Frankie was going to kill me.
Chapter 5
Frankie
I
loved Oprix to death, but he could be such a fucking Winkie sometimes. Winkies liked direct answers, and they hated games. While Idris, Saffron, and I were plotting how to spy on Glinda and that school, Oprix just waltzed into Emerald City and talked to her. That was so Oprix. He wasn’t scared of anything when it came to me. He was a total idiot. If Glinda had wanted to talk to me badly enough, she could have just held him hostage until I came to talk to her.
There were all kinds of spells she could have used to manipulate him with, but when I checked him for magic, she hadn’t used any. He signed all four of us up for that school of his own accord. What was he thinking? I was furious, and I had half a mind to curse him myself.
Idris didn’t even have my back on this. “We might as well go. We were planning on getting in and spying anyway. We can do that better as students. You can keep an eye on the people she’s training for when you’re a Sentinel, so you know who you’re going to have to deal with later.”
I glared at both of them while magic crackled at my fingertips. I was considering giving them both donkey ears since they were both being asses.
“What exactly do you expect Saffron and I to do when we run into Dorothy Gale? Congratulate her for murdering our mothers like everyone else is doing? Are we supposed to sit there and just listen while everyone kisses her ass about that?”
Sentinels of Oz: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Emerald City Academy Book 1) Page 2
