Dorothy Must Die Novella #7 (8 page)

“I'm not fighting with liars!” Lanadel yelled. “It was Dorothy! It had to be!”

Melindra and Nox's jaws dropped in astonishment. And she turned her back on them and ran from the dining hall.

It was Nox who found her, of course. It didn't take him long. She wondered sometimes if he had some extra, sixth sense that told him everything she was going to do before she did it. That would explain why he'd known it was her on top of Mount Gillikin. Why she could never beat him in a fight. Well, and the fact that she'd just learned how to fight a couple of months ago.

She'd stopped crying long before she heard his footfalls on the rock behind her. Without realizing it, she'd run all the way to the place she'd overheard his fight with Melindra. Only now, it was daylight, just as it had been when Mombi had showed her the mountaintop for the first time. From here, she could see all the way down into the valley, and the dim purple mountains against the horizon as far as she could see, jagged as a torn piece of paper against the blue sky.

Nox sank down on his haunches next to her, and after a minute, when it was obvious she wasn't going to move, he stretched
out his legs and sat down on the rough stone. She had to fight the impulse to move away from him. He could pretend to be her friend now. But after last night, she knew different. She knew his concern was nothing more than a face he put on when it suited him.

“I know what you're thinking,” he said finally, after a long, painful silence.

“You don't know anything about me,” she said sharply. “You never asked, because you don't care. You don't even know where I'm from, or what happened to my family, or—”

“Two brothers,” Nox said, not looking at her. “Both older. Good with the harvest. Your parents had high hopes for them. They doted on you—took you with them everywhere, but teased you constantly. Your parents were older and didn't think they could have any more children when your mother got pregnant with you. Until Dorothy's troops found your village, they were ordinary farmers. Poor, but happy. Her forces tried to take as many of the strong young workers as they could, but your brothers fought harder than most. It was someone in your own village who betrayed them. The head councilman. He cried for help and when your brothers ran to his aid he locked them inside his house and called to Dorothy's troops. He promised them your brothers in exchange for sparing the village. But they killed him anyway. Dorothy's soldiers beheaded both of your brothers in front of your parents, and then killed your parents, too. You saw the whole thing—you were hiding under your parents' bed in your family's one-room cottage. By the time you
came out, everyone in your village was dead or abducted and your village was burning. You walked all the way here. By the time you found the Order, you were nearly dead. But you didn't care. Avenge your family or die with them: those were the only options.”

Lanadel stared at him. “How did you know all that?” she finally asked. “Is nothing safe from you people? My whole history? Annabel's life? None of it matters when it comes to the cause?”

“Gert can read minds,” Nox said calmly. “She thinks it's best if I know what I'm getting into when I train someone. And it comes in handy to ensure there are no traitors in our midst. It's nothing personal.”

“Nothing personal?” Lanadel spat. “Just my entire life? A story I never told you myself?”

“Knowing other people's secrets doesn't seem to bother you,” Nox snapped. “Toughen up, Lanadel. These are times that none of us ever imagined we'd see. Dorothy is bad enough, but the idea that our own people would turn on each other—”

“Dorothy made him!” Lanadel shrieked. “He was a good man, Head Councilman Alder! He was fair and just and—and—”

“He was trying to save his own skin,” Nox said. “That's the worst part, isn't it? He didn't care about the village. Half the people in your village were already dead. He only cared about himself and he was willing to sacrifice your brothers for his own safety. Not that it worked.” Nox snorted. “Say what you like
about Dorothy's army, but apparently they don't take bribes.”

Lanadel looked at him in horror.

“Hard to hear, Lanadel? That's nothing, believe me. You have to be able to face the truth if you're going to fight with us. You have to accept that this is a war that affects all of us. That anyone can turn on us. The Tin Woodman, the Lion, the Scarecrow—you think they're from the Other Place? You know they're Ozians, same as the rest of us. The Scarecrow used to be
king
. Sure, he wasn't great at the job, but he wasn't turning Winkies into killing machines either. Dorothy's not a savior anymore. She's a monster. Any one of us can be corrupted. Any one of us can be a traitor. You can't trust anyone.”

“Turning Winkies into killing machines?” Lanadel asked dully.

“That's what we sent Annabel to find out. That's who's responsible for what happened in your village. We'd heard rumors—that the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were working together to create an army for Dorothy somehow. We needed to know the truth.” He sighed. “Turns out the truth is even more horrible than the stories. And that's why we have to move now. That's what I came up here to tell you. The healing pool helped, but Annabel's still traumatized from what she went through out there. I don't want to send her out again until I'm certain she's recovered.” His face was blank. “But it's time. Time for Melindra to go to the Emerald Palace—and time for you to go to Ev.”

Lanadel stared at him, her mind reeling.
That
was what he'd been talking about with Gert? Ev, the fabled country across the
Deadly Desert, supposedly a twisted mirror image of Oz? Ruled by a crazy, centuries-old king? The Nome King must have been the
he
they'd meant. She was supposed to be a spy in his ancient, corrupt court.

Except that Ev didn't exist. It was a story parents scared their kids with when they were misbehaving, not a real place. “Ev is just a myth,” she said. “And even Melindra can't—I
know
what those creatures can do. You send Melindra out there, she'll die.” She remembered what she'd overheard on the mountaintop. Even Melindra, with all her confidence and her strength, knew that a trip to the Emerald City was almost certain to be a one-way ticket.

“I'm not sending her to fight,” he said. “I'm sending her to spy. Just like I'm sending you. Ev is real, Lanadel—as real as Oz.” She shook her head in disbelief, but he was serious. “And whatever is giving Dorothy her power just might come from there. Mombi and Gert have suspected for a long time that there's some force in Ev that is partly responsible for bringing Dorothy back. You're the one who's going to find out.”

“Has anyone from Oz ever even
been
to Ev?”

“Lurline,” Nox said. “Maybe.”

“I don't have experience. I can barely use magic. Shouldn't you send Holly? Or Larkin?”

“Holly and Larkin are good fighters, but they're not . . . subtle. Neither is Melindra.” His voice was so flat it sounded refrigerated. “I need someone who can play the innocent. Someone who
is
still innocent. Someone like you. We don't know
what you'll find out there.”

“So you're sending me into a total unknown and you're sending Melindra to her death,” Lanadel said, her voice hot with fury. If she'd been angry at Nox last night, that was nothing compared to what she felt now. Nox had been trying to protect Melindra when he'd argued with Gert. He'd wanted to keep her out of unnecessary danger. But now he wasn't thinking twice about sending her into the Emerald City. He wanted Melindra as far away from him as possible. And she knew exactly why.

“This doesn't have anything to do with skill, does it? You don't want either of us around. You don't want anyone to distract you from your precious Order.” She knew what he'd told Melindra that night. That he hated watching his trainees die. But it was as if that Nox had been a different person. And the Nox in front of her now was all walls. There was no chance of getting through to the person who'd told Melindra how much he wanted to protect her.

“That has nothing to do with this,” Nox said sharply. “This was Mombi and Gert's decision.”

“Oh, I'm sure it was,” Lanadel said, her voice icy. “It just happens to be an incredibly convenient decision for you. But is it just me, or is sending your best fighter on a death mission a really bad idea, Nox?”

“She won't be in danger,” Nox said. “Much danger,” he amended. “She's just going to infiltrate the Emerald Palace, get some information for us, and come back.”

“You know she can't do that!” Lanadel yelled. “She's told
me a million times! Glamora tossed her out of etiquette lessons because she couldn't pretend to be a courtier!”

“She doesn't have to be a courtier!” Nox snapped. “She'll be a servant. And the details of her mission are none of your business, anyway. This isn't your decision, Lanadel. I'm only telling you because—because—”

“Because you want me to know what happens when you actually have feelings for someone,” Lanadel said coldly. “You send them into the occupied Emerald City to die. I won't let you do this.”

“I don't have—” He cut himself off. “It doesn't matter. She's already agreed.”

“When could she possibly have had time to do that?”

Nox jerked his head toward something behind her. “You can ask her yourself.”

Melindra had come up behind them without Lanadel hearing her. “Is it true?” Lanadel asked her. “You're going into the Emerald City?”

Melindra's expression was filled with raw pain as she looked at Nox. “Somebody has to do it,” she said. “We need information about Dorothy's soldiers if we're going to fight them. How the Woodman's creating them. If they have weaknesses. That kind of thing.”

“It's a suicide mission,” Lanadel said desperately. “You can't let them send you into the—”

“I wanted to go,” Melindra said, still not taking her eyes off Nox. “I volunteered.”

Lanadel opened her mouth to protest and then stopped. She knew why Melindra had volunteered, and it had nothing to do with the Order. Nox had broken her heart. But she couldn't stop Melindra from going without admitting that she'd overheard their fight on the mountain. And she knew that Melindra, just like Nox, would never forgive her if she knew Lanadel had seen her at her weakest.

Melindra and Nox were so much alike—except that Melindra had learned how to let go of her tough exterior when something really mattered to her, and Nox was trapped by it. Melindra didn't care if she died in Dorothy's palace. She didn't care if she never came back at all. She was going to go into the most dangerous place in Oz, and there was nothing Lanadel could do to stop her. It was like losing her family all over again. Tears welled up in her eyes and she dashed them away angrily with the heel of her hand. Lanadel wanted to beg her again to stay. To tell her that it was not worth it. But she knew down deep that her words could not stall Melindra from leaving. Only Nox's could.

“When do I go to Ev?” she asked. She was proud of herself for keeping the tremor out of her voice. Melindra looked at Nox, startled out of her ice queen act.

“You're sending her to
Ev
?”

“In a few days. It's already been decided,” Nox said. Pure rage flickered in Melindra's eyes before she tamped it down.

“I'll be fine,” Lanadel said, although she had no idea if that was true. The last thing she wanted was to make Melindra worry about her. She grabbed Melindra in a sudden tight embrace, her
nostrils filling with the sea-salt smell of Melindra's hair. Words bubbled up again. Ones that she could not say. Ones that Melindra would never return. She took a deep breath and chose other words.

“Stay alive,” she whispered into her ear. “Please. For me.”

Melindra hugged her back fiercely. “You too,” she said quietly. “For all of us.”

“Mombi and Gert are working on a spell to get you across the Deadly Desert,” Nox said. Reluctantly, Lanadel let Melindra go. She didn't—couldn't—say what she wanted to. That the Order wasn't worth dying for. That
Nox
wasn't worth dying for. But she knew exactly how it felt to be willing to die because you had nothing left to live for. And she knew there was nothing she could say to Melindra that would make her change her mind.

“Anyway, the risk of death is worth it if it means I get away from Holly and Larkin for a while,” Melindra said. Her voice was light, but her eyes were distant. There was a cloud of sadness around her so thick Lanadel could almost touch it. “I'm going to check in on Annabel,” she added. Lanadel nodded. Nox watched her go, his expression unfathomable, and then continued as if they hadn't been interrupted. “They're figuring out another spell to get you back once you've gathered information. Mombi will have more instructions for you once the spell's complete. Your mission may be dangerous,” he added unnecessarily.

“I knew what I signed up for when I got here,” she said. In just a few short months, the Order had transformed her into a fighter. But she owed them nothing. They'd never had any
intention of helping her avenge her family. They just wanted another pawn—like Nox himself, even though he couldn't see it. And she wasn't going to help them anymore. Not unless they really had a way to stop Dorothy. Not unless they were really going to fight—and not just train all day in their mountain hideaway like children playing at being an army. Without Melindra, there was nothing to keep her here. And she wasn't going to die for an Order that was willing to sacrifice someone like Melindra just because Nox didn't want her around.

“It's not what you're thinking,” Nox said, looking at her. “Lanadel, I swear. She's better than I am,” he said quietly, his eyes not leaving her face. “I'm doing what I can. You have to believe me. What you saw last night—it's not everything.”