“Ev? But that’s just a legend, isn’t it?” The Lion had heard stories of the fabled country beyond the Deadly Desert, but he’d always assumed they were just children’s fairy stories. “There’s nothing past the Deadly Desert but the Other Place.”
“I wish that were true. But Ev is another country just like Oz, though the fairies didn’t have any hand in founding it. And just like Oz, it has its own counties and rulers. My ancestors traveled through Ev to reach the place where they created Oz, and brought with them stories of their journey. Ev is a far less kind place than Oz is, peopled with strange, cruel creatures who do not love peace the way we do. Many of them have searched for years for a way through the desert to Oz, and now one of their most evil tyrants has found one.”
“Who?” the Lion breathed.
“The Nome King,” Ozma said. The Lion had never heard of such a person, but something about the way Ozma said the name sent a chill through him. “He lives in an underground palace, and rules over a people who are the distant kin of fairies. He is evil, through and through; he thrives on the pain and suffering of others, and all but the most powerful of his people live like slaves. He forces them to mine the earth for precious metals and jewels, and in addition to being powerful, he’s incredibly rich. He’s like the fairies in that he can’t die—he’s hundreds of years old, maybe even older. For a long time he’s been building a network of tunnels under the Deadly Desert, and he’s finally reached his goal. He’ll be at the Emerald City in a matter of days. His magic is so strong that I can sense him coming. I can even sense his plans. He’s not trying to hide; he knows how vulnerable we are here.”
“How can we stop him?” the Lion asked, and Ozma shook her head.
“I don’t know yet. He’s incredibly powerful, and the Emerald City has no army.”
“Glinda—” the Lion began, and then stopped as Ozma smiled sadly at him.
“Glinda has an army, yes. But I can’t trust her, Lion. Not the way I can trust you. I don’t think she would throw in her lot with the Nome King, but she has her own ideas about how to govern Oz, and I can’t count on her support. It’s down to me—and you, if you’ll help me. You fought bravely in the battle against Jinjur, and I need every strong fighter we have on my side. The people of Oz aren’t used to war.”
“Of course,” the Lion said immediately. He had come here to protect Ozma, right? He hadn’t promised Glinda he wouldn’t help Ozma—only that he’d search for the Wizard’s necklace, and keep an eye on Ozma while Glinda was away from the city. And he was already coming to care for the young queen. She was such an intriguing combination of youth and wisdom, strength and vulnerability—and she’d treated him like an equal and a friend. Even Glinda hadn’t done that. If he hadn’t bound himself to Glinda back in the Forest of the Beasts, he would have abandoned his vows to her altogether. He knew Glinda’s spell had compelled him to help her, but it seemed as though the strength of it was weakening the longer he was in the palace. He’d worry about Glinda’s desire for the necklace later. If the Emerald City fell to the Nome King, he wouldn’t be doing much looking for jewelry anyway.
“Do you have a plan?” the Lion asked. “Of course I’ll fight with you, but strategy is Scare’s department, not mine.”
Ozma frowned. “I’d rather not bring him into this if I can help it.”
So things really had gone south between the three of them. What had the Scarecrow and Glinda tried to do in the aftermath of the battle with Jinjur? Never mind, the Lion thought. Palace intrigue is Scare’s thing; I just eat and fight. Let him and Glinda try to outmaneuver each other. He wondered briefly what would happen if he disobeyed Glinda altogether. How powerful was the spell that bound him? Surely she wouldn’t actually hurt him if he decided not to obey her orders? The situation was far more complicated than he thought, and it seemed entirely possible that Glinda wasn’t on Ozma’s side at all. Suddenly, he realized Ozma was still talking.
“. . . can convince him otherwise, we might be able to avoid fighting altogether. I was hoping you would agree to be my bodyguard.”
“Yes, of course,” the Lion said, and then, “what? Isn’t that Tin’s department?”
Ozma laughed. “You have to pay better attention before you make promises, dear Lion!” Did she know about the deal Glinda had forced him into? He stared at her in panic, but her beautiful face was guileless. “You’re here, and Tin isn’t. We have to act now. I think if we can meet the Nome King underground, before he reaches the Emerald City, I might be able to convince him that there’s nothing for him in Oz. My magic is powerful, but it’s not strong enough to hold him back if something goes wrong. I could use you as a bodyguard.”
“We’ll have an escort?”
“If anyone in Oz finds out about this, there will be a terrible panic. If I can prevent—if we can prevent the Nome King from ever setting foot in Oz, no one will ever have to know.”