“I don’t know what church is, but the gods were real. They blessed us and our harvests and our lands. They would visit our cities and our villages, bestowing their love. But one day, they just disappeared.”
The warm, fuzzy feeling I have from the ale helps me suspend my disbelief. If Ana says there are gods, then I believe her. “No one knows why the gods left?”
She shrugs and takes another drink. “The witches said it was punishment to the royal family. That they had tried to steal power from the gods and the gods were punishing them, but we were all suffering the consequences. When the witches and the royals clashed, that started the Great and Terrible War. And it was the warring of different magic that caused the Great and Terrible Curses.”
The Enders mentioned that the sky is dark, regardless of the time of day, all because of a curse.
“You said curses, plural?” I ask.
“Yes. There are hundreds. Maybe thousands. Hard to say.”
My mouth drops open. “What other curses are there?”
“Anything from bad luck to being forgotten. There’s anentire village in the South where everyone was turned into ceramic.”
Okay, the disbelief is rising. I’m having a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I’m just gaping in shock now.
“Even the Witch of the West suffers from the Great and Terrible Curses. Two, to be exact, but we only know one.”
“Which is…”
“She’s afraid of the dark.”
“I mean, me too.”
“Right?” Ana says and chuckles into her mug of ale before taking a sip.
“How do you know there’s a second one?”
Ana thinks. “You know, I’m not sure. It’s just something we all know.”
“But you don’t know what it is?”
“Exactly.”
“And the royal family?” I ask. “Where are they now?”
“All dead.”
I don’t know if I should be sad for this family, or if they were truly horrible people and perhaps got what they deserved.
“It’s the Cardinal Witches who now rule the separate territories surrounding the Emerald City, which belongs to the Wizard of Oz.”
“And how does the wizard factor into this?”
“Oh, the wizard is the most powerful of all.” Ana’s eyes get big when she talks about him. “He’s the true hero of the Great and Terrible War. It was he who finally defeated the royals.”
My head is spinning. It might also be the ale. Toto lifts his head to give me a look like he can read my mind and is agreeing with this theory.
Mind your business,I tell him with my eyes, and he huffs out a puff of air that makes his whiskers flutter.
“So… take me back to the Witch of the East. Why are you celebrating her death?”
Ana nods. “Like I said, she was good in the beginning and somewhere along the way, she became wicked. You see, unlike the wizard, the witches must tap into something to use their magic, and the East, she was…” Ana trails off, her eyes glassy and faraway.
“She was what?”
“She was sacrificing East Enders for power.”
