The table is silent, waiting for the reveal. I don’t understand anything about electrical systems or grids so I’m expectinghim to tell me something about power lines and transformers that might as well be another language.
But then he shouts, “It’s the Yellow Brick Road!”
“What?! Really?”
The table erupts into chatter about the system, how they devised it, how it works. They are all passionate about it and their passion is infectious.
I just thought the Yellow Brick Road was a quirky road. But when I first came upon it after leaving the house, I noticed it glittered despite the lack of light. The magic explains it.
I had no idea I was literally walking on magic.
“That’s so cool,” I tell them.
“Yes!” Darius refills his cup of tea with the pot in the center of the table. “If you were able to get to the sky, which you can’t unless you’re a witch or wizard, but if you could, you’d see the Yellow Brick Road running here and there, all across the Land of Oz like a golden vein, glittering with lifeblood.”
“It used to be a river of magic,” one woman says.
“Until the gods left,” another adds.
“And all roads lead to the Emerald City,” a voice says behind me.
I turn to see Rook.
“Yes!” Darius says.
“How did you know that?” I ask Rook.
He shrugs. “The fact burbled up out of nowhere.”
I rise from my chair. “Are you getting your memories back?”
“I don’t know.” He clasps his hands behind him, and his suit jacket tightens across his broad shoulders. “Are facts the same as memories? I still can’t tell you my name, unfortunately. But I can tell you about the roads. I can tell you that magic tastes sweet when you’re near it. I can tell you that a curse can come out of nowhere, as fickle as the wind.”
Oh god, do I have to worry about being cursed now? The thought never crossed my mind.
I reach over and squeeze Rook’s arm. “All of those things are a start.”
“I suppose they are.”
I turn back to the table. “Thank you all for your company tonight. I enjoyed hearing about your work.”
They raise their glasses and teacups to me as we head off. “To Dorothy!”
Rook and I continue on. It feels like everyone is watching me, and the urge to hide behind some of the decorative potted hedges is growing by the second.
We make it halfway around the room when Ana scurries over. “Have either of you seen Fink yet?” She scans the ballroom, looking for the council member.
“I haven’t,” Rook says.
“Me either,” I add.
Ana huffs out. “He’s supposed to be in charge of the guard rotation tonight but he’s nowhere to be found!” She makes another grumble in the back of her throat before flitting off.
Rook and I keep walking.
We’re stopped by a middle-aged couple who thank me for killing the witch. Just as we leave them, two men step in front of us and shake my hand, questioning where I got the strength or the fortitude to kill a Cardinal Witch.
I have no answer for them, and while I stumble over an explanation, Rook tells them we were just on our way to get a drink, and would they excuse us?
