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I should be offended by this, or at the very least, alarmed. But I’m not sure I’d be willing to bet against him.

“I’d like to try to stay alive. I promise I’ll follow your orders.”

He makes his way to the gallery where he and I nearly died, where blood still coats the stone floor.

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

“I will.”

After a second of hesitation, he rolls up the sleeve on his left arm, revealing a leather sheath with a dagger hooked inside of it. “The West saw fit to create you an entire wardrobe but somehow overlooked the weapons. Here. Take this.” He undoes the sheath and grabs my wrist, holding my arm out between us.

He carefully adjusts the placement of the leather and the straps, making sure it’s snug against the underside of my arm.

“I’m not very good with a blade.”

“I heard you killed Delphine with nothing more than a kitchen knife.”

The way he says it has a swell of pride fluttering in my chest. “I suppose that’s true. But I wasn’t trying to kill her.”

With the blade in place, the Tinman lets me go. “And yet…”

The way he’s looking at me now, it’s not as a weak, foolish girl, but a capable killer. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“If we’re attacked, stab first, ask questions later.”

“Is that your personal motto?”

He snorts and moves past me. “No, mine is stab first, don’t ask questions.”

NINECleo

A carriage is summoned to carry Glinda and Cleo from the Emerald Palace to the South Manor.

It took Glinda another hour to return to Cleo in the Wizard’s private library. By then she’d flipped through several history books, mostly on the royal family. The Wizard had a large collection on the royals.

Cleo read about their magic, how it needed no source to burn, unlike the witches’. How for centuries, they had ruled over the Land of Oz with the blessings of the gods. They were admired and respected.

She read a story called The Original Mother of Old Oz that told how a regular farmer, a woman, had dedicated herself to worshipping the gods and who was later given a drop of the gods’ power as a reward for her devotion. And so began a line of powerful women.

Back then, there was no distinction between witch and royal. It wasn’t until the last few hundred years that a line started to form, when some of the descendants of the powerful women could no longer access magic without a source to burn.

Year over year, that line began to widen and soon those who needed no source began to hold themselves above those who did.

Eventually, they came to refer to themselves as sorceresses to distinguish themselves from witches, and it wasn’t long after that that they assumed total control of Oz under a royal banner.

When Glinda finally appeared and read over Cleo’s shoulder, she made a disgusted little grunt in her throat and said, “They always thought they were better than us.”

Cleo snapped the book shut, startled by the witch’s voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

Glinda waved her away. “Cleo, darling, you simply must stop apologizing. It does not suit you.”

Now they are standing on the Emerald Promenade waiting for the carriage. Glinda is effervescent as usual, but something about her has changed since she disappeared with the Wizard. There is an unease in her bones that wasn’t there before. Cleo can almost taste it like a sour note on the back of her tongue.

“I can’t wait to get home,” Glinda says and smiles down at Cleo. “You’re going to love the South Manor. It’s not as large as the Emerald Palace, but far more elegant and simply stated. Sometimes I think the Wizard’s taste is too ostentatious.” Her eyes twinkle. “Though please don’t tell him I said that!”

“I won’t. I promise.”