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“But?”

“I do think Glinda will try to stop it.”

“You said … I thought … Well, you don’t answer to Glinda? Do you?”

“No. But she is my mother. And she will have opinions on the matter. I’m just suggesting we go about this delicately, patiently.”

“You are a smart man. I trust your judgment.”

“Good. Because I do want to marry you, Lacosta.”

Except as soon as the words are out of my mouth, an image of Kansas flashes in my mind.

I grit my teeth against it.

I cannot lose my ground now. Not because of a girl who fell from the fucking sky.

I have plans. Goals. And she doesn’t factor into any of them.

Marrying Lacosta makes sense. I need her on my side.

“I’m so happy to hear that!” She reaches over and takes my hand in hers. “I will be a dedicated, dutiful wife. I promise you.”

“Of that, I have no doubt.”

“When should we announce then? How should we go about it?”

“There are a few things I need to take care of first.”

“Of course.”

“And there’s another favor I must ask of you.”

She pulls back. “Anything.”

“You know of the Tinman’s axe?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the metal alloy that makes up the blade?”

“I’ve never handled it, but I’ve heard theories that it’s a high emeralium steel alloy with somewhere around six to seven percent emeralium mined from the mountains in the west.”

“You’re aware that no one has found emeralium veins in quite some time.”

“Yes, since the gods abandoned us, mining has become considerably more difficult.”

“But you know metal better than anyone.”

She tilts her head, smiles. “I do.”

“If you put your mind to it, could you locate emeralium?”

“How much?”

I lean forward and lower my voice. We are sharing a secret and I want her to know it.

“Enough to forge me an axe.”