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I’m feeling sheepish now. “Yes, okay, I remember.”

“I know you have a lot of catching up to do, but you are not a duckling trapped between snarling dogs. You keep undercutting yourself, and you will be defeated. But if you stop feeling sorry for yourself for two seconds, maybe you would see that what rests on your shoulders isn’t a conflict you have no part of, but a war over your birthright.”

“It still doesn’t feel real.”

“You need to get over that, and quickly. The West was your mother.”

“I mean, we think she was—”

“Dorothy.” His voice is stern and so is his look. “You have royal blood and all those people back there who are fighting for the cause would rally behind you in a second to help install you at the head of Oz and reclaim your throne.”

“But the West was bypassed.”

“Do you think that matters now? There is no other living heir. They will gladly forget those details to serve their vision. And while I do believe my brother sent all of Oz after us knowing we would not be so easily killed, I think it’s in his best interest if you were. You don’t think it was rather telling that he left out the part about the West being your mother in his decree? My brother thinks through every word that comes out of his mouth, every move he makes. He knew what would happen if he told all of Oz you were the heir. His position on the Oz throne would have been at risk.”

“But those men,” I say, “Basil and Ty and all the others. They don’t even know me. In fact…” I trail off as a thought occurs to me. “I don’t even know myself.”

The realization hits me like a crosswind and I stagger back.

“I’m a witch’s daughter and the heir to a throne. I have magic, but I grew up on a farm in Kansas, not in a palace in a magical world. I don’t know anything about any of this and now I’m expected to rally behind a heartless mercenary to overthrow a Great and Powerful Wizard who also stabbed me and stole my dog and yes, I did fuck him! I fucked your brother, Tin! And then I fucked you and—”

Tin takes me suddenly by the arms and all the air rushes out of me.

“Stop it.”

My heart is racing now, adrenaline rushing through my veins.

“I don’t know who I am.”

The words come out of me like a confession.

“Sometimes, we find ourselves in a place we never wanted to be. Fate is cruel. But you remember what I said last night?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.” His grip is firm, but not overwhelming, his gaze penetrating but eager. I find his self-assurance, the steady presence of him, grounding.

“If I want to change my destiny, then fucking do it. Just take a step in any direction and do something about it.”

He nods. “So what are you going to do?”

I lick my lips. My heart is still thumping wildly in my chest and I don’t feel like I’m ready for any of this, but his determination on my behalf lights something unexpected in my gut.

“I’m going to—”

Nearby, a sharp whistle cuts through the forest.

At first I think it’s Basil signaling to us, but then—

Tin shoves me down to the ground and raises his metal arm just as an arrow thunks into it, in the same spot I stood just a half second ago.

He grabs me by the armor, yanking me to my feet, and says, “Run.”

TWENTY-THREEDorothy

I run through the woods, ducking around branches that snag in my hair, tripping over exposed roots that are impossible to see in the dark.

Tin urges me forward as two more arrows whiz past us.