The Lion had gotten into the habit of sleeping in every morning and ordering a late breakfast in his room, but that morning Ozma summoned him just after dawn. She did not seem to have slept, and her face was worried and exhausted. She sent a servant to fetch them breakfast and then turned to face the Lion. “I’ve been thinking all night,” she began, skipping any formalities. “I think it’s for the best you’ve come to the palace now. My dear Lion, I’m afraid I need your courage—and your counsel. No one else knows yet, but Oz is on the brink of war.”
The Lion stared at her. “War? Again? With who?”
She sighed wearily and rubbed her forehead with the heel of one hand, looking far more vulnerable than he had ever seen her. “Do you know of the Land of Ev?”
“Ev? But that’s just a legend, isn’t it?” The Lion had heard stories of the fabled country beyond the Deadly Desert, but he’d always assumed they were just children’s fairy stories. “There’s nothing past the Deadly Desert but the Other Place.”
“I wish that were true. But Ev is another country just like Oz, though the fairies didn’t have any hand in founding it. And just like Oz, it has its own counties and rulers. My ancestors traveled through Ev to reach the place where they created Oz, and brought with them stories of their journey. Ev is a far less kind place than Oz is, peopled with strange, cruel creatures who do not love peace the way we do. Many of them have searched for years for a way through the desert to Oz, and now one of their most evil tyrants has found one.”
“Who?” the Lion breathed.
“The Nome King,” Ozma said. The Lion had never heard of such a person, but something about the way Ozma said the name sent a chill through him. “He lives in an underground palace, and rules over a people who are the distant kin of fairies. He is evil, through and through; he thrives on the pain and suffering of others, and all but the most powerful of his people live like slaves. He forces them to mine the earth for precious metals and jewels, and in addition to being powerful, he’s incredibly rich. He’s like the fairies in that he can’t die—he’s hundreds of years old, maybe even older. For a long time he’s been building a network of tunnels under the Deadly Desert, and he’s finally reached his goal. He’ll be at the Emerald City in a matter of days. His magic is so strong that I can sense him coming. I can even sense his plans. He’s not trying to hide; he knows how vulnerable we are here.”
“How can we stop him?” the Lion asked, and Ozma shook her head.
“I don’t know yet. He’s incredibly powerful, and the Emerald City has no army.”
“Glinda—” the Lion began, and then stopped as Ozma smiled sadly at him.
“Glinda has an army, yes. But I can’t trust her, Lion. Not the way I can trust you. I don’t think she would throw in her lot with the Nome King, but she has her own ideas about how to govern Oz, and I can’t count on her support. It’s down to me—and you, if you’ll help me. You fought bravely in the battle against Jinjur, and I need every strong fighter we have on my side. The people of Oz aren’t used to war.”
“Of course,” the Lion said immediately. He had come here to protect Ozma, right? He hadn’t promised Glinda he wouldn’t help Ozma—only that he’d search for the Wizard’s necklace, and keep an eye on Ozma while Glinda was away from the city. And he was already coming to care for the young queen. She was such an intriguing combination of youth and wisdom, strength and vulnerability—and she’d treated him like an equal and a friend. Even Glinda hadn’t done that. If he hadn’t bound himself to Glinda back in the Forest of the Beasts, he would have abandoned his vows to her altogether. He knew Glinda’s spell had compelled him to help her, but it seemed as though the strength of it was weakening the longer he was in the palace. He’d worry about Glinda’s desire for the necklace later. If the Emerald City fell to the Nome King, he wouldn’t be doing much looking for jewelry anyway.
“Do you have a plan?” the Lion asked. “Of course I’ll fight with you, but strategy is Scare’s department, not mine.”
Ozma frowned. “I’d rather not bring him into this if I can help it.”
So things really had gone south between the three of them. What had the Scarecrow and Glinda tried to do in the aftermath of the battle with Jinjur? Never mind, the Lion thought. Palace intrigue is Scare’s thing; I just eat and fight. Let him and Glinda try to outmaneuver each other. He wondered briefly what would happen if he disobeyed Glinda altogether. How powerful was the spell that bound him? Surely she wouldn’t actually hurt him if he decided not to obey her orders? The situation was far more complicated than he thought, and it seemed entirely possible that Glinda wasn’t on Ozma’s side at all. Suddenly, he realized Ozma was still talking.
“. . . can convince him otherwise, we might be able to avoid fighting altogether. I was hoping you would agree to be my bodyguard.”
“Yes, of course,” the Lion said, and then, “what? Isn’t that Tin’s department?”
Ozma laughed. “You have to pay better attention before you make promises, dear Lion!” Did she know about the deal Glinda had forced him into? He stared at her in panic, but her beautiful face was guileless. “You’re here, and Tin isn’t. We have to act now. I think if we can meet the Nome King underground, before he reaches the Emerald City, I might be able to convince him that there’s nothing for him in Oz. My magic is powerful, but it’s not strong enough to hold him back if something goes wrong. I could use you as a bodyguard.”
“We’ll have an escort?”
“If anyone in Oz finds out about this, there will be a terrible panic. If I can prevent—if we can prevent the Nome King from ever setting foot in Oz, no one will ever have to know.”
“We’re going underground, alone, to confront an ancient enemy of Oz who might have an entire army with him?”
“Oh, I’m sure the army isn’t with him yet,” Ozma said cheerfully. “I would probably have sensed it if they were. He’ll just be supervising the final construction of the tunnels. The army won’t come through until he’s ready to invade Oz. It won’t be the least bit dangerous—I’d just feel better if you were there. A lion is a very impressive-looking lieutenant.”
Probably have sensed an army? The Lion wondered briefly if the stress of the situation had caused Ozma to lose her mind. But she looked happier than he’d seen her since he arrived at the Emerald Palace, now that he’d agreed to go with her. He couldn’t let her down now—not if the future of Oz was at stake.
“If you think it’s a good idea, I’m sure it is,” he said. Ozma’s face lit up again and she threw her arms around his chest.
“I knew you’d help!” she cried.
“When will we leave?”
“Why, right now, don’t you think? There’s no sense in wasting time.”
“Right now? Are you sure?” The Lion’s stomach rumbled, even though he’d just eaten. “What about lunch?”
Ozma laughed. “You can bring something to eat along the way. The Nome King is very close—it won’t take us long to find him. Why, we could be back in the Emerald Palace by dinnertime if all goes well. There’s an old tunnel system underneath the Emerald Palace that we can use to reach the Nome King’s tunnel.”
“Why hasn’t the Nome King used them himself?”
“The fairies—my ancestors—passed down the knowledge of the tunnels among themselves, but no one else knows about them anymore,” Ozma explained. “They’re very, very old—older than the Emerald Palace itself. Some people say they were there even before the fairies created Oz, although no one knows for sure. They may have been created by the Nomes themselves, ages ago, even before the Deadly Desert formed and separated us from the Land of Ev.”
The Lion’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know there was anything before the Deadly Desert.”
Ozma laughed. “Of course there was, silly! Nothing is forever. And the Nomes are an ancient people, nearly as old as the fairies, though luckily for us they’ve forgotten as much as we have about the prehistory of our lands. The Nome King would have invaded long ago if he knew the tunnels existed. Anyway, we should be able to find a way to get close to where the Nome King is digging. My magic connects to the magic of Oz, and I can feel any disturbances, especially this close to the Emerald City. It’s difficult to teleport underground, but if we get close enough, I can do it if we have to.”
The Lion got to his feet, eyeing the empty breakfast plates sadly. Ozma, seeing his look, snapped her fingers and a heavy bundle appeared. “There’s your lunch,” she said, still laughing, and handed it to the Lion. He tucked the bundle over his shoulder, feeling much better about the adventure now that there was food involved.
“Lead the way!” he said, and followed Ozma out of the room.