Francesca, The Great and Terrible: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance Page 8

  “Should you do that?” I asked.

  “You can’t fight the undead. It’s best to just vanquish them.”

  I gave him a curt nod. Galen started chanting that strange language again. The room filled with this awful smell that was kind of like rotten eggs. Red smoke started coming off all the bodies. Mombi shrieked, and red smoke started pouring out of her eyes and slit throat. Her corpse slumped over, and it was suddenly over.

  “What did you just do, Galen?”

  “I sent them to a different plane. Necromancy takes time to explain. Let’s get out of here. Tell the guards everyone is dead, and they need to burn the bodies.”

  Galen just got about a hundred times more fascinating.

  Chapter 17

  Daxar

  A

  ctually getting to that mountain in the distance wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. A lot of the North was undiscovered wild land. I followed the sun and the moon, making camp when I thought I could sleep. I found vines and slept, tying myself to tree branches. There were some animals I’d found in the forests of the North that were quite dangerous. Some of them talked, some of them would just as soon eat me.

  I wasn’t just running from beasts. There were men in the forest. More soldiers and they seemed to be looking for outsiders. Our theory had been that Locasta had alarms outside Mombi’s place because they had been working together, but I was starting to wonder if they had been in the forest too, based on the men I was hiding from. I finally lost them when I got to the mountain. It left a bad feeling in my stomach that they didn’t seem to want to follow me there.

  There was a series of caverns at the foot of the mountain. I thought about sleeping in one, but decided against it. I didn’t know what was in there and I didn’t want to find out. I just wanted to get to the top of that mountain and find out if my suspicions were correct, and the Flying Monkey court was up there.

  I didn’t want to go anywhere near those caverns, but I didn’t have a choice. The only semblance of a path was right between two caverns. I had stolen a cloak from one of the soldiers trying to find me or someone else. I pulled it over my head and grabbed my makeshift staff. I started through the clearing.

  I heard this rumbling noise and heard gravel being disturbed. I turned my head when I smelled smoke. I’d never seen a dragon before, but I was pretty sure that was what I was looking at. Of course, Glinda dumps me in the North right when they wake up from their hundred years hibernation.

  One of the dragons was red with a yellow beard and vivid purple eyes. Smoke was trailing out its nose, and it was growling at me. The other dragon was purple with a red beard and bright green eyes. I had to duck and roll as it blew fire out its snout at me.

  I was so fucked. I had to run between them to get to the mountain, and soldiers were waiting in the forest. My staff and dagger were going to be totally useless against these dragons. I was a dead man. Maybe there was another way through. Maybe I could outsmart them.

  Just then, two other dragons came out of the caverns. Great. Four dragons and just me against them. I’d never get to tell Francesca I didn’t leave her on purpose. I wanted her to know. I wanted one last kiss. I wanted to hold her in my arms again.

  I suddenly felt myself being lifted off the ground. I looked up, and my shoulders were in the grasp of a Flying Monkey.

  “Try not to struggle, eh? I don’t want to drop you after I just saved your life.”

  She reminded me of Idris in the way that she spoke. “I don’t suppose you know Idris, do you?”

  “You mean my silly brother? The only reason I rescued you is that my mother asked me to. She saw you arrive, and she knows you’re connected to him.”

  “Your mother, the queen?”

  “The one and only. Bad things are afoot in the North. We couldn’t come get you until you were closer. We were hoping you’d make your way here. Thankfully, you did. Now, be quiet. My mother will explain all. Don’t piss her off. She’ll have your head for that.”

  “Can I at least get your name?”

  “Inora. I’m next in line for the throne.”

  “Then, I’m honored to have such a royal delivery service.”

  “Hush, or I’ll drop you.”

  I got to the top of the mountain much faster with Inora flying me than I would if I had been walking. I was grateful the queen had been watching and sent someone for me. Those dragons would have roasted me alive and eaten my bones.

  The Flying Monkey court was unlike anything I’d seen before. It was all tree houses. There was a castle built into a huge Oz tree. Inora flew me up to the balcony and showed me inside. The inside was all wood with a golden throne on a dais. The queen was sitting there with a crown on the top of her head. I immediately went down on one knee and bowed my head.

  I heard her tsk. “Get up. We don’t assume such customs in this court. Tell me about my son.”

  “He’s in danger. The Fisher King is rising, and he’s in the middle of it. Francesca—”

  “Yes, Francesca of the West. I can tell you love her too. Tell me, has she decided she wants love in her life?”

  “Yes. She loves Idris and Oprix. They are dating now.”

  The Flying Monkey queen threw back her head and laughed. “Maybe she has a little Flying Monkey in her. You may address me as Queen Ivia. It’s not often we let citizens of Oz into my court, but I have use of you.”

  “Why me? From what I understand, Azami never met you, and she was trying to free you from your curse. Maybe if you had worked with her, the curse could have been broken.”

  “You’re impertinent. I like you. I dislike games, and there are plenty afoot in Oz right now. The various curses you like to throw around at each other don’t affect the Flying Monkeys because we have our own magic. We remember the Fisher King, and we remember the Sentinels. Some of my family might prefer the West and their men and women faces, but I prefer what I am—I’m a Flying Monkey, and I have duties here in my court. I couldn’t send for Azami or go to the West to meet with her because the real Wicked Witch of Oz resides in the North, and she would love to make my people her slaves.”

  “Locasta has been trying to make another Golden Cap?”

  Queen Ivia nodded. “She can’t make the cup without having something of a Flying Monkey. She needs hair, blood, saliva, something of ours to complete the curse. Gayelette plucked a hair from her fiancé’s after my people fished him out of the river. We’ve been staying on our mountain to avoid her. I’ve allowed some of my people to go to the West because I knew Azami would protect them. I would have recalled them after she was murdered, but by all accounts, even though she was young, her daughter is quite strong.”

  I couldn’t help it. I pictured Francesca. She was so small, but so strong. She was deadly in a battle, and she was no slouch with her magic either.

  Queen Ivia just laughed. “So, the daughter of the West really does take lovers like a Flying Monkey. I can tell you love her too. There are more important things to discuss than Francesca and her lovers. Locasta has taken something from you. Our scouts saw it from afar, but couldn’t stop it. The man you would know as the Fisher King was there.”

  “The Fisher King is out of his prison?” I yelled.

  Queen Ivia shook her head. “The Fisher King has been able to come and go since he took a bride and convinced her to take the wards on his prison down. The woman who stayed behind to guard him is just as evil as he is now. Locasta didn’t start out this way. She was just the easiest out of all the Sentinels in the North to turn to their plan, so she was the one they approached.”

  “What could they have taken? Did they take Mombi out of the jails in Emerald City?”

  Queen Ivia gave me this grave look. “No. Glinda is scared, and it’s making her foolish. She regretted what she did to you about four hours after she teleported you here with no resources. She came back for you to bring you back home, but you had already moved on. She tried to find you, but she met the Fisher King, his bride, and a
n army of the undead a few days later. She was surrounded. Locasta was there and teleported away with her. Glinda is either with the Fisher King or being held in Locasta’s fortress.”

  “Glinda came back for me? Why did they make her a Good Witch when they cast that spell, and what do they want with her?”

  Queen Ivia gave me this grin that made me a little uncomfortable. “All of you may have forgotten the Fisher King, but the Flying Monkeys all remember his reign. Idris would have been able to tell you if he had stayed at court and been educated in our ways, but I’ve always spoiled Idris. Idris preferred being taught by Azami, and I didn’t see the harm in it. He still had family close by to teach him our ways too.

  “The Fisher King wants what he’s always wanted—magic that doesn’t belong to him. The magic he has doesn’t exist in Oz. He can do unnatural things like wake the dead and make them do his bidding. That’s not enough for him. He wants more power. When the Fisher King was here before, he set up a magical academy, but it wasn’t to teach anyone magic.

  “He used the school to vet professors and students for strong magic he could steal. That was his downfall. Too many people were disappearing from his school. The original sorcerers that trapped him in the cave did so by pretending to get jobs at the school to flaunt their magic to him. He didn’t know who to go after first, and they used that distraction to weaken him and trap him.”

  “Is Emerald City Academy meant to be a buffet for the Fisher King? Was Glinda captured, or did she go willingly? There are a lot of similar parallels here, and Glinda put a geas on all the professors, so I can’t remember why the school was set up. Has Glinda been working with Locasta and the Fisher King? Have I been a fool this entire time?”

  A huge Flying Monkey stepped forward. He was even bigger than Idris when he was in his monkey form. He bowed to Queen Ivia.

  “Permission to speak, my queen?”

  Queen Ivia caressed his cheek fondly. “You always have permission, my love.”

  “I was one of the scouts that saw Glinda when she teleported into the forest. She was distraught and scared. She was hysterically screaming your name and apologizing. She tried to fight Locasta with magic when Locasta teleported in first. She tried fighting the Fisher King and his bride too, even though she was outnumbered. When walking corpses with weapons showed up, it startled her long enough for the Fisher King to throw some sort of spell at her that blasted her backwards so hard, she hit a tree and fell unconscious.”

  “How do we get her back if she’s still alive?”

  “The Fisher King didn’t take her. Locasta teleported out with her. The Fisher King might not need her just yet, or he is visiting the jails in the North to steal her magic slowly.”

  “I have to get back to Emerald City. There’s no other Sentinel in the South and no one to take over for her. We don’t have a lot of options, but if we can save Glinda, we need to.”

  “Despite what my son might have told you or what you might think of us from being around him, we do have trained soldiers here and magic of our own. I will send a team to carry you back to Emerald City and try to help you rescue Glinda, but only if you make me a vow.”

  “Anything.”

  “I’m holding you personally responsible for the safety of my son, Idris. He’s my youngest son with my first mate and has a special place in my heart. I don’t want even a scratch on him.”

  I smiled. “I’ll protect him, and Francesca would murder anyone who laid a hand on him.”

  “Pass this message to Francesca. When this is over, I expect her at my court. If she’s going to be my son’s mate, I expect to meet her. I’ve heard a lot about her.”

  “Why would you help us rescue Glinda when she didn’t give the cup back as she promised? Idris is pretty bitter about it, and I totally understand.”

  “That is between Glinda and I. Explain that to my son because he’s a little hot-headed.”

  There were still a lot of things I couldn’t talk about because of the geas, but now I could finally assure Francesca and her friends we could trust Glinda. I was starting to doubt that a little myself. She had come back for me. She portalled me to the North in a moment of careless panic, but she did try to bring me back home, and she got captured for him.

  Now, I needed to find an army because we had to bring the Sentinel of the South back home before the Fisher King stole her magic and killed her.

  Chapter 18

  Frankie

  I

  dris and Oprix insisted on taking me to dinner and a play before I could have lunch with Galen. Well, Idris insisted, and Oprix came along because if Idris was getting a date with me, so was he. It was great. It was different than us hanging out at Winkie dives and drinking mead. They took me to a really nice little place to eat, and the play we saw ended up being really funny.

  We stayed up for hours naked. I was so close to asking for sex. I wanted to. We just never talked about it. I never brought it up, and neither did they. We avoided it because when I brought it up, I was going to have to pick who went first, and I’d hurt whoever went second. I didn’t want that burden, and I never wanted to hurt either of them.

  I didn’t think I was going on a date with Galen, but Idris did. Idris was jealous, and I hardly even knew Galen yet. I felt a pull to him, but what if I got to know him, and he annoyed the shit out of me? Maybe I would end up loving Galen and asking Idris and Oprix to accept him like they had Daxar. Right now, I knew shit about him. What if he chewed with his mouth open or left dirty underwear all over the floor if he moved into my room? What if he tried to order me around and control me? Daxar was the only one allowed to do that, and that was only because it was part of our game.

  I pulled my boots on while Idris sat on the bed pouting. Galen was still hiding in his room. He hardly ever came out of his bedroom unless we were talking about his parents. I hoped to change that.

  “Idris, why are you really jealous of Galen?”

  “Because he’s your equal. He’s like a boy Sentinel. What if you decide you want that instead of us?”

  “You and Oprix are my equal. Have I ever treated you like you weren’t?”

  “No, but there weren’t boy Sentinels before.”

  “Galen isn’t a boy Sentinel. He doesn’t want to be one. Come on, really. You both got mad at me when I suggested you might break my heart. Are you suggesting I’d break yours?”

  “I don’t trust him,” Idris pouted. “How do we know talking to dead people isn’t the only thing he got from the Fisher King?”

  “Lunch is to get to know him, Idris. I can find that out. I’m just trying to get to know him. If I hear something I don’t like, I’ll boot him out of our rooms, okay?”

  “You’ll talk to us about it when you get back, right?”

  I threw a pillow at his head. “I talk to you about everything, and jealousy is very unbecoming of a prince of the Flying Monkeys.”

  He threw it right back at me. “I trust you. I don’t trust him. Be safe, Francesca.”

  Galen was still hiding in his room when Idris finally let me leave. It looked like he was pacing. Oprix hadn’t said a word while Idris and I were talking, and I realized why. Galen was wearing yellow and nice clothes, which meant Oprix had lent him clothes to go out with me. Most of the time, when I saw Galen, he was wearing clothes so faded, I couldn’t tell which region they were from. Galen looked good in yellow, and Oprix’s clothes fit him well.

  I tried to give him a friendly smile. Galen looked petrified. He stood up to the Fisher King and ran away, but he was scared about going to lunch with me. I held out my hand.

  “I don’t bite. It’s just lunch. It’ll be nice to just talk to you about things that don’t involve your parents or Locasta.”

  “What if that’s all I know?”

  “Oh, come on,” I said, grabbing his hand. “There’s more to you than being the Fisher King’s son.”

  Saffron had been telling me I needed to try the little bistro by the Emerald City Gate.
Saffron and Emarus had been eating there almost every day. All the food was somehow green, even if it wasn’t supposed to be, but Saffron said it was amazing, and the bistro was quiet so you could talk without yelling over people.

  Galen was super awkward as we walked through the street to get to the bistro. It was kind of adorable when you thought about all the magic he had and how big he was. I technically watched Galen raise the dead and speak to them, then banish them like it was nothing. Talking to me was scarier than that to him. I didn’t think I was a scary person, though I could be when I tried.

  We took a seat at a table outside. It was surrounded by a retainer wall full of fragrant flowers and ivy, and there were scented candles on the table. I could see why Saffron liked this place. Someone came out to us right away to take our drink order and bring us menus.

  Saffron said everything served was green, and I didn’t see how. There was mead on the menu, and there were some things I was familiar with from Winkie food that I had no idea how they could make them green. I didn’t want to risk it and find out they used something really gross to color the food.

  Galen felt the same way. We both ended up ordering the same thing. We both got basil and walnut encrusted trout and a spinach dish. Those were naturally green. We both ordered mead. I decided to just risk green mead. Winkies put apple in their mead, and there were plenty of fruits they could have put in there to make it green.

  While we waited for our food, I tried to get to know Galen.

  “We have the same taste in food.”

  Galen just shrugged. “It sounded good. Growing up, my father refused to eat fish. When he was guarding the cup and had his injury, he couldn’t hunt. All he could do was fish. He forced my mother to hunt fresh meat for him, then when I was eight, they made me do it. I had cooking duties too. This is my first time eating fish. I guess when I ran away, I was scared I was going to get beaten for even thinking about eating fish.”

  “I love fish. If I can get access to the kitchens again and they have some, I’ll cook you a Winkie fish recipe with lemon and butter. My mother had some pretty good shrimp recipes, too, but they are harder to get in Emerald City.”