Glinda of Oz Page 9

  CHAPTER 9

  Lady Aurex

  Lady Aurex led Ozma and Dorothy along a street to a pretty marblehouse near to one edge of the great glass dome that covered thevillage. She did not speak to the girls until she had ushered theminto a pleasant room, comfortably furnished, nor did any of the solemnpeople they met on the street venture to speak.

  When they were seated Lady Aurex asked if they were hungry, andfinding they were summoned a maid and ordered food to be brought.

  This Lady Aurex looked to be about twenty years old, although in theLand of Oz where people have never changed in appearance since thefairies made it a fairyland--where no one grows old or dies--it isalways difficult to say how many years anyone has lived. She had apleasant, attractive face, even though it was solemn and sad as thefaces of all Skeezers seemed to be, and her costume was rich andelaborate, as became a lady in waiting upon the Queen.

  Ozma had observed Lady Aurex closely and now asked her in a gentletone:

  "Do you, also, believe me to be an impostor?"

  "I dare not say," replied Lady Aurex in a low tone.

  "Why are you afraid to speak freely?" inquired Ozma.

  "The Queen punishes us if we make remarks that she does not like."

  "Are we not alone then, in this house?"

  "The Queen can hear everything that is spoken on this island--even theslightest whisper," declared Lady Aurex. "She is a wonderful witch, asshe has told you, and it is folly to criticise her or disobey hercommands."

  Ozma looked into her eyes and saw that she would like to say more ifshe dared. So she drew from her bosom her silver wand, and havingmuttered a magic phrase in a strange tongue, she left the room andwalked slowly around the outside of the house, making a completecircle and waving her wand in mystic curves as she walked. Lady Aurexwatched her curiously and, when Ozma had again entered the room andseated herself, she asked:

  "What have you done?"

  "I've enchanted this house in such a manner that Queen Coo-ee-oh, withall her witchcraft, cannot hear one word we speak within the magiccircle I have made," replied Ozma. "We may now speak freely and asloudly as we wish, without fear of the Queen's anger."

  Lady Aurex brightened at this.

  "Can I trust you?" she asked.

  "Ev'rybody trusts Ozma," exclaimed Dorothy. "She is true and honest,and your wicked Queen will be sorry she insulted the powerful Ruler ofall the Land of Oz."

  "The Queen does not know me yet," said Ozma, "but I want you to knowme, Lady Aurex, and I want you to tell me why you, and all theSkeezers, are unhappy. Do not fear Coo-ee-oh's anger, for she cannothear a word we say, I assure you."

  Lady Aurex was thoughtful a moment; then she said: "I shall trust you,Princess Ozma, for I believe you are what you say you are--our supremeRuler. If you knew the dreadful punishments our Queen inflicts uponus, you would not wonder we are so unhappy. The Skeezers are not badpeople; they do not care to quarrel and fight, even with their enemiesthe Flatheads; but they are so cowed and fearful of Coo-ee-oh thatthey obey her slightest word, rather than suffer her anger."

  "Hasn't she any heart, then?" asked Dorothy.

  "She never displays mercy. She loves no one but herself," assertedLady Aurex, but she trembled as she said it, as if afraid even yet ofher terrible Queen.

  "That's pretty bad," said Dorothy, shaking her head gravely. "I seeyou've a lot to do here, Ozma, in this forsaken corner of the Land ofOz. First place, you've got to take the magic away from QueenCoo-ee-oh, and from that awful Su-dic, too. _My_ idea is that neitherof them is fit to rule anybody, 'cause they're cruel and hateful. Soyou'll have to give the Skeezers and Flatheads new rulers and teachall their people that they're part of the Land of Oz and must obey,above all, the lawful Ruler, Ozma of Oz. Then, when you've done that,we can go back home again."

  Ozma smiled at her little friend's earnest counsel, but Lady Aurexsaid in an anxious tone:

  "I am surprised that you suggest these reforms while you are yetprisoners on this island and in Coo-ee-oh's power. That these thingsshould be done, there is no doubt, but just now a dreadful war islikely to break out, and frightful things may happen to us all. OurQueen has such conceit that she thinks she can overcome the Su-dic andhis people, but it is said Su-dic's magic is very powerful, althoughnot as great as that possessed by his wife Rora, before Coo-ee-ohtransformed her into a Golden Pig."

  "I don't blame her very much for doing that," remarked Dorothy, "forthe Flatheads were wicked to try to catch your beautiful fish and theWitch Rora wanted to poison all the fishes in the lake."

  "Do you know the reason?" asked the Lady Aurex.

  "I don't s'pose there _was_ any reason, 'cept just wickedness,"replied Dorothy.

  "Tell us the reason," said Ozma earnestly.

  "Well, your Majesty, once--a long time ago--the Flatheads and theSkeezers were friendly. They visited our island and we visited theirmountain, and everything was pleasant between the two peoples. At thattime the Flatheads were ruled by three Adepts in Sorcery, beautifulgirls who were not Flatheads, but had wandered to the Flat Mountainand made their home there. These three Adepts used their magic onlyfor good, and the mountain people gladly made them their rulers. Theytaught the Flatheads how to use their canned brains and how to workmetals into clothing that would never wear out, and many other thingsthat added to their happiness and content.

  "Coo-ee-oh was our Queen then, as now, but she knew no magic and sohad nothing to be proud of. But the three Adepts were very kind toCoo-ee-oh. They built for us this wonderful dome of glass and ourhouses of marble and taught us to make beautiful clothing and manyother things. Coo-ee-oh pretended to be very grateful for thesefavors, but it seems that all the time she was jealous of the threeAdepts and secretly tried to discover their arts of magic. In thisshe was more clever than anyone suspected. She invited the threeAdepts to a banquet one day, and while they were feasting Coo-ee-ohstole their charms and magical instruments and transformed them intothree fishes--a gold fish, a silver fish and a bronze fish. While thepoor fishes were gasping and flopping helplessly on the floor of thebanquet room one of them said reproachfully: 'You will be punished forthis, Coo-ee-oh, for if one of us dies or is destroyed, you willbecome shrivelled and helpless, and all your stolen magic will departfrom you.' Frightened by this threat, Coo-ee-oh at once caught up thethree fish and ran with them to the shore of the lake, where she castthem into the water. This revived the three Adepts and they swam awayand disappeared.

  "I, myself, witnessed this shocking scene," continued Lady Aurex, "andso did many other Skeezers. The news was carried to the Flatheads, whothen turned from friends to enemies. The Su-dic and his wife Rora werethe only ones on the mountain who were glad the three Adepts had beenlost to them, and they at once became Rulers of the Flatheads andstole their canned brains from others to make themselves the morepowerful. Some of the Adepts' magic tools had been left on themountain, and these Rora seized and by the use of them she became awitch.

  "The result of Coo-ee-oh's treachery was to make both the Skeezers andthe Flatheads miserable instead of happy. Not only were the Su-dic andhis wife cruel to their people, but our Queen at once became proud andarrogant and treated us very unkindly. All the Skeezers knew she hadstolen her magic powers and so she hated us and made us humbleourselves before her and obey her slightest word. If we disobeyed, ordid not please her, or if we talked about her when we were in our ownhomes she would have us dragged to the whipping post in her palace andlashed with knotted cords. That is why we fear her so greatly."

  This story filled Ozma's heart with sorrow and Dorothy's heart withindignation.

  "I now understand," said Ozma, "why the fishes in the lake havebrought about war between the Skeezers and the Flatheads."

  "Yes," Lady Aurex answered, "now that you know the story it is easy tounderstand. The Su-dic and his wife came to our lake hoping to catchthe silver fish, or gold fish, or bronze fish--any one of them _would_do--and by destroying it deprive Coo-ee-oh of her magic. Th
en theycould easily conquer her. Also they had another reason for wanting tocatch the fish--they feared that in some way the three Adepts mightregain their proper forms and then they would be sure to return to themountain and punish Rora and the Su-dic. That was why Rora finallytried to poison all the fishes in the lake, at the time Coo-ee-ohtransformed her into a Golden Pig. Of course this attempt to destroythe fishes frightened the Queen, for her safety lies in keeping thethree fishes alive."

  "I s'pose Coo-ee-oh will fight the Flatheads with all her might,"observed Dorothy.

  "And with all her magic," added Ozma, thoughtfully.

  "I do not see how the Flatheads can get to this island to hurt us,"said Lady Aurex.

  "They have bows and arrows, and I guess they mean to shoot the arrowsat your big dome, and break all the glass in it," suggested Dorothy.

  But Lady Aurex shook her head with a smile.

  "They cannot do that," she replied.

  "Why not?"

  "I dare not tell you why, but if the Flatheads come to-morrow morningyou will yourselves see the reason."

  "I do not think they will attempt to harm the island," Ozma declared."I believe they will first attempt to destroy the fishes, by poisonor some other means. If they succeed in that, the conquest of theisland will not be difficult."

  "They have no boats," said Lady Aurex, "and Coo-ee-oh, who has longexpected this war, has been preparing for it in many astonishing ways.I almost wish the Flatheads would conquer us, for then we would befree from our dreadful Queen; but I do not wish to see the threetransformed fishes destroyed, for in them lies our only hope of futurehappiness."

  "Ozma will take care of you, whatever happens," Dorothy assured her.But the Lady Aurex, not knowing the extent of Ozma's power--which was,in fact, not so great as Dorothy imagined--could not take much comfortin this promise.

  It was evident there would be exciting times on the morrow, if theFlatheads really attacked the Skeezers of the Magic Isle.