expression back to its usual unreadability. Lanadel would have preferred he not be in the room. If she was going to humiliate herself, sheâd rather he didnât see it. But she knew better than toask him to leave. Especially after whatever had just happened between him and Mombi. She straightened her spineâsomething about being around Mombi always made her remember her postureâand waited expectantly for the witch to tell her what to do. And waited. And waited.
The old witch stared at her silently. A long, awkward moment passed, and then another. Lanadel cleared her throat. And then, just like that, Mombi snapped her fingers and Lanadel jumped. The witch smiled. âYou probably think magic is just like that,â she said. âSnap your fingers and miracles happen.â She snapped again and Lanadel gasped. A huge, perfect replica of a lion loomed over her, its mouth bared in a snarl. She knew it wasnât real but she still threw up her arms in self-defense. Mombi snapped a third time and the lion disappeared.
âI donât think that at all,â Lanadel said honestly.
âGood,â Mombi said. âBecause it looks easy. But the easy part is an illusion. Like anything else worth learning, magic takes hard work. Not everyone can do it. In fact, most people canât. But Nox sees something in youââshe looked over at where he sat, looking stonily back at herââand you wouldnât have made it here in the first place if you didnât have something more than ordinary courage.â
Coming from Mombi, that was a compliment. âSo how do Iââ Lanadel began, but the witch didnât wait for her to finish her sentence. She leaned forward and grabbed Lanadelâs hands with both of hers, staring deeply into her eyes.
And suddenly Lanadel wasnât in the cavern with Mombianymore. They were standing on a surface that was as clear and solid as glass. Blooming clouds of color moved through the ground beneath them like ink expanding in water. More clouds swirled around them in the air, expanding and contracting as if they were living, breathing things. In the distance, a sparkling range of mountains shifted and pulsed like the clouds that surrounded them, changing colors with every beat: pale sunrise rose pink; deep sapphire blue; a vivid blue gray like the sky before a thunderstorm. Just past where she and Mombi stood, a river flowed merrily over the glassy ground, sunlight dancing across its surface. The air was warm and balmy as bathwater. The sky overhead was a clear, flawless blue that served as a gorgeous backdrop to the clouds that moved around them.
Lanadel gasped. It was the most beautiful place sheâd ever been. More beautiful than Glamoraâs dazzling banquet hall, more beautiful than anything sheâd seen on her long journey to Mount Gillikinâmore beautiful, even, than home. Not that she had a home anymore.
Mombi beamed at her, pleased as punch. âSky Island,â she said proudly. âUsed to be quite the tourist destination, before . . . well, you know. Now itâs one of the last remaining places in Oz thatâs truly free.â She waggled an eyebrow. âOf course, thatâs because thereâs no magic here and no one actually lives here now that the hotel is abandoned and the souvenir store closed, but still. On this single, glittery bangle, weâre completely safe from Dorothy. For now. As long as she doesnât know weâre here.â Mombi looked suddenly haggard. âSo not really all that safeafter all. But you get my drift.â
âIâm assuming weâre not here for a vacation,â Lanadel said when she caught her breath again.
âNo,â Mombi said with a wry grin. âThough Lurline knows we all could use one. Iâm afraid vacations arenât on the agenda for any of us anytime soon. Youâre here to learn magic, girl. Orâlet me revise that.
Marion Chesney, M.C. Beaton