Free The Wizard Returns by Danielle Paige Page B

wings—and, his glancedarting around the room, he saw that the other occupants of the room all sported wings as well. Some of the fairies yawned and stretched as he passed, unfurling their wings—black, but lacy and delicate as a butterfly’s—and waving them gently. Others stared at him openly, craning their heads to get a better look at him. At last he was standing before the throne, unsure of whether or not he should kneel.
    â€œDo not humble yourself before me, Wizard,” the fairy said. It sounded a lot like the fairy was making fun of him. “We are practically—well, I wouldn’t say equals , but my people are the rightful rulers of Oz, and you, once upon a time, usurped the throne—so we have a certain degree of experience in common, do we not?” The mockery in his voice was now unmistakable. Hex felt stupid and small. Pete had said he hadn’t been much of a wizard, but he’d just been dragged through all kinds of trials, and the last thing he needed was some stupid creep in a weird getup making him feel small.
    â€œYou know I don’t remember anything,” he said angrily. “I’m here because Pete said you could help me if I passed your stupid test. Is that true, or should I just leave?”
    The fairy laughed, and this time his laughter seemed genuine rather than malicious. Hex almost rolled his eyes in frustration. What was the deal with these people? Were they just toying with him? Did they even mean to help him at all? He’d had no reason to trust Pete to begin with, and now he was beginning to wonder if Pete had had some ulterior motive all along.
    â€œI can give you back your memories, Wizard,” the fairy said.“But a choice lies in front of you; a crossroads of a kind. You must choose your path before we can give you back what you have lost.”
    â€œA choice?” So this is it , Hex thought. This is the final test. The monkeys had tested his Wisdom—and he had failed. The Lion had tested his Courage—and he had passed. What was left? What happened if he failed? Would they really kill him, like Pete said?
    â€œWhat do you think is left, Wizard?” the fairy king said. “Wisdom, Courage—what other virtue before you remains but Love?” He said the word “love” with a tone of such contempt that Hex nearly flinched. “Do you accept my challenge? Am I so much more frightening than the Lion, that you cannot trust the test I lay before you?”
    That was not exactly reassuring. Hex raised an eyebrow. “What happens if I fail?”
    The fairy sat up in his chair, and looked at Hex with a gaze that pinned him like an insect. “Then you are of no more use to us,” he said, “and people who are of no use to the fairies do not last long in Oz.”
    â€œI thought Ozma was supposed to be good!” Hex protested.
    â€œOzma,” the king snorted, and a titter ran through the assembled crowd. “Ozma has her uses, but she is the least of all of us. Wizard, I grow impatient. Will you begin the test, or keep yapping all day?”
    Hex stared at the fairy king, who blew a set of lazy smoke rings at the ceiling. “Take off your clothes,” the king said flatly,“and enter the pool. And then, Wizard, we will see what stuff you are made of.”
    â€œHere?” Hex asked, bewildered.
    â€œWhere else?” It all seemed like some elaborate practical joke. Hex would take off his clothes, and they’d all laugh at him, and that would be the end of it; he’d be humiliated, they’d have had their fun. Suddenly, he found that he didn’t care. He was tired of cryptic pronouncements, inexplicable quests, mysterious allusions to a past he knew nothing about. If this was his chance to find out who he was and end it, he was willing to take it. And if not? If they killed him? So be it. It couldn’t be worse than the Lion, whatever they did. At least, it