Free dorothy must die 00.4 - heart of tin by danielle paige

them. Glinda’s shown me some . . . alterations that can be made to Oz’s creatures. Nothing drastic, mind you. Just a few improvements.”
    “Alterations?” I asked suspiciously.
    “I’ve been working exclusively with the winged monkeys,” he said, ignoring me. “But I’d love to diversify. I think you’re on the right track with this whole army business. Dorothy just wants to frolic around the palace in petticoats and lipstick like the Emerald City is some kind of giant slumber party. But Glinda has a real vision.” I made a noise of protest, and he laughed.
    “Oh, come now, Tin. I know you’re head over heels for the girl, but you have to admit she’s done nothing since she got back except play dress-up and use her supposedly all-powerful magic to give herself new hairdos. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m interested in the bigger picture. And so is Glinda.”
    Talking to the Scarecrow was like wrestling with an eel. Suddenly everything I’d been trying to say was all turned around. “I think you’re all wrong about Dorothy,” I said angrily. The Scarecrow only shrugged, and I sighed in exasperation. “Do you really think you can use the Winkies to win her back to my side? What will you do with them?” I asked.
    “Think about it,” he said, getting excited. “We do need an army; even you figured out that much. But what if we had anarmy that was invincible? Glinda thinks we can do it with magic, but you and I can’t use the magic of Oz that way, not directly. We don’t have any power. It may be possible for us to create weapons that use Oz’s magic—I’m working on that, too—but right now we can’t do much else. But what if I engineered soldiers using magic? She’s been helping me the past few days, and I’ve made all sorts of advances. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. But my experiments are, um—” He paused, a little sheepishly. “They do sort of eat up resources,” he said. “I need new subjects, and quickly. And you’ve just shown up at the palace with several dozen of them.”
    “Are these experiments harmful?” I asked. Beheading my unruly subjects was one thing, but turning them over en masse to the Scarecrow for some kind of creepshow science project was something else.
    “Oh no, no, no,” he said quickly. “Not really, no. Fatal sometimes, but definitely not harmful. And Dorothy will be so happy when you come to her with a real army instead of these little guys.”
    “But she said she never wanted to see them again,” I said. “So even if you do turn them into soldiers, I’m still not in her good graces.”
    “They won’t really be recognizable when I’m done with them,” the Scarecrow said. There was a chilling silence. One of the Winkies at the table made an agonized noise and then clapped his hands over his mouth. “She won’t even know they’re Winkies. So, Tin, what do you say?”
    “I don’t know,” I said reluctantly. “I mean, they’re still my subjects. The Wizard said I was supposed to take care of them.”
    “They won’t feel a thing,” the Scarecrow assured me. “They might even enjoy the process. Just think—all your life, a boring old Winkie, and suddenly you’re an enhanced soldier in the princess’s army? Not a bad opportunity, right? Plus, Dorothy will never take you seriously as a suitor unless you’re willing to do what’s necessary.”
    I didn’t entirely like his plan, but that last sentence won me over. “I’ll do anything for Dorothy,” I said firmly, putting one hand over my heart. Next to me, Norbert started crying again.
    “Oh, believe me,” the Scarecrow said, his grin growing even more sinister. “I know.”

EIGHT
    That night, after I’d moved my things to my official new chambers in the palace—these rooms equipped with a closet I could stand in to sleep, as I’d requested—I stood lost in thought for a long time.