Glancing around the room, I spot a mirror on the wall and hobble over to it. When I look over my shoulder at the exit wound on the back of my thigh, I see that it’s in similar shape.
“How long have I been asleep?” I whisper, voice quivering as I look back up at Taavi, also dressed in a pair of those ridiculous glasses. It’s odd, to see a dog in spectacles. My faithful German shepherd yawns, turns around twice, and curls into a ball, but he never stops watching me.
Clearly, he’s not all there. He looks even less coherent than he did back home, when all I ever considered him to be was a normal dog.
“You’re supposed to be my guardian,” I snap, tearing the rest of the bandages from my leg and throwing them on one of the plush rugs that line the floor. Running my fingers through my hair, I look around the room, taking in the large four-poster bed with the green silk sheets, green bedspread, and matching curtains. There’s even a tiny fountain in the center of the room, shooting a spray of green perfume into the air that falls back into a beautifully carved green marble basin.
Beautiful green flowers stand in the windows, and there’s a shelf with a row of little green books. In the wardrobe, there are dozens of green dresses, made of silk and satin and velvet; disturbingly, all of them seem to be made in my size.
It’s hard to tell what color everything might actually be. Even looking down at my own hands, I see that my skin is tinged with green. Reaching up, I run my fingers along the band that holds the glasses in place, teasing the keyhole with my finger.
“How the fuck am I supposed to play a game when I don’t know any of the rules?” I ask Taavi. He just keeps panting happily as he watches me try the double doors—locked, of course—the windows, a single door in the corner that leads to a luxurious bathroom.
I’m surprised to find that when I turn the tap, there’s running water. There’s even a toilet that flushes. I’d sort of been under the impression that this place was like, medieval or something. Every fantasy novel I’ve ever read, it’s the fucking middle ages, I swear to god.
But not Oz.
Not a land whose name I share.
From the moment I arrived here, I’ve had Taavi by my side, watching my back, guiding my hand. Panic surges through me, but I tamp it down. Panic never helped anybody. Instead, I try to imagine what my older brother, Norman, might do. He was a Dungeons & Dragons obsessed nerd—but in a good way. His imagination always intimidated me; it was limitless.
“What would Norm do?” I murmur aloud, walking around the room, fingers dancing over the surfaces of dressers, the green-marble top of a vanity, the carved designs on the front of the wardrobe. There’s a lion, a scarecrow, and a man with a tin can for a head.
Appropriate motifs, I guess.
I pause near the perfume-fountain, the sickly-sweet smell of it making my head spin. On impulse, I reach out and try to push it over, but it doesn’t move. It’s very clearly bolted to the floor.
Hmm.
“If my wounds are healed, then I’ve been asleep for a while, haven’t I?” I ask Taavi, glancing back to see that he’s finally laid his head down and fallen into a sleep of his own. Thanks for all the fucking help, buddy, I think with a long sigh.
There’s a knock at the double doors, but before I can call out to the person on the other side, both of them open and a green-skinned girl with pixie wings moves into the room, her diaphanous skirts wafting around her slim legs.
She sets a tray of food on a table near the door, bows to me, and retreats. If I thought to charge her or overpower her, the idea is chased away by the guard standing just outside the door, dressed head-to-toe in shiny green armor—a guard with green butterfly wings on her back.
The serving girl retreats, and I'm left to stand there with my stomach rumbling, a tray of green cheeses, meats, crackers, and jams in front of me.
“Fuck.” I run my palms over my hair again to smooth it back, fingers bumping the cool metal of the glasses. I can't for the life of me puzzle out why I'm wearing them, what purpose they might serve. How could I? I don't know shit about this world or anything in it.
Turning back to look at Taavi, I find him only slightly more interested in the situation now that food's involved. Fantastic. My only real ally, the only family I have left in the world ... and he's got the mind of a dog.
