Chapter Nine. Lady Aurex

Glinda of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

Lady Aurex led Ozma and Dorothy along a street to a pretty marble
house near to one edge of the great glass dome that covered the
village. She did not speak to the girls until she had ushered them
into a pleasant room, comfortably furnished, nor did any of the
solemn people they met on the street venture to speak.

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

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

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

"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 the slightest whisper," declared Lady Aurex. "She is a wonderful
witch, as she has told you, and it is folly to criticise her or
disobey her commands."

Ozma looked into her eyes and saw that she would like to say
more if she dared. So she drew from her bosom her silver wand, and
having muttered a magic phrase in a strange tongue, she left the room
and walked slowly around the outside of the house, making a complete
circle and waving her wand in mystic curves as she walked. Lady Aurex
watched her curiously and, when Ozma had again entered the room and
seated herself, she asked:

"What have you done?"

"I've enchanted this house in such a manner that Queen
Coo-ee-oh, with all her witchcraft, cannot hear one word we speak
within the magic circle I have made," replied Ozma. "We may now speak
freely and as loudly 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 of all the Land of Oz."

"The Queen does not know me yet," said Ozma, "but I want you to
know me, Lady Aurex, and I want you to tell me why you, and all the
Skeezers, are unhappy. Do not fear Coo-ee-oh's anger, for she cannot
hear 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 supreme Ruler. If you knew the dreadful punishments our Queen
inflicts upon us, you would not wonder we are so unhappy. The
Skeezers are not bad people; they do not care to quarrel and fight,
even with their enemies the Flatheads; but they are so cowed and
fearful of Coo-ee-oh that they 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,"
asserted Lady Aurex, but she trembled as she said it, as if afraid
even yet of her terrible Queen.

"That's pretty bad," said Dorothy, shaking her head gravely. "I
see you've a lot to do here, Ozma, in this forsaken corner of the
Land of Oz. First place, you've got to take the magic away from Queen
Coo-ee-oh, and from that awful Su-dic, too. My idea is that neither
of them is fit to rule anybody, 'cause they're cruel and hateful. So
you'll have to give the Skeezers and Flatheads new rulers and teach
all 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
Aurex said in an anxious tone:

"I am surprised that you suggest these reforms while you are yet
prisoners on this island and in Coo-ee-oh's power. That these things
should be done, there is no doubt, but just now a dreadful war is
likely to break out, and frightful things may happen to us all. Our
Queen has such conceit that she thinks she can overcome the Su-dic
and his people, but it is said Su-dic's magic is very powerful,
although not as great as that possessed by his wife Rora, before
Coo-ee-oh transformed her into a Golden Pig."

"I don't blame her very much for doing that," remarked Dorothy,
"for the Flatheads were wicked to try to catch your beautiful fish
and the Witch 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 the Skeezers were friendly. They visited our island and we
visited their mountain, and everything was pleasant between the two
peoples. At that time the Flatheads were ruled by three Adepts in
Sorcery, beautiful girls who were not Flatheads, but had wandered to
the Flat Mountain and made their home there. These three Adepts used
their magic only for good, and the mountain people gladly made them
their rulers. They taught the Flatheads how to use their canned
brains and how to work metals into clothing that would never wear
out, and many other things that added to their happiness and
content.

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes," Lady Aurex answered, "now that you know the story it is
easy to understand. The Su-dic and his wife came to our lake hoping
to catch the 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. Then they could easily conquer her. Also they had another
reason for wanting to catch the fish -- they feared that in some way
the three Adepts might regain their proper forms and then they would
be sure to return to the mountain and punish Rora and the Su-dic.
That was why Rora finally tried to poison all the fishes in the lake,
at the time Coo-ee-oh transformed her into a Golden Pig. Of course
this attempt to destroy the fishes frightened the Queen, for her
safety lies in keeping the three 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
arrows at 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
morning you 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 poison or some other means. If they succeed in that, the conquest
of the island will not be difficult."

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

"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 comfort in this promise.

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