Page 28 of Dottie's Forbidden Wizard
As I hustle back to the wings, Griselda runs to the front of the stage, calling everyone back to order. She waits for the cameras to roll and starts the announcements for the second half of the debate.
"Now, goddamn it!" My father rips the vial from me with his clammy hands. He pours the contents into the cup of water and chugs the mixture down. "Fuck. Oh, God!"
The veins in his throat glow bright purple, snaking through his puffy skin like venom as he drops the cup at his feet. He clutches at his throat, looking at me in fury. Then, in the blink of an eye, he appears normal again.
He shakes his head as if he's clearing a fog, and his beady eyes find me. He nods, shoulder-checking me as he plasters on a fake smile and heads back on stage. I watch him carefully from the wings as he takes his place at the front, where he waves to the crowd like a celebrity when they cheer his entrance.
"Maddox Ozella. Using his grandmother to help his father get ahead. Never thought I'd see the day." Griselda gives me a wicked smile as she joins me in the wings.
"That's the trouble with you, Gristle." I turn to her. "You assume everyone is as morally corrupt as you."
She furrows her brow, narrowing her eyes at me angrily. I ignore her, walking back out onto the stage to take my seat behind the Ozella podium.
Gigi grips my hand. "Whatever happens, we did our best, dear boy." Her hushed voice is full of anxiety, but for the first time in decades, it also holds a hint of hope.
"Can't say we didn't try," I whisper.
The first question is directed to Jareth Merlin, who responds with a clear and concise plan to increase benefits to territories outside of Emerald City without raising tax rates. His PR manager gives him a thumbs-up from the front row.
Gigi squeezes my hand as the second question comes for my father from a young Winkie woman in the second row of the audience.
"Mr. Ozella, there have been discussions about rezoning the Ogre Swamp and surrounding territories. Should the citizens in these areas be worried if you become mayor?" She smiles at my father, an obvious plant with a softball question that allows him to promise one thing even though he fully intends to deliver another.
My father throws an arrogant smile at the woman, looking around at the audience with renewed confidence. "Thank you for asking such an important question. There have been a lot of rumors and chatter about rezoning, and I want to assure the people of Oz that I have every intention of destroying the land."
A gasp breaks out among the audience, murmurs rippling through the crowd as my father clears his throat. I tense, on high alert as I wait to see what happens next.
"I mean, I-I intend toruinthat portion of Oz and drive non-wizard citizens into Fable Forest."
The audience is talking at full volume now, with some members jumping up to shout at my father.
He turns quickly, throwing a panicked look at Griselda, who comes flying across the stage in her black spiked high-heels.
"Folks, folks! Hold up, hold up! Clearly, Mr. Ozella is the victim of sabotage tonight. He is being forced to say the opposite of what is true."
The audience quiets down slightly, some turning to look at Griselda dubiously.
"Frank Ozella represents the people of Oz." Griselda puts an arm around my father, who stares at her dumbfounded, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. "Just the other day, Frank visited the homes of the young families affected by the fires at Gardner's Factory."
Griselda turns to my father, nodding as she motions toward the microphone. My father nods and steps up to the mic, licking his lips nervously as he looks out at the audience.
"She's the one who set those fires." He turns to Griselda in horror and clamps his hand over his mouth.
"What?" Griselda screeches, reeling back and shaking her head frantically. "I don't know what he's talking about."
"She said we needed to garner the votes of the Quadlings, and constructing an opportunity for me to console victims was essential." Father gasps for breath, his eyes as big as saucers as the truth spills from him like a broken faucet.
"You fucking idiot!" Griselda yells.
"Guards!" Jareth Merlin calls, summoning the authorities.
Griselda laughs maniacally. "You can't arrest me. I haven't done anything!"
"As the current mayor of Emerald City, I am well within my rights to detain persons of interest in crimes against this land." Jareth Merlin glares at Griselda, who eyes the guards wildly. "Get them!"
Griselda pulls a wand from her jacket, flicking it to the stands and setting off small explosions that send the crowd running.When the guards approach the stage, Griselda gives them a flirty little wave, then opens a portal beneath her feet and disappears through the floor.
"Wait for me!" my father screams after Griselda, holding his hands up in surrender as he backs away from the guards closing in on him.
