Perfunctory Disclaimer- I don't own any of the people or places except the ones I create.

These Enchanted Years

Chapter One- The Dust Settles: One Year Later

One year later, Glinda still found herself sifting through reams of her grandmother's diaries, kept over the many years that she'd been the Good Witch of the North. Since Ardell's untimely death had been announced, Glinda had moved into the Good Witch's Palace, and assumed all of the day to day responsibilities of her new position. There wasn't much time for reading, but she tried to find a little every day. It helped her feel connected with her grandmother's spirit, and also helped her perform her duties better. At least she hoped.

The Northern Quadrant had recognized a week long mourning period for Ardell, but people from all over Oz had come to pay their respects. Shortly after the announcement, Landa, the Good Witch of the East, had tearfully stepped down from her position, stating stress and grief had overcome her. In reality, everyone knew she was stepping down because she would be impeached if she didn't. The Good Witch's Tiara was then given over to her eldest daughter, Lile. Landa was now living a comfortable life in the Witch's House In Waiting in the East, but also traveling to the West from time to time to help her younger daughter, Mira establish a House In Waiting there. (Most likely so she'd have a nice place to stay and make a pest of herself…but in all honesty, future generations of Mira's progeny should have a House In Waiting, should Mira ever be so lucky to have progeny. Many supposed Landa's trips to the West were also designed to help Mira find a husband, which might prove difficult, given her unfortunate skin condition!)

Meanwhile, Glinda's brothers, with the exception of Gandy, stayed at the Northern House In Waiting, as was the custom for all unmarried adult children. Gandy, of course, still attended Broden Boy's Academy, and split his summer breaks between father's home in the country, and the House In Waiting. He would also visit Glinda at the palace, but since she was often busy now, his visits were brief. Orrie visited Glinda too, but he had returned to the Royal Regiment, and was back in service on the trail of Mombi….

Who still was at large.

There wasn't much time for Glinda to entertain thoughts as to what Mombi could be doing from one moment to the next, although it was always at the back of her mind. Not to mention, the chief of security acted as a personal advisor. His name was Captain Hibbs, and he was a swarthy, intimidating looking man, until one got to know him. His uniform was starting to gap at the buttons around the waist, so he was often disguising this fact by adjusting his rank sash around his middle to hide it. By now, he was getting up there, though his exact age was hard to guess. The cap he wore hid most of his hair, but what stuck out below was curling and nearly snow white. He'd been in service to Grandma Ardell almost her whole time as Goodie of the North, so Glinda knew he was at least in his late fifties, but likely older.

Once the last of the children had gone off to school, Nanny Ma had gone into service working for Grandma Ardell. She was also getting old, but was nowhere near decrepit. Nanny Ma worked now as the Royal Suite Handmaiden's Supervisor. This meant she did no hard work herself, but merely made up the task lists for the maids in service to Glinda's bedroom, and oversaw their duties. This had been her title under Ardell, also. Though it didn't sound demanding, there were at least seven maids under Nanny Ma's watch, and they did everything from change bed sheets and make the bed, dust, take down and clean the draperies, beat the rugs, straighten pictures, collect dirty laundry, put away clean laundry, sweep and polish the floors, knock down cobwebs, and scrub the windows. It was Nanny Ma's job to know what needed to be done when, assign the maids to the tasks, and supervise their work. And, now, because she had also helped with manners lessons so long ago, Nanny Ma found time to act as personal wardrobe advisor to the new Goodie of the North. Having one of Cambria's children under her wing again was giving her a new lease on life, even if this child was now a fully grown woman with adult responsibilities. For her part, Glinda did not chafe. It felt like the old days, and it was almost as though Grandma had left this little touch around to remind her of her presence. Though she still had enough tomboy in her to feel uncomfortable in frilly dresses, she remembered the grace and poise of Queen Ozma, and knew why she needed to present herself in such a way to the public. Still, she missed the days at Brisbe of wearing uniforms. No muss, no fuss, no worries. One always knew what to wear. Her uniforms had all been left behind to recycle for incoming students, of course. Privately, when she did not show herself to the public and was not expecting visitors, Glinda kept true to a version of her tomboy roots, and wore the shortest skirts she could get away with, that had the loosest, most non confining waistline. On her feet were shoes that had no heel and did not pinch. Of course, she had to have such dresses (or spell - smocks, as she called them), commissioned for her, explaining that often, practicing magic could get messy, and she had no desire to ruin good dresses.

Practicing her magic was one thing she made certain she found time to do. Thanks to a few tricks learned from Queen Jawellyn of Narnia, the mother of Jadis, her best friend from her school days at Brisbe, Glinda had learned many tricks to help simplify some of the most complicated spells. Queen Jawellyn must have been a talented witch indeed, for many of her tricks did not exist in her grandmother's spell books…yet they worked none the less! It made her ache inside when she thought of Queen Jawellyn's eventual fate, and she still wondered about her friend, Jadis. Two and a half years had passed, now, and still, no word from her.

At least Glinda needn't worry about her friend Tambra. In fact, most of her information about the happenings in the East came not from her Security Advisor, Captain Hibbs, but from Tambra. Always up on her gossip, Tambra wrote regular letters to Glinda, telling her the latest in all things 'Landa', and all things 'Lile', so that she should be aware of any and all political shiftings. Of course, Tambra served a very important function now, and both were aware of this by now. Socially, Tambra had distanced herself from Glinda over the past year, and lived in her parent's home. She kept a modest profile working as a file clerk for her father, and using her spell-casting talents to exorcize the occasional demon from a child, cleanse a house, cast a love potion, or make a field fertile. She had become the poster child of loyal Eastern citizenship. Since Lile occasionally required the participation of any and all witches in the vicinity of the East for certain ceremonies, this gave Tambra the opportunity to observe her up close, and report back to Glinda all of Lile's particulars during these ceremonies. Now that Lile was beginning to trust Tambra a bit more, it was easier for her to gather information. Unfortunately, there hadn't been many opportunities, as of yet, for Tambra to observe Lile.

If there was anything she did know from Tambra's letters, it was that the spite Lile carried towards her sister Mira was far from finished. And, she suspected that Mira was equally as spiteful, which worried her just as badly. In order to keep in contact with Mira, who was stationed so far away, Glinda now had a glass globe, just like the one Mira had been given at Lile's commencement party. Now, in order to speak to her, she just had to concentrate, peer into the glass, and if Mira was in a receptive mood, her image would appear, and the two could converse. Glinda had learned awhile back that it was simply better not to mention Lile's name if one wanted to continue any sort of conversation with Mira. Each time they spoke, Glinda noticed how thin she was beginning to look; almost like that half starved eleven year old she'd been when she'd first come to Brisbe. Her clothing looked drab and plain and her eyes were dull and listless. Mira was obviously not happy or content. Glinda wondered if it was a curse that Lile had enacted, or if things were really that miserable and dreary in the West. The only time Mira looked visibly cheered was when Glinda offered to send some books her way.

The last year had taught Glinda some things about her grandmother's life in a considerably short time. In the past, she had felt that her grandmother had meddled in her affairs a bit too frequently, and was awfully controlling. Now, she could appreciate some of what drove that. Ultimately, she suspected that Ardell was lonely. Though her days were usually busy, and many of her evenings too, often they were superficial, social engagements that left her feeling unfulfilled in a personal way. Of course, Glinda's profession mattered to her; she'd been brought up to know that being the Good Witch of the North was to be her vocation…her life's calling. However, she had little time to spend with her family and friends. Their lives were busy, too. Not to mention, almost everyone treated her a little differently. Even her own father regarded her with a sort of formality. The only people that treated her the same way were Grimmz and Orrie, unless, of course, they were in public. So, perhaps there was a melancholy look in Glinda's own reflection these days when she spoke to Mira. She didn't suppose so.

Each day, she thought about the blessings in her life. Most of her family was alive and well. She had dear friends, and most of them were doing fine. Tavvia, she had learned, was engaged, and would be getting married the following year. She was also accepting a teaching position at Brisbe, but would not be living on site. (Several of the teachers did not live at the school). She would commute to the school each day from the Emerald City. Her husband to be was an instructor at Broden. According to Tavvia, her fiancé was a family friend who took an avid interest in her when he was invited to her commencement party, and saw her for the first time as a young woman. Also, Tavvia informed Glinda that Kyndie, the youngest of their friends, was now a Last Year student. For a moment, Glinda closed her eyes and imagined being in Kyndie's place. Had the Last Year been the best? No, honestly, it had been the year before, because that's the year she'd come to know each and every one of her friends, even if Lile had been there part of the year. She'd even met Orrie at the end of the year, just before the start of her Final Year…if that counted!

And, she knew that she may be lonely now, but somehow, somewhere, she was still expected to have a life. Oh, yes, Glinda didn't know just how she'd manage it, with all of the charity luncheons, field blessings, mayor's meetings, curse liftings, potion mixings, omen interpretations, water augurings, star chart readings and baby birth forcasts she was supposed to do, not to mention the daily meetings with her Captain of the Guard, weekly Town Council meetings and monthly County Seat meetings she was expected to attend….in addition to a bevy of speeches at schools, ladies groups and local Witch's Society Meetings around the Northern Quadrant. And, like in the Eastern Quadrant, she would also hold the traditional Witch's Ceremony for the witches in the Northern Quadrant in the Sacred Grove at the harvest moon. It was dizzying, and if there was one truly self indulgent luxury Glinda appreciated at the palace that she never had anywhere else, it was the fully appointed, step down bath tub to relax in after a long, hard day.

Especially after a life of fifteen minute baths and seven minute showers, at first, the palace bath chamber seemed extraordinarily indulgent. A bath maid to bring towels in to her and to pour scented oils into her bath water seemed absolutely unnecessary! But, after a few times, she quickly got over her qualms, especially when she dozed off in the tub, and didn't even notice the maid's comings and goings. There was always a fresh, clean robe and a pair of slippers ready for her when she exited the bath, too. Another attendant was ready to towel her hair dry, and to comb and detangle it. And, finally, she would be served up a cup of steaming berry tea with milk and honey and a nip of brandy; Nanny Ma's recipe to help drowse her for bed.

While sipping her tea, she would sit in bed, usually wrapped up in one of her two preferred robes. One was a simple pink one given as a gift to her from Grandma Ardell, when she'd finally gotten the inkling that simple was Glinda's preferred taste. The second was a rather secret gift from Orrie, who'd gotten it for her from the Emerald City. Of course, it was green…Emerald green, in fact, with a spring-like print of birds and flowers woven in it with gold thread. During this time, she would read her grandmother's diaries until she grew sleepy…or sometimes, she would just think about that life that she could have someday. Usually those thoughts seemed to drift towards Orrie, and what he could be doing at that exact moment. Thoughts like that frightened her, as she knew he faced danger, on the prowl for Mombi and her supporters. Still, she couldn't help thinking about his smile, his sweet blond curls, and the first time they'd danced….

And so, the new Good Witch of the North fell asleep with lightly brandied tea on her breath, alone in a great big bed, with her royal soldier on her mind, waltzing with her in her dreams.