Author's Note: I've been rewriting this for at least a month and I'm 35 chapters in. It follows the same storyline, somewhat, but I changed certain things and I changed the order things happened. I rewrote parts that I felt needed to be reworked. I don't know why I feel the need to rewrite everything, but I've known this would be the next one for quite some time. I apologize for not finishing other stories and all that (I'm working on A New Philosophy, just a little stuck, but I do have a plan).

Prologue

Frexspar sat at their meager table with his pen in hand while his pregnant wife lounged on a worn couch. The pen swung back and forth between his fingers as he considered his words and he groaned, throwing the pen onto the table. "I don't know how to do this. How in Oz do we get them to agree to marry their son to our disfigured sin of a daughter?"

Melena shrugged and said simply, "They don't know she's green. Why should they have to know?"

Frex smiled at his wife. "You're good."

"Look," Melena heaved her body up and ambled over to her husband. "We need to do something about the child. No one is going to marry her and I certainly don't wish to be stuck with her. Make sure when you write this that you stress that she is supposed to become Eminent Thropp. The East and the West joining together. It'd be quite a lot of power. She could actually do us some good."

The child they spoke about sat on the ground only feet away with them, staring at them silently, her green skin glowing in the light of the sun. She cocked her head at them and smiled.

"See? Even she thinks it's a good idea." Melena laughed.

Mail was slow in Oz, especially when it had to go all the way out to the Vinkus. Frex and Melena didn't hear back for at least another month, but they knew the letter the moment it arrived. The parchment was thick and smelled foreign.

Melena could hardly contain her glee. "So are we to be rid of this parasite upon her eighteenth birthday?"

"They're sending their son, Fiyero, to Shiz when he reaches eighteen. However, they said there'd be time for a wedding before he leaves. She could even join him there, now that Shiz is accepting women."

And so the deed was done.

Chapter 1

Elphaba sighed and watched the terrain go by as she sat in a small train car with Nanny. There was still time to escape, she told herself, to disappear. Despite her distinct appearance, she was sure there must be places where she wouldn't be found. She'd thought that for years, of course, since she'd first been told she'd been promised to some stranger. Yet she still sat here.

And she knew why. Her father would never send her to school. He didn't care about her education and he could often be heard bemoaning the sin that was men and women going to school together. This was her only chance to learn, to deepen the knowledge she'd gained so eagerly as she'd grown.

But she didn't know this man and she was expected to marry him without changing that fact. And if she ran away, she wouldn't get much of an education, at least not the kind of education she longed for. Still, she wondered, was it worth this? What if he was terrible and cruel? She supposed she could always run later on.

"Fabala," her Nanny sighed heavily, "I hoped your mother would be here for this day."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows. It had been a long time since anyone in the family had even dared to mention Melena. She still remembered the look on her father's face the last time the subject had been brought up. "Why? So she could finally get rid of me?"

The old woman swatted at her. "Don't say such things. No, Elphaba, there's a talk between a mother and daughter that goes on before the night of a young woman's wedding and she's not here to have it with you. I can't trust your father to speak with you, so it's left to me."

"Nanny, I know how this works." This was not a conversation she wanted to have with anyone, especially her Nanny.

"I realize you know that. But you need to understand something. This is an expectation of marriage. You can't try to put this off. Assuming you are still a virgin," Nanny gave her a look and Elphaba nodded, "you will bleed. Out there, they use the sheets to display that to the village, show that their prince has become a man and that his bride was pure."

She cringed and thought about running away again.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, dearie. But you need to be prepared for this."

Displaying the blood was an ancient practice, one that Munchkinland no longer took part in. She was already displeased with her new husband and she hadn't even met him.

"Let me put it this way, if your virginity is in doubt the morning after your wedding, you could be stoned to death."

"Nanny, I get it. I understand. Please stop this."

"I don't think you do. You need to obey this young man. Whatever he does to you, whether you like it or not, you don't stop him. Elphaba, you're a very outspoken woman. You can't be in that bedroom tonight, maybe not ever."

She didn't respond and simply hoped the subject would be dropped. Elphaba was aware of what was expected to her, even if she wasn't exactly excited at the prospect. And luckily, for the rest of the ride, Nanny didn't say a word.

When she walked into the front hall of Kiamo Ko, her new husband and his parents stood there to greet her. She'd known that Vinkuns had dark skin, but she hadn't been aware of just how dark, how lovely until that moment. And the diamonds on his cheeks, on his neck. They were bright and beautiful. Then she realized he, too, was staring at her. It occurred to her that maybe he hadn't been forewarned of her skin tone. From the look on his parents' faces, it seemed as though they hadn't either. Of course, that was the only way her parents had gotten anyone to agree to this.

The young man was taller than her by a head and she was one of the taller girls in her classroom back home. She felt her eyes tracing the markings on his skin again and she looked quickly to the ground, ashamed of her sudden curiosity.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the young man walked towards her and took her hand, bowing to her. "I'm Fiyero," he said quietly. "You must be Elphaba."

"That would be me," she answered, feeling shy.

"Well," Fiyero's mother broke the tension by clapping her hands, "now that they're introduced, why don't you two retire to the living room and talk for a few minutes before we prepare you two for the ceremony?" She ushered them into a room with several old but elegant couches.

The young man sat on a couch and patted beside him. She sat as far away from him as she could. Making sure no one else could hear them, she said, "I hope you understand I'm only doing this because I have to, and because it means I go to Shiz."

He seemed taken aback at that. Perhaps women were not usually that bold here in the Vinkus. "I-I-I'm sorry," he stammered.

She was shocked at that response and cocked her head at him. Maybe that had been a bit rude. "I was just… I don't know you. Why else would I do this?"

"I understand. Maybe, though, in time, we could get to know one another better?" He scooted closer to her and placed a hand on hers.

She shrugged, ignoring the urge to withdraw her hand by reminding herself what her Nanny had told her. "Anything can happen."

"I, too, am excited to go to Shiz." He told her. "What are you going to study, Elphaba?"

"I haven't quite decided yet. But I'll figure it out when I get there and have sampled a few classes. What about you?"

"Economics and political science. Father said it would be good for me, would help me learn the goings-on of our kingdom from a different standpoint."

"Is that what you want, though?" A little curiosity was natural, wasn't it? She was going to be stuck with the young man for the rest of her life.

"Well, I'm simply glad to be studying anything."

She almost smiled at that. "You enjoy school?"

"I like learning. Sometimes that doesn't necessarily mean school."

"That's true." She remembered all the time spent alone in her room, reading. "I enjoy learning, as well."

"It's nice to know we have something in common," he smiled at her.

Elphaba looked away. Nanny's words continued to echo in her throat. Maybe, given what she knew they had to do, it was best she not get too close to him. She could tell the young man wanted to continue their conversation, but she stood up quickly. "I've been traveling for a long time. I need to move around a little. Shall we go and see how are families are getting on?"

He seemed disappointed. "Yes, that's a good idea." He held out his arm for her to take.

She didn't take it and kept her eyes focused on the ground before her. Though she didn't understand why, she didn't like seeing the young man looking hurt.