Hello! Happy 2014! This is in Fiyero's POV.
Alright, so a couple things:
1. This is a widely distorted story with inspiration from Kleisthenes of Sikyon. If you have time, I'd suggest reading about his competition, specifically the part about Hippokleides. So fucking hilarious.
2. I've used the Navajo language as the Arjiki language in this fic. All my sources are from the an online dictionary/translator, so if you see anything wrong, let me know! And for the sake of reader pronounciation, I've refrained from adding in all the accent marks, so hopefully that'll help.
Disclaimer: Baako, Takoda, Goose, and Hellfire are from the odd dimensions of my mind. Everything else has already been claimed.
Enjoy!
Having grown up as a member of the ruling family of the ruling tribe of the Vinkus, I had grown to expect a certain standard in life. The Vinkus wasn't the most advanced of territories. We didn't have the shiny whatchamacallits that everyone in the Emerald City couldn't live without. We didn't have the quick whodunits that the Quadlings were working on perfecting. We didn't even that the large whoevenfuckingcares that the Munchkins swore by. I liked to think we were a peaceful people. Vinkuns didn't need all this weird technology to make our living. Vinkuns weren't in this living to work rat race the rest of Oz was in. Vinkuns worked as much as we needed to survive, and then we enjoyed they life that was not just passing us by. The Vinkus was it, and I really couldn't think of a better place to call home. I didn't want to call another place home. Being a member of the ruling family of the ruling tribe in the Vinkus does not afford me the luxury of getting things I really want, though.
Yes, everything I ever wanted was usually handed to me. And if it wasn't handed to me, it was usually placed somewhere where I could easily reach. Those were material things, though. Things that came and went with each passing season. Those were things that had nothing to do with the diplomacy and the politics that go along with being a royal. So while I got any luxury I ever wanted, it was really only cushioning the blows that would come later in life. We were never taught in Royalty 101 about the dirty, sexy politics behind being part of the ruling family of the ruling tribe of the Vinkus. You pick up on things like that, though. Even at a really young age. I was allowed to have that purebred stallion, but a week later I would be forced into uncomfortable clothes ad paraded around at a banquet, used for show and tell. Or we see it through the stories of our family. Four can have any bed partner she desires, but her hand is still unbound, because Three still can't get over her fear of commitment. The luxuries of being a royal were numerous and wonderful, but the politics were just as rough and dirty as sex at cheap tavern in a shady part of the City.
Politics were what brought me to the heart of Munchkinland, though. Sitting in a carriage with my brother on our way down a road made of yellow bricks. Gold bricks, actually, don't let the propaganda fool you. It was a long journey. A whole week stuck in here with only a couple hours a day to get out and stretch legs, crack backs, and really just collapse on the ground in a heaping mess. A whole week to travel to a city that made me want to turn right back around and endure the journey just to get home. I prayed that my biggest enemy never had to smell the smell of whatever the Munchkins use to fertilize their crops. A whole fucking week. And why? Why were we being subjected to this legal torture that was stamped with politics? A union. A union between provinces that would be mutually fucking beneficial for both. And being a single, unwed, unbetrothed member of the ruling family of the ruling tribe of the Vinkus, I was expected to throw my name into the running. I was forced to throw my name into the running.
So we were in Munchkinland.
I could probably get out of it if I threw myself from the moving carriage. I could put myself in a coma. At least.
The carriage careened to a stop, though, sending things that were next to me tumbling to the floor.
It was a good idea. A wasted idea now. But it was a better idea than this whole competition to begin with. Yes, that's right, we were here to compete for the hand of the future governor of Munchkinland. It was silly, really. She couldn't have been that hideous that no one would want to marry her. Though it very well could have been the isolationist approach the Governor currently took with his children. The most information anyone outside of their house knew about the family was most rumor and speculation. I heard that one of the kids was allergic to water. That's right. Water. So intrigue played a very big role in aiding my ease to participate. The titles and riches that came in addition to the marriage was a very big added bonus. I could get over the title of the husband of the Governor of Munchkinland, because one of the tavern patrons back at home said that she was also in line for Eminent Thropp once her grandfather kicked the bucket. Being Eminence overruled being Governor, but being both was an ultimate power source. I could be a trophy husband for that.
"I don't even know her name," I mumbled as Takoda ruffled his hair.
"You were supposed to read the packet the Governor sent over."
"I had better things to do with my time."
"I'd hardly consider binge drinking a better thing to do."
"Welcome to Munchkinland!" A tiny man squeaked, scaring the piss out of Takoda, as soon as the carriage door was thrown open. I glanced at my brother when the Munchkin extended his hand out towards us. Was I supposed to shake that thing? He probably just came in from milking a pig or something. Takoda took the offered hand, though, "We're very glad you arrived in one piece," so I had to follow.
Takoda let out a low whistle as we stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the place we would be staying for the next Oz knows how long. It was nowhere near the size of Kiamo Ko, but it could probably rival the size of our place down outside of Kvon Altar. What did such small stature people need with such a grand mansion (because it was by no means a castle) anyway?
Bfee, the tiny man with the squeaky voice, led us up the front walk to the porch (which he informed us was a wrap around). The grand columns that held the structure had some type of plant with pretty blue buds crawling down them. When I went to touch one of the buds, it started hissing and rattling, so I stuffed my hands in my pockets and just stared at them as we walked. The front door was stained glass, a mix of various shades of blue, and was about as thick as my arm.
"This is amazing," Takoda told Bfee as we entered the foyer. It had a sleek marble floor that lead to an even sleeker marble staircase that split off in two directions on the second level and wrapped around all the way to the front to serve as a place where one could look out on the front lawn. It was amazing. "Is it all original?"
"Hardly." Bfee chuckled and continued past the second floor up the the third. "There are photographs of the original in our archives and descriptions in the library. The governor before Frexspar had the entire place remodeled before he died. The Thropps are the first family to live in the newly renovated house."
Takoda made a noise in the back of his throat, and we continued on in silence until Bfee brought us to two of the last rooms on in the wing to the left of the staircase.
"This is you two." He handed each of us a key and opened our door with one of his own.
The room was rather small in comparison to the grandeur of the rest of the house.
"Dinner will be at sundown. You'll be dining with the rest of the competitors, the girls' tutor, Master Shell, and several select staff of the house. Of course, if you would life, you're more than welcome to meet the others before dinner. There is a room joined to your bathroom, and that houses the two from Quadling Country, the room across the hall has two from the City, and the room next to theirs is the two from the Gillikin. You'll each get an itinerary for the following day after dinnertime. After dinner tonight, though, you will all meet with the family then get your itineraries. Sound good?"
"Do we get a map of the mansion or something?" I was only half joking.
Bfee chuckled and told me that wandering around wasn't not permitted.
Takoda took to mingling with the other people we would be competing against, but I decided to wander. I didn't get much farther than the second floor, though. Now, I wasn't the biggest fan of libraries of any sorts, but the second I opened the door on the second floor, I knew I wasn't going to leave. There were books everywhere. Well, obviously. But I mean floor to ceiling bookcases that lined the walls. The entire far wall, though, was all windows, letting the setting sun pour into the room. It was carpeted with a fine white fabric, but the sunlight pouring in gave it a stained effect that made it look like it was on fire. In the middle of the room was a large coffee table surrounded by couches that matched the color of the cases. The library at Kiamo Ko was impressive, and it didn't even hold a candle to this. Three would faint if she even read about something as great as this.
I wasn't alone in the room, though. Sat on one of the other couches with her legs kicked up on a stack of books that were on the coffee table was a girl. A green girl. A green girl reading a room, looking at me over the rim over her glasses. Her hair was done in a messy braid, the end of which had fell from its place in her mouth when I walked in. A book was balancing on her legs, flipped towards the end. She had a couple pieces of parchment next to her and a bottle of red ink sitting precariously on her other side. I gave her a quick grin and bow. She had to be the girls' tutor. They didn't make tutors like her in the Vinkus. I would learn a new subject if we could hire her.
"It is alright if I wander in here?" I asked the green girl, keeping my hand on the door.
"Are you lost?"
"I'm wandering," I told her.
"Are you a competitor?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
She made a humming noise and went back to the book in front of her.
"Are you always this cool to people?"
She shot me an even colder look.
I smirked at her, "So the competition has you less than enthusiastic?"
"It's just an excuse to watch suitors fawn over Nessarose like she's their ticket to success," she bit. I raised my eyebrows. Nessarose. It was a rather unique name. "What?" the tutor snapped as I mulled over the name.
I fumbled for something to say. I should have read the packet. "It can't be all that bad. Miss Nessarose marrying will allow her younger sister to marry, too. Back at home Four is still stuck as a spinster, because Three just can't commit. If all this was happening for her, Three would have to go through or cause a great embarrassment on the crown." The tutor looked at me like I was missing a few cards in my deck. I was babbling. "They fight all the time," I added.
"So you're from the Vinkus then?"
"Fiyero Tiggular," I smiled at her as I gave a slight bow before moving to one of the book displays that lined the back of each couch.
"Prince Fiyero?"
I grinned.
"Elphaba," she supplied. I heard the papers rustling as she moved parchments and books aside. She was at my side in another instant. She smelt sweet. Like some exotic fruit. I supposed it matched her skin. Or maybe it was her skin. I clenched my jaw as the image of testing the thought popped into my head. "So are you not here to really compete then?" She asked as she thumbed through a few titles.
"What makes you say that?"
"Call it a hunch."
I shrugged. "I contemplated putting myself into a coma to get out of this," I told her and she chuckled. I leaned against the bookcase, blocking her from moving any further. "Though, now I must admit, I'm rather glad I stuck it out."
She rolled her eyes at me and slapped a book against my chest. "I have to go. Enjoy the selection. It's the most up-to-date record of ruling families and their policies in Munchkinland."
I took the book back up to my room and tossed it in the mess of my luggage, leaving it for another never.
The house's dining room was just as impressive as the entryway. The floors were a dark wood, but the walls were a light purple that were decorated with a darker paint. When I touched the darker color, it shot up towards the ceiling, the design growing more intricate. They were corn stalks. I stopped, gaping at the effect. The competitor behind me, one from Quadling Country, came to my side and mumbled under his breath as we watched the corn stalks slowly go back to the height they had been before I touched one.
"I heard one of them is a witch." It was a relief to hear that this Quadling was capable of intelligible speech. When my father took me and my brothers on hunts years and years ago, we would come across Quadlings who spoke in a way that I couldn't even mimic. "I hadn't really believed it, but…" he trailed off, and I nodded.
"Maybe the former governor was a sorcerer." My aunts would croak if they learned anyone in the household was a witch. They were terrified of magic after that gypsy a few months ago.
"Goose," he held out his arm.
I grasped it with a smile, "Fiyero."
Dinner was uneventful. It was mostly just everyone poking at their food while throwing glances at one another, trying to size up the competition. I could see Takoda cataloging the way everyone interacted with one another, but I was also not blind to the looks he was throwing the Goat and man next to him. I didn't really know what the looks meant, but his eyes never wandered too far from the pair of them. He fumbled with his fork every time the man next to the Goat caught his stare. It was funny the first time, but turned pathetic the next two times. After the third time, Takoda gave up and just stared into his bowl of…I don't even know what goop they served us. It tasted like corn. I supposed everything in Munchkinland probably tasted of corn.
I had to admit that I was disappointed that the girls' tutor wasn't present when the appetizer and first course came and went. I figured she was just running late. She didn't strike me as the type to run on anyone's schedule but hers. So I made conversation with Goose as I stared at the door, partially hoping she would at least make it by the end of dessert. I only half listened to the Quadling as he prattled on about the weather in Munchkinland being a nice change from that of Quadling Country. I made a comment about how any weather must be nicer than the weather in Quadling Country, and he responded by asking if I left the Vinkus during the winter.
I pursed my lips and nodded, "Fair enough."
We were introduced to people at the table at the end of all the courses. Another reason I preferred the Vinkus. We made our introductions before people were expected to mingle.
The two from Quadling Country were Goose and Hellfire. Goose was the son of the Grand Countess, a women who had clawed her way to the top in a matter of two years. Hellfire was some Baron's son. He had a scar that stretched across his right cheek, and Goose muttered something about his father having a heart as cruel as his politics.
The two from the Gillikin were unimportant. They were introduced first, and I hadn't cared enough to tune in to what was being said. Takoda could tell me later.
Crope and Tibbett were the two from the Emerald City. I couldn't not look as they were being introduced. The way they were dressed made me feel as if I was here for some sort of show and not a competition. I was endlessly amused. We didn't have many as flamboyant as them in the Vinkus. I wondered how much time they took to do their hair, because I don't think my aunts spent that much time in the bathroom in a week's time.
There were no competitors from Munchkinland. Which, though odd, made a little sense, I guess. I figured the Governor was trying to strengthen ties with other provinces by marrying off his daughter, so having a suitor from Munchkinland wouldn't really do that. We were introduced to those from the Munchkinland, though. Bfee, obviously. Nanny, an old coot and the girls' mother's nanny, had been sitting between Crope and Tibbett. She was old as dust. Two people of unidentifiable gender were sitting next to Hellfire. I didn't catch their names, but they would be the people to make sure our needs were tended to. The man who Takoda had been staring at was Master Shell, the Governor's only son and girls' youngest brother. The Goat, though, the Goat was the girls' tutor.
"Have you seen anything or anyone strange since being here?" I asked Goose as we followed the procession out of the dining room.
"This whole place is strange." He laughed. "I haven't seen one picture since being here. At my home we have pictures everywhere. It gives it a homey feel, and they don't have it here. I feel like I'm in a finely decorated prison."
"I met a girl-"
"You don't want a Munchkin."
"She was taller than your average Munchkin."
"Aren't you here to compete?"
"Are you?"
"Munchkinland's power and influence would greatly benefit my homeland." I almost laughed at him. You knew you weren't well off when Munchkinland, of all places, was beneficial to your economy.
"Well, then best of luck to you, shik'is [friend]."
Miss Nessarose was beautiful. She and her father were smiling at each other in the parlor when we walked in. She had sleek brown hair that was held back and out of her face by a simple headband. Her face was pale and highlighted by a light pink blush, though I think that may not have been from makeup. By all appearances, from her hair to her clothes, she was beautiful. What had me gawking, though, was the wheelchair she was situated in. I really should have read that packet, because I seemed to be the only one thrown off by it. So I watched the way the light caught the blue gem on her brooch instead of the fact that she was in a wheelchair. I really should have read the packet. I'm sure it was mentioned.
"She wouldn't be a bad woman to be married to." Goose whispered as Miss Nessarose wheeled herself to face us.
Master Shell plopped down into the armchair Miss Nessarose was next to. He grimaced at all of us. I wondered if he was just as opposed to the competition as Elphaba was. Elphaba, who was still a mystery to me seeing as she wasn't the tutor.
"The eight of you were handpicked…"
I met the Governor once when I was really little. I think I had just reached the age where I could actually start tutoring, because I remember him asking me if I was learning all the things I ought to be learning. I'm pretty sure I told him I already knew how to wipe my own butt, or something equally as inappropriate, because I wasn't allowed to mingle with the rest of the guests for the rest of the evening after talking to him. My older brother Baako told me I had been lucky that the Governor even talked to me, because it was one of the last banquets the man ever went to.
The Governor's wife died around that time. It was one of those situations that had been an unseen huge deal. Melon, I think that was her name, was hardly the most respected government official Oz had to offer, but everyone loved her. The women of Oz loved her beauty and kindness; and the men of Oz (as I had heard whispered countless times) loved her open door policy. If you catch my drift. She really hadn't done much for Munchkinland, not nearly as much as her husband, but she was so lovely and so social with everyone, that it was like a punch to the groin when she passed. Obviously she no longer came to banquets, and the Governor followed suit. When she died, Munchkinland secluded itself from the rest of Oz.
My parents always had the worst luck trading with the land of corn and cows. I remember there was a year when the entire royal court was fretting about what we would do when winter showed, because the Governor of Munchkinland had jacked up the prices for corn. It was a rough winter for the Vinkus. Several people were executed for smuggling what they could out of Munchkinland into the Vinkus. After that winter, my parents hired help from Ugabu to teach Vinkun farmers how to make use of land that usually yielded no products. Relations between the Vinkus and Munchkinland had been strained ever since. It was also part of the reason my parents pushed me and Takoda to accept the offer we received.
"…not interested in the man with the most muscle," the governor was saying. He had made a sharp motion with his hand that caught my attention. "How strong you are is of no importance to Nessa and the future of Munchkinland."
Crope and Tibbett nudged each other lightly in what looked like relief. The Emerald City required all of its residents to enlist in the Gale Force for two years. I was going to go out on a limb and assume that the two of them didn't quite take their military training seriously. The Vinkus didn't require anyone to enlist with their tribe's braves. We didn't have to. Most of us were more than happy to serve time. Baako had put five years in for the Arjiki, and the norm was merely a year. He spent all five years on the border of Ugabu, serving with the common Vinkuns and refusing special treatment. It was admirable, really.
"Eight sapphires have been hidden around the city," the Governor moved over towards the table between us and them, "all encased in a case like this." He unlatched it, and the gem inside matched the one on Miss Nessarose's brooch, though significantly larger. "Each sapphire belongs to the official sash that is to be worn at proceedings and other widely important events."
He just left eight sapphires around the city? Eight expensive sapphires? I could feed the Vinkus for a decade with one of those babies.
"You have one month to collect all eight of them."
Hellfire shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What if someone has already found a sapphire?"
"Then you need to find a way to make it yours and be careful no one is trying to take yours." The Governor looked down at his nose at all of us. "They are hidden in places that hold significance for my Nessa." He put a hand on Miss Nessarose's shoulder, and she smiled up at him.
I looked around at everyone. Really? He brought us here on some sort of treasure hunt and the prize was his lame daughter? I would rather be stuck in rifle fight, only equipped with a dagger.
.
I didn't go out of my way to look for the sapphires. The first two days I wandered around the mansion, looking for the archives but failing to find them. The next two days I just watched people in the town square. The Governor's family was a rare breed. They were much taller than the rest of the population. There were some who were taller than your average Munchkin, but the Thropps must have crossbred with someone from another province. Aside from the height difference, the Thropps were somewhat colder than the rest of the Munchkins. It may have been their position in society, but I highly doubted that. The Munchkins who passed by, or that I witnessed from afar, were just genuinely happy people. They were always smiling. And if they looked like their day was less than great, they were always trying to do something that would cheer them or someone around them up. It was interesting.
On my sixth day in Munchkinland, I found one of the chests. The path I normally took to the square was crowded from one of the merchants' crates falling, so I veered another way. The gleam of something in the sunlight caught my eye, and I moved towards it out of curiosity. It was shoved carefully under the steps that led to a small building. Glancing around, I took out the chest and buried it in my satchel. Finding it didn't even make me feel special. It was just like picking up something off the side of the road. I decided to deal with it with Takoda later that night. He'd know what to do. He always knew what to do.
"I pegged you as the type to like excitement," Elphaba said as she sat down next to me a couple hours later. I looked up from my book and grinned at her.
She was always in the library when I found myself there. Most of the time we sat in companionable silence, and other times I found out little things about her. She wore blue a lot, because she thought it looked best with her skin tone. Though, many of the people she interacted with thought she wore blue because of Munchkinland pride. She played with the end of her quill all the time, running it through her closed lips. When she thought no one was looking, she would wipe her tongue on her sleeve to rid herself of any shedding. She cackled. She sang to herself. Her favorite color was black. And her favorite place in Oz was the Emerald City, though she had never been.
"There's not much excitement here in Munchkinland," I told her, shutting the book and setting it aside. "It's just relaxing."
"There's not many people who would say that."
"I appreciate the change of pace from the Vinkus."
"A few days ago you were ready to put yourself in a coma."
"Well, Miss Elphaba, then I would never get to run into someone as lovely as you."
A sense of giddy excitement rushed through me when she bowed her head and a dark green stained her cheeks. It was the greatest thing I had seen since coming to Munchkinland. I noticed the basket she had been carrying and nodded to it.
"How is the competition?" She asked, ignoring my question.
I shrugged, acutely aware of the chest in my bag, "I'd much rather talk about you." The blush creeped up her neck.
"Do you know who I am?" She asked me bluntly, the blush leaving her skin altogether.
"No, but I would like to."
"Aren't you here to woo Miss Nessarose?"
I leaned back against the bench and stared out across the square at all the Munchkins. "If Miss Nessarose and I are meant to be together, things will work out. If not, I'm not going to go out of my way to win a competition where I'll just be stuck in an unhappy marriage for the rest of my life." Elphaba hummed. A Munchkin couple passed us and smiled brightly at Elphaba.
I quirked an eyebrow at her.
"They're teachers at the schoolhouse," she explained after stumbling over her words. "My, uhm, another and I go up to spend time with the children and help when needed. It's fulfilling."
"You're a saint, Miss Elphaba." I draped my arm over the back of the bench, and she didn't move.
"Hardly," she glanced at me and then away.
"You'll have to convince me otherwise."
"I suppose I will."
I smiled at her before standing up. "I enjoy evenings at the lake down yonder. The way the water catches the setting sun reminds me of the Vinkus."
"I don't really like water," she mumbled. I played with the strap of my bag awkwardly. I wasn't really sure if this was her way of letting me down or something. "But there's a field of poppies about ten minutes north of the lake. I really love poppies."
"Poppies," I repeated and received a nonchalant nod.
As the day wore on, I checked out several businesses of no importance in the area. I didn't run into anyone else until I was heading back to the mansion to steal food from the kitchen for my outing with Elphaba.
Goose was lying on his stomach in the middle of an alley as I moved around the area around the square, getting my bearings. I stopped in my tracks and looked around to see if anyone else was seeing what I was. Apparently not because no one even spared the odd Quadling a passing glance. So I watched him for a few moments to see if he would move, and he didn't. If it hadn't been for the random hiccups here and there, I would have thought him dead or unconscious. I gave him a few more moments of doing whatever it was he was doing before I let out a low call that we used in the Vinkus to draw out hidden game.
The Quadling started and knocked his elbow against the wall nearest him. He let out of a string of curses in various languages, my own language being one.
"You speak Arjiki?"
Goose rolled over and pushed himself up on his elbows, "Aoo' (yes), shik'is."
"Ya'at'eeh [that's good]," I said with a smile. Not many people knew how to speak my language outside of the Arjiki. Not even high government officials went out of their way to learn; they just expected our people to conform to their ways.
"So does Miss Nessarose," Goose told me as he stood up, "She and her sister are fluent in most of the languages Oz represents, including your native tongue."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Goose leaned against the wall, "I went to the market with them earlier in the day. They took me to their favorite baker's stand." He rubbed his stomach with a smirk. "He used to operate out of this alley."
"And you think there's a chest hidden somewhere in here?" Goose waved his hand at the grate he had been peering into. "Come on, man, she's not going to hide a sapphire in a dirty grate. What did they tell you about the baker?"
"He used to operate out of this alley," Goose repeated as he threw his arms up halfheartedly.
"What about the Baker? What did Miss Nessarose order? What did her sister order? Did they say anything about the food?"
"Oz, Fiyero." Goose shoved my shoulder lightly as he headed out of the alley. "I'm sure they didn't put that much thought into this."
"Eight of us have an entire month to find eight chests, Goose. They put that much thought into this. You have to look into every detail, no matter how small." Goose frowned as he considered me. "Unless this doesn't matter to you."
"It does!" He snapped at me and then said it again in a softer tone, "it does."
I think there was a general distrust of me on Goose's part. I mean, who aids competition like I was doing? But he caved and told me about his outing with the sisters. Having him recount the entire tale, he was right, they didn't tell him much about the baker aside from where he used to operate. Which is exactly why you'd have to be an idiot to think the baker would be the important part of the story. So I had him go back even further to the point when he first met up with them. He looked at me suspiciously, a look I was probably going to get used to getting from Goose. I thought about the chest in my satchel and thought about just giving it to him, but I couldn't just give it to someone. Goose may have been an ally of sort, but I knew next to nothing about Miss Nessarose or him. It would also most likely raise even more suspicion.
So I kept quiet about my chest as Goose talked about meeting the sisters outside of the library nearest the Governor's mansion. He said they took a winding way to get to the market and also that Miss Nessarose didn't mind the longevity of the trip, because it gave her a chance to be around the people and outside of the stuffy mansion. He said that her sister used to take her to the library all the time to read to her or to attend this small event that the Munchkins called the 'Reading Circle'. Goose asked if I thought the chest could be in the library. I shrugged. Maybe. Or somewhere along that path if they made such a show of taking him that way.
"Did she tell you're her favorite story?"
"Something about a bird and a ballet dancer." He licked his lips.
"Okay, so just go look around the part of the library that has that book, the aviary, and the theatre or something. Maybe a studio if they have one here."
Goose watched me carefully.
"Just go." I insisted. "I'll be on my way back to the mansion. Not all of us were so lucky to be fed by Munchkinland elites." I winked playfully at him, but he didn't relax. "If you don't go before sundown, it'll be harder to find."
"Hagoonee. Ahéheé [Okay. Thank you]."
I nodded and watched him until he was out of sight one way.
Elphaba was already at the poppy field when I found my way there after stealing some bread, jam, and fruits from the mansion's kitchen. One of the competitors from the Gillikin had seen me, but all he did was raise his eyebrows and turn away from me. It was surprisingly easy to do it. The kitchen was pretty much bare aside from a Munchkin leaving with a shopping list. The kitchen was relatively small, too. Pristine and what one could call state of the art, but it was only big enough to prep, cook, and clean. And that was about it. I actually think we had a bathroom in Kiamo Ko that was bigger than the kitchen in the mansion here.
"What's your family like?" Elphaba asked me as I sat down at the edge of the field where she was set up with a blanket and an unlit lantern.
"Pretty big," I grinned, lying down next to her. She had sharp features, and but the setting sun gave them a softer edge. Though, it seemed to illuminate her. She was captivating. I went on when she gave me a look that could rival the looks Three sent to Four, "my dad's sisters live with us." I shrugged.
"What are they like?"
"My dad is busy," I folded my arms behind my head and stared up at the sky as the pinks and oranges started to flee from the dark blues. "He acts as the counsel for the Vinkus in the Emerald City, so he spends a lot of time there working. Since summers and springs are good seasons at home, that's normally when he's home. Otherwise he's in the City."
"You have long winters in the Vinkus, don't you?"
His absences drove my mother crazy. It drove everyone crazy; especially the gossip wheel. There was always some sort of rumor that King Marillot has another stain in his sheets. My mother never fails to hear about each rumor. How can she not? Three and Four do nothing but chitter, and they usually have the intent of tearing Mom down. Baako, Takoda, and I remained silent on the subject whenever it was brought up. It was not our place to question or accuse my dad, but we also had no problem asking Three or Four to tend to the chamber pots in our bathrooms.
If she noticed the silence, Elphaba didn't comment on it. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had already heard the rumors herself. Even commoners hear about scandals among elites.
"My mom is a heroine, though," I smiled and pushed myself up to face the sun as it continued to sink lower over the poppies. "She's the first High Queen the Vinkus has had in over two centuries, but she's been ruling strong for twenty five years. We've been in a period of peace for about twenty three. There've been trials, but no talks of war are going on. She taught me how to ride a horse and how to take a row of shots without batting an eye."
Elphaba let out a bark of laughter. She stopped laughing, cut herself short, at the same time something sparked out of the corner of my eye. That blush from earlier returned, and Elphaba looked into her lap, miming a terrible demure expression. I could have kissed her. I should have kissed her. But I didn't want her to run away from me. Although, I doubt I wouldn't have chased after her. I didn't know what it was, but something about her had me drawn like a moth to her flame.
"What about your brothers?" she asked.
"Well, Baako's a military man," I told her. "I think if he could give up his title, he would join the ranks as a brave. He'll do anything for the Arjiki, for the Vinkus, though. And Takoda is just quiet. He has a lot of ambition but no direction. He'll go wherever his legs take him." It was true. "What about you? Do you have any siblings?"
"A sister and brother," Elphaba nodded, "I'm the oldest."
"Are they like you?"
"Green?" I shrugged and she gave me a light eye roll. "No, but I suppose we all have our afflictions."
"Do they have to wait to wed until you are?"
She laughed at me and shook her head. It was a pretty rude way to answer the question, if you ask me.
"Is that all the information I get about you?" I asked her after she was silent for a while.
"Haadido t'aa hoolzhishgi [sometime in the future]," Elphaba did nothing to hide her blush or smirk from me when I dropped the piece of bread in my hand.
"Hadaa [when]?"
If I would have seen it coming, I would have thought to react quicker. Elphaba pressed a quick, soft peck to the corner of my mouth before pulling away and lighting the lantern. I probably acted a little ridiculous. Well, I know I acted ridiculous. I stayed quiet and just took turns watching her and the images the stars made in the sky for the rest of the time. I wanted to kiss her this time. I wanted lips on lips for longer than a beat; not the corner mouth, sweet sixteen thing. Not that I didn't appreciate it. I did. Boy, did I appreciate it. Now I couldn't get her out of my mind, though. I didn't want to get her out of my mind. I just wanted to be with her. I wanted to learn about her. There was something completely fascinating about the green goddess.
"Sometimes I'd like to leave Munchkinland." Elphaba was so soft that I almost missed her comment. I rolled onto my side and propped myself up on my elbow, looking down at her as she stared up. "My, uhm," her eyes flickered to me briefly, "friend used to teach at Shiz, and he seems to think I would find my place there."
"Why don't you just go?" The clothes she wore were plain, but one could hardly call them cheap. I knew expensive fabric when I saw it, and Elphaba was wearing fine fabric.
The corner of her mouth pulled down into a sour expression, "I suppose you could say that I'm indebted to someone, and I don't that I'll be able to do much of anything else until that debt is fulfilled."
"When will that be?"
"Who knows?" Elphaba's scowled softened and then was replaced by the same cool, guarded expression she typically wore. I knew the evening was over when she sat back up. "You should get back. Can't have you ruining your chances in the competition just to fraternize with me."
"I would drop out." She blinked at me. "If you asked me to."
"You don't even know me."
"No, but I would like to."
She shook her head and then took off with everything both of us brought.
I went back to the poppies every day for a week after. She had yet to return.
Keep in mind that Fiyero has been and still is ignorant to things going on around him. Obviously a lot of information he is sharing is wrong (like Melon v. Melena), but at this point he's one of those people who doesn't care enough to educate himself on everything.
Interested? Intrigued?
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