Hello! Thank you for much for all the support! It really means a lot. I'm glad you're liking this as much as I like writing it.

Some Fiyeraba interaction for you in this chapter.

The castle's staff put me in a room next to Avaric's, two down from Glinda's. Vinkun culture deemed it inappropriate for couples to lie together. Avaric was nearly rolling on the ground with laughter when he was musing over how they procreated. He found it very entertaining that reproducing was probably a business transaction to the Winkies. I had mentioned the room situation to Nessarose at lunch, and she said that they didn't even allow Bfee's daughter, Bea, to sleep in the same room as Nessarose either. She said that her father, the Governor, had thrown a fit about it when they first found out, because Nessarose needed someone to be in the room with her, just in case an accident arose in the middle of the night. Apparently Fiyero had been fine with Bea rooming with Nessarose at first, but his Grand Vizier had reminded him of tradition, and then he withdrew his prior statement. I stored that information but also reminded myself that tradition is tradition, and just because someone upholds it, doesn't make them a terrible person. Still, though, I had to admit it was interesting.

What I found even more interesting, as I got to know more about Nessarose and her love of gossip, was that the Grand Vizier wasn't even a native Vinkun. She was from the Gillikin and educated at Shiz University. Nessarose told me that the Grand Vizier had spent several years in the lower ranks of the Wizard's administration before she got in close with Fiyero's parents nearly a decade ago. I asked if the woman had always been a diplomatic accessory for the family, and I was awarded with a loud laugh. She apologized profusely for it, but it took her a good while to calm her amusement down to tell me that Fiyero's Grand Vizier choice was the biggest surprise for the Vinkus. It was borderline scandalous, she had added. Fiyero's Grand Vizier had first been hired as a tutor and remained a tutor until the death of Fiyero's parents.

Nessarose was quickly turning into a valuable resource.

"Please forgive me," She said while she followed me around the library after dinner. I was successfully avoiding Glinda. Last time I saw her, she was hanging on Fiyero's arm, telling him what a perfect person he was. I'd rather stab my eye with an ice pick than have to be subject to that all day. "I don't usually talk so much." She blushed lightly. "You're easy to talk to."

I had to do a double take. I'm absolutely positive that has never been said of me before. Difficult, yes. Tolerable, yes. Controlling, absolutely. Easy, though, not so much. I couldn't help the blush that creeped onto my own cheeks.

"I like listening to you talk." I don't think she took it as creepy as it sounded coming out of my mouth. "And I don't mind. If you have something to say, you should have someone to listen."

Nessarose smiled at me and went back to talking about people she had encountered in the castle so far. I noticed that she didn't mention Avaric or Glinda. I was fine with that, I already had opinions about them anyway. She was a good person to pass the day away with while also finding out information. I wasn't a completely terrible person; I picked up on things about Nessarose, too. She was the Governor's only daughter, the sole heir to the Governorship, and also holds the title of Fourth Thropp Descending. The latter meant nothing to me, I was nearly certain that it was less political than it had once been and now was merely a social title. I was kind enough to remark on it, though, and learned her mother had been Second Thropp Descending. I didn't know if she wanted me to ask about the missing Third, but I didn't. I wasn't prepared to hear all her woes and wows.

As I said, I enjoyed listening to the next Governor of Munchkinland talk, but when the night fell, I was ready to leave for some peace. I stole some minutes for myself, changed into a tunic and tights, and hid a sheathed dagger in my boot. You never met with someone you were supposed to kill without bringing a weapon. I popped a couple pills for the pain then grabbed my cloak and hugged the shadows until I was safely outside of the castle walls.

I had passed Glinda and her mouth doing obscene things to Fiyero's face, so the night air was welcoming. There was a gentle breeze, enough to rustle the tall grass but not enough to blow it roughly about. The smell the Grasslands emitted almost made me forget how nauseous I was over seeing a battle of tongues. I had half a mind to go find Avaric and start engaging in a tango with his tongue, but I was better than that. I wouldn't sink to petty levels like that.

Instead, I walked the edge of the castle, coming to a barn that housed several different fine horses. Of course, a sleek black one in the corner caught my attention. The stable boy told me its name was Horse. I stared blankly at him. He held his hands up and added that the prince had named him. I shouldn't have expected any less. There was no objection, from the boy or horse, when I set the horse up with a hackamore, so I shot the boy a quick grin after mounting the horse and setting off. I chose a spot close enough to the castle that Fiyero would be able to easily pick me and the horse out, but it was far enough away from the castle (and even further from the stable) for him to have to walk. I really didn't understand what was wrong with me. Who Fiyero chose to kiss was his business. And as long as his business didn't interfere with my business, there should be no problem.

To give credit it when it's due, Fiyero would make a great hunter. I was trained to be aware of people sneaking up on me, and trained to sneak up on people, but I hadn't even heard the Vinkun prince until he let out a huff of breath. Once he was sitting right next to me. I tensed a little but showed no sign of surprise.

I sent him a side glance and let out a disappointed sigh.

"Kill a man's dreams without saying a word." Fiyero said in return. "Impressive."

"I was hoping for Maerae."

He gave me a smile that forced me to keep my eyes forward to keep from doing something stupid. Like see if his hair was as soft as it seemed. Test if the muscles in his arms were as firm as they appeared. Put my lips where Glinda's had been not an hour ago. I blanched, but refrained from gagging, and just glared at the vast expanse of the Grasslands.

"How was your first day here?" Fiyero asked after the silence settled. "Nessa seems to have taken a liking to you."

"She's good company," I told him. "I'd ask how your day was, but I'm not really interested in hearing about your exploration of Miss Glinda's mouth."

The dark did nothing to hide the blush that had risen on his cheeks. I rolled my eyes and looked up at the stars. Biology was even good to him in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, Master Fiyero," I added without looking away from the sky. "I won't tell Avaric that you've been getting to know his betrothed."

"It's not like that."

"Mm."

"Honestly," Fiyero whispered.

"I'm sure you have your reasons."

He chuckled, "I appreciate beauty of all kinds. Simple beauty, flaunted beauty…unconventional beauty…"

"If you're trying to flirt, you'll have to do better than that." I smirked, looking back to him. "I'm not like most girls."

"No, you are not." Fiyero agreed with a laugh. "Baako speaks highly of you."

"He barely knows me." I scoffed.

"The fact that you managed to make that much of an impact on him really intrigues me." The mention of Baako put me back on track. I was here to get information from Fiyero, so that's what I needed to do, and this was my opening.

"Your Grand Vizier seems to have made an impact on him, too."

Fiyero scoffed now, playing with the grass around us. "She has a tendency to make an impact on a lot of people."

"You don't sound so pleased."

Fiyero shrugged and got to his feet. I followed him as he ventured further through the grass. Horse watched as we left him, but he showed no interest in following us. I shot a glance over my shoulder every so often to make sure he was settled. Fiyero stopped and looked up at the night sky before moving a few more paces. He stood and stared up at the patterns the stars were making in the sky. I studied him as he crossed his arms. He hardly looked like the womanizing playboy I'd read about. He looked serene, and I felt myself being drawn to him. There was a ache shooting through my body. He was more than he appeared to be.

"You see that star right there?" He asked as I came to stand at his right side. I nodded. He went on, "If you follow it to that red star, right there, and then over to the lone one there , it makes the Witch. A long time ago, when it was just the Vinkus, there use to be a group of stars surrounding her. Then, one by one, the stars started exploding." The stars that would have finished the ride side of the box around the Witch were gone.

"It correlates with the story of the witch and foxes?"

Fiyero nodded, "The cave is disappearing, but the Witch remains."

I looked at his profile as he was completed enraptured with the constellation. "What does it mean to you?"

"Same thing it means to the Vinkun people." He muttered. "Madame Morrible doesn't know the constellation, doesn't know the tale. Old Vinkun tales mean a lot to my people." He sighed, lost in his thoughts. "Were you named after Aelphaba of the St. Aelphaba tale?"

"I don't know." I whispered. Fiyero tore his attention away from the Witch to look at me. "I don't know much about my heritage."

"Nothing?" He seemed so aghast, but I bit back my laugh.

"I know I'm a Munchkin by birth."

"You're rather tall for a Munchkin."

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"If you ever wanted it," Fiyero scratched the back of his neck. "If you want, I have the resources to help you find out." By resources he means money.

"Why?" I laughed this time. "Why does it matter? How does finding out my heritage affect who I am and what I do?"

"How can you know who you are without knowing who you are?"

"I think what you do tells more of who you are than where you've come from does."

"But where you come from dictates what you do."

"Is that what you tell the families of the victims you've slaughtered?"

Fiyero visibly tensed. Seriously, the muscles of his jaw tightened and every other muscle visible to my eye followed suit.

"Avaric said you were full of opinions." He mumbled stiffly.

"Would you rather me wordlessly dote on you?"

Another smile broke across Fiyero's face, and I wanted nothing more than to put my dagger to his throat to keep him on track. But, of course, all logic was thrown from me when he flashed his smile.

"You dote on me?"

I pursed my lips and refused to answer that, but apparently it was all the answer he needed.

.

I was up before dawn the next morning. Ointment on my wound, pain killers in my systems, and weapons at the ready as I followed Avaric and Glinda through the empty castle corridors. Avaric said there was a weaponry room, sub-terrain. He'd scoped it out several times since he'd been here, and no one had even gone near the door. Of course, for good measure, he stole the key from one of the castle aids. So we all migrated to one room after the castle had fallen asleep last night and then woke up together before it was deemed a socially acceptable hour to be awake. I didn't mind. A couple hours rest on a guest bed in a castle belonging to Vinkun royalty was the best sleep I'd had in years. Maybe all my life. And the bonus: I got to practice with weapons while Glinda was in the room. Not that I wanted to hurt her or anything, but she needed to be reminded of why we were here.

We circled around the level before coming back to the room. Avaric wanted to make sure we weren't followed or being waited for. Once he was assured that nothing was out of place, we entered the room. I fell in love the moment we stepped in.

The walls were a dark stained wood (I had to assume oak from its proximity) and thick to keep the noise contained to the room. There were no windows, but the room lit perfectly when Avaric used his torch to light all the others in the room. The right hand side of the room seemed to be dedicated to any kind of swordplay. There was an area for fencing; an object littered with several thin punctures that were most likely from daggers being thrown at it; another object dangling from the wall with more puncture wounds in it, probably from close encounters with a knife; and finally a chart hung on the wall, detailing how to handle bladed weapons. I ran my hand over the chart. It was written in the Arjiki's official language, and the drawings that went along with each instruction were just beautiful.

There was really nothing to the other half of the room. Mostly open space. Maybe for hand to hand combat. Maybe extra space for fencing or swordfights. But in the middle of the left wall was another door which Avaric was opening.

It was my room. I grinned as I set my bow and arrow down on the counter that lined the shared wall and looked around the room in satisfaction. How was I ever supposed to leave?

"I sent away for Boq." Avaric told us as he examined a weapon like Baako pulled on me.

"What? Why?" Glinda frowned.

"He'll be more useful to us here than in the City." Avaric said, staring into the barrel of the weapon. "If we're serious about helping Fiyero, I think we may need him. I know a guy who knows more than he should, so I sent him a letter about information on our new friends. I have a terrible feeling about the Grand Vizier."

"What kind of feeling?" I asked.

Avaric shook his head, "I can't describe it. I had a meeting with her yesterday, and by the end of it…" He trailed off and shook his head again. "It's best we sort out our allies sooner rather than later. Boq is an ally, and I don't want him out of our sight."

Glinda quirked her lips to the side and made her way to the armory on the other side of the shooting range. I didn't notice it until she started walking, but it shook my faith in the Winkies. What good could possible come from keeping it in the direction people are shooting? Just their luck, someone like Fiyero would shoot someone else in the ass.

"I should have known I'd find you three down here."

I didn't turn around at the sound of Baako's voice, just watched Avaric's face for a reaction. Glinda was frozen in the threshold, gaping at the prince's brother as he stood behind me. Avaric, though, was calm. His face never faltered, and as if it was a normal occurrence to wonder down here, he smiled at Baako with ease. This was his case. I wouldn't doubt that he lost more hours of sleep at night than usual just so he could stay up those extra hours to strategize and prioritize. If what we do is considered art, Avaric was a master of the craft. In more ways than I gave him credit for. Given the option of acting like one or the other, I picked Avaric. Just kept sizing up the targets at the opposite end of the room.

"We would have loved to see your expansive library on weaponry," Avaric started. "But, you see, we're much more hands on learners."

"I don't see any reason to be coy," I could practically hear the smirk in Baako's voice. "After all, we share a common friend. Does that not mean we're all friends?" Avaric was keeping a sharp eye on each movement Baako made; I saw his eyes flicker constantly. "You silence speaks volumes. No matter, how about this: The enemy of my enemy if my friend." I turned to face him at that. "Yes," He grinned at all of us. "I suppose that does make us friends."

"Just because Elphie's gone and fraternized with you, doesn't mean we ought to." Glinda chimed in.

"Me?" I barked, shooting her a glare. I wasn't the one tongue spelunking with the prince. I didn't mention that, though.

"Not now." Avaric snapped at us. "Isn't everyone an enemy until proven otherwise?" He turned to Baako.

"Fair point." He nodded. "Try something different, yeah? I'm quite fond of insurance on friendships. Evidence is often intangible or relative. Insurance, though, is something that can be counted on."

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down until Avaric consented to hear him out.

"We can assume we're all friends." He said. "But if you kill my brother, I will kill the most important thing to each of you."

"None of us have anything." Glinda whispered, closer than she had been.

"Everyone has something." Avaric answered. Baako nodded.

Glinda went off on her own little tangent how we don't deserved to be threatened this way. I thought it was a lot of talk for someone who was actively in support of proving Fiyero's innocence. Avaric and I watched each other intently as Baako kept quiet, waiting for his answer. Avaric was ready to take Baako's trust. I could see it in his eyes and just his general demeanor. He was practically on his toes, wanting to take this dive. This was his case. Glinda was right. This was Avaric's case. He was stalling to see if I was on board with him. Because regardless of Glinda being appalled by Baako's way of coming to us, she was in.

"I think you've more than proven your friendship." I uncrossed my arms. Baako grinned and came forward to shake hands with us.

"Excellent." He glanced around at the cases of arrows. "Elphaba, you may find the arrows in the case quite to your liking. You may carry on, my friends. We shall talk later."

.

I never liked the rain. Ever. I could handle rainless storms like the best of them, but you throw rain into the mix, and I may as well be a scared alley cat. There was something about the downpour that left me anxious and nearly fearing for my life. Rain seemed harmless, but it could take out cities in an instant. How was I to trust something like that? It's liquid for goodness' sake! So it was the only fear I was willing to admit to. Unfortunately for me, in my line of work, my fears weren't taken into account when performing jobs.

The list that Avaric had acquired kept me from the nice warm palace bed offered to me. My expertise was needed, so my bed had to wait. Glinda got to sleep, though. Glinda got to stay in the warm bed provided to her. I scowled. No doubt being kept warm by the prince. I swallowed my huff as I continued to flank backwards behind Avaric as he navigated through the streets of that small village that the castle of Kiamo Ko overlooked. As long as I was being paid, I had no opinion worthy enough to voice. That's what Baako implied. Friends don't ask questions. And we were friends.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Avaric holding his arm out for me to stop. I did one last sweep of the direction I was facing before coming up next to him to check out the building my targets were in. My scowled deepened.

On more than one occasion, when Axe was still alive and kicking, Glinda and I were dragged to Shiz for a night on the town. Well, more like Glinda skipped happily, and I was dragged. Either way, we found ourselves there from time to time. We hardly ever went in the daylight. Shiz wasn't as accepting of green skin as the Emerald City was. Nighttime wasn't the worst, but there were other places I'd rather have been. Avaric and Glinda quite liked the OzDust. Not good ole Axe, though. Axe liked this little establishment called the Philosophy Club. I had not gone in. Would not go in. Boq had gone in once. He spent two months drinking himself into dreamless sleeps every night following. He had nightmares for weeks after the drinking stopped. I didn't need to go in. But I found myself standing outside a like establishment on a rainy night in Winkie Country.

This was rock bottom.

Avaric smirked at me before tugging me into the alley next to the club. There was a couple doing things to each other that they should not have been doing in public. Avaric stared at the woman's exposed side breast. I slapped his chest. He continued to smirk as he rattled off the directions to the place we were meeting back up at. A small coffee shop several blocks over. I had to ditch my bow and arrow in an open window two blocks over. Avaric promised that Baako promised that one of his men would have it brought back before I woke up in the morning.

Avaric's smirk deepened as the couple began panting. When he spoke, he chose several different languages. I understood well enough. It was how he and Axe communicated in company they weren't sure of. "Don't get caught." He said quietly enough that the couple wouldn't hear us. "Do what you have to in order to take care of all the names. All of them or none of them." He reminded me.

I nodded.

"You should be able to use Glinda's stuff on the man at the door. Give him a hefty dose to keep him out for the night. All of them will be in the club. They have it booked for the night."

"If I don't get my things back, you'll be an added bonus." I told him.

He winked. "Have fun." He retreated down the alley, knocking out the couple on his way to take care of the front entrance for me. I waited til I saw the glint of his axe before putting my cloak on the female and then slipping through the cracked side door into the stink hole.

It smelt of smoke, liquor, and sex. It was like walking into Avaric's room. My nose stung as I slinked around the shadows. There was a man blocking the entrance to backstage. I let an arrow go. It struck the area just to the side of his head. Wide eyed, his clambered away from it, turning to stare at it. I got him the moment before he turned around to see where it could have come from. I pinched him just where Avaric had said to, and the man was going down almost instantaneously. I caught most of his weight before he completely ruined the plan and propped him up against the wall, giving him a good whiff of chloroform.

The smell backstage was worse than the entrance. I just needed to get the job done, so I could go. There were no performances tonight. Just personal dances and an intimate act for the men here. At least that was in my favor. I climbed up the stage's skeleton to a spot that allowed me to look over everything. I rolled my eyes at the sight of ten grown men drooling over four half naked women. Didn't these people have more self respect? Taking the arrow that I was told to shoot first in the room, I waited until the entire party tilted their heads back to take the shot of whatever was in the bottle in the middle of their table. My arrow with a blue ribbon tied around it pierced through the center of the bottle, breaking it and sending the shards over the table.

All the laughing and other noise stopped. One of the old cods asked the ladies—as if they could be called that—to leave the room for the night. He assured them they would be paid in full despite their early retirement. I shot one more arrow at the only man with black hair, clean through the upper left side of his back. His head knocked against the table with a sickening thud as the door shut. I crossed to the other side of the frame as the nine remaining looked around, two holding small daggers, ready to counterattack. Those weapons were not planned for but were hardly a hindrance. I took one more unarmed man out before someone sent a shot my way. That wasn't planned for either.

It whizzed past my ear and embedded itself into the wood. There was a moment of silence, and then another shot came towards me, narrowly missing. I scrambled down as they shouted orders at each other.

"Shit!" One of them cried after I got two with one arrow. It was one of the arrow's I took from the shooting range at the palace. I really liked them. I had a dagger jabbing someone's jugular before the men could even take a breath. As I've said before, I'm good at my job.

Halfway there. The one with his hair tied by a ribbon was the last one I was to take. I needed to give him a message before he left.

The man holding the weapon, like the one Baako had, in his shaking hands was my next target. Instead of taking him out, though, I shot an arrow through his hands. The noise he made was out of this world, chilling even, but I couldn't dwell on it as the weapon he was holding fell to the floor, stained with his blood as it dripped.

"Stop!" I barked when someone went to pick it up. "Leave it or I'll kill you all." I never felt bad about using false hope.

One of them laughed when I stepped out of the shadows. He started to say something about me being a girl. An arrow through his throat cut him off. Oops.

"Talk and I'll kill you." I added. The four left looked ready to piss themselves. Good. "Sit down, fold your hands, and keep them on the table." I instructed.

"Who are you?" The shortest man squeaked. I traded my bow and arrow for the weapon on the ground. It looked like a gun, so surely it couldn't have been that different. I held it like I knew what was working with.

"A friend of an enemy." I told them with a smile. "You boys have pissed off some very important people." I clicked my tongue, circling them like a predator. I was, essentially. Mostly out of pity, I shot the one whose hands I ruined. Poor thing was shaking like a leaf, and I'm sure he was in pain. The gun shot easy, taking him out quickly. He slumped onto the man next to him. "I wonder how the Scrow would react if they knew that you were murdering their officials and enslaving their people, blaming it on the prince." Another shot, another man.

Two more. One more.

"What do you want?" The last one asked. His eyes followed me as I stood before him with my bow and arrow now. I glanced at the arrow with the message on it. "Is Fiyero asking for our allegiance? My allegiance."

"Do you really think he's asking for your allegiance?" The man blinked at me. That was a no. "Who do you answer to?" He smirked at me. "Your daughter's rather pretty." I told him. His smirk vanished. "I have a friend. He's an artist with an axe."

"I don't believe you."

"Art is relative, you're right." I said. "Most people probably wouldn't agree, but I can find a masterpiece in a slaughter. All that blood comes together to make something beautiful." He blanched, so I tried again, "Who do you answer to?"

"You'll stay away from my family if I tell you?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

He stared at me for a moment. "I don't know their name, honestly." The man laid his hands flat on the table. "I go to the bar at the corner every Monday at midnight, and there's an envelope waiting for me. Tells me who needs how many and a group to surprise. Sometimes there's nothing there but a token of gratitude."

"I'm not convinced." I whispered at the sound of voices towards the entrance.

"I swear, I'm telling the truth!" He begged quietly. "I swear. The seal, the seal on the envelop is that of the Kiamo Ko's. That's as specific as I can get."

I think he was gone quickest of them all.

Avaric was sitting at a small table in the back of the coffee house when I finally showed up. A half an hour later than we planned because of having to dispose of anything that may have given me away. I didn't even get to leave a handprint. It didn't feel like a real job. There was someone sitting across from Avaric with their head on the table, buried by their arms. I frowned and walked towards them, adjusting the skirts I had for a change of clothes. Avaric hadn't thought it appropriate for me to wear pants outside of the job. It might give me away since women wore skirts out in public like this. We bickered for a good hour about it until Glinda shoved a navy colored frock at me.

"Sorry I'm late." I apologized, glancing warily at the stranger. "Taking out the trash took longer than expected; had to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind."

He nodded in understanding then jerked his head to the lump in our company, "The good prince has had a rough night himself."

Of course, of course it was him.

"How did you find him?" I nudged Fiyero roughly, but he just groaned and mumbled something into the table.

"He found me. Unexpected and unfortunate." Avaric whispered gravely. I raised my eyebrows.

"Not a maiden's bed." Fiyero's head shot up. I winced. I didn't sympathize with the headache he was bound to have, but I could only imagine what that quick motion did to him. His eyes focused, as much as they were able to, on me. A lazy smile broke his drunk face. "Miss Elphaba," He looked over at Avaric who was watching him in bemusement. "Oh." He added dejectedly. "S'pose Glinda's not so bad."

Avaric patted his arm, "Perhaps it'd be best not to talk of my betrothed like that in front of me, yeah?"

"Not an idiot." Fiyero gave Avaric a lame glare.

"Of course you're not, my friend." Avaric said as an older woman put a cup of coffee in front of Avaric and a shot glass and bottle of something in front of Fiyero. I shot Avaric with a sharp look. He merely shrugged as Fiyero poured himself a shot with shaky hands. "It'll be best if he forgets this night."

"Baako's made dangerous friends." Fiyero told us after downing two shots.

"How do you figure?" I asked.

Fiyero focused on me again before another shot was taken. "Told me."

"He told you?" Fiyero nodded. Another two shots. "What else did he tell you? In as little words as possible." I added the last part for his benefit.

Fiyero sighed and looked in the distance, his eyebrows scrunched together in thought. "Don't remember." He finally shook his head slowly.

"Will nothing help you remember? Maybe some more shots?" Avaric encouraged.

The prince's face was plastered with a sly smile, "Some kisses might help."

"Sorry, mate," Avaric chuckled. "Must save all my love for my woman."

Fiyero's gaze settled on me, and I had to keep myself from squirming in my seat. Well, it's not like he'd remember any of this in the morning. I would, though. And Avaric would never let me live it down, then Glinda would find out, and it would just be a mess. No matter how much the prospect of getting messy sounded appealing, I couldn't do that. Not with alcohol clinging to him and death to me.

"I don't have time to find Maerae right now, Fiyero."

"Fiyero." He repeated. "Say it again."

"Fiyero." I bit back a smile.

"You're perfect." My cheeks burned.

"You're drunk, Fiyero."

"I'm free."

"This isn't freedom." Avaric scoffed. "You're a victim who doesn't even know he's victimized."

Fiyero got serious quickly. The glass was halfway to his mouth when he froze and just stared at Avaric as if he was seeing him in a new light.

"Madame Morrible?" He said in a hushed voice.

"What do you think?"

Just as fast as his serious expression had come, it left with the same swiftness. He was smiling again, and I found myself having a love-hate relationship with that damned smile.

The fool grabbed my arm and put a lingering kiss on the inside of my wrist, making my cheeks grow even more heated, "I think Miss Elphaba dotes on me."

I snatched my arm back and tried to ignore the imprint of his handprint that now, temporarily marked me.

Alright. So who's ready for some more Fiyeraba?