Chapter 9: Bringing Home a Stray

The moment his brother set eyes on Elphaba, he knew he'd be in for it. Rod looked her over. Fiyero watched as his brother's eyes took in Elphaba's small dress, her bony figure, her unkempt hair. He hadn't even greeted them yet, and already he was judging her. After a moment, his brother looked to him expectantly. "We have a visitor, Fiyero?"

"This is Elphaba," Fiyero said nervously. "She's going to be staying a while."

Rod sighed and looked over the bridge of his nose at the green girl. "Pleased to meet you." But he didn't even shake her hand. Instead, he turned to Fiyero. "May I speak with you in private?"

Elphaba looked at him uneasily, still standing in the entryway, but she smiled at him in a silent acknowledgement that he could go ahead and leave her there.

"What in Oz are you doing? I know you have a habit of bringing home strays, but stray people, Fiyero?" Rod demanded as soon as they were out of earshot.

"She was homeless, Rod! What was I supposed to do? Leave her there to starve?"

"Do you know how many homeless people there are in Oz? We can't take them all in!"

"We can take this one, though. She's smart and resourceful. It wouldn't hurt."

"Father always worried you'd be taken advantage of. I shouldn't have let you go to the City alone." Rod groaned, pacing.

"She didn't take advantage of me! I wanted to help her. I had to beg her to come out here. She didn't want to leave. Something happened to her, Rod, something awful and she needs to be somewhere safe, somewhere that she's not expected to work herself to death just to get by!"

"What use do we have for this girl? You have a future princess. What, did you need a future mistress? We can find you someone who hasn't been living in the slums of the City!"

Fiyero cringed. "Don't say that! I don't want her for anything like that. I simply thought she deserved a chance." He looked into his brother's hard eyes. "Look, she's already here. We can't very well just throw her out now. At least let her stay a bit."

"Fine! I don't even know how I'm going to explain this to Verda, but she can stay. But I have had it with your charity! We are not a homeless shelter or an animal shelter. Do you understand?"

He nodded.

"And you have a good time explaining to Sarima why you brought home some random street urchin. I'm sure she's going to love that." Rod strode out of the room.

Fiyero went back to Elphaba. "You can stay in one of the guest rooms. Come, I'll show you."

"Your brother wasn't happy." It wasn't a question.

"He's just a little surprised." Fiyero replied evasively. "He wasn't expecting a guest." He led her up the stairs and down the hall and watched her place her meager knapsack in a room too large for her. "My room is just over there." He pointed to the right. "Would you like to see it?"

She gave him a strange look, but nodded. "Sure."

The moment they stepped into the room, he decided it had been a mistake to ask her to come in here. The large bed with soft, cozy quilts, the bookshelf that towered over their heads, the mahogany desk, the couches… it was too much for her. He watched her gaze through the doorway, hesitant to even enter his room. Sweet Oz, he was an idiot! "If you ever need me, you come find me here."

Her eyes were wide as she nodded faintly, still examining the room. "This is your room?"

"Yes."

"It's…" She turned to look at him, and he could see how overwhelmed she was. "It's lovely."

"Thank you."

"Why don't you get settled in? I've got a few people I need to check in with. I'll come find you when it's time to eat. How does that sound?"

"It's your castle," she replied. Before he could say anything else, she was already back in her room.

Fiyero knew he needed to go talk to Sarima. He dug through his trunk and pulled out the scarf he'd bought her. She had dropped a lot of not-so-subtle hints that she expected gifts when he went anywhere. He hoped the scarf would do. Glancing through the doorway into Elphaba's room on his way out, he saw her simply staring out the window. He shook his head and left.

It was a good half an hour just to get to her home in the small village. He rarely made surprise visits. In fact, he rarely visited at all. She usually came to see him. He supposed it was because it was easier for them to be alone in the castle. Her parents probably didn't much care what they did, though. Even if they didn't end up engaged, she'd have slept with the prince. Who could complain about that? It was an honor. It hadn't bothered him before, but now he gagged at the idea. That was probably the only reason Sarima had… he shook himself and shivered a bit. Even though it was usually warm in their arid landscape, it could drop to below freezing at night fairly quickly, and it was starting to get dark.

"Prince Fiyero!" Her father smiled and bowed. "Here to visit Sarima?"

"Yes, Sir. I just returned from the City and I've missed her." He hadn't, really. Fiyero had missed home, and the people, but no one specific.

"I'll fetch her. You two can take a nice walk, if you like. The weather is perfect for it." Sarima's father indicated for Fiyero to step inside and then went to go find his daughter.

Fiyero stood waiting for only a moment before Sarima's mother emerged. "Just a moment, Your Highness. Sarima wasn't expecting you and she needed to touch up a bit."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sarima was primping. Fiyero never much cared for make-up or extravagance, but Sarima had always insisted upon it. She would never even spend the night at the castle. She always said she wanted to keep that air of mystery in their relationship, but he had a feeling it had more to do with some misplaced idea that she had to be perfect in front of him for every moment. He'd always tried to coax her into opening up around him, being real, but she resisted.

When Sarima finally showed up, she flung herself about him. "Fiyero, sweetie!"

He smiled and stepped back when she dropped her hands. "It's good to see you, Sarima."

"I missed you so." Sarima kissed his cheek, then looked at him.

"I brought you a gift," he told her. He held out the scarf, wrapped in fancy paper.

She took it eagerly. "You didn't have to." Sarima's delicate hands unfolded the paper and she gasped upon looking at the scarf. "Oh, it's beautiful."

"Good. You can wear it while we walk. Your father mentioned how nice the weather was tonight."

She wrinkled her nose a little. "I was hoping for a more relaxing evening."

"A walk is perfectly relaxing." He wasn't certain he liked how often she complained about the activities he picked. And he hadn't even chosen this one. It was her father's idea, for Oz's sake!

She sighed and nodded, wrapping the scarf about her and following him out the door. Sarima slipped her hand into his. "How was your trip?"

"Interesting."

"How so?"

Fiyero bit his lip. "I met some interesting people."

"Oh? I'm so jealous. The City sounds so romantic."

"I wouldn't call it that," he said. "Anyway, I… there was a young woman. She was homeless and needed help. I brought her back with me so she'd have somewhere to stay."

"A girl?" Sarima immediately sounded suspicious.

"I wanted to help her," he repeated.

"And she's staying in the castle? With you?"

"Where else?"

"Are you certain that's the best idea? She could be a thief."

"You haven't met her. I'm sure once you get to know her, you'll understand. Maybe you'll even be friends."

"I doubt that," Sarima muttered.

"Why?"

"I just… Fiyero, you're a very charming young man. I didn't fall for you just because you're a prince, you know. And I worry that maybe this other girl might get the wrong idea. Girls quarrel over boys all the time. I just don't see us being friends."

"I doubt she much cares for me in that regard." He assured her. "I think she's just happy she's out of the City."

"I really don't know, Fiyero. I must admit, I'm not pleased you just brought some strange girl into your home."

"It had nothing to do with what you're worried about," he insisted. "I wanted to help her."

"I'm sure that's what you intended, Fiyero. You've always been too kind for your own good. But I don't trust this."

"You don't even know her!"

"Know her or not, I don't like it."