Author's Note: There was some question as to why they couldn't just say she was visiting an old friend. Remember, Glinda and Elphaba always were supposed to have a chaperone/Ama in college? In this society, women don't just go visiting old friends (especially male friends) alone. And if she said she was an old friend from Shiz, then she'd have to give her name, her identity, and she's NOT willing to let anyone know who she is. But people are much less likely to be suspicious of a married woman. A woman her age, unmarried and unsupervised, is suspicious in general at that time and place. And women DEFINITELY don't travel to the Vinkus, where it's dangerous and dirty and "barbaric" as the Wizard would call it.

Chapter Ten: Something Else

She holed up in her room for the rest of the day, anxiously listening for the arrival of the delegate from the Wizard's palace. Fiyero went off to tell Sarima their little story. They'd decided (though she'd been uneasy about it) to tell her that they'd been lying the whole time. He'd insisted on telling her that the fake affair in the City they'd come up with was the truth and that the idea of her being there on government business was a lie they'd used to hide their illicit relationship. And for a brief moment she wondered to herself what might have happened if this affair had started in the City that fall instead of now, if things would've been different – if she would've been different. But that was a ridiculous and pointless question, and she wasn't given to considering pointless questions.

Elphaba burned all the papers she had connecting her to the Resistance. For as long as the delegation from the City was there, she could not take the risk of writing to her leaders. They might write her, but it would be coded and if they received no response they'd know not to try again. This had been something that, at some point, she'd been prepared for.

But she wasn't prepared now, not at all. Because she'd been too wrapped up in her little fling to be focused on what might be coming. If she'd been paying attention, this might not have snuck up on them as it had. And in the meantime, she had fallen in love with Fiyero.

Maybe not love. No, it couldn't be love. Yes, cared for him more than she meant to. That wasn't love, exactly. Yet somewhere between the sex and the conversations, she'd begun to feel something. At first, she'd told herself it was merely the feeling of release, of being alive and rediscovering her body when they were intimate. But when she'd made up her mind to leave the prior night, something had tugged at her, a sadness had settled into her bones. She hadn't wanted to leave him, though she'd thought she had to. Knowing she was stranded was almost a relief. It gave her more time with him, and time to figure out just what she thought she was doing here.

She wouldn't be his wife. If she did, in fact, love him, she still wouldn't be his wife. That job was Sarima's alone and she wouldn't take that from her. She didn't want it, and she'd already taken enough from the woman. And she'd stay here. She had to now. But when this was all over, what was to become of her? Or of him? Did it matter? Not in the grand scheme of things, no, but to her it did. Nothing so small and insignificant had mattered to her in a long time.

A commotion downstairs indicated that the delegation from the Wizard had arrived. It would be an hour until lunch and Elphaba dreaded going downstairs. But they had agreed that, if she were to play her part, she would need to be present at meals. The thought made what little appetite she had disappear, but she knew what she had to do.

When she emerged from her room and slid into the dining hall, she felt the glares of Sarima's sisters and the curious eyes of the Wizard's delegates. She did not meet any of their eyes. Instead, she sat down and accepted her plate of food graciously. Sarima was muttering to herself and her sisters about the short notice for preparing for more people. The woman barely noticed Elphaba. She was too concerned with her duties as queen to pay any attention to the woman who shared her husband's bed. And Elphaba was grateful for that.

Fiyero smiled at her for a moment before chatting politely with the men of the Gale Force about the atmosphere in the City. She did not smile back, staring down at her plate. Perhaps Sarima and her sisters had poisoned her food, displeased that they had competition for the affections of Fiyero. Then again, they probably hadn't had time, what with the large group they had to serve. She poked quietly at her salad, ate a few bites and excused herself quickly. She did the same at dinner.

It was late when he came to her that night, but she took him into her bed and her body eagerly. For a time, she forgot the tense circumstances surrounding them, the impossibility of their situation and she focused only on her own pleasure and on his.

When it was over, he lay in her bed as she oiled herself down, watching her like he had done so many times now. His eyes traveled her body as she cleansed herself. "That was a welcome distraction."

She laughed. "You're telling me." As she finished, she climbed into her bed beside him. "Are you going to tell me what you discussed with those political bigwigs today or not?"

"I was wondering how long it would take you to ask. I almost thought you might demand to know before you let me make love to you," he commented.

"I think you underestimate how much I needed release, too." She sighed softly. "What happened? Do they know?"

"If they knew, Fae, I think we'd all be dead by now."

"That's probably true."

"They know war is coming. I couldn't discern how much they know about your people, but they know. I was told to be careful who I talk to, that I might be tricked into treason."

"Or seduced?" She suggested.

"You didn't seduce me, Fae."

"I didn't? Then what, exactly, did we just do?"

"It has nothing to do with my intentions in this war. I've told you. I promised you from the beginning and I meant it."

"I think we both know that keeping those two things separate has not gone like we originally intended," she reminded him.

"Maybe we should talk about what you said the other night, then, when my wife walked in? That little bit about loving me?"

She turned away. "What else did the Wizard's people say?"

"They asked if I'd be willing and prepared to take up arms in defense of the Wizard should a war break out." He said simply. By now he probably knew not to push her. She'd also noted that he himself had not expressed any actual feelings. So she left hers silent.

"What did you say?"

"I said taking up arms was sending a message I wasn't sure I wanted to send. They want to stay and talk things over with me. Apparently, the other tribes are likely to follow my lead and my decision matters most."

"You never told me that." But she had known. The Resistance had been well aware of the climate out in the Vinkus. She'd never mentioned it, of course. That's why she hadn't pushed Fiyero to let her speak to the other tribal leaders. She knew he'd have the final say in the end. He'd brought peace between them, and they looked to him for direction.

"I figured you knew, your people knew."

"They did," she shrugged. "What are you going to do, Fiyero? They're going to want an answer from you. And you can't exactly sleep with them to make them stop nagging you like you did me."

"That's an image I didn't need in my head. And you know that's not why I did what I did. I will give them an answer."

"Fiyero, if you tell them 'no,' the Wizard's armies will be out here in no time."

"I can evade for some time, if I need to."

"Great. They'll be here longer. That's not what we need. And eventually, you will have to answer."

"How much sorcery do you know?" He asked suddenly.

"A decent amount. Why?"

"I'm just wondering if there isn't anything that can help us out of this."

"I'm afraid not."

"You know, there are some old books in my office, some of them are sorcery books. I don't understand them. It couldn't hurt you to look through them."

"You forget that I can't go near your office right now. I'm confined to being your sex toy."

"I'll get them for you in the morning if I can manage to get away."

"Only if you're careful. I will not have you getting yourself killed on the off chance that there might be a spell in one of those books. I couldn't live with that. I won't get someone I care about killed. I've hurt enough people."

"So you admit it? You do care about me?"

She buried her face in the blankets. "I cared about you before I even came out here. You were my friend once, Fiyero. You still are."

"And I always will be, whether this war ends badly or not."

"If this war ends badly, we'll both be dead or in prison, so I don't see whatever friendship we have enduring that."

"And if it's more than friendship?"

"What are you trying to say, Fiyero?"

"You really think that I'm so emotionally cut off? That I sleep with you because I want sex and nothing more?"

"I recall you saying in the beginning of all of this that, 'it's just sex,'" she pointed out.

"Is that what it was to you?"

"It was a way of feeling something else."

"And what was it? That something else?"

"Alive."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "You've been closed off from everyone and everything for so long, Elphaba. You can't expect to stay that way forever. What happened between us, whatever this is, it was bound to. If I believed in Fate, I'd say…"

"Oh, please, darling, don't you get religious on me or I really will teleport myself out of here, danger or no."

He chuckled at that and held her close. "You know I adore you, right?"

She looked up into his eyes and she knew it was true. "I suppose I do."