Life became nearly surreal. Fiyero found himself becoming a frequent visitor to the corn exchange, taking lessons from Fae on every single tactic she used to keep the Court under control.

"Every punishment must be reasonable, but still harsh enough to instill fear of breaking rules. New recruits are verbally harassed so that their egos deflate, and they're easier to insert into the whole. I can get away with taking five golds a day because I never flaunt it, and I never take bonuses. You must be imposing, but you can't be cruel. You need to learn how to disappear in a crowd; I always circle the Court at least once without being seen so I can hear men talking before I call for order. It's all right if they fear you, but it's better if they do things because they take pride in being a part of the Court and they're grateful for how secure their lifestyle is."

Fiyero, as a reward, managed to pepper her with small affections without angering her; holding her hand or smoothing out her hair. He was almost afraid to be too bold, waiting for her to dictate what he was allowed to do.

He finally came up with the necklace for her; it had a string-like pendant of small diamonds growing larger as the eye traveled from the gold chain to the end of the pendant. It was beautiful, if he did say so himself, but he could tell she thought it was beautiful, as well. He visited the exchange one day for the necklace to be tested.

"Okay," Fae said, clipping the necklace on. "Say something you know is true."

"I live in the Emerald City," Fiyero said. Fae nodded.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "Now say something you know is a lie."

"My hair is blue," Fiyero improvised. Fae smiled.

"It looks like black smoke comes out of your mouth," she said.

"Not pretty."

"Decidedly not," Fae touched the string of diamonds on the end. "I'm wondering if opinions work. Like if you say something you think is true, but someone else might not think so, will it come up as a lie?" Fiyero thought for a moment.

"Time flies when you're having fun," Fiyero said, thinking of many occasions in his childhood where time had seemed to pass faster when he was playing.

"No smoke," she said. "But that's a common phrase. What's something you believe, but others may dispute?"

Fiyero stopped. He wasn't particularly religious, so anything swearing that a deity was real would come up as a lie. She knew he was from the Vinkus, he had never met the royal family, or any other leader for that matter to form an opinion about them. And she was standing before him, waiting for him to say something and see if it was true. Oh, Fae…

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met," Fiyero said, feeling his courage sway as the words left his mouth, but there was nothing to do but keep going. "People would look at you and say 'oh, green skin, a lizard,' but your skin is skin. It doesn't matter what color it is. It doesn't make you anything less than who you are… and who you are is a goddess among men." Fae put her hand on top of the diamond pendant, continuing to stare at Fiyero. "Before you even turned eighteen, you began exerting control over some of the most life-hardened men in Oz, giving them a sense of morals and right and wrong, and keeping eighty people from starving, and helping eight hundred more with the money your men put in their pockets. And…" Fiyero stopped. His face was probably red as hell, and the look on Fae's face wasn't the most encouraging thing in the world. She was just looking at him, studying his face and picking him apart with her eyes.

"…I should just go," Fiyero turned, putting his hands over his eyes as he headed for the door. Why, why did he have to go and spout all that?! He could have just told her he wasn't sure what to say, bought a few minutes, and come up with something sensible. It wouldn't have been that hard, and instead he just had to go and absolutely ruin any trust the Witch had developed for him.

"Fiyero," he heard her say. He turned slowly, preparing for the onslaught. "Do you really mean all of that?"

"Yes," he said. He would never lie to her, not even before she could see when people were lying.

"Every word?"

"Yes." She took a few slow steps forward, undoing the necklace and putting it around Fiyero's neck.

"I'm happy that you think that much of me," she said. "I never thought that much of myself. There may be people loyal to me, but I have never seen anyone willing to make sacrifices for my sake." She took his hand gently, threading her emerald fingers in between his.

"I didn't fully explain magic the first time," she said. "It happens when my emotions are getting out of hand. When the men were attacking you, I was angry, and scared that they might actually cause you harm…" Now I'm just making her self-conscious. Fiyero leaned forward, placing a light kiss on her lips. Words fell away and ceased to hold meaning. The physical representation of what they felt, that kiss, meant more than anything they could have said to each other. When they broke, they just stood there, content to hold each other.

"You know," Fae said softly. "I've never been romantically involved with a man before. I can't say I'll be as good as I want to be."

"You don't have to be good," Fiyero said. "All that matters to me is that it's you."

"Oh, stop with the sentiment, or I'll kick you out," Fae warned.

Fiyero kissed her again. But I think I'm in love with you.

Fae kissed him back. Great minds think alike.

Fae still didn't tell him her real name, but Fiyero could completely understand that. If anyone knew the Witch's name, it was probably the person who named her, and he considered himself so lucky that Fae had let him get as far as he did that he was able to forget about the name. She even took off the diamond necklace when he was visiting; though it was a sentimental gift on his part, it showed that she was willing to believe what he told her. They both silently understood that any plans to have Fiyero 'inherit' the Court were completely dashed; if they ended up on opposite sides of the law, it would mean the woman he loved was in charge of putting him away in prison, maybe SouthStairs, with the lengthy criminal record he held. Still, they didn't try to stop, for once deciding to put something off and deal with it later. The open trust from Fae was still outstanding, and it made Fiyero feel as if he was walking on eggs. Really, really pretty eggs.

"Our mother had been a prostitute, just like Glinda," Fae had explained, divulging bits of her life story to Fiyero as he continued to visit. "Though it was a different dynamic. There was a man. I don't remember him that well, but he was cruel. He made the girls swear loyalty to him, tell him they loved him and give him free sex, and he controlled who hired them. Mother hid her pregnancies until it was too late to do anything, and the man allowed the girls to care for me, and then Nessa, thinking that we'd be born into service for him. Mother died after Nessa was born. I was supposed to join when I was ten, but I started stealing food and money so I didn't have to work for him to be supported. That's when I met the first thieves; some of them are still senior pawn-runners. I let Nessa ride out his care, establishing the Court, and by the time she was supposed to start working, I was able to support myself and her. I met Glinda with that man, and I let her take some of her friends to set up shop in the Court. It's also why I punish the men who abuse the whores. It's Glinda, yes, but it's my mother, too. And nobody should be beaten for trying to survive. Anyway, Nessa met Ax at Court, and about six months later she got sick, so she had to stay home in quarantine and kind of faded from memory."

"So that's four years of being sick?"

"Just about. It's not fun, but something is going right, and she's staying alive."

"What kind of doctors are you going to? Maybe if you held out for a little, you could send her to a really expensive doctor that could cure her outright."

"I don't trust them. I'm only going to doctors that make enough money that they aren't desperate, but not so much they're greedy. Otherwise they might tell me she's sick with something she's not for the sole purpose of taking my money. If she ever takes a turn for the worst, I'll go."

"You have a nest egg for that?"

"In a way…" She had gone to the cupboard, bringing out a small green bottle. "One of Mother's friends gave this to me when I was six. She said that my father had given it to my mother as a tip for her services, and it's what helped her pinpoint my father. She said that if the going ever got too tough to handle, I should go to the Emerald Palace and ask for the noble who recognized this bottle, and that he would be my father."

"Sounds kind of like a fairy tale."

"I thought so. But it's what I'm betting on if Nessa gets sicker. I mean, have you ever seen a green drink before? Probably some novelty of the upper class."

The weeks rolled by, and the Court was more and more prepared for its impending attack on the Palace. Fiyero dutifully complied with all the health regulations Fae urged, washing hands when he could, eating frequently, and doing basic stretches and sit ups. Nobody could afford to be sick on the big day, but Fiyero couldn't stop thinking about Nessa's mystery illness. It reminded him too much of the elders in the Vinkus who were given drugs as a reward for reaching a certain age, and, eerily, of the women he swindled jewelry out of.

Was it possible Nessa has access to Mind Haze? Fiyero thought one night, the first night he had been allowed to stay at the corn exchange. He lay next to Fae on her thin bedroll, thinking of the third party in the room. It was a reasonable hypothesis; the weakness, the way she always managed to smile at Fae, the fact the 'illness' hadn't gotten more severe after four years, and how nobody who came in contact with Nessa got sick. Fae certainly wasn't sick. He certainly wasn't sick. Ax certainly wasn't sick.

Sweet Oz, Ax!

Ax has access to Mind Haze, if he was the one who laced the cologne. He certainly knew the value of slipping a pill to someone, and it would account for how he spent so much time with Glinda when he should be more faithful to Nessa. If he gave Nessa drugs, she wouldn't notice how often he was gone in her drugged state. And if Fae merely thought Nessa was sick…

That heartless bastard! Fiyero let a single tear slip out of one eye, trying to loosen up so he wouldn't wake Fae. Nestling closer, he kissed her neck softly. He's deceiving her. He's deceiving both of them. Keep Nessa drugged so he doesn't have to stay, but not telling Fae so that he stays in her favor.

It was a sleepless night for him, but he knew he had to get to the bottom of it. One day before Court, Fiyero approached Ax.

"Hey," Fiyero said. "Um… I've been feeling down. I mean, there's the war, and I haven't been sleeping well, and it's just wearing me out. I can't take it. And I know that you got the Mind Haze for the cologne that I use in my act…" Ax shook his head.

"You're the Puss in Boots," he said. "You're too valuable to the Court. I won't let you get your fingers into that shit."

"Please, Ax," Fiyero insisted. "It's a common practice back home. You get medicine if you feel sick in your mind the same way you do if you feel sick in your body. I just need something. Something to take the edge off." Ax glanced up at the throne, making sure Fae wasn't in it.

"Fine," he said. "Get here early tomorrow. I'll have something for you, but I decide what you get. I don't care if it's not what you got at home, but I'm not seeing you go down the same road as the Count. You're a decent guy. The Count was a bastard." Fiyero nodded.

"Thanks, Ax," Fiyero said, feeling his heart sink. Ax had active access to drugs, maybe Mind Haze. His theory might be true. The next day, Fiyero arrived when Ax had asked him to, and received a small pouch of a strong-smelling dried green herb.

"You smell it," Ax said. "And it takes away the pain." Fiyero thanked Ax again, then threw the bag in the nearest sewer. Court was held as normal, the stages of attack on the palace were run over again, with a schedule of signals and times that the Court could do backwards in their sleep. Fiyero recited what he was a part of, but his mind was racing, filled with other thoughts. How was he going to tell her? He had to tell her. He just had to.

He approached the corn exchange, putting his left hand on the doorknob and saying the password, "Reasonability." The lock clicked, and he let himself in.

"Hey, Yero," Fae said, having taken to calling him 'Yero' as a shortening of his name. She gave him a kiss, but it seemed bittersweet to him. She didn't know what he was going to tell her.

"Fae," he said, swallowing. "I've been thinking."

"You tend to do that, don't you?" she teased.

"No, I'm serious. It's about Nessa." Instantly, Fae was more sober.

"What is it?" she asked. Fiyero took a deep breath.

"I don't think she's sick." Fae looked at him for a second, trying to decide if he was pulling her leg.

"Do you call that fit as a fiddle?" she pointed to Nessa on her bedroll.

"No," Fiyero said. "But I don't think she's sick."

"Well, then, enlighten me as to what you think is wrong."

"I think she's been taking drugs."

"You think… what?"

"I think that someone has been giving her drugs, and that's what makes her look so sick." Fae fumbled with her pocket, pulling out the diamond pendant to see if he was lying. "Fae, you don't need that! I wouldn't say this lightly!"

"You don't care about Nessa!" Fae accused. "You're trying to get me away from her! You just want to fuck!"

"How does telling you your sister's a druggie get me closer to having sex with you? Tell me that!" Fiyero shouted.

"Look, I've told you, she's sick! She's been sick for-"

"Four years! How do you stay sick for four fucking years without dying?!"

"So you want her dead?! Is that it?! Get her out of the way?!"

"I don't want anyone dead! I'm saying if it was a real disease, she would be dead!"

"Maybe she's not dead because I've been seeing doctors!"

"I pieced it all together! Ax has access to drugs that would put her in that same state! I've seen it with the Vinkan elders, if you live to be eighty you get to live the rest of your life on drugs that do the same thing!"

"So run back home to your Winkie teepees!" Fae snarled. "And stop attacking my sister!"

"Half-sister! Most societies, half-siblings hate each other!"

"Just get the fuck out of here!" Fae screamed. "I never want to see you again! This is exactly why I didn't tell you my name!"

"Really?" Fiyero folded his arms. "Because this is exactly why I told you mine!"

"Get out of my house! Get out of my life!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Fiyero slammed her door behind him, storming out into the street. What good did that do him?! Nothing! He tried to tell her the truth and she just shouted at him and sent him away!

Forever...

She never wanted to see him again. He struggled to keep going forward, to not collapse in the street and give in to the miserable realization that he had just blown everything to smithereens. South Street was impossibly far away, but with one dogged step after another, he made it to his door.

The others are going to ask me about this, he thought, staring at the door sullenly. Better… get it over with… Fiyero unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Diamond! You're home early," Switch said.

"Before anyone asks," Fiyero said, forcing fake bravado into his voice. "I have fallen out of the Witch's favor. That's all you need to know."

"What happened?" Matter was up in an instant, by Fiyero's side. The brown-haired thief only earned himself a glare, and backed down.

There was no sleep. There was no work. There was no rest. And there were no tears, though they were there. It was a miracle he even bothered to go to Court at all. Surprising himself, he sought out Glinda. The two stared at each other for a moment, Glinda sitting on the platform with Fiyero standing in front of her.

"Can you make me forget?" he asked at last. "About everything. About the war, about my life, about how I got where I am today?"

"Absolutely," Glinda promised. Fiyero threw two gold coins at her feet.

"I'll find you after Court."