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Chapter Ten

Courting

Glinda was pacing the floor of the now empty conference room and they were twenty minutes late to start making breakfast. Crope had been reading through law books ever since their conference had finished, scanning through the laws to find out exactly what the laws were. "They can't do that. They just can't. I mean, can they?" Glinda was about ready to pull her out. The stone floor beneath her might as well have been a rut from how hard her heels cut into it. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Her chest was tight and her throat was dry. She had already fought tooth and nail at the meeting to protest such an act, but the majority of the council still voted it through. They decided that because Glinda was in her prime years that it would be best to look for a suitor, so Glinda would have time to have an heir to the throne. Glinda told them it was absurd and had to find every urge she had to act anything other than cordial. "It's just not right, there is no way the law-"

"They can." Crope interrupted and Glinda finally stopped pacing. She walked over to the desk Crope sat in during most of the meetings in the corner of the room. He often took notes and went through the law books during the council meetings to ensure that he and Glinda could work through it. He had his hand marking his spot, "Right here. The law must be thousands of years old. Maybe even as old as Oz itself. The marriage act is a request of the royal family from the Ozma Regime. With a vote passed through all Eminence, the Marriage Act requests that the Royal family chose a suitor for the current or next in line for the throne within a given time frame." He read it out loud, "I didn't even know it existed."

Truth be told, neither did Glinda. The laws from Oz had changed often from reign to reign and it was hard to keep track of all of them. When Glinda took the throne, it was actually her who re-enacted the laws from the Ozma Regime before the Wizard. It was only to create some kind of order out of Oz, after the Wizard's dictatorship she had to get rid of nearly all of the laws he had come up with. Glinda had spent hours reading the books but there were 50 different books with laws from Oz in them and each one of them had thousands of laws, some of which were necessary and some of which weren't. In the years, Glinda spent time going over them to change and fix the problems that Oz had, but it wouldn't be done for years. Still, she felt pretty pathetic not knowing one of the laws that she had put into place herself. Glinda read over the words herself, clear and boldly printed, "There has to be some kind of loophole."

"I can look, but I don't think there is. The only other law that affects it is the fine print, which states that whichever suitor is chosen must be from a prominent descending family. You're lucky Elphaba is the third descending Thropp. Otherwise, she wouldn't even be an option according to this. Even luckier that it doesn't say anything about whether she took the position she was lined up for." Crope said as she leaned into the book to get a closer understanding.

"Crope!" Glinda said, frustration coming out in her words. "I can't just marry Elphie! She just said yes to being my girlfriend. How am I supposed to purpose?" Glinda's hands were flailing around and Crope could see the worry in her eyes.

Crope bit his lip, "At least you have a year.." he relatively mumbled. "There's no way that we'll be able to convince the council to renounce the marriage act. They won't do it. The elders already want you off the throne. They'll use any excuse they can get to take it away without protest from Oz. And if you fight it then you're just going to make it worse. The best we can try is to get them to lengthen your time if they see that you and Elphie are in a relationship at least."

Glinda bit her lip. Elphaba hated politics. She hated everything about the eminence. Glinda definitely didn't want to tell Elphaba about everything they'd have to go through. They would have to announce that they were courting, Elphaba would have to have a thorough interview from the council to deem her a worthy candidate that had no ulterior motives for the throne. If they even got engaged they would have to announce it. Then there's every tradition the royal family had for the wedding and marriage. The only thing she could think that Elphie wouldn't be upset about was the fact that she couldn't be involved in any other politics besides the castle. Other then that, everything was going to be incredibly stressful just for them to be together at all.

"I don't know, Crope. Elphie and I just started this.. how could she possibly know if she wanted to marry me?" By now they had started their walk back toward the dining room for breakfast. Glinda's stomach was churning from having to see Elphaba after everything that had happened. And to make things worse she would have to push back dinner to make the announcement about Animal Marriage.

"You know," Crope stated confidentially.

"What?" Glinda furrowed her brow.

"You know that you want to marry Elphaba." Crope restated and Glinda only tilted her eyebrows more, "You haven't said once that you don't know if you want to marry her. Everything you've said has been about whether she would. You love her, I know."

Before Glinda could respond, they turned the corner for breakfast and everyone looked up when they walked in. The group had already started eating and today they had green pancakes set out for them, which made Glinda giggle, despite everything. "Hey, did everything go okay? You guys have been gone awhile." Tibbett said as he grabbed the syrup.

Crope and Glinda exchange nervous looks, "Yeah." Crope said for her, "In fact, we need to celebrate because starting this evening, Animal Marriage will be legal in all of Oz." He announced as he pat Glinda on the back. Glinda couldn't help her grimace. She didn't want to celebrate. She didn't even want to eat. As amazing as the morning with Elphie had been, she couldn't get over everything that had just been pushed onto her shoulders. She felt like she had to carry the entire world on her shoulders and now they were dragging the one person who could make her feel weightless into it.

Glinda sat down as soon as she could and In all the nervousness and worry she hadn't even looked at Elphie. Luckily, Elphie didn't seem to mind because as she sat down, Elphie linked their pinkies and hooked Glinda's attention. Glinda looked up at her and smiled, "Hey, congratulations." She said, her voice soft and sweet as ever.

"Thank you," Glinda whispered with a smile, their eyes meeting for a moment between them.

"Is there something that we don't know?" Boq asked, giving a little wink to Glinda as he said it.

Glinda rolled her eyes and giggled at the same time, "You all should be the first to know." She said, glancing at Elphaba. Elphaba bit her lip softly and nodded, as if to give Glinda permission, "Elphie and I are courting." She giggled softly when Elphie rolled her eyes at the world courting. It was so old fashioned, but Glinda couldn't help liking it just a bit.

"Thank the Unnamed God," Crope said, pretending he didn't already know and rubbing Glinda's shoulder in congratulations.

"Finally." Tibbett grinned at them both.

"Congrats, you two. I'm happy for you both!" Boq chanted and Glinda blushed.

After breakfast, everyone separated and as much as Glinda hated it, she had to leave Elphie alone to do more work. Between her and Crope they filed all of the paperwork they had to for Animal Marriage Rights and after they were done everything they had to, they talked about the Marriage Act again. There was no way out of it. Glinda either had to work out a way to get engaged by next Lurlinemas or give up her title as Queen; but in her mind, neither of those were acceptable options. The last thing she wanted to do was rush her relationship with Elphie. After all it took her years just to get this far. Crope was right though. She might not have wanted to rush her relationship with Elphie, but it was never about marriage. Glinda had always wanted to get married and Elphie was perfect. Glinda never questioned her wanting to marry Elphie, it was about how Elphie would feel about all of this. And as the hours drew closer to the time of their date, Glinda grew more anxious. They hadn't found a single way to get out of the situation, she was stuck. This was the first time Glinda was thinking about exactly what baggage was coming with her into their relationship. She wondered if Elphie could take it all without running away.

Glinda made quick work of her speech to the public. Over the years, she had gotten used to public speaking and she was comfortable doing so. The crowd only needed to know what was important and that was the fact that the Animal Marriage law was being in the process of ratification. Other than that, news for Oz was rather dull. She had nothing more to say, so she kept it short and sweet and to the point. She took no questions from the public and quickly went inside to get ready for her date. Or well, getting ready wasn't exactly too hard for her anymore. She had simple spells for all of her accessories and makeup. She had picked out a beautiful blue dress that looked absolutely breathtaking against the riverfront background. It was her favorite after all.

The closer Glinda got to the riverfront though, the more her heart began to pound. Her hands were sweating and she couldn't stop biting her lip. She was more nervous than she had been for her crowning. Once she had gotten to the restaurant, she stayed outside and leaned on the grey railing overlooking the river. At night with the moon casting down on it was beautiful. Glinda had always loved coming to spend evenings there with the smell of salt in the cool air. She loved the ships passing in the night and the reflection of the night sky in the waters. In all of her years of stress, this was where she came to calm down. Watching the water his the riverbank always gave her peace. Even now, in her more stressful moments as Queen, the cold air gave her a chance to breathe.

"Hey, Beautiful." Glinda nearly jumped when Elphie spoke, as if Glinda wasn't waiting for her already. Once Glinda registered that she'd been called beautiful though, a blush quickly spread over her pale skin.

"You're the one who's beautiful," Glinda couldn't help herself when she approached Elphie and pulled her in. Elphaba was wearing the most beautiful dress Glinda had ever seen her in. It was still black, but it was strapless and showed off all of Elphie's curves. Glinda pulled her in by the hem of the dress and planted a short kiss on Elphie's lips. She'd wanted to do it all day and she was more than lucky that there weren't any press around to catch it. Though the staff of her favorite restaurant had gotten pretty good at keeping them away. It was the only way to secure Glinda's continual business, that they eventually used to boost the popularity of the quaint eatery with interviews about her eating there. Sometimes being Queen was hard, but everyone knew Glinda wouldn't change it for the world. It was worth it to see young Animals in schools again. It was worth it to see all of the changes she had made and how she had influenced Oz. She loved it despite all of the stress and everyone could tell by the smile that brightened the world when she spoke.

When Glinda finally managed to break the kiss, she looked up into Elphie's eyes and watched the way they shimmered against the water. Elphie smiled down at her and bit her lip, "Wow," she mumbled, breathlessly. Glinda only giggled and took her hand as they walked into the eatery. As she did, she could only wish that she didn't feel the immediate ping in her stomach, as if she was lying to Elphaba already. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't ruin this after it only just begun.

In the eatery they sat at a private table and ordered their food, still giggling and carrying on together. Glinda didn't think she'd ever seen Elphie smile so much or if she did, Glinda never got the chance to admire it. Elphaba was absolutely gorgeous and Glinda couldn't help but stare. She hardly noticed when their food arrived at the table. Elphie had to point it out for her. "Is everything alright?" Elphie finally asked as Glinda stared off into the space behind Elphie's shoulder, "I'm having a lovely time and everything, but you seem like you have something on your mind."

Glinda cleared her throat and shook her head, "I'm sorry. Royalty and everything." She mumbled.

"Glinda, if we're gonna do this, I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me," Elphie said, reaching her hand on and taking ahold of Glinda's from across the table. Glinda finally gave her full attention then, their eyes meeting, "You can tell me anything."

Glinda bit her lip and looked down briefly, then back into Elphaba's gaze, "You're right." She mumbled. Her stomach churned at the thought of telling Elphie everything. It was all too much, too fast. She couldn't keep it a secret forever, but why did it have to ruin their first date? Glinda swallowed the lump in her throat, "I don't want to freak you out."

Elphie smiled gently to her and squeezed her hand, "I'm not going anywhere, I promise." The promise made Glinda's stomach do flips.

Glinda rubbed the back of Elphie's hand with her thumb, "I hope you never do." She smiled, "but if we're going to be courting, the whole Queen thing is always going to be in the way." She took a deep breath, "It kind of, always does."

Elphie shrugged and shook her head as she took another bite of her salad, "Being Queen is a part of who you are, Glinda. Whatever that includes, I'm in it for the long haul."

Glinda couldn't help but feel like Elphaba had all of the right things to say. Glinda swallowed, "We'll have to announce our courting, at some point, to the public." She said, "And that means the public will be all over it. You'll have to put up with being recognized in public…"

"I think I'm already recognized in public," Elphie said, referencing the emerald of her skin and Glinda laughed.

"People will ask you questions about… well, everything. The council has rules and Oz has traditions about royal courting…" The whole speech made her voice shake. Elphie only held her hand tighter, "They won't want you involved in politics outside of the castle." She said the easiest one first and Elphie only nodded, "You'll have to talk to Crope about how to talk to the public. What you should and shouldn't say, I guess." It was only getting harder to speak, "There's a lot more, but I don't want to freak you out and I'm only telling you because I don't want you to be blindsided in all of this." She was speaking faster now as she scratched at the insides of her wrist.

"Hey, hey, hey," Elphie said, squeezing her hand to get Glinda's attention again. Glinda looked up, a worried glint in her eye, "What did I say? I know what protocol is Glinda. I've heard about it before. I lived in Oz my whole life remember? It might have been all the way out in Munchkinland, but I had to learn a lot of this when my grandfather wanted me to be the Eminent." She reassured her, "I know that politics is involved in all of this, but trust me, you're worth every part of it. I can't promise I'm very good at keeping myself in check sometimes. I can't always help it, but I know you're doing your best and it's not like you're the wizard. You'd never do anything he did. I will learn what to do and we'll get through it together. I promise."

Glinda was still antsy, but a bit calmer now. The majority of the storm was over. She had time to tell Elphaba the truth about everything and hopefully, when they announced their courting, the council would be less aggravated. After all, Elphaba was a solid candidate that the council would approve of. She was the Third Thropp Descending. She was kind and overall she had a good profile in Emerald City. Elphaba was also someone who had always been able to calm her nerves, "I really like you, Elphie. I couldn't even tell you for how long I've liked you."

Elphaba bit her lip and smiled, a blush covering her green skin, "I really like you, Glinda. I want you to be able to talk to me though, alright? I don't want you to be worried about telling me anything. I want our relationship to help you relax. You need to have time to relax. Trust me, alright? You're worth all of this. I promise."

Glinda tried not to blush as she smiled. Elphaba could've sworn her smile lit up the room. Before either of them knew it, they had finished dinner and dessert and they were walking along the riverside, taking the back way back to the castle. They walked hand in hand, laughing over the smallest remarks and blushing every few minutes. Glinda could feel the muscles in her face becoming sore from laughing so much. In the few hours she had spent with Elphaba, even with the worries she had on her mind, she felt more relaxed than she had ever in her life. Elphaba walked her all the way to her room and they stood on the outside of Glinda's door, just across the hall from Elphaba's. "You know, you don't have to go back to your room," Glinda told her as she played with the hem of Elphie's dress. Elphaba had her pressed against the wall next to her door.

Elphaba leaned in and let herself kiss Glinda, feeling the softness of their lips together. She closed her eyes and let her hands fall onto Glinda's waist. Neither of them would ever get tired of being able to kiss like this. Elphaba had never felt so much love and heat in her entire life. Then, just as quickly, she pulled away and pressed her forehead against Glinda's, "I want to come in with you, I do." She whispered.

"Do it," Glinda whispered back, lacing her arms around Elphie's neck.

Elphaba took a deep breath, then backed up away from Glinda's grip, "I can't."

"Yes, you can." Glinda smiled by playing devil's advocate.

"No," Elphie smiled back, "I can't. I want to do this right, baby." Glinda bit her lip at the nickname, "That means, going slow." She kissed Glinda, "We'll get there, I promise."

Glinda sighed with a smile never leaving her lips, "You're right." She kissed Elphaba again, this time long and hard leaving them both breathless. Once she had Elphaba, nearly pinning her to the wall, she backed away, "Goodnight, baby." She whispered, happy with the way she had teased her girlfriend.

Elphie shook her head, rolled her eyes, and bit her lip. She backed away and had to bring herself back into control, "Goodnight, Glinda."