AN: Sorry it took another while, but here's the next one! Although I doubt if it will make you happy...

Musicgal, thanks so much for the big hug :). And yeah... I just had to bring that back - it was my favourite line from Yero My Hero back then ^_^.

Chapter 10. Promises Broken

'Now,' Sortres said in a sickeningly sweet voice, pressing his blade against Elyssah's throat. 'Unless you want your little darling princess to get hurt, I suggest you, Princess Elphaba, come with me; and you, Prince Fiyero… well, you'd better go and find yourself a new wife and kid.'

Fiyero's hand immediately went to his sword again. 'Over my dead body,' he growled, but Sortres just smirked. 'That can be arranged.'

'Sor…' Graydon tried desperately. 'Please think about this.'

'Think about what?' The older man turned towards his brother with a sneer. 'You, my little darling brother, are weak. I thought you would do anything for your family, but unfortunately, it seems like I underestimated you.' He trailed the tip of his knife along Elyssah's cheek without actually putting pressure on it – yet. 'I think you need some more convincing, Graydon.'

His eyes bored into his brother's. 'Tell me, brother – if I killed your wife, would you do as I told you? Surely you wouldn't want your daughter to have to grow up as an orphan, would you?'

Graydon's face was ashen now. 'Please don't,' he begged, and Sortres grinned at him. 'I knew we understood each other.'

Suddenly, he pushed Elyssah towards his brother. In a reflex, Graydon caught her and held on to her.

'Now,' Sortres said in a low voice. 'Keep that girl here, or I will carry out my threat. I can promise you that… and we both know that I always keep my promises, don't we?' He cackled and handed Graydon his knife. 'Keep her there,' he ordered. 'If either Fiyero or Elphaba tries something, don't hesitate to hurt the girl.'

Suddenly, Fiyero was grabbed from behind. He yelped and tried to wrench himself free, but two of Sortres' men had taken his arms and were forcing him to the ground right now. Elphaba's eyes flamed as she looked at Sortres, and when she raised her arms, green sparks were flying back and forth between her fingertips. 'Let them go!'

Sortres' face darkened. 'I wouldn't try your magic on me, you little witch,' he snarled. 'Unless you want your daughter to get hurt. Graydon?'

He shot one look in his brother's direction, and Graydon swallowed, then put just the tiniest bit more pressure on the knife. A small drop of blood trickled down Elyssah's cheek, and the girl choked on a sob. Graydon almost couldn't bear it – it was the most heartbreaking sound he had ever heard, except perhaps for the cry that escaped Elphaba's lips after that.

'No!' Her eyes were wide and her face was pale as she slowly lowered her hands, the sparks fading. 'Don't hurt her,' she begged Sortres, almost in tears. 'Please.'

Sortres grinned. 'See? Much better.'

He circled Elphaba like a predator circling its prey, studying her, trailing a second knife along her jaw, down her neck and her arm, and to her side. 'I knew I could get you to listen to me.'

She resisted the urge to spit into his face and he chuckled softly, then whirled around abruptly to face Fiyero. 'Now,' he said in a dangerously low voice. 'Get out of here, Prince Fiyero, or I'm afraid I'm going to have to order my men to get rid of you some other way.'

'Why didn't you already?' Fiyero spat, and Sortres cast his eyes heavenward. 'Do you want me to?' he asked in a bored voice. He kneeled down next to Fiyero, tilting up the prince's chin and examining his face. 'You know,' he said in a tone that implied he was just having a casual conversation with someone. 'Despite what you might believe, I am not a psychopath. I don't enjoy murdering people. In fact, if I can avoid it, I do.' He stared at Fiyero intently. 'But I won't hesitate to kill someone if that is necessary for my cause.'

Fiyero, apparently feeling the same urge Elphaba had only moments before, threw back his head and spat into Sortres' face. Sortres' eyes darkened. 'Careful, Your Highness,' he hissed. 'I am very close to deciding that your death is necessary for my cause.'

Elphaba grabbed his arm. 'Let me talk to him,' she pleaded softly. 'I can convince him to go.'

Sortres shook her off and made a vague hand gesture. 'Go ahead,' he said. He indicated Elyssah, who was still trembling in Graydon's grip, a knife pressed against the side of her face. 'But you know that if you try something, your little one will lose an eye.'

Elphaba swallowed, but nodded. The two men holding Fiyero down pulled him up, so that she could look into his eyes. 'Yero…'

'I'm not leaving you here,' he declared hotly. 'Either of you. So you might as well stop trying.'

'Do you want Elyssah to die?' she whispered harshly, but he shook his head stubbornly. 'They wouldn't kill her,' he said confidently. 'They need her for their evil plans involving both your powers.'

'Well, then do you want to die?' she snapped at him. He shook his head again. 'I'm not leaving-'

'Do you want Elyssah to have to grow up without her father?'

That shut him up. For a moment, at least. 'But-'

'Do you want your parents to lose their only son?'

'Fae, my parents-'

'Do you want me to have to go on without you?' She looked into his eyes. 'Because you know I can't. I can't do this without you, Yero. You have to go.'

He softened, but he remained stubborn. 'Fae, I can't just-'

'Fiyero!' she practically yelled at him. He fell silent, and she caught his gaze and held it. 'You're no good to anyone dead,' she said, and he let his head hang.

'I know,' he muttered. 'But…'

'I know, Yero my hero,' she said softly, brushing his hair away from his face and kissing his forehead. She cradled his face into her hands and looked into his eyes. 'We'll be fine,' she promised him quietly. 'I will take care of Elyssah, a chroí. One way or another, I'll find a way to get us out of here… but I need you to stay alive. For Elyssah. For me. Okay?'

He bit his bottom lip until he tasted blood, but she kept on looking at him until he gave a small nod. 'Okay,' he conceded reluctantly, and he closed his eyes as she kissed his lips. 'Thank you.'

'Take him away,' Sortres ordered his men. 'Escort him to the nearest City, then come back. We have what we need now – there's no need for us to stay in the Vinkus, so we're leaving as soon as you two get back.'

'Leaving?' Fiyero protested, starting to struggle again. 'Where are you taking them?'

Sortres eyed him coolly. 'There's absolutely no need for you to know that, Your Highness,' he said with a sneer. 'Now if you'll excuse me.' He turned back towards Graydon. 'You're coming with us.'

Graydon looked at his brother pleadingly. 'But… my family…'

Sortres waved him away. 'You're not thinking I'm going to let them go, are you?' he said contemptuously, a cruel smile playing around his lips. 'No way, little brother. They're my only leverage to make sure you won't turn against me, and I'm planning on making good use of that.'

The anger radiating from Elphaba was almost palpable. 'You filthy pig,' she said in a low voice, trembling with rage.

Sortres turned around. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard me.' She locked eyes with him – his gaze cool, hers dangerous. 'You promised your brother that you'd let his family go if he helped you.'

'If he helped me, yes,' Sortres sneered. 'But he didn't, remember? He tried to let all three of you get away!'

'He hurt my daughter because of you!' Elphaba shouted at him, gesturing wildly. Sparks flew off her fingers again and Sortres eyed them in interest. 'Ah, there's the magic,' he whispered greedily. 'I knew it. You're going to be of good use to me, Elphaba. With power like that…'

Her eyes flashed, and he sighed, apparently tired of this conversation. 'Elphaba,' he said curtly. 'When I said I always keep my promises, I wasn't serious. Where we're from, promises don't mean a thing. Get used to it.'

He eyed her up and down for a moment curiously. 'Why do you people feel so much?' he asked, genuinely curious about that. 'Why do you allow yourselves to care about one another this much? It's bad enough that you feel that way about your family… but why would you,' he pointed at Elphaba, 'care about me breaking a promise I made to Graydon?'

'Because I'm human,' she snapped back at him. 'And some people around here do have feelings.'

'Yes.' Sortres studied his brother, then the agitated green girl in front of him. 'Some people do.'

A malicious grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. 'That's it, isn't it?' he asked her. 'You're identifying yourself with him.' He nodded towards Graydon. 'You both have a family, a little girl to keep safe. Did the two of you bond while he was keeping you here? Did he tell you his sad life story – the story about poor little orphan Graydon, who found himself a family and only kidnapped you because he needed money to save his daughter? Who didn't know anything about his older brother's evil plans?'

Elphaba's silence was enough, and he sneered. 'Ha. That's what I thought.' He glared at Graydon. 'You're predictable, brother. Pathetic and predictable.'

Elphaba flared up. 'He is not pathetic!' she hissed. 'If anyone around here is pathetic, it's you, Sortres!'

'So then you thought,' Sortres continued, ignoring the princess, 'you thought that now I have your family, the least you could do is make sure his family is safe. Because you both have partners and little girls, and you feel bad for Graydon and his family, so you want his family to be safe, because you couldn't protect your own. Is that right?'

Something flickered in Elphaba's eyes, but she didn't say anything. He was right, after all. She hadn't been able to protect Elyssah and Fiyero – again.

'She did the best she could to protect us,' Fiyero told Sortres, getting all worked up himself now. 'She's not to blame for anything, you are! Wait until I get free, then I will-'

'Oh, shut up, will you?' Sortres snapped at him. 'You have no right to speak at all, Prince Fiyero. Aren't you the man of the family? If anyone was supposed to keep your wife and daughter safe, wouldn't it have been you? Well, allow me to assure you that you failed. Big time. Because I'm going to take them both, and you can spend the rest of your life feeling guilty as you mull over the fact that you couldn't save them.'

With an almost animalistic growl, Elphaba jumped onto Sortres' back, locking her arms around his neck and hanging onto it with all her weight. He struggled weakly to get her off of him, but her grip was iron and he couldn't shake her off right away.

Graydon, Fiyero, and all Sortres' men watched with their mouths wide open as the raven-haired witch tried to strangle the man that had kidnapped her daughter. 'I hate you!' she hissed into his ear. 'And even if I don't succeed now, I promise you that one day, one way or another, I'm going to bring you down! Do you hear me?'

Sortres clenched his teeth as his fingers found his knife, which he had put back into the pocket of his coat. 'I hear you,' he growled, then plunged the knife backwards, into the green girl's stomach.

Immediately, her grip loosened, and he yanked back his knife as she fell onto the floor, gasping for breath as her own blood trickled from between her fingers, staining her dress and the floor beneath her.

'Elphaba!' The scream from Fiyero's lips was bloodcurdling, but before he could move, one of the men slammed the prince's head into the wall, effectively knocking him out. Elyssah was crying, and Graydon's face had turned ashen. 'Sortres…'

'Take him away!' Sortres shouted at his men. 'For Oz's sake, take that despicable prince away or I'm going to strangle him with my bare hands!' Then he looked down at Elphaba, who was still curled up on the floor, wheezing for air. 'Now look at what you've done,' he said to her, nudging her with his foot. 'Why couldn't you just listen to me?'

'Sortres,' Graydon tried, 'you can't possibly-'

'Shut up, Graydon.' Sortres stepped over Elphaba's now limp body and watched as his men took Fiyero away. Then he turned back to look at the terrified little girl Graydon was still holding.

'You see now what happens when you love someone?' he asked Elyssah. 'You get either them or yourself killed. Little bit of advice to you, kid: it's better to be independent and alone. You have less to lose.'

The girl sniffled slightly, and when she looked up at Sortres, her bright blue eyes were filled with tears; but he was slightly stunned to see a strength in there that he hadn't expected to see in any five-year-old. His eyes flickered towards the unmoving green girl on the floor for a moment before coming back up to look at Elyssah. She was her mother's daughter, alright.

'You're wrong,' the tiny princess said now, looking up at Sortres, obviously scared and sad, yet unwavering. 'Mommy says that love is the best thing in the world.'

Sorters snorted a laugh and nudged Elphaba again, as if to make a point. 'And look where it got her.'

Elyssah didn't say anything. Sortres examined the green girl at his feet for a moment and grimaced. 'I hope I haven't hit any vital organs,' he grunted, 'or this has all been for nothing. Oz dammit, why did you have to attack me?' he asked Elphaba irritably. 'I wouldn't have had to do this if you hadn't.'

She didn't respond, of course. Sortres wasn't sure if she was unconscious or dead. He hoped the former, or her magic powers would be lost to him forever.

Graydon could feel the little girl shaking, and he made a decision. 'Elyssah,' he whispered, so quietly that Sortres couldn't hear me. 'As soon as you're alone with Sortres, I want you to tell him you need to go to the bathroom.'

She looked up at him with a tear-stained face. 'But I don't have to go to the-'

'Ssh.' He squeezed her arm softly. 'The window in the bathroom is small,' he whispered, 'but it's big enough for you to fit through. Get out of here. Run as fast as you can. Try to find your Daddy. Okay?'

She looked at him with wide eyes, but nodded, and he flashed her a quick smile. 'Good girl.' Then he turned towards Sortres. 'Sor?' he asked. 'Why don't you let me see what I can do for Elphaba? You know I have some medical experience…'

As he had hoped, his brother nodded brusquely. 'Fine,' he said. 'I'll just take this little brat to the kitchen then.' He grinned at her. 'Are you hungry, darling? I could fix you a snack.'

The girl crossed her arms and huffed. 'I'm not your darling.'

Sortres' face darkened. 'Just come with me already,' he snapped, taking Elyssah's arm and pulling her with him.

Graydon gently lifted Elphaba into his arms and looked down at her face. 'I'm sorry,' he whispered to her, because he knew Sortres hadn't been the only one to break his promises tonight.

He moved her into the bedroom, where he carefully placed her on the bed. He went to find the first aid kit he knew to be in one of the cupboards in the bathroom and cut open part of Elphaba's dress to see how much damage his brother had done. At least she was breathing, he noted, which was good, though it was faint and irregular. He cursed his brother under his breath.

It had been about ten minutes before he suddenly heard a frustrated shriek. Moments later, Sortres stormed into the room, his face murderous. 'She's gone!' he screeched at his brother. 'Oz dammit, the little brat is gone!'

Graydon had to suppress a triumphant grin.