Chapter 21
A/N Here is the last one before I leave. Hopefully, I'll be able to post soon. I hope you all still like where I'm going.
Thank you for reading and even more for reviewing!
Liir had promised his son he'd make an effort. He had promised he'd try to get to know his apparent future daughter-in-law. He wondered if she knew anything about all of Fiyero's plans because the way he'd phrased some of his answers made the King think she did not. That little notion interested him. Any girlfriend of Fiyero he'd ever met was interested in more than just his son. They were interested in his parents, his castle, his country. His money, his lifestyle, his power. A marriage to a future king appealed to them. Even Glinda, though lovely, was no exception. She had cared for the Prince, Liir had no doubt, but she'd also cared for the picture. The image.
That wasn't criticism, as far as Liir was concerned. He was a King after all, and as such he himself was always concerned with the picture, the image. He understood nothing better than the need to create, maintain and protect one. His wife respected but didn't share that need. His son, as it turned out, really didn't care about it. Up until a few days ago, Liir had been nearly convinced that Fiyero was, finally, starting to see and care about his future as a ruler. Now, he was forced to accept that it had all been fake. An image. A good one, a convincing one, but not one Fiyero was interesting in holding onto.
It made the King, in a strange way, proud.
It also angered him. And it made him reluctant to meet the woman who was the cause of it all.
His wife, however, wanted nothing more.
"Don't you see that it's the only way of understanding our son?"
Raina was used to having to placate her husband. He had a temper and no patience and in matters such as this, he needed his hand held. Not that she'd every phrase it that way around him. It would take just a little bit of time, though.
"That may very well be true, but it does not change the fact that I'm not looking forward to it."
She stepped forward and touched his arm.
"Darling. Really. I must admit it's...well...I understand your reluctance. But I want to know what happened and, honestly, she did not seem that bad. The skin is..well...strange. But aside from that...what do we really know about her?"
His face showed incredulity as he turned to her.
"That she's Wicked Witch of the West! Or was, anyway. No, she still is! The only thing that's changed is that she lives in my library now!"
Raina chuckled at that and Liir could see, as always when she did that, how much Fiyero took after his mother.
"Darling. Really. I don't believe that. As I've said; She's a little peculiar, but I don't think there's any more evil in her than there is in you or me."
He was serious though, even if his wife wasn't.
"How do you know that? You've spoken to her once!"
"Precisely. That's what I want to change. And I will. If our son would ever let anyone near her, that is."
The King shook his head at that, disapproval radiating off him.
"He is ridiculously protective of that woman."
Raina just nodded.
"That's exactly what makes me so curious."
Liir looked at his wife and grumbled.
"Fine. You go first."
"It's not a dare, dearest."
"I'm making it one. You first. I'll get Fiyero out of that room."
"Alright. Though I think you're greatly overreacting to this girl."
"We'll see. Shall we do it now?"
Raina fought hard to suppress laughter.
"Yes, by all means. We must not waste any time."
Her husband glared at her as he moved towards the door.
"Yes, you think it's funny now. Just wait till we have to explain to our eldest daughter that she'll have to be Queen because her brother abdicated to live in hiding with the Wicked Witch of the West."
Even Liir couldn't stop a smirk as he heard his own words.
"Wait till we have to do the press conference."
They both laughed at that because there was no other option, but sobered too quickly. Absurd as it was, it was real and it made their lives infinitely more complicated.
She found her in the library.
She seemed small, curled up on the spacious sofa. She was wearing a long black dress with little buttons, her hair was in a braid and a pair of glasses was perched on her nose.
A slip of a girl.
It was difficult to see this thin and quiet woman and accept she was both the infamous witch and the woman her son wanted to marry.
She did not seem suited for either.
Not for the role of the Wicked Witch that all Ozians feared, because she'd been with them for a few days now and not once had she made herself heard. She didn't talk to anybody but Fiyero, but she even seemed to leave him alone. He always went to find her.
She didn't complain, though Raina could see how uncomfortable all the attention made her and she didn't seem to do anything other than read. Fiyero brought her food and spent most of his time in that same room with her. She didn't act like a dangerous terrorist, who would kill without hesitation, nor did she look like one, but Raina supposed she wouldn't be able to say what a terrorist did look like.
She could say without a moment's hesitation that she didn't look like the woman her son would marry either. Not even taking into account her strange green skin; In her black cotton dress and inelegant boots, her hair in a braid or tied back into a knot and small glasses that still looked big on her thin face, she didn't look like the type of woman her son would ever fall for. She was obviously clever and presumably powerful but she was also quiet and withdrawn. She spoke in a clear voice but more often than not it was laced with sarcasm. There was nothing light-hearted or joyful about her. She was surly, intense and introverted. And though she seemed to definitely care for Fiyero, even around him she was guarded and careful.
She hadn't spoken to the young woman all that much but she'd been witness to some moments the two of them spent together and Raina had wondered what it had been about this girl that had made her son fall so deeply in love.
Because neither she nor her husband could deny any longer that their son was, irrefutably, in love with the green girl. Everything in his demeanor pointed it out. Even the way he said her name in frustration and annoyance held love and affection. And it wasn't just that he loved her; he was loyal, fiercely protective and fully committed.
How on earth had that happened? Who was this man that looked like her son and when had he become like this? Raina wanted to know. She wanted to understand.
So here she was, ready for a confrontation. She decided to not beat around the bush. She didn't know much about the green woman, but she didn't seem like the type that liked things sugar-coated.
"So, Elphaba." She took a seat at the other end of the sofa.
"I think it is time you told me what happened."
The younger woman looked up from her book, but didn't seem very surprised at her presence. Though, Raina reminded herself, living as a fugitive probably fine-tuned many skills.
"I was shot. Your son insisted we come here."
There was that peculiar tone of voice again. Curious, distrustful, daring and slightly patronizing all at the same time.
Raina decided to bring out equal weaponry. It was only fair.
"Yes. And seeing as how you are the Wicked Witch of the West, I can see how you came to be shot. My question is how did you become the Wicked Witch?"
If the Queen's tone surprised Elphaba, she didn't show it. She put her book down on her lap and took her glasses off.
"It's a long story. Or, maybe not that long, but a complicated one, and not one that is likely to be believed."
She was clearly unwilling to have this conversation. As she seemed unwilling to have any sort of conversation at all, with anyone.
That was too bad, really, for Raina did not intend to let it go.
"Well, you're still here, aren't you? We haven't turned you in, or alerted anyone to your presence. Now, this is mainly because Fiyero is adamant that he loves you and although I believe him, I can't say I understand how that came to be. So, I would like to hear your story, and seeing as how I am expected to accept the Wicked Witch of the West as my daughter-in-law, I think I have the right to hear it."
This time, there was surprise clear on her face. Elphaba knew it showed.
"I suppose."
She squirmed in her seat a little, moving her leg slightly. She was uncomfortable here, in this palace, with these people, even if she felt better physically. She'd hid in the King's private library for the most part. It was a room people were not allowed to enter without permission from the King and since she was currently hiding in it, nobody was being granted that permission. So she was healing, eating proper food and she was surrounded by books she could only ever have dreamed of. It could have been much worse.
She was going mad.
She just wasn't made for this, and she'd realized too late that, in bringing her here, Fiyero had outsmarted her. She couldn't just up and leave. Too many people would notice. There were guards all around and Fiyero was with her all the time. His parents hovered and that damn Drakin person kept insisting on checking up on her.
She was tired of being cooped up here, but she was also aware of the fact that for the first time in years, her body felt something akin to healthy. Drakin had told her, in a sparse moment of quiet sympathy for her restlessness, that she'd neglected her body for too long and that, if she were really as powerful and smart as they said, she'd take this opportunity to give it what it needed. She'd told him that her body had worked just fine all these years, thank you, and that he should feel free to mind his own business. He'd frowned at her and told her that while she was here, she might read up on etiquette.
And now, the Queen had obviously decided it was time to talk and it was the damnedest thing that she respected the woman too much to refuse. Fiyero's mother was...well...like Fiyero; She didn't try to be subtle. She didn't try to flatter her, and she wasn't in the least bit afraid. If the circumstances had been different, if her life had been more normal...if she had been more normal and she'd been brought here as a friend of Fiyero...
"I have...powers." She looked up from whatever on her dress had been interesting. She appeared so calm, but looks could be deceiving and Raina could see her hands twitch.
"I've always had them, but it wasn't until I got to Shiz that I realized what it was and what I could do. Morrible told me I could become somebody great. That I would be making good. She lured me in with the promise of meeting the wizard. I did. Unfortunately, it turned out there was nothing wonderful about him."
She spoke the words without much emotion but the bitterness came through in that final sentence. Before the older woman could say anything, though, she'd moved on.
"I have opinions. I express them too often and too loud, or so my father would tell me, so when I found out the Wizard was behind the Animal bans, I took the Grimmerie and ran. He didn't like it, because next thing I knew, I was The Wicked Witch and hunted by the Gale Force. I went into hiding and stayed that way. Fiyero found me and he came with me." She paused for a second, then added: "Voluntarily."
Raina nearly smiled at that. She didn't doubt that part. Although she could see now that the green woman expected her to.
"I see."
"You don't have to believe me."
There was belligerence in her voice now. It made her more human, somehow. More vulnerable. She pretended very hard not to care what other people thought, but she did.
"Who says I don't?"
She didn't even blink.
"Why would you?"
"Fiyero does."
She hit a tender spot there, because Elphaba dropped her gaze and plucked at her dress. Raina was glad to see it.
"Yes. Well...Fiyero...Fiyero doesn't know what's good for him."
"I used to think that."
Elphaba looked back up.
"That changed?"
It was a genuine question.
"When he started doing better at school, graduated, joined the Gale Force. I always figured it must have been Glinda's influence. Now I know better. What I still don't know is how that happened?"
The girl's brow furrowed, truly puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that last I heard, he was getting ready to marry Glinda."
At the blonde's name, the gaze dropped again, but for a different reason and her voice lacked power in her next sentence.
"Last I heard he was too."
She looked back up but her gaze was haunted by guilt.
"Now, he is telling me that it was you he loved all along. How did that happen?"
"I think you're better off asking Fiyero. He's the one that found me."
She was drawing back into her shell again. Perhaps she should not have mentioned Glinda.
"Yes, but you're together now. I assume that means you felt for him what he claims to have felt for you all this time."
She blushed at that and the Queen was surprised to see it. She seemed incredibly young all of a sudden.
"We'll try it this way: how did you two meet? I understand you were at Shiz together, which I suppose explains his desire to stay there and the subsequent rise of his grades."
"His carriage ran me over."
Raina did a double-take.
"I beg your pardon?"
"His carriage. He was sleeping in the back. I was walking down the road, reading. He ran me over."
Of course. The Queen shook her head. Of course.
"I can't say I'm shocked. So how did you go to friendship from that?"
"Well, I was room mates with Glinda, and he was her boyfriend, so we became friends by default, I suppose. Or...well...we were forced to tolerate each other."
"You were Glinda's room mate? I never knew...though I suppose that makes sense now. So how did you go from mere tolerance to where you are now?"
"Honestly. You should ask Fiyero."
"But I am asking you."
"But I don't know how he..."
The girl just didn't get it. It was almost as if she didn't know how to have a conversation.
"How did you?"
Elphaba sighed. In desperation and annoyance and shame. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to have this conversation with Fiyero's mother, but she knew this was all part of the test. The woman was testing her, and she was right to do so. It wasn't about her as an enemy of Oz any longer. It was about her relationship with Fiyero. This was about her intentions.
Oz, she'd never thought she'd ever have to deal with in-laws.
Alright. Like a band-aid.
"He stole a Lion cub."
"What?"
"They came to class one day. Life Sciences. They dragged off our professor, a Goat. A brilliant one. They brought in a cage. It had a Lion cub in it and they had this speech about how cages would become more of an occurrence and how the world would benefit because Animals would never learn how to speak."
She shook her head again, in denial, at the memory. The old anger not yet faded and flaring up.
"I was...I got angry. I did something to the class..."
"With your magic?"
"Yes. Nothing too harmful, but nothing good either. I've always had trouble controlling my emotions. Before I knew it, Fiyero had taken the cub and told me to follow him."
Again, she felt the wonder she'd felt back then at his action.
"It was the first time anyone had done something like that for me."
"Stolen a Lion Cub?"
"Helped me."
Raina was quiet at that. It was a painful admission to make, for sure, but not any less painful to hear. Elphaba didn't seem to notice her hesitation. Or her sympathy.
"Anyway. We set it free and he went back to his life. Or at least, I thought he did. But..."
The older woman kept quiet, waiting for the younger one to gather the courage to say what she was going to say. Elphaba took a deep breath and looked the Queen straight in the eye.
"Everything changed. For me. I...I just wasn't the same."
Elphaba knew she'd said too much. Never before had she shared that much of herself. Not until Fiyero.
She was uncomfortable now, even more so than before. She could feel the sharp edges of panic seeping into her.
As always it seemed, she was saved by Fiyero. Accidentally on purpose, he'd overheard the last bit on his way in and, not really all that surprised to find his mother in the library, he'd waited to enter till the conversation seemed at an end. He came walking into the room, carrying medicine and lunch. Knowing Elphaba would need it, he made light of the situation.
"I was never the same either, you know. Turned completely upside down and inside out. With one touch."
The green woman rolled her eyes.
"Sure you were."
"I was!"
Only a snort from the girl, as the Prince made his way over to the sofa, moved her feet up and sat down next to her, putting her legs back down over his, as he reached for a plate and handed it to her.
"Brain food."
"Then why are you eating?"
Raina couldn't make herself move. She needed to see this. This banter, this obviously much rehearsed dialogue.
"You're funny too. I didn't know that."
He handed her a small cup with medicine first, and held a mug in the other. She reached for the mug, but he held it higher, just out of her reach.
"Take that and I'll reward you with this coffee."
She pouted at that. She actually pouted. It made her seem so human.
"You don't play fair, Tiggular."
There was more lightness in her now than she'd displayed so far. Or maybe Raina hadn't been looking.
"It's my only chance of winning. Now, be a good girl."
A snort again.
"And don't try to be funny again, now. The only thing it'll get you is cold coffee."
Raina watched as the girl gave in and took the medicine. Fiyero handed her her coffee, but only after making her reach for it a few times. He grinned and made to hand it to her, but as she leaned forward to take it from him, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She blushed furiously and pulled back as she threw a glance at Raina still sitting there.
The latter took this as her cue and got up.
"I'll leave you two alone, shall I?"
At the door, she turned back and looked at the girl on the sofa, who had her legs draped over Fiyero's lap and was still blushing, even as the Prince smiled and brushed her hair back behind her ear.
"Elphaba."
The girl looked up, a questioning and hesitant look in her eyes.
"It was nice talking to you."
Thank you so much for reading! It's hard to believe that people are taking time out of their lives to read my drabbles. (though I do hope you'll take some more time to review :))