And, as the Wizard walked down the hall, he swore he heard desperately choked back sobs behind a locked door that he could only assumed was the green Witch's room.
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Chapter Twenty-Four:
Elphaba stood on the right side of the Wizard, just behind him, on the balcony of the palace. Glinda stood on her right and Fiyero, with little Mirelle squirming in his arms, stood on the Wizard's left. Below them the courtyard had been opened to the public and was jammed to its full capacity. There were so many people that the crowd filed out of the gates and into the streets. It was overwhelming for Elphaba but she tried not to focus on the crowd below her or the Wizard beside her.
She felt like she was betraying everything she had worked for in her life.
The people of Oz were in an uproar over the Wizard and how he stood before them, for all to see. They assumed that he simply took on the form of an old man to make them feel comfortable and Elphaba despised them for their ignorance. If they only knew how much of a fake he was. If they only knew that he had no real powers. If they only knew how manipulative and poisonous he was to all he came in contact with. He was a disease to Oz. A disease that, to Elphaba, it seemed no one could quite live without anymore.
Elphaba caught snippets of his address to the people through the haze of confusing emotions swirling within her. He spoke of herself mainly, and how her altercation with Dorothy and resulting death by melting had been a rebirth of sort – had changed her. He spoke of how she was no longer the Wicked Witch, how she had seen the error of her ways and been reformed. The people soaked in every word he spoke and did not challenge him in any way. By the time he finished his speech the people were welcoming Elphaba warily… but at least welcoming her. She was no longer a protected official anymore – she was simply a free person.
She didn't feel any different.