Chapter 25

Elphie

"Here are this morning's excavations, Madam Vizier."

"Thank you, Corror."

"Can I get you anything else?"

"No, I'm good, thanks." Corror, the head excavator, bowed to Elphie and left her office.

Elphie sighed and started sorting through the dirt on her table. She did a simple air spell to blow all the dirt off the rocks. No rubies today. Great. But there were a few pieces of quartz in the pile. She cleaned them till they shone. She put them in the box designated for quartz. It was another uneventful day in Qhyore.

Until Corror came rushing back in. "Telephone for you, Madam Vizier!" he exclaimed. "From Lady Glinda!"

"Alright!" Elphie said happily, glad to be released from the tedium. "I was wondering when she'd finally call me!" She abandoned her rocks, and quickly made her way to the floor's only telephone. She picked up the receiver eagerly. "Hey Glin!"

"Hey Elphie!" Glinda's voice seemed to be cheerful, but Elphie could immediately tell that something was off. "How's Quadling Country?"

"Mm. Okay, I guess. How was Fliaan?"

Glinda was hesitant. "Good." She paused. "Did you know that Flinnish kings used to be put in these underground tombs so that their souls could stay safe or whatever? I thought you might find that interesting."

"Yes, very interesting," Elphie deadpanned. "Now, what's wrong?"

"I don't think this is working."

"What isn't?"

"Me. Milla. No, me! She thinks I'm cheating, but I'm not, Elphie, I swear! I'm just being friendly to people! Is that so wrong?!"

"Well … that depends," Elphie said slowly. "How … friendly were you being?"

"Just talking!" Glinda insisted. "But Milla doesn't trust me at all! I don't understand what I did!"

Suddenly, Elphie burst into tears. Hearing Glinda's pain reminded her of her own, and that was just too much to take.

Meanwhile, Glinda panicked. "Elphie, are you crying?! Don't cry, please! I didn't mean to make you cry! Oh, I'm a bad, bad friend!"

"I'm … sorry!" Elphie said, trying to pull herself together. "It's just … I hate it here! I miss you, and Milla, and Lukas. Oh, Glinda, have you heard anything from Lukas?"

"Sorry, Elphie, I haven't."

Elphie sniffed and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm good. I'm so sorry, Glin. You called me to talk about Milla."

"No, it's okay. And hey, you'll be home in three weeks!"

"Three long weeks." But Glinda's call that day reminded Elphie that there was life outside Quadling Country.

The push to make Quadling Country's main export quartz instead of rubies was a hard one, and involved a lot of discussions with Corror and Offaex Finnelle, the governor of Quadling Country. But finally, Elphie's plan went through, and she was asked to tell the workers herself about their new goal. She spoke to them in Quati, since most of them didn't know any Ozish, and they all adored her. "Maintenant, je vous aiderai attraper votre but!" Now, I will help you reach your goal! She started chanting, which in and of itself amazed them, and then dirt flew off into the sky, revealing many quartz stones underneath. Everyone cheered.

"Merci, Madame Vizir!" Thank you, Madam Vizier!

"Notre travail sera plus facile maintenant." Our work will be easier now.

"De rein!" Elphie called out to them. "Maintenant, le Pays des Quadlinges n'est pas le perdant d'Oz!" You're welcome! Now, Quadling Country is not the underdog of Oz! So, despite its lonely times, the trip to Quadling Country had been successful.

Thankfully, the train ride back to the Emerald City was uneventful. Elphie arrived safely home, and immediately went over to the Upland-Jeefer residence. When she got there, Glinda squealed happily. "Elphie! You're home! Come in. Millie dearest, Elphie's back!"

"Is she?" Milla called from the dining room. She came into the foyer. "Well, she is! Elphie! Welcome back! Here, I'll make you some tea!"

"Thank you, Milla," Elphie said nervously. "How's everything going here?"

Both Glinda and Milla fell silent. "Glinda," Milla finally said. "What did you tell her?"

"Just the truth!" Glinda shrieked defensively. "What, am I not ALLOWED to talk to my best friend now?!"

"This is personal stuff! Oz, everything has to be so PUBLIC with you!"

"Okay, you two!" Elphie shouted. "Milla, it seems to me that you don't trust Glinda. Why not?"

"I've had women cheat on me before! I know the signs!"

"So you just ASSUME that I'm going to do it!"

"OKAY!" Elphie yelled again. "None of us are getting any younger here. Let's be reasonable."

"SHE'S not being reasonable!" Glinda protested.

Elphie held up her hand for silence. "Listen, you two should not be having problems this early in your marriage! Ugh, Glinda, I'm starting to sound like you, but you two are great together! My train crashed on the way to Qhyore, and you know what I was thinking about during what I thought would be my final moments? You two, and how happy you were at your wedding." She sighed. "I know this is terribly uncharacteristic of me, girls, but I think you should just love each other however you want to, without any distractions. Love while you can."

"Okay," Milla said blankly.

"I kind of get that," Glinda added.

"Good," Elphie said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have mountains of stuff to unpack. I'll call you later. Maybe we can go out tonight for a drink." She walked out of the house swiftly, knowing they had to settle their problems privately.

"You know," Milla mused. "She actually has a point."

"No," Glinda said. "We're not gonna forget about this just because Elphie told us to."

"But she's right. I do have trust issues. But we have a lot of people who love us: Elphie, for one, my parents, your parents, Pfannee, ShenShen, Fiyero when he gets back home … It's not just you and me."

"I had this same problem with Fiyero," Glinda realized. "I thought he was perfect, and when he turned out not to be … But I LOVE you, Milla, trust issues and all. I would NEVER cheat on you."

Milla smiled. "I'll try to believe you. My Glinda."

"My Milla."

Love when this world lets you.

Love while you can.