Sitting in a large room in the palace they had chosen to hold the lawsuit in, Glinda's courage seized. The man gave her threatening looks from across the table whenever no one else looked. She gulped upon being called on.

The trial was led by a lawyer, sitting in a large, cushioned chair, a long dark green robe flowing down until below his ankles. Glinda had rolled her eyes at the footwear she had caught a glimpse of upon entering the hall – no style.

The room was huge, which made it – confusingly enough – claustrophobic. Only half of it was used, a long table at the end of the room, a couple of seats at the sides. The light fell in from very high windows, making the sorceress wonder how they would be cleaned when she lost focus during a soliloquy of the lawyer.

The room had a strange, faint smell of wet fur, she sensed, wondering if she had imagined the animal – or were it Animal? – hairs stuck underneath some of the chair's legs. She lightly shook her head, trying to get rid of her speculations.

In the middle of the long table sat Glinda herself, assuming it to be the ruler's seat, not the plaintiff's. To her right – she had insisted – sat Avaric, who was supposed to be in one of the chair rows at the sides, where the witnesses were seated. Apart from a few guards, the chairs were empty. To her left was the leading lawyer, reading out the – as Glinda found – ridiculous oath about telling the truth in front of the Unnamed God, bla bla. She sighed to herself, hoping it would be over soon and praying for her mind to stay concentrated.

Wandering off into thoughts was hard though, since the accused sat right in front of her. Staring at her – as she found – threateningly when the other attendants were distracted. Also, Glinda noticed with something between embarrassment and discomfort, did his eyes dart down to her as usually quite revealing cleavage, which she noticed others in the room doing too, from time to time. She was the only woman after all.

Whenever the blonde fidgeted with her fingers underneath the table, trying to ignore the gazes on her, she noticed the Creep glancing to her side, then avoiding her, making Glinda wonder whether Avaric was giving him a warning look or just scared the man after their confrontation.

"Your Goodness," the lawyer started, finally ending his soliloquy, "you convict this man of…?" He asked after having sat down to her left. Avaric gave an almost unnoticed nod from the side, upon which she rose from her seat. They had quickly gone through the procedure of a trial beforehand. Lifting her chin, Glinda let her eyes harden, speaking up in a loud and clear voice.

"Invasion into private domain, attempted bribery if not blackmailing and," she lowered her gaze, staring coldly into the Creep's eyes, "sexual harassment." She ended, taking her seat. The guards and two associated lawyers from Gillikin started mumbling, stirring in their chairs. Even the leading lawyer leaned over to his colleague, discussing her last point. Glinda felt warm, almost hot from excitement, her heart fluttering rapidly in her ribcage. She had set her mind on bringing the topic up, even if it would cause her reputation to be affected.

The assembly took several minutes to calm down, discussing in heated debates or muttering comments under their breaths. It was much too loud and the walls echoed, preventing Glinda from making out individual conversations. The lawyer seemed confused, but kept on leading the process, calling on the Creep, who, of course, pleaded on being innocent.

He had requested a break before the witnesses could be called on, which was granted, to Glinda's dismay. She had created such a turmoil, she had been sure to win, simply out of confusion, but the man screwed with her plans.

"Listen here, Your Highness," the accused man caught her arm before she was able to leave the room after all the others during their intermission, "we can do this the easy or the hard way, and the way I see it, you don't want me to go the hard way." He hissed, pinning her against the wall, his nails digging into her wrist which he held above her head. Glinda found her breath stuck in her throat for a moment, the panic from the day before choking her. "I can ruin you with my version of the story; I can make you nothing within one minute, so think before you speak." He threatened, leaning forward, towering her by at least a head.

"So do I." Glinda swallowed the lump in her throat, slightly lifting her chin. She was intimidated, terrified even, but she had decided on not letting him get away with his crime. Elphaba came to her mind, defying the Wizard, the professors at Shiz and anyone who would do her or innocent Animals wrong. Though the blonde feared having to pay a high price for her courageous comment, she kept her face straight, challengingly glaring back. Her chest burned from her hectically beating heart.

The Creep narrowed his eyes at her, leaning further down, shoving his leg forward to force her further against the wall where she could not retreat anymore.

"Have it your way. I will just tell them you bribed me, since you could not convince me for your terms on Gillikin. And I have a witness, who will agree on that point." He probably referred to the other representative, not having come to an agreement during their meeting. "Let's see if they believe me," his rough voice lowered, his eyes piercing her when his face was merely an inch apart from hers, his leg between hers, his grip on her wrist tightening, "or a woman." He growled.

Rage surged in her stomach, reinvigorating her purpose of defending her non-existent rights. The words failed her, finding herself too frozen, too frightened to move in the slightest. Her free hand trembled and she pushed her head back against the wall, unable to escape from the man's clutches.

"I heard that." Glinda winced, alongside her harasser, when a hand took her free one, pulling her away to the side. She gasped, finding herself behind Avaric, shielding her and having brought the whole assembly, which started murmuring again, outraged and shocked. The interrupting voice belonged to the leading lawyer, already taking notes in his file.

"How dare he do this to Her Goodness?"

"Blackmailing the ruler?"

"Her Goodness being the victim of such crimes? Terrible!"

Is this all they care about? My status? Glinda steamed with rage, but felt it extinguished by a wave of relief, having been saved and winning the trial.

"Sorry for being late…" Avaric muttered close to her ear, eyeing the Gillikin – being taken by the guards – with resentment. Glinda shook her head, tilting it for only him to hear, not letting the man get out of her sight.

"You're not; your timing was perfect." She whispered back, squeezing his hand. "Thank you." She said, letting go of his hand, which he pulled away as quickly as possible.

The lawyer sentenced the man to a mild penalty, Glinda thought with harassment in mind, but did not insist on another trial. Making a mental note to herself on adding women's rights to Oz' laws, she allowed the assembly to be dismissed, thanking each guard individually for being a witness.

Sorry for it being so short, but the next one will be the arc finale (and total fluff). Have a nice day ^^