Note: I am back after my year and a half hiatus! I apologize to everyone for keeping you waiting this long. There is really no excuse except laziness. So, to reward you for your patience this is the first of 2 chapters I will be posting. Happy reading! :)

In the morning when she woke, Elphaba found two bottles of bathing oils beside the cot. She smiled and reminded herself to thank Selzar later. She quickly cleaned up and washed away the last of the evidence of her attack. She winced whenever she hit a tender spot.

"Damn them! Damn them both to Hell!" she thought furiously.

She wished she had a clean dress to wear. The one she had to put back on had the musk of the nameless guard and unwanted sex. She shivered as she pulled it over her head and smoothed the skirt. It was getting a little snug around the middle.

Elphaba sat on the cot and cradled her stomach. Her heart longed for Fiyero. He would kill the bastards who had defiled her, if she didn't get to them first. She thought about his warm eyes and kind heart. She ached to feel his strong body surrounding her, coveting her, loving her. An image of him holding a baby, their baby, flashed through her mind. She wanted to see that happen. It would happen.

"I will keep you safe," she whispered to her growing baby bump. "Or I will die trying."

A new moon hung over the land of Oz like a black pearl, barely luminous. The shadows lay thick and plentiful over the palace's rear courtyard. Fiyero and Pagani were poised at the top of the wall. Two guards patrolled the area.

"Do you remember what to do?" Fiyero asked Pagani.

"Of course!" the young soldier whispered.

"Good. It's showtime."

Pagani quietly climbed down the large tree that grew near the wall. He began staggering towards the nearest guard.

"Hail fellows!" he called boisterously.

The guard turned with his rifle ready. "Halt! State your name and business!" he ordered.

Pagani stopped and swayed unsteadily. "Easyeasyeasy. I'm one of you. My name is Pagani Sepho," he responded with a flourish to indicate his uniform.

"Why aren't you with your unit?"

"The witch is won! Wanted to celebrate with a few pints. I lost 'em! Hee hee! Couldn't find my way back. Which way is which back to the witch? Ha ha ha hahahahaha!" Pagani collapsed in a fit of laughter.

The guard cautiously lowered his rifle and whistled to his companion. "Keep alert. I'm going to bring this drunken sot back to his commanding officer," he instructed the other man. To Pagani he said, "Come along you!"

He roughly dragged him to his feet and steered him to a side doorway. The other guard resumed his circuit. When Fiyero was satisfied that the coast was clear, he stealthily climbed down the tree and crept towards the side door. He gingerly turned the knob while checking over his shoulder. The other guard was still facing away from him on the far side of the courtyard. Slowly, he opened the door. It opened easily and soundlessly. Once inside, he said a silent prayer of thanks to the Unamed God.

Fiyero paused to listen and calm his slightly pounding heart. He was so anxious to get to Elphaba he could feel his pulse in his tongue. He could faintly hear Pagani causing a racket at one end of the passageway. He went the opposite way as Pagani had instructed. That would be the path to the dungeons.

Cautiously, he crept along the corridor. It was dimly lit, but not so dim that he wouldn't be noticed. It wasn't long before he came to a staircase leading down. "This is it," he thought. He took the stairs one at a time and kept close to the wall. Gradually, it grew brighter and Fiyero paused to let his eyes adjust.

When they did, he found he was almost in the dungeon. He could see the first few cells along the right-hand wall. There didn't seem to be a guard, but he knew there would be. A few more steps and he was at the foot of the staircase. He slowly peeked around the edge of the doorway and came face to face with a rifle.

"Don't move," the guard commanded.