AN: Who's excited for Out of Oz? I've preordered mine already. Also, I apologize for the wait. I just got a job. Things are crazy. I have no time for anything. I barely use the computer (blame the smartphone for that one). I haven't written anything lately. But I have to keep these muscles in use, even if I'm not writing completely original stuff! This chapter went WAY off where I meant it to, but I really like what it did. Sometimes I like it when the characters surprise me like this.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Down to Business

Elphaba did not relish the thought of returning to Kiamo Ko for the summer. Glinda had continued to be strangely quiet and she couldn't help but think that there was something Glinda had to say that she needed to know. And three months without classes and away from educated minds (well, aside from Fiyero) seemed a boring prospect. Still, it wasn't as if she and Fiyero could simply stay at Shiz all summer. His parents would never stand for it. And Fiyero didn't seem to dread going home as much as Elphaba did.

When they arrived, they were greeted with news of a surprise bigger than Nessa's visit. "Your mother is pregnant!" Fiyero's father told his son proudly.

"Really, Mom?" Fiyero hugged his mother, whose stomach had only just started protruding. "That's great."

Elphaba nodded, not sure what to say in such a situation. She supposed, had Fiyero's mother given birth to him at an early age, that it would make sense that she could have another child. Maybe it would draw the attention away from the fact that she and Fiyero had not yet conceived (most likely because she was purposely trying not to). Or, as it would turn out, it would go the other way, and make it more obvious.

Elphaba didn't even have twenty-four hours before Fiyero's mother broached the subject of children with her. "When are you and my son going to give me some grandchildren?" She asked casually as the two women sipped at tea after dinner. Fiyero and his father were upstairs dealing with some "royal business," or other.

She struggled not to spit out her tea. "As soon as we finish school." Longer than that if I can help it. Elphaba did not look forward to having children.

"Why wait so long?"

Elphaba sighed. "Because it would be difficult for me to finish school with a baby."

"You don't need to finish school, dearie. Fiyero needs to, but there's no reason for you to worry about it." Fiyero's mother waved her hands.

"I want to finish school," Elphaba said.

Fiyero's mother raised her eyebrows. "I don't see why."

"I like school. And as Eminent Thropp, it would be good for me to be well educated." Elphaba hoped the mention of her station in Munchkinland would stop the woman from prodding her more.

"Was the previous Eminent Thropp educated at Shiz? Or educated at all past the age of sixteen?"

Elphaba bit her lip. "No."

Fiyero's mother simply shrugged.

"As I said, I like school."

"I hope that's the only reason, and not a, um, behavioral issue." Fiyero's mother said. "If you have any issues in that way, however, let me know and I would call the midwife. Aside from birthing children, she's an expert on matters such as those."

Elphaba remembered the midwife. She had "inspected" Elphaba for purity the day she had married Fiyero, and had done a quick examination just before they had left for Shiz the previous year. Elphaba did not want the woman invading her privacy any more than she already had. "We're fine. And we'll have children soon enough. Once we're out of Shiz."

Up in the throne room, Fiyero and his father's "royal business," was at a close and they were having a similar conversation. "If you are going to insist on waiting for children, that's fine. But tell me she's at least satisfying you?" Fiyero's father folded his arms across his chest.

"She's…" Fiyero didn't like the wording his father had used. "You asked me this last time we were home. You ask me this every time."

"I don't mean to be pushy, son. I just worry about your marriage. You are the crown prince, it is important that you eventually beget an heir."

"I know, Father. And my wife and I will. But we don't wish to immediately. She's a smart woman, and she knows how to avoid pregnancy if need be. That doesn't mean…"

"That's fine, son. Your mother's probably going to push the children more than I will. Being pregnant has, strangely enough, had her yearning not just for a child but for grandchildren. As long as I am alive, you do not need to worry about 'proving yourself' a king by having a child. But keep it in mind."

Fiyero had to wonder what kind of conversation poor Elphaba was having with his mother at that moment. "Are we done? I wanted to walk around the castle grounds with Elphaba a little before the summer becomes too hot to bear." He left the room before his father even finished nodding and entered the living room where Elphaba and his mother sat in a stony, awkward silence. Remembering his father's worry, he went straight to Elphaba and kissed her on the mouth. "Let's take a walk."

Elphaba cocked her head at him and took a deep breath, having lost her air when he stole the kiss. "If you say so." Her relief was clear on her face.

He stood up and slid an arm around her waist as they exited the room. When the door shut behind him, he removed his arm. "I thought I'd rescue you. My father implied what kind of conversation you were having with my mother and I thought it might not go well."

Elphaba laughed – not pleasantly. "You were right."

"I'm sorry. My father's been pushing it for a while, but my mother has got to be worse. They seem to think we don't know how to do this on our own. I think we could figure out how to have children eventually, don't you?"

"Eventually," she agreed slowly. "It's not customary for a woman to have been married this long and not either be pregnant or have had a child, is it?"

"Not out here. I'm sorry. Was it like that in Munchkinland?"

"Not quite that bad, but somewhat."

"And no one prepared you for what it was like out here?" Fiyero paused as another thought hit him. "No one could've, could they? Your father didn't bother to find out anything about us."

Elphaba shrugged. "Probably not. He only did what was necessary. Arrange the marriage, make sure I kept myself pure and hand me over when the time came."

"You make it sound like a business deal," Fiyero commented.

"That's what it was. Not just to my father, but to your parents, as well, Fiyero. That's why they're pushing the children thing."

Fiyero blinked. "I guess…" He looked a little hurt.

"They only wanted the best for you," Elphaba assured him, realizing that the comparison of his parents to her father had bothered him. "It would be good for the kingdom to have more allies, and easier on you when you become king. Having you marry me ensured that Munchkinland would ally with you. In politics, marriage is a business deal."

Fiyero took her hand. "It means more to me than that, though."

She looked at him. "But we'd be married even if it didn't mean anything more than that."

"Yes."

"And," Elphaba returned to the subject they'd been speaking about, "part of that deal was that I give you heirs. Another thing that makes a king seem more powerful to his people is his ability to produce children."

"But you didn't consent to that part of the deal."

"I didn't consent to any of it, Fiyero."

"You said 'I do,'" he reminded her.

"Because I wanted to go to Shiz."

"You consented. That was the part of the deal you wanted."

"And what was the part you wanted, Fiyero? You couldn't have possibly wanted me then."

"I had an inkling. And that's how things are done out here, Elphaba. So it didn't seem so much like a deal or trade to me as it did to you."

"Oh, but it was. As much as you want to romanticize it, Fiyero. For Oz's sake, they inspected me like a prized horse. They couldn't have you getting damaged goods."

"What do you mean they inspected you?"

"A doctor and midwife examined me the day we were to wed. They made sure I was pure, and that I was fertile. There were a lot of questions for my father, as well, about the genetics and if he thought the green skin would be passed down."

Fiyero swallowed hard. "You are not a horse. You are not a piece of property."

"Oh, I know that. It didn't bother me. I'm just trying to show you what your parents see. They don't care if you love me. They don't care if I love you. They don't care if I want children. They want what they traded for. A fertile and powerful wife for their son is what they want."

"They'll get it eventually. But not now."

"I'm pretty sure there was no contract saying we had to have children at a certain time. At least I hope not."

"Did you get what you wanted out of this 'business deal,' Fae?" Fiyero asked softly.

"All I wanted was Shiz. And a husband who was at least respectful. I got more than what I wanted, Fiyero. I got you."