Chapter 51

GLINDA THE GOOD SAFE AT WIZARD'S PALACE

Such was the headline of evening edition of The Ozmopolitan News. Elphaba read the story with an acute interest and edginess.

"It has become known by the staff of The Ozmopolitan that our most wonderous Glinda The Good, after being rescued from a harrowing ordeal when she was kidnapped by Baraq of The Glikkus, is now safely being looked after in the Wizard's Palace. How long she will be under the protective custody of the guard is unknown as is the level of continuing danger to our beloved Glinda. What we do know is that she will be specifically placed in the care of The Emerald City Guard. This is good and welcome news to all the caring and concerned citizens of Oz.

While Glinda continues to recover from her tribulation she will be an esteemed guest in the most coveted and prestigious of the Palace's guest quarters, The Ozma Room."

Elphaba slapped the paper against the boulder, stood up and began to pace. "How could they? How could they just give away her whereabouts like that?" she said out loud in an angry tone. "This is a map that will lead Baraq right to her."

Elphaba was incensed. She needed to calm down and recollect herself. After a few more paces and some deep breaths, she calmed down enough to start thinking through the situation. She grabbed the paper and read through the rest of the article. Most of it was just a glowing tribute to Glinda. In spite of her anger at the newspaper editor for being so irresponsible in publishing Glinda's whereabouts, she had to smile about the blatant adoration being showered upon her love. In some ways, it was a small reflection on her that someone so loved by so many people, someone who could choose anyone she wanted to be with actually chose her. The thought warmed Elphaba inside. Still, Baraq was out there somewhere. Time was now of the essence. She had to get to Glinda and get to her fast.

Elphaba looked at her horse. She had put that poor animal through too much already. He wasn't in any condition to be ridden anymore. She looked back towards the road sign that pointed towards the Wizard's Palace. It wasn't far, and it would take longer by foot, but she could still reach the Palace in short order. It was more important that her horse was rested enough to take her and Glinda away from this place once she found her.

Elphaba walked over to her horse and put her hand on its shoulder. The horse lifted its head and acknowledged the green woman.

"I'm going to leave you here for awhile. You rest up because I'm going to need you at your strongest," she said. "I'm bringing Glinda back with me, and we're all going away from this place. You think you can be there for me when I come back?"

The horse motioned its head up and down as if to answer her question and lend approval to her plan. Elphaba smiled and patted the horse on the head. "I'll be back. Not too long. I promise."

She pulled her cloak tighter to her. A familiar chill coursed through her which caused her to momentarily pause. Intellectually she knew that she needed to examine why that feeling suddenly came over her, but emotionally she needed to get to the Palace. She would try to figure it out as best she could along the way.


Kerrick looked around. Lisena and the Tin Man had both left the room. The Lion stayed behind as a courtesy.

"Are we through here?" Kerrick asked looking around.

"For the time being," the Lion said. "I would like your permission to interview your client again if it becomes necessary. Lisena is translating what we've recorded already. You'll have the full transcript in your office tomorrow."

"Excellent. In that case, I'm going to take Glinda out of here and get her to a safe location," Kerrick said.

"Where are you taking her?" The Lion asked.

"If you please sir, we'd like to keep that to ourselves. The less people that know the safer she'll be."

"I understand. Good luck to you, and please do keep her safe. She's important to the citizens of Oz. She's important to all of us."

Kerrick nodded as the Lion excused himself from the room.

"Well, it looks like we're free to leave, " he said upon returning to the group.

Glinda looked around feeling a little astonished. "Oh my, we've been so engrossed in our conversation that I didn't even notice that everyone left. They must think I'm terribly rude."

"I doubt that," Kerrick said. "They had other matters to attend to apparently. The Lion would like to retain permission to interview you again if necessary."

"Of course," Glinda replied. "They know the ground rules. As long as they comply, I'll tell them whatever I can."

"Ground rules?" Tanon asked.

"Yes. Ground rules that I've dubbed my Elphie rules. They are not to ask any questions about her or The Resistance or the interview is terminated immediately. Any comments that might slip regarding any of them, especially Elphie are considered off the record."

"Ah, I see," Tanon said with a smile. "Of course I should never have doubted that even in this situation you'd be thinking of her first."

"I'm always thinking about her. She's my first thought when I wake up in the morning, and my last thought before I fall asleep at night."

"She's been good for you Glinda," Sarina said. "You may not have noticed, but there's been a very tangible change in you. You're a better person for having been with her."

Glinda smiled broadly. "Thank you Sarina. That means so much to me. It's also important to me that my friends accept us, not just tolerate the idea of us. She means everything to me."

"I can see that," Sarina replied. "You know that Kerrick and I will always welcome the two of you in our home."

Kerrick put his arm behind Sarina and pulled her closer to him. "And that means always young lady, " Kerrick added.

Tanon looked at the couple then looked at Glinda. "I don't think I need to reiterate my support for you two do I? I'm always on your side. Yours and Elphaba's."

Glinda just smiled, thankful for her friends.

"Alright people. What do you say we get out of here? We can get back to the house, cook up some dinner and have a nice quiet evening for a change," Kerrick said.

"I am getting hungry, now that you mention it," Glinda replied.

"Good! It's settled then. Let's get going, " Kerrick suggested.

The group continued with some light chatter as they headed for the front doors of the Palace.

"Oh, I forgot to mention something. We parked our carriage quite a ways away. You don't mind a little walk do you?" Kerrick asked sheepishly.

"No, not at all," Tanon replied. "Glinda?"

"No, I don't mind. To tell you the truth, after what I've been through recently, I'm happy to be able to walk at all."

Kerrick furrowed his brows. Sarina raised hers in surprise.

"You're going to have to fill us in on everything that happened to you Glinda. You don't have to do it tonight, but as your attorney, I think I should know," Kerrick said.

"Absolutely. I don't mind telling you at all. In fact, it might be interesting dinner conversation. I think I still need to talk about it anyway. Normally I'd be talking to Elphie about it, but…" Glinda's voice trailed off.

Tanon put his arm around her shoulders. She responded by putting her arms around his waist and giving him a warm hug.

After a few moments of walking on polished floors down Emerald tinted hallways the group finally exited the Palace. Glinda looked down the mostly deserted street. The only person present was a lower ranking guard who was headed towards them. Unsure of whether or not the guard was coming to see one of them, they all waited at the top of the steps. The guard lightly saluted the group, acknowledging Glinda as he headed right past them and into the Palace.

"Guess that answers that," Tanon said.

Glinda chuckled.

"You know Glinda, it's too bad you don't have your wand with you. You could bubble us all over to the carriage," Kerrick joked.

"Forget the carriage. She could bubble us straight to the house," Sarina added with a giggle.

"My wand! I completely forgot about it," Glinda said coming to a halt.

"Don't worry about it," Tanon said. "It was confiscated from your hotel room by the authorities. I can pick it up at the evidence room tomorrow along with any other personal effects they might have taken into custody."

Glinda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Tanon. I think I'll feel even better once I have it back in my hands. Safer maybe."

"I promise. You'll have it back before the sun is highest in the sky tomorrow," Tanon pledged.

The group continued their trek down the deserted streets and back to the carriage where the horses were restless and ready to get home themselves.


The young guard ran through the hallways of the Palace. His boots echoing with every step down the acoustic corridors. "Excuse me, have you seen the Tin Man?" He asked a passerby.

The woman pointed in the direction of the Great Room, and the young man ran off. He continued asking people he encountered. No one knew exactly where the Tin Man was, but they had seen him recently and pointed the young man in that direction.

After a few more frantic moments of running and asking for the whereabouts of the Tin Man, Boq finally came into view.

"Young man, are you looking for me?" Boq asked.

"Yes sir," the out-of-breath guard said running up to him. He took a moment to catch his breath.

"Well, what is it? I haven't got all night."

"Sorry sir. Interim Captain Desidiroso sent out a group to scout the city. We were told that if we spotted the witch that we were to report the sighting immediately to the both of you."

Boq suddenly became very interested. "And did you see her?"

"Yes sir. I think so sir."

"You think so?"

"Well, it was dark and she was wearing a cloak. Also, it was just after the land shakes, so there was a lot of confusion in the streets, but I'm almost positive it was her."

"Tell me what you saw," Boq requested.

"I saw a woman near Neverdale Café. It was only for a moment, but I caught a glimpse of her face in the moonlight. I could swear her skin looked to have a greenish tone to it."

"What did she do?" Boq asked.

"Well, not much. She picked up a newspaper and left with it. I don't know where she went as I was specifically instructed to report the sighting immediately, not to follow her."

"She picked up the newspaper," Boq said to himself as he rubbed his fingers across his metal chin. He smiled at the young man and slapped him on the shoulder. "You did very well young soldier. You will be commended and given a bonus in pay for your diligent work."

"Thank you very much sir."

"No, thank you. You are dismissed."

The young guard saluted, completed a military about face and left to report to Desidiroso.

Boq couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he headed towards the Ozma Room. It only took a few minutes for him to reach the room and make his way inside.

It was the grandest of all the rooms at the Palace. More polished floors, Gillikinese Woven area rugs and satin bedcovers. A grand piano was situated near a fireplace at the far right end of the room, with plush sitting chairs, a coffee table and a couch for conversation or musical enjoyment near the fireplace as well.

The room was illuminated by the bright moonlight making candlelight unnecessary, however, the Tin Man lit a few of the wall sconce candles to make the room look occupied. Boq eyed the spiral staircase and quickly made his way towards it. He climbed the stairway to the loft above and looked around. To the right was a set of glass doors which lead to a balcony overlooking the public square. This balcony served as the location that several dignitaries made speeches to the masses of Oz. The balcony itself was considered an Ozian landmark, but that wasn't his destination.

Straight ahead was a large picture glass window overlooking the courtyard below. It was the perfect seat for what Boq anticipated was going to be great theater. He had a view of the entire courtyard as well as the entry beyond that was obscured from those within the courtyard by the large evergreens just in front of the entry.

He grabbed a chair from the sitting area just to the right of the king size bed and placed it in front of the window. While he could see outside, with the lights out upstairs, no one would be able to make him out on the inside.

He settled comfortably into the chair. "This is going to be quite a show," He said to himself. Looking out at the courtyard the grin returned to his face. Finally, he would be rid of Elphaba once and for all.


Desidiroso quietly issued orders through hand motions to his men. He had no idea if the witch was close by and he didn't want to give away their position. The men hid behind bushes, retaining walls and trees. As an experienced group under Captain Torio, this group was excellently trained in camouflaging themselves.

With everyone in place the waiting game began. Desidiroso absently stroked the handgun in the holster on his belt. Should it became necessary to use it, he would be ready.


Elphaba reached The Palace in short order. Over the years she had learned of about the layout of The Palace, so placing herself in the vicinity of the Ozma Room was not a problem for her. Large brick walls surrounded the courtyard. In the middle of the wall nearest her was the courtyard entrance. It was unguarded. Once again an internal warning signaled to her as she walked up to the wall on the right side of the entryway.

Very slowly she peered around the corner. The courtyard looked deserted. Beyond the tall evergreens that partially obscured her view she could see that the downstairs lights were on. Elphaba moved back out of view and put her back against the wall. She couldn't ignore what her senses were trying to tell her, but still…… She looked at the moon which always made her think of Glinda. Looking back down again, she'd made a decision. She had to know if Glinda was in there. Should she wait it out, trying to catch a glimpse of her love from her current position, or should she make her way to the window and try to have a look inside? Her mind wrestled with those questions.

Elphaba closed her eyes and sighed. Opening her eyes and turning around to face the wall, she looked back into the courtyard, scouring every inch that she could see. All was quiet. She looked at the window, back to the courtyard, and back to the window again.

"I have to know," she said quietly to herself. Elphaba took a moment to gather up her courage. After a few moments she took a deep breath. "No time like the present."