Chapter 49: Revenge Isn't Sweet
Fiyero sighed and looked across the table at Elphaba. "Can you get Glinda to come out here right away? We need to have this wedding as soon as you graduate, Fae."
Elphaba looked up from the papers spread in front of her. "I'll do my best. Who says we need her here?"
"Who else is going to be your maid of honor?" He teased. "Have you made another best friend I don't know about?"
"Did you just imply that I have no friends?"
"No, what I implied was that you have one who you're closer to than anyone else."
She laughed. "Fair enough." Elphaba gazed at him. "I know you wanted him to be there, Fiyero…"
"Boq will come," he said quickly.
"You're evading. And you always get frustrated when I do that," she reminded him, gathering up her papers. "Fiyero, I'm not good at pushing. I don't want to. But you haven't spoken about it since the night you told me."
"I have."
"Making plans and organizing the kingdom does not count. You haven't said a word about how you feel." Elphaba smacked her forehead. "Sweet Oz, I'm turning into you!"
"Would that be so terrible?"
"Oh, it would be awful." She got up. "It would be painful to be that sickeningly sweet all the time."
Fiyero rolled his eyes at her. "I never hear you complain."
"It's only because you're good in bed," she joked.
He chased after her. "Oh, really?" Fiyero caught her waist with his arm.
"Very." Elphaba kissed his nose. "But really, Fiyero, you should talk about it. If not to me, then to Verda or to someone. She misses him, too, you know. He was her husband, the father of her children. You've been good with the kids, Fiyero, but you barely speak to her."
"I don't know what to say," he admitted.
"Do you think she expects you to?" Elphaba hugged him close. "Fiyero, no one knows what to say. I know I don't. But you're grieving, too, and you shouldn't do it alone."
Fiyero drew back a little and took both of her hands in his. "I adore you. You know that?"
"Well aware of it," she replied.
After lunch, he went looking for Verda. She sat in the nursery with her children, rocking her baby girl in her lap as her son, Janson, played with several wooden blocks. Fiyero sat down next to the boy for a moment, handing him blocks as he stacked one on top of the other. He could feel Verda's eyes on him. Eventually he said, "How are you doing?"
She looked over at him with uncertainty. "How do you think?"
He only nodded.
After a moment, she asked, genuinely, "How is the wedding planning going?"
"I want him to be there," he told her. "I don't want to do this without him."
Verda sighed heavily. "I understand that sentiment."
"They never caught the men who did it. I wish they had… I'd like to deal out some justice," Fiyero told her. "They probably didn't even know who he was, just that he was wealthy."
"Revenge gets us nothing."
Fiyero looked to her for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"
"When I was young…" Verda stopped for a moment, and put down her daughter into the crib and brushed herself off. "Fiyero, noble families have issues, too. And mine had their fair share. My father wasn't a good man."
"My father respected your father greatly," Fiyero said.
"He didn't know what he was like at home." Verda shuddered and blinked quickly.
Fiyero knew the look in her eyes. He'd seen it in Elphaba's too many times. "What did he do to you?"
Verda hugged herself. "Whatever he wanted."
"Did Rod know?"
Verda nodded. "Why do you think he sent him off to the most remote part of the Vinkus to hunt all the time? He couldn't imprison him; I wouldn't let him. But he made him miserable. It never made me feel any better, though."
Fiyero stood and put a hand on Verda's shoulder. "When did you tell Rod?"
"Our wedding night. I panicked. We didn't…" Verda wiped tears from her eyes. "He was very understanding."
What in Oz was he doing? She'd just lost her husband and now he was dredging up the other most painful moment in her life. "I'm glad he was." He remembered the way Rod had looked at him when he'd made a comment about Elphaba's history. Now he understood. "Verda, Elphaba… she went through something similar."
"I thought so. Your brother said something to that direction. And when she first got here, the way she looked at any man, servant, or noble, who came near her made me consider that she might have that kind of a past. But she never looked at you that way. Not even when she first got here."
He hadn't noticed that. Fiyero had never even considered that something had happened to her until she'd said something after the first time they'd made love. "I… didn't realize."
"She loved you enough to trust you even then, Fiyero. Your parents raised two good sons."
"And now I'm the only one left," he shook his head.
"Which is why you need to do this right. And I know you will." Verda smiled at him. "Thank you for checking on me, but I'm fine. I need to be here, with my children. They're… they're all that's left of him."
"I will make sure that both of them get everything in the world," Fiyero promised her.
She hugged him and he kissed her cheek. When she stepped back, tears glistened in her eyes. "Thank you."
"Verda… if you want, I'm sure Elphaba would talk to you. I… I know sometimes having someone else around who went through the same thing is helpful. She understands."
"Thank you, but… I've had enough talking about that for today. I don't want to mix your brother's memory with my father."
"Fair enough." Fiyero left and returned to the bedroom that he shared with Elphaba. She was reading a book, settled on their bed. He smiled, remembering how she used to read on the floor when she first got there, not used to the comfort of a bed. And now there she sat, happy and peaceful. He settled in beside her. "Enjoying the book?"
She nodded. "How did your conversation go?"
"It was quite enlightening." He told her. "It was a good idea, Fae."
"Well, I'm not at the top of our class for nothing." She nuzzled against him. "I have to go back tomorrow. I wish you were coming with me."
"I have to stay here. It's what's best for all of us. It's only a few months. Come back during the spring holidays. It'll be short, but I don't think I can go that long without seeing you. I might just have to find an excuse to travel to Shiz, otherwise."
Elphaba laughed. "I wouldn't suggest it. Fiyero, there will be no private apartment to hole up in for the night. And the two of us alone after a few months apart? We'll need that."
"There's always a hotel."
She sighed. "I'll come home for the holidays. I promise. But I don't want you trying to find an excuse. If you need to be here, you should be here."
"The only place I want to be, though, Fae, is with you."
Author's Note: 1 in 4. That's the statistic. 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted. And that is why I chose to make Verda a survivor of sexual assault, as well.
