Fiyero urged the horse faster. He'd been forced to trot too slowly from the castle stables so as not to arouse attention. Now, out in the open countryside, he could gallop with all the speed the animal could muster.
The clop of the hooves thundered in his ears, but as the fresh air streamed past, he felt a lightness he'd not known since early childhood. Gone was the weight he'd carried his whole life. It broke his heart, but it baptized him a new person as it did. Answerable only to his heart and his love, should he find her.
The sun beat down on him, but he didn't waver except to offer the horse a minimum of water and rest.
Finally, just as the sun touched the horizon with its fiery kiss goodnight, he saw the carriage teetering on the steep mountain pass just beyond.
He kicked his heels into the horse's side. "Come on, girl. Almost there."
The driver turned and startled to see a rider bearing down fast. So close to dusk on the remote road, he swerved to avoid the risk. Fiyero guided the carriage off to the side.
"Be gone, bandit!" the driver yelled.
Fiyero started to call out his identity, and stopped. It would be wrong. Crown prince Fiyero was gone, along with all the authority that evoked. "I'm not a bandit!"
The driver scoffed. "You say till you stick a knife in me." He brandished a spear secreted from somewhere Fiyero's couldn't see. Was that safe, driving around with such? "I'm no easy mark. Find someone else to rob."
The horse stumbled on the loose stones, and Fiyero grunted. "I'm not after you or your gold. I'm looking for a girl."
"Disgusting."
"No, shut up a second! I'm not a rapist either!" Perhaps the crown had made his life easier than he believed, if this irritating conversation gave any indication. "A green girl, long black hair. Elphaba."
"Oh." The driver pulled to the side. "Why didn't you say so?"
Fiyero rolled his eyes. "Apologies."
"Who's she to you?"
He couldn't help the soft smile at that thought. "Everything." He tossed the man a bag of coins. "For your assistance, and your patience."
"Ah. And I'm guessing your privacy. Right, then." The driver stowed the spear, pocketed the coins, and appeared a bag of food. "Holler when you're ready." He strode off to the spindly shade of a dragon tree and set up his picnic.
She stepped out then, shawl drawn tight around her despite the lingering heat. She hadn't seen Fiyero yet, and he took in the furrow of her brow, the dark weariness of her eyes, the strong tilt to her shoulders and chin. His Fae.
"Hello?" she called. And when no one answered, she hauled herself a step up to the driver's seat. "Hello?"
"I rescue you, and all I get is hello?"
She whirled on him and half-tumbled into his arms.
Fiyero grinned, feeling light and carefree in a way he hadn't in years. "I thought I'd never get that driver to stop." He set her back atop her feet.
She stared at him blankly. "What are you doing here?"
"Surely you can't be so surprised. I did always threaten to follow you if you ran away." He took her hand, but she yanked it back.
"Are you an idiot? You can't follow me. I'm banished."
He shrugged, giddy at the weight of only his head on his shoulders. "So?"
"You're the crown prince, you fool. You can't flee the country."
He really needed to convince her to stop using 'can't'. He gave a flippant shrug that he both did and didn't mean. "I'll abdicate the throne." His absence had likely already done so.
She goggled at him. "You can't do that." Oz, that word. She flung her palms out. "Who'll take your place?"
"Not my problem."
"Of course it is! You owe it to your people." That hit a little closer to home. He ran a hand through his hair.
"They'll get along fine without me." She started to argue, and he held up a hand. If she said 'can't' one more time… He sighed. "I'm staying with you. End of argument. We tried things your way already. I'm calling my turn."
She made a face.
He wrapped his arms around her waist. "My father is a good king. He'll come up with something." He let his eyes trace over her. "We can go wherever you want. Munchkinland, Quadling Country, the Emerald City, the moon. Doesn't matter to me as long as I'm with you."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but then she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Idiot."
She might as well have declared her undying love in return, because that's how he heard it. She wasn't shoving him away with 'can't' and 'Nessa' and 'wife'. He grinned and kissed her. Then he tightened his arms around her waist and spun her in a wide circle.
She rolled her eyes at him again and tipped her head to let him kiss her. He obliged with a long, sweet kiss without the sting of guilt, as perfect as she was. She tucked her face in his neck, and he buried his face in her hair, finally just them. Not the prince and the sister. Fae and her devoted Yero.
The sun-streaked sky had faded to red and then to stars. She pressed into him, and the memory of their first night under the stars made him smile.
"We should probably go somewhere." But her fingers still fisted tightly in his shirt. "Emerald City, huh?" She whispered to his collarbone. "I've never been there."
He tipped her face to his. "I think you'd like it there."
"Because everything's green?" she eyed him sideways, and he pursed his lips.
"Because everything's progressive. Loon."
"Loon?"
"You heard me."
She lifted a stern eyebrow. "And what exactly is a loon?
He plopped a kiss on her nose. "You."
"Well how can I argue with that logic?" His laugh burst out of him such that his head fell back to throw it at the stars. Oz, he loved her. She nipped the underside of his jaw in a kiss, and he swung back to her. He cupped her cheek and willed his devotion to show in his eyes.
She smiled, soft and warm and beautiful.
Then she sighed, and he wished he could rewind the clock to the moment before. "We can't go there."
"Why?" She tilted her head as if she were his tutor and the question was easy. "Why?" he repeated with frustration outlining the word. Her smile fell, and the sadness there made him grip both her arms. "I'm not leaving you. Period."
He dared her to argue. He would be stuffed with straw and set on fire before he'd leave her. For a long moment, he thought she might be daft enough to challenge him, but finally, she nodded. "Then I'll come back with you."
He frowned so hard it hurt. She couldn't mean it. Why would she say that? "Don't be ridiculous. If you go back, they'll kill you."
"I don't think so."
He lifted a suspicious eyebrow, but her eyes met his confidently.
"Surely your commitment made an impact on your parents."
He shook his head. She didn't know his father, how little Fiyero's opinion mattered to the man.
But he mattered, that was true. There was a chance, a slim chance, that his father would listen if it meant salvaging the Tigelaar line. Ugh, but what if he didn't? Fiyero ran a worried hand through his hair. "Can we take that risk?"
"Why not?"
Why not?! His eyes widened at her hubris, and he clasped a hand to her elbow. "For one, I prefer you alive."
"We can sneak in, and you'll find out while I stay out of sight."
He frowned. Still pretty dangerous.
She held on to his shoulder, watching his face. "By now, they're probably panicked. Can you imagine your mother's face? She must be so worried for you?"
The memory brought a grimace of regret. Still. He shook his head.
She gripped him tightly and thrust her face toward his. "Isn't it worth a chance? I'll stay out of trouble. I promise."
He took in her hope, and he couldn't say no. How many times had he begged her to give them a chance? How could he not do the same for her? But one wrong move, and she'd die. He couldn't bury another love.
He drew in a long breath and sighed. "You? Out of trouble? I'll believe that when I see it."
She curled her lips in and pressed her eyes shut. She set her jaw. "You did say you'd follow me anywhere I wanted to go. Were you lying to me?"
"Oh, that's low."
He narrowed his eyes at her, and she smirked. She curled her fingers around his arms and fluttered her eyes. "But Your Highness," she impersonated Three's accent, "you are so strong, and brave, and strapping. Surely you can keep me safe. Isn't there any way I can convince you, dear kind and handsome Prince Fiyero?"
He caught her in his arms tightly. "I'm supposed to be repulsed by that, am I? Am I?" He rained kisses over her face, making her shake with laughter. "I'm afraid you're out of luck. I can't find anything you do unattractive."
"That sounds like a challenge."
He buried his hands in her hair on either side of her face and kissed her, a long, slow, deep kiss that poured all his love into her. He let her feel every ounce of his desperation to keep her with him. No manipulations, no shields, just raw, aching love.
"Alright," he breathed, half out of air from the intensity of that kiss. "If you're that certain."
She tilted her head. "Just like that?"
He nodded. It may be her life at stake, but it was hers to choose. If anyone understood the need of that right, it was him. "But you have to promise, no crazy risks." She bobbled nods that did little to reassure him. "You'll stay out of sight until I'm convinced of your safety, no matter what."
Another bobble.
He leaned forward to hold her gaze. "And if this doesn't work out, we'll leave and go somewhere together?"
A slow nod, which worried him even more.
But he sighed. She was right. If she went back, he had little choice but to follow. "Fine. We'll head back in the morning."
"Why not tonight?"
Besides the sneaking suspicion she was laying her neck on the chopping block for a future he didn't even want? He wrapped his arms around her. He wanted a night with her, safe and together and not a 'can't' in sight.
He smiled at the thought, and she rolled her eyes as if he'd said he wanted to bed her first. But then he grinned at the thought. That, too, if she was offering. She shoved his shoulder and blushed.
"Get in the carriage, lothario. What'd you do with the driver?"
The driver slumped on the other side, eyes closed and snoring. Fiyero shook him awake. It reminded him of the hour, and his sleepless night before.
Elphaba took the reign of his horse and helped the driver secure it at the front of the carriage with the lead. He climbed in and flopped against the back. His head knocked back, fatigue drawing his focus. His eyes closed, darkness drawing around him.
Elphaba climbed in, finally, and snuggled into his side. He draped an arm around her, and she pillowed her head on his shoulder. He felt peace surround him. After such fear and panic, finally she lay safe in his arms, and even her fidgeting fingers over his chest or the rattling sway of the carriage couldn't keep him from beautiful dreams.
He was dreaming. He was in a tower. A dragon prowled below. His princess came to save him. Wait, shouldn't he be doing the saving? "You should have," she accused, and she swirled away. He reached out for her, falling out of the tower.
His princess was a falcon now, flying up to catch him in her talons. He wrapped his arms around her and bounced up over her wings. Soft, and not at all feathery. She nuzzled her face in his neck. Mmm. Soft. He trailed lazy kisses over her soft green skin, her soft black hair, her soft perfect non-falcon lips.
She shifted, pressed into him, and his body responded in kind. She was the dragon now, pouring fire into him with that kiss, and he let it flood into him. Hot, wet, and intense. He wanted more, more of that fire. It felt so good boiling in it, currents of heat rolling through him.
He kissed her back, deeper, stronger, melting the fuzziness of the dream from him. She stroked a hand over his chest, and he crushed her to him. Elphaba, here, his. She tugged on his hair, sending a shockwave running through him, and he pulled back to huff out a harried breath.
She drew him back, kissing him as if her life depended on it, and he did his best to meet her. Sleep faded, his body now fully in the moment if his brain lagged a bit, and he tangled her legs with his own to relieve some of that electricity with pressure, beautiful pressure. The world around them sharpened, his senses now aware of the clack of the wheels over the rocky road, the smell of dust, the incredible feel of her soft, pliant body so warm against him.
He kissed his way down her neck to her collarbone, and she breathed a sigh that singed his nerves. "You'll spoil me, waking up to this."
"I hate to bear bad news," she said, shifting her hips just right against him, "but you're already spoiled."
He chuckled and pressed a warm kiss to the sensitive skin just below her ear. She tilted her head back, eyes closed, and gave that sexy breathy sigh again. "And you love it," he teased.
She retaliated with a featherlight brush over his ear, and a shiver rushed down his spine. Oz, she set him ablaze. "I do," she whispered so soft he wasn't sure she'd meant him to hear. Her lips pressed to his forehead in a gentle kiss that made him feel so loved he had to bury his face in her. He loved her so much, his beautiful, wonderful Fae.
She cleared her throat and shifted away from him. "Where are we?"
He took the signal and gave her space. He could use some himself lest he ravaged her right here in a bumpy carriage headed back to responsibility, danger, and most disheartening, his wife. But Oz, she consumed him. He drew a deep breath in and turned to the window. Slowly, the buildings and market beyond cooled his overheated blood, and he swallowed.
"Close?"
His jaw tensed. "A few more minutes, and you should see the palace."
So awash in the wake of her love, he felt a desperate fear that he was about to lose it. He clutched her hand to him. "Promise me again: you won't do something reckless and get yourself killed."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks for the confidence."
But he wasn't distracted. "Promise," he repeated.
When she nodded, she didn't meet his eyes. It left an ache in the pit of his stomach. "And you?"
"I'm not the one risking my life here."
"Still." She squeezed his hand. "You mustn't risk yourself to save me." His eyes widened, and she rushed out, "If something happens, which it won't."
What an idiot he'd been, bringing his little martyr back to the altar and telling her to stay safe. Next he'll ask Nessa not to pray. Fool. He leaned forward to open the driver's window. "We're turning around." She launched herself at him, but he held her back easily. "I shouldn't have even listened to this madness." He blamed the brain fog those sexy lips of hers rolled through him with every smirk.
She glared at him. "Stop it. Turn us back." He met her glare evenly, and she scowled. "You can't protect me forever."
"Like hell." He certainly could try, at least until he convinced her to protect herself. She tilted her head. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I have to feed you to the wolves. We'll come back in a few months, once tempers have cooled."
"And everyone knows you've fled, and there's no undoing the damage?" She shook her head. "Oz, Yero, you should never have followed me to start with."
"Well, too bad. I did. And I always will. So get used to it." Didn't she know by now, she was worth it?
Her chin jutted out. "Ugh, why are you so stubborn?"
"Me? That's rich coming from you."
"You want stubborn, fine. If you're so intent to follow me…" She swung the door open as the carriage slowed. Fiyero cursed and leapt for her, but the crazy girl threw herself out of the carriage. He slammed a hand on the divider, and the driver pulled the carriage to a halt.
He sprinted after her, terror pounding his blood through his veins.
"What is the matter with you?" She dusted off her dress calmly, and he wanted to hug her and shake her senseless all at once. Thank Lurline she was alright!
"Ready to listen to reason?"
He threw an arm toward the road. "Oh, that's reason was it?"
She edged out of his reach, poised for flight. "We're going back. Even if I have to run away at every turn until you give in."
"Oz, woman." He shoved a hand through his hair. "Fine. Just, come on before someone sees you."
She lifted an eyebrow, and he lunged forward to grip her elbow. He hauled her back toward the carriage with a scowl, but she dug in her heels. "To the palace?"
"Yes, to the damned palace. Should I gift wrap you also? Maybe you'd prefer I behead you myself." She rolled her eyes. "Please, tell me again how you're not taking risks."
"A promise for the palace, not the road."
He huffed at the ridiculous logic. "Suicidal psychotic. You're going to be the death of me." His heart still lodged in his throat, its pounding hard to swallow past.
"I'm not suicidal." At his look she added, "Merely principled."
"And stubborn."
"I prefer determined."
"Determined to get yourself killed," he snapped. "I'm fairly certain that's suicidal."
She laughed. The crazy daredevil actually laughed. She took his hand and kissed his fingers. "Your foolishness must be rubbing off on me then."
He kept his hand on her elbow until she was seated on the far side from the door. Oz. She'd scared at least ten years off his life. How could she be so good for him and so terrible for him, all at once?
They arrived, and he sent them to the rear entrance by the rose gardens. He'd snuck in and out enough times to know each location's advantages and disadvantages. This area of the castle would be mostly empty at this time of day until the sun's assault faded.
Still, he felt his heartbeat in his ears as he led her into the castle. He'd thought of demanding she wait in the carriage, but after that stunt on the way here, he wouldn't feel safe unless he could see her and maybe stop her crazy plans.
Lurline, this girl. She was like loving fire, volatile, unstoppable, and sure to be dangerous to his health.
He toed through the hallways on high alert. Each faint tap might be the steward's whispery steps. They had to find proof first, and that meant her rooms, but she couldn't hide there. Nessa and Frexspar would pounce at the hint of her shadow.
At a corner, a steward approached, and Fiyero nearly fell over himself doubling back. They were too frantic, too out of control. He needed to calm, focus.
He forced an even breath. Eyes of the physician. Let go of emotion and see the problem, see the cure, see it through.
Cover. They needed cover. "Come on, we'd better hurry." Oz, he deserved a large glass of wine after this. Maybe whiskey. Maybe both. His neck ached with tension, muscles jumping at each corner like the floor might fall.
Then Elphaba tugged on his arm. He frowned, and she mimed to her ears.
"Yes, please," came a garbled voice that must be Nessa's.
He shook his head firmly. She pointed toward the wall, and he dug in his heels, shaking his head so emphatically, his neck popped. "No," he mouthed, and she rolled her eyes.
She shoved past him, and he caught her arm. She snapped away again and kept on her path. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she shoved him off with a glare.
"You're determined to get yourself killed, aren't you?" he whispered as loud as he dared, which might be lost in the whisper of an ant. He clawed a hand through his hair. If he didn't help her, she'd go anyway and probably wander straight into the guards. A colorful string of curses flooded his mind, but he sighed, "This way."
A narrow hallway led to a private salon with the door open, and inside, Nessa sat primly, a tea cup before her. Elphaba strode toward her, but Fiyero snatched her arm.
"Out of sight," he hissed. "She might not be alone."
"Thank you for the tea. But this doesn't change my mind," Nessa addressed the opposite corner, and Fiyero glared at Elphaba pointedly.
"We can't stay in the doorway."
"Of course, Your Highness," Three's voice said. "Another cup?"
Elphaba's face flooded with color, and she jerked forward. He banded his arm around her. "Stop," he hissed as she tried to fling him off. "They'll hear you."
Her breath came out in spurts, "I am not letting Three near my sister."
"It's just tea."
But she fought him silently like a wildcat. He was too strong for her, but he didn't want to hurt her either. She knew and pressed her advantage. Meanwhile Three drew the herbs he'd delivered and sprinkled it on the tea. Elphaba knocked him back and wrenched with all her might, and they slammed into the doorframe.
She shot out of his grip and across the room. "Damn it," he grunted and pushed after her.
"Fabala?" Nessa blinked, shock slowly morphing to cold rage as Elphaba ran to her. "What in the name of the Unnamed God are you doing here?"
What? How could the Unnamed-damn it, he didn't have time for this! He reached out for Elphaba, but she swung to Three. Elphaba flung the teacup to the ground.
Wide-eyed, Three breathed, "How did you get in?"
She backed away, but Elphaba leapt forward. She snatched the girl's head back by the hair. "What did you give my sister?"
"Stop. Fae, stop it!" He caught her hand before the blow could land. "For the love of Lurline! Is this what you think is staying out of trouble?"
"She's poisoning my sister! Shall I just sit around and braid my hair?"
He kept his grip tight on her arm and retrieved the pouch. "Star Anise. A spice, that's all, from the herbs I got her."
"It complements the aroma," Three ground out. She ought to look frightened, but even now he could see her eyes casting about for an advantage.
"Elphaba, stop it." Nessa pushed herself to her feet. "What is the matter with you? Let her go!"
"But she-"
Nessa interrupted sharply, "I don't want to hear a word from your lying mouth." Elphaba jerked back as if she'd been slapped. "Miss Three has been nothing but a comfort to me since you betrayed me. And to think I'd been so harsh to her, when this whole time, it was you."
"A comfort? She's trying-"
"Let her go," Nessa barked, " or I'll call the guards now myself."
Elphaba stared at her sister, aghast. "You would?" her voice low and wounded. "Nessa, you know what that would mean."
He set a hand on hers, and Elphaba dropped Three without even a glance. The girl skittered across the floor and sprinted out before Fiyero could fling out a hand to stop her.
He dragged Elphaba toward the door. "She'll go straight to my parents. We've got to get you out of here."
"You really would?"
The haughty ice in her sister's eyes answered plainly enough. It broke her heart, and she slumped, dead weight in Fiyero's arm. He caught her other arm, and her feet stayed under her just barely. "Come on, Fae, come on!"
Then Nessa swayed, and Elphaba screamed her name. She launched after her sister, but Nessa hit the floor before she could reach. "Help me!"
Her hands fluttered over the girl, and though he rushed to her side, he had no more answers than she.
"What happened?"
"The poison, you idiot!"
Nessa moaned, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"But it's just a spice," he argued weakly. Star Anise, he knew it was. How could it do this?
Clearly something had. Nessa flushed red and started convulsing. Her tiny body jumped and twitched, and Elphaba whirled on him. "She must have mixed it with something. What else did you get her?"
He tried to think, but Oz, she was right there, dying in front of their very eyes.
Elphaba shook him. "What else, Fiyero? What else?"
"I…I don't remember."
"Don't remember?" she shouted. "Think, damn it!"
He grabbed Nessa's head and tilted some water down her throat. "Maybe we can dilute it, or something."
"Or drown her! Stop!"
He flung out an arm. "You have a better idea?"
She snatched the water away, spilling it on her hand to form a long angry burn. "Go get help."
"No, I can't…they'd just trade your life for hers!" He picked up her sister's tiny body in his arms. "Hide. Quick! I'll find help, but you have to get out of here before Three-"
Too late. The door beyond flung open and a half dozen guards stormed in, complete with his father and Three.
Fiyero cursed, and moved to protect Elphaba, but with Nessa in his arms he was too slow. His father didn't spare him a look as he rounded on Elphaba. "What wickedness did you manage now, girl?"
"She didn't do anything," Fiyero shouted above the chaos. "It was Three. I saw it all."
Three turned wide eyes to the King. "See how bewitched she has him? It's unholy."
"I'm not-"
"Can we argue about this later?" Elphaba barked. "Nessa needs help."
"You don't fool anyone." Three narrowed her eyes. "If you want to help her so much, why don't you tell the King what you did to her?"
Fiyero burst out, "You poisoned her!"
Three sent him a catty look, and the king shook his head.
"Enough." His father nodded, and a guard caught Elphaba's arm in a vise-like grip. "For violating your banishment, you are hereby sentenced to execution at first light."
"Father, no!" Fiyero lurched forward, but the guards caught him on each side. Nessa moaned at the motion, her head lolling against his shoulder.
"Be grateful there is no worse punishment I can give," his father snarled. "And send for the healers. Pray they find some remedy."
"I won't let-" Fiyero started, but the king thundered over him.
"Confine my son in his quarters. Tie him down if you have to. Whatever spell she's cast on you, I'm disgusted that you've allowed it to ensnare you so completely."
They pulled Nessa from his arms and hauled them all out in opposite directions. Fiyero threw his full weight to jerk free and rushed toward Elphaba, but a guard behind him clasped him with a fierce hand to his injured ribs.
Fiyero crumpled in pain, and then she was gone, and Nessa was gone, and they were hauling him down the hall. And he was screaming her name, but no one even acknowledged the sound.
It all happened so fast, a spin of disaster, and he struggled to parse apart all the rivers of fear raging through him. Whatever he thought of Nessa, he didn't want her to die. And Elphaba. He needed to vomit just at the thought. First light, he'd said. A dozen hours, if that.
They placed him back in his room, no sympathy in their face after his last escape, and one of the guards took his father's words to heart. Ropes looped around his wrist and ankles, tight to a chair, and only then did the other pair let go of his arms.
"Not too tight," one guard fussed, but the other shook his head.
"Don't be daft. He's not the prince right now, is he? The witch is making him dance, and I'll be damned if she sends him off killing himself on my watch."
"She's not a witch. She didn't do anything. You've got to help me," Fiyero begged, but the guard fashioned a makeshift gag from Fiyero's own shirt.
"Sorry, Your Highness, but you'll feel glad of this when you're back in your right mind."
They slipped to the door to arrange a rotation, with at least two men inside the door and two out. Panic closed in on him. She was going to be killed, Nessa was going to be killed, and he couldn't do a damned thing to stop it.