A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Frex had maids at home to take care of Nessa, Elphaba wasn't needed. When given the option, he rather not see her, though we'll get more into the Frex/Elphaba dynamic later (not sure if it'll be this story though). Fiyero's reaction is partially coming up, Glinda's later. Our favorite blonde is up to something... Glad you liked the last chapter.
Chapter 32
"Fae, you really do need to make sure you're keeping your strength up," Fiyero said to her as they walked from the mess tent back toward the Palace. Private Schultz was keeping up; a few paces behind so the two could talk privately. Doctor Talib had decided that the lack of food and drink was a good portion of Elphaba's physical issue, and he was going to have food and drinks brought into the Palace on a regular basis.
"I'm not sure how I even managed to eat just now. It wasn't bad enough that basically Morrible was going to take my powers and then kill me to rule over Oz with an iron fist. Then Boq read that…" Elphaba practically gagged on her own words. Fiyero ached to pull her into his arms and reassure her that Morrible was dead and that things were going to get better. Part of the problem was, he couldn't guarantee that last part.
"Everything you've been through; it just seems completely unfair to add to the pile. My concern is where it puts you. The Munchkins don't want to know that you're next in line for leading them and the good people of Oz aren't going to understand that you're also the daughter of the man we've been trying to remove from office. I'm not sure we can trust the Council with this information," the former Prince was concerned.
"Glinda trusts Barat. Arif and Fekri seem like good men but my concern lies with Pepi," the green woman admitted.
"Well three against one would be in our favor," Fiyero smiled slightly as they started up the front steps of the Palace.
"Boq really had no idea what he was reading. He's got to be very confused at this point," Elphaba said.
"I honestly thought he'd try to kill you," the Vinkun told her.
"Me too. I could almost feel his rage when I first came up to him but when I was able to get him moving again it dissipated a little. He could be boiling just beneath the surface though," she admitted.
"I'll keep an eye on him," Fiyero promised as they entered the building and headed for Morrible's office.
"How can we help Boq?" Elphaba asked as they entered the room.
"If you could start taking a look at those random numbers that would be great. I can keep plowing through these conversions, but I still have no idea how they fit in," he admitted from his spot at the chalk board.
"Do we have what pages and ciphers they were with?" She wanted to know.
"Yes, I wrote it down," Boq moved to the desk and handed her a separate sheet with the numbers, the page they were found on, and what cipher was being used on that particular page.
"I'll see what I can do," Elphaba promised.
"It could very well be something only you or Glinda would understand since you were her students," the Tin Man figured.
"It could be," she shrugged and took a seat behind Morrible's desk in the fish woman's chair.
"Speaking of Glinda, where did she get to?" Fiyero asked.
"She said something about meeting up with a Lieutenant Bayram. She had some sort of idea, but she didn't tell me what," Boq confessed. Fiyero turned to Sergeant Zeki and indicated he wanted to speak to him off to the side of the room. The two moved over and the Sergeant asked what his Captain was thinking.
"I thought other than getting Boq, Bayram was staying away from this," Fiyero said.
"I have noticed that he and Glinda seem fairly close. He was her only friend once you and Zetti went off looking for Miss Elphaba," Zeki explained.
"Do you know where she went?" The former Captain wanted to know.
"I honestly don't but she was in a bit of a mood. I'm guessing whatever she was thinking about Bayram knew what it was. He didn't seem flustered about anything and you should have seen him when he was trying to distance himself from the investigation. He was flustered then," the Sergeant explained.
"Well, he was about to become head of the Gale Force. As the second Lieutenant, he was basically at the peak of his career. He would never be expected to be Captain unless something bad happened to me and Zetti. Plus, he was helping Glinda, I'm not sure what that entailed, but I'm sure it was stressful. You know that feeling," Fiyero pointed out.
"True, I do," Zeki nodded. The Vinkun wondered just what the blonde was up to and how the Lieutenant fit in. He didn't realize that Glinda was on the verge of something that would change everything.
To Be Continued…