Fiyero: For authors' note, just put the usual
Daydreamer731: lol ok
Authors' Note: The usual.
Chapter 4
Boq trembled with laughter as he watched the Winkies shake the Emerald Palace. The Grimmerie was close by; he could almost feel its power. The thing that worried him was the windows were still together - not the tiniest crack was visible in the thinnest pane of glass. He began to circle the Palace, his tin feet crunching the dried grass below.
He looked the building up and down. It was of solid emerald, built from slabs of the jewel much like marble. Some windows were stained glass with shades of green, but most were transparent as windows should be.
Something caught his eye, way up high in one of the tallest emerald towers. A window had been shattered, with only a few remains of the glass sticking to the window frame. He held up his hand to the nearby Winkies. "Halt!" he cried over their shouting voices. "That's enough! We've done enough damage to get into the Palace."
Boq clenched his solid fingers together in a rock-like fist and smiled. Ordinarily he liked to think of himself as an exceedingly sensitive and compassionate man—but when it came to the Witches, he had no qualms about taking what was rightfully his. They'd robbed him, all three of them. They'd taken every shred of dignity he'd had, right down to his very being. He'd put up with the wretched little girl for as long as he had for one purpose—revenge on Elphaba. And after all they'd been through, he hadn't gotten the chance. It was all because of those blasted flying monkeys! Boq turned and fastened his iron grip on the shoulder of one of the Winkies he'd made a general that morning.
"Prepare the troops to enter the Palace."
Two dead, one to go. Those were the only words that slipped in and out, in and out, through Boq's head. He grinned evilly, a haze falling into his eyes as he dreamed out slowly choking Glinda with his tin hands. He snapped to attention when he realized he needed to pick one of the Winkies to scale the Palace walls and enter through the window. He looked around - there were a few children nearby, and he spotted a boy of fourteen or fifteen years.
"You there!" he called. "Boy!"
The boy snapped to attention. "Yes, Highness?"
"What's your name? Never mind. See the window up there, the shattered one?"
"Yes, Highness."
"You are to climb up the walls, through the windows, make your way to the front door, and let your fellow Winkies into the Palace. Can you manage that?"
"I'm not sure…"
"That was rhetorical!" roared Boq, grabbing the boy by the throat and shaking him as hard as he could. "You will climb up the walls!"
"But…I-I…can't!" stammered the boy.
Boq stared down at the child in disgust. How he reminded Boq of himself at that age…strange, he was almost glad that he would never go back to being so utterly boneless. There was power in metal, and being made of metal would make him the most powerful man in all of Oz.
The boy coughed and wheezed, but Boq just shook him harder. There was a sickening crunch of bones snapping, and the boy's head flopped lifelessly onto his chest. Boq let go and the boy fell to the ground in a heap. The tin man let out a roaring laugh.
A girl who looked to be a few years younger than the boy had been ran up and shook the boy's shoulders. She screamed and drew back in terror as she realized his state. The scream fell into sudden silence as Boq's cold hand wrapped around her neck. "Will you climb for me?" he asked, another rhetorical question.
"W-why should I?" the girl said. "You killed my brother!"
"And you shall receive the same fate if you don't climb - now will you or won't you?" Tears overflowing from the girl's eyes, she turned to the Palace and began searching for a ledge for her foot and a grip for her hand.
After a few moments of searching, the girl returned to Boq, tears streaming down her face.
"There's-there's no way to climb it. There must be some kind of spell on it."
"What?" roared Boq. "What do you mean?"
"The walls—they're slippery!"
She reminded him of the Dorothy, Boq thought, utterly repulsed at the realization. All she needed was the dog and she'd be a perfect replica. How many little brats can there be, he wondered.
Boq went to the wall of the Palace and attempted to take hold of it. Sure enough, his hand fell away as though he'd made a grab at air.
"There must be a spell," he thought aloud. "And there must be a way around that spell…" A light went on in the king's head. He took his axe and thrust the blade into the wall. It stuck, rooted deeply into the emeralds. He beckoned the girl over and she came, cautiously. She seized the axe handle and heaved herself up onto a windowsill. A low laugh emerged Boq's lips.
"Climb," he ordered.
"But…but…what if I fall?" asked the girl. "And what do I do once I get up there?"
"If you fall…don't fall," said Boq. "And once you get up there…kill everyone in the room. Then go down to the main doors and open them for us."
The girl collapsed into sobs.
"I c-c-can't kill anyone!" she wailed.
"If you cannot kill," said Boq, "you will be killed." The girl lost her footing suddenly and grasped at the open air for something to grab. Nothing came to reach and she fell to the ground with a crack and a scream of pain. Boq grinned and kicked her, causing her to whimper. "Get up and climb, you wretched brat!"
She collected herself and used the axe again for support. Ripping it from its place in the wall, she plunged it once again, higher this time. She pulled herself up and balanced on another windowsill. She yanked the axe out once again and threw it in once again.
Boq's eyes watched her cautiously. If she fell, her neck would snap and Boq would have to find a third child to climb the wall, and another way to get past the spell, for if she fell, his axe would most likely end up in the wall as well. She climbed higher still. His tin hand curled into a ball, his face lined with anxiety.
The girl slipped a little, but then caught herself. Boq caught his breath. She turned and looked back at him, then disappeared into the black depths of the castle interior. She had made it inside.
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