Chapter 13

Just as they got to the first floor, one of the servants led someone to the main hall. Fiyero's forehead wrinkled in disgust. It was that Luke person again.

"Miss Elphaba, this man has just asked for you," said the servant, motioning Luke.

"Thanks, Lalley. Will you bring us some tea to the library?"

"Of course, madam," said Lalley and went to her way.

"Miss Elphaba," said Luke as he formally kissed her palm, and then Glinda's. "Miss Glinda. Sir," he nodded at Fiyero's direction. They got into the library.

"What are you doing here, Luke?"

"I came here to tell you about a conversation I happened to hear in the pub yesterday, but I have bigger news now," he said, lowering his voice into a whisper. "Someone was following me here." A gasp escaped Glinda's lips. Luke turned to give her a reassuring look. "No need to alarm, Miss Glinda, he was gone before I was able to catch him or anything."

Glinda shook her head. "I'm not alarmed, I'm just-"

"Someone was following her too earlier today," completed Elphaba.

Luke did his best in looking surprised. "Oh?"

Glinda nodded. "Yes. It was terrifying, actually, were you able to recognize him?" she asked hopefully.

Luke shook his head. "No, not really. It is dark outside, and he wore dark clothes, so I couldn't quite tell," he said in faked sorrow, stealing a glance at Elphaba. She looked bothered, obviously, but her beauty somehow managed to transcend it. Her skin glowed in a remarkable emerald shade by the light of the fireplace. His mother's warnings echoed in his head. You must promise me not to have any contact with this woman. He chose to ignore it, as he always did.

"The reason I came here in the first place was to tell you about this conversation I heard," he said finally. Fiyero rolled his eyes. It didn't escape Luke. "Some men in the pub talked about the Wizard, about his future return to Oz."

Glinda gasped again. Elphaba tensed in her seat. Her dream… was it possible?

"His return to Oz? What do you mean?" asked Glinda, confused.

"Well, according to what they said, he would return one of these days, to claim what's rightfully his."

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Elphaba raised her eyes to meet Fiyero's. "Dawn," was the only thing she said, yet they all understood what she meant.

Fiyero couldn't stop himself from chuckling. This was ridiculous. She couldn't honestly believe that. "Now wait just a clock tick, here, Fae. No one said anything about-"

"Think about it, Yero! Why else I got those dreams? Why else I dreamt he was coming to take her away?"

"And what about Dawn's dream?" he retorted. He didn't even believe it was possible, but he wouldn't let Elphaba win that stupid fight.

She sat still, momentarily defeated it seemed, but then said, "It makes perfect sense, then. She dreamt that I'll go with him, and I dreamt that she would. To claim what belongs to him? It's me or her," she concluded.

"You're crazy," said Fiyero. Elphaba's glance was piercing. He felt as if she was trying to see through him. He hated when she did that; she always succeeded, and he always felt so transparent and vulnerable.

"Am I?"

"I don't believe that you are," said Luke.

Fiyero shot him a dirty look. "What is it to you?" he snapped, "Mind your own business!"

"Fiyero!" Elphaba protested, appalled.

"Obviously, it is not my business, and I apologize," said Luke, in a voice so calm that Fiyero got even more annoyed. "But I promised to help you, and I'll do it in every possible way. I want to protect you."

"I can protect them just fine!" Fiyero could hear his tone slowly rising. His blood was boiling. This man was out of line.

"Fiyero, that's enough," snapped Elphaba. Her eyes were two huge balls of fire, but her voice remained icy-cold. Fiyero knew that was even worse. He guessed he should have been grateful she didn't cast any spell on him, as she sometimes did when she was angry. "Now let's think," she added, slightly calmer. "Obviously these men knew what they were talking about-"

Enough was enough. He couldn't listen to this nonsense any longer. "I don't want to hear this," declared Fiyero and left the room just as Lalley entered and served tea.

"I'm sorry," started Elphaba once Lalley was gone, "Usually he's not like that."

Luke shook his head, dismissing her apologies. "That's alright. He is tensed, can't blame him. No matter what he says, I can see he is afraid, just as you are."

"There's not much that we can do," said Glinda.

Luke nodded. "Unfortunately, that is true."

"So what, we'll just sit and wait until they'll kill one of us next time?" asked Elphaba. She hated being hopeless. There was always something to do, as far as she was concerned.

"I'll stay on watch. In the mean time, you'll take care of yourselves here. Everything will be alright," said Luke in a reassuring smile; a smile that neither Elphaba nor Glinda doubted its honesty.

He kept smiling as he did his way back home half an hour later. Mission complete.

Fiyero knew that Elphaba was avoiding him. It was easy to guess. She deliberately ignored him through dinner and closed herself in Dawn's room right afterwards. Dawn was probably asleep for several hours now but Elphaba still haven't returned to their room. He assumed that she was probably waiting for him to fall asleep too. Not that he didn't try that. He laid awake in their bed and just stared emptily at the ceiling. He thought about the evening's events, about what Luke had told them earlier. Even as he thought about it now, it still sounded silly. How could Elphaba be so blind to that? Just because she had these dreams? She, who had never trusted anyone but herself, would now do everything to prove him, Fiyero, of all people, wrong? The Wizard's future return? Absurd! It was impossible that she even considered it was possible!

Finally, the door opened. Fiyero rolled on his side, pretending to be asleep. In the corner of his eyes he saw Elphaba getting ready for bed, changing into a nightgown and loosening her long dark hair of its many pins. The moment she got into bed he rolled to the other side of the bed, closer to her, and put his arm around her waist before she had a chance to resist it.

"So… care to hear how the Wicked Witch got the scarecrow under her spell?" he whispered into her ear.

She turned to face him, her eyes still burning with anger. "Fiyero, I am so mad at you right now that you'll be lucky if I won't turn you back into a scarecrow," she said coldly.

He let go of her immediately. Anything but that. Just thinking about it made him shudder. He knew she would be mad; she had every right to be mad, too. "Will it help if I'll say that I'm sorry?" he asked, offering her a faint smile.

She looked at him as if she was planning on turning him back into a scarecrow, the sooner the better. "What in Oz name were you thinking? He was just trying to help; how could you talk to him like that?"

"I don't trust him," he answered honestly, looking straight into her eyes.

"Really? Couldn't notice," she said cynically.

"And you shouldn't, either."

She didn't look convinced. "Why? Give me one reason, one logical reason why I shouldn't trust him, Fiyero."

"You know nothing about him, for one thing. Who he really is? Where did he come from? What is he really doing in the Emerald City? Does he have a family? Besides… I don't feel we should work along with him."

"Based on what?"

"A hunch, okay? It sounds silly but it's true. You're not the only one who was blessed with good instincts. My instincts don't often fail me. You won't tell me now it's wrong to follow one's instincts, right? You do it too."

"I do. But my instincts tell me to trust him, because we don't have anyone else to trust," she said softly, laying a hand on his chest. "Fiyero, please promise me you'll stop that."

"Stop what?"

"These ridiculous speculations of yours. Stop being jealous for nothing, it doesn't worth it. It's you that I want, you that I love, not anyone else. This is what your instincts should tell you."

"Elphaba-"

"Promise me," she whispered before she leaned down to kiss him.

"I promise," he murmured against her lips, and kissed her again, more fiercely.

She smiled and blew out the candle near her side of the bed. "Good. Now tell me the end of that story."