Chapter 19

The coach jiggled unsteadily down an unfamiliar road. They rode for hours. In her numb state of mind of shock and grief, Elphaba had lost any sense of time. She didn't know for how long they had been riding, or whether it was day or night. She drifted in and out of frenzied slumber. When she finally woke up, the movement stopped, and the earth was steady beneath her feet. It was an empty room, as far as she could tell in the semi-darkness, and not a really big one. The only window the room had was well-covered by a thick curtain. She was half sitting, half lying, on the cold floor, leaning against the wall.

She was sore all over as a result of her struggle with Luke hours, maybe days, before. Her hair was a mess and got into her eyes and she was about to move it backwards, when she realized that she couldn't use her hands. They were tied together behind her back in a thick rope. Whoever tied them up knew what he was doing; the rope cut into her flesh when she tried to break her hands apart. She let out a frustrated moan.

"Good morning." She was startled to hear another person's voice, for she thought she was alone in the room. She recognized it to be Luke's voice. She raised her head to face him as he came closer until he finally sat beside her on the floor. "You're awake, at last. Have you been sleeping well?" he asked casually as he removed her hair from her face.

She flinched back in disgust. "Don't touch me," she hissed. He snorted but let go of her. "Luke? Is it even your real name?"

"Of course. I always take full responsibility of my own actions. I never pretend to be working under a false identity," he answered calmly.

It felt as if he was mocking her. She felt like the most brainless creature in Oz. How could she be so blind to the facts? "Then answer me this, Luke," her voice trembled. He felt the least sorry for her. "Why?" The question that echoed in the tiny room was full of pain.

He laughed again. It made her feel even more helpless. "Because someone must put an end to the life of the Wicked Witch of the West, after all this time. My mother failed in doing so, and was severely punished for it. I don't intend to fail. And I will take my revenge, on my mother's behalf," his tone was bitter, full of anger and malice.

All she could do was look back at him with utter confusion. "Your mother?" An idea crossed her mind but she pushed it away. Impossible.

"You might remember her from your old times at Shiz University," he said. "She was your mistress there."

His words caught her completely off-guard. She just stared at him for a moment as his words quickly sank in. "Madam Morrible?" He nodded. "So are you working for her now?"

Luke shook his head. "Heavens, no. But you are the reason for her imprisonment. I felt I had the right to revenge, since it was all your fault." She said nothing, but her expression told him everything he wanted to know. He ignored that. Maybe she'd appreciate a bit of good news. "You'll be pleased to know that sweet Dawn is safe and back at home by now."

"How will I know that you're telling me the truth?" she asked skeptically, though her heart was racing.

"Well, you won't. But it is the truth."

"What about Fiyero? Was shooting him part of your plan as well?"

"This was his fault for his attempt to act as Prince Charming and sticking his nose where he shouldn't have," Luke replied sternly. He looked at her greedily. At last, she was all his. He could see an emerald sparkle of her shoulder where her black dress was torn. "I guess it means…" he murmured as he moved closer to her. "That it's only the two of us now, Lady Tiggular…" The tips of his fingers grazed her bare shoulder.

She flinched back. "Don't you even dare-"

He laughed evilly; a laughter of someone who had just got what he most wanted. "I think you don't understand what is going on here, dearie," he said. "You are powerless here. You can do nothing; I am immune to your spells and magic. The sooner you'll understand this, the better. Anyway, I just thought we couldn't use having fun a little bit… as long as you're mine…"

She closed her eyes at the sound of these last familiar words, Fiyero's words, in Luke's mouth. She looked at him coldly. "Well, you better stop thinking about it. It won't happen."

"Too bad," he replied, smiling viciously. "You'll change your mind sooner or later."

"Even if Fiyero is dead, someone will look for me," she said icily. She wasn't sure whether it was him she was trying to convince, or herself.

Luke nodded. "I'm sure they will. But I'm also sure that they won't be able to find you, or when they will, it will be too late, and then… well, you know what they say. No one mourns the wicked," he said and got up. "I'll be back to check on you later. And don't bother to scream or do anything silly of that kind, we are too far away from the Emerald City, anyway. You don't have a chance." He was gone before she had a chance to say anything else.

She held back tears of frustration and leant back on the wall behind her, feeling helpless and defeated. It was something she has never felt before. And she didn't like it much.

"I have to get out of here, somehow," was her determined whisper in the small room. She couldn't give up. She wouldn't give up. She'd get out of there, even if it would be the last thing she'd do.