"Sir, may I take your plate?"

"You may take his plate once you address him as the Wizard!"

As one of the Winkie servant boys asked if the WIzard had finished his dinner and if his plate should be taken away from him, an annoyed witch chided him.

"And when you clean the plates, make sure you do it properly this time!" Her remarks made the little one lower his head in shame. "Because if you don't do it right again, I will be sure to hit you twice with a belt!"

"Theodora!" The Wizard raised his voice at her before he gestured with his hand. "No one is hitting anyone. I can bring the plate and clean it myself…"

As he stood up from his chair, which was coated in pure gold and encrusted with red rubies, he dismissed the boy. "It is okay, we can take care of this from here", he whispered to him.

"What are you doing?" With much surprise evident in her voice, the witch abruptly stood from her own chair as she shot a wide-eyed glance at the Wizard. He was supposed to allow the Winkie boy to take his plate and have the Winkies clean up after them. What in Oz was he doing?

But the Wizard came over to Theodora's end of the large oak dining table and took her own plate, too. "I have this", he again whispered softly to the Winkie servant. "Go home", he waved them off. "Go home…" But the boys stood near the table, with much uncertainty as to how the witch was going to react.

Theodora stared perplexingly at the Wizard as she raised her hands. "What are you doing? Don't touch this! That is the job of the Winkies!" In all seriousness, she wondered if the Wizard had gone completely mad. Cleaning up after a meal is not something that affluent Ozians ever engaged in. Growing up at the palace, not once did Theodora have to clean up a table on her own. This included her immediate family. In the witch's eyes, this type of work was meant for lowly servants and maids. It was not meant for witches and wizards and other great and powerful beings.

But the Wizard was adamant. He grabbed her plate and set it on top of his own. "Remember how I said in order to be a good leader, you have to be respected by those who work for you?", the Wizard asked. "Well, there is no better day than today to start…"

"But I never did this before!", Theodora objected.

"Then, we try something new", he calmly replied.

She looked at him with much trepidation, but finally gave a glance at the two Winkie boys who were standing near the table, motioning to them that they could go home for the night.

"I swear, you are going to be the death of me, Wizard, you really are…", the witch whined and pouted as the pair entered the kitchen. She began to shake her head. "Ohhhhhh why do we have to do this?" She stomped her foot on the plush carpet as her expression conveyed fear. "I don't wanna do this! Why do we need to do this? We don't have to do this!"

But he held his ground. "Sometimes, in order to grow, we have to get our hands dirty…", he said matter-of-factly. "This is about setting an example. Baby steps. That is the only way you can learn and grow…"

The Wizard was hoping that Theodora would start to mature, see that these chores were not beneath her and begin to appreciate everything that the Winkies were doing for her. He really wanted to convince her to treat her servants fairly and humanely.

In fact, he really wanted Theodora to engage in the same toil that the Winkies did. It was not easy work, but this is what the Winkies did for her every single day. And he felt increasingly uncomfortable when she would lash out at them for even the mildest of mistakes.

But what was he going to do about it? The Winkies believed that he was a real wizard, but he simply could not demand that she stop treating the Winkies poorly or he would turn her into a chicken. That was not practical or realistic. And neither was he going to kill her like the Winkies had requested. No, there must be another way, and after giving it thought, he felt the best way to do it would be to persuade her to change her mind. If she could change her behavior, and make it appear that it was her idea all along, then maybe she would change.

At least, he hoped so. After his clandestine meeting with Bella earlier in the day, the Wizard had returned to the dining room and continued to work on his blueprints at the same oak dining table where the pair would later eat dinner. After being screamed at by the witch earlier in the day, he was hoping to avoid her wrath. However, peace and tranquility did not happen for long.

"What do you mean you took a break!" He heard Theodora's edgy voice bark in an adjacent hallway as his heart jumped to his throat. Oh my god, what is happening, the Wizard thought to himself. Did she discover that I went outside without her permission?

A small child-like voice responded to her, saying that he was tired and could not stand all day. He needed to take a break. Oh, good. She's not yelling at me, but someone else. But wait, this is still bad, because she's still yelling at someone. For a moment, the Wizard felt relieved, even if it was for a selfish reason. He then chided himself for this error. Despite vowing to reform himself, the old Oscar would sometimes resurface.

The witch's cries could be heard from the nearby hallway. "I don't care if you feel like collapsing from exhaustion! You are going to stand there or something horrible might happen to you or to your family! Do you want that!? I don't think you want that!"

As the witch continued to shout, her screeching became louder and louder. Oh no, the Wizard thought to himself. They are coming towards the dining room…

But as they stepped into the dining room, he became aware of who she was in fact yelling at. It was not one of her Winkie servants, but one of the guards. In fact, it was the child guard he had conversed with several days prior. As she continued to say how awful he was at performing his duties and viciously demeaned him and gave him a tongue lashing, the child would nervously glance at the Wizard, hoping for his intervention.

"Don't you dare look around!", Theodora's boomed at him angrily. She grimaced as she clenched her teeth and curled her hands into fists.

"Y-y-y-es Theodora…", the little guard stammered. But this made the witch even madder. "THAT'S MISTRESS TO YOU!", she screamed at him. Her cheeks were bright red as she began to ominously threaten him. "DO YOU WANT ME TO TURN YOU INTO A BURNT CRISP OF DUST!? DO YOU?" She pointed her finger at him as she continued to scream. "YOU DON'T EVER ADDRESS ME WITH THAT NAME AGAIN! OTHERWISE, I WILL MAKE IT SO THAT NOT ONLY WILL YOU NEVER SEE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN, BUT THEY WILL WORK DAY AND NIGHT FOR ME INSTEAD OF RESIDING IN THEIR COMFY LITTLE HOMES! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Her yelling soon drew the attention of the captain, who stormed into the room and intervened on the little one's behalf. Unlike the servants, Mitchell would often intercede when one of his guards would unintentionally antagonize the witch. It was a rare occurrence, but it did indeed happen.

"Calm yourself!", the captain pointedly exclaimed to her.

"NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! BECAUSE IF YOU ACTUALLY DID YOUR JOBS COMPETENTLY, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO RESORT TO DOING THIS FOR YOU! DO YOU WANT TIME OUT IN THE DUNGEON? I DON'T THINK YOU WANT TIME OUT IN THE DUNGEON! DO YOU WANT ME TO TURN YOU INTO A FROG? I DON'T THINK YOU WANT ME TO TURN YOU INTO A FROG! I WILL TURN YOU INTO THE WORST THING IMAGINEABLE AND YOU WON'T BE LAUGHING THEN!" The witch stomped her foot on the carpet and continued to pout as her temper tantrum continued unabated. "WHY CAN'T EVERYONE DO AS THEY ARE TOLD AND NOT GANG UP ON ME!"

As the Wizard eyed this curious and rather disturbing spectacle, he noticed something quite odd. Theodora, who was of average height for a woman back home in Kansas, was castigating a man who towered over her. Literally. Standing nearly six feet eight inches tall, the captain of the guards loomed over her. He loomed over everyone. He was even taller than the adult Winkie Guards he commanded, who all averaged over six feet. Even in a place like Kansas, the Wizard could never imagine a woman getting away with this type of behavior.

But this was Oz. And before he knew it, the captain was begging her to calm down, which ironically only made her angrier and the situation worse. As he continued to sit and pretend like he was reviewing his blue prints, he even thought of intervening himself. But he was fearful of escalating the witch's incredibly dour mood and ultimately did nothing.

Suddenly, after sapping the energy from both of the poor guards, Theodora had renewed vigor to take her extra pent-up frustration out on her Winkie servants.

"Now! Where is the child who was supposed to fix that door!" And with that, the irritable witch thundered angrily out of the dining room, with both of the weary guards following closely behind her.

The Wizard simply shook his head in silence. He could not imagine having to deal with this every single day. It must have been utterly exhausting.

"Okay", Theodora finally relented as the pair entered the kitchen together. "The only reason why I am doing this is because of you." She shook her head defiantly with mild exasperation as she muttered under her breath. "If it was anyone else…"

Truth be told, Theodora could only count on her fingers the number of times she stepped foot inside the kitchen. She viewed this room as a place where lowly servants went to prepare meals for her and, on occasion, her Winkie Guards. In fact, this was only the second time she went into the kitchen. Since the witch and her Winkie Guards would never enter the kitchen before the Wizard's arrival, many Winkie servants viewed this area as a "safe space", where they could take breaks, exchange gossip and even speak with each other candidly without fear of reprisals.

After the clean-up—which the witch complained and whined about getting her hands dirty—the pair finally retired and walked slowly towards the bedrooms. However, as they did so, they approached large bars of gold that had been left scattered along the hallway floor.

"What's this?", the Wizard inquired. His question was met with an eye roll from Theodora, who was irritated at the latest example of incompetence from her Winkie subjects. She curled her hands into fists as she shook them out of frustration. "Ugh, they were supposed to leave this outside at the gate! Those imbeciles!" She motioned with her hands as she expressed irritation and annoyance. "They can't do anything right!"

As the Wizard approached the first bar of gold to examine it, the witch continued her rant. "I hope you can now see why I treat the Winkies the way I do. This is literally an act of defiance against me!"

But he ignored her words as he glanced back at the witch. "Who is this for?" But she narrowed her eyes at this question. "You should know, Wizard. The Nomes entered into an alliance with Oz, so they are our allies now and we are going to trade. They are going to give me ruby emeralds in exchange for these bars of gold." In reality, Theodora welcomed this because her magical abilities came from ruby emeralds, which she could use to augment her powers and take over the rest of the Winkie province.

The Wizard curled his lips into a look of disgust as he cringed. "What? The Nomes aren't our allies! Who told you this?"

The witch's eyes darted nervously in every which direction as she became slightly defensive. "I-I-have my sources, Wizard, I…"

But he interrupted her. "Theodora…", he bent his knees and looked her straight in the eyes. His tone was serious. "Cut the bullshit, okay? Who told you this?"

"Wizard…", the witch acted surprised as she demurred. "Don't act so surprised. Didn't the land…"

But he shook his head and looked at her angrily. "No, we didn't. Now, I want to know, who told you this?"

Theodora looked at him like a child who was about to get in trouble. "Evanora…"

The Wizard arched his back and huffed as the witch held out her hands. "But why would she lie to me about this? The Nomes aren't our allies? She made it sound very convincing! She even had a little Nome with her when she told me! I saw him in the crystal ball!" Her voice became singsong as she began to describe him, similar to how a lovestruck adult would adoringly speak about a child. "And awww that little fellow was so cute!"

"Theodora! Stop!", the Wizard barked at her. "This is not funny!" His anger silenced her. "The Nomes aren't our allies! In fact, they are our hated enemy. Even I know this. Why didn't you ask me about this first? And why do you take your sister's word at face value?"

"Wizard!", she uttered breathlessly. "I know that my sister isn't perfect, but she doesn't pretend to be!" Her tone then became embittered. "Unlike Glinda, that is…" After a brief pause, she continued speaking excitedly and earnestly. "But I know that she really tries! And she's honest and forthright!"

The Wizard crossed his arms on his chest. "Like the time she tried to deceive you about me?"

"Well, that was different", she rationalized as she waved her hand dismissively. "And maybe that was really a dream she had or maybe she was just trying to get back at Glinda, which would have been well deserved. But I forgive her for that! And besides, why can't people be given another chance? I'm giving you another chance, Wizard, and so far, this is turning out to be very…"

But he interjected again. "Theodora, I am sorry to say this to you, but she lied to you. She is not speaking to you to rekindle some sisterly familial relationship. She is using you. That is all she is doing." The Wizard emphasized each word in the hopes that the message would finally get through to her. "Your sister is nothing but a dirty, double crossing, liar. She is a murderer too, no less. There are no redeeming qualities about her!"

"Wizard, please! You are upsetting me! Don't say these things!", the witch said in earnest as she wiped her eyes and shook her head. "My sister was the only one who stood by me when everyone else abandoned me. When even my parents didn't want me and when even Glinda betrayed me. Please, Wizard. I have no one, except for her. She protected me when no one else would. Please…you are upsetting me. And why would she lie to me about this?"

"Follow the gold", the Wizard shrugged. "She wants you to take these bars of gold out of your castle."

What would a con artist like him do, he thought to himself. What would the old Oscar do? If I were a lying, double crossing con artist like Evanora, why would I want my sister to leave gold bars outside of her castle?

"Who are you supposed to give them to", he asked.

Theodora looked at him with wide eyed as she subtly shook her head. "I don't know." She then gave a slight smile. "Sister just said that a Nome was going to take them from outside the gate and then leave the red rubies in a clearing away from the castle…"

He shook his head in disbelief as his voice was filled with much exasperation. "So, she was going to rob you blind and then supposedly leave these rubies in an undisclosed area that you would never find?" He then turned away from the witch and muttered frustratingly under his own breath so that Theodora couldn't hear him. "Ugh, that fiendish despicable cunt is up to her old tricks…"

She then looked at him with much seriousness. "So, the Winkies shouldn't bring out these gold bars?"

"NO!", he unwittingly began to scream at her as he turned to her once again. This made the witch raise her brow as she gasped in shock. This was the first time that the Wizard actually lost his temper with her. "Come on Theodora, you're smarter than this! What do you think she's trying to do here? Come on, think for once! Use that brain of yours! Use that intellectual mind that you were born with! She's not going to give you rubies! How can she? She's broke! She has nothing! She just wants your gold to enrich herself at your expense! There is no alliance or treaty of friendship with the Nomes! She lied to you! Stop being stupid!"

As he finished yelling at her, the witch continued to stare at him in wide-eyed silence. Realizing that he most likely overreacted, the Wizard blinked, sighed and regained his composure. "I'm sorry", he said. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

But she continued to stare at him silently. She might have even taken one or two steps back when the Wizard went on his angry tirade.

"What?", he asked, noticing that she remained quiet.

"It's just that when you yelled at me, you reminded me of…my father", she finally answered.

As this whole incident made him feel bad, he then reached out and held her hands with his. He pulled her closer to him. "Look, you can come to me. You can ask me." He looked into her eyes and spoke to her warmly. "Please, I want you to talk to me about these things. Your sister is not going to give you truthful information. She simply can't be trusted. She will lie about anything and everything as long as it benefits her and her alone."

This made the witch lower her head in sorrow and shame. "I just, I just wanted things to go well between the two of you. I introduced you to her in the hopes that both of you would be allies. And when things went horribly wrong, I blamed myself and…"

The Wizard touched her chin with his finger and raised her head as their eyes met. "It's not your fault…" As he continued to hold her hand with his, he used his other hand to caress her cheek. The witch cooed as she inhaled through her mouth, closed her eyes and affectionately nuzzled his hand.

"It wasn't your fault", he said again as his fingertips gentle stroked her ear. This gave her a tingling sensation all over her body as her cheek rubbed gently against the soft touch of his hand. She looked up and gazed at him seductively as she kissed the palm of his hand before closing her eyes again.

"Your sister used you", he continued. "She used you in order to maintain power and control over the Emerald City. It had nothing to do with you. Absolutely nothing."

As Theodora kept her eyes closed and indulged in the pleasure of his caresses, the Wizard eyed her. "Are you listening to what I am saying?", he said with a mischievous smirk. "Mmmm Hmmm", she replied as her eyes remained close and if she were in a daze. He wiggled his other hand away from hers and started to playfully and erratically mess with her hair. He chuckled as her eyes darted open once more, jolting her back to reality. "Hey!", she shrieked.

"Come on", he said as he stepped away from her. "And please do me a favor and take that gold back! Tonight!"