A/N: Just a heads up - I will not be posting next week. I have a few things to attend to and won't be able to write. I'll be posting the week after though so please stay with me. :)

A/N2: Shout outs to James Birdsong and my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked the last chapter. More on the Wizard later. ;)

Chapter 17

"Miss Elphaba, your last name is Thropp – any relation to the former Munchkin Governor?" Kahui wanted to know. He stood behind the table where the Wizard was seated.

"No," she said. It wasn't a lie. While the name was the same she was no blood relative of Frex.

"Where did you grow up?" Kahui asked.

"Munchkinland," Elphaba told him.

"And yet you have no relation to the Governor? If I'm not mistaken, Thropp is not a common last name in Munchkinland," the defense attorney pressed.

"I have my own foundation objection. Where is this going?" Prosecutor Doruk wanted to know. The defense couldn't just fish for information, especially since it wasn't relevant to the case at hand.

"Your Honor, how can I question the witness to determine if she's lying, if I'm not allowed some latitude?" The defense attorney was almost whining.

"Miss Elphaba to ease Mr. Kahui's concerns, how common is the last name Thropp in Munchkinland, if you know," Judge Cenk spoke up.

"Honestly, I don't know. You'd be surprised how many times I'd been asked if I was related to the Governor," she answered.

"Weren't you helping the Governor's daughter at the campus of Shiz?" Kahui asked. Obviously he had been talking to his client.

"Yes, as part of my free education at Shiz I was expected to help Nessarose. I received free education because Morrible wanted to work with my magic and use that magic to ruin Oz," Elphaba cut off the question she knew was coming.

"So Morrible was interested in you back at Shiz. Was the Wizard?" He wanted to know.

"I do not know, but I do know that when Morrible brought Glinda and myself into an audience with your client, he was very interested," she said.

"What happened in that meeting?" Kahui wondered as he moved from behind the table where he'd been standing. He moved closer to her and she heaved a sigh.

"I was tricked into creating the Flying Monkeys. It was at that time I realized that neither Morrible nor your client had the best interests of Oz in mind," Elphaba glazed over the incident, giving the barest of minimum of information.

"What was so evil about that? How could you know that evil was the intention?" The lawyer pressed.

"The intention was to use the Monkeys as slaves for Morrible and the Wizard. They were going to be forced to pick up all of those that would against what the two "leaders" of Oz. Needless to say, that plan backfired. The Monkeys panicked when they saw the transformation they went through and fled the Emerald Palace," she explained.

"So you went after them," it wasn't a question but rather a statement.

"I did. I knew I could not stay there. What I had done horrified me along with the behavior of the Wizard and Morrible. Later it would be cemented that I was public enemy number one," Elphaba had been cool as a cucumber this whole time. A bullet had been dodged with regard to her genealogy.

"You seem very stoic, Miss Elphaba. Not a hint of emotion. You've been well coached or did you cast a spell on this room?" Kahui asked. Before Doruk could object, Elphaba responded,

"Do you really think that you could get me all riled up Mr. Kahui? I've been shot at, actually shot, blown up, chased, and all manner of other things. Some questions about what caused all of those things to happen to me and those around me do not faze me sir." The judges didn't miss the smirk on the prosecutor's face.

"Do you have anything else Mr. Kahui?" Judge Griffin wanted to know.

"I do your Honors. Now you said you almost strangled my client," the conversation was always going to circle back to that.

"Yes. He'd stabbed Glinda and almost got others injured. I lost my composure but as I stated previously, I was not beyond help. Lieutenant Zetti was able to stop me from doing something stupid," she responded.

"I reserve the right to recall this witness," Kahui said before returning to his seat. Doruk looked at Elphaba and she looked at him. Just what was he playing at?

To Be Continued…