A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. A little more of what happens next in this chapter. :)
Chapter 34
The horses had been found, luckily no worse for wear, but obviously they'd been scared once the gunfire and the actual fire had started. Dilek ordered some of the men to escort the group back to the Palace while the rest would stay and put out the blaze. Chistery and the Flying Monkeys stayed behind to help with the fire as well and to show Dilek where the dead Wizard sympathizers were.
Elphaba was starting to feel the effects of helping the wounded and the loss of the adrenaline that had been keeping her on her feet. She almost fell off her horse and Fiyero had quickly acted by having his horse use its head to bump her back up into her saddle, but he knew that wasn't going to work for long. Stopping the little caravan, he pulled her onto his horse in front of him and Zetti grabbed her horse's reins.
"Is she ok, sir?" A Gillikinese soldier asked as they got back underway.
"She expended a lot of magic saving us, son. She'll be fine after some rest," Duncan answered him.
"I'm not sure Lady Glinda will let her," the soldier said.
"Oh?" Duncan wondered.
"She was very concerned that something bad had happened like the other day with poor Mr. Kahui," the young man told them.
"Well we were in a bit of a pickle. We need to see what Sergeant Zeki has found out from Corporal Zink," Duncan said.
"I think we're all very interested in that. No one deserves to go out like that," the young man shook his head.
"Agreed," the Sergeant nodded. They were almost to the Palace and the sun was going down. No one felt good about being outside the walls once it was dark and the caravan picked up the pace.
Once inside the walls, a few minutes later, they were greeted by not only Lady Glinda but Fiyero's parents. The blonde immediately ordered a warm bath for Elphaba and begged someone to find her a new dress to wear. When one of the soldiers commented that he thought the green woman was allergic to water, Glinda nearly bit his head off and told him it was just another lie that Morrible had told.
"Glin, do not make such a fuss," Elphaba said, as Fiyero helped her down from his horse.
"You're covered in blood and your dress is barely covering up the important parts. I'm making a fuss," the blonde gave her a look.
"Let me help her Fiyero. She'll want to find out about the Corporal," Queen Ayla said. He was about to object but then decided against it. His father spoke up,
"Come on. I'm sure the two Lieutenants would like to hear it as well." Fiyero nodded before telling Duncan, Bock, Norris, and Roth to take the night off and get some rest. The subordinates saluted and then moved as quickly as they could towards a hot meal and a warm bed.
Fiyero watched as his mother, along with Glinda, helped Elphaba into the Palace. He knew she would be ok but that didn't mean he wouldn't rather be with her instead of fulfilling his duties. As the group approached the tent where Sergeant Zeki was interrogating Corporal Zink, they heard someone pounding on the table. The soldiers that were outside the tent didn't even flinch; they just opened the flaps and let the men inside.
"What is going on?" Fiyero asked of his Sergeant. He was looking a little worse for wear but at least he was upright.
"Corporal Zink was singing like a bird but he suddenly started to stonewall me. I think I know why," Zeki told them.
"Oh, please enlighten us," King Tahir said.
"Zink here was happy to be the right hand of the devil, because as we all know, it is better to be out of his path than in it. Still when it comes to the one detail I've asked for, he won't give it. Claims he's afraid of what will happen to him," Zeki gave him a look.
"Well he's already committed treason and murder, so what could be so bad, that he won't talk?" Zetti raised an eyebrow.
"That would be the only logical thing I can think of – the assassination of Lady Glinda," Zeki told them.
To Be Continued…