In the first week of Elphaba's coma, a routine quickly established. Glinda would check on her in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Often she would stretch a magical chain to wholeness. Otherwise, she would check the strengths of the spells. Though faint, they did begin to fade. Afterwards, she would instruct Sarima in the basics of sorcery. The woman was not a natural, but then again neither was Glinda. Both student and teacher learned best by repetition. So Glinda instructed, and Sarima practiced.

During that time, Duran never left. The man understood he knew best what was happening with Elphaba, and could not leave. However, being neither witch nor Vinkun, he was constantly out of place. Not that it made him feel out of place; just that everyone was painfully aware how out of place he was. Especially since he took to practicing his sword work in the courtyard at sunrise. His speed and skill made the Vinkuns nervous.

And so Kiamo Ko fell into a strange routine. Vinkuns tried to either avoid witches practicing magic, or the strange man practicing sword work. During other times of the day, either witch or swordsman would appear with little warning and a charming smile. They were friendly specters that while never doing anything malicious still set the residents of the castle on edge.

There was also Elphaba. Tended to by Glinda and Fiyero, they pair made sure all her needs were taken care of. A healing draught combined with a thick froth of eggs, milk, and honey kept the woman nutritioned. Pillowing and movement helped reduce the chance of bedsores. Finally, a good cleaning spell took care of the rest of the possible issues. There was no better care to be done for the woman.

The green woman was not an idle sleeper. She tossed and turned, often muttering in her sleep. Occasionally, that muttering turned out to be spells. Glinda was hurriedly called and helped put things right. Otherwise, her temperature remained steady if not the pained look on her face. Glinda often found Fiyero in the room watching her; the Crown Prince often found Glinda doing the same.

Near the end of the first week, Glinda found another curiosity. The blonde had to take frequent naps not only due to the strain of stabilizing the spells but also due to her on marching pregnancy. Something that would be soon apparent as she was over four months in. However, rising from one of those naps, she went to find Sarima to continue her lessons. The blonde found her; more interesting, she found her in the company of one Crown Prince. The two were talking in low voices so she could not hear. The blonde witch smiled and decided a further nap would be in order.

Later that day, Fiyero approached her. Glinda looked up from the book she was reading in bed. Fiyero went to say something, then stopped.

"Since when do you wear glasses?" he asked.

"Since I've hit thirty." she replied. Indeed, there were some very stylish swept wing glasses with small rhinestones in a silver wire frame on her face. Looking over them, she blinked at Fiyero. "What can I do for you, Fiyero?"

"Do you mind if we have a conversation?" he asked. Glinda's veins ran cold.

"Sure. About what?" she asked in a calm, intrigued voice.

"Duran." he answered, pulling up a chair. Glinda let out an inward sigh of relief.

"Ah. What about him?"

"He's perplexing."

"You wouldn't be the first to think or say so."

"Him being here is perplexing."

"Ah. Is that it? You don't know why he's stuck around, and are too polite to ask?"

"No." Fiyero smiled. "If he's here, there's a reason he is here, and I'm guessing that reason is you."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I remember the conversation when my parents came to the Emerald City. A certain swashbuckler, eh?" he prodded. Glinda huffed.

"There's nothing going on between us."

"And I believe you." Fiyero answered. "But I've had my men watching him; I've been watching him. The man doesn't sleep."

"I believe I told you that the first day he was here."

"Yes, but I thought it was a joke."

"It was not." Glinda gave him a long look. "Durandal is a very...unique individual."

"He's a dangerous one."

"More than you could ever realize without seeing him in action." was Glinda's reply.

"What am I supposed to do with that information?" snapped Fiyero. "I'm supposed to protect this castle. How can I protect it from someone like him?"

"The same could be said of me." Glinda replied seriously. "Fiyero, I could probably level Kiamo Ko if I so wished. I could certainly wreak havoc on the guards here. Elphaba as well. Why do you not fear us the same way?"

"I know you. I don't know him."

"Durandal is bound to us." Glinda answered. Thinking that over, she clarified, "Not literally, but in course of action. He has never betrayed us, and has even pulled us out of dangerous situations before. He will not pose a danger to you or the Vinkuns if you do not pose a danger to us."

"How soon until he goes on his way?" asked Fiyero. "Or is he to become a permanent fixture?"

"Nothing so much." Glinda shook her head. "He would have left us already if Elphaba had been up and around. He only followed us into the Kells and beyond because I wished it so. And a good thing I did."

"He makes me uneasy." Fiyero admitted. Glinda could tell he was uneasy with that admission. "There's something about him that feels off."

"Durandal is…" Glinda paused, not sure how to explain it. "Durandal is a man who has been made to be a weapon. Like any weapon, you may become comfortable around it, but you are always aware it is dangerous. He is the same."

"I have concerns about all of that."

Glinda reached over and stroked his face.

"Concern yourself with Kiamo Ko, and it's people, dear Prince. Concern yourself with Elphaba. Push concern for Durandal to the back of your mind. It will do you no good either way."

Fiyero sighed and stood.

"I do trust you Glinda. And that's the only reason I can bear this." he said.

"I know, and I thank you."

Early the next week, the man in question pulled Glinda aside after her morning check on Elphaba. Entering a small room where they would not be disturbed, Glinda waited for Duran to speak.

"You're pushing yourself too hard, Glinda." Duran started with no preamble.

"I'm doing what I think I need to do." Glinda replied. There was no use trying to lie to him on the subject. He could see her aura.

"You'll not help Elphaba bedridden." he retorted. "You're weakening fast. The elemental energy is draining you. You need to slow down."

"The spells need to weaken evenly." she countered. "No one can do that but me."

"And who can create a recovery draught, or clean Elphaba?" asked Duran. "If you put yourself into a bed, her state will decline quickly."

"I will be fine." Glinda replied forcefully. "I know what I'm doing."

"What you're doing is overstretching yourself when you should be thinking about your children."

Glinda narrowed her eyes.

"I will not have you criticize my choices when it comes to my children, Durandal." she replied icily. "I know how best to care for them."

"Your children need a healthy mother." he rebutted. Glinda opened her mouth but he cut her off. "Physically and magically. Do you think two witches of that magnitude are only fed by physical nutrition? They need magical energy to draw on to further their own growth."

"And just how in whatever hell there is would I know that?" snapped Glinda. "It's not like magically induced pregnancies are common!"

"Well, they do." he said, dodging her question. "And you need to rest. No more elemental magic more than once a day."

"I will do what I feel best." Glinda answered with finality.

"At least stop tapping into their power, then." he urged.

"What do you mean?" Glinda asked.

"Part of the magic you're pulling from is from them." he paused. "You didn't notice?"

"How in the-"

"Yes, yes. Magical pregnancies are uncommon." he waved a hand. Some part of Glinda noted this was the first time she had ever seen him frustrated. "You need to make time and sit down with me so we can cover these things. I've been relying on your skill to deduce things I shouldn't have."

"Fine. Sometime later today."

"Sounds fine."

Glinda did not make time to sit with Duran that day. Or the next. It was the third day of that week when Glinda came storming into the room he had been using to store his belongings. Duran was calm in the face of the storm he knew was coming.

"You told Fiyero!" she yelled at him.

"I did." he replied evenly.

"How could you?" she spat. "It was not your place."

"You kept avoiding me." he answered. "You knew if we spoke about what you are doing to your body you would have to stop."

"And that gives you the right to let him know?"

"What right of yours am I violating, Glinda? Letting Fiyero know you are endangering not only your health, your children's health, but also Elphaba's?" he shot back. "He has a right to know since he is in a relationship with her."

"You had to twist that knife." she hissed. "You're a right bastard, you know that?"

"Of course I am." he agreed. "I thought that was clear long ago. But what you are, Glinda, is going to get yourself, your children, and Elphaba killed if you don't slow down."

He moved, circling to one side. Glinda felt something then she had only ever seen him do in others; prey fear. This was Duran as the super predator he was. All her instincts shrieked in warning. Glinda was not a coward, and had stared down danger before. She did not shy away from him or his gaze.

"You're being reckless with your health." Duran said, slow and deliberate. "You're aura has waned considerably. How many hours are you sleeping now? Don't answer; we both know you sleep as many as you're awake."

He moved the other direction.

"You're being reckless with your children's health. Their auras have dimmed slightly. Not only that, but you've begun to lose weight. Others haven't noticed yet, but I can tell. You're not eating because you sleep too much."

He paused.

"And you're being reckless with Elphaba's health. Yes, she needs your help to stabilize the spells, but there's still a ways to go before they degrade completely. If you wear yourself out now, you will not be able to even stabilize them as they start to fail more."

"You always have to get your way, don't you?." Glinda hissed.

"Do you think I wish to be here, or in this situation, Glinda?" he asked.

"You seem to like to be at the center of things, pulling all your strings."

"I purposely stay out of the way unless called into them." he retorted. "As you well know."

"Staying in the shadows does not mean you're not in the middle of it."

"And when have I ever directed you anywhere?" he inquired. "At what point have I forced your hands? I've done nothing but help when able or called."

Duran started to pace again. This time was different though; he was not the predator, but a worrier. Glinda watched him. There was something brewing in his mind. She knew he would speak when it came together.

"The skeins of fate weave tight around this moment." Duran finally said. "I can feel them, almost binding. I despise that feeling, and wish nothing more to be away from it."

He stopped and looked at her.

"But I am bound by those skeins as much as you are. I cannot leave here lest Elphaba come to ruin. And that would not do for many things, let alone just herself as a person."

"You speak of these things as if they're tangible." Glinda prodded. "Can you show me how to see them as well as you?"

Duran barked out a sarcastic laugh.

"No. Part of the reason I can read the signs as well as I do is because I'm me. Besides, it would do you no good."

"Why?"

"Because," he replied, twinkle in his eyes and mirth in his voice, "too much depends on your movements; yours and Elphaba's. It would give you almost no direction, or change immediately on your decisions."

"I cannot say I like the sound of that."

"I'm quite sure. But when fate decides to pick its favorites there's not much you can do."

"I suppose that is quite true."

"But what you can do," Duran's voice returned to seriousness, "is rest. As well you should."

"Fine." was her exasperated answer. "But this isn't done. I'm still not pleased with you."

"I can live with that."

Glinda huffed and left.

Unfortunately, Duran's intervention was too late. Although Glinda stopped her bind stretching except for once a day, her body seemed to take the respite for time for rest. She grew weaker, and had to preserve her strength even more. Instead, she could only do one every two days. However, to Duran's relief, she began to gain weight again and look healthier and more active.

Fiyero had turned into a nursemaid, worrying over her. Glinda appreciated the sentiment, but it annoyed her. It annoyed her worse when Sarima also started treating her gently. Granted, the extra pillows and food was nice, but she was still a formidable witch in her own right. She bared it with grace, taking care of Elphaba, or teaching Sarima magic, more slowly than before. Glinda drew the line at getting a lady in waiting. Luckily, Sarima had helped many pregnant women in her tribe over the years, and knew what to do.

It was at the beginning of the third week, when Glinda checked on her, that everything started to go wrong. The spells had become more chaotic. Even Glinda's stretching of one did little to affect it. Had she even chose to, Glinda did not have the strength to put more efforts into it. Calling for Duran, the man knew instantly the issues when entering the room. His face darkened.

"That's not good at all." he said.

"What do we do now? Recast the spells on her?" Glinda asked.

"No." Duran shook his head. "There's no way to cast them all together; they have to be layered. I don't know what introducing more spell energy into the mix would do."

"So what choice do we have?" asked Glinda. "I can see you have a plan."

"Yes." Duran answered hesitantly. "Remember how you used the Grimmerie as a font?"

"Yes, but that isn't very controllable, especially with how tired I am."

"I agree. However the idea is the same, it's just the font is different." he paused. "You will need to shunt parts of the spells on me to her."

"What will that do you?" Glinda asked, concerned. Duran shrugged.

"They will weaken, but my spells have grown more powerful overtime. I'll be able to deal with being weaker."

"Okay." Glinda gave a ragged exhale. "How do we do this?"

To that Duran shrugged.

"I've no idea." he admitted. "That is witches' work."

"You want me to make it up?" Glinda exclaimed in disbelief.

"Less make it up. More...figure it out?" he replied sheepishly. "You've done it with the Grimmerie."

"Sure. Because that's the same thing." Glinda huffed. Running her hands through her hair and fluffing it out, she took a deep breath. "Okay. Let me see here."

Glinda opened up her magical sight on Duran. He shone like he always did. The spells that danced around him were strong and steady. Glinda reached out a hand for one and felt it burn. It was a pain of resistance, but also of power. She reached out her other hand to Elphaba, and found the same guttering spell on her. Taking a deep breath, she let the blazing power from Duran flow through to Elphaba. Just enough to steady that spell. Letting out a ragged breath, she looked at Duran with her own eyes.

"One down; a dozen more to go." she answered.

"You look like you were in pain." he stated. Glinda nodded.

"Imagine drinking too hot of tea that burns as it goes down. The feeling is much the same."

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to do about it." Glinda replied. "There's no other way but to deal with it."

Glinda slowly repeated the process. Each spell was agony, but each time she saw the spells dance a little less was enough motivation to move them along. By the fifth spell she wanted to sit and rest, but there was no time. By the eighth she was swaying on her feet. Glinda's world narrowed past that. The only thing she saw was the colors of the spells. The only thing she felt was the pain.

"That's enough." Duran's firm voice cut in. "They're done."

The words seemed to snap Glinda back to reality. She collapsed like a marionette's who's strings had been cut. Luckily, Duran was there to catch her.

"Did it work?" she asked faintly.

"It did." Duran answered. "They stabilized, and seem to be degrading equally. And much more rapidly. I would be surprised if they weren't gone by tonight."

"Good." Glinda took a deep breath. "What about me? Did I hurt them in some way?"

Duran's face had hard etched lines on it. Finally, he spoke.

"No. They are quite well."

"Good." Glinda answered. Her world started to fade. "I...should...like...a nap...now."

And the last thing she felt was being scooped up in strong arms.

Glinda awoke to the bright morning sun in her face. The birds outside were chirping; something she found highly annoying. What was not annoying was the green face in the chair next to her. Glasses barely hanging on to the edge of her nose, the woman was asleep with a book in her lap. Glinda smiled.

"I see you're up and around." she said softly. The woman jerked awake.

"Glinda! You're awake." Elphaba gasped in relief.

"And so are you." Glinda playfully retorted. "I think yours is much more noteworthy."

"I've been up for a couple of days." Elphaba answered. The woman slowly pushed herself out of the chair. The strain in her face was evident. "You've been asleep for three."

"Well, there's no time for laying around then." Glinda replied. Swinging her feet out of bed, she went to stand. Her legs gave out, and she fell backwards.

"Easy now." Elphaba urged. "It's been three days."

"You were out for nearly three weeks and are fine." Glinda rebutted.

"I've been slowly working myself back to strength with recovery draughts." Elphaba explained. The woman flicked a hand. A few moments later, Sarima entered the room.

"Ah, it is nice to see you awake, Miss Glinda." Sarima said.

"It is nice to be awake, Miss Sarima." Glinda replied. "However, I would like to be out of bed."

"A nice liquid breakfast with a recovery draught should have you up and going in no time." Sarime replied cheerfully. "It has helped Miss Elphaba quite a bit."

"It has." Elphaba answered guardedly. "Please get her one. We have...something to discuss."

"I will."

After Sarima left, Elphaba gave her a hard look.

"Fiyero tells me you're pregnant."

"Yes I am." Glinda answered. She knew that this conversation was coming.

"Who's the father?"

"I've not slept with a man since Fiyero." Glinda replied.

"Glinda, there's no need to lie-"

"I'm not lying, Elphaba!" Glidna retorted angrily.

"Glinda, there has to be a father! Pregnancies don't just happen magically!" Elphaba shot back angrily. At Glinda's look, she blanched. "Oh….Oh...Oh. You're not saying…"

"I'm roughly four months along." Glinda replied. "There was no one else around at that time, as you can attest. I was not even with a man alone during those months."

"Just...how?" Elphaba asked, putting her head down and running her hands over her hair.

"I don't know Elphaba." Glinda answered exasperatedly. "It's magic. Does it have to make sense?"

"So...when were you going to tell me?"

"Well, that depended on the situation."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Elphaba acidly.

"What it means," Glinda replied in the same tone, "is that when I was in pleasant retirement at my estate, and you were happily at Kiamo Ko with Fiyero, the answer was going to be never."

"You would keep that from me?"

"You mean, that they're yours or that I had twins? First yes but second no. I would have told you I had children. But you think with how everything was going before that me floating into Kiamo Ko to let you and your partner know you magically impregnated me would have been a good idea? How would that have played out?"

"I deserved to know." Elphaba retorted.

"You left. Do we need to go back over how that was?" Glinda spat back. "Whatever right you had to know left with it."

"So now what?" Elphaba asked. "Fiyero knows you're pregnant, as does Sarima and probably all of Kiamo Ko at this point. The paternity is going to come up."

"Fiyero already asked the obvious question about Duran, but he believed me when I said no." Glinda explained. "Otherwise everyone is too polite to ask."

"But they'll gossip."

"Heaven forbid they do that." Glinda snarked. Elphaba's lips twitched.

"Old Glinda would never let people control a narrative behind her back."

"I've been a bit preoccupied with more important things as of late."

"Speaking of pressing things," Elphaba continued as Sarima walked into the room with two recovery draughts, "we have another one."

"Of course we do. Thank you, Sarima." Glinda said as she took the cup.

"Thank you, Sarima." Elphaba echoed as she took her. Glinda started to drink while Elphaba cradled hers. "Yes. Duran is...having issues."

"What kind of issues?" Glinda asked. She motioned for Elphaba to drink. The woman scowled and did so before continuing.

"Apparently he's out of balance. He thinks it has something to do with when you transferred some of his spell energy."

"Well, then we can just put it back."

"I don't think it will be quite that easy. Let's finish these and talk to him about it."

Hey everyone,

If you're reading this, can you drop me a review? Even a simple "here" would suffice. It's been a bit quiet, and I'm debating if I want to put another 60k words into a story no one is really reading. Thanks.