A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. :) Trouble brewing for sure. ;) Thanks!


Chapter 24

Fiyero had gotten to work prepping the troops in case the Munchkins decided to see if Glinda had been bluffing. Elphaba had decided that she and Glinda would have to strategize about what next to do. They needed multiple plans to cover every foreseeable route the Munchkins may take.

It was the eleventh hour when a carriage arrived and out popped Boq. He quickly turned around and helped Councilman Arif out of the vehicle. Lieutenant Zetti had rushed into Glinda's office, disrupting the ladies and their planning. That forgotten, they headed out to meet the two.

"What happened?" Elphaba was immediately concerned about the way the Councilman was hunched over and being partially held up by Fiyero.

"Long story but I could use some pain relief," Arif admitted.

"Yero, let's get him to Doctor Talib," the green woman helped the two men into the palace.

"Boq, are you ok?" Glinda looked him over and he seemed fine.

"Physically, they couldn't do much to me. We have to discuss what happened," he said.

"Yes, immediately. Come inside. Do you need your joints oiled?" The blonde asked.

"I think I'm good. Thankfully, they didn't dunk me in the lake," Boq smiled slightly. The two headed inside and Lieutenant Zetti made sure the carriage headed to the stable before searching for Lieutenant Bayram.

"You'll have to forgive me, but is there a part of your body beneath your neck that isn't black and blue?" Doctor Talib asked as he and Fiyero were carefully helping the Munchkin out of his shirt. They then slowly lowered him onto a nearby infirmary bed.

"They kept their fists above my waist, thank goodness. Honestly, I didn't think I was going to make it. At first, I thought we'd be completely safe, but something changed," Arif admitted.

"That's because they thought they could send Lord Nipp to blackmail Lady Glinda," Elphaba spoke up. She gingerly pressed her fingers against his ribs. The Munchkin hissed in pain.

"You rode in a carriage with broken ribs," she shook her head.

"Boq did the best he could to cushion me," Arif admitted.

"I think we need to use Miss Elphaba on this one. Broken ribs lead you to lying around for weeks. I've had patients then get lung infections. We can't have that," Doctor Talib said.

"I can heal the ribs and the bruising. We need to give you a full exam though to make sure that there isn't anything else going on," Elphaba was a little concerned that there could be more going on. Broken ribs could lead to punctured organs and internal bleeding. Given the long trip, a slow bleed would not necessarily be visible. Had it not been a slow bleed, the Councilman would have been dead already.

"Oh, most definitely. I just think we need to rule out traditional treatment," the doctor smiled.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence Doctor. How are his vitals?" Elphaba asked.

"Other than the shallow breathing, looking good," Talib said. She nodded.

"How did this happen to you? Once Elphaba starts her magic, you're going to be taking a nap and we need to know what happened," Fiyero stepped in, knowing that they would need his story to relay to Glinda.

"We were trying to make our exit from Munchkinland. The President wanted a report on the Yellow Brick Road. I told him it seemed in decent shape, but I voiced my concern for the Munchkin people. I did not tell them that I saw the Munchkins busy trying to break into the rock near the Glikkun border. Nor did I tell them about the fact that they were obviously using equipment to take water from Lake Mossmere. The worst of it is, I don't think those Munchkins were trained workers. I think they were slave labor. They must have collected prisoners or something. The workers looked in awful shape, though the men standing over them didn't," Arif paused. He was winded; his ribs were causing a lot of trouble.

"So, they are trying to extend the Yellow Brick Road," Elphaba shook her head.

"When I told Jinjuria that I thought we should meet with Lady Glinda and move to getting Munchkinland back inside the Ozian fold, that's when it happened. I was jumped from behind and knocked out. I woke up chained to a wall and was then beat up while trying to keep the secrets of my discovery. They made Boq watch – threatened to throw him in the nearby lake. I didn't tell him what I'd seen because I figured I'd wait until we were free of Munchkinland. Had Lady Glinda not threatened to send in the Gale Force, I suspect that I would not be breathing at all right now," that last bit came out as a wheeze.

"Ok, enough talking. Lay him down gently and get the leather strap," Elphaba said. This was going to be painful, but they needed the Councilman better. Moving against Munchkinland could no longer be put off.

To Be Continued…