Wanli8970: Don't worry. We'll see our Wicked Witch soon enough.
Rosie6583: Both of Galinda's parents died in the cholera outbreak. And her reaction will have an explanation, to be revealed in a later chapter.
Ultimate Queen of Cliffies: Of course there's a reason why Galinda's scared. You know me. I have to scar ALL the characters! MWAHAHAHAHA!
"Your reign of terror will soon end," Fiyero read as he and the other officers looked at the note that was attached to the rock thrown through the window. "What does that mean?"
"Is someone trying to… assassinate the Wizard?" one of the other officers asked.
"It might not be that strong. It could also be someone's sick idea of a joke," another said.
"No. Jokes are funny," Fiyero said gravely. "Someone could have been seriously injured if the rock hit them. This is a serious matter, and needs to be treated as such."
"Yes, sir," the officers nodded and went back to studying the note.
"I want a thorough search of the grounds. Any clue, no matter how small, as to who did this or their motive, I want brought back to me."
"Yes, sir," the officers repeated and Fiyero dismissed them.
The captain sighed and rubbed his face. Someone was trying to get rid of the Wizard. But why? He tried to think. The Wizard didn't have a "reign of terror". He was a just and fair ruler. When people broke the law, they were punished, but he didn't go out seeking people to torture. He couldn't remember the Wizard passing any laws that would make people upset enough to try and kill him. He would just have to figure out who was doing this and why. And protect the royal family at all cost.
Another two weeks passed and there wasn't another threat, which Fiyero was grateful for. The guards kept looking for clues, but when nothing turned up, Fiyero began to let his guard down. Maybe it was just a one-time thing. Maybe it was just a scare tactic. Nothing else was going to happen.
The captain also began to notice that the princess was becoming more solemn. He didn't know if it was his place to ask, but after three days of Elphaba sulking, he finally asked her if she was alright.
"I'm fine, Captain," the princess said, brushing him off.
Fiyero knew that she wasn't alright, but didn't press her on the subject anymore. He simply watched as she walked down the hall to her bedroom door and closed it behind her.
Elphaba sighed and rubbed her eyes. She really didn't want to deal with anything or anyone today. She just wanted to be alone. She couldn't handle being around others. Not today. She shuffled over to her bed and grabbed her pillow, hugging it to her chest as she sat down. Someone knocked on the door, but whether the princess didn't hear it or was simply ignoring it wasn't clear.
The door opened and Galinda walked in, her features soft as she gazed at the green girl. "Hi, Elphie," she whispered, shutting the door behind her.
Elphaba didn't move or make any inclination that she knew the blonde was in the room with her.
"I brought you some tea," Galinda said as she placed the teacup down on the nightstand.
Elphaba still didn't move.
The blonde bit back a sigh as she lowered herself onto the princess' bed. "Your father wants to know if you want to go for a walk through the gardens with him."
Elphaba moved her shoulders, but didn't answer.
Galinda reached out and began to play with her best friend's hair. "Elphie," she said softly. "I know you're upset, and I know how hard this day is for you, but please talk to me."
The green girl grunted softly.
"I know how you're feeling," the blonde said, gently gripping her friend's hand. "I know what you're going through and keeping it all inside won't do anything to help you cope." She tried to pull the princess into a sitting position, but Elphaba resisted. "Come on, Elphie. Talk to me."
"About what?" Elphaba muttered, not looking at the blonde.
"About how you're feeling."
"You know how I'm feeling."
"I meant… you might feel better if you talk about it."
"Nothing," Elphaba said, finally looking at the blonde, her eyes gleaming as she punctuated every word, "will ever make me feel better."
"I know that, Elphie," Galinda said after a short pause.
"If you knew that, then why would you even suggest such a stupid idea?"
"I only thought –"
"Well, stop thinking!" Elphaba snapped, and the blonde jumped up and took a step back.
"Elphaba, I…"
"Just leave me alone."
"I just want to be here for you."
"I said leave me alone."
"I can't leave you alone. Not when you're like this." She gently took Elphaba's green hand in her own. "Elphaba…"
"I said leave me ALONE!" Elphaba shouted, pulling her hand free and thrusting it out towards the blonde, an invisible force shooting from her hand and knocking Galinda against the opposite wall.
A look of shock crossed Galinda's face as she was blasted against the wall and crumbled to the ground. Pain shot all through her body and she curled into a fetal position, tears spilling down her cheek.
Elphaba didn't even register what she had done until she heard Galinda's soft whimpers of pain and blinked. "Oh Oz," she gasped, jumping off the bed and rushed to Galinda side. "Galinda, I'm so sorry."
Galinda didn't look at her as she continued to cry. Guilt filled Elphaba's body. She had sworn nothing like this would ever happen again. She had promised herself that she would never hurt Galinda again. And she had just broken that promise.
"I… I didn't mean to. I don't know what came over me. Are you hurt?" Elphaba asked as she tried to help the blonde up.
Galinda weakly pushed away, clearly not wanting to be touched by the green girl.
"Glin," Elphaba said softly, blinking back tears. "I'm so, so sorry."
Galinda hiccupped a sob as she tried to get up, but slipped and crashed back down. "No," she whispered when Elphaba reached out to help her. She weakly pushed herself up to her feet again and broke into a stumbled run out of the room, leaving Elphaba alone on the floor.
"Galinda, wait!" Elphaba called after her, pushing herself up. She ran out of the room and looked around, but the blonde was nowhere in sight. She sighed. She never meant to hurt her. And Galinda was just trying to help. A single tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away, stepping out into the hall. She wandered around the corner, not really knowing or caring where she was going. She didn't realize where she was going until she stopped in front of a familiar door. She reached for the doorknob and paused before turning it and pushing the door open.
She was in the portrait gallery. She walked down to the far wall where the most recent paintings were and stopped. There, in front of her, was a large portrait of a young woman with long, curly dark brown hair, soft features, and a soft smile on her small, pink lips. Her chocolate eyes held a soft focus on something off in the distance, looking at it almost longingly. Her gown was a dark pink color with a long, pleated skirt and long sleeves. Her hands were resting lightly against her abdomen. She looked calm and tranquil.
Against her will, even more tears came to the green girl's eyes and she sank to the ground underneath the painting. She wasn't crying very loud, but the door was still open, drawing someone towards the sad noises.
"Your Highness?"
Elphaba didn't hear the person call her, but looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes met Fiyero's and she immediately wiped her tears away. "Captain."
"Are you alright?" Fiyero asked as he knelt down in front of her.
"I'm fine," Elphaba said.
The Captain knew what 'fine' looked like, and the princess didn't look fine. "You don't look 'fine'."
Elphaba opened her mouth to repeat that she was fine, but instead, she shook her head. "It's nothing."
"You'll feel better if you tell someone... and I'm available to listen."
Fiyero wasn't sure if Elphaba was even going to talk to him, but soon heard her say softly, "I… I hurt Galinda."
He blinked in surprise. Whatever he was expecting to hear, it wasn't that.
"She… she was just trying to help me, but I didn't want her to, and I hurt her."
"If I may ask, what happened?"
Elphaba paused, and Fiyero wasn't sure she would tell him. "When I was nine," Elphaba began slowly. "My mother began to grow… distant. Not just from my father, but from me as well. She wouldn't talk to anyone, and nothing I did would make her feel better." She took a deep breath before continuing. "One evening, after she had tucked me into bed, she had told her maid that she was going to take a bath. An hour and a half later, when she didn't come out, the maid knocked and as if anything was wrong. When my mother didn't respond, the maid went inside and started screaming. Apparently, my mother was in the bathtub, completely naked, covered in blood, and… dead." That last word was so soft, Fiyero almost didn't hear it.
"I'm so sorry," the captain whispered, feeling so helpless to help the princess. Honestly, he was expecting her to tell him what happened to Galinda, not this sudden backstory.
"I woke up and ran out and… I saw her. I saw my mother's limp, blood-covered body. A maid tried to shield me from the sight, but it was too late. My father was kneeling next her, sobbing as he cradled her in his arms. The maid who found her looked pale and ready to faint. There was so much noise and chaos and blood and…" Fresh tears welled in Elphaba's eyes as the rest of that sentence died in her throat.
Fiyero immediately pulled her into his arms. Whether that was proper or not, he didn't care. The princess clearly needed to be comforted. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she was feeling at the moment, or what she had felt all those years ago.
"Today's the anniversary of when it happened," Elphaba croaked out, more tears spilling from her eyes.
Fiyero had never seen anyone this broken before, except for his parents. He knew from them that absolutely nothing he said or did would make this better. The individual would just have to calm on their own. And he hated feeling helpless.
"I burned her," Elphaba whispered after a while when she managed to calm down enough.
"What?" Fiyero blinked.
"Galinda. I… I burned her. It was exactly five years ago today. We were fourteen. She was trying to make me feel better, and I don't remember much about what happened –I was angry and frustrated and upset– but I remember grabbing her wrist and… squeezing and twisting it. I remember her begging me to let her go and I could feel my hand heating up… but I didn't let her go. Then she started screaming at me and telling me to let her go, that I was hurting her, but I didn't. Then she started shrieking and crying and that's when I finally realized what I had done. I finally let go and Galinda fell to the floor, her whole arm covered in angry blisters and burns."
"So… you have magic?" Fiyero asked, putting two and two together.
Elphaba nodded. "I was born with it and was taught to control it as a child, but when I get really angry or upset… it gets out of control. I couldn't believe I had done that to my best friend. I tried to apologize to her and help her, but she pushed me away, like she did today. She had to get her burns treated and bandaged, and didn't speak to me for two weeks, but she didn't tell anyone I had done that to her. She said that she got too close to a torch. She only spoke to me when she was working, and even then, her words were very forced. I kept apologizing to her and I promised never to hurt her with my magic like that again, and finally, she forgave me and we were friends again. I broke that promise to her today."
Fiyero couldn't believe the princess was telling him all of this. But why? Did she actually like him enough to open herself up to him like this? He hadn't been there very long, and even though she was the princess, she seemed like the type of girl that doesn't trust everyone that easily. She seemed like the type of person who holds everyone close to them, in fear that if they let themselves go too much, they'll get hurt. He simply sat under the portrait of the late queen with her, his arms wrapped around her until she had stopped crying long enough to take a few deep breaths without hiccupping.
Once Elphaba was calm enough, she felt Fiyero get up and soon felt herself being helped to her feet. She looked up at Fiyero and saw a kind, caring expression on his face, something she hadn't seen on the captain. She allowed him to escort her back to her room and asked if she needed anything.
"Send one of the maids to check on Galinda," Elphaba said as she wiped the final tear from her eye. "And… make sure she's alright."
Fiyero bowed and began to walk down the hall.
"Captain!" Elphaba called right before Fiyero turned the corner.
"Yes, Your Highness?" Fiyero asked as he turned and hurried back to the princess.
The green girl took a breath. "Thank you."
The captain blinked in surprise, but a small smile slowly made its way onto the corners of his lips. "You're welcome, Your Highness," he said with a bow before walking away, disappearing behind the corner.
This chapter had more backstory, but we'll get our plot-starting action very soon.