Chapter 3
Elphaba quickly vanished the candle illuminating her bedside as the footsteps of her father stopped at her door. She pushed 'Basic spells' below her pillow, tossed her reading glasses onto the bed time table and prayed to whatever deity that her father would leave her alone.
There was a pause and a shadow fell over her bedroom floor.
Elphaba let out a sigh of relief as his footsteps left.
She turned to summon the candle again but her door creaked open agian.
'Elphaba?' a small voice asked.
Nessarose rolled into her room, clutching her small teddy. Nessarose was five and saw Elphaba as a mother figure, something Frexspar encouraged. He still blamed Elphaba for Melena's death, something Elphaba thoroughly disagreed with but wisely kept it to herself.
After much sighing, Elphaba lifted the smaller girl onto her bed and they sat there for a long time, until Nessarose's head started drooping.
'Now now, Father will be angry!' exclaimed Elphaba. Nessarose began to protest but Elphaba carried the girl onto the wheelchair and rung for the servants.
Jessi, a Munchkin servant girl, came scuttling in and wheeled Nessarose back to her bedroom. Elphaba cursed Nessarose for taking her time from studying the spells as she sank into a deep dreamless sleep.
As time progressed, Elphaba's magic grew stronger and more controlled. Whilst her magic was linked to emotions before, Elphaba began to shape the world how after her own image.
Instead of wasting her time dusting the hundreds of bannisters in her old mansion, she enchanted the feather dusters to sweep each stretch of staircase instead. An old spell designed to clean clothes was modified into a charm which could clear miles of dirty carpet at a time.
The servants were to busy to notice anything amiss and her father was too preoccupied with Nessarose to notice such abnormalities. Elphaba was quite content to peruse the library with her time, especially after her father cancelled lessons with her private tutor, Turtle Heart.
The Quadling teacher was a shy, soft-spoken man who gave a glass bauble to her before he had left. He was one of the few people who did not treat her badly due to her skin. But the Wizard had started destroying the towns in Qualding Land to make way for ruby mines, the last natural resource left in the area and Turtle Heart had to rush home to take care of his poor parents. Frexspar, her bastard of a father, was delighted that such a 'low-class being' was leaving their home but in typical Frex fashion saw the Quadling off with a firm handshake and perfunctory 'good luck'.
Through Turtle Heart, Elphaba had learnt more about the world beyond Munchkinland, although she had never set foot outside Colwen grounds. Elphaba was desperate for adventure, a life outside her father and tending to his needs. She dreamed of visiting the leisure centres of Lake Chorge or the grand and historic Kvon Altar, the seat of the Vinkun ruling family. But most importantly, she fantasied about going to Shiz, Oz's finest ( and only) university, where other witches studied.
However, the fantasy of escaping her family was little more than a pleasant daydream. Elphaba was barely ten, had no friends or relations living elsewhere in Oz and no means of making a living for herself. She had to wait patiently to visit the expansive libraries in the Emerald City and access the reams of magical lore found at Shiz.
Elphaba sighed. Life was not fair, but one day she would be free.