Chapter 5
"Spill the beans woman," Fiyero said upon his wife returning inside the castle. The King and the Councilman were off to the Emerald City after a quick bite to eat and hasty packing. Now the Prince greeted Elphaba, still holding their daughter. The meeting had disbanded and Chistery was back on duty while the Queen went to check up on Sophia.
"Not here sweetheart. Do you think we could put Zara down?" The green woman asked. She never called him sweetheart so that told him she didn't want to speak outside of their own private chambers. He nodded and they quickly headed upstairs. Carefully, so as not to wake their daughter, Fiyero set her down in her crib. Elphaba motioned that they should speak on the other side of the room so as to not speak loudly enough to wake Zara.
"The suspense is killing me," he said when they finally plopped down on a lounge chair in front of the last window in their room.
"Chistery was just voicing his concern for Glinda. A spy from our neighbors could mean a lot of things but one thing he is most concerned about are the Dominions of the Nome King. If someone from Ix made it through the desert, then what is stopping our underground friends from attempting the same?" Elphaba explained what the Flying Monkey had signed to her.
"Since we are the closest to the Nome Kingdom, my father and his father before him set up a system to protect us should they make any moves through the desert. Especially since it was the way they came into Oz the last time. Back when dragons were still around, my grandfather asked them to enchant the sand within ten miles of the border. Basically, it is like quicksand and no tunnel can be sustained in it. Those that step on it sink to their doom," Fiyero said.
"But the borders of the Vinkus spread beyond the border of the Dominion. Does this quicksand cover the northern border near Ev?" Elphaba asked.
"It does. The reason my mother beefed up the border is because we don't know if the spell outlasted the dragons. Since they are all gone, the only way to test it is to throw a rock into it and see what happens. It should be an irreversible spell but seeing as it was not something out of the Grimmerie, I'm not sure that's true," he admitted.
"The Nome King would be stupid to try and enter the Vinkus since it was done before. The troops here are trained as well as they are and they are expecting a tunnel. Digging their way through the Vinkus to get to the Emerald City would be next to impossible and there would be little way for it to remain hidden. Still I can see Chistery's concern. If the spell has worn off and they do attempt something, it will mean all-out war," Elphaba frowned.
"That's why my mother is waiting for word from the troops at the border," Fiyero said.
"So that leaves us to wonder why Glinda called your father and the Councilman back to the Emerald City," she was still frowning.
"Perhaps the spy squealed. We have not conducted business with Ix nor any of our neighbors across the deserts in a long time. Mostly because of the Wizard," Fiyero shrugged. Elphaba nodded but she seemed far away. It was a lot to contemplate. She'd just given birth days before and now once again there seemed to be brewing. A soft knock on the door caused both of them to get up and quietly traverse the room. Fiyero opened the door and his mother beckoned them out into the hallway. They both did so, making sure to leave the door open a crack in case Zara needed them.
"How is Sophia?" Elphaba asked.
"Happy and thankfully so is the little boy she gave birth to," the Queen smiled.
"That's great but my guess is that you didn't come all the way over here to tell us that," Fiyero said. While they had wanted to know about the maid's status, it was something that could have waited until the morning.
"I have received word from the troops at our Western Border, the quicksand remains intact but they cannot tell if the ten mile line is still legitimate. All they know is that the catapult they fired with a range of about a thousand feet had the rock sink," Ayla relayed.
"Well that's better than nothing," her son said.
"Agreed but I'd feel better if we knew for sure how the spell would hold up," the Queen was obviously bothered by the possibility that it wouldn't hold.
"Would you like me to check my books to see if a spell like that could be broken?" Elphaba offered.
"Please do. In the meantime, let us hope that my husband and the Councilman will be safe on their journey and that Glinda's news isn't all bad," Ayla smiled slightly.
To Be Continued…