A/N: A shout out to James Birdsong. Glad you liked the chapters! :)

Chapter 24

The next morning came quickly but there was still no word from Queen Zixi. Elphaba had tried to raise her via crystal ball the night before but with no luck. Everyone was still on edge considering that the dragon had not shown up in the Vinkus and that meant they had no idea where he was or what business he needed to tend to.

"So do you suppose the Nomes are dead?" Glinda asked at breakfast. The King, Queen, Princess, Prince, and ruler of Oz were in the private dining room, enjoying some morning peace and quiet, along with the food.

"Truth be told, if they truly are immortal, I don't see how but then again, dragon magic is very different from what we learned at Shiz," Elphaba admitted. The green woman had just finished feeding Zara and was looking for some nourishment herself. The baby was napping down in the nursery with Havva looking after her.

"Should we ask the prisoner?" The blonde wondered.

"I'm not sure he would know or if he'd give us a truthful answer," her friend said.

"You're probably right. Fiyero, why aren't you eating?" Glinda changed the subject. The Prince was sitting next to his wife but had yet to dig into his pancakes.

"Oh I will be, not to worry," he smirked as Mr. Samuels exited the kitchen holding a vial of something. Elphaba gave her husband a look.

"The first products of labor your Highness," the cook smiled as Fiyero took the vial and tested a drop of the amber liquid from inside the vial on his finger.

"A triumph as always Mr. Samuels!" Fiyero beamed.

"Do I want to know?" Glinda asked.

"The first batch of Vinkun maple syrup, Lady Glinda. It is not easy to make and even more difficult to make edible. Thankfully, I have my old secret family recipe," he winked and then was off back into the kitchen.

"You always did have a sweet tooth," Queen Ayla chuckled before taking the vial once Fiyero was done pouring the syrup on his pancakes.

"Look who is talking," he teased his mother.

"I much prefer the berry jam," King Tahir said.

"An excellent choice," Elphaba smiled.

"Where is Balfour? Was he not joining us for breakfast?" Fiyero spoke up.

"He…" Glinda heaved a sigh.

"What is going on Lin? The two of you seem like you're not communicating well," Elphaba figured since the blonde wouldn't talk to her when they were alone, she might as well try out in front of other people.

"Bahram noticed something was up and mentioned it to me, so I know that something is really up," Fiyero nudged.

"The Council is saying that I need to marry, especially now since a traitor was found in our midst. They are worried that without a husband, I will look weak to our enemies," finally Glinda admitted it.

"Did you tell them where to go? I certainly hope that Councilman Ta'rek hasn't been suggesting that," Queen Ayla said. She had been groomed to rule since she was a child, king or no king.

"I can't believe Mopsi would suggest that either," Elphaba said.

"Cengel brought it up one day and Ama backed his play. Of course, they don't know about Balfour and I, so I squashed the idea. Later, Ama pulled me aside later to tell me that it was only because she felt that I was lonely and it would do me some good to have someone to lean on. Khalil asked me if he should see if Balfour would be interested in the idea but I told him no. I want it to be organic, not arranged. Not that there's anything wrong with arranged but I would just like to hear it from Balfour rather than have him think he's obligated to. Not only that, I can rule Oz without a husband. It is not like that hasn't happened before," Glinda explained.

"I can see why that would be upsetting but that doesn't explain why you two aren't really communicating," Ayla gave her a look.

"How am I supposed to bring up that the Council wants me to get married when we haven't even been on any real dates? We've been keeping things quiet to avoid complicating everything for the public and ourselves and all of that has managed to happen anyway. Then I started feeling under the weather and that just added to the problem," the blonde heaved a sigh.

"Did you talk to Doctor Magi? What about Doctor Adnan?" Tahir wanted to know.

"I talked to Doctor Magi. He thinks my symptoms are brought on by stress but he promised to run some tests," Glinda explained.

"Well that settles it. You need to speak with Balfour. Be honest with him," Elphaba said.

"I agree," Fiyero nodded before shoving more pancakes into his mouth. That's when they heard a loud noise out in the hallway. Sergeant Bahram burst into the room and shouted,

"Dragon!"

To Be Continued…