Disclaimer, you know.
Several hours, and likewise, jars of apple preserve later and both Dorothy and Mr. Foreman were both full up. Mr. Foreman was dozing on the couch as men of his age do after eating a large meal, while dorothy was trying to strike up meaningless conversation. This resulted in him falling asleep faster. Dorothy, not wanting to just walk out on her host decided to take the empty jars to the kitchen. She spent about 20 minute washing the jars and placing them on the dish rack to dry. When she returned to the living room she found Jon still on the couch, asleep, and snoring loudly. She sighed and went back to the chair she had been sitting on. Not long after, she herself began to doze.
Meanwhile at the manor.
"Ellie, can you help me with this? The lights appear to be knotted together again." Aislynn said.
"would you prefer I attempt to use magic? Or just do it manually?" Ellie asked.
"have you ever untangled something with magic before?" Aislynn asked.
"No." Was her immediate response
"Well then, take a guess at which I'd prefer." Aislynn said.
"I see your point." Ellie said walking over.
In a couple of minutes, they had both managed to get the lights untangled and started getting them on the large Christmas tree by the grand staircase. They had managed to get far with the decorating, though Aislynn was sure Ellie had used magic to complete some of her tasks faster. Every now and again she'd also find Ellie just standing there with her eyes closed. She knew she was looking in on Glinda, but she didn't bother to ask why, since she knew ellie wouldn't give her a decent answer.
"You know, I don't see why my sister has to watch Ozma like a hawk." Ellie said closing her eyes again.
"She worries that something will happen to her if she's out of her sight for more than five minutes I imagine." Aislynn said.
"But Ozma spends most of her time in the chambers, sitting there, bored out of her mind, we need to get her out of the city somehow." Ellie said.
"and how would you suggest we do that?" Aislynn asked.
"I don't know, I'm not really the best when it comes to strategy, Madeline might have an idea though, she's crazy enough." Ellie said opening her eyes.
"Ellie, by that logic dorothy is also crazy enough to think of something." Aislynn said.
"Okay, true as that may be, I'm sure at least one of them could think of something." Ellie said.
"you know, it kinda bothers me that you would want to do something behind your sister's back." Aislynn said.
"I see it like this Ace, Glinda is basically keeping Ozma as a prisoner in her own palace, Ozma needs to get out of there every now and again, have a little fun." Ellie said.
"Ellie, as much as I agree with you, if we got caught, and most likely we would get caught, what would your sister do?" Aislynn asked.
"I have no idea." Ellie said.
"Girls, you've been working for a while now, why don't you come to the kitchen and we'll fix you something to eat." Jenny said walking into the hall.
"Alright Jenny." Aislynn said as she and ellie followed her.
When they got to the kitchen Jenny fixed them some sandwiches while Jessica was busy string some popcorn and cranberries.
"so, are we ever going to meet Ozma before Christmas?" Jessica asked.
"I don't know, in all honesty, Glinda rarely lets her out of her sight." Ellie said.
"surely you could convince your sister that nothing bad would happen to her?" Jenny suggested.
"if only, my sister may trust me, but she seems to be under the impression that if she lets Ozma out of the palace some great disaster will befall her." Ellie said.
"I mean, dorothy could convince her if she tried hard enough, but dorothy has always been able to convince her on things as far as Ellie and I are concerned." Aislynn said.
"that's because Glinda sees dorothy like a daughter." Ellie said
"true." Aislynn said.
"besides, my sister's fears aren't that misguided, I mean, with everything that happened recently, she has the right to be worried." Ellie said.
This led to a collected sigh, and once they had finished their food, they returned to their decorating. About an hour later however they found themselves in the living room sitting in chairs, exhausted. Eventually they both nodded off.
Meanwhile in emerald city.
"Seems like a solid plan Madeline, there's just one snag." Ozma said.
"Oh?" Madeline replied in a curious tone.
"Well, two actually, one, dorothy isn't here, and two, the only reason Glinda isn't practically breathing over my shoulder right now is because I'm not that far away from the chambers." Ozma said sitting in a nearby armchair.
"Well we could…" Wendell started to say before trailing off.
"I am NOT I repeat NOT getting in that elevator." Ozma said turning to him.
"Well, we could do it under cover of night?" Wendell said.
"Does Glinda actually sleep? I mean outside of the occasional standing up catnap?" Madeline asked.
"Only when someone makes her." Ozma said.
"Well, I, I, yea I got nothin'" Madeline said
"great." Ozma said sighing.
Madeline sighed and sat down in her work chair, she quickly started working on the hat again. within moments the sound of a little counter bell, like the ones in shops was heard.
"And Done, and I had another idea." Madeline said.
"Oh?" Everyone asked turning to her.
"Ozma, this is your castle, your kingdom, I think it's time you took control of your own life." Madeline said
"Madeline, that's a nice suggestion and all, but you know Glinda won't have it, unless you want to try to convince her to let me out of the city, even for a day, I'd be happy." Ozma said
"you could try telling her how you feel?" Madeline suggested.
"I have, and she doesn't listen." Ozma said.
"Well, Ozma, then, I'll just take you with me the next time I go to Kansas, she can't really chase after me, and my intentions are pure, and I won't be harming anyone." Madeline said.
"Mads, I don't think that's such a good idea, Glinda would be incredibly upset with you if you took her out of the palace." Jack said.
"thank you jack, for that enlightening, um, piece of wisdom." Madeline said.
"hey it's true, I know it's obvious, but, again, it's true." He said.
Ozma sighed and leaned against her arm. Getting bored made her sleepy, and eventually, she herself, nodded off.
