Only Glinda, Nanny and Nessa were to join them. Nanny and Nessa had to take a special train that could accommodate Nessa's needs. Glinda refused to deal with such conditions as a train, so she'd be taking her own elegant carriage. Perhaps Fiyero forgot to mention to her that they'd be staying in the first class section. Whatever the reason, it was Elphaba and Fiyero alone.
Watching Elphaba twiddle her thumbs so nervously as she stared out at the passing terrain, Fiyero chewed on his lower lip. He couldn't blame her for being so upset. "Don't freak out. It'll do no good." Sitting down beside her, he took one of her clenched fists in his hands and ran his fingers over her knuckles soothingly.
"You said that yesterday, and the day before." Elphaba reminded him.
"It was true then, and it's true now. I love you. We're going to be married. Forget about everything else."
"That's very difficult."
"That's how you responded yesterday, and the day before." Fiyero kidded.
"Shut up."
"You don't really mean that. There's an awkward silence if I don't talk to you; who'd break the awkward silence?"
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"You know you love me."
She almost choked. Quickly, she began thinking of ways to respond to that in which she didn't have to say she did or did not. "If you're so confident about it, then why are you asking?"
"I wasn't asking."
"It sure seemed like asking."
"It wasn't."
"Someone can't admit he's lying."
"Someone can't admit she's wrong."
"Well, someone has to meet her fiancé's family in less than an hour, and tomorrow on her wedding night those same people are going to be watching her every move. I think someone should get a little leeway."
Fiyero didn't argue.
When they arrived at the castle, the doors opened and servants led them inside. Servants took their bags and they were told to wait for the king and queen to greet them. It wasn't even lunchtime. Fiyero slipped an arm around Elphaba; she wasn't looking too good and he didn't want her to fall.
"Son!" Fiyero's father, followed by his mother, entered the room. The two men shook hands. His mother hugged him distantly.
"Hello, Father. Father, Mother, this is Elphaba." Fiyero squeezed Elphaba's shoulder.
She forced a smile and shook hands with Fiyero's parents. "Hello."
Fiyero's mother looked Elphaba up and down, practically dissecting Elphaba with her eyes. The woman raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
His father said, "Why don't we show you around, Miss?"
Fiyero let his arm drop from around her shoulders, but insisted on taking her hand. "That sounds like a good idea, Father."
Elphaba marveled at the castle as she followed everyone up to both towers on each side of the castle. The last stop of the "tour" was the bedroom she and Fiyero would share. There were two rooms, each with beds – one king sized, one queen sized. Elphaba's things were already in the second. She didn't ask why there were two rooms. Maybe it was just for that evening.
"Well, you two, I'll leave you here for a bit. Lunch is in half an hour." His father said, leaving them alone.
Immediately, Elphaba asked Fiyero, "What's with the two rooms?"
"Oh. Well, my parents have two rooms. I guess it's just the way things are."
"But…"
"We'll share my room for the majority of the time."
"The majority of it?"
Fiyero shrugged.
Elphaba didn't understand the concept of two separate bedrooms. That was for couples who didn't really care for one another… it wasn't ever used to start out with. Well, that must be how it was around here. She wasn't so sure she'd like it.
They kissed for the rest of the time until a servant came to tell them lunch was ready. After lunch, they sat around and talked. Dinner was served early, for the wedding preparations would take some time.
Elphaba was sitting in her room on the bed when Fiyero's mother knocked and came in. "Hello."
Elphaba sat up straighter. "Hello."
She sat beside Elphaba on the bed. "So, Elphaba, tell me about yourself."
"Well, I was born in Munchkin land to a unionist minister and his wife. I'm not quite sure if I'm both of their child, but that's another story. I have a sister and brother. My mother died giving birth to my brother. I grew up roaming Quadling Country. I went to Shiz, I plan to continue school…"
"You're going to continue?"
"What am I supposed to do? Sit around all day in bed and wait for Fiyero to come back so he can do what he wants with me?" Elphaba replied sarcastically.
Fiyero's mother eyed her. "That's the way it works."
Elphaba shuddered. "I'm not that type of girl."
The other woman smiled wickedly. "That just won't do, then."
"What do you mean?"
"You're liberal, independent, aren't you?"
Elphaba nodded slowly.
"You'll never make it. I can just imagine the way you'll behave when you find your husband with one of the servant girls on the other side of this very wall. I can just see you flipping a switch when your husband decides he wants to have you anally. If you aren't submissive, you just won't get through this. I'll bet you're even expecting your to-be-husband to wait until you've been pleasured to end coupling. It doesn't work that way. You have whatever other time to be lazy and do what you wish, but when he wants anything, you're there for his pleasure and that's all."
"No."
Fiyero's mother stood up. "I'd get out while you still can."
"It's not going to be like that. It isn't! Fiyero isn't like that."
"What makes you so sure? I would know better. He is my son. Then again, I barely got to raise him. They take your children from you the moment they're born and are raised by nurses. You barely get to see them before your husband decides he wants you pregnant, again. When they're sixteen, then it's up to you. But there's so little you can do with them, then."
Elphaba looked sick.
"But I still know what men are like out here, what they're raised to be, especially the royal ones. In the villages, the women don't have servants. They have to cook, to slave around as well as be their husband's sexual release. Most men can't afford to have as many female servants wandering the house as one might want."
"Fiyero wouldn't do that," Elphaba persisted.
Fiyero's mother only grinned evilly and left the room.
Fiyero was in his own room when his father came in. "Excited?"
"Not so much when I remember that you have to watch everything on my wedding night." Fiyero snapped.
His father ignored that. "Look, you know the royal study?"
"Uh huh."
"Second book from the right on the top shelf reveals a special room for you. I didn't want your mother to have to hear all of my encounters with some of the younger servant girls, and these walls are thin, so I had that room. You can use it if you wish. Any of the girls are willing if you get bored. Just make sure there's nothing on the desk. If there is something on the desk, it means I'm using the room."
"But, Father, I don't think I'll be wanting to…"
"That's dreaming, son."
"But…"
"But nothing. And here." His father handed him a book. "Whatever you want to know, it's all in here."
Fiyero looked at the book, his eyes widened and he shoved it under his bed. "I…"
"And I've got some advice for you. If she ever misbehaves, or you need to remind her who is in charge, take her from the behind while she kneels. That'll remind her."
Fiyero's face lost the majority of its color. "That's disgusting."
"I forget how young you are. You'll see the appeal of my advice soon enough. Maybe even sooner, with that girl." Fiyero's father patted his son on the back.
Fiyero shook his head as his father headed into the hall. Just at that moment, there was a knock from the door between his and Elphaba's room. "Come in, Elphaba."
She looked shaken. Actually, she looked worse than shaken. "Fiyero?"
"My gods, what is the matter?" He jumped off of the bed and grabbed her hands, leading her towards the bed so she could sit down.
"I don't think I want to do this anymore."
Fiyero gaped at her. Gathering his wits, he said, "Wait, wait, where is this coming from?"
"Your mother and I just talked about a few things. I don't want to be your sex slave. I don't want to sit around while you go about ravishing the servant girls. I will not lie still and weak while you take me as you want, no matter how uncomfortable it is! I'm not going to do that. I can't. I don't think I could live like that. No one told me that this is what you meant when you said 'marriage'…"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You don't?"
"Well, I guess I do. But I wasn't planning on letting it be that way. I will 'ravish' only you. You are not going to be my sex slave at all. Everything between us is going to be what both of us want, Elphaba. I would never treat you that way."
"I don't want to just sit there for your pleasure and have none of mine."
"Shhh." He kissed her deeply. "I know it seems scary, but we'll be different. I promise you."
"But you were raised…"
"I never agreed with what I learned," he reassured her. She was in her nightgown already and he couldn't help that he could see through it. He laid her back on the bed and continued to kiss her. "I love you, and only you, and I swear that."
She looked up at him weakly, unable to stop him as his fingers pulled up the hem of her nightdress. "Really?"
Fiyero's face darkened seeing she was wearing nothing under the nightgown. He cupped her face with one hand and smiled comfortingly down at her as he parted her legs with the other hand. Slowly, he dipped a finger inside of her. "I want you to feel good, too."
She gasped. "Mmm." Her eyes closed as he kissed her neck and continued the movement with his finger. "That feels good."
Fiyero didn't know what had come over him, but he couldn't help it. He slipped his finger back and forth, rocking it gently as she pressed her hips towards him. Nipping at her neck, he felt her suppress a moan as his finger was coated with moisture. "Like I said, I want you to feel good. It's not just about me."
She panted a little and opened her eyes. "Fiyero…"
He pulled his finger away and stuck it in his mouth and licked it clean. "I love you. Please, don't leave me now."
Elphaba felt as if she'd been hypnotized. "I won't."
"Then we'll get married tomorrow?" He tenderly pulled her nightgown back down to her knees and then picked her up in his arms.
"Yes, yes of course."
He moved through the opened doorway and set her on her own bed. "Good. Wonderful. Now have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow for the wedding, all right, love?"
"Okay." Elphaba watched drowsily as he left the room. She shook her head harshly. Damn. How had he done that? Allowing herself to be seduced into thinking everything was going to be fine was not like her.
The lights turned off. Oh, well, she thought. She kind of liked being seduced, anyway…