AN: WARNING: This is a very, very disturbing chapter. There's blood and sick-minded stuff going on and you'll probably be really weirded out. You need to understand that this is how the man was raised, and when people believe they have a right to something, they do upsetting things to get to that something.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Only Way Out

Elphaba sat on their bed, one hand on her stomach, the other grasping Fiyero's tightly. They had to talk about it sooner or later, and it would be sooner rather than later. She still couldn't manage to look him in the eyes. "What's there to say, now, Fiyero? I acted against your wishes, and I tried to hide something from you that was your right to know. There's no taking it back."

He ran his free hand through her hair and tilted her chin. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I told you why. I have to finish school. I didn't want to do that at all. Believe me, it hurt me, too." Elphaba lowered her gaze to her empty belly.

"Why couldn't you have tried to talk to me about it? I could've been there for the procedure at least, held your hand."

"Would you really have let me?"

Fiyero sighed. This conversation really was going nowhere. "I don't know, and I'll never know, now. I like to think I could've talked you out of it. Or at least… you had to go into some underground sort of establishment, didn't you?"

She nodded, shuddering.

"I wish I'd at least been able to get you somewhere a little more sterile and safe. You're lucky you didn't get an infection. Those underground clinics are notorious for being unsanitary," he lectured.

"Fiyero, I'm not stupid. I knew what I was doing and what I was getting into. Believe me, I looked into that."

"That's a slight comfort, I guess."

"Look, I should've had a discussion with you. You are my husband, the man I love, and it was wrong of me to keep such a thing from you."

"I was excited," he said suddenly, "about it, when I thought you were pregnant, before you did anything… I wanted to be a father."

"You'll be a wonderful father," she whispered, kissing him, "when we do have children. Our kids will love you."

He smiled half-heartedly and took Elphaba into his arms. "If you didn't want to have a child now, why weren't you more careful?"

"I was," she frowned. "It's strange, really. When I found out, I went through my planner. I counted wrong, completely wrong. Well, that's a lesson learned."

"It doesn't seem like you," he observed, "to simply get rid of an unborn child."

"The way I saw it, the way I had to see it, was that it was not a child, not yet. I know that was wrong, but if I thought about it more, I'd have backed out and not gone through with the procedure, and I couldn't afford to do that, Fiyero, I just couldn't. Now I see it, and I hate myself for it. You can't even imagine."

"Don't think that way. I mean, I see where you're coming from, and part of me agrees with you, but hating yourself will not heal this. Promise me, though, that if something of this nature should ever happen again, you'll come to me first."

"I will," she promised.

"So," Fiyero grinned mischievously, "if you've been counting, would tonight be a good night for us to…?"

Elphaba's eyes brightened slightly as Fiyero tumbled her onto the bed, "I think I so, yes."

She was careful to make sure she didn't conceive for a while. Elphaba decided that all of the "joys" that would come with pregnancy would wait until she and Fiyero were settled in at home in Kiamo Ko. Both she and Fiyero agreed that she did not need to be throwing up and having strange cravings until after graduation. They didn't speak about what had happened very much, even when they returned to Kiamo Ko for the summer.

Elphaba sat silently at the dinner table, not enthusiastic to be there. After all, Pulino was still the king until the next summer, and she was uncomfortable with the power he held. Fiyero, however, kept his eyes out to make sure she was safe from the sickening intentions of his father. Still, Elphaba was uneasy in the castle.

Benita tried to make conversation, but Elphaba only responded in a word or two. Elphaba couldn't help but wonder how Fiyero's mother would feel about what she'd done. She could imagine she'd scorn Elphaba's actions dreadfully. Not that Elphaba could blame her for that, though. But Elphaba didn't plan on telling Benita about anything. Though she'd grown somewhat closer to the woman after what had occurred the previous summer, she was not comfortable talking about it at all, and so she wouldn't.

Fiyero slept with his arms around Elphaba, figuring that if anyone tried to touch her, it would wake him. He hadn't counted on sleeping powder.

It was late at night and the two had long since made love and fallen asleep. Pulino's main servant crept into the room and trickled a white powder like substance on both noses and then crept out. The next step would take place a few hours later; they had to be sure the sleeping powder was in full effect.

Before the sun had even risen, several more servants snuck into the room and carefully pulled the two apart. Fiyero murmured, shifting, "Mmm, Fae…" All of the men bit their lips, unsure of exactly how strong the powder was and how loud a noise might wake him. Elphaba was taken out of the room and Fiyero left sleeping alone.

Elphaba woke in an unfamiliar room and looked about her. She tried to hide her alarm as she found that she was tied up again, only worse. Her fingers were bound together by wire that almost cut into her skin. Seeing Pulino at the edge of the bed, she questioned, "What the hell did you do to Fiyero?"

"Only enough so he'll be unable to end my venture, this time."

There was no way out, was there? Elphaba could think of nothing and her stomach sank. She felt tears threatening at her cheeks and she let them fall.

Pulino walked over towards the bed and grabbed Elphaba's breasts so roughly she might have bruised, only smiling when she squealed in pain. He slapped her hard across the face, though the hit was warped, as she was lying on her stomach, "Little bitch."

Fiyero blinked slowly, and he felt drowsy, oddly drowsy. Maybe he'd just close his eyes again, hug Elphaba closer and go back to… Elphaba? The tired feeling went away at once and he sat up and leapt out of bed grabbing the knife he kept under the mattress, "Shit!"

Pulino grinned cruelly and bragged, "Even if he was able to look for you, he'd never find you. The room is hidden." He reached into the bedside table and pulled out something that made Elphaba gasp, to his sick delight. "I don't want to deal with blood on me, which will most certainly be an issue, so I'll have to break you in with this." There was a slight tearing sound, and Elphaba had bitten her lip so hard she was bleeding.

Fiyero couldn't find his father or Elphaba anywhere. His father's room was empty. Suddenly, he remembered a conversation he'd had with his father the night before his wedding. Something about the royal study…

Elphaba gritted her teeth and tried not to scream as pain tore through the lower half of her body. Pulino saw this and shoved harder, "Scream, damn it!"

The moment he entered the study, he heard a scream from behind one of the bookcases. Fiyero tried to keep his mind steady so he could focus on remembering how to get into the room. "Okay, okay, think… Top shelf… second book… second book from the left?" He grabbed it. "Nope. Then from the right," he rushed across the room and pulled a second book and the wall spun, sweeping him off of his feet and to a sight far more unpleasant than he ever hoped to see.

Elphaba wanted to just die. She didn't know how long this sick man was going to torture her for, but she didn't think she could take it. It didn't matter how strong she was. When the pressure suddenly eased and a loud crash filled the room, she twisted to look at what was going on, "Fiyero!"

He couldn't let the sickening display before him unnerve him as his father strode towards him. Fiyero took a deep breath, pulled the knife out from behind him and pushed, not caring where.

Pulino's eyes widened upon impact and he was on the floor, clutching his chest. Blood was pouring from the wound in his heart and he choked, "Fucking bitch," before blood rose in his throat and he was unable to breathe again.

Fiyero stood there, stunned. "Oh my gods…" He then remembered Elphaba on the bed and quickly moved to untie her, "Fae, my Fae, I'm so sorry. I never thought… I should've been more careful."

"You couldn't have known," she told him, turning around, and only then seeing Pulino's body, "Sweet Oz, Fiyero," she whispered, horrified, and fell back into him.

"I know," he murmured, shocked at his own actions, cradling her in his arms, ignoring that she, too, was bloody.

Only then did she truly begin to sob. There had been tears earlier, and her throat had tightened warningly, but then she let go. She buried her face in Fiyero's chest and let her body shake with each gasp of air as she cried. The pain suddenly struck her again and she shuddered, "It hurts."

Fiyero shook himself back into the moment and stroked Elphaba's hair as he carried her out of the room, "Let's get you downstairs to the infirmary, okay?"

"What about…?" She looked towards Pulino.

"I don't think the infirmary is going to do him any good now."

A servant passed by in the hall and stopped, staring. "Master Fiyero…"

He couldn't blame the servants. They had no choice but to do as his father had asked. "The royal study, my father… he's dead. I don't care if you want to question me, but my wife will not for an instant leave my sight for right now, okay?"

Power immediately transferred over to Fiyero upon the death of his father. The servants did not concern themselves with sentimentality for their masters, especially those they disliked. So the servant did not question Fiyero, but ran to report to the others what had happened, and to inform Benita, who would choose how best to tell her children.

An hour later, Elphaba was sitting in a nightgown on a bed in the infirmary and Fiyero was kissing her hands as he sat by her side when Benita entered the room. Fiyero stood up, "Mom, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said softly. "I mean, you did what you had to in order to protect her. It may well have been the only way." But she was crying.

Elphaba could not understand. "Why are you grieving a man who ruled your life and made it hell for years?"

"Because I know that something had to make him that way, Elphaba. His twisted notions came from his father before him. Yes, he acted on them too much and went too far, and that was wrong, but he could not help how he was brought up."

Fiyero nodded. "I didn't mean to actually… I just wanted to stop him, to hurt him, so I could get her out of there."

Benita sat down next to Elphaba's bed. "I know what he did to you. I'm sorry, honey."

Elphaba shook her head. "He must've done worse to you," she realized.

"But I could understand it easier. I was bred to endure that, and you weren't. You were meant for better things than that," Benita glanced at Fiyero and smiled down at Elphaba.

Elphaba took the woman's hand, "I'm sorry about Pulino."

"I'm sorry for him," Benita decided.