Chapter Forty-Two: Good Luck

Elphaba gently put her hand on Kalendrio's. "I'm sorry." She knew she was breaking the rules she'd set for herself, but it felt awful to sit there and see him so upset without doing something.

He'd mentioned again that Drienna was growing to look so much like his late wife, and Elphaba had asked about it. She knew how and when, but she hadn't known much else.

It had been an arranged marriage, but not a terribly uncomfortable one, like Fiyero's parents' marriage. The village children all knew each other growing up, and so he'd always known her. They'd even been pretty friendly, though that hadn't made their wedding night any less awkward. He'd told Elphaba even those details, though he'd kind of gotten embarrassed about it. Elphaba had laughed at the familiar conversation just beforehand, in which he'd told his wife that he didn't want to hurt her. Kalendrio had raised his eyebrows at Elphaba then, and she'd told him the story of her and Fiyero's wedding night. This had almost cheered him.

But then he'd continued his story, of a really happy, loving first few months and finding out in the third month that she was two months pregnant. After that, he'd apparently waited on her hand and foot, though she'd protested some (she sounded a little bit like Elphaba in that way, never letting anyone take complete care of her). Everything had seemed to be going fine, but how could they know? The midwife could only tell so much. He remembered wanting to be by her side during the birth, being there for some of it, but being thrown out when things had started to look bad.

The midwife had come out of the room holding Drienna and had placed her in Kalendrio's arms. For a moment, he'd thought it had all gone well, but he could see in the woman's face that there was something wrong. He remembered feeling like he'd lost the majority of his world and then looking at the child he was holding and resolving to take the best care of her that he could. Drienna was all he had left of his wife, and he would treasure that.

"Don't be. It happens." He pretended to shrug.

She gripped his hand firmly. "But that doesn't mean it's not something to be sorry about…" Elphaba jumped almost out of her seat when Fiyero walked in the door, pulling her hand away from Kalendrio's abruptly. Glancing at the clock, she said, "Darling, aren't you a few minutes early today?"

"I must've walked faster today. I set out at the same time." Fiyero looked at Elphaba, who was smiling sweetly, though a little falteringly. He then looked at Kalendrio, who looked just the slightest bit… guilty? Looking back at Elphaba and noticing a flicker of irritation in her eyes, he protested, "You can't be mad at me for that."

"No, you're right, I can't. Besides, I'm happy to see you." She stood and hugged him lightly.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then, Elphaba. Goodbye, your Highness." Kalendrio bowed and headed towards the door.

Elphaba, feeling a wave of guilt, caught him before he left and hugged him fiercely. "Tomorrow."

The door shut and left Elphaba and Fiyero in a tense silence. Fiyero said, "Are you sure I can't come any earlier?"

That was it. He'd done it. Elphaba's eyes lit up with anger. "Fiyero, I thought we talked about this. No, no, no. You can't. Stop being so possessive and needy. I love you, my Yero, but you need to stop clinging to me or I might just go crazy."

It was then that he realized that he wasn't getting through to her at all.

Dear Glinda,

I know Elphaba's already written to you and you've written back. I know you're coming out later in the summer rather than earlier because your family wanted to spend time with you after graduation. I understand that. But I'm begging you to hurry it up just a little bit, if possible. I'm worried about our relationship and she won't talk to me about it without getting angry. You're the only one I know who could get to her. I know I sound crazy, but believe me; it's not paranoia this time.

And there's something else. I feel like… there's this man who comes to see her every day after she's let the kids out from school; he's the father of one of the girls, who Elphaba absolutely adores. However, I'm not allowed to even come near the schoolhouse until two hours after she's let them out. I see the way he looks at her and I know what he wants from her. She swears nothing's going on, and I believe her, but it feels like something could start going on any day now, and I'm losing her. If you were here, maybe she'd come straight home, or at least you'd be with her in the schoolhouse to make sure nothing… I can't believe I'm saying this… adulterous… happens.

I don't want to sound paranoid. I don't want to sound like I don't trust her. I do. I love her more than anything, and I can't think of what I'd do if I lost her. I don't mean to sound desperate, but please hurry your skinny blonde butt out here!

Sincerely,

Fiyero

Elphaba loved Fiyero, she really did. It was just that he got so irritating sometimes. He needed her; she understood that. She needed him, too. But she didn't need him every damned moment of the day, for Oz's sake.

He'd started whining about her not being home enough again. She'd thought he was done with that after they'd has their long discussion about control and love, but she was wrong. Of course, he was subtler about telling her she wasn't around enough. Fiyero and subtle had never gone together well, but he seemed to be getting the hang of it. Elphaba could never pinpoint something he'd said as something that was an attempt at sending her on a guilt trip. She knew it, but she couldn't quite accuse him. The foolish oaf was even proud of it!

She had mentioned it to Fiyero's mother, but the woman hadn't seemed to understand. The woman had even had the nerve to suggest that perhaps it wasn't Fiyero who was controlling. Elphaba didn't try to control Fiyero; the stupid man begged to be controlled. If he didn't follow her around all day making her set rules on when he could be near her, she wouldn't have to tell him what to do. Was there no one on her side?

She flopped down in her chair behind the desk and threw her hands in the air, exasperated. It felt like it had been an incredibly long day, though she knew she'd only made it feel that way by letting Fiyero's actions intrude on her thoughts so much. At least now she'd have a few moments to sort out what was irrational anger and what wasn't. It almost surprised her when Kalendrio walked through the door. "Hi."

He settled himself into a chair beside her. "Hey."

Elphaba forced a smile. "I'm warning you, if you stay, you're in for listening to another rant about my marriage."

"Go ahead, I don't mind. I'm actually pretty used to it," he joked.

She made a face. "They always say you get to love the person you marry more every day, and that's true, I do. But no one ever told me he'd drive me crazier every day."

"Would it have made a difference?"

She laughed. "Probably not. But at least I would have known to expect this. He's being all needy again, and I can't even catch him in the act. I don't when he learned subtlety, but I guess that's what he does when I'm gone all day, because every time I accuse him of something he says being controlling, or needy, he can make it sound perfectly innocent. And that smirk when I finally give in because I really can't prove it… I hate it! It's infuriating."

Kalendrio sat back and listened to her most recent complaints about Prince Fiyero. At first, he'd seen what she meant. But ever since their fight, he was having trouble seeing exactly what the Crown Prince was doing. Maybe she was right and it was subtle. However, maybe she was overreacting and jumping at any sign that he could go back to how he'd been. How could he know, anyway? He only saw them together when Prince Fiyero came to pick her up.

And when Prince Fiyero did come to pick Elphaba up, as always, she was incredibly generous with giving Kalendrio a long, close hug before he left. Kalendrio didn't complain, but Prince Fiyero didn't seem to be too happy about it.

This time, when she hugged him, Kalendrio was almost sure he could see self-satisfaction in her eyes. Was she trying to make her husband paranoid? If that was what irked her about him, why in Oz was she acting the way she was? But he couldn't help that he was making it worse. He didn't even realize for a moment that he had smug look on his face. Well, not smug – after all, she was still going home to her husband – but pleased, perhaps. Not even pleased just… he stopped thinking about that when he realized Prince Fiyero was tapping his foot, pretending to look at the clock to time them and then glancing at Kalendrio's face in a very angry manner.

Chin in the air, she skipped back over to her husband, who slipped an arm around her waist firmly. When Fiyero thought Elphaba wasn't paying attention he looked back at Kalendrio. "If you ever touch my wife any more than that, I will make your life a living hell."

Before Kalendrio could even say anything on his own behalf, Elphaba whirled on Fiyero. "For Oz's sake, you stupid idiot, why do you have to go and say things like that? I've told you a hundred times, at least, that he wouldn't touch me. You always say you wish you could come out here earlier, even if just to sit and talk, too. This is why I don't let you, do you realize that? You can't be around me in a group of people, because the minute I stop paying attention to you, you put on a hissy fit! What in Kumbricia's name is your problem?"

Kalendrio could see that Prince Fiyero didn't like being told off by his wife, especially in public. "Um, Drienna's going to be missing me," he said quickly, "I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, Elphaba. Good bye, and good luck, your Highness."

And from the rage he'd seen in Elphaba's eyes, Kalendrio thought Prince Fiyero would need a lot of good luck, indeed.