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This chapter includes: violence, minor implications of bullying
The next morning was far too calm for Elphaba's liking.
Ameya said nothing to elaborate on her reaction the previous night, and had made Elphaba promise that she would not tell Nessa what she had said. Elphaba had agreed, expecting a follow up conversation.
But Ameya seemed to forget the whole conversation.
"Unfortunately, I did not plan the timing well. We do not have time for breakfast, but I did prepare you both lunch, and tonight I will prepare a great welcome-back-to-school feast," Ameya announced. She handed both girls a paper sack and a piece of toast. They took them, and then looked at each other.
"We're coming back here? Tonight?" Elphaba asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Of course," Ameya replied, concerned. "Why wouldn't you?"
"Father always had us stay in the dormitories. He said the commute would be too long for us to come home everyday," Elphaba explained.
Ameya blinked.
"Your house and mine are both only 30 minutes from the school," Ameya stated. The girls nodded. "And he still made you stay?"
They nodded again.
"Well, " she announced, passing them as she moved to the front door. "I am not going to stay there, so there is no reason for you two to do so. Now come on. It is time for school."
Nessarose and Elphaba filed out the door. The footmen had returned, and helped Nessa into the carriage.
"Are we going to talk about what you told me last night?" Elphaba whispered as she passed her aunt.
Ameya gave a minute twitch of the head, just enough to indicate a 'no'. Elphaba tried to sigh, but it came out as a huff. Ameya pursed her lips. Elphaba replied by narrowing her eyes. And then, for the first time since they had met, Ameya frowned at her.
"For what you speak of Elphaba, this is not the time nor place," Ameya announced halfway through their journey.
Nessa looked between the pair of them, her eyes wide and expectant, though neither her sister nor her aunt said anything.
She waited through the silence, but in the end got no answer. It was time for school.
A group of women stood huddled in a corner as Ameya entered the teacher's study. Hushed whispers ceased as she approached an empty table, and began to organize the numerous papers she had been handed when she visited the headmaster's office.
Over her shuffling papers, Ameya watched as a young-ish woman with long platinum blonde hair and a peach robe made her way towards her table.
"You must be Ms. Thropp. Oh, the headmaster has been going on and on about you," the woman said in a high, nasally voice. Her smile was almost too large for her face. Something in it sent a small shiver down Ameya's spine.
"He did, did he?" Ameya said sharply. The woman looked taken aback.
"Why yes. He did. Is there something wrong?"
"Well. If Professor Joklin had truly been going on and on about me, then he would have informed you that I am to be addressed as Doctor Thropp," Ameya replied in a curt tone.
The woman said nothing, but rather stared at Ameya for a few seconds. It seemed as though she was sizing Ameya up. But then she smiled widely again.
"Well welcome, Mi- Doctor Thropp. We are very pleased for you to be here. Say, are you related to the Thropp sisters, by any chance?" she asked. Her tone had become sweet to the point of being sickening.
"Yes. They are my nieces. I took this job to be able to get close to them as they finish their secondary education and move on to university. Now, if you'll excuse me, they are waiting for me," Ameya gave a quick nod, and turned for the door.
"We were under the impression that they didn't have any other family?" the woman called, stopping Ameya in the doorway.
"They didn't know either. Good day."
Ameya opened the door and exited the study. Sure enough, Elphaba and Nessarose were just outside of the door, deep in conversation. Ameya tried to listen, but they were speaking too low.
"Well," Ameya announced. Elphaba jumped backwards almost two feet. "Here you girls go."
She handed them each a piece of paper upon which was written their class schedules for the year.
"I will be seeing you in a few minutes, as I am your first class of the day. Good luck, my dears," Ameya said, dropping her voice on the last part. SHe gave them the flash of a smile before walking down the hallway and disappearing from sight.
"Science, Math, and Modern Ozian. Oh, and then a break before lunch. Wonderful," Elphaba said, reading from her sheet.
"Science, History, and then Ancient Ozian. And I have a break too. What about after lunch?" Nessa read, nodding. "I have Math, Literature, and then Writing."
"History and then the same. Good. We're together most of the day. Much better than last year," Elphaba looked up and smiled. "Shall we?"
Nessa nodded and the two proceeded down the same path that Ameya had taken.
Her room was large, but cluttered. Intricate diagrams covered the walls that were not taken up by bookshelves. In some places, there was equipment set up, and in one corner, if Elphaba was not mistaken, there insects suspended in different colored liquids.
"Please take your seats and we will begin," Ameya announced to the entering horde of young men and women.
Slowly, each found their seats, which were grouped in pairs. Elphaba and Nessarose took their usual places in the back. Ameya raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, but then turned back to her class.
"I am Dr. Thropp. I will be teaching you science for this coming school year. ANy questions before we begin? Yes. You sir," Ameya said, pointing to a sandy haired youth in the front row. His hand had shot up into the air on the word 'doctor'.
"Our textbooks say there has only been one female doctor in Ozian history. An Ameya somebody," the boy explained.
"That would be Ameya Thropp, sir. And I am Ameya Thropp."
She gave a smile, and then raised her eyebrows again, this time to the rest of the class. No one moved.
"Alright. Will you..."
"Yurik, ma'am."
"Master Yurik. Will you please pass out those textbooks?" Ameya asked, pointing to a tilting stack of aged books on a nearby shelf. Yurik nodded and stood.
One by one, he handed a book to each person in the class. Elphaba snorted softly as he slammed a book onto her desk, and then gently handed one to Nessa, for whom Elphaba suspected he nursed a soft spot.
"First I have a few announcements. The headmaster wishes me to inform you that the fields behind the school will be open until dark. Football tryouts will begin in two days time. Also, students are not permitted to visit the village unless it is a specific chaperoned weekend. We have eyes everywhere, and will know if there are any problems. And lastly, there will be celebrations in a months time in regards to the 20th anniversary of the Wizard's arrival. More information will be given as it is learned. Now, we delve into science. Can anyone tell me what the main three bones of the arm are called?" Ameya said in a clear, even voice.
A few students raised their hands shyly. She pointed to a red-haired girl two rows ahead of Elphaba.
"And you are?"
"Quilla, ma'am. And they are the humerus, the radius, and the ulna," she said in a shrill voice.
"Correct. Can anyone name for me the main three bones in the leg?"
To Elphaba's surprise, Nessa raised her hand.
"Yes. Nessarose."
"Um, they are..."
"Louder, please. We cannot hear you."
"The-femur-the-tibia-and-the-fibula," Nessa said at top speed.
"Yes, indeed. Alright. As you can imagine, we will begin with the skeletal system and then spend a bit of time discussing the organs, before we move onto plants, quite a bit of basic physics, and then we'll end the year with some introductory chemistry. Yes, dear?" Ameya queried as the girl named Quilla raised her pale hand.
"Dr. Thropp. Are you by any chance related to the Thropp sisters who are currently sitting behind me?"
As was the point, the entire class turned to look back at the girls.
Nessa's wide eyes stared straight down at the desk. Elphaba's, however, were locked onto her aunt's. She gave the tiniest shake of the head.
"No, students. We just share the same last name. I have," Ameya maintained eye contact with Elphaba, who raised a dark eyebrow. "I have never seen them in my life."
She watched as Elphaba closed her eyes and gave the slightest nod of approval.
"But, ma'am, isn't the name 'Thropp' the name of the Governor's family? Are you one of the Governor's family?" Quilla continued.
"No I am not. That is none of your business, miss. Please refrain from continuing or you will find yourself in detention."
Ameya turned to the board and began writing down various names of bones and their location in the body. There were scrapes and rustling as the students removed notebooks and pencils to take notes.
Elphaba smiled slightly to herself. It was going to be a good year.
The rest of the day seemed to race by before Elphaba had a chance to notice.
Normally one to pay 110% attention at all times, she could not hold her focus on anything. The conversation with Ameya was still playing on repeat in her head, though it had not been a long one.
"Elphaba? Do you think she's serious?" Nessa asked. Elphaba blinked.
The pair of them were sitting in the parlor of Ameya's house. Nessa was threading a needle. An unfinished garment lay on her lap.
"What?"
"I said do you think she's serious," Nessa repeated.
"Who is?"
"Ameya," Nessa said exasperated. "She told me that there is rumor of a gala to be held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Wizard's arrival. He came only about a two and half years before you were born. It's odd how we are so much closer to being two decades old than we are to being one."
Elphaba said nothing. Nessa put her cloth down.
"Are you alright, Elphaba? You have been very quiet all day."
"Huh? Oh. I guess I have been," Elphaba replied, jerking herself out of yet another daydream.
"Quilla and Retira both called you 'spinach girl' today and you said nothing. Did something happen?" Nessa pushed. Elphaba's stare remained blank.
"Nothing," Elphaba said. "Just... nothing."
"Of course. Nothing. It's always 'nothing'. Isn't it? I know that you and aunt Ameya know something I don't. I like to think I have earned your trust enough to know what it is," Nessa said. She folded the needle in the cloth, and turned towards the door.
"I do trust you, Nessa. I just don't want..." Elphaba began.
Nessa turned her chair back to her sister.
"Don't want me to what? Worry? Panic? Please, Elphaba. I am not a child. And I understand that by saying that, I seem childish. But it... it hurts when you keep things from me."
Elphaba said nothing. Nessa gave a huff, and pushed herself out the door and out into the hallway.
Once out of view, she waited momentarily for Elphaba to call after her, before pushing herself down the hall and back into her room.
She new it was no use trying to get things out of Elphaba. Elphaba could hold onto secrets like nobody else.
"How did he get out?" Frex demanded in a whisper.
He let go of the lapels of the green uniformed guard.
"We...We don't know, sir. 'E just seemed to disappear. O'ernight. No one 'eard 'im go, sir. Like 'e vanished," the guard whimpered (in what on Earth would be considered a Cockney accent.)
"That's impossible. No one can vanish into thin air," Frex barked.
The other guards shook with fear. Frex paced back and forth in front of them. No one said a word.
"We put him away to protect the future of the Thropp family. He was hushed away better than we could have expected. And now. AND NOW YOU'VE LOST HIM. NOW HE'S FREE. AND I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD," Frex roared. Sweat dripped off his forehead, though the dark hallway of Southstairs was cold and damp.
"'We've got our best men out there, sir," a small, balding guard muttered. "They'll find 'im. They haven't missed a man yet, sir."
"Uh-huh. Are these the 'best men' who didn't even tell me that the most feared man in Munchkinland history has just escaped from the most heavily guarded prison in all of Oz? I heard from my dead wife's sister! And you know who told her? My youngest daughter! And yet she doesn't even know that she knows this yet. So tell me. When were you planning on informing me, the Governor of Munchkinland? Huh? WHEN WERE YOU PLANNING ON INFORMING ME?!" Frex screamed.
"We were going to, sir. Right away. It's just...It's just that Lady Thropp was in contact with one of our guards and he was the first one to find out. And... and we still go by some of the old laws, sir. She has..." a tall skinny blonde guard said, his voice fading before he could finish the sentence.
"She has what, boy?" Frex snarled, stepping up to the blonde guard. He was almost a foot shorter than the guard, but the guard was terrified nonetheless.
"She has power as the Eminent,sir," the guard muttered. "And, in our books,sir, the Eminent is more...more powerful than the Governor, sir."
For a moment, Frex said nothing. Then, with one sudden move, the guard was on the ground unconscious, a bruise already blooming on his temple where Frex had back handed him.
"Now," Frex said, his voice low and clear. His eyes were locked on the captain, who still sat on the ground where Frex dropped him. "You will round up anyone you can spare and you will do a sweep of Munchkinland. He must be found at all costs. And if he hurts either one of my daughters, it will not be me whom you need to fear. I'll hand you over to the Eminent herself."