(Haven't touched this story in a VERY long while, but here we go. It will be interesting, I can assure you.)

(I know I said I'm not making any more action/adventure stories. But I also don't like leaving my stories unfinished. Therefore, since this was started, I am obliged to continue it. As this is a spin-off of AWAW/AWAJ, my favorite fan-fiction so far [other than Joshua, King of Heaven], I cannot see how it would be affected majorly by my own inadequacies. Hope you enjoy this so far)

In the Hall of the Burgundians

The horsemen took their prisoners to a large castle that was nestled on the edge of a river. Here they dismounted and took them into the keep of the castle.

In a stone room of the keep, with hard-wood floors and many banners hanging upon the walls, they came before the king. He was about middle-aged, with reddish-blond hair and a sizable beard. At his right-hand sat a woman at least ten years younger than he, wearing an elaborate head-piece that concealed all of her hair. Behind the throne were two men on the left hand and a man and a young woman on the right hand. The young woman was barely into adult-hood: seventeen, Elphaba assumed.

"My lord," Garulf said, bowing before the king. "My scouts and I found these two. They had a horse with them, who they claim..." He snickered. "...belongs to this woman." He waved his hand forward and two of his guards none too gently thrust the pale-skinned Elphaba before the throne.

"Kneel, you wench!" Garulf hissed. "Were you taught no respect for your king?"

Elphaba was already half-way to her knees.

The king rose from his seat. He then turned to Fiyero. "You, man. Does this horse belong to you?"

"Well, my lord," Fiyero said, quickly bowing before he was reprimanded for such with a chain-mailed fist. "She's not really anyone. We found her, and she's followed us ever since."

"'Her', you mean it is a mare?" the King asked.

"Yes, my lord."

The King nodded. He then turned to the woman at his right, who whispered something into his ear. He nodded and then turned to the strangers.

"Tell me your names." He pointed first to Fiyero.

"I'm Fiyero Tiggular," he replied. "Prince of the Vinkus."

"And who are these with you?" asked the King.

"I am Elphaba Thropp, your Majesty." Elphaba said.

"Uh, Glinda Upland, your Majesty. The 'ga' is..."

The King held up his hand.

"I have a solution for discerning whether you speak truthfully." he rose from the throne, and waved for Garulf and his warriors to bring the prisoners with him. The King's guards followed him as he went, with the woman and the others from behind the throne stepping in line.

The small group poured out into the courtyard of the castle.

"Summon the stable-master." he ordered.

"Yes, my lord." one of his guards said, bowing and walking off to do his lord's biding.

The three Ozians huddled together, trying to keep their eyes away from their captors, the guards. They were none too gentle when it came to how they treated them, especially with the women.

And she thought women had it bad in Oz, Elphaba thought.

A few minutes later, a thick-chested man with reddish-brown hair and a sparse beard entered the group, and bowed his head when he saw the king.

"You are the stable-master?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Can you tell us if you recognize this horse?" the King said, indicating to two of Garulf's men, who were holding onto Nessa. They had a rope around her neck, for they could not bridle her, and she was neighing and bucking fiercely. The group stood back a little to avoid getting struck by her powerful hooves.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." the stable-master indifferently replied.

"Are you sure?" Garulf, who knew that he would be in hot water if he was lying, insisted. He placed an armored hand on the stable-master's shoulder. "If you're her master, you can calm her down. Now get to it!"

The stable-master warily made his way up to the horse and tried to calm her down. But even his presence made the horse more nervous. With nothing else to do, the stable-master reached for the whip on his belt.

"No!" Elphaba cried. She brushed the guards off her as if they were flies and stood in between the stable-master and Nessarose. Upon seeing Elphaba stand up for her, the horse started to calm down.

"Impressive," the King said. "The horse knows you, it seems." He then turned to Garulf and ordered him to release her friends and expect thirty lashes for false accusation.

"The horse must belong to you," he said at last. "Therefore you are no thieves. Tell me, then, prince..." He turned to Fiyero. "What kingdom do you rule?"

"Uh, the...Kingdom of the Vinkus, in the west." he replied, unsure of what answer the King was looking for.

"You are from across the sea?" the King asked in wonder.

Fiyero gave him a puzzled expression, for the prince knew not of the sea.

"It's a little difficult to explain, your Majesty." Fiyero answered after a while.

"Just the same," the King said. "I would have you explain it, but not now." He then turned to Elphaba. "Please, have your horse placed in our stables. That is, if she will permit it."

Elphaba nodded and led Nessarose in the direction of the stables, led by the stable-master.

"What becomes of us?" Fiyero asked.

"You are guests in my land," the King said. "It is my royal obligation to give you room and board, as long as you choose to stay at my castle."

"Where exactly are we?"

"In the Kingdom of Burgundy." the King answered. "This castle is the fortress of the city of Worms. I am Gjúki, King of the Burgundians."

Later that afternoon, the guests were given rooms in the castle and were right now by themselves while the King saw to the daily running and defense of his burg.

"Well," Fiyero began, once Elphaba shut the door behind them. "What have we got ourselves into?"

"I'm not sure," Elphaba returned. "I know nothing of this world."

"Weren't you asking around, listening, doing anything?"

"I had to make sure Nessa would be safe. Then I had to make my way back here to find you two." She turned to Glinda, who was looking out one of the narrow windows of their room.

"I'm not entirely trusting of these...Burgundians." she said. "I mean, they were hitting you, Elphie! And now their king just up and starts acting all nice to us? If that isn't suspicious, I don't know what is."

"I'm rather accustom to pain, Glinda." Elphaba responded. "I was, after all, raised by my father."

There was a tense kind of morose silence. None of them really knew much about her father, but what they had heard was not good.

In a feeble attempt to lighten the mood, Fiyero spoke up.

"Well, this is new."

"What do you mean?" Glinda asked.

"You're thinking now? What has the world come to?"

This rude remark earned Fiyero a punch in the arm from Glinda.

"I'm not stupid, you know!" she returned.

"I know you're not, Glinda." Elphaba replied, placing a hand on the little blond's shoulder. She was still surprised how lovely the hand was.

Not that she found her friend's green skin anything really ugly. To the contrary, after one got used to it, the whole green thing was actually mesmerizing to a certain degree.

It was sad, though, that the rest of Oz saw her only for her skin and not for anything else. Maybe, she wondered, now that she looked like everyone else, they could get to know the girl beneath the green, the girl only Fiyero and she herself - Glinda - truly knew. Dear Elphaba would finally be accepted: she couldn't be happier.

Why, then, Glinda thought, do I feel so unhappy every time I look at that pale-white face?

There was a knock at the door. Fiyero opened it, and a guard stood in the open door-way.

"The queen asks to see the young girl of your group." the guard said.

There was no confusing over who he was talking about.

All eyes turned to Glinda.

(Oooh, the plot thickens. Elphaba is no longer green, but is the green monster of jealously creeping into Glinda? Whatever will happen in this story! All shall be revealed in time, and you'll get to see more Norse-stuff later on. I may not be able to update as often as I like, because I do not have indefinite access to the internet [moving to CA was a pain, and its not different than TN, just more of the same], so just bare with me. While you're at it, read some of my other stories and tell me if you like them. Don't be afraid of reviewing!)