Chapter Thirty-Six: A Lot to Think About
Just as she was about to finally fall asleep, someone knocked on the door again. "It's probably Fiyero, insisting he can't leave me tonight." Elphaba made to get up.
"Elphie, stay there!" Galinda leapt off of her bed. "You need to rest. Don't get up! I'll get the door."
It wasn't Fiyero at the door. It was Nessarose's Nanny. "Miss Elphaba, I've been doing a little thinking and I wished to speak with you about something."
"Can it wait? It's been a long day, as you well know."
"I think this is something you'll want to know."
Elphaba sat up slowly. "What is it?"
"I don't know how to tell you this."
Elphaba suddenly worried that the old woman had seen something more wrong with her when she'd examined her. "What is it?"
"Let me start from the beginning. Nessa's mother is the daughter of the Eminent Thropp of Munchkinland. Her father is a Unionist minister."
"I don't see what this has to do with…"
"You will. I have known Melena, Nessa's mother, since she was a born. One day eighteen or nineteen years ago, I got a letter asking me to come immediately to their home. Melena had given birth. When I arrived, I found the couple standing above a cradle looking… afraid. When I reached the cradle, I saw why. The child was different."
Elphaba thought she knew where this was going. But it couldn't be. It wasn't possible. She just nodded and looked at the old woman, waiting for her to continue.
"She was green."
Glinda gasped.
"Wait a second…"
"Let me finished. The couple knew they could not keep the child. Frex, Nessa's father, was, as I already told you, a minister. Having a green child would not make him look very godly, would it? But they didn't know what to do. So they asked me. I journeyed to the Emerald City on my own and left the child the one place I knew it would be taken care of."
"The doorstep of a mauntery."
"Exactly."
"So… Nessa, she's my sister?"
"She is."
"Why are you telling me all this now?"
"I didn't know what had become of you until I stepped in here today and saw you. I asked Nessa and Miss Glinda, then, about your history. The moment I was told you were raised in a mauntery, I knew you were that child. I don't know how you ended up here, and with that Vinkun boy, but…"
"The maunts sent me to be a schoolmarm in the Vinkus when I came of age. Fiyero convinced his parents to send me here with him so I could learn more to teach his siblings." Elphaba reiterated quickly. "But, wait, I don't understand. After having a green child, why did my parents try to have another? Didn't they think they'd have another like me?"
"They probably wouldn't have in most cases. But your mother, she's… a bit promiscuous. In fact, she was never sure that Frex was your father. And, though Nessa doesn't know, Nessa may not be his daughter, either."
"Does Nessa know about me?"
"She does not. And you have a brother, as well, who I'm almost certain is actually Frex's. His name is Shell. He's not even ten."
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"That is up to you, dearie. I merely thought you should know."
"What about my parents? Are you going to tell them you met me?"
"I cannot be sure. I suppose I can't stop you if you would like to go find them and talk to them, or if you want me to tell them something."
"Why? Why should I want to talk to them when they didn't want me? They couldn't even get rid of me themselves."
"I never said you should want to talk to them. I merely said that if you wanted to, I wouldn't stop you. That was all."
Elphaba swallowed hard, trying to digest everything.
"Well, dearie, I just thought you needed to know this. But you really do need your rest after today's ordeal. I will go." The old woman got up and left without another word.
Glinda turned to her as the door closed. "Sweet Oz, Elphaba!"
"Glinda, please don't talk to me about this right now. I need time to think. And, as she said, I need to sleep." Elphaba reached over to her bedside table and took the sleeping draught she had inside it. She took a small sip.
Glinda looked disappointed, but did not push the subject. Elphaba distracted herself with thinking about what had happened to Dr. Dillamond until sleep finally took her.
"Elphie, Fiyero's here." Glinda shook her awake gently the next morning.
Elphaba looked up and saw Fiyero standing behind her roommate, holding something, the worry still on his face – as it had been for the past week or so. "Yero."
"Hey there." He bent down beside her bed. "I brought you something, since you're stuck lying here today."
She smiled at him lightly. "What?"
He handed her a book. "It's on Animal science. I thought you might like to read it." He paused. "How are you feeling, Fae?"
"Better."
"Are you sure? It was hard to wake you up, and you usually wake up pretty easily."
"I took some sleeping draught."
"Were you in too much pain to sleep without help?"
"Not exactly…"
"Elphaba, tell him what happened last night!" Glinda insisted.
"What happened last night?" Fiyero looked alarmed.
"Relax. It's nothing scary."
"Tell me."
Elphaba sighed. "The old woman came back here. Nessa is my sister. The old woman helped my parents get rid of me when I was a baby. That's about it."
Fiyero stared at her with his mouth hanging open. "Oh my Oz, Fae, that's…"
"Don't start. I haven't had time to really think about it and I don't want to talk about it just yet."
He bit his lip. Clearly he wasn't sure if he was going to obey her wishes or continue to bother her about it. But he didn't get to decide. Someone knocked on the door. Before Glinda could even open the door, the door unlocked and Madame Morrible strode in the room. "I see Miss Elphaba already has a visitor. Prince Fiyero, it is quite kind of you to be so concerned over your… friend."
Madame Morrible knew Elphaba was merely a servant at Kiamo Ko. She knew everything. Fiyero straightened up. "Well, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." He didn't look the headmistress in the eyes.
"So did I. And I had a few questions for her."
Elphaba wondered if she'd ever have a moment to herself to think. "I thought you might."
"Are you feeling better, my dear?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good to hear. Are you sure you shouldn't be in the infirmary?"
"Fiyero already explained that to you, I believe," Elphaba shrugged.
Morrible nodded. "Tell me what you saw when you arrived at Dr. Dillamond's yesterday morning."
Had that only been yesterday morning? It felt like it had been weeks, months. "I don't quite remember." She remembered everything. But she didn't feel like disclosing it all. She wanted to go over it for herself. Something about it bothered her. "I just remember blood."
"I see. Sometimes traumatic experiences can do that to you." But the woman seemed uneasy. "Perhaps I shall check in with you in several days, see if your memory has recovered."
"That might be a better idea. I'm sorry, Madame."
"It's fine." The woman swept out of the room.
"You really don't remember anything?" Fiyero asked.
"I do. And that's the problem. Fiyero, I think she killed him."