Selky had never been more terrified in her entire life. She'd come to Kiamo Ko hoping to rescue Corusca. This was not what the dark haired girl had expected. Despite Selky's firm resolve to show no weakness a few tears did manage to escape her vivid eyes. So this was the way she was going to die; slain by the witch just like her parents. How depressingly poetic.
Before Selky could spiral any deeper into her morbid thoughts the door opened. In stepped a woman with dark hair and sandy skin. She wore a plain black dress and a quirky necklace. On the tall side of average this woman had a strong, sharp face with an oddly pretty air about it. Her posture was calm and purposeful, letting anyone who saw her know that she wasn't a pushover. Selky could immediately tell from the spark in the woman's brown eyes that she was her kind of person; a rebel. Still the dark haired student was cautious; after all she was in the witch's domain. No one could be trusted.
"What do you want?" Selky demanded, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"I want to know why you came here," the woman told her softly. "Your parents must be worried about you."
"I'm a grown up, I don't need anyone taking care of me," Selky snapped. "And besides, my parents died a long time ago."
"Why did you come here then?"
"The witch kidnapped someone I care about," the frightened girl growled. "Her name is Corusca, she's an Antelope. I came here to rescue her."
"Well then you're either very brave or very stupid," the woman chuckled, slowly approaching her wary prisoner. "But the witch doesn't steal people."
"Yes she does!" Selky protested. "The witch killed my parents and now she's going to kill my best friend if she hasn't already."
"That's a lie," the woman told her softy.
"No it's not," Selky hissed. "It's the truth."
"I find it quite rude that you would so bluntly accuse someone of murder."
"The truth is rude," Selky retorted.
"What evidence do you have besides what you've been told?" her captor demanded.
"My evidence is that the witch conjured a particularly violent thunderstorm to murder my parents!" Selky snapped, though this was something she had been told by others. Elphaba's eyes flinched. A weather related death just screamed of Madame Morrible's involvement. Rather than push her upset captive further the usually green girl let it go. "What's your name?" she wondered after a moment.
"Selky," the student muttered reluctantly.
"Are you hungry?" As Selky was about to shake her head 'no' a gurgle of noise escaped her traitorous stomach. "I'll get you some food," Elphaba chuckled, heading for the door. "Would you like any tea?"
"Chai please," Selky grunted almost intelligibly, wondering why in Oz this servant of the witch was being so darn nice to her.
***
"What did she say?" Glinda asked Elphaba as she emerged from the room.
"Her name is Selky," the witch informed her. "She came here because a friend of hers was stolen. The friend was an Animal so I'm guessing it was Morrible's doing; she's spreading rumors again."
"So what are we going to do with her?" the blonde wondered.
"Keep her here I guess," Elphaba shrugged. "Boq's gonna have to find a new bedroom."
***
Selky was seated on the bed when the witch returned with a sandwich and some steaming tea. The student nervously examined her meal, squinting hard at the sandwich. "It's not poisoned," Elphaba chuckled. Shrugging Selky swallowed the food in a quick rush, chasing it down with a swig of chai tea. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Breakfast two days ago at Shiz," the prisoner replied immediately. "I left in a hurry." Without warning or reason Selky's eyes filled with the tears she'd been suppressing since her departure. Embarrassed she turned away. Awkwardly Elphaba placed her hand on the distraught girl's shoulder; she'd never been good at comforting people. "Why do you work for the witch?" Selky sniffled after regaining her composure.
"I don't work for the witch."
"Then why are you here?"
"Do you want the truth?" Elphaba questioned. Selky nodded. The green girl removed her enchanted necklace with a sigh, allowing her emerald complexion to return. "I am the witch." Immediately the dark haired girl leapt away as if she'd been bitten by a snake. Horror and fear churned violently in her eyes. "The green makes quite a difference doesn't it?" Elphaba snapped bitterly.
"Get away from me!" Selky screamed. "You horrible, murderous, inhuman frog!"
"Selky I didn't kill…"
"You lie!" the terrified girl shrieked. "You always lie! You tore this country apart with your attacks and then stole away our leader! What spell did you use to corrupt Glinda the Good?" Anger closed its hard shell around Elphaba's heart as she saw the disgust dripping from Selky's eyes; disgust that hadn't existed until she saw her skin color. Without another word the witch stormed out, sealing the door with a lock spell as she went.
***
"What do you mean I have to share a room with Boq?" Glinda demanded indignantly.
"Everyone else is already doubled up," the green girl sighed, not in the mood for arguing. "And besides you have two beds in your room anyway."
"Why do you even need a bed?" the blonde asked Boq. "You don't sleep."
"It's nice to be able to rest at night, even if I'm conscious the whole time," the Tin Man responded. "But if it's too much of a hassle I can just…"
"No it's ok," the petite witch assured him, embarrassed for being so finicky.
"Glinda just likes to complain for the sake of complaining," Elphaba observed wryly, not looking up from the thick book she had her nose buried in.
"Uh oh," Glinda chirped. "Elphie's in a bad mood." There was no response. "Well Boq, Fiyero, aren't you going to do something?"
"I'm don't mess with Elphaba when she gets that stormy look in her eye," the Winkie reported.
"Ditto," Boq exclaimed. The blonde considered this for a moment before bouncing onto the couch beside her green friend.
"It's still raining," Glinda observed.
"I noticed," Elphaba replied. "What's so important about the rain?"
"I want to play in it," the petite woman whispered mischievously.
"Is it just me or are you getting more and more like the spastic blonde you were at Shiz?" the witch wondered, shutting her book.
"Is that a yes?" Glinda squeaked excitedly. Elphaba nodded with a great deal of reluctance.
***
Warm sunlight wafted through the damp air as Fiyero, Glinda, Elphaba, Caya and Brrr danced out into the downpour. Boq stood in the safety of the doorway with an amused but slightly condescending look on his face. While most of the rain dancers immediately became engaged in a wet game of tag on the slippery grass Elphaba stood with her arms crossed as fat drops of water burst on her skin. Though she'd come outside to indulge Glinda the green girl was not in the mood to play; her heart still throbbed from the unfortunate incident with Selky.
"Tag!" Caya cried, poking Elphaba sharply in the stomach.
"I'm not playing," she hissed.
"Elphie!" Glinda complained. "Don't be a spoil sport."
"I'm going inside," the green girl huffed, turning towards the doorway. Unfortunately she was met with the Tin Man holding a bucket of water he'd filled at the sink. Before Elphaba's glare could alert Boq to her murderous mood he doused the witch with a typhoon of chilly water. Silence froze the scene as everyone waited nervously to see how the witch would react. "Help!" she screamed suddenly, dramatically collapsing to her knees. "I'm melting!" An explosion of relieved laughter erupted and the game continued.
***
Selky watched from her open window, soaking in the cheerful giggles. Such an odd collection of people frolicked below; a Lion, a Tiger, a former prince, a witch, a once beloved ruler. Even the Tin Man made brief forays into the downpour. In a flash of intuition Selky realized that three of the four celebrated witch hunters were laughing happily with the woman they had allegedly killed. However what haunted her most was the witch's face, bright with giddy glee as Fiyero swept her into a sudden kiss. It felt odd and unnatural to see the face of such a horribly twisted woman smiling. No one likes to think of their enemies as human, as people who can cry and laugh and love, but even Selky could see that the witch was human. Elphaba had people who cared about her, people who were willing to stand beside her even as she was cursed by all of Oz.
Immediately a flash of guilt whipped at Selky's heart for thinking of the woman below as 'Elphaba' instead of 'the witch'. Angrily the small captive turned and flung herself onto the bed, burrowing deep into the blankets. Why did the witch have to smile? Why didn't she have the courtesy to sneer and glare like evil people were supposed to?
Will Selky make a daring escape attempt? Will Madame Morrible discover that the witch is hiding in Kiamo Ko (or does she already know and is too scared to mount an attack?)?