AN: Finally! I had to do some pretty major editing, but at least now that Determined done, I can focus on this. Please let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!
The caravan headed west the next morning, and Elphaba ignored the vindication in Avaric's suppressed smile.
Until they veered south. "Emerald City?"
"Let's hope not." Zephyr nudged his horse an edge faster. "If they reach the palace, I doubt we'll have another opportunity. And we still don't know what Calypso is. Or does."
"We could meet up with the others, though. Get some help."
His eyes flicked to Avaric. "Doubtful."
She fought a sigh. Home would mean an end to the charade, at the least. Avaric could be reassigned, Zephyr's fears assuaged. No more worry about their past, or their present entanglement. And Avaric would prove his loyalty, given the chance.
Had Luq been given the chance? She flinched at the thought. And his suspicion had been far less.
No. She'd find out the truth, somehow. And if necessary, she'd find a way to warn Avaric. He wouldn't be tortured for Zephyr's doubts.
Even if they'd eaten away at her, too.
The caravan stopped on the outskirts of a small city straddling two major roads. A set of guards headed into town with baskets for supplies, and Elphaba eyed them with jealousy. Her mouth watered at the thought of fresh produce.
"Down."
She swung back to see Zephyr eying the horizon. "Why?" She ducked below the line of brush. "You see something?"
He jerked his chin toward a tree in the distance, and she saw the pair. The camouflage was good. Without Zephyr's direction, she would have missed them.
She squinted. Too far to be sure, but they looked like the couple from the hallway that night in Vrincia. Had they been a plant? Clearly they weren't just passing through.
"But there's no Halosphere. If they've been following us, they have to know that."
"Maybe they want something else."
Zephyr eyed Avaric. "Or to prevent something else."
"You think they know what we're up to? How? And why not just go to the others, then? They could crush us like bugs."
"I'm not sure why. But I have my theories on how."
Zephyr didn't elaborate, and Avaric stiffened. "Not in the mood to share?"
They both puffed up as much as possible while still trying to hide. Men.
"So we lose them and see what they do." She stood and stretched. "Easier to do that in town."
Both men glared at her.
"What? It's not like they haven't already seen us."
Avaric reluctantly stood as well. "I take it you've played a lot of cat and mouse?"
She shot him a haughty expression, and he grinned. "Since we're headed to town anyway…who's got money?"
Neither answered, but she led them toward the markets anyway. The more people, the easier to blend in. Even for her.
The square here bustled with activity as merchants called out wares. They split up, and the boys slipped off to pick pockets, a skill she'd never quite mastered. With some coin, they could buy some new supplies.
She wandered the aisles aimlessly. The smell of coconut milk and spices hung in the air, heavy and sweet. Stalls stretched across blocks and around corners, much larger than she'd expected for such a small city. How did the owners find a market for this many goods?
Avaric reappeared, and she asked.
"Silk." He nodded toward the train of stalls on the left. "They're known for it here. Supposed to be the best in Gillikin, but really it's just the most expensive."
She fingered a silk shawl dangling from the hooks beside her. Soft and slick, the fabric gave off an aura of cool even as the sun beat down on them. "Long way to come just for some cloth."
"Clearly you're not into fashion. Silk is all the rage, particularly in the E.C., I hear."
She twisted it around her wrist, miming a coquettish expression. "Is it? Then I must have a dozen."
The shopkeeper appeared at her elbow, and she dropped her hand at once. Avaric stifled a laugh as he shook his head politely. "I don't think these really suit you, dear." The man scowled at them and went back to his other potential customers.
"Only a paper bag would suit me."
"I disagree with your meaning, but we could try it." He winked. "Take everything else off."
Elphaba sobered. While she couldn't believe him a traitor, she knew he'd lied to her. Kept secrets. And she didn't want to go down that track again if she didn't trust him. It wasn't fair to use him that way.
"Larimby."
She turned at the word drifting from a pair of women nearby. She edged closer, but Avaric lounged back against a post. "I heard," he whispered. "You didn't-" She shushed him, leaning in.
"It's like there's nowhere safe anymore," the woman shook her head, and went back to shushing the fussy baby.
"I know. It's terrible."
Elphaba glanced back at Avaric, and he nodded toward the newspaper between them with the headline, "Animal Terrorists Attack Bridge."
She fell back, jaw open.
"We're painted as quite the evil buffoons foiled by the mighty Wizard, if you're wondering."
"They said we're Animals?"
"Lizard, Weasel and Bear. I'm not sure which I'm supposed to be."
She rolled her eyes. "The Bear, idiot." Clearly the Lizard was her, and the Weasel Zephyr.
"But I'm not that hairy, am I?"
She gave a one-sided shrug, but he caught her around the waist. "Perhaps they drew it from your demeanor."
"Then I'd be a fierce and noble Falcon, for certain."
She dodged free. The word bothered her, but she couldn't place it. "Some sort of fowl, at least."
"Say 'chicken,' and I'll dunk you in the wine caste back there."
She barked a laugh and bounced out of range. The baby cried, and her eyes flicked back to the table. "Still I didn't expect them to turn it against us so easily."
"Not so hard to do when we failed."
She tugged on her braid. "I just hate that we made it easier for them. Spewing more Animal hate, and now more will believe them."
Zephyr reappeared with a bag of fruit and a fistful of loose coins. "Far left. Past the columns."
She nodded, not bothering the look back at their pursuers. "We waited for you. No sense losing them just to have to find each other."
"Fine. Let's go then."
She eyed the marketplace, but the pair had ducked back out of sight. "Where?"
"This way."
They followed Zephyr toward a crowded section of silk purveyors. Long sheets draped the booths in vivid colors. It lent them cover, but to their pursuers as well. They wound left, and then right. Where could they get out unseen?
Shadows shifted. Moved nearer. It was them, had to be. How many were there? Only the two they'd seen, or had they brought backup from the camp?
Two they could take, but if they'd brought more. Or had weapons. Oz, there was so much they didn't know. And she hated not knowing. It was dangerous.
The shadows jumped toward her, and she ducked right, a tight grip on Avaric's arm. "Z."
He spun at the sharp whisper, and followed her into a narrow alley between stalls.
But the shadows followed, too.
Closer, but still lurking out of view. Their stealth might be admirable if she weren't the prey. She had to lose them, and quick.
She dodged under a curtain of silk shawls. They dragged over her face, blinding her as she passed. She tripped against someone's foot on the other side. She flung out her arms, but only met more silk. It fluttered around her as she fell, tucked in a roll now instinct.
She dug herself out, and found herself beside a blonde that couldn't possibly be here.
"Elphie?"
Her face drained of color. She staggered to her feet, but the men had already reached her. And from the look on her commander's face, he recognized Glinda from the station.
"Oz, twice in one week, what are the odds?" The blonde bounced into her with a tight hug, unaware of the fear that raced through Elphaba's veins. "And Avaric with you, of course. Who's this?" She waved toward Zephyr with a pleasant smile and extended hand.
Elphaba gaped at her, unable to breathe. She fumbled to answer, but Avaric stepped up. "My mate, Z." He kept an even tone, but the muscles stood out on his neck and shoulders. "Nice to see you, miss, but we've got to be going."
"What?" Glinda breezed past his odd introduction. "Well, surely you can spare me a moment, if only for old time's sake."
Elphaba flinched. She didn't dare look at Zephyr now.
"I ran into Fiyero the other day. You remember."
Despite herself, her head snapped up. "He's here? I thought he'd gone home to the Vinkus."
Zephyr swung to her. "The Vinkus?"
"Here on business, I suppose." Glinda's curls bobbed as she bent forward. "He is the prince, after all."
"Oh, is he?"
Their pursuers could be overhearing all this. Glinda didn't deserve these dangers swirling around her, even if she had no idea. Elphaba had to get them away. She'd figure out damage control later. Through the alley again? Or maybe she could squeeze them all in a basket while the blonde wasn't looking.
"Anyway, I told him all about you and Avaric, and your engagement."
"We're not engaged."
"Oh," she leaned back. "I'm sorry, you were both so…I assumed…"
"Wrong. You assumed wrong."
"Sorry." Glinda frowned at the heat in her voice. "I've organized a little Shiz reunion. Tibbett's still in the area, and Boq and Milla were happy to come. You all can meet Chuffrey, then. Everyone's so excited to see you both. What do you say?"
"Yes, what do you say?" Zephyr hissed, and Elphaba's stomach dropped.
Avaric intercepted the question. "I'm sorry, Glinda, but she can't. In fact, we're on our way out of the country for a while."
"Oh," she leaned back, her tone laced with surprise. "Whatever for?"
"Business. But we're not likely to be back for quite some time."
"Well, when do you leave?"
"Today. Now, actually."
"Oh." Her face fell. "At least come lunch with me. It would be so wonderful to catch up, even if you have to leave again."
"I'm afraid not. We're quite late."
"But-"
Avaric tossed some coin to the nearest vendor and snatched a swatch of silk. "Nice seeing you, Glinda," he lied. He led them around a corner and out of sight. She scanned the area, hoping to find the couple following them. After that scene, they could have them surrounded by now.
"So." Zephyr's gaze danced between them as Avaric fashioned the silk into a rope. "Not only are you a couple, but you have a past as well? Which you failed to disclose."
Elphaba felt a headache coming on. "No, we pretended to be a couple because she recognized us."
A curtain puffed toward them, and she swung on it, fists clenched. It fell limp as the breeze passed. Stupid. She wasn't a silly farm girl facing a spider.
Avaric swiped a pair of hoop earrings and knotted one on the rope. "You can't deny she's memorable. And hard to explain away." His eyes stayed far, but she could read the fear in them. "And there's no past here. It's not her fault that that stupid woman recognized her."
So he'd saved himself, at least. Not that she blamed him. She supposed it helped her, too. A past with him was much harder to explain away.
The curtain puffed again, and she wanted to scream at how her frayed nerves made her jump like a child.
Zephyr studied him. "She called you Avaric."
"A fake name. Don't you have one?"
Elphaba hoped her eye roll came off as genuine. "Of course not. Not everyone's a womanizer like you are. Though I suppose that did work in our favor for once."
Avaric swung the rope up, and the hoop snagged on the edge of a flat roof nearby. Slick and precarious, it dangled a way out.
Of one problem.
"I'll have to report this to command."
Zephyr didn't say any more, but their time rapidly dwindled now. How long did they have until he heard back? Days at best. She'd have to find a way to prove herself as well as Avaric, and fast, if they weren't both going to end up dead.
The curtain puffed once more, and she frowned. No wind that time.
xxXxx
They lost the couple after crossing a few roofs. At least, that's how it appeared. She didn't believe it for a moment. Not as gifted, and perseverant as they were. But why? It didn't make sense.
Regardless, they didn't see the pair as they drew up to the Caravan. Only a handful of guards milled outside, not even a quarter of the normal amount. She rode up beside Zephyr.
"Why don't we take them now? Vinkus or Emerald City, I doubt we could take it at either destination. Here they aren't expecting anything."
"Unless your old friend has already alerted them."
"Glinda?"
He tilted his head.
"Oh." Avaric. She sighed. "He's not a double agent."
"Like you weren't sleeping with him?" Zephyr huffed a laugh. "I always thought you were smart."
She jerked back with a frown. "He got us out of there, or didn't you notice?"
"Did he? Odd they didn't notice us climbing the roof." He flicked a finger to scratch his nose. "He might have blinded you with your schoolgirl crush on him, but I'm not so oblivious. The only thing I trust about him is that he can't be trusted."
"I'm a schoolgirl? Me? Yes, clearly I'm the one who's blind."
"If I'm wrong, why are you fighting so hard for him? You still claim he's not an old friend from university?"
She refused to blush. "He's not." It wasn't all lie. They'd never been friends.
"Well, then." His gaze roved over the horizon again. "Let's hope you have enough secrets to fuck out of you so you don't end up dead."
She crossed her arms. "What are you talking about?"
"Ask your boyfriend, little girl." He gathered his supplies. "We're camping here tonight."
She sneered at him. "So you can't find any fault with my plan, just with my gender."
"More who you let between your legs."
She sniffed. "Right. Though you wouldn't balk at sending me in to seduce the Wizard if you thought that might work. Don't play the virtuous card. It doesn't become you."
He eyed her, his expression enigmatic. She tipped her chin up. "For what it's worth, I hope command understands."
She leaned back, confused at the shift. Then she stiffened. Glinda.
"I would regret having to kill you." He said it so simply, he might have described the weather. Still, the genuine current hidden beneath might as well be a declaration of affection.
"Thank you."
But he would, she knew. If command ordered it, he'd kill her without flinching, whatever his thoughts. Oz, if they ordered it, he'd probably do the same to himself. She had to admire his dedication. His nerve.
Though she'd admire it considerably less from the other end of his pistol.
He retreated to set camp, and she studied him with a frown. They'd spent days together now, and she understood him less than when they started.
Avaric pulled up beside her, and frowned at her expression. "You alright?"
"Peachy."
He glanced up at Zephyr and back. "Did Zephyr say something?"
"Many things."
He frowned. "Look, maybe it's best if you didn't talk to him like that."
She turned to him, eyes fierce. This again? "Like what?" Like she had brains in her head? Like she could have her own plan? Like she wasn't a child?
"Alone."
Something about his expression took her off guard. "Why?"
"He'll just start in on us again. And we've got to get our stories straight about Glinda." The tell was so fleeting, so well-hidden. She wanted to think she'd imagined it, like the curtain in the wind. But she knew. He was lying. It might be the truth, but he was still lying.
It was a punch in the gut. She couldn't think of any reason for him to lie, unless he didn't want her to talk to Zephyr. Unless he was afraid of what the other man might say.
He took her lack of response as agreement, and he squeezed her wrist. "Look, we'll find some way to convince him, don't worry. I won't let him hurt you. It was my fault you didn't speak up right away."
Yes, come to think of it, it was.
She stared at him as he rode up, a physical buffer to Zephyr. He meant the action to show protection, but she knew it for what it was now. A block.
Zephyr was right. Avaric was hiding something.
How could she have been so wrong? Avaric tossed a soft smile over his shoulder at her, and she wondered if every one that charming was the smile of a traitor.