Fredrick carefully pulled Nessarose out of the carriage and placed in her wheelchair. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and smiled at her.
"Here we are, the Vinkus, home the King and Queen of Vinkus and their son, Prince Fiyero." said Fredrick grandly. Nessa looked up the huge castle that loomed above her and her jawed dropped slightly.
"Wow," said Nessa.
"It's pretty big, yeah." said Fredrick. He got behind Nessa and began to push her towards the large front doors, "We'll be here about a week or so, perhaps less, perhaps more, it depends. A maid has been assigned to you to take care of you when I'm not around."
"I wish you'd be around more." Nessa pouted.
"Don't worry. When we get to the Emerald City, I'll be around so much, that you'll wonder why you wanted me around so much in the first place." Fredrick promised, grinning at her.
"Good." Nessa smiled and reached up to kiss him. They shared a sweet kiss and then Fredrick knocked on the large doors. The doors swung open to reveal a stout little doorman. He looked at them and instantly shouted.
"Announcing Master Fredrick Valor and Miss Nessarose Thropp." he shouted. The King and Queen rounded the corner and greeted them. Then Fiyero was seen bounding towards them.
"Sorry I'm late." he breathed, reaching a hand forward to shake Fredrick's. He bent to kiss Nessa's hand and she blushed considerably. Behind Fiyero, Elias was standing in the shadows, waiting for the little greeting to be over with.
"Oh, and that's Elias." said Fiyero as he noticed Nessa peering past him. Elphaba didn't bother saying anything or stepping forward, too afraid that Nessa might recognize her. She offered a small wave of acknowledgement. There was a long awkward moment until a maid came rushing in, offering to show them to their rooms. As soon as the guests and maids had gone, the King turned sharply to Elias.
"You," he growled, "You'd better show our guests more respect. You are a servant, and they are nobility, understood?"
"Yes sir." said Elphaba quickly, terrified of being fired.
"Good." the King said, "And don't even think about quitting. That contract you signed when you signed up for the job states that Fiyero owns you, you can't leave. You're more slave than servant so you'd best start addressing Fiyero formerly. He's not your friend, he is your Master." Fiyero felt his stomach drop. He owned Elias? How could he own his best friend? Is that really what his father did? Trick people into taking jobs, and then later they find out they're actually slaves? Little did Fiyero know, but this might actually come in handy in the future.
"Yes sir, I understand." said Elphaba. She'd never wanted to leave the Vinkus, she'd always wanted to keep this job. But now that she knew she was a slave and could never quit, it just made her want to quit. She'd felt free here, away from Frex, now she just felt like a prisoner all over again. Though this 'job' beat living with Frex any day. The Queen sent Elias a sympathetic look and followed her husband out of the entrance hall. Once they were gone, Fiyero turned slowly back around to face Elias.
"Um...listen." he said, "I don't want you to think I own you or anything. I am your friend Elias. You're my best friend. My father is just an asshole so..."
"It's alright Master Fiyero," said Elias, "You're father was just reminding me of my place."
"No, don't think you're so low---"
"I'm a servant Master Fiyero, just let this matter drop." Fiyero heaved a heavy sigh but consented and didn't speak of the subject anymore.
"So, I don't think Miss Thropp is that bad." said Fiyero, changing the subject.
"Well, I suppose not." said Elphaba, feeling bad about what she'd said about her sister the previous day.
"I thought you hated her." said Fiyero.
"Not really," said Elias, "I was just mad at her for a while, that's all."
"Well, she'll probably be spending a lot of time with us since her boyfriend will be occupied." said Fiyero, "My father left her entertainment up to me."
"Joy." said Elphaba sarcastically.
"I know." said Fiyero, "I figured we could take her into town or something, maybe invite Galinda along too."
"Maybe." said Elphaba. From their last encounter, she didn't think she'd made a great first impression of Miss Galinda.
*****************
The next morning as Elphaba and Fiyero were in the library again, Fiyero doing his random book throwing when he didn't like a book and Elphaba catching and re-shelving the books, Nessa came in, looking like she wanted something. Elphaba knew from experience that when Nessa wanted something, she didn't stop until she got it.
"Oh, hello Miss Nessarose." said Fiyero.
"Please, call me Nessa." she said, "I was wondering if there is a church nearby I could attend that you would escort me to? I've gone to church at least once a week since I was born and I don't want to end that streak now."
"Religious much?" Fiyero smirked to Elias so that Nessa didn't hear, then he turned back to Nessa and smiled falsely, "Certainly," he said, "We could go right now if you wish, services start in 10 minutes. If we leave now, we can make it. You don't mind if Elias comes too do you?"
"I don't mind." said Nessa.
*******************
Elphaba sat next to Nessarose at the church, fidgeting and glancing at Nessa every so often. Nessa was absorbed in the sermon and didn't pay a lick of attention to the boy sitting next to her. Fiyero sat on Nessa's other side, looking bored out of his mind. He made hand motions over Nessa's head as a joke and made Elias have to turn away to keep from laughing. When the service ended, Nessa wheeled up to the Preacher to talk about his sermon.
"Oh that was just wonderful sir." she gushed.
"Why thank you." said the man, smiling at her. Then he looked at Elias.
"Young man, I do hope you realize it is extremely rude to wear hats during church." he said sternly, "Those gloves seem inappropriate too."
"He has to wear those things, for religious reasons." said Fiyero.
"And what may this religion be?" asked the preacher, raising an eyebrow, "I've never heard of that one."
"Um..." Elphaba stalled, "It's...uh...against my religion to tell you what my religion is."
"Well then how is your religion passed on? Surely you are not the only one holding this 'religion'." The preacher said.
"Um...we're born with it." said Elphaba, mentally kicking herself. Born with it?
"Excuse me?"
"Um, you see we have been uh.... (What's that one religious sounding word that Nessa always using when she things something good has happened?)...blessed ... (Yes, that's it)....with this uh, power to uh...believe." said Elias, lying badly.
"So you're saying that certain individuals are blessed with the 'power' to believe when they are born?"
"Yes, by the uh....Named God." Elphaba nodded.
"The Named God?" The preacher raised both eyebrows. Fiyero tried not to laugh and Nessa's face was growing red.
"Yes, our god has a name."
"And what may this name be?"
"Um...." Elphaba thought, and she said the first word that came into her head, "The Almighty...Bob."
"Bob?"
"Bob."
"Bob?"
"Bob."
"Bob?"
"It's Bob alright?!"
"Such a peculiar religion, I'll have to look into that." said the preacher thoughtfully, no hint of joking in his tone or expression. Wow, he was gullible.
"You can't do that because Bob has not blessed you." said Elias, deciding to have his fun with the puzzled preacher.
"I think I'll manage without Bob's blessing." the preacher snapped. In truth, he felt a little left out, he knew about all religions, but yet this Named God, Bob had not blessed him. Ah well, he felt secure enough to think that the Unnamed God had blessed him enough.
"Um, excuse us sir, but we should be going." said Fiyero, taking Nessa's chair and began to turn her towards the door.
"Yes, have a good day." said the preacher absentmindedly, his brow still crinkled while thinking about this troubling new God he'd never heard of...Bob.
****************
The next day, Fiyero had taken Nessa to the courtyards for a picnic, and of course, Elias had come along.
"I don't know how ever to thank you Fiyero...and you too Elias. If it weren't for you I'd probably die of boredom. Dear Fredrick is in those meetings and conferences all the time." said Nessa.
"It's been my pleasure." said Fiyero charmingly, "So, what's it like, be the in line for the Eminent Thropp Descending or whatever it's called."
"Well, actually I'm not next in line, my sister is." said Nessa carefully, she been avoiding thoughts of her sister for a while now. Elias seemed to choke on something. Fiyero rolled his eyes and ignored him.
"You have a sister?" Fiyero asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, she's a bit peculiar, and a lot of people don't like her because they think she's ugly, but I think she's actually rather pretty," Nessa confessed, "just a bit...peculiar."
"Peculiar?" asked Fiyero.
"You wouldn't believe me." Nessa said.
"Well, what's her name?" asked Fiyero.
"Elphaba." said Nessa.
"Oh, I know a girl named Elphaba." said Fiyero.
"Well, it can't be my sister. Elphaba ran away from home a few weeks ago...." Nessa chocked out the last few words before bursting into tears, "And I—I think it's all my fault!" she cried. Fiyero stared at her for a moment before swiftly moving to her side to rub comforting circles on her back. Elphaba stared at her sister for what seemed like an eternity. Nessa was sorry? Was she truly sorry?
"It's ok Ness. It's not your fault your sister ran away." said Fiyero, trying to soothe the crying girl.
"Yes it is." Nessa sobbed, "I feel so horrible! She asked me if I would—would do something for her and I-I said n-no, even though she's done so much for me. I just couldn't do this one thing for her and she...she yelled at me and I she cried, and my sister's never cried before. Then she just ran out the house. I didn't know where she'd gone, I was going to apologize the next day, but she was gone..."
"What did she ask of you?" asked Fiyero.
"Well, Fredrick was going to take me to the Emerald City this year, and I wanted to go with him. But my sister wanted to go to Shiz University and she can't go unless I go because my father will only send her if only to care of me. She asked if I would go to Shiz...for her and I said no because I wanted to be with Fredrick." said Nessa.
"Well...it's not really your fault." said Fiyero hesitantly, "I mean, your sister didn't have to run away."
"I would've run away." said Nessa quietly.
"What's so bad about living in a great big mansion and having servants wait on you hand and foot?" asked Fiyero.
"You wouldn't understand." said Nessa, looking at her shoes.
"Well Nessa, I don't think you should carry around such guilt. It's not your fault your sister ran away." said Fiyero soothingly.
"Thanks." said Nessa, "For...you know."
"Anytime." Fiyero nodded.
"I think I'm going to go back inside now and read." said Nessa, "I need to be alone for a bit." She wheeled herself back towards the castle doors. Once she was inside, Fiyero turned to Elias.
"Poor little thing." said Fiyero, "You can call her what you want, but I think she's just sad about her sister."
"Sure, I don't think she cares at all about her sister." Elias scoffed, not at all moved by Nessa's little break down. Elphaba remembered Nessa having had tons of those 'break downs' where she cried her little eyes out over something like a fight with friends, she would be fine in 20 minutes and forget about it completely.
"Or maybe it's her wretched sister who doesn't care about her." said Fiyero, "I mean, I'm pretty sure Nessa loves Fredrick. And I know he loves her, I mean, he's taking her to the Emerald City. Her sister could've been a bit more supportive. She's making her little sister feel so guilty, running away like that, how selfish." Elphaba felt her blood boil and her temper flare. Selfish?! Her? And what was all this sympathy for Nessa?
"You don't know everything I-She's been through!" Elphaba shouted, "Nessa doesn't feel guilty, she's just angry she won't have her sister there to be her personal slave all of the time. Her whole life has been about damn Nessa and you know, maybe she just couldn't take it anymore! And I will tell you that I-SHE could not stay in that house with Frex any longer!" Elphaba fell silent as she glared at Fiyero. She suddenly realized that she'd just yelled at the Prince, if any found out, she could get 5 lashes.
"I-I'm sorry." said Elias quickly, taking a step back from Fiyero, "I didn't mean to yell, please forgive me."
"I...forgive you." said Fiyero, "Don't worry about it Elias."
"I'm sorry." he said again, and then bolted inside, leaving Fiyero standing there, confused and thoughtful.
*******************
The next day, Galinda had come over to the castle, and the four of them had gone to town, Fiyero, Galinda, Nessa and Elias. Elias pushed Nessa along in the wheelchair and Fiyero and Galinda walked next to each other, holding hands, though Fiyero looked somewhat reluctant. Galinda was being extra nice to Elias, last time's encounter wasn't exactly...pleasant. Galinda and Nessa seemed to get along pretty well.
"Ooh, Fiyero!" Galinda said all of a sudden, "Look, a picture booth!" she pointed to a couple getting their pictures taken in front of the beach.
"Oh, that's so cheesy Glin, you don't really want to get out pictures taken, do you?" Fiyero complained, as all males would.
"Fiyero, you should know by now that the cheesy stuff is what I adore!" Galinda squealed, "Now c'mon!" She grabbed a hold of Fiyero shirt and yanked him forward with strength nobody knew she had. It was like watched a kitten pick up a building.
"Whoa!" said Fiyero in surprise and he nearly fell over. Galinda giggled and patted him on the head before tugging him over to the picture booth.
"We'll be right back." Fiyero said quickly, "Galinda wants to get our pictures taken." he muttered. This left Nessa and Elias alone. There was an awkward silence.
"Um, Elias, could you fix my shoe, it looks like it's slipping." said Nessa. Elias nodded and kneeled before Nessa to fix her shoe. As Elphaba began to fix the shoe, her glove slid down a bit and her sleeve slid up, revealing about an inch of green skin. Nessa gasped. Elphaba looked up and realized her mistake before it was too late. She rushed to cover up the exposed skin, but it was no use now, Nessa had already seen.
"Elphaba?!" she asked incredulously.
"No, it's me, Elias." said Elphaba.
"No, it's you, Elphaba, I know it!" Nessa said, "What are you doing dressed up as a boy servant? Do you know what shame this will bring to our family? What your running away has already brought?"
"Well, I wasn't exactly going to stay with Frex now was I?!" Elphaba snapped in her regular voice. Nessa sighed, she'd missed that voice.
"So it is you!" Nessa exclaimed, "Why did you run away? You could've gone to Shiz next year!"
"Don't act like you don't know why I ran away." Elphaba hissed, "You would've run away too if you could, I know you would, I heard you say it, unless that was just another of your lies."
"How could you leave me like that though Elphaba? How could you be so selfish? Did you even think of me? Do you know how guilty and terrible I've been feeling?" Nessa said, changing tactics.
"Excuse me?!" Elphaba yelled, she was not going to be called selfish again, and certainly not by Nessa, that little brat, "You're calling me selfish?! You've got to be kidding me. My whole life has been about you Nessa, and you're ungrateful for it all. Elphaba this, Elphaba that, I did everything you've ever asked of me and more. I've always put you before myself, so don't tell me that I don't even think about you. And about all this supposed 'guilt' that you're feeling, that's not guilt, your just whining that I won't be there to do everything for you and take all of your crap." Nessa felt her heart constrict but she would not prove Elphaba's words true, nor though could she deny them. So she ignored them and instead of apologizing as she should have, she became angry.
"Guess who came to our house once you left Elphaba," Nessa said, suddenly angry now, "Guess who. It was the child protection agency or whatever they call themselves. Someone told that father has been abusing you."
"What do I care?!" said Elphaba, "That's another reason I ran away, if I'd have been there when he got this news, I would be no better than dead by now."
"Father is looking for you. And I might just tell him exactly where you are!" Nessa threatened, her eyes flashing with anger at her sister. Elphaba's angry tone suddenly turned desperate and she grabbed Nessa's hand.
"You wouldn't! Please Nessa, I beg of you, please don't tell him where I am!" Elphaba pleaded.
"I think I will Elphaba! He's going to go to jail if he can't find you, and then where will that leave me?" Nessa shouted.
"Please....please Nessa!" Elphaba said, a tear streaked down her face, but Nessa didn't see because of the cap Elphaba wore.
"I'm going to tell him!" Nessa yelled.
"No!" Elphaba cried, "Don't! Please, I'll do anything!"
"Then come back!"
"I can't!" Elphaba stood up and shoved Nessa's hand away and ran. Nessa watched her sister run, and suddenly felt terrible. How could she have said such things to her sister? But if she didn't tell Frex where Elphaba was and he didn't find her, he'd go to jail and would be stripped of his title of Governor. What would happen to Nessa then? If she told Frex, then he wouldn't go to jail and everything would be fine...well, sort of. She'd have Elphaba back, and could listen to her voice and enjoy her amazing cooking. She would have someone to tell all of her problems too and lace up her boots and help her prepare for dates. Nessa thoughts were stopped short as she felt a rough hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Fiyero glaring at her.
"What did you say to him?!" he asked.
"Him?" asked Nessa, before realizing he was talking about Elphaba.
"You must have said something to him." Fiyero said. Nessa didn't say anything. He turned to Galinda.
"You stay here with her, I'll be right back." he said. Fiyero quickly ran after Elias.
****************
About an hour later, Fiyero trudged back to where he'd left Nessa and Galinda. The two were inside of the bookshop. He walked in.
"I could find him." said Fiyero, "He's gone." he turned to glare at Nessa, "I'm going to ask you once more, what did you say to him?"
"Nothing!" Nessa cried.
"I don't believe you." Fiyero said, "But I guess you'll never tell me, so forget it. C'mon, we're going back to the castle."