Chapter 12. Putting the Piercings Together
Rifiuto: Non Miniera
Thanks to Akasharouge and witch-of-the-west9482 for reviewing 11.
Question: How could Fae pass as Fiyero's cousin in chapter 10 if she's green?
Answer: She's Yero's 'cousin' through his marriage to Elphaba. Basically, she's Elphie's 'cousin' by blood, and Yero's 'cousin' by marriage.
Please ask more questions! I love getting questions and answering them! Just ask the ones who read Changed?
Her head was spinning. She felt sick.
She was a mother? She was Queen of the Vinkus?
This girl had to be insane, absolutely insane.
Elphaba got up, and began pacing back and forth in front of the girl, trying to process the information. She was a queen? She couldn't be a queen. A Crown Princess, yes, but a queen?
No.
No way.
Back, forth, back, forth.
Three steps forward, turn, three steps back.
Repeat.
She continued, like she'd rehearse one of her dances for recital. She kept going, until Fae thought her mother was going to pace through the floor. Finally, Elphaba spoke.
"So, wh.....what you're trying to say, is that I become the Queen of the Vinkus, and I have a daughter!" Elphaba snapped, turning on Fae, black hair and skirts flying. The teenager shrunk back slightly, before nodding.
Elphaba thought a moment then cackled. She sat down on her bed, and gripped her stomach, her sides hurting. When she finally caught her breath, she looked at Fae.
"You're joking, right? This is all some sick joke."
Fae shook her head, and got up, going to her mother. She knelt in front of her, and took her hands.
"I wish I was. But I'm not." Gently, she laced her fingers through Elphaba's feeling the coolness of the engagement ring on her left ring finger. Glancing down, she saw the diamond wink at her. Then, she thought a moment, before licking her lips and speaking again.
"I really am the Crown Princess of the Arjiki tribe in the Vinkus. Fiyero really is my father, and you really are my mother. I'm not making this up. I wish I was, but I'm not."
Elphaba raised an eyebrow, typical of Fae's mother.
"Oh really? Prove it."
Sighing, Fae let go of Elphaba's hands, and undid the buttons on her skirt, sliding it slightly down her hips. Then, she leaned forward, unbuttoning her blouse, and pulling it off her stomach. She then pointed to her navel. As was custom in the Vinkus, particularly and only the Arjikis, women of the ruling class had their navels pierced, and wore a small, bellybutton piercing, with a symbol as the hanging ring.
Each ring was different, and reflected the woman who wore it.
For instance, Elphaba's ring just happened to be a black jeweled barbell, with a black rose dangling from the end, a black heart dangling from the silver stem of the rose.
It not only reflected the necklace Fiyero had given her, but also her ruling status as Queen. Only those who ruled could wear a barbell and symbol possessing the color black.
Dowager queens, such as Musetta, later changed the barbell and symbol of their piercing to another color, showing the passing of power, from one queen to the next. Princesses, such as Fae's aunts, wore light blue, purple, and yellow. Countesses, wore red; duchesses wore pink; ladies wore orange. And, like queens, only Crown Princesses were allowed to wear green.
So, when Fae revealed her navel piercing, Elphaba saw that it was dark emerald green. Fae's piercing was a emerald jeweled barbell, with a pair of emerald angel wings dangling from the bottom of the barbell.
The piercings separated the ruling class from the peasant. These, along with the tattooed diamonds, proved to foreigners who was in charge. Fae saw that Elphaba already possessed the tattooes, they already ran down the left side of her body, as they did with Fae, showing the position of Crown Princess. Fae's mother possessed the diamonds still today, still on the left side of her body.
The piercings were worn permanently; only to be removed during pregnancy and after birth. Once the baby was born and the mother strong enough, the piercing was returned, never again to be removed.
Fae new Elphaba's ring had been removed and returned twice; once for each of her pregnancies, each of her children. She knew her mother would never have it removed again. She knew her mother would never change the color of the piercing or symbol, unless Fae took the throne. Which, if Fae had any say about it, would never happen.
She liked her mother's rule, and would never take her place. As far as Fae was concerned, the Vinkus was flourishing under her parent's rule, and she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that.
"See? Only the Crown Princesses wear emerald green. I'm the Crown Princess of the Vinkus; I'm your daughter."
Elphaba chuckled silently.
"That's funny. Because, I'm not a queen." Elphaba said, reaching behind her to unhook her dress. She let it slide to the ground, and revealed her navel peircing. Fae's eyes widened as she stared at Elphaba's piercing.
It wasn't the black rose and heart her mother possessed.
It wasn't black.
Instead, her piercing was a diamond.
A small, emerald green, diamond.