Wow, two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll! Anyway, I get to see an Idina Menzel concert on August 3rd and I am super excited! Anyway, thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter! Keep them coming and enjoy!
"Do you feel the need to repeat everything that I say?" Nanny snapped at him.
"No, ma'am, I'm just shocked. What murder? All I know is the Carole and Elphaba's mother were friends and you gave Elphaba to the Uplands when her parents died." Fiyero informed her, shaking his head. He felt as if he never should have gotten involved in the first place.
"Oh boy, you really don't know anything." Nanny sighed and got comfortable. "You might want to take off your shoes and make yourself at home. This might take a while."
Fiyero kicked off his boots and neatly placed them against the coffee table. He leaned back and gestured to the older woman to begin.
"As you know, Melena and Carole were friends. They met at Shiz University where they roomed together. They were almost inseparable. If you saw Melena, you saw Carole and vice-versa. The two graduated at the same time and they had a joint wedding. The wedding was magnificent and both couples were deeply in love. Earlier at their bachelorette party, both girls decided that they were to sleep with their husbands on the night of their wedding and conceive. And that followed the plan quite well. Melena and Carole were pregnant at the same time, but Elphaba was an early child and she was born almost a month before Glinda.
Nanny paused for a moment and took a sip of the water that was placed on the coffee table. She cleared her throat and continued.
"When Elphaba was born, Melena and Frex were appalled. They were expecting a gorgeous and normal baby girl, but sometimes you don't get what you want. Elphaba was the opposite of a normal baby, to be honest. She didn't cry when she was born and her teeth were so sharp that it was impossible for Melena to nurse her. And she was green. As Elphaba grew older, Melena and Frex began to take a liking to her. Carole would bring Glinda over and the two older women would enjoy tea while the two children would play and associate themselves with each other. These play dates went on for five years, but then abruptly stopped when Melena broke contact with Carole."
"Why would she just stop talking to her?" Fiyero questioned, fully engrossed in the tale.
"I do not know. Stop interrupting." Nanny demanded, coughing into her fist and continuing on.
"And it was a bleak morning, about a week or two into December and I was down in the village, buying groceries for the week. Melena was at home and she was drunk. She had taken a whip and had begun beating Elphaba in a half-crazed haze; I really doubt that she knew what she was doing. I had just walked in the door and I didn't have time to even throw down the groceries before I saw Carole come at Melena with a kitchen knife. After that, it was all a blur. I ran forward to grab Elphaba, but the next thing I knew, Melena was dead on the floor and Carole was staring at the blade in disbelief. She ran out and I never saw her again until the day that I entrusted Elphaba in her care."
Fiyero did nothing but stare at Nanny in horror. How could any of that be true? Carole was one of the nicest women he's ever met. She just couldn't be capable of murder. "But what happened to Frex and the Nessarose girl?" He couldn't stop the question from leaving his mouth.
"Frex isn't important," Nanny answered vaguely, "and Nessarose died when Elphaba was five. She had polio."
Fiyero struggled to process all of this and Nanny seemed to be able to sense his difficulty. "I know that it's a lot to take in, but it is all true. I can assure you of that."
Fiyero stood and tied up his boots. "Thank you so much for your information. It was very helpful." He acknowledged her and left the house, shaking his head. The prince regained a hold of Renee and galloped back to the manor.
It was well past midnight when Fiyero left Renee in the stables. He traveled up the western staircase to his chambers and collapsed on the bed. Everything seemed so much more serious now and he began to wonder if Elphaba knew any of this herself.
"Elphaba…" He breathed as he slid underneath the comforter. It was terrible, really. It was terrible that Elphaba had gone through so much pain and that she had kept quiet about it. Her mother whipped her and so did Etai. He began to wonder how she was so strong and independent.
Without warning, his brain decided to just shut down and he fell asleep instantaneously. He hadn't gotten to admit it, but he was slowly falling in love with Elphaba Thropp.