Chapter 4
Fiyero and Elphaba tried to go about their day as if nothing had happened but they both knew that they were not hiding their concern as well as they usually did. Lieutenant Ash asked Elphaba after the troop inspection what was wrong and she told him that she just had a lot on her mind. Part of her wished that she could tell him but she didn't want to start anything she wasn't prepared to finish. She thought about telling Chistery but should the Flying Monkeys tell the dragon what had happened, it may have the opposite effect; instead of Elphaba getting burnt to a crisp, the Vinkus could be on fire. She could not and would not endanger the citizens that she had been charged with taking care of.
Queen Adalet left shortly after their meeting in an attempt to catch her husband before he did anything rash. Elphaba enchanted the horses on her carriage which should ensure she caught up to him. The green woman also sent Chistery along with four of his brothers to help the Queen should she need it.
Now as they readied for bed and the Flying Monkeys had not sent word, Elphaba paced near the large windows that went almost the entire length of the exterior wall of their suite, only stopping due to the fireplace opposite the bed. There was just enough wall in-between the windows for structural purposes and of course curtains to keep out the night's chill. The rest of the room itself was a fairly large one that held their bed, Quoxwood bookshelves along the wall shared with the inside of the Palace, a small Quoxwood table with matching chairs, some overstuffed chairs (which matched the curtains, much to Glinda's delight), and a full bathroom. Fiyero came out of said bathroom after finishing brushing his teeth and managed to pull her to a stop by wrapping his arms around her.
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor," he said.
"How can you be so calm?" She gave him a look.
"I'm not calm at all but you don't need me all worked up on top of what you've got going on in your head," Fiyero admitted. Elphaba nodded and put her head on his shoulder.
"What have I done?" She asked.
"Nothing. You are you and my father is an idiot. If he seriously thought challenging the most powerful witch in all of Oz was a good idea then my mother was right and he needs to have his head examined. You could have killed him and at this point I'm not sure I would have tried to stop you," Fiyero told her.
"You don't mean that. You love your father," Elphaba said.
"I do but his behavior as of late has both my mother and I completely confused. I mean he is usually such a gentle, well-meaning soul and in the last few weeks he's tried to kill you and then tried to provoke you…" he didn't get a chance to finish as Elphaba pulled away from him. He was confused and watched her go to the bookshelf and open up the secret hiding place in which she and Glinda had stored the Grimmerie.
"What is it Fae?" He asked as he approached her.
"I think a spell may have been cast on your father," she told him as she brought the book over to the small table that was near the book shelves.
"Who could have done that? Only Morrible, you, and Glinda would have had access to him and the ability to do so. Even then, Morrible would have had access only when he came to visit the last time before the fall of the Wizard," Fiyero pointed out.
"Yero, Glinda and I are hardly the only ones with magic inside of Oz. There were plenty of students at Shiz trying to learn to sharpen their skills," Elphaba reminded him without looking up from the pages she was flipping through.
"So what are you thinking? That one of our own classmates enchanted my father?" He wasn't following.
"Not necessarily but that doesn't mean there isn't someone trying to influence the events leading up to what happened today. Had I not had enough restraint, I would have vaporized your father right where he stood which would have incited a war," Elphaba said.
"Someone who is out to get you and start a war; somehow I don't have a problem believing that," he heaved a sigh.
"You still love me anyway," she teased.
"This is true. I could never stop loving you," he smiled slightly and pulled her close enough so that he could kiss her temple.
"It still boggles my mind," Elphaba murmured, suddenly believing she found what she was looking for.
"My love? Why?" He asked.
"A discussion for another time, I'm afraid. I found the spell I was looking for. I cast this and it will tell me where there is a large source of magic. Hopefully it will lead to the person responsible for your father's odd behavior," she said, snapping her fingers. Her broom zoomed to her hand.
"All right. How about casting it in the morning? You're in your pajamas and until we hear from Chistery, I don't think we should go flying off into the night," Fiyero was trying to be reasonable. Elphaba frowned but knew he was right. Not getting any sleep would not be productive. She placed a bookmarker into the Grimmerie and then put the broom down. Fiyero then lifted her up and carried her to bed despite her protests.
To Be Continued…