Chapter 11: Shiz, Crage Hall, The Next Day
Elphaba left the inn feeling somehow lighter. Instead of feeling like a burden, her time with Fiyero had been relaxing and comforting. In the beginning, it had simply felt like a waste of her time. As it had gone on, she'd found she enjoyed it physically but still wished she didn't have to be locked in that room so long. But this time, she'd almost wished they could've stayed longer. What had come over her?
Of course, she had other questions that needed answers and only knew one person she trusted who could answer them. As soon as she was back in her room, she began a conversation with Glinda. "How are you doing?"
The blonde eyed her suspiciously. "I'm doing fine. What is this about?"
"Nothing! Before the holidays you seemed upset, that's all." Elphaba wasn't very good at subtleties or social niceties. "And after our conversation about sorcery, I was wondering about some things."
"You? You've always dismissed sorcery as frivolous."
She was beginning to regret her usual candor. "Maybe I changed my mind."
Galinda sighed heavily, got up and grabbed Elphaba's arm. For a moment, her eyes got wide and she quickly dropped Elphaba's arm. She bit her lip.
"What in Oz was that for?"
"I needed to know."
"Know what? And how did clutching the life out of my arm do you any good?" Elphaba demanded, rubbing her forearm angrily.
The blonde smiled sadly. "You wouldn't understand."
"You say that a lot these days, and yet you won't let anyone try. For Oz's sake you're worse than I am all of the sudden! What happened to you?" Elphaba wanted to grab the girl and shake her, but something stopped her from touching her at all.
Galinda hugged herself. "It didn't happen to me, exactly."
Elphaba grumbled and sat down on her bed. "You are being ridiculously vague."
"Because it's complicated, Elphie!"
She rolled her eyes. "And I'm at the top of our class. Do you think I can't follow?"
Galinda glared at her. "It has to do with sorcery, actually."
"Then I'm even more eager to know. Just tell me. I'm not going to sit here and gently pry it out of you with comfort and solace." Elphaba had started to think this wasn't worth the trouble.
"When I went home for the long weekend earlier this year, there was an… incident. Upon hugging my father, I saw this sort of flash. He was stealing money from the office he works at. As it happened, I felt this wash of guilt and desperation. I thought perhaps my imagination had gotten the better of me, until I caught him hiding that money inside a book on our living room bookshelf." Galinda closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. "I thought my father was a good, honest man."
"No one is perfect," Elphaba commented dryly.
"It kept happening. It didn't happen every time I touched someone - not at first. But it got to that point. And I started to see things I didn't want to know. Crowded hallways or train cars were the worst. I'd be flooded with one vision after another, sometimes of terrible things. One day I broke down crying in the hallways outside sorcery class. Madame Morrible took me into her office and I told her everything. She explained to me that it was possibly the manifestation of a latent power. I can see what people are hiding, and feel what they're feeling - even if I don't want to." Galinda shuddered. "Eventually, she told me, I'll learn to control it and it won't happen all the time. We've been working on it. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't."
Elphaba swallowed hard. "So just now, when you touched me… what did you see?"
"The same thing I've seen every time."
"And what would that be?" Elphaba pressed, dreading the answer.
"Tell me yourself. What are you hiding?"
"Galinda, I'm a private person. It could be anything."
"I think you know better than that," Galinda replied shortly. "I'm not going to divulge my problems to you if you won't come out with it, Elphaba. I've tried to get you to tell me before. You wouldn't."
That proved it. "Fiyero."
Galinda lowered her eyes. "More than that. I see the two of you together. And the way I feel when I do that is… intense."
"Oh, sweet Oz."
"Elphaba, all I see is a vision and get a feeling. I don't know how you sneak away from your father or from Ama Clutch, but what you're doing is immoral, illegitimate, illicit and illegal. I never would've thought you'd do such a thing with anyone." Galinda was almost in tears. "Outside of my father, it was the most unexpected thing I've seen when I read someone. I thought I knew you. I thought we were friends."
"Wait just a tick, Galinda. You just told me you just get a feeling. You don't get a background. You cannot presume to judge me without that."
"What possible explanation could there be for you sleeping with a Vinkun prince? Elphaba, women are supposed to be modest. I know that maybe his cultural beliefs are different, but you are a noblewoman from an important family and running around fornicating with a man that you're not only not married to, but aren't allowed to be seeing at all, is inappropriate behavior, to say the least. I can't imagine your father would approve."
She couldn't listen to this. Elphaba clasped her roommate's wrist. "Stop. Listen to me."
Galinda yanked away. "Don't touch me. It disturbs me to see that…"
"Then let me give you a reason and listen to me! It's not fornication. It's not illegitimate. Yes, it's illegal. But it is proper behavior, as he is my husband." Elphaba threw a pointed look at her roommate. "And my father does approve, by the way."
"What? But how…?"
"This is why I wanted to know about sorcery, specifically about divination and premonitions. When Fiyero and I were children, there were several premonitions that we were to marry and have a child, a child who would be the 'savior' of Oz, who would change everything. And because of this, our parents had us married in secret several months ago and arranged a place and time for us to attempt to have this child." Elphaba was tired of the telling the story, and tired of the questions. But there was no hiding from what Galinda already knew.
Galinda backed away and sat down on the bed. "I don't understand."
"I didn't know him until I came here. I knew what the plan was from the time I was six or seven, but I hadn't known him. Sometimes I still wonder if I know him. I do what I'm told to do, Galinda. This was not about pleasure or loose morals or fun."
"Well, you're having it. I gather that much."
Elphaba groaned. "Why are you so focused on the sex? This is bigger than that!"
"Curiosity, I suppose," Galinda told her. "After all, I've never had any. No one I'm close to has been intimate with a man outside of my mother and the only thing she'll ever tell me is that 'it's special.'"
Elphaba sat back on her bed. "That's what this is? You're just being a hormonal girl?" She laughed. "That's the most normal thing you've done in months."
"So you'll tell me?"
"If you'll help me understand these premonitions, then yes."
Galinda nodded eagerly. "Is it… is it sweet and beautiful, like in the romance stories?"
Elphaba resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "What did I just tell you? I didn't know him. How can such a thing be like that? Maybe it would've been, if we'd known one another, been in love."
"Did it hurt - you know, the first time?"
She nodded slowly. "A little. He was gentle." Elphaba tried not to allow herself to get overcome with the memory of the way his hands had felt as he had caressed her skin, of the way he'd whispered to her before he started moving, trying to comfort her. He'd been so good to her that night.
Galinda leaned towards her. "And does it feel good?"
At this, Elphaba smiled. "If you let it. At first, I was afraid to let my guard down and truly let him in, but when I did… yes. It feels good."
"You love him," Galinda giggled.
"I do not! We're friends, now that we know one another better. But I'm not in love with him. He makes me feel good. That's it."
"That's not the feeling I got when I touched you. There was something new there, Elphaba. The first time, there was this odd mix of desire, lust and shame. Now the shame is gone, but there's something else that's replaced it, something brighter."
She snorted. "Oh, please."
"If you want, I can find out how he feels. I just have to accidentally brush him with my hand and I'll know."
"I don't care!"
"Fine, fine. So it feels good. What does it feel like, exactly? Was it awkward? I mean, you didn't know him."
"It was awkward, at first. It's something you have to adjust to, to find your own rhythm. It's a give and take, if it's done right. Fiyero is… he's a good lover. I think he gives more than he takes. As for how it feels, it's hard to describe. It's like a build-up of something, and when it finally happens it's like every cell in your body is blazing with heat." She felt her cheeks darken. "Are you satisfied with that? You do understand that this is my experience. It won't apply to you, necessarily. It depends on you, and it depends on him." Elphaba eyed her. "You said you get flashes of things, Galinda. What, exactly, do you see? Is it the same image each time? Is it like a short moving image?"
"It's not the same image each time, although with certain people it is. With you, I see these alternating visions of the two of you. I see him and I see you. I see this room. That doesn't change. But it's different. Most of the time, the two of you are in some state of undress. Sometimes you're, uhm, doing it, other times you're talking or looking at a book." Galinda cocked her head. "That room I see, is that where you meet?"
Elphaba nodded. "It's where my father arranged."
"So your father orchestrated all this, then?" Galinda asked. "You never wanted this at all?"
"I didn't. I don't even know if Fiyero did. I'm not sure he was pushed into it as much as I was, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did it just to please his parents."
"That's definitely not romantic," Galinda confirmed. "I'm sure you had other ideas of love and marriage and sex."
"Not really." Elphaba shrugged. "Now, can you help me?"
"I'll do my best."
"My father always said that the vision came to him in his sleep. I was barely more than a baby at the time, but in this vision I was a grown woman. He said he saw me standing beside Fiyero, holding a small child in my arms. We were both smiling. After a moment, the image changed to only the child. It was surrounded by a white light, and a cheering crowd. The Wizard was in the crowd, bowing to the child. My father took this to mean that this child was the savior. I always thought it was just some stupid dream."
"It may not have been, though. People who do not have any latent power can have premonitions through dreams. It's rare, but it does happen. You are right, however, most of the time it's just a dream." Galinda got up and sat beside Elphaba. "But there's more than that, isn't there? Because if it were just that, you wouldn't believe it for a second."
Sometimes it surprised her just how perceptive her roommate was. She recalled for a moment how superficial and frivolous she'd first thought the girl to be. Maybe she had changed, as she said. Or maybe this was always a part of her, behind the front she put up merely because she was pretty. "No, it wasn't just that. Fiyero's parents saw something, too, around the same time. In the Vinkus, they have this idol. It's called the Clock of the Time Dragon. It's been known to be a sort of divination tool through puppet shows. No one actually moves the puppets, apparently, and new puppets just randomly appear. At least that's how the lore goes. It was Fiyero's second or third birthday - I don't remember - and this thing showed up at the party. The show it put on was a bit more, well, graphic. But the end result was the same. Fiyero and I have a child. The Wizard is overthrown."
"I've never heard of the Clock of the Time Dragon, Elphie, so I can't tell you much about that. But I do know something about magic in the Vinkus. The magic there is thought to be ancient and powerful. Thousands of years ago there was a powerful sorcerer who wandered the desert lands of the Vinkus. He had followers. But one of his followers began to poison him, wanting the power for himself. They believed back then that power could be transferred upon death. Except he knew he was dying. So he cast his magic into the items near him. It's possible that this clock or whatever it is could be one of those items."
"And it's not just a myth?"
"Magic has been around long before Oz was even referred to as Oz, Elphie."
"Perhaps." Elphaba bit her lip. "And there's one other thing. The Wizard. He created the law against nobles from different states marrying about the same time our parents saw what they saw. That can't be a coincidence. He's supposed to be a powerful man. Could he have seen it, too?"
"That or one of his advisors. It would not surprise me in the least."
"Is this real, Galinda? Or is everyone forcing something that isn't even meant to happen?"
Galinda put a hand over Elphaba's, not flinching this time. "I can't give you an answer to that, Elphie. It sounds credible to me."
"Galinda, if… if this is real, and these premonitions are truly magical and fate… does that mean that, even if my father hadn't intervened, would I have ended up with Fiyero anyway?" She realized the question was useless, and that she sounded silly asking, but she had to know.
"If this is real? Then yes, Elphie, I think so. If something is fated to happen, it will happen one way or another."
She supposed she'd have to adjust to the idea of actually getting pregnant.
