AN: I just love the title of this chapter. The tea. It sounds so innocent, so harmless, and yet it's probably the most intense chapter of the story right after the chapter in which the attack on Shiz happened.

Hihi, I loved all your reviews! Either murderous towards me, Frex, or both ^_^. Siarenthander, I love that biography! The Wizard Of Wicked, that review was... well... brilliant! xD Between all the threats, people calling Frex Hunters and spurring me on to update, there's your review: "Brilliant." Loved it!

Moreanswers24: oh, so you get creative when you get frustrated? :P Loved loved LOVED those lyrics, though. Maybe I should let you write the lyrics for the new Frex Hunters fic (which I may or may not try to put on on April 1st again... when it'll be the first Frex Hunters' one-year anniversary! :O).

ThroppSister: I consider that a big compliment :) thank you so much! I loved your review!

Now, on with the story!

Chapter 22. The tea

When they arrived at the Governor's mansion later that afternoon, a servant opened the door.

He bowed curtly when he recognised Elphaba. "Miss Elphaba. Welcome home."

She nodded at him and limped inside, supported by Gazilon, but with her head held high nonetheless. Fiyero followed, leaning heavily on Galinda; and Elphaba could see the servant's eyes widen at the strange picture they made - though to his credit, he didn't say anything.

The servant closed the door and hurried past them. Gazilon helped Elphaba into the sitting room nearby, where he lowered her onto a couch. Fiyero sank down next to her and Galinda flanked Elphaba on the other side. Gazilon remained standing.

Footsteps resounded from the hallway and a few moments later, Frexspar came in. He nodded at the friends.

"Elphaba," he said. "Master Gazilon, Master Fiyero, Miss Galinda. Thank you for coming."

He looked at Gazilon. "Your parents are staying in town at the moment," he said. "You might want to pay them a visit."

Gazilon shook his head stiffly. "I'm fine, thank you."

Frex nodded. "Very well." He would rather have had Gazilon out of the way for this – that boy was too clever for his own good, and he might notice something – but he was confident that he could pull this off even with Gazilon here.

"Fabala!" Nessa came wheeling in, a beaming smile on her face. The two sisters hugged and Nessa moved her chair to stand right beside the couch, next to Galinda. The blonde squeezed the younger girl's hand for a moment, smiling at her, before focusing her attention on Frex again.

"Well, Father?" asked Nessa when he didn't say anything right away.

He cleared his throat. "Yes. Of course. Um, does everyone want tea?" He swallowed and licked his dry lips nervously, silently begging them to say yes.

Fortunately, everyone accepted the offer except for Gazilon – but that didn't matter. The boy was watching Frex like a hawk, eyes slightly narrowed, as if he knew that Frex was up to something, but wasn't sure exactly what it was. When Frex quickly left the room under the pretence of going to find a maid or servant to bring the tea, Gazilon followed him out of the room.

"Governor," he said stiffly once they were alone, "I don't know what you're up to; but I just want you to know that I don't trust it."

Frex snorted. "Honestly, I hadn't expected anything less from you. Let me guess – Elphaba doesn't trust it, either?"

"Of course not," said Gazilon as if that much should be self-evident. "She's a smart girl, you know. Much smarter than you give her credit for. To be completely honest, I think Nessarose is the only one who really believes this sudden change of heart."

"It's not a sudden change of heart," Frex snapped, irritated. "And I don't want you all to get the illusion that I am suddenly going to like Elphaba, or treat her like my daughter. I don't like her, never have and never will, and she is not my daughter. Honestly, I would prefer for her to drop dead on the spot right this instant." He sighed. "But Nessa is my daughter, and I don't want to lose her." He looked at Gazilon sourly. "So if being nice and apologising to Elphaba means that I will get my precious Nessarose back, then it is worth the sacrifice."

Gazilon gave him a long, searching look. Frex looked back, his face an unemotional mask, his eyes cold, not pulling a muscle. He knew everything depended on him being able to convince this boy. Fortunately, Frex knew how to convince people – as he had concluded before, he was a good actor.

Gazilon finally nodded and turned around, walking back into the sitting room. Frex let out a relieved breath.

"And?" Elphaba asked Gazilon the moment he came back in.

He shrugged. "What you thought," he said. "He hates you, but he's willing to apologise and treat you normally for Nessa's sake."

Nessa's eyes were wide. "What?"

Elphaba shook her head sympathetically. "Oh, Nessie," she said gently. "You didn't honestly expect him to suddenly start loving me, did you? He's not really sorry for what he did. I'm not a daughter to him. I never was. But that's okay."

Nessa sniffled, eyes filled with tears now. "How can you say that?"

"Because," said Elphaba, wiping her sister's tears away and looking into her eyes, "you love him. And just like he's willing to put up with me for your sake, I'm also willing to put up with him for you. I don't want to take him away from you, Nessie. No matter how he has treated me in the past, he has always been a good father to you, and you love him. That's enough. We're not going to be best friends or have a real father-daughter relationship, but I promise you I can tolerate him, and I think he can do the same."

Nessa lowered her eyes. "I had just really hoped…" Her voice trailed off.

Elphaba hugged her gently. "I know, my pretty. I know. But it'll be alright."

She let go when Frex re-entered the room and she leant back against Fiyero, who wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side. Frex gave them all a blinding smile.

"Tea is on the way," he said as he sat down opposite the friends. "Now… let's talk. But before that… Elphaba, Master Fiyero, do you need anything? I've heard you have both been injured rather severely during the attack on Shiz." He was pleased with himself – by bringing up their injuries, reminding everyone of the damage that might have been done, the explanation for Fiyero and Elphaba's demise in the near future would make more sense to everyone and be even more believable.

"We're fine, thank you," said Fiyero stiffly.

"Are you sure?" Frex asked in fake concern. "Have you been checked over completely? No brain damage, internal injuries, no lasting damage done? I imagine it must have been quite the chaos right after the explosions…"

"It was," Galinda agreed softly, with a sad look at the others.

Frex nodded. "I will call for the best physician in all of Munchkinland," he declared, "to make sure you both really are alright."

"That won't be necessary," Elphaba said crossly. "We're fine."

Galinda placed a hand on her friend's arm. "Elphie," she said gently. "Maybe it's not such a bad idea to get yourself and Fiyero checked over by a doctor. I mean, at Shiz it was all very hasty and not very thorough… what if something else is wrong? Something you can't immediately see on the outside?"

Elphaba crossed her arms.

"Please?" the blonde pleaded. "For me?" She pouted.

Elphaba sighed and caved. "Fine," she grumbled.

Fiyero agreed as well.

Frex nodded, trying to look pleased. "Very well, then. I will ask one of the servants to ring for a doctor." He leant forward and looked at his eldest daughter. "Elphaba, I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," she said immediately.

He frowned. "I am," he said. "Look, we may not have the best relationship and granted, I don't know if we ever will; but I do recognise what I've done to you and I am apologising for it."

"You didn't just do it to me," Elphaba reminded him sharply. "You did it to everyone at Shiz. Everyone who knew a person at Shiz and who is now mourning a loved one, or thanking Oz that their loved one survived, despite everything."

"I know." Frex lowered his eyes. "And I truly am sorry."

A servant entered, carrying a tray. He put it on the table and placed a cup of tea before each of the friends, carefully carrying out the instructions Frex had given him. The white cup with the purple roses for Fiyero, the one with a small piece of porcelain missing for Elphaba. He made to walk away, but Frex stopped him.

"Ring Doctor Lewn for me, will you?" he asked her. "My eldest daughter and the prince have been hurt and must be examined by the best physician we have."

The servant nodded and curtsied, then left.

Galinda took a sip of tea. "So if I understand you correctly," she began, "you are willing to make peace with Elphaba?"

"And don't," Elphaba cut Frex off before he could even say anything, "start telling crap about you realising you love me and us being a happy family. We all know you do not, nor could you ever, love me; and we will never be the family Nessa has always wanted us to be."

Frex acknowledged that with a curt nod.
"But we will be civil to one another," he said, his eyes boring into Elphaba's. "Won't we, Elphaba?"

"We will," Elphaba agreed.

Frex smiled. "Good."

The servant came back in and spoke in a hushed voice with Frex, probably about the doctor he had called for.

"Oh, Fiyero," Nessa chirped when she saw Fiyero lifting his cup to his lips. "Would you mind trading cups with me? I always drink from the one with the purple roses – it's silly, really," she said with a small laugh, "but I just prefer that cup over the others."

Elphaba smiled at her a bit sadly. "Because it was Mother's favourite cup?"

Nessa smiled in exactly the same way. "Yes."

Fiyero lowered the cup back to the saucer. "That's alright, Nessa. Here you go." He handed her his cup and accepted hers in return.

Nessa accepted it with a graceful smile. "Thank you."

Frex turned back to the others, smiling. "Doctor Lewn is unable to come by today, but you are all welcome to spend the night here and he will come by in the…"

Just then, Nessa lifted her cup to her lips and took a sip.

Frex immediately recognised the cup and realised what was going on. "Nessa, no!" he cried, cutting himself off.

Everyone stared at him, not understanding.

Then Nessa suddenly collapsed to the floor.

Elphaba's eyes widened when she realised what her father had done. She immediately fell down on her knees next to her sister, feeling in Nessa's neck for a pulse. "What have you done?!" she shouted at Frex, beside herself with rage. "How could you?! You tried to murder Fiyero to get to me? I knew you were capable of many things, but I never thought you would sink this low!" She turned back to Nessa, feeling her sister's forehead, which was covered in a sheen of sweat. Nessa was lying completely still, not moving; and Elphaba could almost feel the younger girl's heartbeat growing fainter beneath her fingertips.

"No, Nessa, please don't," she begged, smoothing her sister's hair away from her face. "Don't die on me, Nessie, not like this. Come on!" She shook Nessa, but of course that didn't help at all.

She looked up at Gazilon desperately. "Do something!"

"What?" He shook his head. "El, I know nothing about medicine… we don't even know what poison it was!"

Elphaba's eyes snapped up to Frex. "What did you use?" she growled.

He spluttered, eyes flickering towards his precious, unconscious daughter dying on the floor; and then he deflated.

"Larysianum," he said, lowering his eyes.

Fiyero swore under his breath.

Elphaba looked at him. "What?" she asked fearfully.

He sighed. "Larysianum grows in the Vinkus as well," he said quietly. He put a hand on Elphaba's shoulder comfortingly, as if trying to soften the blow he was about to deliver. "There is no known antidote."

Elphaba's eyes widened. "What?! No!"

"You did this!" Frex accused her, looking paler than she had ever seen him. "You murdered your sister! You're a curse! All you do is bring horrors to everyone around you!"

"That's not true!" Fiyero protested hotly, but Elphaba yelled, "We don't have time for this! Get Frex out of here, I can't focus with him screaming in my ear!"

Gazilon, with some assistance from Fiyero and even from Galinda, quickly worked Frex out of the room; and the two boys restrained him as Galinda went to find a maid and ordered the poor, confused girl to run into town to find the Gale Force and a doctor.

"And hurry!" she cried after the girl as she ran off.

Elphaba shook her sister again, squeezing her hand and stroking her cheek. "Please, Nessa, wake up," she pleaded. She closed her eyes, knowing it was of no use. Her sister wouldn't wake up. If Fiyero was right about the poison Frex had used, Nessa would never wake up again.

A tingling sensation slowly spread through her body, starting, it seemed, in the pit of her stomach and ending in her fingertips. She recognised the feeling as her magic being activated and she held her breath. Would these weird powers of hers maybe turn out to be of some use after all?

"Please let this work," she whispered, letting her hands hover over Nessa's still body. "Please, please let this work…"

When the boys and Galinda returned to the room, followed closely by a Gale Force soldiers and a doctor, they found Elphaba kneeling on the floor, a soft, emerald-coloured light streaming out of her hands and into Nessa's body. They all stopped abruptly to watch in awe.

Slowly, the light died down; and Elphaba collapsed in a heap on the floor, breathing heavily. Fiyero immediately shot forward to support her and the doctor knelt down next to Nessa.

And then, suddenly, the wheelchair-bound girl opened her eyes and blinked, dazed. "What happened?" she slurred.

Elphaba shot up again. "Nessa!" She crushed her sister in a hug. "Oh, thank Oz!"

"Wow, El…" said Gazilon, impressed. "You saved her life! How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Elphaba shook her head. "I just… tried to think of a way to save her, and then somehow that activated my magic, I think…"

Galinda was just watching with two hands clasped over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

"Fabala?" Nessa said in a small voice.

Elphaba stroked her hair as the doctor started checking her heartbeat and breathing. "Yes, Nessie?"

Nessarose looked up at her. "I promise I will never call your magic sinful again."

Elphaba let out an incredulous laugh and hugged her sister again tightly.

"Miss?" the Gale Force soldier said, trying to get her attention. He gestured to something behind him. "We have taken your father into custody. I understand from Miss Galinda that he tried to poison your sister?"

Elphaba nodded, then shook her head. "He… he tried to poison Fiyero," she said, indicating the Vinkun prince, "but Nessa drank from his tea, and…"

"He's also an ally of the Glikkun terrorists," Galinda chimed in. "Frexspar, I mean."

"We can all testify," Gazilon added. "We have proof. My parents are two of the terrorists – I can help you find them and several others."

The soldier looked impressed. "I'm going to need you to come with me, son," he said.

Gazilon nodded. "Will you be okay?" he asked his friends.

After assuring him they would be, Gazilon left with the Gale Force. Two soldiers dragged Frex past the doorway, and he struggled to a halt, glowering at Elphaba.

"You think this is over?" he hissed at her. "Dream on, little green girl! You may have saved your sister, but trust me - Larysianum is not the only poison I'm familiar with! I will get you, girl, and I will get you good!" Then he was led away by the Gale Force.

"He's crazy," a still-dazed Nessa muttered as she was checked over. She was clearly shocked. "Absolutely, completely crazy… oh, Fabala, I'm so sorry! How could I not see this? I've been so ignorant…"

"It wasn't your fault." Elphaba leant against Fiyero tiredly. "He's just… insane."

He eyed her in concern. "You okay?"

"Just tired," she answered. "Using my magic drains my energy. And I've got a headache."

"Is there anyone I can call for you?" the doctor asked. "A parent, maybe?"

Elphaba shook her head, biting her lip; and Fiyero tightened his grip on her.

"I'll write to my mother by express post," he said.

"No, let me," said Galinda. "Gillikin is closer to Munchkinland than the Vinkus, so my parents will be here sooner; and that way we won't have to bother your mum. She's got enough on her plate already."

Fiyero nodded wearily. "Good thinking."

"Miss Elphaba?" the doctor said, sounding worried. He held up the teacup with the purple flowers. "I used a special herb that can detect several types of poison. I found the larysianum in this teacup, but there's more."

"More?" Elphaba blinked, then sat up straighter. "He poisoned someone else?"

The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so. Now, the cups are all still full, so maybe the person whom this poison was intended for hasn't taken a sip yet -"

"Did you drink your tea?" Elphaba demanded of Fiyero in a panicky voice.

He settled both hands on her shoulders. "Fae," he said, trying to calm her down. "I drank from what was originally Nessa's cup, remember? I doubt Frex would want to poison Nessarose – you saw his reaction when she accidentally drank the tea with the poison."

Elphaba nodded, though she wasn't really reassured.

"Gazilon?" asked Nessa.

Elphaba shook her head. "He didn't have any tea at all."

Galinda was looking pale. "I drank my tea. Do you think…"

"It's this cup." The doctor held up one of the cups. "It contains essences of exinum root, which is a rare herb that slowly poisons a person's body until they die a few days later. It is slow and very painful, and the antidote is hard to find. I sincerely hope that whoever this cup was intended for did not yet drink their tea, or we might have a problem."

"In that case," Elphaba said, looking pale, "we have a problem."

"It's my cup, isn't it?" Galinda wailed. "Oh, no, I knew it! I'm too young to die!"

"Galinda!" Fiyero and Elphaba shouted at the same time.

"It's not your cup," Elphaba said firmly. "You're fine."

Galinda sniffled and wiped at her nose. "Really?" When Elphaba nodded, the blonde asked in a trembling voice, "Then whose cup is it?"

Elphaba took a deep breath. "Mine."

Fiyero, Galinda and Nessa gasped in unison.

Elphaba managed a small, wry smile. "And I'm sure none of you will be thrillified to hear that I did drink from it."