Chapter 11

"Where are we going?" Sheldon asked as Tahj and the others walked down the abandoned streets in town. He had made his way up to the Captain to walk at his side. They had left the castle maybe twenty minutes prior and the Captain had not stopped to check any places out yet. It's as if he were on a mission.

"That is none of your concern soldier." Tahj looked down at this puny kid next to him. Who let him into the guard and how did he pass the physical exam? He probably weighed all of 110 lbs. and was short coming in at around 5'6.

Tahj looked back up and continued towards the bar at the end of the way. If anyone had overheard any malicious plans it would be the bartender. People tend to have loose lips when they were inebriated. That's how he was able to find out all those years ago who had shot and murdered Elphaba up on that stage. There was a man bragging at the local tavern how he got off scotch free after slaughtering the wicked witch. Tahj shook his head as the memories came back to him. A part of him still regretting taking that mans life but a part of him was satisfied. He deserved to die after what he did to the Thropp-Upland family.

Turning the corner he came up to the tavern. "Halt!" He yelled back at his men of about fifteen. The guards stalled outside the tavern waiting for further instruction.

"What are we doing here?" Sheldon courageously asked as he peered around Tahj at the structure to their right.

"Come with me and you will see." Tahj offered as he stepped into the pub leaving the other men behind. Tahj could have easily shrugged the guard off but something told him to bring backup. Maybe it would shut the guard up as well.

Tahj and Sheldon stepped in the tavern. It's interior was dim and the temperature was a little on the hot side. Summers were never very pleasant in this side of the country.

"What can I do for you?" Offered the bartender as he noticed the two new faces among the crowd. He walked towards the men wiping a glass off in between his apron and a spare towel. He had recognized Master Guff but was unfamiliar with the new face.

"Two pints Albert." Tahj offered as he took a seat at the bar. He glanced left and noticed the usual crowd, nothing too suspicious. He glanced right and saw a few unfamiliar faces but nothing to be alarmed about. Smoke filled the air and he was anxious to get some intel. He knew how these things worked though. You couldn't just come in demanding to get information. You had to gather it from conversation. You had to play the part of a random patron.

"Coming right up." The bartender nodded before leaving the two guards to their own.

"Listen kid, don't screw this up for us." Tahj warned as he shot a glance at Sheldon. The bartended then made his way back over to the men with pints in hand.

"So what brings you all in?" Albert made friendly conversation as he sat the glasses down in front of the gentlemen. It wasn't often he got to see some of Glinda's guards. He knew something must have been going down if Tahj was in here.

Tahj leaned in before whispering to the bartender, "One of Glinda's daughters has gone missing. We're trying to find her." He locked eyes with Albert as his words sunk in. The bartender nodded in understanding before pretending to wipe down the counter in front of the two.

"No talk in here tonight of that." The bartender glanced to the right where Tahj had seen some unfamiliar faces before. "I have heard some talks though of people being upset with the way things been running."

Tahj took a sip of his beer as he motioned for Sheldon to do the same. They had to look like two people here for a beer just in case. "Upset how?" The man ventured a look to where Albert had looked earlier. He studied the unusual faces for any features he might recognize. The people didn't appear to be kidnappers but who knows.

The bartender walked away before returning a few minutes later. He couldn't linger in one place for a long time. "Heard talks of divorce. Splitting the town in two." He sat down a bill for the occupants. "That'll be six pence, boys." He said loudly. No one turned their head to look at them.

"The town won't be split into two." Tahj shook his head confused at this news. "Who is saying this?"

"Don't know. Just heard some people passing though." Albert went back to cleaning some glasses. "One couple was excited about it. A little too excited if you ask me."

Tahj's ears perked up at this bit of news. The only people who would think this was good news were people who didn't support Elphaba and Glinda in the first place. Those were the type of people Tahj needed to track down. Meet one bad person and they will always rat out another bad person.

"That's all I know though." Albert said before going back to tend bar.

Tahj took this moment to look towards Sheldon who had remained quiet this whole time surprisingly.

"What do you think of that?" Tahj asked the young guard.

"I don't know Sir. It sounds like there are some people hoping for a civil war." Sheldon offered up. The whole interaction had engaged his mind but also confused him. "Do you think that will happen?" He looked towards the Captain.

Tahj shook his head as he took another sip of beer. "No way. Sure, Elphaba and Glinda fight a lot but it would never become political. They wouldn't let it." Something Albert had said sat with Tahj as he continued sipping at his beer. Why would someone be excited about a split in the government? Why would someone be excited about the divorce? Was this all linked to the kidnapping somehow?

"Sir." Sheldon said after a few minutes had passed. "I think I overheard something about a potion." The younger guard looked over his shoulder to where the strangers had been sitting. They were no longer sitting there.

Tahj looked to where Sheldon was looking before putting his beer back down. "Why didn't you tell me when they were still here?" The guard was annoyed with his younger cohort. "Let's go."

Sheldon got up to follow Tahj. "They just now left. If we are lucky we will still catch them. I'd like to see where they are going." The guard said excitedly as he put down some money to pay the tab.

Tahj was actually impressed that Sheldon hadn't blown their mission immediately. Other guards would have walked over and immediately demanded answers before thinking. He patted the guard on the back as they exited the pub. "Let's go track them down then." He smiled as he began to ask his guards outside what direction the strangers had gone in.

XXX

Elphaba sighed as she rolled over in bed. Who was she kidding? She wouldn't be able to sleep at all tonight knowing that someone had Ella. Had this been seven or so years ago she would have been alongside Tahj looking. Having Kiora and Rowena had calmed her down. She needed to stay safe for them and protect her family at home. She was over her days of going out all run and gun just to get injured or worse, killed. Dying really makes you reconsider things.

The green woman continued to stare at the ceiling although she couldn't make out anything because it was so dark. Reaching over to light a candle she got a little illumination in the room. When her hand backed away from the candle her eyes caught sight of the bracelet on her wrist. Her heart broke again. What was she going to tell Kiora and Rowena in the morning? How could things have gone so wrong in her life? She thought she had it all figured out eight or so years ago. She had the woman of her dreams, she had an amazing family, she was making friends…how did that all go away?

Resigning to the fact that she wouldn't get much sleep the green woman got up from bed and started to make her way to the kitchen. She might not be able to sleep but she could probably still eat. Being so worried had caused her to work up an appetite.

XXX

Ella stopped screaming after about fifteen minutes. Her voice was so horse that she could barely even talk normally now. She was thirsty, so very thirsty. Her eyes caught sight of the pipes dripping water and it made her stomach sick. She knew that that water was not good to drink, it was just there to taunt her.

"I'm sorry moms." Ella called out into the silence. "I'm so sorry." She looked down at her hands willing them to become unbound. Nothing worked. There was nothing she could do but sit and wait. Either wait to die or wait to be found. Ella prayed it was the latter.

XXX

Elphaba had expected to have to turn on the kitchen lights but they were already on when she approached the room.

"Hmm…guess the cook forgot to turn them off." The green woman said aloud as she walked over to the pantry. It wasn't until she was about to open the cabinet when she heard a light sound coming from the other side of the kitchen. "Hmm, that's odd." Elphaba stated as she looked around for the source. It didn't take long before she came across the blonde snoring slightly. One hand was clutching a spoon with some kind of white liquid all over it. The liquid had dripped down to the recipient's hand. The other was wrapped around what looked to be a carton of ice cream. Glinda's head of curls covered half her face as the other half provided a pillow for the blonde's head.

Elphaba couldn't help but smile at the sight of Glinda looking like her old Glinda self. It was easy for Elphaba to imagine how she fell in love with Glinda when she looked at her like this. The blonde looked so innocent and so full of life. Elphaba was trying to decide whether she should wake the blonde or not when she started to stir.

"Elphie?" The blonde's dazed eyes looked up. She tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes with little success. She was just so tired and worn out. "Is Ella home?" Glinda asked as she yawned and tried to stretch. It's when she tried to stretch that she noticed she had melted ice cream all over her arm.

Elphaba chuckled at the blonde's reaction to the ice cream. It was priceless. "No she's not home yet Glinda." The green woman's smile quickly faded. She shouldn't be here. She should let Glinda rest.

Glinda started to clean the ice cream off her hand as a frown broke across her face. "How late is it?" She asked as she got up and walked to put the remaining ice cream away. Hopefully it would freeze back into an edible food.

Elphaba walked over to open the freezer door for Glinda. "It's late. Probably around three AM."

Glinda sighed. The guards had left nearly three hours ago and no one had reported back yet.

"You should get some sleep." Elphaba offered as she went back to the cabinet to grab a snack. She didn't hear a response from Glinda so she turned around to see the blonde tearing up again. She wasn't aware that her heart could break so many times but it did.

"Oh Glinda." Elphaba sighed before walking back over to the blonde. Traditions be damned. She knew they were getting divorced but she didn't care. She saw the woman she loved hurting and she couldn't stand by anymore. Before Glinda could protest she wrapped the blonde up into a hug meant to comfort. She expected Glinda to immediately pull back but she didn't. She stayed in place crying into Elphaba's shoulder for a few minutes. Elphaba leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the top of Glinda's hair. It felt good to be this close to her.

Glinda finally removed herself from Elphaba's embrace after a few more minutes. Wiping at her eyes she adverted her gaze from the green woman who had just held her. "I'm sorry to be such a wreck Elphaba." The blonde sniffled as she tried to regain strength.

The green woman looked down at the fragile woman who had just been in her arms. Her arms felt empty and her heart felt cold. "Glin…" Elphaba started and then looked away.

"What?" Glinda asked as she looked up towards Elphaba's hurt eyes.

The green woman wanted to ask something of the blonde although she knew she shouldn't. Everything in her was telling her to turn around and go back to her room. Everything except her heart.

Elphaba braced herself for Glinda's response. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" There. It was out. The green woman let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Ball was in Glinda's court now.

Glinda was slightly confused by this request but she could see the hurt in Elphaba's eyes. How could she deny her such a request when they were both so wounded? "Sure Elphaba." The blonde said as she turned to walk towards her bed. She knew they both needed to get some sleep. They would be useless to Kiora and Rowena when they woke up in about four hours. What harm would it do having Elphaba sleep next to her? In all honesty she would probably sleep better. For some reason she didn't feel the need to fight anymore and she saw that in Elphaba as well. Just for tonight all of their differences were thrown out the window. They needed to be strong for Ella. They needed to be strong for each other. Life would resume once they got their daughter back.