Chapter 33
Sorry for the wait, lovely people. This chapter I have to dedicate to Ultimate Queen of Cliffies, who not only sent me THE nicest review on Skin Deep ( I think I blushed. Seriously), but apparently also nominated me for the Greg Awards. Thank you so, so much. Truly.
I have been in and out this year, and have yet to go check out the nominees but I hope everyone will go and nominate those stories that they feel are the best and truly deserve it. And no, this is not a plug. We are all writers here, and we all know how tricky it can be to keep writing and posting as RL insists on being lived :)
If you have a spare moment, nominate your favorites, and...most of all..I hope you all enjoy the holiday season!
"You did what?"
The wizard stared at his accomplice in wonder.
Glinda stared at her in horror.
Madam Morrible turned in exasperation.
Did she have to do everything?
But then again...that was precisely why this would work. Why it all had, so far.
This all was why she put up with the Wizard's inane chatter and absurd illusion that he was the mastermind.
It was why she tolerated the blonde yapping thing. The public adored her and the Wizard was, for some reason, fond of her. And Madam Morrible knew when she needed to think of the bigger picture.
She needed both the Wizard and the bubbly girl to what she wanted. It was her in charge, after all. Even if no one else knew. She knew.
She looked at them both, impatience and disdain clear in the tone of her voice.
"She has feelings for him, obviously. She was stupid enough to run to her sister's aid. She'll be just as foolish coming to his."
She strode to the door and turned back.
"I'll take care of it. We'll have her in less than a day, I guarantee it."
She paced outside his door. She'd been pacing outside his building, but she feared being seen. It had been only the thought of what would happen to her, to all of them, if she were seen by anyone, that had driven her inside this building, to this front door. She'd been here for hours and it could easily be a few more. She had no idea where he was, or if he'd even come here at all. He might not even be in the city. She knew his family had at least two summer estates in the country...
And if Morrible had been planning this all the while, then who knew where exactly she had eyes and ears.
If anyone could have asked her, if she would stop pacing long enough to ask herself, she'd have to admit she didn't know what she was doing here.
She'd only had one thought when she'd heard of Morrible's plan: she needed someone who would help her.
She knew very well that Morrible didn't consider her enough of a threat to even think about her, and Glinda had to admit that wasn't without grounds. With Fiyero gone, who did she have? The many people in the city that would trip over themselves to call her a friend, would never aid her in what she was doing now.
But whatever it was that she would do in the upcoming hours, she needed help. She didn't have a plan, no clue of Elphaba's whereabouts. She had no idea where to even start.
And Avaric seemed at least a viable option, if not the only one. He wasn't in league with Morrible. The old hag would never let herself be associated with a name so attached to scandal as Avaric's.
That, and she seriously doubted if Avaric could ever be controlled by anything but his own wants and needs.
On top of that, he didn't want Elphaba or Fiyero to come to harm. She trusted that much. Honestly, she trusted him. She had never had the problems with Avaric that Elphaba had had in school, though they had never become friends. She recognized Avaric for what he was; a socialite, in the best and worst sense of the word.
He was like her. They fit right into each other's world, more than they fit into Elphaba's frame of thought, of Fiyero's Vinkun Royalty.
She and Avaric both knew how their world worked and they knew how to play it. She felt comfortable with him. She wasn't here because of some noble cause. She was here out of guilt, and out of the selfish need to keep those she loved in her life.
Avaric would understand that. He wouldn't judge.
Most importantly, he seemed to know things she didn't. Perhaps if she told him what he didn't, they could do this together.
So this had seemed like a good idea.
Or well, not a good idea, but the best one of a whole bunch of crappy options.
But it was still a risk.
So where, in the name of all that was good and sneaky and altogether too short on time, was he?
Every single item Elphaba owned lay strewn across the room. She hadn't meant to make them smash into wall. It was a side-effect of her sometimes still poor control of her emotions. She'd gotten better, over the past year, at reigning in the magic that seemed to erupt from her very fingertips the moment she felt too much.
But sometimes they still got away from her.
Her mind would be spinning out of control, a thousand thoughts and all the emotions that accompanied them, tumbling forward, tripping over each other, fraying her mind...
And she'd notice too late that a mirror had sprung, that a glass had exploded into tiny little pieces. Little tingles of electricity coiling around her fingers. The fine hairs on her arm would stand up, a shiver would run up and down her spine and she'd know, as the windows would shake slightly, as the door would rattle just a little more, that she was on the verge of losing herself to her powers.
She could stop it now. She knew how. She was powerful enough to do that now.
She'd checked herself in time to save her windows, it wouldn't do for the people in the surrounding buildings to start asking questions, but she let the glasses, jars and mirrors go. She had no need for them anyway. Not anymore.
A deal.
An ultimatum.
It wasn't exactly difficult to figure out what that meant; They'd expose Fiyero to the public, accuse him of treason and the people of Oz would want him sentenced. Hanged for aiding the Wicked Witch of the West.
In exchange for her life, they'd let him go.
She couldn't be sure if they would, of course. If they actually, really would. But that would be the deal she'd have to work with.
She'd go.
But she needed something to ensure his safety. To ensure that he would indeed go free. That he would be okay. Him and Glinda.
She needed them safe and protected from the possible conniving tricks of Morrible and the Wizard.
But she could find a way to ensure that. If they could make the trade-off a public affair.
If she could make sure the people of Oz were witness to it all.
They'd let him live then. For the people, they'd let Glinda go without a blemish on her reputation. They needed Glinda to hold onto the people's loyalty.
And Fiyero...
Nobody knew what had really happened between them. It was all a guess. Nobody knew what they truly meant to one another.
She could use that to her advantage now.
She would go, of course. The old witch had been right about that.
Of course, she'd go.
As soon as possible!
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!