Middle Ground
Chapter 39
Here it is!
She watched as Glinda, her dress not slowing her down in the least, flew up the steps to where she was, her pace slowing only slightly. Her chest heaving, her cheeks pink. Her golden curls in disarray, but her tiara perfectly in place. Shiny in the few rays of sunlight that were peeping through.
It occurred to Elphaba that Glinda was used to wearing dresses like that, heels that high. She knew how to move and maneuver around them, in a way Elphaba never managed to despite the years she'd spent wearing that dress that had caught her eye and made her think of Glinda.
Glinda, with her tiara and her wand and her brilliant blue eyes. Blue eyes that didn't look at her, looked at Morrible instead, flew to the crowd behind her. Her voice, soft and sugary when she had talked to Elphaba in the past, comforted her, told her she was beautiful and that her mother's death wasn't her fault, turned shrill and biting.
A swish of a poofy dress and she was in front of Elphaba, blond tendrils that smelled like coconut and vanilla pressing in the green woman's face. She was stunned long enough to allow Glinda to turn around, her eyes conveying a message Elphaba couldn't decipher, soft hands grabbing hold of green ones, clasping for a brief moment, then let go to face the crowd.
"Stop! You need to wait!"
The desperation in Glinda's voice roused Elphaba from her stunned silence.
"Glinda! Get away!"
"Shut up, Elphie!"
Her eyebrows shot up. She wasn't expecting that. She had expected anger from Glinda, or drama even. Not this.
"You all need to know the truth."
Not this steel-nerved, demanding, determined ….
"Glinda."
The roles had been reversed somewhere in the last five minutes. Glinda's voice boomed, sure of herself and where she was going. Elphaba's had turned to a cough, unsure and scared.
"We need the Wizard to come out here."
Glinda didn't even acknowledge her.
"The Wizard?"
Elphaba said the words, but she heard Morrible's voice, incredulous and full of annoyance.
"Yes, Madam. The Wizard. He is the one who ordered me to come here. Thing is, we need him out here to make sure you don't go ahead with this..."
Glinda's voice wavered and it cut through Elphaba, her eyes searching Fiyero's. He looked just as shocked as she was. He hadn't known about any of this, whatever this was.
"This...lie, this stupid, stupid lie, before we told everybody the truth."
"You see..." Glinda straightened up and turned around. She looked at Elphaba, apologies in her eyes, and reached inside her cloak, feeling around for something. Elphaba wanted to ask what she was doing, what she was looking for, but before she could, Glinda's hands had wandered all over her and pulled out what she been looking for with a flourish. Her mother's green bottle.
"Glinda, what..."
"Hold on, Elphie."
She turned around and faced the crowd again, held up the bottle for everyone to see.
"You see...this...this bottle belongs to the Wizard. And Elphaba has had it for almost twenty years. I found that odd..."
She turned to Madame Morrible, a gleam in her eyes that made her appear almost dangerous.
"Don't you find that odd, Madame Morrible?"
The older witch looked at Glinda with disdain, but, Elphaba noticed doubt there too. Fear. She didn't know, like anyone else, it seemed, what Glinda was up to.
"Well, I found it odd."
Her tone was so casual, as if she was relating a story about where she had gotten her dress from.
"So, I went to talk to the Wizard about it."
"You did what?"
"Well, Madame Morrible...don't you think that was the right decision? Don't we all, all of us here, count on the Wizard to know the answer? To do right by us? He would know, wouldn't he?"
She was playing Madame Morrible, but she was playing the audience even more. All the Ozians there, who had come to see the Wicked Witch die, worshiped Glinda. They believed in her as much as they believed in the Wizard. She had them, held them, in the palm of her hand.
"Don't we?"
She turned to the audience again, then back to Morrible, not moving from her place in front of Elphaba though.
"So, I talked to the Wizard. Asked him why this bottle, which I knew had to belong to him, could have landed in the Witch's lap."
Wait. She had what? How...what...where was Glinda coming up with this? Or..was she even ….was there truth in what she was saying? Or was it all lies to distract Morrible with, to win time? To save her friends?
"Glinda."
Her voice was a whisper among the blonde curls, but it was enough. Glinda didn't turn around but she cocked her head and whispered back, urgent words from the corner of her mouth.
"Never mind now, Elphie. We have bigger fish to fry."
"But.."
But Glinda's focus was on Madame Morrible again.
"So I thought...I knew the Wizard would have the answer. And he would tell us all. He would tell us all who the Witch really is. What happened to her, and what should be done next."
She took a step towards the public, the Ozians that clung to her, hanging on to every word, confusion plain on their faces.
"Because you would want the truth, would you not? If you were lied to by someone, you would want to know.."
She looked at them for a long time, the green bottle still in her hand.
"Would you not?"
People turned to each other, whispered things no one on the stage could hear. Elphaba's eyes slid to Fiyero again. He was paying close attention, his eyes on her, intense and beautiful as ever.
"So, the Wizard, he told me. He told me the truth. How this bottle used to be his, and he gave it to a woman named Melena Thropp."
She looked at Morrible, her eyes narrowed.
"The Witch's mother."
Wait...what? Elphaba struggled against the rope for the first time. What...where...
"Glinda.."
It was a hiss now, impatient and full of held-back frustration.
"Elphie, please. One more minute."
She'd turned around, but only for a second. Her focus on the public, the citizens of Oz, Elphaba merely a shadow on the periphery.
"Of course, you want to hear it too, from the Wizard. Me alone, that would never be enough. So...the Wizard is here."
Once more, Glinda addressed the audience, drew them to her, pointed upwards, to a small tower of the palace.
"He is there. He is watching all of this. And he has sent me here to make sure you all listen."
"Now, Miss Glinda.."
The sharp voice of Madame Morrible cut through them all. Elphaba knew why. The Wizard had no actual power. His presence made the Ozians nervous, excited, perhaps, but it didn't do anything to Madame Morrible.
"Miss Morrible, I know how you feel about the Witch. You want her punished for her crimes. But what if we told you, she never committed those crimes?"
Elphaba looked at Morrible. She had to. The woman's face was contorted in a pained expression. Haughtiness, but there was panic too. Hesitation. She was arrogant, but in this she was unprepared.
"Oh, the lies the Witch can spin.."
Glinda shook her head, quickly but a tad wild, her steps becoming broader.
"Except they're not lies, Madame Morrible, they never were. In fact, I know the person who is behind it all. So does the Wizard."
The crowd came to life at that. Whispers becoming mumbles, turning into shouts here and there. Confusion morphed into anger and frustration at not knowing what was happening, at the idea of being lied to.
Glinda, however, had, finally, turned back to Elphaba. She held up the bottle again.
"Was this your mother's?"
She looked at Elphaba, her eyes pleading.
"Elphaba, answer the question honestly. The Wizard knows when you're lying."
It was all for the audience. All part of the show. It had to be. Elphaba swallowed and gave her the benefit of the doubt. She deserved no less.
"Yes."
The public didn't know what the answer meant, neither did Elphaba. but Morrible did. So, apparently, did the Wizard. Or that's what Glinda wanted them all to believe.
The older Witch strode forward to where Fiyero was, prodding one of the Gale Forcers into action.
"What are you all standing around for? Kill her!"
None of them moved.
Glinda took a step towards the soldiers, but she kept her body in front of Elphaba's, and she kept her face in sight of their audience. Every pair of eyes seemed focused on Glinda. They trusted her...
It struck Elphaba in that moment. It was horrible timing to be thinking of matters such as these but Glinda...Glinda had succeeded where she had failed.
"See, they can't. They take orders from their Captain, who was reinstated not half an hour ago. Which, of course, is only a formality, the situation being as it is. And Captain Tiggular knows that the Witch is in fact innocent. He has known for a long time. Haven't you, Captain Tiggular?"
Elphaba could tell from the look on his face that Fiyero was as bewildered as she was, but he had played this role for a long time and he slid back into it now, with ease.
"I have. In fact," He straightened his shoulders, took up a weapon from one of the nearby soldiers, and pointed it at Morrible.
"I also knew who was behind it all."
"Glinda, you can not possibly believe..."
"Actually, Madame. I can. I didn't always know. I was fooled, just like the good people here. The people of Oz, that you lied to, to gain power. I am angry, Madame Morrible. And so is the Wizard."
A twitch then, of Morrible's lips. A flash of defiance.
"The Wizard..if he is so angry, why is he not here?"
It was a low shot, but a clever one. Glinda could only hope the Ozians in the crowd wouldn't fall for it. And that they didn't see her waver. Didn't hear the tremor in her voice.
"Because he never does, unless he feels I can't handle the situation. Just as it has been for years now, Madame. And he feels that my course of action is the right one."
Glinda looked back to the crowd again. She had to keep their attention on her. On her words. She needed to hold on to their trust. And their belief in the Wizard.
"Otherwise...wouldn't he stop me? We all know he has all the power."
Morrible seemed torn. She had the actual power and those on the stage knew that. She could kill them all, could kill Elphaba, Glinda, even the Wizard himself with a flick of her wrist.
But she would do so to no avail. The people of Oz would never trust her. They never had warmed to her, it was one of the reasons they had needed Glinda. One of the reasons she had needed the Wizard.
And if she managed to get rid of Glinda now, Elphaba would never remain still. She would go after her, even at her own expense. Even if it cost her her life. And the damage would already be done.
She could kill Elphaba as well, in a battle of magic, she would probably win. She had enough power and more than enough experience to beat a Witch barely out of her diapers. But then, she would have to answer to the Wizard.
If what the blonde puppy had hinted at was true, she would kill the Wizard's family, his daughter..?.
He would never accept that. If he had, he would have come to her after talking to Glinda. And he really was up there, that much she could tell, watching this.
He seemed to be no longer on her side.
She wouldn't win here. She could come out the victor in a battle but she would never be able to stay in Oz, never gain the trust of the country's people. And that is where the true power lay. Still...
"Glinda, I'm sure if we take this back up to the Wizard. You and I..."
Glinda's eyes found hers quickly.
"You and I what, Madame?"
"You and I and the Wizard, we all want what is best for this country."
"Yes, indeed, Madame. But unlike you, the Wizard and I...we are not willing to lie to the people that have put their trust in us."
Her entire body turned towards her now. Protective of the Witch. Protective of her people.
"Glinda.."
"And you lied, Madame. You told all these people, you told us, that the Witch was evil. You told us that Elphaba Thropp was a Wicked Witch."
She was good. They had certainly picked the right person. And they had trained her well. That little viper had done much more than she'd even been given credit for.
"Glinda.."
"And she never was, was she?"
Fiyero moved with her, the nuzzle of his gun coming closer and closer to Morrible.
"Was she?"
His voice was a growl.
"I never lied! We all...we.."
Glinda had had enough, however.
"Why don't you wait over there. Madame?" A flick of her wand had the older witch thrown against one of the pillars on the stage.
Elphaba turned her head so fast her neck hurt.
"What? Glinda ...how..."
A toss of her hair and a wink made her seem more like Galinda than she had in years. It nearly made Elphaba smile in the midst of it all.
"I've been practicing. That woman can get really scary, Elphie!"
But then she turned back, her tiara catching the light again. She looked...powerful. Regal.
"Tie her up!"
Confused, some of the men stepped forward.
"Do it now.."
Elphaba nearly burst out laughing. A glittery wand that held nothing but bubbles...or should, in any case. But the blonde managed to look threatening, pointing it at the men with a fierce look on her face.
And that made sense, Elphaba realised. They didn't know Glinda's powers were limited. Nobody knew but Morrible, Elphaba and Fiyero. All of Oz thought Glinda was as powerful a Witch as they came.
"And don't forget to gag her. And find some way to get her unconscious. We can't risk her using magic."
She turned and pointed her wand at the soldiers near Elphaba.
"And let her go."
She looked up to where the Wizard presumably stood and then at the audience, silent and wide-eyed but on the cusp of a riot if they weren't reassured soon.
"We owe these people...we owe Oz...an explanation."
She looked at Elphaba then, her head cocked, and a sad look took hold of her face.
"We all deserve the truth now, for a change."
One or two more now...depends on how big it is exactly. I've been editing again :S
It seems I just don't stop tweaking till I post.