Middle Ground
Chapter 40
A/N So sorry for the delay. I lost someone close to me last week and I didn't think about much else. I hope you enjoy anyway :)
"I couldn't agree more"
They all whirled.
Fiyero looked surprised, Glinda shocked and Elphaba felt nothing but relief.
Avaric.
He was at the top of the stairs leading to the stage, a smirk on his face.
He seemed amused, Elphaba thought, annoyance getting the better her, the way it did where it concerned Avaric. He probably felt all this had been excellent entertainment.
He smirked at her and nodded.
"Elphaba. Fancy meeting you here."
She rolled her eyes but didn't speak. She wasn't sure...of anything. She had no place here. This was not what she'd expected. Not what she'd ever expected. Ever.
She watched as Avaric walked over to Glinda and turned towards the audience.
"I'm pleased to see Miss Glinda the Good here has done the right thing. I would, preferably, not be lied to by old cronies. Would you not all agree that Miss Glinda has been, indeed, a heroine of sorts?"
Elphaba looked on, she felt Fiyero behind her, his presence steadying her, keeping her from running away, but Avaric's presence was just as strong. He knew how to play an audience. Knew exactly what to give them. His family had always been in politics and the gift of rhetoric, of drama, had not skipped a generation. He could have a glorious career, she thought. If he ever would, after this...
After this...
What was this?
But before she could utter a word, express her confusion, Avaric had made his way to Glinda's side.
He smiled warmly at Glinda, winked at her. Nobody seemed to notice Glinda's intitial weariness, her hesitance. Avaric, with his smile and manners and refines showmanship, painted a domestic picture. He made them all look like friends, made Glinda and himself look like a team.
And Glinda was just as talented. She'd shaken off at least the appearance of distrust and smiled warmly back at Avaric.
"Well, Master Tenmeadows. Let's not overdo it. I am in the public's service. I owe truth and respect to the people of Oz, to you. I thank you for believing me, for helping me in this matter."
"Of course. I wouldn't be a true citizen of Oz, if I wasn't at least open to the other side of the story."
He threw a glance in Elphaba's direction. Nodded at her, and looked back at Glinda. He took a step back and made a sweeping gesture with his hand.
"Why don't you do the honours, Miss Glinda. And tell the world the true story of the Wicked Witch."
Elphaba felt as if she was watching a tennis match. Both Glinda's and Avaric's words were foreign to her, unfathomable. She couldn't grasp how they had managed to do this. She couldn't even be sure Avaric hadn't been in on this from the start. He'd said he wanted no part of it, but...he'd been part of it nonetheless.
She watched Glinda take a breath and nod, then step forward to the microphone.
"The Wizard had a daughter, a long time ago. And he lost her. He lost her because he didn't know he had her, in the first place..."
Fiyero checked out of Glinda's story as soon as she started. He wanted to listen, but he couldn't keep his eyes off Elphaba. She was confused, and for maybe the first time, truly scared. She was listening to Glinda's words with rapt attention. This was her life story, being told to an audience, even as she herself was hearing it for the first time.
What would this do to her?
He had barely been able to believe it last night, when Glinda had come to see him, the Wizard in tow.
He'd wanted to spit in the man's face, to threaten him and beg. Plead. Offer anything to have Elphaba's life spared.
Glinda had silenced him with a look.
Then, she'd sat down and asked him about Elphaba's bottle. He knew that bottle, of course, she was never without it. The Wizard had sat next to her, pale and short of breath as he confirmed the bottle's existence.
Glinda had told him, then. What she suspected. What might be the truth. And he'd wanted to scream at them not to tell Elpaba. Never to tell. Even if it were only suspicions.
It would ruin her. She'd never find peace. But it had also occurred to him, of course, that this knowledge, this fact, this maybe, could save her life.
If the Wizard wanted it to, she would live. Or, at least, she would not be killed tomorrow.
So, he'd turned it all around and addressed the Wizard. Not as the Wizard, but as a man. A man he knew considered himself a father to Oz. A man who had no children. Who might have wanted them.
And he'd asked.
"So, if Elphaba is truly yours...how can you do this to her? How can you have her killed. If you are her father...what kind of father does that to his daughter?"
It was a long shot. And a low one. He nearly gagged as he spoke the words. But it could work. If it did...
And it had.
The Wizard, without Morrible whispering his thoughts into his ear, was a small and weak old man, who wanted to believe he was doing good.
And who didn't want to be bad.
He didn't want to be a man who had his own daughter murdered.
So he agreed. Fiyero and Glinda, not once mentioning any of the events and the lies between them, plotted their approach. A plan to save Elphaba from death and expose Morrible's true nature to the citizens of Oz. The Wizard sat next to them, and said nothing but for the question not to be involved. To have Elphaba spared because he needed to know, and he could not take the risk, would never forgive himself if he took the risk, but he wanted no part in the play. Fiyero happily agreed. He and Glinda seemed to wordlessly agree that it would be best for the Wizard to have as small a part as possible, just in case Morrible got to him or he chickened out. He would be kept in the shadows, with a clear view of the stage, but out of sight of Morrible and the audience.
The true challenge had been how to let it all play out. Elphaba could not be warned. Even if they had been able to, it wouldn't have done any good to include her in the plans. She would never cooperate. As it was, they had no chance to contact her. Nobody knew where she was, or when exactly she would arrive.
She would show up. None seemed to doubt that. On any other day, this conviction of others in her love for him, might have done him some good.
Now, all it did was make him wonder if he had known that. If he had loved her enough. Had he shown her that she was all he wanted? That he could live without any other person, without any aspect of his life? Had he been worthy of such devotion?
He would do the same for her, no questions asked, not a moment's hesitation. But he wasn't sure he deserved the same. And he couldn't waste time on it today, either. Not with Glinda next to him, helping him. Helping Elphaba.
They had no time to sort anything out, to talk things out, to explain. To attempt to explain. It would all have to wait.
Everything would wait. Glinda would wait. And he wondered, as he had before, if perhaps Elphaba would always come first, for both of them.
If maybe she had, all along.
"So, hopefully, you will give us...you will give me, a chance."
He tuned back in to hear Glinda plead with the audience, who perhaps seemed doubtful, paranoid and angry, but who were still there. Still listening. It was Glinda's doing, he knew. They adored Glinda. They would give her what she deserved.
"And me."
Fiyero's gaze was drawn to Avaric, as the other man walked back towards Glinda. What had happened to put him on their side?
He saw Avaric stand next to Glinda, not too close to her, but close enough to block out Fiyero. Smart, Fiyero had to concede. If it was even for that reason, of course. One never knew, with Avaric. Glinda hadn't mentioned Avaric to him at all. But then...she wouldn't, would she? He'd have objected, and that could have ruined what seemed to be working out so well right now.
It wouldn't do for the audience to see Fiyero so close to the Witch. Their focus needed to be on Glinda, not on him or Elphaba.
"We understand, don't we Glinda? Everyone's need to process this. We also know you will have questions, you will be angry. And you have every right to be. I am angry, and I am used to the cunning nonsense of politics"
Fiyero watched as Avaric smiled, an attempt to divert the people's attention, and Glinda's tingling laugh, the fake one, joined in.
"So we ask you to go home, and come back tomorrow. We will be here, all of us, to answer any and all questions you may have."
Glinda nodded and stepped forward.
"We will, dear Ozians. I will be here always, to help wherever I can. The Wizard, for now, needs time with his daughter to work through all that has happened, all Moribble's deceit. But he will be here tomorrow, to confirm this story."
Fiyero watched as Glinda straightened her shoulders, tilted her chin upwards and looked at the crowd.
"Thank you all for your patience. And your incredible loyalty. I hope to see you all tomorrow at noon."
She looked at Avaric then, and walked back towards where he and Elphaba stood.
Glinda made a beeline for Elphaba, hugged her and grabbed her hands to drag her into the Palace. Avaric lowered the gun Fiyero hadn't even realized he was still holding, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Let's make a break for it, mate. Before they change their minds and storm the castle."
A/N The next chapter will be the final one. I will try to post it before the week is out.