AN: I'm glad you all liked Elphaba telling off the general. I really enjoyed writing that, haha. Also, you should know by now that the moment you think everything is happy and will stay that way, I'll present you with some cliffies and stuff to remind you of who, exactly, I am :P.

SnowQueen: My new fanfic is about... um... well, basically it's about Fiyero and his and Elphaba's kid dealing with the fact that Elphaba is dead :3.

17.

That night, the man returned to Adurin Iir and King Humberto and Queen Danna told him that they would grant his request in exchange for the safe return of their son. The man bowed and told them his comrades would be very pleased.

"Once the Animal Banns are implemented, Prince Fiyero will be returned to you," he assured them. "In the meantime, he will be treated like our guest."

He left then, not noticing the figure on the black horse behind him. She was wearing a black dress and a black hooded cloak, allowing her to blend in with the shadows as she inconspicuously followed the man down a road, through a town, past the Grasslands, and down another road. She had no idea where they were going – she hadn't been in this part of the Vinkus before – but she kept close track of the man, determined to follow him no matter what.

He led her to a forest and eventually stopped near a cabin. He dismounted, tied the horse's reins to a fence, and knocked on the door to the cabin. Someone opened up and the man disappeared inside.

Elphaba quickly dismounted as well and crept over to the cabin, kneeling underneath a window and peeking inside. She could see the two men talking to one another. When she moved to the next window, which was open just a crack, she could overhear what they were saying.

"...meeting our conditions," the man she had followed was just saying to the other man. "I told them they would get their son back once the Banns are implemented and they agreed."

"I hope they'll be quick about it," the other man grumbled. "His Royal Highness is a royal pain in the arse."

The first man laughed. "What'd he do?"

"He keeps trying to get away. Struggling, untying himself, trying to climb out of a window. He even kicked Vorn in the gut."

"Well, if Vorn was pestering him again, I can't blame him." The man hung up his cloak and moved closer to the fire. "Where is he now?"

She strained to hear the other man's answer, but he lowered his voice and she could not hear it. She gritted her teeth in annoyance.

She tried to make out more of the cabin's interior. There were three doors, for as far as she could see, and she started sneaking around the cabin to try and find a window through which she could see into another room.

The first two windows showed her a nice view of the small kitchen, which was empty and completely dark. The next window was a bathroom and she quickly moved along when she noticed someone sitting on the toilet. She did not want to witness that... or hear it. Or worse, even – smell it.

The next window showed her what seemed to be a bedroom, and she held her breath when she could see Fiyero sitting inside. He was on a chair, from what she could see, with his hands tied behind it.

She hesitated for a moment, then decided to take the risk. She lightly tapped on the window. Inside, Fiyero's head shot up and he looked around. When he turned his head in her direction, she gave him a small wave.

His eyes widened.

She smirked at him and disappeared, creeping back to the other side of the cabin. Time for part two of her not-very-thought-through master plan.

Crouching beside the cabin, she debated which option she should go with. She could either barge in through the front door and hope that she would be able to strike all three men down with her magic before they got to her; or she could go about this more sneakily and try to get Fiyero out of here without them noticing. Given the fact that she had seen weapons lying on the table in the living room, she had to admit the second option was probably easier.

She led her horse to the back of the cabin, right next to the window behind which Fiyero was, and then she pulled a hairpin from her long, raven tresses. She wiggled it around in the lock, twisting it back and forth until she heard a soft click and she could push the window open.

"What are you doing?" Fiyero hissed at her. "Are you completely insane?!"

"Probably," she replied in a whisper as she quietly climbed through the window and into the room. She knelt behind Fiyero and untied his wrists before giving him a small grin. "Let's get out of here."

He looked baffled, but he followed without protest as she climbed back out through the window. By the time he was out as well, she was already on the horse and he quickly mounted behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She placed a hand over his and squeezed. "Hold on."

She tried to spur the horse on quietly; but just as she thought this was about to work, the horse stumbled and whinnied loudly. It regained its footing and Elphaba immediately kicked its flanks hard. The last thing she saw as they stormed off was the men running out of the cottage, two of them carrying rifles. They shot and Elphaba ducked low, leaning nearly against the horse's mane as Fiyero did the same.

When they were finally out of the men's reach, she let out a breath she hadn't even been aware she was holding. "Are you okay?"

"A little shocked," he said, "but fine."

She chuckled breathlessly. "Yeah."

"You know?" He shook his head. "I don't know what is stranger. The fact that I got kidnapped, or the fact that you show up like some knight in shining armour to rescue me."

"Well," she pulled at the reins in order to steer the horse around a looming tree, "you should have known when you married me that I would not be your typical princess."

He grinned. "Clearly. Apparently, here it's the prince who gets kidnapped and the princess in shining armour rescuing him." He tightened his grip on her. "Thank you, though."

"Of course." She glanced at him over her shoulder. "We were all worried sick, you know. We agreed that I would be your best bet because of my magic, but I honestly didn't really think this would work," she admitted.

He frowned. "Then why did you come?"

She looked at him as if he were crazy. "I wasn't just going to sit around and do nothing, knowing that you were locked up somewhere, Yero."

He opened his mouth to say something, but a shot suddenly resounded from behind them. Elphaba shrieked and the horse whinnied loudly, prancing and throwing Elphaba and Fiyero both off before storming away. Fiyero saw some blood in its fur. He hoped it wasn't hurt too badly.

"We have to hide!" Elphaba yelled, grabbing his arm and dragging him behind a tree. She peeked out from behind it and cursed. "Two of them on a horse. They both have rifles." She hissed in frustration. "We need to find a hiding place or they'll drag us both back."

"Over there!" Fiyero pointed. "I think that's a small cave or something."

"It'll have to do." She glanced around the tree again before taking Fiyero's hand and starting to run, criss-crossing to dodge trees and bushes. More shots were fired and Elphaba suddenly cried out, which scared him, but her grip didn't loosen and she didn't even falter as she kept dragging him through the snow.

"This isn't going to work," she said, gritting her teeth. "They'll see our footprints in the snow, anyway. We have to confront them." She turned around, hands raised.

Fiyero grabbed her wrist. "Are you completely out of your mind?!"

She shook him off, eyes burning as she looked at the two men now approaching on their horse. She muttered something under her breath and the horse stopped moving, calmly standing between the trees.

One of the men kicked its sides, but it didn't pull a muscle. His comrade pointed his rifle at Elphaba, but she quickly muttered something else, scrunching up her nose in concentration, and the rifle dropped into the snow. It fired as it hit the ground, making Fiyero jump. The horse jumped, too, shaken from its spell, and it raced off with one man still on its back. The other had leapt off and was now groping for the weapon.

Elphaba breathed deeply, trying to concentrate enough to perform another spell; but before she could, Fiyero had already leapt forward and kicked the man off his feet. He fell face-down on the ground and Fiyero was on top of him in a heartbeat, pressing him down into the snow.

"What can we do with him?" he asked.

"I could... perform a sleeping spell," Elphaba said, sounding a little breathless. "Only I don't want him to freeze to death... maybe I could perform another spell as well." She racked her brain. "A protection spell could work..."

Fiyero waited patiently for her to figure it out. Finally, she closed her eyes and started chanting softly. The man underneath Fiyero slackened and the prince climbed off him, gasping in pain when he put too much pressure on his formerly injured knee. "Oz dammit. I think I hurt my knee again."

"We can rest for a while. Maybe it will feel better soon." She still did not sound quite right and he approached her, looking her over for the first time.

"Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously. "Fae?"

"It's just a graze," she admitted. "But it hurts like hell."

"Where?"

She showed him the spot where the bullet had grazed her skin, on the right side of her ribcage. Fiyero's worry only increased when he saw the blood pouring from it, but she assured him that it would stop soon.

"Especially with this cold," she said. "I'm lucky I'm wearing layers, or the damage would have been far worse." She looked around them and sighed. "What are we going to do now, Yero? Our horse is gone, you can't walk, and I don't think I can, either. Not all the way back to the castle, anyway. It's almost completely dark already."

"We need to find shelter." He took her hand. "Let's just... try to get away from here. Slowly, but surely. That other guy could still come back here to look for us."

She nodded and they set off, both of them silent and worried about what would happen next.