Shay just lay there, staring at the sparkling green ceiling. It was all he'd been doing for the previous few hours-there was no way he was going to sleep. There was no way he could. Someone knocked on the door, but he didn't even have it in him to respond.
"Shay? Are you awake too?" Vella's voice came from his door. "Shay?"
The doorknob clicked and Vella walked into his room, giving up asking for permission, although she still hoped not to interrupt or wake up Shay. He was still just staring at the ceiling. A thousand different thoughts buzzed in his mind and he focused on all of them and none of them at the same time. He thought about home. He wondered where it was now that his ship was gone. He wondered how his parents were.
"Are you alright?" Vella asked. "Your eyes have that 'glazed over' look."
"Uh huh," Shay lied. He wasn't alright. He wouldn't be alright until he got back to his parents.
"Right," Vella said, seeing right through him. "Can't sleep?" Shay shook his head and Vella sighed as she sat at the foot of his bed. "Me neither."
Shay sat up. "Are all of the thoughts floating in your mind too?"
Vella nodded. "Especially ones about Evanora. Something about her seems… wrong. I think there's more to her than she's letting on."
Shay thought about it for a moment. She did have a certain air about her. One that he'd felt before… One that reminded him of-
"Marek," he whispered.
"Huh?" asked Vella.
"That's who she reminds me of-Marek… He was the one who told me to… to… Well, you know. He gave me that feeling too, where it feels like they're fake… But then again, I knew he was disguised to begin with… But still," Shay said, his thoughts exploding and threatening to come out of his mouth all at once.
"Wait, Marek? You mean Marekai, right?" Vella asked. "Creepy guy in a wolf suit?"
"Yeah-wait… You mean… that wasn't… oh…"
The two sat in silence for a moment before Vella spoke again. "So it's not just me, then? About Evanora, I mean. What about Theodora? I don't get that feeling from her, yet she either goes along with or is oblivious to whatever Evanora's hiding…"
Shay just shrugged and whispered, "I don't know."
The two thought about it, continuing to talk and theorize until they just couldn't anymore and fell asleep. Both dreamed of their homes that night, and all thoughts about Evanora left their minds.
Evanora grumbled in frustration. That night, she had begun spying on the two kids, making sure they weren't up to no good. She had found them having a conversation-about her. Of course they knew. Clearly, they weren't as gullible as her sister, nor were they as easily swayed as the people of Oz. They hadn't been there for the king's oh-so-tragic death.
The witch sighed and stepped away from her crystal ball after the two kids fell asleep. She hadn't heard all of the conversation- but she knew enough to know that they were onto her. They were interfering with her plans and she had no idea where they were from or how to get them there.
She had planned to send then to spy on (or even better, kill) the "Wicked Witch", but now that they were onto her, she couldn't have them finding out the truth and giving anything away. Not only that, but Glinda would have two more allies. Ones that, unlike Glinda's other allies, could fight and/or potentially kill her.
No, she would have to deal with them herself, whether that be figuring out how to send them home, killing them as she did the king, or simply keeping them on her side. She would take any precautions needed and deal with them by any means necessary.