"Yero." He heard Elphaba's voice calling him. She sounded as if she was far away, but he could feel her hand on his cheek. He wanted to hold her hand, but he felt like he was floating in a dark space, he could not feel his own hand. "Fiyero, open your eyes." He struggled, trying to open his eyes which seemed to be sealed shut, but the person that he saw when he finally opened his eyes was not Elphaba.

It was Sarima.

"Am I dead?"

Sarima laughed merrily. "Really, Yero? What makes you think that I'm your punishment in the afterlife?" She poked a manicured finger at his chest and the sharp pain from his wound told him that he was still alive.

"Where's Elphaba?"

Sarima's face turned solemn.

"She didn't make it."

"What do you mean? What happened to her?" He struggled to sit up.

"Keep still, or you'll open up your wounds again. "

"What happened to Elphaba?"

"The lion took her. After you lost consciousness, the lion turned its attention to the other people who were there. She's the slowest."

"What?" He couldn't believe his ears. Sarima nodded. There was suddenly a twisting, intense pain in his heart, and Fiyero passed his hand against his chest. He could not believe his ears. How could this have happened? He was the one who had let her go along. He had thought that it would be an eye opener for her. He had thought that she would be safe, well protected by the other men in the group. And now…

His eyes burned. A drop of water landed on his lap, and then another, and he realised that those were his tears, warm on his face and stinging his eyes.

And then Sarima was laughing again.

What?

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Fuck you, Sarima. I never know that you can be so cruel. I've just lost my wife and -"

"She's not dead."

His head shot up. "What?"

"She's not dead. There's not even a single scratch on her. She has been here all this while, tending to you like how a loving wife should. The boys took her out for a walk after much persuasion. She needs some fresh air. She was beginning to smell of mildew."

"Fuck you, Sarima. Fuck you. "

But all she did was to laugh again. "I was just testing you, darling." She cupped his face, tapping a finger on his cheek, but Fiyero turned away. "You really do love that virginal wife of yours, don't you?" She gave a mysterious smile.

Fiyero dropped his jaw. He finally understood what was in Sarima's mind.

"You stay away from her, Sarima. Elphaba told me what happened. You stay away from her."

"Now, Yero, She can tell me personally if she wants me to stay away. You don't have to be the messenger. For your information, we have grown close to each other while you were sleeping like a fairy tale princess. That wife of yours might just surprise you with how adventurous she could be. She might love what the whole new world that is waiting for her."

"You stay away from her," he seethed.

"Fiyero?" He turned to the door. Elphaba, Crope, Tibbett and Avaric were at the door. She looked at Sarima and chewed her lower lip. And then Tibbett nudged her, and she walked into the room slowly.

Sarima stood up and placed a hand on Elphaba's shoulder. "You came back at just the right moment. Yero was just asking for you. I'll let his parents know that he's awake," she said as she left the room.

Elphaba took a handkerchief and dabbed at his cheeks. "Are you alright? The doctor has a tincture that can help with the pain." She must have thought that those were tears of pain. "I'll get it from the kitchen."

He grabbed her wrist.

"No. I… stay." He did not know what he was saying but Elphaba nodded.

"I'll get it," Avaric offered and left the room.

"How long have I been out?"

"A week," Tibbett said.

"You got a warrior wife, Yero," Crope told him. "If it's not for her, you'd be in a thousand pieces by now."

Fiyero looked at her questioningly.

"I didn't do anything."

"That's not what I've heard. If not for her-"

"We can always leave the story to another day. What he needs right now is lots of rest," Elphaba suggested.

"Alright." The two boys nodded.

Fiyero clasped her hand, not wanting her to leave. "Stay please," he said. He did not want her out of his sight. Elphaba nodded and she sat on the bed again. He looked at her, trying to imagine what it would be like if he survived the lion's attack and she didn't, and he could not. It was like a void. He could not imagine a world like that. She sat there awkwardly, and he kissed the hand that he was holding, and he placed their clasped hands over his heart and closed his eyes.

He only found out a few days later what had happened at the Grassland.

"They said that she ran towards the lion, screeching like a crazy woman with an arrow in her hand," Crope whispered into his ear so that Elphaba who was getting a cup of tea for him at the other end of the room would not hear him. She had been taking care of Fiyero round the clock and had not left their bedroom, and Crope was never alone with Fiyero. "I supposed her screaming shook everyone up. They followed her lead, shouting and screaming as if they had all been possessed by demons and, together, they managed to spook the lion so much it ran off. "

Crope turned around when he heard footsteps behind him, just in time to see Elphaba approaching them with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Thank you, Elphaba." He took the cup and took a sip, winking at Fiyero over the rim of the cup.

He supposed she was still angry with him. While she had been taking care of him, she had been distant. He was always the one who reached out to hold her hand, and even then, most of the time she would remove her hand after a while with a tight-lipped smile. At night, she slept on the couch, when what he wanted was for her to join him in their bed and sleep together.

He remembered how calm she had looked when Prince Avon aimed his arrow at him. But Crope had told him that she was the first one who had rushed forward to save him, the rest following behind. The contradicting information gave him a pounding headache, and he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Elphaba opened her eyes. She could see the sun peeking over the horizon. She rushed over to the bed and let out a breath when she saw his chest rise and fall.

She collapsed on the couch. She had only intended to close her eyes for a moment, but it seemed that she had dozed off again. She stretched, trying to ease the stiffness in her body. She wanted to walk off the aches but was afraid that the noise would wake him up. He needed all the rest that he could get.

Fione, her mother-in-law, had offered to help. She had also suggested that the servants could take over some of the duties, but Elphaba had declined. It was her fault. If she had not insisted on going, the attack would not have happened. If she had not started that childish cold war with him, he would not be caught off guard by the starving lion. Most importantly, if she had reacted faster, he would not have suffered. Instead of going to his rescue, she had stood there like a marble statue. She had remained rooted to the ground, unable to move as the lion continued to attack him. All she remembered was what Fiyero and Prince Avon had said - that a man was as good as dead once a lion got him, that she was watching a dead man.

Since the incident, she had replayed the scene in her mind. Replayed it so many times.

Everyone said that she had saved him. Fione had cried and thanked her numerous times. But she knew that she was an impostor. She had failed him. It was her fault that he was so badly injured.

Fiyero groaned in his sleep. She pulled down the quilt to check on the wound on his chest. The dressing was still relatively clean of blood, and she gave a sigh of relief. The doctor had said that he was on his way to recovery, but yet every time she checked on his wound she imagined that she would find the dressing soaked red with blood and pus.

Fiyero opened his eyes. "Elphaba, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry. Did I disturb your sleep?"

His hand came out from under the quilt and held hers.

He looked out of the windows.

"It's not yet morning. Why are you up so early?" he asked.

"I can't sleep," she lied.

"Elphaba, are you still angry with me?"

"Of course not."

"Then come lie down with me." His other hand patted the empty space beside him.

She shook her head.

"Elphaba, I know that you're still angry with me. But there's something that I need to explain. It's about Sarima."

"You should be resting."

This time it was Fiyero who shook his head.

"No, I'm not going to delay this conversation again. Elphaba, I've said this before and I'll say it again. I'm not interested in rekindling my affair with her. And she's not interested in getting back with me. You may not believe this, but she wants you. "

"She - what?" Elphaba's brows creased with confusion.

"Elphaba, Sarima - she's always competitive. She likes to pit one person against the other. That was one of the reasons why we broke up - she'll flirt with other men just to see me jealous. She's shrewd - she will do things for me, get information for my father so that I'll be in her thrall even more."

She still looked confused.

"Everyone is a conquest to her. It's her personality, she wants everyone to want her, to desire her, even if that person is already in a relationship. And that includes you. We never talked about it, but she has come between couples before and caused them to break up, just because she could. That proposition that she gave before we left - it's for you. "

"Me?" She pointed at herself.

Fiyero nodded. "Her taste is not limited to men," he said, leaving it to Elphaba to form her conclusion. And he knew that she finally got it when her face turned beet root red.

He sat up and pulled her by her hand so that she sat on the bed. "Elphaba." She looked at him, and he took the opportunity to kiss her lightly on the lips. "I'm sorry that everything is so complicated and political. That's what my life is like. Everything looks so rosy on the surface but it can be quite complicated underneath. And now you're drawn into this just because you're my wife. " He noticed the expression on her face. "Elphaba, I overheard your conversation with Prince Avon that night. You mentioned that you don't like me to call you my wife. Why is that so?"

Elphaba moved away from him. "You should rest."

"Not until you have answered my question. Are you ashamed to be married to me? Do you regret coming to Vinkus?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

Fiyero sighed inwardly.

"I'm sorry that you didn't have a choice, but tell me, what can I do to ease your pain, to make you hate this arrangement less? I don't want you to be unhappy, Elphaba. I want you to be happy. "

She shook her head and leaned in to kiss him.

"You don't have to do anything for me, Yero. I just wish that…"

"Yes?"

"That you don't keep reminding me that you're being kind to me because you don't have a choice too."

"Did I - " and then he realized what was the reminder that she was referring to.

"Elphaba, I'm really glad it's you that I've married. And every time I call you my wife it's because I'm so happy that you're the one I've married, that you, and not anyone else, are my wife. I love being with you."

"Really?"

"Of course. You drive me crazy. You're beautiful. You're a spitfire, but you're so amazing. I can't help being attracted to you. But I'll stop calling you wife if you don't like it."

He kissed her.

"I love you," he said between kisses, and she stopped.

"Even when I didn't save you?"

"Save me?"

She looked at his wounds.

"Crope told me that you're the one who scared the lion away."

"It's not me. Everyone did their part. I just stood there, watching Prince Avon as he nocked his arrow so that he could end your life. "

"But you're the first one who rushed to rescue me."

"I couldn't bear the thought that the lion would drag you to its den and tear pieces off you while you bleed to death. But I was still not fast enough. "

"But you did save me."

"I wish that I have reacted faster."

"At least you are not the one who tried to shoot me."

They chuckled, and then their laughter trailed off.

He kissed her again, his hand playing with her hair.

"Can you lie down beside me?"

Elphaba nodded. She climbed onto the bed, bending over him so that she could kiss him again.

"I'm so glad we have this conversation," he said. He kissed her, his hands going under her skirt and glided over her curves as she snuggled into his arms.

"I can't wait to make love to you again. And when I'm well enough, we'll make up for lost time."

"Is that the only thing that you can think of?"

He laughed and kissed her again. "I love you. But I don't have to wait till I've recovered for that."

Nor had two horses - Candy Floss and Lollipop.

"Both horses are gone," Fiyero reported.

"I saw Nor earlier," Irij spoke up.

"Did you? When was that?"

"It was after tea. I looked out of the window and I saw Gerrie and Nor going into the stables. "

"Did you see where they went after that?" Elphaba asked.

Irij shook his head. "I got bored and I went off to play." He saw the disappointed look on their faces. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart. We're just worried about Nor." She hugged her son.

"That was hours ago. They could have been anywhere by now."

Gerrie had only written three words in the note that she had left behind. "I'm so sorry."

"Where could they have gone to?"

Just then, they saw Geram being led up the castle by his mother.

"What is it?" Gerward asked his wife.

"I… I'll let Geram explain." Gerward looked at his wife. "Our son knew why they ran away. "

Everyone looked at his son.

Geram hesitated.

"Please, boy. You're the only one who can tell us where they have gone to."

"I don't know. And even if I do, I've promised not to tell. Their secret is safe with me."

"Their secret? I don't understand. Aren't you dating my daughter? My Nor?" Fiyero was confused, and then Elphaba gave a loud cry as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"What is it?"

"How could I not realise it? It wasn't Geram that Nor was seeing, it was Gerrie, wasn't it?"

Geram nodded.

"Yero, how could I miss it? She came to me that night. She must have wanted to speak to me about this then, needed my support. How could I miss it? What kind of mother am I?" Fiyero pulled her into his arms.

"Where are they now?"

"I don't know, " Geram said. "I only know they said that they'll leave Vinkus."

"We'll go after them. Ready my horse." Elphaba hitched up her skirt, ready to run back to her room to change.

"No." Fiyero stopped her. "I'll go. And I'll bring some men along. You stay here in Kiamo Ko."

"I'm going, Yero. I'm going to find her. She needs me. I'm her mother. I need to let her understand that there's nothing wrong with liking a girl. She needs to know that we love her no matter what. She doesn't have to run away."

"You're staying, Elphaba. You're with child. And our other children need you. I'll send word whenever I can. I'll go to my parent's castle just in case they have gone there. " Though he doubted so.

Elphaba nodded, her eyes red.

"I need you to be strong. Our boys need you." He looked behind her, and Elphaba followed his eyes. Their three sons were standing together. Liir had his arms around his younger brothers and they looked scared.

"We'll find them," Fiyero promised. And we'll be home before you know it."