A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Yes you are correct. ;) Glad you liked it. :)
Chapter 3
Fiyero and his father had gone off after dinner for a meeting to bring him up to speed on all that was going on in the Vinkus. The Queen had decided that she and Elphaba would enjoy tea out in the garden and she escorted the young woman there. The servants brought tea around in short order.
"It is beautiful out here," Elphaba told the Queen as they took their seats at a Quoxwood table and chairs under the shade of a gazebo. Across the stone pathway next to the structure, there were Vinkun rose bushes and wildflowers. Scattered in between the floral patches were fruit trees, flowering dogwoods, and some ornamental trees that the green woman did not recognize.
"One of my favorite places to be honest. It's quiet and the insects are otherwise occupied by the flowers," Ayla chuckled. Elphaba chuckled slightly before saying,
"I am glad they are distracted. You'd be surprised how many bugs think you're a plant stem when you're green."
"Seriously?" The Queen asked. She sipped her tea and the warm feeling that went down her throat felt good on this slightly chilly day. The sun would be behind the Palace soon and any added warmth they had would go with it.
"Let's just say that I am grateful to not be allergic to bee stings. They'd think they were working their way up to something nice, only to be swatted by my hand. A good reason to wear long skirts and long sleeves," Elphaba said before sipping her tea.
"Oh dear. That had to be hot in the summer though," Ayla figured.
"Unbearable at times, but I grew used to it," she smiled. The Queen wondered if part of the reason was to try and hide as much skin as she could and not from the insects but from the Ozians around her.
"I do not wish to talk shop, but I wondered how things were with your Munchkin friends," Ayla said.
"Mopsi and Popsi have spent time with their families, catching up. I told them they were welcome in the Emerald City at any time and I was surprised when they returned a couple of weeks ago. It would seem that all that time in Southstairs has changed them and living in the stillness of Munchkinland is not good for them. The hustle and bustle of the Emerald City and the Palace seems to keep them from falling into their thoughts. Glinda promised to keep them busy while I was gone and I fear that they are going to get sucked into wedding planning," Elphaba couldn't help but chuckle.
"Do they know anything about wedding planning?" The Queen wondered.
"I have no idea, but I'm willing to bet that they will find out," the green woman smirked and shook her head.
"And Boq?" Ayla was mostly wondering if Elphaba had figured out how to reverse the spell the poor man was under, though she imagined that what happened in Munchkinland only added to his troubles.
"I have yet to find a spell I'm willing to try to reverse the effects of what my sister did. Boq seems to be ok with that, but I know that he is not. Still, it is better than what could happen if the reversal goes wrong. The Grimmerie offers a solution, but you have to speak the original spell backwards. I do not have any idea what the words sound like and I only need to get one wrong… there is too much risk to that. I dug through the spell books in Morrible's office and they were of no help," Elphaba heaved a sigh.
"My mother was a bit of a dabbler in the magic arts. Mostly those of the ancient ways, but perhaps there is something in the books she left me that may help," Ayla suggested.
"Be careful or I may spend the entire time in the library," the green woman chuckled slightly.
"Well then the boys will know where to find us," Ayla laughed. Elphaba laughed too and they turned the focus of the conversation to the flowers in the garden and those ornamental trees that the green woman hadn't recognized. It had been a nice afternoon but what they didn't know was that trouble was brewing back in the Emerald City.
To Be Continued…