A/N: Oh the trouble is coming, my anonymous reviewer. More on that later. ;) Glad you liked it. Thanks!
Chapter 5
Elphaba heaved a sigh and closed the spell book she was reading. No help for reversing Boq's situation was found inside it's leather binding. Queen Ayla looked up from her book as the green woman stood and placed the book back on the shelf. They were in the Palace's library looking at the books that the Queen had brought up the day before.
"I must commend you for being able to read Arjiki. Not something a lot of people can do outside of the Vinkus," the elder woman said, letting her book drop to her lap and looking at the younger woman.
"Yero and I would pass notes in Arjiki to one another at Shiz. We knew that no one could read them and we would not be caught. As much as it pained both of us to trick Glinda…" another sigh from Elphaba. Things had quickly gone downhill from those days at Shiz.
"Well, I mean no offense to our leading lady, but I am glad that Fiyero followed his conscience. Had he not, things would have been much worse," Ayla admitted. Elphaba was confused by the comment and the Queen could see that on her face.
"Something that most people will never know, is that the Vinkus was toying with breaking from Oz. Militarily, it would have been something that we figured we could pull off. We were trying to figure out if it was economically feasible. Of course, we would have needed Fiyero here to succeed. That was another wrinkle," the Queen explained.
"You really think the Wizard would have allowed that?" The green woman wondered.
"The Vinkus was a sovereign territory prior to the formation of Oz and that was when the tribes were not united. We figured we could manage as a united front. As for the Wizard, we worried that he would have held Fiyero as leverage. Getting him safely across our borders before we made any move would have been paramount. At the time though, we had to wonder if he would have left Glinda. We did not know if she was swayable to separating from the Wizard or Morrible for that matter," Ayla said.
"They stayed because of me. They both wanted to be the one who found me – though they did not collude to do so. Each one was afraid that the other would turn on them, which shows you how out of touch with one another they were. Glinda did not know that Morrible would murder my sister to get to me. We all knew she was dangerous but taking out a head of state…" Elphaba shook her head. The Queen nodded and the green woman grabbed another spell book off the shelf. There was a knock on the library door and Ayla bid the person to enter. It was Sergeant Schultz.
"What's up?" Elphaba asked him.
"Lady Glinda and the Council had sent a letter via Bird. The Captain thinks you and the Queen should be present to see what it says in the King's private office," the young man told her.
"Let's go," Ayla said. She set her book aside and the three quickly left the library. They walked down the hallways in relative silence, each one wondering what the letter could be. Soon they reached the room and Sergeant Schultz left them. These things were above his paygrade.
"Tahir, what is it?" His wife asked.
"Lady Glinda's letter gives us two things – the first is that the Animal Rights laws have been posted. I have sent our copy of the laws to our writers and they are making copies now so that we may post them in every Vinkun town. The second… I think it's code but neither Fiyero nor I can make heads or tails of," he responded.
"Code from Glinda?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"That's what I said Fae," Fiyero chuckled. King Tahir handed her the letter and the green woman read the whole thing. A slight smirk and a chuckle came from Elphaba.
"What?" Ayla wanted to know.
"It's not Glinda. It's Boq. He's using a fairly simple cipher, but you'd have to know what to look for. He knew that I'd be the only one to look for it," Elphaba said.
"Ah the Tin Man. So, what does it say?" Ayla asked.
"May I borrow a piece of paper and pen?" The green woman turned to the King. He nodded and quickly got her what she asked for off his desk. Elphaba quickly wrote down the original words and then started to rearrange the letters based on the slight change in Glinda's seal at the bottom of the letter.
"I think I've got it, but it doesn't make much more sense than the original," Elphaba frowned.
"Give it a try," Fiyero said. She nodded and then read aloud her discovery,
"Prisoner is misbehaving. There are still followers. Fekri suggests old Vinkun solution. Not sure if this is wise. Please advise."
"Prisoner would mean the Munchkin," Fiyero said.
"That part I got. What is 'old Vinkun solution'?" Elphaba wanted to know.
"Oh, I think I know," Tahir told them.
To Be Continued…