Warning(s): Verbal Abuse and Neglect
~o0o~
Once upon a time in a far off kingdom, there was a beautiful castle deep in the mountains. In this castle lived a beautiful prince who filled his castle with the most beautiful objects and people. However, he was vain, cruel, and all together not a very nice person. All-in-all, en par for anyone in a position of authority.
"Fabala!" Nessarose laughed. "Tell it like it was written."
Elphaba looked up from the book of fairytales and smiled at her sister.
"Just trying to spice it up," she said. "You sure you don't want to continue that book we were reading yesterday? We're a little old for fairytales."
"You're never too old for fairytales," Nessarose insisted, waving the needle she was using to embroider a handkerchief. "Keep going. Verbatim."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, but indulged her, reading it without embellishment.
"Elphaba!" Frex strode into the room looking furious.
She flinched and closed the book with a snap, returning to her loom. Nessarose straightened up and turned her attention to her embroidery. It always turned out this way and Elphaba knew better than to insist she was just doing as Nessa requested. It was a rock and a hard place. If she indulged her sister, she was a slacker and if she declined her sister's requests in favor of working, she was neglectful.
Nessa never said a word to her defense, but she was used to that.
"I'm sorry Father, I was just taking a break," she said.
He scoffed and went over to Nessa, taking her hands and examining them.
"And leaving my darling Nessarose to work hard while you slack off," he said.
"I like embroidery, Father," said Nessa. "Are you leaving already?"
"As soon as Elphaba puts everything in the cart."
Elphaba stood and as she left she heard him ask,
"Now, what can I get my favorite daughter?"
After twenty years, Elphaba would have hoped the sting of that remark would have lessened. It wasn't like she was favored or even loved the three and a half years before that. Besides, who wouldn't love Nessarose more?
"I'd like a parasol," said Nessa. "Perhaps new pattern books, some lace, and roses."
Roses. Always roses. They were Momma's favorite flowers, but Nessa liked them because of her name. Father always brought her a fresh bouquet for her bedside table when he returned home from traveling.
"You shall have it."
Elphaba went outside to load up the bolts of fabric. She took pride in her work and since she was sixteen, every bolt she made was sold.
There were several other women in town with looms who made fabric for Frex to sell. He also sold smaller items like handkerchiefs and reticules, all beautifully made and decorated. He took immense pride in the ones Nessa embroidered. He had a right to be, Nessa's attention to detail was amazing.
Father often traveled around Oz to markets, not returning until he sold everything. He was usually gone for a month or two.
Elphaba and Boq, her father's apprentice, finished loading the last of the crates, then secured the canvas over it to keep them safe from the elements. Boq hitched up the horses while Elphaba made sure their food was loaded up.
Frex stepped out of the house and scowled at his eldest.
"Nessarose insisted I bring something to you as well," he said. "What do you want?"
He'd hold it over her if he spent even a single hay penny on her. She heard that there was a field of poppies around the Emerald City. She wanted to go there more than any other place in the world. If she could just have something from there…
"A… a poppy?" she asked tentatively. "Just one bloom is enough."
He nodded curtly.
"Do not neglect your chores," he said. "I will return as soon as I can."
"Yes, Father. Safe travels."
He grunted and climbed onto the driver's seat with Boq sitting shotgun. The gun itself was safe on the floor after a misfire at a tree caused the tree to pelt them with pears.
"Goodbye Father!" Nessa called. "Good luck!"
"I'll be home soon, my precious girl," he said.
Elphaba and Nessa waited until the wagon disappeared beyond the lane.
"Let's go inside, Nessie," said Elphaba gently. "I'll make you some tea."
She preferred the times when Frex was gone. It was easier for her to get her chores done without worrying about him bursting into the room demanding why they weren't done yet. She could do her chores all day and weave by candlelight. Aside from going into town before the shops close and having meals on the table at the correct time, she could make her own schedule.
She stuck to her schedule, day in and day out, the same old routine.
The day after Frex left, when she was certain he wouldn't turn around to retrieve something he forgot and would blame her for, Elphaba went into town. Nessa offered to stay behind in case there were any callers. They occasionally had them. Plump, puffy women from around town. Some who wanted to match their sons off to Nessa and others who were widows that thought Frex had been wearing black for too long.
"It's the witch!" a young boy screamed.
Elphaba rolled her eyes and kept walking with her head held high. There were a lot of witches. Good and bad. Aside from that, she wasn't even allowed to practice her magic. Not that it stopped her. When Frex was away, she could sneak off into the woods behind the manor with the book of magic she kept hidden in her floorboards.
It fed her dreams.
They were foolish dreams, ones she doubted she would ever have the courage to act upon, but she couldn't help it. Frex could never order her to stop dreaming. He sure tried but all that did was make her better at hiding them.
Dreams of running off into the woods to live in a house on chicken legs like some of the local witches. Leaving Colwen Grounds to go to the Emerald City in Neutraland, which was said to be entirely green. Sometimes she dreamed of flying beyond the borders of Oz to try and find someone who looked like her. Surely she wasn't the only one.
Elphaba wanted to have a life she was happy to live, not just resigned to it.
"Good morning, Miss Elphaba," said Miss Winkle pleasantly. The only human in town who was pleasant to her.
Of course, pleasant and friendly were completely different things.
"Good morning, Miss Winkle."
"Those peach preserves you made sold out so quickly," she said. "As did the persimmon jam. Your father is out of town, yes?"
"Yes, he left yesterday."
"If I have a bushel of apples delivered to you, could you make something with them?" Miss Winkle asked. "Same pay per jar."
Elphaba nodded. "Bring them by tomorrow, I'll decide what to make then."
Since Frex claimed her room and board was payment enough for her work, Elphaba made pin money anyway she could. Namely by canning fruit for Miss Winkle's stand. All under the table and Frex wasn't to know. Nessarose kept quiet about it at least.
"And here's your pay for the peaches and persimmons."
Elphaba pocketed the purse of coins, thanking her, and finishing the rest of her shopping before making a personal stop to her favorite shop. It was both an apothecary and bookshop. The owner, an old Goat, was the only one in town she considered a friend.
"Good morning, Miss Elphaba," said Dr. Dillamond. "I was wondering when you'd stop by."
"Hello," she said and jingled the coin purse. "Pay day. Do you need any help?"
"I do," he said. "Why don't you leave your purchases behind the counter with me? I have copies of books that need shelving."
Elphaba smiled and hurried along to do just that. She loved the bookshop the most. They had all the most up to date information in Oz, people came by from Munchkin City and Applerue and even as far as the Shire to purchase copies of the books. Dr. Dillamond had a couple employees to make the copies and when Elphaba had free time she liked to come by and help so she could learn everything she could.
Books provided the escape she longed for. When she made the solid color bolts, she often used her cookbook stand to read and a bit of magic to turn the pages.
Not when Nessa was looking. Nessa hated magic almost as much as Frex did.
While she shelved the new books, Elphaba picked out an armful of copies that interested her, plus two fiction books she thought her sister would enjoy. Dr. Dillamond did keep a decent-sized selection of fiction that would be purchased by those waiting for their prescriptions to be made.
"These please," said Elphaba, bringing them to the counter.
"Of course." He rung the books up. "You know, you could work here if you like. I could make you my full-time apprentice. You have such a knack for mixing remedies and you're smart as a whip, too."
"That'd be wonderful," she said. "But… I can't. Father wouldn't approve and he needs me to take care of Nessa. I do love this shop, though."
"It's always a treat when you stop by," he said, patting her hand. "Don't be a stranger."
"I won't," she said, collecting her purchases. "See you soon."
"Goodbye."
Elphaba headed back home, placing one foot in front of the other and allowing her mind to wander so she couldn't focus on the weight of her purchases on her shoulders. She liked the walk up to the house. It was a beautiful home that had belonged to her mother's family. Her grandparents had died shortly after her mother did and the servants were all let go. It was difficult for Elphaba to keep by herself, but Frex insisted they needed to save money.
Besides, it was good to keep busy, he told her.
That rule only really seemed to apply to her.
She clung to these moments of peace when she could pretend there wasn't work waiting for her. No laundry, no polishing silver or wood, no floors to sweep or chimneys to keep.
Elphaba breathed in the September air and watched two birds fly around each other almost in a dance.
There had to be more to life than this.
