Dear Readers,
Here's a fairy tale about Elphaba and Galinda. It's been in my head for a while and I'm finally sharing it. I hope you enjoy it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, suggestions, and impressions.
But, first a few caveats...
This is a dark taboo Gelphie romance as many of you have requested. It contains strong scenes of non-consent throughout. Within the fairy tale genre, this is much closer to a Grimm fairy tale than a Disney one. If your taste veers toward the vanilla, you may want to read something else. For those who choose to read this, I will do my best to post warnings on the chapters that are really dark in case you want to skip over those parts. Also, as the backgrounds of our favorite witches are different than Wicked, I've kept the two ladies as true to character as possible while also leaving room for how they might be different considering their different circumstances. In short, some may find Galinda intolerable for the first several chapters, hopefully she won't stay that way.
For those new readers who just stumbled across this, thank you for reading!
To those of you who read my last story, Activities Between Friends, and reviewed, favorited, or followed, thank you for coming back! This story is dedicated to all of you!
Xoxo,
Lola
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters Gregory Maguire dreamed up in his fan fiction Wicked ...nor any of L. Frank Baum's characters.
Elphaba told herself gouging his eyes out was not an option. King Upland lifted her chin with an ivory measuring stick, moving it this way and that, while scrunching his lips.
"My Oz! She's ugly enough—that's certain!" he said. The King and his servant continued to belittle her skin, her dress, her weight, her hooked nose as if she wasn't staring straight at them, her chin square to the horizon.
She inhaled to calm herself. If I get the position, Nessarose will have a chance. Her sister's shoulders had shook all night as she sobbed. Elphaba hands had blistered as she pushed Nessa for hours. Under the cover of darkness, they fled Colwen Grounds with their brother and a single trunk of possessions. They left everything behind, including their father's unburied body. She would make it up to Nessarose. They hadn't come all this way just to starve. King Upland's hubris wouldn't get the better of her. She only need to stand here, smiling like an idiot, for a few moments longer and the position would be hers.
"—mouth."
What did the King say? Elphaba blinked, her heartbeat quickening. "Did you hear, girl? His Majesty said open your mouth!" the servant said.
Elphaba's jaw twitched. Open her mouth? Did they mean to inspect her like a horse?
"Now, girl!" the servant said.
Elphaba parted her lips, but before her jaw fully dropped, the King plugged her orifice with two sausage fingers. Elphaba's eyes swelled. She breathed through her nose, trying not to dry heave as the King counted her teeth and pressed down on her tongue. His fingers tasted of bitter melon, sweat, and cloves. Just when Elphaba thought she would retch, the King removed his fingers and held them in the air. The servant wiped them with a silk handkerchief.
"She's got all her teeth," the King noted surprised.
Elphaba regretted she hadn't used any of them to gnaw off his fingers.
"She was supposedly of noble birth before the annexation of Munchkinland," the servant said.
"Is that so? Do you know how to use cutlery, girl?" the King asked.
Squeezing her skirt in her fists, Elphaba forced a smile and said,
"I do, Your Majesty."
"Frankly, I'm surprised she was ever allowed to sit at the table, noblewoman or not. A face such as hers is clearly unsuitable for digestion," the King said.
Elphaba grit her teeth.
"We could have her wear a veil for dinners," the servant said.
"Or a leather and iron bridle," the King suggested.
"I don't imagine she should sing properly if we muzzled her," the servant said.
The King chuckled and Elphaba's nostrils flared as she tried keep her composure.
"I suppose you're right, Crope. A suitable veil then during dinnertimes," the King said and then turned to Elphaba, "In addition to singing, I've heard you possess skills in archery as well?"
"Yes, sir," Elphaba said.
"Very well, then," King Upland said, "Her appearance makes her a suitable lady's maid to Princess Galinda and her art makes her presence pleasurable to the rest of us. Now, Crope you're sure that her condition can't spread?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I've had two laundry maids rub their hands up and down her arms for hours, no color dyed their fingers."
"Very good then. I know Princess Galinda may struggle with this, but I'm sure Elphaba will be able to demonstrate her worth to us all in time."
Pasting on a smile once more, Elphaba curtsied and said,
"I am most grateful for the chance, Your Majesty. I will do my utmost."
"We expect no less," Crope said. "Come, let me hand you off to Nanny. She'll find suitable attire for you and show you to your living quarters."
Elphaba followed Crope out of the parlor. Her relief at getting the position of lady's maid was replaced with a rising dread at having to face a whole new group of servants. No matter where she went in Oz many still assumed her green coloring was the result of demon-possession. Would they demand proof she was clean? Would they make her recite passages of the Blessed Oziad? Try to baptize her with holy water? Would they want to see her strip naked as they had in Quadling Country?
Gusts of cold air blew through the crevices of the thick stone walls, making Elphaba shiver as she followed Crope down several steep twisting staircases. As her foot hit the first large stone slab of the underground floor, she steeled herself for the inevitable pokes, prodding, and insults. But none came. A large kitchen lay before Elphaba where servants bustled about and shouted orders. No one had time to even crook their neck in her direction. At the sight of the flurrying servants, mostly Gillikinese, Elphaba exhaled through her nose. There was no turning back. There wasn't even a back to return to.
"It took you long enough, Crope!" said an older Munchkinland woman coming out of the kitchen wiping her hands off on a towel. "The Princess has waited quite some time to be introduced to her new lady's maid and is in a right sour mood."
Elphaba braced herself for the older woman to wince at the sight of her, but when the woman turned to Elphaba, she smiled and bowed her head. A smile and a bow? Was the older woman's sight impaired? Elphaba returned the gesture.
Crope, motioning with his head toward Elphaba, said, "The King had to inspect it personally and make sure it wouldn't endanger the Princess."
"Endanger Princess Galinda—ha! Elphaba's green skin is less abrasive than the Princess' sharp tongue!"
"Nanny!" Crope warned. The older woman didn't look the least intimidated. She breathed loudly through her nose and said,
"Come now, Your Eminence, after we find a suitable dress and apron, I'll take you to Her Royal Highness."
Elphaba's eyebrows rose at the address.
"Your Eminence?!" Crope asked.
"She's the descending Thropp of the royal Munchkinland family!" Nanny said raising her chin.
"Pigspittle, Nanny! There is no Munchkinland royal family anymore! You may feel whichever way you want about your homeland, but referring to anyone but King Upland as the rightful ruler of Munchkinland is treasonous and Mrs. Morrible will have your head for it! You will address—this thing—as either Elphaba or Miss Thropp," Crope said, his fists mounting his hips.
Nanny sucked her tooth and said, "That gorgon doesn't scare me a bit!"
"Easy to say when she's not around," Crope answered.
Nanny hmfped and walking away from Crope toward another staircase said,
"Come, Miss Thropp, away from this spineless man!"
"I heard that!" Crope said as Elphaba followed after the woman.
"I wasn't whispering!" Nanny said ascending out of sight.
Following Nanny up the staircase, Elphaba couldn't remember a time when someone appeared happy to lay eyes on her. Even if the woman's pleasantness was only due to Elphaba's royal birth, she appreciated the older woman, gruffness and all. Nanny led her down a corridor with lancet windows to a servant's closet as she gossiped about all the castle attendants: Crope, the Butler, appreciated lady's undergarments; Mrs. Morrible, the head housekeeper, was shamelessly in love with King Upland and only grew more shameless after the Queen's death; Shenshen, a lady's maid to Princess Galinda's cousin Lady Milla, brazenly flirted with all the male guests. Opening the closet door, Elphaba followed Nanny into the spacious room, where the afternoon sunlight poured from a high fixed window. Unlocking a maple wood armoire, Nanny plucked out a butter colored dress and a fresh white apron. Handing them to Elphaba, the older woman beamed proudly and said,
"These just arrived last week from Mrs. Tyllr."
Before Elphaba could thank her, Nanny went on to say how honored she was to meet a member of the royal family. How grateful she was that Boq had recommended Elphaba to them, how Her Eminence should come to her if she should need anything, then noticing Elphaba had yet to change, said,
"Well, hurry now, Your Eminence, we do have to meet Her Royal Highness sometime today."
Elphaba looked down at the new clothes and said,
"May I have a moment in private?"
"Shy, are we?" Nanny asked.
Elphaba raised her head, her lips tensing. Nanny's smirk turned into an apologetic bow and she scooted out of the closet and closed the door.
Elphaba looked down at the plain coarse fabric with its wide stitching and its uninspired lines, and exhaled. She was never one to care about her royal birth, but a lady's maid for the Gillikin royal family? How far her grandfather would say she had fallen. Her mind wandered back to her siblings. Her brother, Shell, could find no better post than a groundskeeper, tending the royal rose gardens. They had hid Nessarose in the abandoned cottage in the woods. Elphaba hoped her sister would be fine taking care of herself until she returned every fortnight. If someone poked around their house and noticed Nessa's ailment...Elphaba shuddered. She hated to imagine what the Gillikinese would do to her sister if they found her.
Knock! Knock!
"Are you almost done?" Nanny asked through the door.
Elphaba tossed the new garments down on a nearby dresser as her fingers flew to the buttons of her black lacy Munchkinland dress which had black opals sewn throughout. "Just a few moments longer!" Elphaba said, then shimmied the dress off her shoulders and announced, "I do have a question."
"Ask me anything, Your Eminence," Nanny said.
"Why was an ugly lady's maid requested for Princess Galinda?" Elphaba asked, stepping out of the dress.
"They didn't tell you anything about the Princess, I suppose."
"Only that she would have a hard time getting used to me," Elphaba said. She folded the thick black funeral gown and pressed her lips to it before laying it atop the dresser.
"Of course, I don't like to gossip, but it's rumored that the Princess' last lady's maid, Miss Clutch, was indecent around Princess Galinda, arousing bodily passions in her that are unbecoming in a young woman. It was assumed that an ugly maid would be able to assuage the damage. I wish to say, Your Eminence, that while your condition cannot be described as beautiful, I do not find Your Eminence ugly as some may."
Elphaba snorted to herself, but said, "Thank you, Nanny. That's very kind of you." The older woman's explanation only made the Munchkinlander more curious. What did she mean by passions? How was Elphaba's appearance suppose to help Galinda's temperament?
"Your Eminence should be warned that the Princess will try to test you, but Your Eminence mustn't show her any signs she's affected you. Her nature is one that takes a perverse pleasure in the vexation of others. If you don't react to her, she'll grow bored and leave you alone in time."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. Were all the Gillikinese so tiresome? She held the maid's dress out in front of her. It's brightness was offensive. She hadn't even finished mourning her father. She should be wearing black at least until the end of the winter. She swallowed and glared at the dress several moments longer, before she sighed in defeat, and slipped it on.
Once she tied the apron around her waist and stepped out of the closet, Nanny whisked her down long corridors where enormous oil paintings hung of naked women reclining on furniture and posing in bath houses. Elphaba's insides churned. Such lewd displays of swaying breasts, pert nipples and bushy nether parts would never be on display like this in Munchkinland. Ogling the paintings, Elphaba almost walked into Nanny who had stopped and was opening a thick oak door.
Elphaba entered the luxurious ballroom behind the older woman. As her eyes fell on the dancing Princess, her heart skipped two whole beats. Galinda looked taller than her actual height with her neck elegantly stretched, her curvaceous body erect and posed in the middle of a dance lesson. She was more beautiful than any of the women Elphaba had seen in Munchkinland. Galinda rested the back of her right hand against her left cheek while she placed her left hand behind her back, palm out, above her waist. A male instructor directed her to tilt her head while she spun in tight circles. Galinda's flowing hair pulled at Elphaba's insides. The luscious ringlets were the color of white wine and bounced behind her as she spun. Galinda's cheeks were smooth, a hint of cherry spreading across them as she glided across the room. Elphaba's gaze moved from Galinda's passionate sapphire eyes, to her full pink carnation lips, to her buxom figure in her sky blue gown. The Munchkinlander's heart jumped into her mouth. A tight contraption around the Princess' torso pushed up the Princess' full breasts and offered them to spectators. How could the Princess expose herself like this? Elphaba felt a quiver between her legs as her eyes followed Galinda's soft flesh while she twirled.
Noticing the new guests, Galinda stopped mid-spin and stared straight at the green woman. Elphaba trembled, her mouth dry, as Galinda's eyes fixated on her. Yes, Elphaba was certain she had never laid eyes on anything more beautiful—until Galinda spoke.
"My, my!" the Princess said, "When I heard my new lady's maid was less attractive than Miss Clutch, I never dreamt an ogre was to replace her!"
An unbearable heat rose up Elphaba's cheeks. She felt four again on her first outing with her mother. All the children and townspeople had hooted and pointed, cursed and whispered. Her skin was not just different like the Vinkus people, no, her skin was a mistake, a devilish hex, an ugly affliction. More than ever, she wished she wasn't cursed this way. But, as soon as the silent desire rose up within her, she squashed it. You are what you are! There's no use wishing you weren't!
Of course something this beautiful would find her disgusting. The more beautiful Galinda was the more abhorrent Elphaba must appear. It was to be expected. What did it matter? She didn't need the Princess to like her. She was doing this for Nessarose. She didn't give one hoot what Princess Galinda thought of her.
"Master Nikidik, we'll end my lesson here today," the Princess said.
"Yes, Your Royal Highness," the instructor said and picked up his coat that was hung over a sofa and made his exit.
But as Elphaba watched the Princess pick up her fan and walk toward her, with a curious gleam in her eyes and that sway in her hips, it did matter. Elphaba wanted this breathtaking woman to find her pleasing. Just once she wished her skin wasn't the first part of herself to greet people. Just once since her mother died she wished someone to find her winsome. Stop being ridiculous, Elphaba Thropp! No one as striking as the Princess would ever have reason to even smile at her. Elphaba's desire for the Princess' affection was more than unannounced and idiotic, it was painful. If only Elphaba had wanted nothing from her, then maybe she wouldn't have felt so ashamed when Princess Galinda took the end of her lady's fan and stuck her cheek with it.
Elphaba flinched and Princess Galinda startled.
"It feels!" Galinda said and Elphaba's chest flooded with heat. Her eyes scanned the horizon for something safe to fall on and landed on the fireplace dust pan.
Galinda took the end of her fan and slowly scrapped it down Elphaba's cheek, leaving a white chafe mark down the Munchkinlander's face. The fan descended down Elphaba's neck, to the collar of her dress. When the fan didn't stop, Elphaba's heart sped up. The crisp folds traveled lower still, toward the small swell of her breasts. Elphaba was sure the fan would stop. But it didn't.
It slid between her breasts. Elphaba's nipples tightened. The thin butter cream fabric was the only thing separating Elphaba from the Princess's instrument. She had never been touched here, never been touched like this. She hardly had been touched at all. The Princess continued to move the fan until it was under Elphaba's breast. Elphaba shut her eyes tight. Then remembering Nanny's words, her eyes popped opened. Too late. Galinda was already grinning as she pushed the fan into Elphaba, the butter cream fabric pulling against Elphaba's erect nipple. The Princess circled Elphaba's sexual organ. Elphaba's cheeks were on fire.
"It blushes!" Galinda said and Elphaba silently cursed her traitorous body. "Yes, of course, Your Highness," Nanny said annoyed.
For all her good looks, the Princess was even more hateful than all the others. She circled the fan around Elphaba's other breast. How stupid Elphaba had been to have wanted the Princess to be kind to her. She didn't need the Princess' kindness. She didn't need anything or anyone.
Galinda hefted one of her small breasts atop the fan. The Munchkinlander turned an even darker shade of juniper. Elphaba had worked so hard to feel nothing. No matter how people treated her, she could stay empty, cool, unmoved. Not today. She had never been forced to feel like this. Never been humiliated like this. She felt and felt and felt. Until she wanted to vomit.
Galinda let the Munchkinlander's breast sit there for a moment before she asked,
"Does it speak?"
"It does. It even has a name!" Elphaba snapped, choosing fury over tears.
Galinda smirked and withdrew her fan. "Do tell creature, what shall we call you?"
"Elphaba," the Munchkinlander said.
"Elphaba Thropp third Descending, Your Royal Highness," Nanny added.
"Descending from what? A Magyr pod?" Galinda asked.
"The Thropp family line. Elphaba was royalty back in Munchkinland," Nanny said, her chest puffing.
Galinda shrieked with laughter and Elphaba's hands clenched.
"Royalty? Is it any wonder why Munchkinland fell to Gillikin. If this foul creature was royalty, I can only imagine how backwards the rest of the country was," Galinda said.
Elphaba's nostrils flared as she imagined slapping the dust pan against Galinda's pretty little head.
Nanny, used to Galinda's derision, asked,
"Will you be needing anything more, Your Royal Highness, or can I take Elphaba downstairs and show her to her room?"
"Gloves," Galinda said and walked toward a sofa.
"Gloves?" Nanny asked.
"Yes, for that thing," Galinda said and Elphaba raised an eyebrow, "I won't have it touching me with its bare hands when it bathes and dresses me."
A sudden chill hit Elphaba. Bathe and dress the Princess? Her? Elphaba reached out for Nanny as her knees buckled.