The Ozian sun slowly rose once again. As its gentle and majestic warmth penetrated the expansive bay windows of the opulent dining room, the Wizard began to stir. His head was resting on the table and his eyes were closed. Murmurs of various female and male voices were heard in adjoining rooms as the day shift officially began. One such servant tapped her finger sharply on the Wizard's cheeks.
He slowly opened his eyes and grumbled. Bella placed her hands on her hips as she stared at the Wizard. "Some night you had, huh?"
"Wh….wha…where…" He was still disoriented as he stretched his hands and yawned as the dining room began to come into focus.
"You were sleeping here when I found ya", Bella replied. "You might've been here all night from what I could tell. Where ya?"
The Wizard shook his head. "No…I came here sometime during the night…just had a bad dream, I guess." He began to rub his eyelids with the back of his hands. "Where's…"
Bella interrupted him, knowing who he was inquiring about. "She's with my father. They're having a meeting about his performance tending to his crops…" Her voice then began to become quiet and nervous as she approached him. "But I am concerned. My father is not meeting production. And now that things haven't gotten better, I fear what will happen next…" As Bella spoke, the Wizard tried to comfort her and acted like he knew this information, even though he didn't. "By the way…", Bella said. "There are rumored whispers throughout the castle that there was a confrontation with the Emerald City yesterday. Is that true?" Bella looked at the Wizard with bright eyes, hoping that he was going to make sense of these rumors the Winkie maid her. Instead, he merely stood from his chair and made his way to the bedrooms as Bella's voice rang out. "If you want to find them, they are past the hallway and to the right…" She then slumped her shoulders, mumbled to herself and started her duties for the day, which included cleaning and scrubbing dirty clothes.
For the next several minutes, the Wizard slowly walked past the numerous bedrooms as he began to tiredly rub his eyes again. He looked into Theodora's room and, true to Bella's word, she wasn't there. Still, the Wizard was fatigued from yesterday's events and the dreadful nightmare he experienced. He still could not get that vivid dream out of his head.
As he made his way to an adjoining hallway, he saw two Winkie Guards who were standing watch over a closed door. As he began to approach, he heard the sounds of a conversation taking place behind the glass wall. He didn't recognize the man's voice, but he recognized the witch's voice. As the Wizard approached the door to turn the knob, one of the Winkie Guard's gently grabbed his hand.
"The mistress is busy, but she will be with you when she is finished. Please have a seat…" The guard then pointed to a chair that was on the opposite side of the hall. "T-thank you…", he nervously gestured as he took a seat. A translucent glass wall separated the pair from the Wizard. He could tell that Theodora was sitting behind a desk, while two Winkie Guards were standing beside her. In front of the desk was a short stocky man sitting in a chair, but since the man's back was turned to him, the Wizard could not see his face. However, he could vaguely hear their conversation.
"M-m-m-mistress…I am doing the best I can…b-b-b-but conditions have occurred that have been beyond my…"
However, he was angrily interrupted as the witch's tone was sharp and stinging. "I don't care about your sorry excuses! I already took one of your daughters away from you. Things better improve or you better pray that something even worse doesn't happen to you…"
The man whimpered as he continued to plead. "B-b-b-b-b Mistress, I don't know what else I can say…I've been doing the best I can…"
"I don't care what else you have to say. But if nothing else is going to get through to you, then maybe this will…"
Suddenly, the two Winkie Guards forcefully grabbed the man, hurled him around and violently pinned his face against the glass. Startled by this, the Wizard nearly jumped from his chair. As he gazed at the poor man, who gave him a petrified glance as his face was being pressed into the glass, the Wizard got up from his chair and nervously walked back to the dining room.
He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Was he still dreaming? He pinched himself, so he knew he was awake. He decided to get that incident out of his mind and instead concentrate on something he enjoyed working on: his inventions. Before he got to work, he returned to the dining room and decided to prepare some eggs.
Once he settled on the dining room table with one of his blueprints and the eggs he prepared, he saw that same poor man dash past him as he ran out of the castle as fast as his legs could carry him. The Wizard kept his head down as he nervously traced his pencil on his blueprint. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the witch slowly walk into his view as she continued to gaze at the man who dashed out of her castle, but the Wizard ignored her and didn't take his eye off his project.
Theodora gave him a passing glance as she then eyed his food. "Oh", she said with mild annoyance. "You are eating that again? Ugh…"
The Wizard didn't respond as he maintained his focus on his work. "Wizard, I don't know what to do with you. Why you eat that disgusting food, I have no idea…"
After being ignored once more, the witch simply took a seat at the table across from him. She planted her elbow on the table and placed her hand on her cheek. Her other hand began to gently and nervously tap. The tension in the air was palpable. After several minutes of awkward silence, she then started to fidget nervously as she looked at him once more.
"What?" The witch's voice was edgy. The Wizard eyed her with a glance, but otherwise didn't say anything. He really didn't know what to say. Between what occurred the night before, the dream he had and what he saw earlier that morning, he decided that saying nothing was probably for the best. He simply gave the witch a weak smile before his eyes returned to his work.
But the witch stared at him intently. "What?"
"What…what?", the Wizard replied.
"Something is wrong"
"Nothing is wrong", he replied.
"Yes, there is…"
Without receiving a response or an acknowledgement, the witch looked away from him, but her gaze returned after some awkward silence had again passed.
"Wizard, I can tell there's something wrong. It's very obvious…" Her tone was subtly accusatory and biting. "What is it?"
But the Wizard shrugged her off. "There is nothing wrong."
The witch raised her hands in the air. "Yes, there is. And you are going to tell me what it is…"
After another period of awkward silence, the witch suddenly stood from her seat. "Do you think I'm ugly? Is that what it is?"
He dropped his pencil and eyed the witch in confusion. "What?"
"Is it because you like Glinda more than me? Is that what it is, Wizard?"
He shook his head in frustration. "What are you talking about?" Indeed, the Wizard was annoyed. Glinda seemed to be a common theme around the castle ever since he arrived. It was like Theodora could not let it go.
But his seemingly innocent question only aggravated her further. She curled her hands into a fist.
"Wizard, it is clear that you think I'm ugly. Okay? I can see that you think I'm ugly and hideous, especially after the way you've been treating me." Her voice became increasingly biting and edgy after each word. "It is obvious that you just want to treat me like garbage after everything that I have done for you." She waved her hand at him dismissively. "Go ahead and make Glinda your queen. I've had enough of your nonsense…"
This made him throw his hands in the air as his voice became louder. "Theodora, what are you talking about? What does Glinda have anything to do with this?"
She suddenly snapped at him. "BECAUSE GLINDA WILL DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO TRY AND RUIN MY LIFE! SHE'S BEEN A HORRIBLE SISTER TO ME EVER SINCE I WAS BORN! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THIS WIZARD?! DON'T YOU!" Theodora started to yell, her inner rage that she always tried to suppress slowly started to rise to the surface.
This caused the Wizard to become angry and defensive, too. "What do you mean by everything that you've done for me? What about everything that I've done for you?! I protected you yesterday and now you are screaming at me? For what? And then you didn't listen to me last night when I told you to stop!..."
But the Wizard's rising anger made Theodora explode as she continued to scream at him unabashedly. "YOU KNOW WHAT! FUCK YOU WIZARD…OKAY! FUCK YOU! IF YOU THINK I AM UGLY AND HIDEOUS, THEN YOU CAN FUCK RIGHT OFF RIGHT NOW AND GO TO GLINDA! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO PIN THE BLAME ON WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT ONTO ME! THAT WAS YOUR IDEA ANYWAY! YOU MADE ME DO IT! IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE WIZARD, THEN YOU CAN LEAVE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CASTLE AND DON'T COME BACK!" She stomped her foot in frustration, grabbed the nearest metal cup that was on the dining room table with her hand and threw it towards the Wizard's direction, smashing and cracking a nearby wall.
As Theodora raged at him, his eyes became wide with terror. The witch's demeanor literally went from calm, if slightly irritated, to extraordinarily angry in a mere matter of seconds. He froze with fear as she clenched her teeth and snarled at him. His hands were subtly shaking as he took deep breaths from his mouth. Finally, he decided to stand as if to leave and this is when the witch's temperament and facial expressions started to change.
"No!", she sweetly objected. "Please…", she started to beg and plead with him. "Don't leave me, Wizard! Don't leave me! I promise I can change! I'm sorry…please…I can change…" She started to gesture with her hands reassuringly, seemingly expressing much guilt for what she had just did.
He eyed her with much hesitation and confusion. What. The. Hell. Just. Happened? The Wizard didn't know what to do. Theodora's anger and rage scared him, especially since this conversation came from out of nowhere. This wasn't the first red flag he saw from her.
However, after yesterday's events, he knew it was not wise to return to the Emerald City or even to Glinda's castle. If he left the witch's castle, where would he go? He decided that he had no choice but to stay. He then faked a smile as he sat on the dining room chair once more.
"It's okay…" he reassuringly said, trying to calm the situation. "I don't think you are ugly. I think you are beautiful…" This made the witch glowingly smile.
He continued. …It's just that…I have a lot on my mind…" This caused the witch to brighten her grin at him. She went from explosively hostile to loving and gleefully happy in a matter of seconds. To the Wizard, this sight was disturbing to see.
"Is it because of what happened yesterday?", the witch concerningly asked.
The Wizard slowly nodded his head, not wanting to incur the witch's wrath again.
Theodora lowered her head, as if deep in thought. She then suddenly looked up at him once more, their eyes meeting.
"Wizard…" The witch continued to look at him as she flashed a devious smile. Oh no…what now, he thought to himself.
Her smile continued as a devious grin. "We can simply attack."
He cringed at her. "What…?"
She became animated, as if she thought of a brilliant idea. "We have the Winkie Guards and the flying monkeys at our disposal." The witch now spoke to him so earnestly and tenderly as she continued to flash him a bright but a subtly malevolent grin. "We can attack and take over the Emerald City. And we can rule all of Oz. Together. This way, those horrible people at the Emerald City won't come after you and…" The witch's voice began to trail off as her eyes glanced away from the Wizard and to a nearby wall before she focused on him again as she clenched her teeth. "…Glinda won't come after you..." This caused the Wizard to sit back in his chair. He crossed his arms on his chest, pursed his lips and slowly but assuredly shook his head.
"But why not!", the witch demanded as she pouted, her arms outstretched.
He eyed her earnestly. "We need to see what happens now and what the fallout from this brings. We can't do anything rash. We need to stay right here…"
"But Wizard!", the witch began to object, but he was having none of it. He pointed his finger at the chair directly behind her, as if giving her an order. "Sit…"
The Wizard's response caused the witch to slowly shake her head as she took a seat and seemingly lowered her head in defeat. "The Emerald City is so powerful, Wizard. Glinda is so powerful." Her voice became soft and quiet. "They won't stop. They have us…they have us…"
He looked at her curiously. At first, Theodora was fuming, hostile and paranoid. Then she became rageful. Then she showed deep embarrassment and remorse, begging him not to leave. Then she turned sweet. Then vengeful and bloodthirsty. And now pouty, depressed and despondent, all in a matter of mere minutes. The witch was barely in control of her emotions and it showed.
The Wizard noticed many unsettling things at Theodora's castle that was not sitting right with him. The servants not speaking to one another and trying to avoid the witch. The witch's outbursts. How the witch behaved last night before they went to sleep. How the witch behaved to Bella's father and then to him.
There was something about the witch that was not quite right. The Wizard knew there was something wrong with Theodora, but he didn't know what it was. He just knew that, underneath it all, his gut was screaming at him to leave.
But for better or for worse, the Wizard needed to stay. He had to stay. He knew that he had to try and control the witch's worst impulses. The Emerald City would come. And when they did, he would get this all straightened out. He had to. For he was the Wizard.
The witch stood from her chair. As she was about to leave the room, she turned and faced him again. "Wizard…", she cooed as she eyed him suspiciously. "Do you have eyes for Bella?"
Not knowing how to respond to this ridiculous and unsupported accusation of jealously, the Wizard eyed her incredulously. He was about to respond when the captain burst into the dining room.