"It is time for me to do what I should have done from the beginning! She is too dangerous to be free! It is time to rid the land of her wickedness!"
"No! I am not going to let you do this! I am not going to let you do this to your own daughter!"
It had been one week since Evanora spoke with her mother about King Pastoria's deteriorating and erratic behavior. In that time, neither of them spoke about it further as they continued with their palatial duties. However, it became apparent that a chill wind had descended on the family. Ever since the fateful dance had taken place, Theodora had always been confined to her room and her door locked. As punishment for trying to defy him, King Pastoria ordered that no one was allowed to enter her room to speak to her or give her food. Instead, the tray was passed through an enclosure on the door that had to be unlocked. In this way, he hoped to dehumanize her even further.
"Here's your food, freak", Agatha would spat at the witch when she forcibly hurled the tray into her room before shutting the enclosure pass on the door again.
As the days passed, Evanora would pass by her sister's room and would at times hear her quietly pleading by the door. "Please…someone…let me out…" The witch would pause and look at her little sister's door. Something inside her screamed to just open the door and to disobey the king, but Evanora feared her father. Instead, she reluctantly turned and continued to somberly walk with her head down as she heard her little sister quietly sob.
While Evanora once had a good relationship with Glinda, their bond had slowly deteriorated. Glinda would routinely side with the king and look the other way when he would indulge in his worst impulses. This was no more apparent than when it came to their little sister.
"How could you let father do what he's doing", Evanora once remembered asking Glinda about his treatment towards Theodora.
"He's the king", Glinda softly replied with a warm smile of her own. "And besides, he is only protecting the people of Oz". Glinda's smile then faded as her eyes narrowed. "And maybe he wouldn't have to resort to this if you weren't using your 'powers' of persuasion on little sister to begin with. You should not encourage her to be so rebellious." As Glinda finished speaking, she would huff, turn her back on Evanora and walk away.
Evanora knew that she would turn her in if she confided her plans in Glinda. Not only had her inner jealousy and seething envy of her sister's beauty reached fever pitch—Evanora was born an ugly hag after all and only appeared beautiful because of Lurline's magical green necklace—but she also blamed Glinda for protecting and enabling Pastoria's worst behavior.
In Evanora's mind, Glinda sided with their father and that made her a traitor.
She decided to have another secretive conversation with her mother about the king's temperament.
"We need to take action already", Evanora pleaded with her mother in the royal bedroom. "He's becoming more unstable. What is he going to do next? He might kill someone!"
"Don't be foolish", Lurline said in a soft voice. He wouldn't—"
As the large double-plated emerald doors started to slowly turn, Evanora became frightened it might be the king listening in on their conversation. She quickly ducked into a nearby walk-in closet so not to arouse suspicions.
Pastoria entered the bedroom and stood across from Lurline. His eyes were wide as his jaw was tight. "It is time to do what is necessary", the king demanded. "You know what needs to be done…"
"No", Lurline began to raise her voice, which was something almost unheard of as the queen would often be meek and quiet in front of her husband. "It was not agreed upon at the meeting that we were going to do this!"
As she silently observed the conversation through the shut closet door, Evanora's brow was raised. Meeting?
Unbeknownst to her, King Pastoria had arranged a private meeting between the queen, Glinda, and Agatha. Even though Evanora was considered his official "advisor", this was not what the king originally intended. He wanted to make Glinda his official advisor, but at the prodding of Lurline, he ultimately relented. To outsiders, the king wanted to show that his family was united and, even though Glinda was his favorite, he wanted to convey the false impression among the Ozian populace that he didn't pick favorites amongst his daughters. And since most Ozians were very gullible people, he used this to his advantage. But he also knew that Evanora had a closer relationship with her little sister than he liked, and because of this, she was not invited. The topic of this meeting was what to do with Theodora.
"We all saw what happened at the dance", the king said as he started the meeting. "The issue is that my youngest daughter has dangerous fire powers, has a wild temperament that's far too uncivilized for Ozian culture." The king then shifted his eyes to Glinda. "You have even seen what she can become." His eyes then shifted back to the small group. "Even my closest advisors agree that she's wicked and she must be cast out of Ozian society for good. We must set the 100-year alarm clock on her. We have no choice. She must be confined for all eternity."
"Yes", Agatha excitedly roared. "I wholeheartedly agree with this approach. That freak must be—"
"Watch your language", Glinda softly chided her.
"But it is true", the lieutenant replied to her. "People are scared to come to the palace. Many of the servants who saw what happened are now afraid to walk its halls. Something must be done! If word gets out about this, panic will consume the Emerald City. Confiding this…thing in her room is not enough anymore. Her powers will only become stronger. As Good Ozians, it would be better if she entered an eternal and peaceful sleep. That is the right way. That is the only way…"
Lurline was nervous. If Glinda agreed to this, then she felt she would need to as well. The queen feared her husband's erratic nature. While he was incredibly charming and debonair to his subject, behind closed doors his anger could be triggered in unpredictable ways, and it would often become explosive.
After a few moments of silence, Glinda slowly shook her head. "No", she quietly cooed. "This is not the way." A brief look of disappointment flashed over Agatha's face, but she otherwise remained silent. "We must not give up on her", Glinda continued. A flash of anger appeared on her father's face, but it faded just as quickly. Since Glinda was his favorite, he would often let her be verbally outspoken and even disagree with him. This luxury had never been given to Lurline, Locasta or especially his youngest daughter, Theodora.
As Evanora listened to an intense argument about details of a meeting she never attended, it became clear to her that the king had dastardly plans for her little sister. Yes, while she believed that deep down her little sister was indeed wicked—a view slowly reached after many years of Pastoria calling Theodora that from only the slightest bit of provocation and a generally held belief in Ozian society that one was either incredibly good or incredibly wicked with no middle ground— her behavior was still not something that warranted death.
"I don't care if it was agreed upon at the meeting", the king spat at his wife. "I am the king! And I am going to make it happen! It is time for me to do what I should have done from the beginning! She is too dangerous to merely be confined to her room! It is time for us to rid the land of her wickedness!"
"No", Lurline said with great emotion in her voice as her arms flailed and her face red from anger. "I am not going to let you do this! I am not going to let you do this to your own daughter!"
"I will do what I wish! I am the king!"
This made Lurline indignant. "You! You are a danger to us all! This is why Locasta never wanted to succeed you as Ozma! She would have been too embarrassed to take over from a fiendish and power-hungry tyrant like you! You are a fake!"
The king furiously waved his hands at her. "How dare you", the king spat at her angrily and with much bitterness in his voice. "How dare you question my authority! I am no fake! I am a wizard with unbridled power and just as strong as any witch!"
"No, you aren't", Lurline shot back angrily. "Only witches have the divine power to rule! This was said by the Faeries when they came to Oz many eons ago!"
The king was on the verge of ranting and raving. "That is poppycock! An urban legend! An old wives tale! If I had it my way, I would rule the Emerald City forever! In fact, I am the most powerful ruler that the Emerald City has ever known!" He then sneered at his wife. "You know why Locasta left the Emerald City? Because she doesn't even know who she is! Yeah, that's right! She is not of sound mind and of sound body! How can a witch rule when she looks like a man? She even acts like a man! She even sounds like one! The Good people of Oz would never listen to her! I am the only one that can safely protect the Emerald City from the Nomes! I am the only one that can protect this city from Gayalette! From Singra! From Mombi! I am the only one who can protect this city from these wicked witches, your relatives no less! So how dare you try and insinuate I am not capable of ruling!"
Lurline made fists with her hands as she shouted at her husband. "Don't you dare criticize my family this way! Gayalette is not wicked! You were the one who invited her here as an advisor so you could control the Winkie Guards, and then you banished when she fell out of your favor, and she was of no use to you anymore! How could you do that! And how could you say that about Locasta? She's your daughter!"
"She's a freak! They're all freaks", the king roared. "And Evanora is a far better advisor to me than your own sister ever was—"
Lurline's lips quivered as she held out her trembling hands.
"Please…I am not going to have you imprison our daughter…"
But the king was intransigent. "I don't care what you have to say since you have no power over this. It is going to be done! Tonight!"
This made Lurline clench her teeth in anger. "You! You were only made king because of my family's royal connections to the Faeries! You were just a prince in some backwater Munchkin kingdom when my family found you, with dubious faerie lineage to boot! I am not going to allow this to happen! I am going to stop you…one way or another…"
The king curled his lips in anger. His face slowly became contorted into an expression of rage as his wife continued to berate him and released long repressed feelings of pent-up frustration and animosity towards him.
"Don't do this", the king grumbled. "I warn you", he said, with his own rage seething just beneath the surface. "You don't want to do this."
But his wife, for the longest time a quiet and meek woman, was now openly defiant towards him. "You have given me no choice. You may have some magical powers to speak of, but you are weak! You are weak and you have no right to rule! I could go to your advisors right now and reclaim the throne and there would be nothing you could do to stop me! Those with established faerie lineage have the right to rule the Emerald City! You will never be worthy without my continued blessing! It was a mistake to let you rule! And even if your advisors refuse or you forbid it, the Faeries have established a way for me to rule! I will reclaim this power!"
She then slowly walked past the king and headed towards the bedroom doors as he boiled with fury. "I am going to speak to the advisors about this! I am going to take over as the Emerald City's Ozma!"
This sent the king over the edge. "NO", he roared and screamed with the utmost of wrath. He grabbed his wife by the hair and threw her down onto the bedroom floor. Evanora then saw the king viciously and violently beat his own wife with his scepter. Pastoria grunted and groaned loudly with every hit on the queen's head. Lurline was quite powerful in her own right, but in her shock and passivity, she did little to try and resist. Instead, the queen gasped for air as she coughed up bloody sputum as he continued to violently bash her head in. Her eyes filled with fear, Lurline took her last breath.
As her mother now lay in a pool of her own blood and spatter covered the king from head to toe, Evanora cupped her hands over her face. Her eyes were wide, and her hands slowly started to shake. When the king realized what he had done, he slowly backed away from Lurline's deceased corpse. He dropped his scepter onto the floor as he gazed at his hands. His facial expressions conveyed great shock. He then stood there for the next several moments in silence. His eyes then darted around the room as his breathing quickened. He looked down and picked up the scepter as he concealed it in his royal coat.
He fell to his knees as his voice began to weep loudly. After several minutes of his wailing, a random maid darted into the bedroom. She found the king hunched over as his hands touched the queen's bodice. His head turned and he eyed the shocked maiden. "She's dead", the king said between his fake tears as he acted like he was visibly distressed. "I came in and found her, still alive, but she was sputtering blood! It looks like she hit her head! I-I-I-was trying to help and blood got all over me!" His voice then became frantic. "Get someone to help her! Quickly!"
Evanora continued to hide in the closet as many palace servants rushed into the bedroom, but it soon became clear to all that the queen was dead. Several servants helped to carry away the body while some of the maids cleaned up, many of whom were crying and sobbing.
The witch did not open the door until the last person left the bedroom. The sun was beginning to set as she silently and slowly walked to where her mother's body once lay. She was still in a state of shock. However, no matter how hard she tried, Evanora could not cry. Something inside of her snapped. With her mother's death, her soul became hardened.
She blamed Pastoria for the death of Lurline, but also Glinda as well. Had her sister been more outspoken and vocal against the king's worst behavior, it would have never come to this. But it did. And now the queen was dead.
She swore revenge on them both.