Thanks again, as always, to those who left a review! I'm somehow still working through the last chapter, which has turned out to be more difficult to write than I'd expected, but hearing from you guys is a great motivator. On with the story!
The guards marching back to Elphaba's lair were significantly more solemn than the ones who had delivered her to the Emerald City. It was insult enough that the members of the Gale Force had not been rewarded for their success, but now they were forced to escort the Witch back to the very site of her capture. Most of the men hadn't even been given a proper explanation as to why the Witch had been released. There was a steady undercurrent of frustrated grumbling that flowed through the group as they walked.
Fiyero could feel the animosity emanating from Elphaba more palpably than the invisible bonds tying them together. She would not look at him, nor at the guards behind her, instead choosing to keep her eyes trained ahead as though completely unaware of their presence. Fiyero debated whether he could say something to her without the other guards hearing, but decided it was too risky with so many pairs of eyes watching her every move. Instead, he kept quiet and found himself wishing that the intense stare he was boring into the back of her head could impart his intentions.
The journey back to the cave proved to be a rather uneventful, if exhausting, one. They did not stop to make camp this time, as the men who had been sent out with them were freshly rested. The same could not be said of Elphaba and Fiyero, who were making the journey for the second time since morning. Fiyero had at least been offered water and rations, though the same courtesies had not been extended to Elphaba, who was also carrying a heavy pair of shackles around her wrists. Despite this, she betrayed no signs of fatigue or weakness as she marched on at the head of the group.
Fiyero wondered how she intended to escape. He hoped that he could find some time to speak with her before she put whatever plan she had formulated into action. Perhaps there would be an opening after she removed the spell.
The sky was just beginning to grow dark by the time they reached the cave some hours later. The guards looked to Fiyero, who nodded to confirm that Elphaba had led them to the correct location. One of the men stepped forward and seized Elphaba's arm. She flinched at the contact but didn't look at him.
"Okay, Witch," he started, spitting the word as though it were a curse. "We're only here so you can undo whatever hex you've placed on the captain. Try anything funny and you will live to regret it. Do you understand me?"
Elphaba didn't answer, which seemed to anger the guard. Before Fiyero could say anything to stop it, the man lashed out and slapped Elphaba across the face. She reeled for a moment, and then finally turned to look at the man as her eyes narrowed into a glare.
He spoke again, slowly and more deliberately. "I said, do you understand me?"
"Yes," Elphaba answered, her voice dripping with venom. Her cheek was turning an odd shade of purple where he'd struck her. Fiyero felt that he'd be a bit more concerned for his safety right now if he were that guard.
Seemingly satisfied that he'd forced an answer out of Elphaba, the guard let go of her arm and pushed her ahead into the cave. Elphaba and Fiyero moved easily in the darkness while the rest of the guards bumbled behind them on unsure footing. The men were still too close for Fiyero to chance a conversation.
Before long they'd reached the large boulder that concealed Elphaba's hideout. Fiyero could feel the guards around them tense as she began to chant the spell to reveal the entrance, but they relaxed as the boulder rolled away to reveal the room beyond.
Elphaba ignored them and made straight for her spell book, which still lay open on the stone table. Everything in the room was exactly as she had left it. It was as though the journey to the Emerald City had never happened.
Elphaba leafed through the pages quickly, stopping a few moments later when she'd obviously found what she wanted. Fiyero glanced at the page over her shoulder but could make no more sense of the strange writing the first time he'd seen it. After a brief pause, Elphaba began to chant and Fiyero squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the spell's effects. He had a strong suspicion that Elphaba was not doing what she was meant to.
When several seconds passed without incident, Fiyero cracked one eye open. For a moment he thought that nothing had happened, until he did a double take and realized that the guards around them had frozen in place.
He looked back at Elphaba, who stood before him with the spell book still open in her hands. He was surprised that she hadn't cast the spell over him as well.
As if she could read his mind, she said, "Don't give me that look. I would have frozen you too, but I need you conscious to remove the binding spell." Her voice was bitter, and she sounded less than happy with him.
Fiyero knew this was the chance he'd been waiting for and spoke quickly. "You have to know that I didn't intend for this to happen."
"You almost had me fooled," she said, ignoring his plea. "All of that talk about wanting to think for yourself and be a better person. I almost believed you. You're one hell of an actor."
Fiyero was taken aback by the coldness of her demeanor. "I wasn't lying!" he insisted.
"The kiss was absolutely genius too," Elphaba went on as though she hadn't heard him. "Completely threw me off my guard. I should have realized your men would be looking for you. I should never have let you leave. Apparently one scrap of affection is all it takes to render me a simpering fool. I don't suppose you plan to tell Glinda about that particular facet of your daring escape."
Fiyero froze. In the chaos he'd forgotten about the camaraderie he'd witnessed between Elphaba and his fiancée back in the dungeons. He was only just beginning to realize how bad this looked. Of course Elphaba believed he'd been manipulating her when it was clear he was in a committed relationship with Glinda.
"Elphaba, you have to listen to me. I didn't kiss you that night because I wanted to trick you. I didn't plan it. It just happened," he said, his tone colored by desperation.
Elphaba's expression didn't change. Instead, she returned her gaze to the open page in front of her and began to chant. Fiyero felt a familiar sensation as the binding spell released him. Without another word, Elphaba snapped the heavy book shut and crossed the room to retrieve her broom and satchel from the opposite wall.
This was it. She was leaving. He didn't even know why it mattered to him. She would escape and his conscience would be cleared of any part he'd had in her capture. He could go back home and continue to live his life, a possibility that had seemed completely out of reach mere days ago. It was everything he'd wanted since Elphaba had taken him prisoner.
So why did he feel as though he was about to lose something incredibly important.
Before Fiyero could begin to make sense of his inner turmoil, a plume of red smoke sprang up in front of him. When it cleared, Elphaba was gone, leaving a stunned Fiyero behind.
Fiyero sat on a bed in one of the Emerald Palace's many redundant guest rooms, staring at the wall. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since he'd stood in the middle of that cave, mere inches from the spot where Elphaba had vanished. Once she'd gone, the guards around Fiyero had unfrozen almost immediately. Fiyero had enough sense to pretend that she'd frozen him as well, and that he was just as clueless as the other men as to how she'd pulled off her escape.
There had been some amount of frantic searching in the immediate wake of Elphaba's departure. The guards had combed the surrounding area for what felt like hours, a reluctant Fiyero playing his part even though he knew the effort was futile. Once it became clear that Elphaba had, in fact, managed to slip through their fingers, they'd finally called off the search and made camp for the night, somber and silent in anticipation of their disgraced return to the Emerald City.
Fiyero sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't stop playing the last few minutes before Elphaba's departure over and over in his mind.
He still hadn't spoken to Glinda about everything that had happened. He'd only arrived home a short while ago and had immediately snuck away to get his thoughts in order. He knew that word of his return would reach her soon enough, and that she would seek him out if he didn't go to her first. He still had no idea what he was going to say to her.
Deciding that he would put it off no longer, Fiyero slipped off the bed and out of the room. He found Glinda in a nearby parlor, her glazed eyes trained on the pages of a book she was clearly not reading. She looked up as he entered, and then let out a soft gasp. With hardly any hesitation, she threw her book aside and crossed the room to launch herself into Fiyero's arms. He reeled back slightly as he caught the full weight of his fiancée's assault.
"Oh, Fiyero dearest, I was so worried!" Her voice was slightly muffled, as her face was still buried in Fiyero's chest. She tilted her head to look at him. "Where in Oz's name have you been? How was Elphaba involved in all of this? No one will tell me anything."
He sighed and guided Glinda into a chair across the room, then took a seat beside her. They stared at each other for a few moments while he tried to think of where to begin.
"I'm fine, Glinda," he said. It seemed like the easiest place to start.
"Where have you been? You've had me so worried," she repeated, her blue eyes shining with concern. Fiyero realized that she must have been worrying over him for almost a week while he'd been missing.
He tried to formulate the most diplomatic response to her question he could manage. "I was captured. By the Wi-" he cut himself off, remembering that Glinda was in the know, "uh, by Elphaba I mean."
Glinda gave him a strange look. "How did that happen? Aren't you the one who was supposed to capture her?"
Fiyero was temporarily affronted by the accusing tone of his fiancée's voice, so he met it with an accusation of his own. "Why in Oz's name didn't you tell me that you're friends with the Wicked Witch of the West?"
Glinda didn't seem surprised by the question. She launched into her explanation immediately, as though she'd already rehearsed it. "Dearest, you mustn't believe everything you've heard about her. I'm not sure how she was acting towards you while she had you captive, and I haven't seen her in a long while myself, but deep down Elphaba is a good person." She lowered her voice to a whisper and added, "Most of the things people say about her are lies made up by Morrible and the Wizard."
Fiyero waited until Glinda was finished and said, "Don't worry, Glin. I've gotten to know Elphaba fairly well over the past few days. I figured out pretty quickly that she's not what people say she is." A thought suddenly occurred to Fiyero. "You knew that I've been at the head of the hunt for the Witch for two years. You saw me off on my missions to capture her dozens of times and you never said anything. Weren't you concerned for her?"
"Oh, Elphaba can take care of herself," Glinda said with a flippant wave of her hand. "Though I'm sure you've realized that by now. I heard that she managed to escape from under the nose of all of those Gale Forcers. Madame Morrible is absolutely livid," she said with a smirk in Fiyero's direction. Her face grew more serious, and she went on, "But this isn't something I generally like to talk about. If the wrong person found out, it could jeopardize my entire position."
Fiyero was mildly surprised to hear his fiancée take such a shallow stance. He knew that Glinda valued her reputation and status above almost all else, he just hadn't realized that included the well-being of what appeared to be her closest friend.
"So you've known that Elphaba was innocent all this time and you've never said anything?" he asked.
Glinda must have picked up on his slightly accusatory tone, because she bristled immediately. "And who would listen to me if I did? It's my word against the Wizard's and Morrible's. They would do the same thing to me that they did to her!" she argued. Fiyero couldn't help but feel that she was trying to convince herself.
Fiyero stared at the woman before him as though seeing her for the first time. Was she really more concerned with her position and appearances than the people she was supposed to care about? Would she cast him aside too if he ever jeopardized her precious reputation? His thoughts drifted, unbidden, back to the green woman he'd spent the better part of the past week with. He thought of her selfless dedication to her cause at the cost of her own happiness, and its stark contrast to the attitude of the woman sitting before him.
Fiyero realized with some shame that he wasn't much better than Glinda. He too had prioritized his own comfort and security over the wellbeing of others. He'd been complicit in the oppression of the Animals for as long as he'd been in the Wizard's employ, and he hadn't spared a thought as to whether any of it was justified. He didn't want to be that person anymore.
Fiyero must have remained silent for too long, because Glinda was looking at him with a strange expression on her face. "Fiyero? Dearest, is something wrong?" she asked, leaning towards him.
"She doesn't deserve this," he said. There was something bothering him. Why did he feel like this was all wrong? Why did he still feel so restless?
Without warning, the image of the kiss he'd shared with Elphaba flashed through Fiyero's mind. He felt his breath catch as the tips of his ears went pink, and something suddenly clicked into place.
Oh Oz, he was falling for her.
Fiyero was stuck dumb by the realization. He wasn't even sure when it had happened. All he knew was that he was home, he was safe, he was reunited with his adoring fiancée, and yet all he could think about was Elphaba.
Glinda was still looking at him with concern. After what felt like an eternity, Fiyero looked up to meet her eyes and said, "This isn't right. She's out there fighting for her life, and she hasn't done anything wrong. Someone needs to help her."
Glinda's look of concern morphed into one of confusion. "Fiyero, what are you talking about? You're not making any sense. You've just been through a trying ordeal. You should really get some rest."
Fiyero studied the woman in front of him. She felt like a stranger. He'd thought she was perfect once, at least on paper. Yet he was beginning to realize he'd been in love with the idea of her, and with the easy future that their marriage guaranteed him. He'd never been in love with her as a person. How had he never noticed before?
Maybe what he was starting to feel for Elphaba wasn't real either. Maybe he was just enamored with the thrill of the way she'd challenged everything he thought he'd known about himself. Yet when he thought of Elphaba alone and on the run, probably still hating him for what she perceived as a betrayal, he found he couldn't stomach it. Fiyero made up his mind.
"I'm sorry Glinda, I really am, but I can't stay here. I need to find her," he said.
"What are you saying?" Glinda asked, her tone a mix of hurt and irritation. "You've only just come home. We should be celebrating your safe return. Why on earth would you go running off after a woman you met a week ago? I already told you that Elphaba can take care of herself."
Fiyero shook his head. "This is something I need to do."
Glinda stood from her chair, looking at Fiyero as though he'd suddenly sprouted another head. "Fiyero, you're really scaring me," she said, searching his face for any hint that he was joking. "I don't think you understand what you're saying. I'm going to go get the palace physician to come and check on you. Please, just stay here and don't do anything rash until I return." She didn't wait for his response before she turned and hurried from the room.
For a moment, Fiyero considered waiting for Glinda to return. There was still time to backpedal and pretend that he'd merely been in the throes of delirium due to exhaustion. He had no doubt that Glinda would choose to believe it. He shook his head and set his conviction. He wasn't going to spend the rest of his life wondering if he'd made a terrible mistake.
Fiyero spared one last glance to the doorway Glinda had just exited through, then turned and left the room through the door on the opposite side. He wouldn't have a lot of time if he wanted to get out of the palace without attracting unwanted attention. He made a brief stop at the kitchen to pick up some rations, then made straight for one of the less conspicuous exits.
He knew he should have mentioned his leaving to Glinda. He was doing her a grave disservice by slipping out without so much as a goodbye. He wondered if she would break their engagement over this. He wondered if he would care.
Fiyero strode out the doors and onto the palace grounds as though he was meant to be there. No one paid him much mind, likely assuming that he had official business to attend to. Though the rational part of Fiyero's mind knew that there was no reason for anyone to suspect him, he couldn't help but feel slightly on edge until he'd put a fair distance between himself and the palace gates.
As Fiyero hastened through the streets of the Emerald City, he contemplated just how rash of a decision he was making. Elphaba had disappeared over 24 hours ago. That was more than sufficient time for a head start, especially on broomstick. She could be anywhere in Oz by now. Fiyero had spent almost two years searching for her with no luck, and it was likely she was no keener for him to find her now than she had been then. And yet, despite all of that, Fiyero knew that he at least had to try. Even if she turned him away and wanted nothing to do with him, at least he would know he'd done all he could.
Though he knew it was most likely pointless, he decided that the best place to start would be Elphaba's old hideout. He was almost certain she wouldn't go back there, not after everything that had happened, but he had no better ideas. Perhaps he would be able to find some minuscule clue as to her whereabouts. That thought in mind, Fiyero set out on the now-familiar path back to the caves.