A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. And yes - trouble begins. ;)

Chapter 6

"Gentlemen, I certainly hope on our first day as temporary leaders of Oz, we aren't in some sort of dire straits," Fiyero said as he and Elphaba walked into the Council Room about twenty minutes later. They'd been faster than they thought and Fiyero had made a mental note to find out what Mr. Samuels had put into that hangover cure.

"I did not want to call this meeting, but I felt I had no choice," Barat explained as the two took the seats provided for them facing the Council members.

"Sweet Oz," Elphaba shook her head. How was this possible? They literally only took over two hours ago.

"Glinda was supposed to hold the yearly meeting of all Ozian country heads before she went on her honeymoon. However, schedules would not allow it, and since all the heads of state are here now…" Barat trailed off.

"They didn't bring their diplomatic entourages though. Can we hold such a meeting without all the important players?" Fiyero asked.

"Also, couldn't the meeting wait until schedules were more synchronized? I suppose the bigger question is that why leaders of Oz wouldn't move their schedules around Glinda…" Elphaba gave the Councilors a look.

"Trust me, I don't think this is a good idea either, but Barat has a point. Even if all we do is make it so everyone agrees on a date, once Glinda and Bayram are back from their honeymoon, it'd be worth it," Fekri spoke up.

"When are the leaders scheduled to leave? I know my parents will be staying for another week," Fiyero told them.

"The Supreme Glaxony of Quadling Country, Heart-of-Mushroom, intends to leave at the end of the week. He has business to attend to here in the city. As you know, the mushrooms of Quadling Country are highly desired all over Oz and our fearless leader wants to make sure our vendors here get to tell him of their needs," Chalumpo let them know.

"Sounds good. How about Gillikin, Barat?" Fiyero wanted to know.

"The Lord-Mayor of Shiz Brrr is going to stay until the end of the week as well. I'm sure that Lord Highmuster and Lady Larena could certainly help him navigate the meeting," the Councilman said.

"My good friend, Bfee, is going to stay as long as your parents Prince Fiyero," Councilman Arif told the group.

"Ok, so we have some overlap. Go to your respective leaders, get them to agree that we should hold the meeting tomorrow afternoon. I want time to find and go over Glinda's notes so that everyone will know what the agenda will be when she and Bayram come home," Fiyero's Prince training was showing and Elphaba couldn't help but smile.

"Anything else gentlemen?" The green woman wanted to know.

"That does it for me," Fekri said. Nods and murmurs followed from the others and the meeting was adjourned. Before Fiyero and Elphaba could depart, however, Barat pulled them aside.

"Lord-Mayor Brrr would like a private audience with you – both of you," the Councilman said.

"Us?" Fiyero was surprised. Admittedly, Elphaba was surprised as well. The last time they had bumped into Brrr, he had announced he was King of the Forest, and he had helped to hide the Farhidi children. His help had also given way to finding Ugabu and Mombey. The political map of Gillikin shifted while Fiyero and Elphaba had been in the Vinkus and Brrr was the first Animal to run and then win the race for Lord-Mayor. Those who had wished for Animal Equal Rights had celebrated - Mrs. Dillamond had even sent Elphaba an excited letter.

"Indeed. He refuses to tell me what about. When would you like to meet with him?" Barat wanted to know.

"Have him meet us in Glinda's office in fifteen minutes," Fiyero told him. Barat nodded and left the room. Elphaba looked at her fiancé and he could only shrug.

To Be Continued…