Chapter 6: Midnights Become My Afternoons
So much for resting, Elphaba thought to herself as she, yet again, lit another candle after another had reached its end.
With the king still gone on business - which she still had no idea what it actually was - and the "honeymoon period", if one could call it that, over, she was for all intents and purposes regent until further notice.
There was always a policy or bill that needed to be reviewed, which meant sitting in meetings lasting at least an hour. There were stacks and stacks of papers she needed to read thoroughly, all dealing with foreign relations, treaties, and agreements; this took up the majority of her day. It was from these stacks of papers that she was learning much about the Vinkus and its importance to other countries as well as what they received in exchange for peaceful relations. Then there was the matter of visiting Captain Oakes to receive updates on the military, which was working on bringing all proposed changes from their Privy Council meeting into effect and, in the absence of the king, operated on her word. Each day she learned more about how the Gale Force operated; the missions they executed each day, their components, and the duties of soldiers based on their ranks.
She was glad, happy even, to learn more and more of the Vinkus and just what role she was playing in governing it. But with her days being taken up by all these matters, she barely had time to think about the one matter pressing hard at the back of her brain: Kvon's poverty. Consequently, Elphaba's taken to staying up past midnight to brainstorm and plan ways to begin the steps towards solving this crisis.
But no matter what she wrote down, she always ended up scratching it. She'd thought about selling those wedding gifts she didn't intend to keep. Almost three weeks - dear Oz, three weeks already - had passed since the wedding. She figured there would be no harm done nor feelings wounded if she were to hold an auction and raise some extra funds for Kvon as all the funding they had was being used solely for the new schools. Then she'd thought about setting up loans for all the businesses that had closed, surely that would help get them back on their feet. As she developed those ideas further however, she crumbled the sheets of paper and tossed them in the trash. These were temporary solutions. The real challenge was for Kvon to once again have a dependable economic system for its society to thrive. But how? The fact was that crossing from Ev to Kvon was no harder, therefore tourism was down significantly and it was hurting Kvon's people. And unless Elphaba could get to the bottom of why those regulations had changed and possibly lighten them, which she very much doubted she could do given that she'd learned earlier in the day Ev was on the brink of civil war, she was running out of ideas.
For many nights she simply sat at her desk in her study for hours trying to come up with something else now that all the ideas she'd thought of were effectively useless. But she couldn't come up with anything.
Elphaba blinked rapidly in an effort to keep herself awake, if just a bit longer. Surely, she was bound to come up with something tonight. But when a knock at the door startled her, she found herself lifting her head from her desk, still in her clothes from the day before, the newly lit candle had long since burned out, and rays of sunlight were beginning to shine through the window.
She'd fallen asleep.
Perhaps this was her cue to take a break from the matter, but she felt like she couldn't. She had a duty to the people. Elphaba told herself to use her lunchtime as an opportune nap time and hurried to answer Mina, who sounded worried behind the closed door.
After another long day, Elphaba changed into her nightgown and donned a black robe, preparing herself for another night at her study to rack her brain about how to help Kvon. As she grabbed extra candles, which she preferred to burning the oil lamps all night, she heard a small ruckus coming from the other side of her wall, the one that connected her and the king's chambers.
Had he returned?
A thought came to her. Maybe, if he wasn't too tired, he could help her? She'd produced nothing on her own thus far. It may be useful to have someone else to bounce ideas off of, especially someone who'd been raised to deal with crises like these.
Elphaba opened the door that connected their rooms and crossed the small corridor. His door opened before she could even raise her fist and she was face to face with the king, who was also dressed for bed. His eyes widened in surprise before he regained his composure.
"I was about to inform you of my return."
"I trust all went well?"
"Yes."
She nodded. "May…may I speak with you? In my study?"
Ever so slightly stunned, he nodded and silently followed her lead. Once they were in her study, Elphaba turned on the oil lamp on the wall - a few candles would hardly light the room enough for the two of them - and pulled out her notebook and turned to the section she'd marked. "Um," she smoothed out the pages, forcing them to stay open, and sank down on her chair. "Are you aware of a rapid rise of poverty in Kvon?"
He didn't say anything, but she could clearly see that what she'd said had confused him, which slowly morphed into bewilderment, as if she'd spoken to him in a different language. Evidently, he hadn't known.
"Uh…" she scanned through the page to ensure she would tell him all the facts correctly. "I talked to many people while visiting the school construction sites there. Among the things that were brought up, poverty was one of them," out of the corner of her eye, she saw the king pull up a chair to sit across from her. "The people quickly pointed out to me the reason why: a lack of tourism. Um…I was told the border to Ev amped its restrictions on traveling to and from Kvon. Consequently, tourism has drastically dropped to practically nothing, which Kvon's economy was highly dependent on. People have lost their businesses, their homes, and the numbers are only rising. And with only two homeless shelters available in the entirety of the region - which I visited and one of which is in already questionable conditions, it's only a matter of time before things worsen and this crisis becomes a true nightmare."
He slumped back into his chair. His face betrayed nothing and Elphaba looked back down to her journal.
"Have…have I lost you somewhere?"
"No," he quickly answered. "No, you haven't. It's just - I…I truly was not aware of this. At all," he seemed almost ashamed to admit it to her. He pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled. "Do you know when the border of Ev imposed these restrictions?"
"From what was told to me, a little over a year ago."
"Alright," he glanced at her journal. "May I see it."
Elphaba slid the open journal to him. "There's more details in the next three pages," she informed. She'd written down as much as she could remember, from the conversations she'd had with the people to the rotting stench of the second homeless shelter.
It was silent as read, the only noise in the room being the occasional flipping of the pages. Elphaba shifted in her chair, crossing and uncrossing her legs, locking then pulling at her fingers.
"Oz," he said. He sat up straighter and handed the journal back to her. "With Ev having a civil war on its hands any day now, this isn't something that will straighten itself out anytime soon."
She nodded in agreement. "I'd…I'd thought about raising extra funds for Kvon through auctions or…even authorizing some sort of loans to all the businesses that have closed down. It would surely help in renovating the shelters, perhaps to build more. And help the businesses. But…they're all…"
"Temporary," he finished.
"Precisely. It would provide only a brief period of relief but eventually Kvon would be right back where it is now. Maybe even worse off."
"And the jobs the new schools would create are years away."
"Is there…anything else that can be done? What has been done in situations like these in the past?"
The king stood and began to pace the room. "The last crisis similar to this was during my grandfather's reign. The Lesser Kells suffered from a number of factors; inflation, housing shortages, shortage supplies; to name a few. One of the things that kickstarted their growth again was hosting the horse racing final that season."
Oh. "Then could that be a solution to help Kvon?"
"I don't think so. It's a good idea in theory, but with the inflation that's occurred, the gross from the events would hardly make an impact, not to mention Kvon would already be spending large amounts of money to compete as well. It may only result in gaining back what they would've already spent."
Well, there went that.
Elphaba stood and placed her hands on her desk on either side of her journal. She re-read the words she'd written as if a solution would just jump out at her. She felt an incoming headache. This problem had been gnawing at her since the day she'd learned about it. Perhaps they should go to bed and sleep on what they'd exchanged. But before they did, "Would you mind telling me the business you had to travel for?" if all was settled then there should be no harm in telling right? Besides, as queen she reckoned she should also be informed of his matters. He would certainly be informed of hers.
"Oh that. It was simply a matter of establishing the line of succession for Ugabu."
That took her aback. "What? They're a monarchy as well are they not? And the King and Queen have two sons and a daughter?" surely things hadn't changed much in the past week?
"The daughter of whom is the eldest."
"And?"
"Ugabu's never had a queen regnant before. Consort and regent yes, but a woman has yet to inherit the throne."
"Ah," she understood now. "Then there was a matter of allowing her to inherit or passing the throne over to the eldest brother."
"Exactly."
"Why the secrecy then?"
"Well, all leaders and rulers, after countless meetings and trials, have officially witnessed her swear-in ceremony. Princess Danna will officially inherit the throne once her father steps down. It is to be announced to Oz in the early morning."
"Oh," she pursed her lips, a question on the tip of her tongue. Evidently the long hours of the day made her less susceptible to overthinking. She asked, "How come I wasn't required to attend?"
He probably hadn't thought about it before as he took a minute to give her an answer. "It's mostly likely because only those who attended her evaluations, which began long before our union, received an invite to her ceremony. If it soothes you at all, you should be expected to attend matters like these from this day forward."
"That makes sense," Elphaba sighed and rubbed her eyes. "It's been a long day and it's late. We should put a pin in this for a night," gestured to her journal.
The king covered a yawn and nodded. "I haven't said this yet, but I thank you, immensely, for bringing this to my attention. I can't believe I didn't know this was happening."
"Well, that's what I'm here for."
He held her gaze for a moment. Her heart pounded beneath her chest and Elphaba forced herself to look down. He didn't communicate much of anything with his eyes, she noticed. He was very good at not betraying his thoughts. But even still, as their eyes had stared into one another, she felt that they'd fully understood each other and the true weight her statement carried.
They were ruling a country together. Circumstances aside, they were now the monarchs of the Vinkus and had a duty to the people. And they had to rely on each other. Whether they liked it or not, it would take the two of them working together to fix any problems that arose.
It was slightly terrifying, knowing she'd have to depend so much on him and him on her. The only other person this had ever applied to was Nessarose. But times were different now. However, they did seem to get along fairly well for what was expected of them. They'd had a good conversation the night before their Privy council meeting and he'd listened to her just now. Surely they would be able to deal with Kvon's crisis effectively.
"Allow me to escort you to your chambers?"
She nearly dropped her journal. He wouldn't go in with her, right?
They would have to have a conversation about this matter sooner or later. The matter of having an heir. But that could certainly wait more months, years even. They were both young and - wait, how old was he?
"Elphaba?"
"My apologies. Um…" she wouldn't be rude. She'd talk to him if he followed her inside. "Yes. Thank you, my lord."
She put out the light and locked the door behind her.
"There's no need to be so formal."
"Pardon?"
"The titles. I thought we'd agreed there would be no need for them in private."
Oh. "That's right. I apologize."
"No, don't. But would that be more comfortable for you then?"
"I don't think it's a matter of comfort. It's just that I barely know you."
They walked in silence the rest of the way, though it wasn't uncomfortable. What she'd said was right. They'd been married without ever meeting and now almost three weeks after the fact, they'd hardly seen much of each other, and when they had, all they talked about was matters related to their duties.
"You're right, we don't know each other. At all." he said numbly. "I shouldn't be called away any time soon. We'll be seeing much more of each other until further notice."
"Fantastic. I really, desperately need more help on how to tackle Kvon's rising poverty."
They arrived at the front of her chamber doors and she turned around to face him. He held a blank stare. He pursed his lips and said, "And I will provide that for you."
"Thank you."
"I'll leave you to get some rest then."
She hoped her sigh of relief wasn't obvious. "Goonight," she nodded. He returned the parting, and continued to walk to his chambers as she entered her own.
Elphaba shook her hand, opening and closing her fingers. She switched the quill over to her left and kept writing down the amended bill on the parchment.
It was the only task that required her attention thus far. The king was out visiting to the Gale Force's main training center to oversee the beginning of the upcoming changes in the uniform and weapons while she was given a single bill that had been amended a few months ago and, as of today, had officially passed. It was over ten pages long, front and back.
It dealt with the Vinkus' court system, or more specifically the appropriate punishments for their respective crimes. Life sentences could now have the opportunity of parole depending on the criminal's age, record, and psychological state. And of course, there was an exception to every rule, and an exception to the exception. Everything was so meticulously detailed and thorough and it has officially taken her over five hours. At least she was on track with what the laws were, though she still needed to learn how the amendments were made in the first place. Not just that, how new laws were proposed, presented, established; it was a notoriously long and dreadful process. And it seemed like it would be something she'd learn as she went.
Elphaba knew she should take a breather. Her back ached, her eyes were throbbing, and now both her hands were on the verge of cramps.
"Your Majesty?"
"Come in, Mina," she said without even glancing up.
Her lady-in-waiting entered the study but remained at the door. "My lady, would you like me to bring you a late breakfast?"
"Not particularly," Elphaba answered honestly. She felt no hunger whatsoever, but she had to fill her stomach with something. She was improving; her belly was no longer as concave as it had been when she arrived at Kiamo Ko and the energy she had throughout the day was vastly greater than it had been before. But it was harder than she'd thought it would be, her appetite had yet to fully return. She'd felt hungry many times, but she mostly felt extreme discomfort. It only made Elphaba reject all food. The mere thought of it would only make her nauseous. "Though I suppose I could use some tea. Would you bring that for me, Mina?"
"Of course, my lady. And I would like to inform you that you've been requested to join the king at the Gale Force Base in the evening."
Her head snapped up and her hand ceased writing for the first time since she'd begun. "Do you know what time exactly?"
The teenager shook her head. "I was merely told that it's recommended you have dinner first then be on your way. You're both expected to be there well after the sun sets."
"Alright. Thank you, Mina."
Mina nodded and excused herself to fetch her mistress' tea as quickly as possible.
Her day seemed to go by quickly due to anxiously wondering what she would be needed for at the Gale Force's training center.
Upon crossing the gates, that anxiety only spiked. The place was as massive as the castle and she had no idea where she needed to be. Luckily, since her arrival was imminent, a soldier had been assigned to greet and escort her to the Emerald Court. It was where all the higher ups gathered around to make important decisions, the young man explained.
Elphaba asked him out of curiosity, and an attempt at politeness, what his day had consisted of, something she very wished she could take back. The soldier eagerly went about his schedule by the hour while going off on tangents about his personal life. By the time he'd reached noon, she felt like tearing her hair out. She tried not to judge - by Oz she tried, but by the time he'd finished, Elphaba had made up her mind. The young man was absolutely irritating, and clearly liked to stroke his own ego.
Finally, they arrived at the Emerald Court. It was a large room with portraits and paper clippings of the Gale Force's history hung on the wall. A large, horseshoe shaped table surrounded two grand chairs against the wall. Many men in uniform chatted amongst themselves and Elphaba very easily spotted the king; the only one dressed in red amongst a sea of dark green.
"Well, it was very lovely to talk with you, my Queen. I'll part with you here."
Talk with her? She'd barely gotten two full sentences out. "Thank you," she slightly bowed her head and headed towards the king.
He spotted her when she was halfway there and he excused himself from the group he'd been conversing with.
"I'm glad you arrived safely."
"What's happening?"
"A debate is about to transpire," he walked her over to a more vacant spot in the room. "Followed by a possibly history-making vote. It's possible that as of today, women will be allowed to enlist in the Gale Force."
Oh, well that was a pleasant surprise. To her knowledge, the Vinkus was one of three countries in Oz with an all male military, though perhaps not for long. "That's wonderful news," she wondered how long this decision had been in the making, but at least she'd heard about it on time and would be part of the decision.
"We'll listen to an extensive list of pros and cons as well as what the physical requirements would look like for female soldiers and the subsequent changes that will occur on base. It's possible minds will switch throughout the debate. Everyone will cast their votes out loud. Majority wins and the announcement goes live in the morning."
"Understood," she nodded. "Thank you."
He gave her a soft smile and a loud ding! silenced the room in an instant. Everyone's attention turned to an older gentleman holding a rather large bell at the center of the room. "Everyone, please begin to take your seats. We will begin in just a few, short minutes."
With that, everyone scurried in an orderly fashion to their chairs, some choosing to take their seat while others stood behind them. Pencils and paper began to be handed out
"Does there seem to be a general consensus on the matter?" Elphaba asked as she observed the room.
"This may surprise you, but no. The opinion is very much evenly split."
"Which only heightens the importance of tonight."
"Precisely."
"Will we be allowed to chime in throughout the debate?"
"Absolutely. Merely speak if you wish to say something."
"Alright then. Thank you," Elphaba said to the man who handed her a few blank pages and a pencil.
Before long, the room fell almost entirely quiet and without missing a step, she followed the king towards the two chairs at the head of the table. He motioned for her to take a seat first and he followed. The gentleman who'd alerted the room of the impending meeting now began to set it motion. He greeted everyone and thanked them for coming tonight to a momentous occasion. The main, important topic was presented: should women be allowed to serve their country? The most popular subtopics were then listed off: physical expectations, segregation of barracks, segregational vs integrational training, and discrimination and assault reviews.
Names were called off as spokespersons for each topic and one final reminder, to remain civil and respectful to one another, was placed. With that, the debate commenced.
Elphaba had thought she'd known her decision from before the debate had even started, but as it turned out, the opposing side had some excellent points that really made her think things through more.
Statistics were presented of how select women for test trials had done horribly in every single combat scenario. Unless the standards were lowered, not a single one of them would qualify to join the Gale Force, and to lower standards was not only detrimental to the overall strength of the Gale Force, but insulting to the women themselves. On the other hand, others pointed out how just like the men, women should have at least the opportunity and right to join, but also turned away. Even if women are the minority, they should not be excluded completely if they've proven themselves.
Some topics breezed by quicker than others. The one that, surprisingly, the room was very much split on, was integrated vs segregated training. That is, should women, if allowed to join, be trained alongside the men?
The opposed side remarked how, no matter how much men say otherwise, they are distracted by women. Women in their platoons would only be a distraction to their training which, in the long run, would have terrible consequences in real combat. Therefore, if women were even allowed in the Gale Force, they should have their own set of training, and could possibly specialize in things that don't require them to go into actual combat. That was a topic that required further discussion. The supporting side declared that part of a soldier's mentality was complete focus on the mission; if a soldier was truly distracted by the fact their fellow soldier happened to be a woman, they're not fit for duty in the first place.
It went back and forth for a while, then a voice chimed, "I propose we get the opinion of the only lady in the room."
If possible, Elphaba's back straightened itself even more. She watched as every head slowly turned to face her. She could especially feel the king's eyes burning holes into her cheek.
"Um," she cleared her throat. "For argument's sake then, let's say women are allowed to enlist. Going back to setting standards…I believe that women would benefit greatly from training alongside men," she chose her words carefully. After all, many of the people here hadn't had a chance to see, let alone speak to her. This was her first impression. "When you see someone who is physically and perhaps mentally stronger than you are, you strive for that as well. Friendly competition is you will," many let out quiet chuckles. "And the truth of the matter is women are very likely to fight against men in combat, given that in all of Oz, women are very much the minority. They should know what they're up against, and train just as hard if not harder. And I think the right way to go about it is for them to train with men. If allowed to serve," that sounded respectable, right?
The room was so quiet, you could hear the softest of breaths.
"Moving on," a gentleman began.
Oh thank Oz; Elphaba slowly breathed out.
The next few times she spoke, it was when the king prompted her to do so, which felt incredibly less intimidating than the first time. She not only felt more confident in her position, but understood the gravity of the situation much better. Of course there were moments where she wished she could call someone out on being incredibly small-minded, such as when an older commander in his closing arguments said women belonged either at home or the ballet. That was slightly infuriating.
Wait. Ballet. Ballet was growing. Thanks to word of mouth more and more people were gaining a love for the art form, both dancers and audiences. That was something! It could work! Elphaba put a huge pin on that thought and focused back on the task at hand.
The closing arguments ended. Small slips of paper were passed around as well as a few quills and ink. Everyone was to write either a 'Yes' or 'No'. Elphaba pressed the tip of her quill to her lips, going back and forth between everything that had been presented. Were the pros worth the cons? Were the subsequent consequences of one outcome worse than the other? Ultimately, what was best for the country? After much careful thought, Elphaba wrote down her vote, and slipped it into the box that had gone around the room. She watched as the king submitted his vote as well. Once cast, he briefly glanced and smiled at her. Elphaba returned it, feeling oddly anxious for the result.
"Mister Secretary, let it be known that the votes are as follows," the box was opened and the tallying began. Elphaba didn't allow herself to keep count. "That is 11 votes 'Yes', 8 'No'."
Elphaba exhaled.
"We must begin drafting changes first thing in the morning; there are to be many."
Elphaba nodded. Now that women would be allowed to enlist in the military, plans had to be made for the changes that would take over the training centers and duty stations. The budget would also have to increase in order to begin rendering uniforms for women. She'd written down as much as they brainstormed during the carriage ride back to Kiamo Ko. It was just like the schools: so much to be done in so little time.
Now as they went upstairs, they settled more or less on a schedule for their day tomorrow. Elphaba caught some of the notes she'd made on her parchment and thanked Oz, she'd remembered to write this thought down. "I believe I have an idea about Kvon."
The king raised a brow. "Would you like to talk about it now?"
"If possible?" it was very late, no doubt the clock had already struck midnight.
"Right this way, then."
She followed him all the way down the hall and to a room she'd never seen before. Once inside, Elphaba realized it was his own study. The space nearly mirrored hers though it was far emptier. The bookshelves had far less volumes on them, there were no sofas, there was a chalkboard, and the desk was larger, enough to nearly take up the length of the wall.
"What have you come up with?" he asked.
Elphaba set down the paper in her hands. "Correct me if I'm wrong; ballet has been increasing in popularity in the Vinkus over the past few years and is expected to only grow."
"You're not wrong at all," he confirmed, sounding a tad puzzled.
"What if we made plans to build theaters in Kvon? Theaters specifically for ballet performances?"
He leaned back on the edge of his desk, deep in thought. He tucked a few stray strands of his curls behind his ear and whispered, "With only two so far in the entire Vinkus, people would certainly travel to their closest one."
"Which for many would end up being the ones in Kvon."
"It would create a number of jobs for those who need one; maintenance, security, lighting, cleaners."
"And not to mention those that may reopen their own businesses again. It won't be the typical wave of tourism that Kvon's been used to…"
"But it's something. It will help in getting them back on their feet while we keep navigating through this."
"Exactly," Elphaba sighed. If she had to name it, she would say she was ecstatic at the fact that he'd understood her idea and its purpose. She walked over to the chalkboard. "May I?"
He gave her all the reins.
"If we're going to truly consider this, then we need to calculate numbers, figure out a timeline, discuss a few actions we must take now to at least manage the poverty rising and…dear Oz there's so much," and she didn't know where to start. She felt a headache brewing.
"It's alright. Ok, let's see," he stood next to her and raised a piece of chalk. "Let's begin with some measures we can take in the short-term. The theaters would not be fully ready to open until a few years at the least."
That proved to be harder than they'd expected. An auction of some of the wedding gifts would only do so much and with a planned budget for the upcoming year - which had also taken up some time for him to fill her in on it - it was hard to find some leeway to provide a few more funds for Kvon. Another obvious possible solution was to lower taxes, though that wasn't as simple as Elphaba had thought. The king explained that if not monitored correctly, and with the fiscal year for spending being nearly over, it could very easily slip the Vinkus into debt. Not only that, it may reduce the revenues for each region, directly impacting their funding for schools and all public services. Noted.
They explored many other possibilities and suddenly, another idea came to mind.
"Seafood."
Elphaba blinked. "Pardon?"
"Kvon borders one of the largest rivers in all of Oz. It's an excellent source for catching seafood; fish, shrimp, muscles, squid. Ev does this already, we obtain most of our seafood through them. But what if we reached an agreement of sorts, to let the people of Kvon obtain these resources on their own and begin a domestic distribution of seafood throughout the Vinkus?"
The dots connected in her head. "That's brilliant," she wrote down further details as he developed a plan on the spot to implement this idea as soon as possible.
Sometime later, she paused in the middle of writing down a sentence. Elphaba slowly looked from where she was kneeling. "There's…no more room," they'd taken up the entire space on the board.
"That's our cue to rest for the night. As well as that."
Elphaba turned to look at him, his gaze fixed on the window beside him. Sun rays penetrated the window's glass, casting light shadows onto the room's floor. It was morning. she was suddenly becoming very aware of how tired she was the more she stared at the warm, orange glow. Her bones suddenly felt brittle and her chest heavy, her vision began to darken and Elphaba blinked to force it away. She stood, steadying herself on the chalkboard. She needed to sleep, and therefore she needed to somehow fix her schedule. She would fix it tonight; tonight, Elphaba would be in bed by ten o'clock, not analyzing her notes or planning for the next day, she would be sleeping. Because there was absolutely no way she could perform her duties to the best of her abilities if she couldn't keep herself awake.
"But our day begins in less than an hour," if the sun was beginning to rise, it had to be at least five o'clock.
The king groaned and ran his hands over his face. "I say we start the day later then."
"Can we do that?"
"We're the king and queen, are we not?"
"Well, yes…but there's so much that needs to get done."
"Nothing will fall completely apart if we take a few hours to rest."
"Won't members of the court seek us out?"
"Maybe," he admitted. "If that's the case, just turn them away. Give them the day off as well; you won't even hear a whisper from them after that."
"But…shouldn't we just…I don't know, aren't there remedies here to keep oneself awake? I've taken plenty of them in Munchkinland."
The king looked at her incredulously and Elphaba suddenly felt very exposed. He was no doubt wondering what on earth she'd taken them for, something she wasn't keen on sharing or even thinking about, or why in Oz she would suggest something like it when they were both so obviously in need of rest.
"Disregard that," she muttered.
"Thank Oz. Do you truly carry that mentality?"
She startled and a hint of anger bubbled in her chest. "I beg your pardon?"
"This is how exhausted I am," he laughed softly, though Elphaba found no amusement. "I didn't mean to offend or insult you, I meant if you're so willing to put everything aside for the sake of duty?"
The green girl pursed her lips and looked anywhere but in his direction. "I have to as queen don't I? It's the price to pay in exchange for authority, power, and wealth; to take care of the people."
"Well, yes. But what I'm truly getting at is that…" he seemed at a loss for words. "I didn't…I knew you would be a great queen, but I didn't expect you to go beyond my expectations."
Elphaba stiffened, that one phrase creating a cacophony inside her head. I knew you would be a great queen. He knew nothing about her now let alone before they'd gotten married. How could he have possibly known that? Not even all of Munchkinland knew she and Nessarose existed. Though she supposed world leaders would be privy to such private information from other people in a position of power, Elphaba highly doubted that Frex sang any praises about her until a young king had come into power. Part of her wondered if the king had had any reaction to learning the governor of Munchkinland had not one, but two daughters - if he hadn't already known. She'd been offered up by Frex for his own selfish gains and the king had taken a gamble in accepting. Why in Oz had the king accepted? She'd never given much thought to these questions, Elphaba had merely accepted her fate. But now, out of all the questions that now permeated her mind, all she could think of was 'how?'
He spoke before Elphaba even had the chance to voice her last thought. "Anyways, we would both greatly benefit from a day of resting. And by resting I do mean actually resting. Even if you don't sleep, forget any and all work just for today."
Elphaba sighed. As much as she loathed to admit it, she could feel herself falling asleep where she stood. "You're right," she rubbed her fingertips over her eyes. "I may not even rise until the next day."
"Have you been awake for an entire day?"
"Nearly."
He nodded. "I as well."
They silently began to organize the study. They stacked papers together, put away books, and made sure to make a note to not erase what was written on the chalkboard. Dear Oz, what a nightmare scenario that would be.
"May I ask you something?"
Elphaba wearily turned to look over her shoulder. The king looked down, intensely focused on putting away the last of the notes in his desk drawers. She shoved another book from her stack back into its original place and said, "Of course."
"Would you like to spend an evening with me, after we both rest today?"
"Alright. What would you like to discuss?"
It was silent for a moment. Then, "Anything."
Elphaba turned to glance at him again. "I suppose I could fill you in on each region's progress on the school buildings. Some are right on schedule, others a bit behind, but nothing to worry about just yet. I will say that - "
"Elphaba."
She stopped.
"I…I meant to spend an evening…for us to get to know each other."
Oh. "Why?" the question was out before she could even ponder it. Oz, she truly was exhausted.
A flash of what seemed like hurt crossed his face, but it was quickly gone. "You don't have to agree to it if you don't want to."
"I'm not saying 'no'. I'm just genuinely curious as to why you would want to spend time with me outside of business matters."
"You're my partner," he said simply. "Would it not be beneficial to the people as well as us to get along with each other beyond our titles?"
Well…perhaps. But weren't things fine as they were now? They weren't exactly friends - or acquaintances for that matter. But they got along well enough to handle what was required of them. Well, so far. There was still the matter of an heir - Elphaba quickly dismissed that torturous affair. Her point was that their relationship was fine. Was there really a need to get any closer than they were now?
What would be so bad about it? Her brain supplied. And to that…Elphaba wasn't sure she had a legitimate answer. There were many she automatically resorted to, all of them narrowing down to the fact that she hardly knew him. And how was that supposed to change if she was debating even spending time with him? And wasn't that what had her weary?
She wanted to blame her father for being the coward she was, but she could only blame herself if she chose to do nothing about it. In the end, she supposed the answer to her question was that there was only one way to find out. Maybe they would end up despising each other by the end of it…maybe not.
"Get some rest."
Elphaba snapped out of her thoughts to see the king heading towards the door. "Wait."
He turned around.
Black spots clouded her vision and Elphaba chased them away as much as she could. "I would like to spend an evening with you."
Surprise took over his expression. "You don't - "
"Honestly. You're right, we're tied together and we hardly know each other. It would be good for everyone if we formed a camaraderie beyond just king and queen. We need to trust each other after all."
He looked directly at her eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Was he trying to determine if she was lying? Would he not take her word?
Slightly annoyed, Elphaba crossed her arms and tiredly said, "Are you going to tell me you've changed your mind now?" If so, she couldn't care less; she could fulfill her role with the way things were, she was doing a decent job thus far; he just needed to tell her then.
"No. My apologies. Will you join me in the western parlor before dinner time today?"
The western parlor, it was near the staff quarters, she'd passed it many times before. "I will."
He nodded and opened the door. "After you."
The green girl dragged her feet across the room, fighting the urge to slap herself awake. Keep it together, Elphaba told herself. No matter how tired she was, she could certainly stay on her feet to make the few steps back to her own chambers. She would not allow herself otherwise.
In the soft light, from this angle, she was struck by just how utterly exhausted he looked. There were bags beneath his eyes she had no previous recollection of, the curls on his head were flat, a change from their usual bounce, and his posture was slouched. Elphaba leaned on the wall, watching as he locked the door and waited until he raised his eyes to hers. "Rest as well, alright?"
He sighed, as if he'd been carrying something with him for so long and he'd just gotten a respite. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll see this evening then."
"Alright."
Elphaba turned around and walked to her chambers. The door felt twice heavier than usual, forcing her to use her entire body to simply push and close it. Movement out of her peripheral vision nearly caused her to jump out of her skin, but Elphaba relaxed into the wall when she realized it had just been the curtain blowing from the soft breeze sneaking in through the window. With the last bit of energy, she closed the window and pulled the curtain together to block any sunlight.
She should change; remove her heavy, hot dress, undo the tight bun in the center of her head - remove her shoes. But the moment Elphaba's cheek made contact with the soft pillow on her bed, her eyes closed and everything faded away.
Lyric Inspo:
I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room
- 'Anti-Hero', Midnights, Taylor Swift.