Defying Gravity, 18/?, by ainsleyaisling
Title: Defying Gravity, 18/?
Author: ainsleyaisling
Rating: PG
'Verse: Musical AU; some details from bookverse
Summary: Glinda and Elphaba - and Fiyero - working hand-in-hand, the way it was supposed to be . . . maybe . . .
This chapter: Elphaba tries to sort out Fiyero's information from Munchkinland, and to find a reliable way to spy on her sister.
Disclaimer: Wicked belongs mostly to Gregory Maguire, and musicalverse belongs to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and possibly Universal.
Notes: Sequel to "The Effects of Gravity," a link to all chapters of which, plus the posted chapters of this story, can be found here. The previous chapter of this story can be found here. Look, I'm not dead and it's back! I know some of you have been waiting very very patiently while I did many other RL things. Here we go. :)
~~Elphaba~~
She listened to the first half of what Fiyero had to tell them with a teacup balanced on its saucer in her lap, the heat from the fresh tea sinking slowly into her fingers and combating the early winter chill that had managed to invade their rooms while she was not paying enough attention to the fire. By the time he was finished, cup and saucer had been consigned to the table and she was biting on the side of one finger.
"What bothers me," she finally said, pulling her finger just far enough away from her mouth to allow her to speak, "is, what would Father not want Nessa to know? What -" She stood up suddenly, her skirt brushing the edge of the saucer she'd perched in front of her, and strode over to the window, hand still over her mouth.
Behind her she heard the tiny scrape of pottery being slid across the table; no doubt Glinda moving her teacup out of danger. "Is -" Glinda's voice was tiny and hesitant. "Elphie, is it possible that he doesn't really intend for her to be his heir?"
Elphaba spun around and leaned her lower back against the window sill, her heart stopping for the smallest of split seconds as the idea sunk in. "No," she said slowly after some thought. "No, I can't imagine - I can't imagine that. Our entire lives - that can't have been a lie. He's been treating her as his favorite, beloved child since the second she was born; he can't have been plotting to deceive her that entire time. He - it's too implausible. And too twisted - he's not particularly kind, but that . . ."
"Well, not an outright betrayal then," Glinda said, smoothing her skirts. "But - what if he's changed his mind? With all that's been happening - and we can't know everything he knows, what if there's something truly ugly going on behind the scenes in Munchkinland -"
"Yes," Fiyero said, one finger pointing at Glinda. "What if he thinks he's protecting her, by gently putting her aside and setting the stage for someone else to take over? Someone stronger . . ."
"Someone he doesn't care as much about," Glinda concluded softly. Her eyes raised to Elphaba's, across the room. "Is that possible?"
Elphaba bit her lip and considered. Her father's pat-on-the-head approach to both of them, even when he was taking Nessa around to show her what her responsibilities would one day be; his willingness to go to all sorts of lengths to make Nessa comfortable and keep her as safe as humanly possible; his demonstrated willingness to sacrifice nearly anyone or anything else . . . "Yes," she admitted finally. "Yes, that might be possible. Especially -" She cast an apologetic look in Glinda's direction. "With what happened to the Assembly, if he saw a nebulous threat coming from somewhere for the Munchkinland government - yes, I can see him deciding to take her out of it. Though he'd have to be careful about it or Nessa would have a tantrum, and she could cause him a lot of trouble if that happened. And - who? Who else?"
Both Glinda and Fiyero looked back at her silently.
"Oh, no," she said quickly. "Never me, his pride would never recover. Especially if he's finally managed to make half of Munchkinland forget or at least pretend I never existed. Even if it meant I'd be flattened by one of Morrible's storms in Nessa's place, I don't think he'd risk that kind of exposure. He must have someone else in mind, but . . ."
"One of your cousins?" Fiyero asked. "I remember, Glinda once pointed one of them out."
"It's possible," Elphaba conceded. "Or - well, really anyone. An aide, or a member of the Assembly, or - it's been so long since I've been anywhere around, and of course anything I ever knew would have been from accidental eavesdropping. And then - well, we might have thought of a good reason why he might not want Nessa to inherit his position, but not why he'd keep things from her. Somehow I doubt that he doesn't trust her with secrets, even if she's never going to have the actual responsibility. No, there has to be something else, something else is wrong."
"It's not enough that he might want to edge her aside?" Glinda asked. "Not letting her in on meetings would be a subtle way of making sure she was cut off, of slowly pushing her away and out of the spotlight."
"It might be, I just - I have a bad feeling." Elphaba looked helplessly at both of them and shrugged. "Even when we were young, Nessa was never brought to meetings, but he always felt free to let her speak to his advisors or to tell her at the dinner table what he'd been discussing. I know, what you're saying makes perfect sense, but - he's my father, and I know something about this feels wrong."
"More protection, then?" Glinda suggested. "If there are things she'd be better off not knowing, in his opinion . . ."
"That's what worries me," Elphaba said, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "What's he doing that would be too dangerous for Nessa to be part of? If there's something that big that we don't know about - Fiyero, when are you talking with Rikk again?"
Fiyero shrugged. "He said he'd contact me. You want to know if the Resistance knows what the Governor's up to?"
Elphaba nodded and paced her way back toward the sofa. "We never thought he had any involvement, but what if we've been wrong?"
"Rikk didn't seem to think the Governor's family knew anything," Fiyero said, frowning. "But then, Rikk doesn't know everything either, I think he's still a bit more of a passive information-gatherer than a conspirator. He might not be the best source, at that."
Elphaba retook her seat, mindlessly adjusting the angle of her cup and saucer where they sat on the table. "And never having been there before, you wouldn't have noticed anyone new around the mansion."
"Afraid not, sorry."
Something tiny and gingery and furry appeared at the other side of the table and slid its way toward the plate of sandwiches Glinda had left there. "No!" Elphaba said sharply as soon as it caught her eye.
Glinda giggled despite the seriousness of the conversation and dove over to sweep the kitten into her lap. "Thief," she told it fondly. "And I saw Elphaba feed you not two hours ago."
"Hello there, friend," Fiyero said, reaching over to scratch the cat's head. "Elphaba, a moment ago you seemed on the verge of something."
"I was," Elphaba said, fighting the uncomfortable sinking feeling in her stomach. "And I'm not pleased about what it means. First - was Nessa in on the conversations you had with Father? About trade and cooperation and whatnot?"
"Well, that's a fascinating question," Fiyero said. "Yes and no. She was there when we had meetings, when I described to your father how my parents have been handling the Animal restrictions - well, the public version, anyway -"
"Hold on," Elphaba interrupted. "I can't believe I've never asked myself, but - the public version? As opposed to?"
"As opposed to the fact that a large number of our farming and mining operations have mysteriously moved further west, apparently going into great trouble to tap into new parts of the mountains and western grasslands, where they happen to be well hidden by large mountain ranges and just slightly out of the tribe's jurisdiction," Fiyero said. "They still pay taxes though, so clearly all is aboveboard."
"Right," Elphaba said slowly. Glinda, dangling the end of her sash for the cat to play with, looked impressed. "Sorry, go on."
"Anyway, Nessa was there when we discussed the reallocation of labor to account for the lost workforce, and when we talked about things like wider trade routes from Munchkinland to the Vinkus and how the Wizard's new road can possibly be used to bring goods to the borders of the Emerald City, avoiding the rivers. All that stuff, sure. But then we'd have these other conversations, myself and your father, when we'd 'retired' for a drink in his study after dinner or something, when your sister wasn't there. He'd ask about our military strength -"
"Which is?" Glinda asked.
"Nil, as a country, we don't spend much time organizing. As a tribe we're all right against other tribes, but - anyway. He'd be asking, not directly, you understand, about things like our intelligence capabilities, whether we have spies in the other regions and in the Emerald City, what our ability would be to get goods in and out of the Vinkus without them ever being searched by the Wizard's people - all with Nessa out of the room." He gave them a slightly wry smile. "He also asked a lot about my parents' plans for my marriage and whether they would consider a union with one of the other lands, but you can see why he wouldn't want Nessa around for that."
Elphaba made a face. "For Ozsake, don't let him make you marry my sister. What a quagmire."
Fiyero laughed. "Can you imagine? Poor Nessa, she can't have much of an ordinary life in that way."
"No one ever really expected her to," Elphaba said softly. "In fact I'm surprised my father seemed to be hinting in that direction; he always seemed to consider it too dangerous for Nessa to marry. He sounds - I really don't like this; if he's hinting around at spies and smuggling and even thinking about marrying Nessa off to a foreign country - he sounds desperate. And if he is, I want to know why."
"Maybe he just thinks I'm safe," Fiyero suggested. "You know, a school friend and all that. As opposed to really marrying Nessa to a stranger; maybe he thinks I'd take care of her."
"I doubt it," Glinda said, her mouth twisting. "We know you're safe, because it's us you've been a friend to and tried to help. Nessa doesn't know the half of it, and her father can't either."
"Maybe," Elphaba said reluctantly, a truly unattractive picture forming in her mind, "he thinks you're likely to be the type who'd marry for the public eye and keep your wife in a nice and proper establishment, and . . . not trouble her overmuch with your - er - attention. Preferring to spread your attention among . . . other -"
"We get it," Glinda said hastily. "And I'd say you're right, except that Fiyero does sort of need an heir."
"Heirs in the Vinkus don't have to be legitimate," Fiyero said. "I imagine the Governor would know that. And, unfortunately, I think Elphaba probably is right. I can see him thinking of me as a safe place to stash Nessa and have her be left alone while I go, well -"
"Whoring," Glinda said primly.
"Yes, that." Fiyero politely waited until Elphaba had finished coughing to continue. "Well, in any case I don't intend to." He paused. "Marry Nessa, or - the other thing."
"Still," Elphaba said, "to consider putting her into that sort of situation, instead of letting her live independently on the family money . . ."
"I agree," Glinda said. "Desperate."
The uncomfortable feeling in Elphaba's stomach was only increasing. "And what I'm not pleased about," she said, "is that I can only think of one person who would know whether anyone new has been around the mansion, whether Father's taken a particular liking to any of his aides or any of the other heirs, and whether there have been any obvious rumblings about the Resistance. And only one person qualified to go and ask that person."
"Oh," Fiyero said.
Glinda frowned sympathetically. "Time to take that broom for a spin and see what it can do?"
"Broom?" Fiyero asked, looking from one to the other.
Elphaba looked at Glinda and raised an eyebrow.
"Oops," Glinda said. She lifted one shoulder, not looking terribly apologetic. "He had to know sometime."
"I'm not sure he did," Elphaba said.
"Know what?"
"Elphaba made a broom fly," Glinda said, before Elphaba could get a word in. "The very first time we came here, when she almost tried to run away. It's still in the attic."
"You -" He shook his head, staring at Elphaba. "You were going to fly on a broom?"
"It wasn't exactly a conscious choice." She sighed. "You're right though - Glinda, I mean. If I don't want anyone to know I'm going it'll have to be something like that, the journey by land is too slow."
"It might not be horrible," Glinda said softly.
"You'd want to go when you were sure of your father not being there," Fiyero put in. "If you want your sister to speak plainly. She didn't seem inclined to cross him."
"The local newspapers carry his schedule," Elphaba mused, "though they wouldn't say if he was bringing her with him or not. It'd be a bit silly to go the whole way because he was at the Assembly or something, only to discover that she was, too. I'll have to figure out a way . . ."
"Fiyero, the time," Glinda said suddenly.
"Right, drills." He got to his feet and automatically straightened his jacket. "If I talk to Rikk, I'll find out what I can. Though I don't even know if he's in the City now, or back home."
Elphaba nodded. "We'll keep you informed. And - try not to let any of the men explore the west attic too carefully?"
He grinned. "No touching any suspicious cleaning implements. Right."
~~Glinda~~
The light that streamed through her window at night always had a slight cast of green in it, since most of it was reflected from the ceremonial lights that kept the marble and emerald of the palace glowing ethereally. The bright green glow seeping under her door, however, was new. She sat up in bed as quietly as she could, conscious of holding her breath, and very very slowly lowered her feet to the floor. Pushing back her blankets without making any noise took another small lifetime, and then she was creeping, one slow, silent step at a time, toward the door, her breath held so hard that her heart pounded in her head. Not a sound came from the parlor. Swallowing against the fear that soldiers, or something worse, might have come poking around, she rehearsed the words of the fire-spell in her head and pushed the door open.
The parlor was empty, and from this vantage point she could tell that the glow that was filling it came, not from any source in the room itself, but from under Elphaba's door. With her hands over her mouth to remind herself to be quiet, and her arms pressed against her chest, Glinda could feel the quickened beating of her heart. She made her silent way closer and closer to Elphaba's door, preparing herself mentally to attack if there was any sign that Elphaba was in danger.
Right up against the door, and still not a sound. This close, she could tell that the light was flickering somewhat, and that occasionally a hint of white paled the glow. She pressed a shaking palm flat against the door, but it was as cool as ever. With her other hand she slowly, slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door.
The glow was coming from a bowl of water on Elphaba's nightstand, its flickering reflected on her rapt face. She sat before it unmoving, her nose nearly touching the water, her expression never changing. Though Glinda was relieved to see that she was alone, she didn't relax entirely. Elphaba appeared in the grip of something, something not entirely safe . . .
Elphaba looked up, and although the glow from the bowl still reflected on her face and turned it to a more phosphorescent shade of green, the spell on her seemed broken. "Couldn't sleep," she said.
"Me either, there was all green light everywhere," Glinda said, eyebrows raised, as she came into the room and went to sit on the bed. The sudden rush of oxygen to her lungs made her somewhat dizzy.
"Sorry." Elphaba glanced at the bowl, which still flickered with its own strange inner lights. "I was thinking, about Nessa and how to tell whether she was alone. I'd never put much stock in scrying, because it didn't seem useful to us -"
"If the person has any magic themselves," Glinda recollected from their schoolbooks, "they can tell someone is watching them."
"Right. So no good for spying on Morrible, and you can't spy on things without knowing where they are -"
"And the location spell already lets you do that," Glinda finished.
"But it's not as clear as scrying, and you can't hear, with the location spell," Elphaba said. "To find Animals I don't need to hear, but it could be useful in other situations . . . and Nessa has no magic. So -"
Glinda leaned over and peered into the bowl. Now she could see that what she was looking at was the empty, darkened parlor of a stately mansion. The lone oil lamp flickering on one wall - the source of the flickering nature of the light from the bowl, she realized - illuminated a large and handsome portrait of Nessa. "Your home," she said.
"Nessa's, anyway," Elphaba said. She skimmed a fingertip over the bowl of water, and the image grew cloudy before settling once more. "It's imperfect, of course."
Glinda waited. "The - home?"
"No - well. No, I mean the bowl of water. It's the most traditional medium, and the easiest to come by, but it's not as clear as it could be and the image is very easy to disrupt. For now it'll work, but if there's a lot we want to do -"
"What would be better?"
Elphaba nodded at the book lying on the floor beside the table. "The most recommended thing appears to be a sphere, like the location spell, but made of four kinds of crystal plus ruby. The crystal has to be mined from each of the four compass points -"
"And why ruby?"
"Did you know the original palace on this site, back before the modern Ozmas, was said to be built of rubies? Well, gold and marble and rubies."
"No." Glinda tucked her feet up under her on the bed. "I bet the Wizard found out somehow though. Otherwise why pick such an opposite color?"
"I don't know." Elphaba frowned in the general direction of the book. "No one's made one of these in a thousand years or so, though. Or so the book says."
"Why not?"
Elphaba shrugged. "Too hard for any one person to get crystal from the four ends of Oz? Not to mention the rubies - and then, I don't exactly know how to melt together four kinds of crystal and a ruby and get clear glass. There must have been a spell for it, the last time it was done, to create the sphere, but the book doesn't seem to know."
Glinda propped her chin in one hand, looking into the bowl. "Well," she said. "You are supposed to be the most powerful witch anyone can remember, and you're almost definitely the smartest. If anyone can figure it out . . ."
"Mmm." Elphaba smiled sideways at her, then gestured with one limp-wristed hand toward the carpet. "Magic of Oz? Bring me crystals from the four ends of Oz, and a nice clear ruby, and make a lovely round sphere out of them with neatly mixed transparent glass, would you?"
Glinda was so tired that she actually watched the carpet for a moment before giggling. "I said figure it out, not expect the magic of Ozma or whatever to do it for you." When she stopped laughing, she saw that Elphaba was looking at her oddly. "What?"
"You've thought of something I never would have, in a hundred years," Elphaba said.
"I didn't think of anything."
"You did." Elphaba shifted her weight, the better to focus her intense gaze on Glinda. "What do they say about Ozma in Gillikin?"
"Same thing they say everywhere in secret," Glinda said, caught by the sudden energy she saw in Elphaba's expression. "That she's not dead, she's somewhere waiting to be woken up - why?"
"What if," Elphaba said slowly, "Ozma isn't a person."
"I know you paid better attention in history class than that," Glinda said.
"No, I mean - I know there were lots of Ozmas, but what if the power of the position just passed from person to person -"
"And it's the power that lives on, instead of the actual Ozma," Glinda considered. "All right. It's as possible as Ozma asleep under a waterfall, anyway."
"And what if -" Excitedly, Elphaba shifted her weight again, pulling her knees sideways on the bed. "The Wizard knocked down Ozma's palace and built this one on the site. And before that, the stories say the modern palace was built on the site of the ancient one. What if there's something left?"
"What if Ozma's power is under the Palace?" Glinda glanced into the bowl again for something to do with her eyes while she considered. "You mean, what if there's some other power on this site, something foreign to modern Oz, that you could use? Is that it?"
"We," Elphaba said, "and, something like that."
"I think you need more sleep," Glinda said.
"I know it's insane," Elphaba said. "It just - sometimes - I've learned to listen to some of the things that seem to come into my head for no reason."
"I thought this one came into my head," Glinda said, but now she was teasing, and Elphaba could tell.
"Sleep," Elphaba said, smiling. "In the morning I want to try the location spell."
"'Find Ozma's rubies?'"
"Good suggestion. At any rate, even if they weren't magic, if there are some in the palace it would be cheaper than importing them from the Quadlings."
Since she could no longer tell whether Elphaba was joking or not, Glinda decided it was high time to go to bed. She muttered a few words and blew gently across the surface of the scrying bowl, and the image gently blended into the ripples as the glow died down until there was nothing left but a bowl full of slightly disturbed water. When she looked up, Elphaba was giving her that odd look again.
"You're not the only one who paid attention," Glinda said, tapping Elphaba on the shoulder. "And you'd better sleep too, or your ideas will be even crazier in the morning."
Author: ainsleyaisling
Rating: PG
'Verse: Musical AU; some details from bookverse
Summary: Glinda and Elphaba - and Fiyero - working hand-in-hand, the way it was supposed to be . . . maybe . . .
This chapter: Elphaba tries to sort out Fiyero's information from Munchkinland, and to find a reliable way to spy on her sister.
Disclaimer: Wicked belongs mostly to Gregory Maguire, and musicalverse belongs to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and possibly Universal.
Notes: Sequel to "The Effects of Gravity," a link to all chapters of which, plus the posted chapters of this story, can be found here. The previous chapter of this story can be found here. Look, I'm not dead and it's back! I know some of you have been waiting very very patiently while I did many other RL things. Here we go. :)
~~Elphaba~~
She listened to the first half of what Fiyero had to tell them with a teacup balanced on its saucer in her lap, the heat from the fresh tea sinking slowly into her fingers and combating the early winter chill that had managed to invade their rooms while she was not paying enough attention to the fire. By the time he was finished, cup and saucer had been consigned to the table and she was biting on the side of one finger.
"What bothers me," she finally said, pulling her finger just far enough away from her mouth to allow her to speak, "is, what would Father not want Nessa to know? What -" She stood up suddenly, her skirt brushing the edge of the saucer she'd perched in front of her, and strode over to the window, hand still over her mouth.
Behind her she heard the tiny scrape of pottery being slid across the table; no doubt Glinda moving her teacup out of danger. "Is -" Glinda's voice was tiny and hesitant. "Elphie, is it possible that he doesn't really intend for her to be his heir?"
Elphaba spun around and leaned her lower back against the window sill, her heart stopping for the smallest of split seconds as the idea sunk in. "No," she said slowly after some thought. "No, I can't imagine - I can't imagine that. Our entire lives - that can't have been a lie. He's been treating her as his favorite, beloved child since the second she was born; he can't have been plotting to deceive her that entire time. He - it's too implausible. And too twisted - he's not particularly kind, but that . . ."
"Well, not an outright betrayal then," Glinda said, smoothing her skirts. "But - what if he's changed his mind? With all that's been happening - and we can't know everything he knows, what if there's something truly ugly going on behind the scenes in Munchkinland -"
"Yes," Fiyero said, one finger pointing at Glinda. "What if he thinks he's protecting her, by gently putting her aside and setting the stage for someone else to take over? Someone stronger . . ."
"Someone he doesn't care as much about," Glinda concluded softly. Her eyes raised to Elphaba's, across the room. "Is that possible?"
Elphaba bit her lip and considered. Her father's pat-on-the-head approach to both of them, even when he was taking Nessa around to show her what her responsibilities would one day be; his willingness to go to all sorts of lengths to make Nessa comfortable and keep her as safe as humanly possible; his demonstrated willingness to sacrifice nearly anyone or anything else . . . "Yes," she admitted finally. "Yes, that might be possible. Especially -" She cast an apologetic look in Glinda's direction. "With what happened to the Assembly, if he saw a nebulous threat coming from somewhere for the Munchkinland government - yes, I can see him deciding to take her out of it. Though he'd have to be careful about it or Nessa would have a tantrum, and she could cause him a lot of trouble if that happened. And - who? Who else?"
Both Glinda and Fiyero looked back at her silently.
"Oh, no," she said quickly. "Never me, his pride would never recover. Especially if he's finally managed to make half of Munchkinland forget or at least pretend I never existed. Even if it meant I'd be flattened by one of Morrible's storms in Nessa's place, I don't think he'd risk that kind of exposure. He must have someone else in mind, but . . ."
"One of your cousins?" Fiyero asked. "I remember, Glinda once pointed one of them out."
"It's possible," Elphaba conceded. "Or - well, really anyone. An aide, or a member of the Assembly, or - it's been so long since I've been anywhere around, and of course anything I ever knew would have been from accidental eavesdropping. And then - well, we might have thought of a good reason why he might not want Nessa to inherit his position, but not why he'd keep things from her. Somehow I doubt that he doesn't trust her with secrets, even if she's never going to have the actual responsibility. No, there has to be something else, something else is wrong."
"It's not enough that he might want to edge her aside?" Glinda asked. "Not letting her in on meetings would be a subtle way of making sure she was cut off, of slowly pushing her away and out of the spotlight."
"It might be, I just - I have a bad feeling." Elphaba looked helplessly at both of them and shrugged. "Even when we were young, Nessa was never brought to meetings, but he always felt free to let her speak to his advisors or to tell her at the dinner table what he'd been discussing. I know, what you're saying makes perfect sense, but - he's my father, and I know something about this feels wrong."
"More protection, then?" Glinda suggested. "If there are things she'd be better off not knowing, in his opinion . . ."
"That's what worries me," Elphaba said, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "What's he doing that would be too dangerous for Nessa to be part of? If there's something that big that we don't know about - Fiyero, when are you talking with Rikk again?"
Fiyero shrugged. "He said he'd contact me. You want to know if the Resistance knows what the Governor's up to?"
Elphaba nodded and paced her way back toward the sofa. "We never thought he had any involvement, but what if we've been wrong?"
"Rikk didn't seem to think the Governor's family knew anything," Fiyero said, frowning. "But then, Rikk doesn't know everything either, I think he's still a bit more of a passive information-gatherer than a conspirator. He might not be the best source, at that."
Elphaba retook her seat, mindlessly adjusting the angle of her cup and saucer where they sat on the table. "And never having been there before, you wouldn't have noticed anyone new around the mansion."
"Afraid not, sorry."
Something tiny and gingery and furry appeared at the other side of the table and slid its way toward the plate of sandwiches Glinda had left there. "No!" Elphaba said sharply as soon as it caught her eye.
Glinda giggled despite the seriousness of the conversation and dove over to sweep the kitten into her lap. "Thief," she told it fondly. "And I saw Elphaba feed you not two hours ago."
"Hello there, friend," Fiyero said, reaching over to scratch the cat's head. "Elphaba, a moment ago you seemed on the verge of something."
"I was," Elphaba said, fighting the uncomfortable sinking feeling in her stomach. "And I'm not pleased about what it means. First - was Nessa in on the conversations you had with Father? About trade and cooperation and whatnot?"
"Well, that's a fascinating question," Fiyero said. "Yes and no. She was there when we had meetings, when I described to your father how my parents have been handling the Animal restrictions - well, the public version, anyway -"
"Hold on," Elphaba interrupted. "I can't believe I've never asked myself, but - the public version? As opposed to?"
"As opposed to the fact that a large number of our farming and mining operations have mysteriously moved further west, apparently going into great trouble to tap into new parts of the mountains and western grasslands, where they happen to be well hidden by large mountain ranges and just slightly out of the tribe's jurisdiction," Fiyero said. "They still pay taxes though, so clearly all is aboveboard."
"Right," Elphaba said slowly. Glinda, dangling the end of her sash for the cat to play with, looked impressed. "Sorry, go on."
"Anyway, Nessa was there when we discussed the reallocation of labor to account for the lost workforce, and when we talked about things like wider trade routes from Munchkinland to the Vinkus and how the Wizard's new road can possibly be used to bring goods to the borders of the Emerald City, avoiding the rivers. All that stuff, sure. But then we'd have these other conversations, myself and your father, when we'd 'retired' for a drink in his study after dinner or something, when your sister wasn't there. He'd ask about our military strength -"
"Which is?" Glinda asked.
"Nil, as a country, we don't spend much time organizing. As a tribe we're all right against other tribes, but - anyway. He'd be asking, not directly, you understand, about things like our intelligence capabilities, whether we have spies in the other regions and in the Emerald City, what our ability would be to get goods in and out of the Vinkus without them ever being searched by the Wizard's people - all with Nessa out of the room." He gave them a slightly wry smile. "He also asked a lot about my parents' plans for my marriage and whether they would consider a union with one of the other lands, but you can see why he wouldn't want Nessa around for that."
Elphaba made a face. "For Ozsake, don't let him make you marry my sister. What a quagmire."
Fiyero laughed. "Can you imagine? Poor Nessa, she can't have much of an ordinary life in that way."
"No one ever really expected her to," Elphaba said softly. "In fact I'm surprised my father seemed to be hinting in that direction; he always seemed to consider it too dangerous for Nessa to marry. He sounds - I really don't like this; if he's hinting around at spies and smuggling and even thinking about marrying Nessa off to a foreign country - he sounds desperate. And if he is, I want to know why."
"Maybe he just thinks I'm safe," Fiyero suggested. "You know, a school friend and all that. As opposed to really marrying Nessa to a stranger; maybe he thinks I'd take care of her."
"I doubt it," Glinda said, her mouth twisting. "We know you're safe, because it's us you've been a friend to and tried to help. Nessa doesn't know the half of it, and her father can't either."
"Maybe," Elphaba said reluctantly, a truly unattractive picture forming in her mind, "he thinks you're likely to be the type who'd marry for the public eye and keep your wife in a nice and proper establishment, and . . . not trouble her overmuch with your - er - attention. Preferring to spread your attention among . . . other -"
"We get it," Glinda said hastily. "And I'd say you're right, except that Fiyero does sort of need an heir."
"Heirs in the Vinkus don't have to be legitimate," Fiyero said. "I imagine the Governor would know that. And, unfortunately, I think Elphaba probably is right. I can see him thinking of me as a safe place to stash Nessa and have her be left alone while I go, well -"
"Whoring," Glinda said primly.
"Yes, that." Fiyero politely waited until Elphaba had finished coughing to continue. "Well, in any case I don't intend to." He paused. "Marry Nessa, or - the other thing."
"Still," Elphaba said, "to consider putting her into that sort of situation, instead of letting her live independently on the family money . . ."
"I agree," Glinda said. "Desperate."
The uncomfortable feeling in Elphaba's stomach was only increasing. "And what I'm not pleased about," she said, "is that I can only think of one person who would know whether anyone new has been around the mansion, whether Father's taken a particular liking to any of his aides or any of the other heirs, and whether there have been any obvious rumblings about the Resistance. And only one person qualified to go and ask that person."
"Oh," Fiyero said.
Glinda frowned sympathetically. "Time to take that broom for a spin and see what it can do?"
"Broom?" Fiyero asked, looking from one to the other.
Elphaba looked at Glinda and raised an eyebrow.
"Oops," Glinda said. She lifted one shoulder, not looking terribly apologetic. "He had to know sometime."
"I'm not sure he did," Elphaba said.
"Know what?"
"Elphaba made a broom fly," Glinda said, before Elphaba could get a word in. "The very first time we came here, when she almost tried to run away. It's still in the attic."
"You -" He shook his head, staring at Elphaba. "You were going to fly on a broom?"
"It wasn't exactly a conscious choice." She sighed. "You're right though - Glinda, I mean. If I don't want anyone to know I'm going it'll have to be something like that, the journey by land is too slow."
"It might not be horrible," Glinda said softly.
"You'd want to go when you were sure of your father not being there," Fiyero put in. "If you want your sister to speak plainly. She didn't seem inclined to cross him."
"The local newspapers carry his schedule," Elphaba mused, "though they wouldn't say if he was bringing her with him or not. It'd be a bit silly to go the whole way because he was at the Assembly or something, only to discover that she was, too. I'll have to figure out a way . . ."
"Fiyero, the time," Glinda said suddenly.
"Right, drills." He got to his feet and automatically straightened his jacket. "If I talk to Rikk, I'll find out what I can. Though I don't even know if he's in the City now, or back home."
Elphaba nodded. "We'll keep you informed. And - try not to let any of the men explore the west attic too carefully?"
He grinned. "No touching any suspicious cleaning implements. Right."
~~Glinda~~
The light that streamed through her window at night always had a slight cast of green in it, since most of it was reflected from the ceremonial lights that kept the marble and emerald of the palace glowing ethereally. The bright green glow seeping under her door, however, was new. She sat up in bed as quietly as she could, conscious of holding her breath, and very very slowly lowered her feet to the floor. Pushing back her blankets without making any noise took another small lifetime, and then she was creeping, one slow, silent step at a time, toward the door, her breath held so hard that her heart pounded in her head. Not a sound came from the parlor. Swallowing against the fear that soldiers, or something worse, might have come poking around, she rehearsed the words of the fire-spell in her head and pushed the door open.
The parlor was empty, and from this vantage point she could tell that the glow that was filling it came, not from any source in the room itself, but from under Elphaba's door. With her hands over her mouth to remind herself to be quiet, and her arms pressed against her chest, Glinda could feel the quickened beating of her heart. She made her silent way closer and closer to Elphaba's door, preparing herself mentally to attack if there was any sign that Elphaba was in danger.
Right up against the door, and still not a sound. This close, she could tell that the light was flickering somewhat, and that occasionally a hint of white paled the glow. She pressed a shaking palm flat against the door, but it was as cool as ever. With her other hand she slowly, slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door.
The glow was coming from a bowl of water on Elphaba's nightstand, its flickering reflected on her rapt face. She sat before it unmoving, her nose nearly touching the water, her expression never changing. Though Glinda was relieved to see that she was alone, she didn't relax entirely. Elphaba appeared in the grip of something, something not entirely safe . . .
Elphaba looked up, and although the glow from the bowl still reflected on her face and turned it to a more phosphorescent shade of green, the spell on her seemed broken. "Couldn't sleep," she said.
"Me either, there was all green light everywhere," Glinda said, eyebrows raised, as she came into the room and went to sit on the bed. The sudden rush of oxygen to her lungs made her somewhat dizzy.
"Sorry." Elphaba glanced at the bowl, which still flickered with its own strange inner lights. "I was thinking, about Nessa and how to tell whether she was alone. I'd never put much stock in scrying, because it didn't seem useful to us -"
"If the person has any magic themselves," Glinda recollected from their schoolbooks, "they can tell someone is watching them."
"Right. So no good for spying on Morrible, and you can't spy on things without knowing where they are -"
"And the location spell already lets you do that," Glinda finished.
"But it's not as clear as scrying, and you can't hear, with the location spell," Elphaba said. "To find Animals I don't need to hear, but it could be useful in other situations . . . and Nessa has no magic. So -"
Glinda leaned over and peered into the bowl. Now she could see that what she was looking at was the empty, darkened parlor of a stately mansion. The lone oil lamp flickering on one wall - the source of the flickering nature of the light from the bowl, she realized - illuminated a large and handsome portrait of Nessa. "Your home," she said.
"Nessa's, anyway," Elphaba said. She skimmed a fingertip over the bowl of water, and the image grew cloudy before settling once more. "It's imperfect, of course."
Glinda waited. "The - home?"
"No - well. No, I mean the bowl of water. It's the most traditional medium, and the easiest to come by, but it's not as clear as it could be and the image is very easy to disrupt. For now it'll work, but if there's a lot we want to do -"
"What would be better?"
Elphaba nodded at the book lying on the floor beside the table. "The most recommended thing appears to be a sphere, like the location spell, but made of four kinds of crystal plus ruby. The crystal has to be mined from each of the four compass points -"
"And why ruby?"
"Did you know the original palace on this site, back before the modern Ozmas, was said to be built of rubies? Well, gold and marble and rubies."
"No." Glinda tucked her feet up under her on the bed. "I bet the Wizard found out somehow though. Otherwise why pick such an opposite color?"
"I don't know." Elphaba frowned in the general direction of the book. "No one's made one of these in a thousand years or so, though. Or so the book says."
"Why not?"
Elphaba shrugged. "Too hard for any one person to get crystal from the four ends of Oz? Not to mention the rubies - and then, I don't exactly know how to melt together four kinds of crystal and a ruby and get clear glass. There must have been a spell for it, the last time it was done, to create the sphere, but the book doesn't seem to know."
Glinda propped her chin in one hand, looking into the bowl. "Well," she said. "You are supposed to be the most powerful witch anyone can remember, and you're almost definitely the smartest. If anyone can figure it out . . ."
"Mmm." Elphaba smiled sideways at her, then gestured with one limp-wristed hand toward the carpet. "Magic of Oz? Bring me crystals from the four ends of Oz, and a nice clear ruby, and make a lovely round sphere out of them with neatly mixed transparent glass, would you?"
Glinda was so tired that she actually watched the carpet for a moment before giggling. "I said figure it out, not expect the magic of Ozma or whatever to do it for you." When she stopped laughing, she saw that Elphaba was looking at her oddly. "What?"
"You've thought of something I never would have, in a hundred years," Elphaba said.
"I didn't think of anything."
"You did." Elphaba shifted her weight, the better to focus her intense gaze on Glinda. "What do they say about Ozma in Gillikin?"
"Same thing they say everywhere in secret," Glinda said, caught by the sudden energy she saw in Elphaba's expression. "That she's not dead, she's somewhere waiting to be woken up - why?"
"What if," Elphaba said slowly, "Ozma isn't a person."
"I know you paid better attention in history class than that," Glinda said.
"No, I mean - I know there were lots of Ozmas, but what if the power of the position just passed from person to person -"
"And it's the power that lives on, instead of the actual Ozma," Glinda considered. "All right. It's as possible as Ozma asleep under a waterfall, anyway."
"And what if -" Excitedly, Elphaba shifted her weight again, pulling her knees sideways on the bed. "The Wizard knocked down Ozma's palace and built this one on the site. And before that, the stories say the modern palace was built on the site of the ancient one. What if there's something left?"
"What if Ozma's power is under the Palace?" Glinda glanced into the bowl again for something to do with her eyes while she considered. "You mean, what if there's some other power on this site, something foreign to modern Oz, that you could use? Is that it?"
"We," Elphaba said, "and, something like that."
"I think you need more sleep," Glinda said.
"I know it's insane," Elphaba said. "It just - sometimes - I've learned to listen to some of the things that seem to come into my head for no reason."
"I thought this one came into my head," Glinda said, but now she was teasing, and Elphaba could tell.
"Sleep," Elphaba said, smiling. "In the morning I want to try the location spell."
"'Find Ozma's rubies?'"
"Good suggestion. At any rate, even if they weren't magic, if there are some in the palace it would be cheaper than importing them from the Quadlings."
Since she could no longer tell whether Elphaba was joking or not, Glinda decided it was high time to go to bed. She muttered a few words and blew gently across the surface of the scrying bowl, and the image gently blended into the ripples as the glow died down until there was nothing left but a bowl full of slightly disturbed water. When she looked up, Elphaba was giving her that odd look again.
"You're not the only one who paid attention," Glinda said, tapping Elphaba on the shoulder. "And you'd better sleep too, or your ideas will be even crazier in the morning."