Chapter Twelve: Heartache and Grief

"Your Goodness?"

Glinda looked up with a start and blinked a few times before realising there was a guard in the entryway to the throne room.

"Yes?"

He bowed slightly. "The King and Queen of the Vinkus have arrived to see you, Ma'am."

Glinda's stomach clenched as she nervously stood. "Thank you. Can you please alert the maid we will have tea in my private sitting room?"

"Yes, your Goodness."

Glinda forced herself to take deep breaths as she headed out of the room to greet Fiyero's parents. This would be the first time in years she had seen them, since they had come to Fiyero's graduation ceremony from Shiz and she had been introduced to them as his girlfriend. She remembered them as friendly people, Fiyero looked very much like his father, but he had his mother's eyes and colouring.

She had had a very pleasant lunch and conversation with his mother, Kasmira about the best places to shop around Shiz. But what Glinda remembered most about that long-ago lunch was that every time his father, Liir tried to broach the subject of their future or the seriousness of their relationship, Fiyero would change the subject abruptly, telling his father all about what his new job in the Gale force would entail. At the time it had upset Glinda dreadfully, wondering why he wouldn't talk about their future when all he seemed to do these days was think. Eventually she had convinced herself that he was dealing with a lot, juggling his first long-term relationship with his desire to prove himself to his parents in the Gale force; after fighting to convince his father he should work before assuming his responsibilities and duties as the Vinkus prince.

Now however, Glinda knew better. But she couldn't pretend she was happy about the prospect of seeing her ex-fiancée's parents again, after all, they thought their only son was dead and Glinda knew Fiyero was perfectly healthy and living.

"Glinda?"

She looked up and forced a smile onto her face as she approached them and curtseyed. "Your Majesties, it's such a pleasure to see you again. Please follow me," she said, leading them to her private sitting room.

Once she was turned away, she let her smile drop. Fiyero's parents were dreadfully aged, and Glinda knew it was because they were still grieving for Fiyero. She could read the grief and loss in their eyes so perfectly, not least because she had seen it in her own eyes every day for nearly two years before she had discovered Fiyero and Elphaba were alive.

Once they were alone and tea had been served, they dropped all formalities.

"I'm sorry it's taken us so long to see you, Glinda," Kasmira apologised, but Glinda shook her head.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I daresay you have not had an easy time these past years," she said gently and saw Kasmira's eyes fill with tears.

Liir cleared his throat. "That's why we've come to see you, Glinda. We all know there are no problems between the Vinkus and the rest of Oz, and you've managed to promote strong relations with the Vinkus through the Ambassador."

Glinda nodded in agreement.

"But we thought… it would be helpful for us, to talk to you. About our Yero."

Glinda's eyes widened momentarily, caught unaware, but Kasmira misread her reaction.

"I'm sorry, dear- I know it can't be easy for you, considering… what happened and how it ended between you two, but…"

"No," Glinda interrupted quickly. "Forgive me, I was just surprised. Of course we can talk about Fiyero."

Liir frowned. "It doesn't bother you?"

Glinda shook her head, and took a moment to choose her words- and tense- carefully. "Liir, Fiyero… was a very dear friend of mine, before and during our relationship. I can't imagine what you've both been going through these past years," she trailed off, shuddering slightly at the thought of losing even one of the twins, let alone both.

"But the relationship between Fiyero and I was not all it appeared to be. We were never actually formally engaged, it was more for show and to promote good morale."

Kasmira, she noted, didn't seem that surprised.

"And the Witch?" Liir asked tightly and Glinda winced, not liking Elphaba talked about that way.

"Elphaba," she corrected and Kasmira's eyes widened.

"Elphaba?" she repeated, and Glinda nodded.

"Yes, that was her name. What about her, Liir?" she asked, and couldn't help but remark to herself how odd it was to be talking to Fiyero's father, but thinking about the grandson he didn't know existed who was named in his honour.

"Liir has trouble comprehending why Fiyero did what he did… for her," Kasmira explained quietly, one hand on her husband's arm.

Glinda smiled softly, this was an easy one to answer. "He did it because he loved her."

"I don't understand," Kasmira frowned.

"Elphaba was at Shiz with us," Glinda explained. "She was my roommate actually."

She started to say something, and then realised she wasn't supposed to know certain information and changed her words.

"She's the reason… I think she's the reason, that Fiyero settled down and actually began applying himself. It happened after she left."

"After she turned against the Wizard?" Liir asked and Glinda winced, wishing she could correct him and tell him it was the Wizard and Morrible that turned against Elphaba.

"Yes."

Glinda sighed. It would be so much easier if she could just tell them the truth about everything, tell them that their son was alive and happy, a wonderful husband and father, almost bouncing in anticipation of the birth of his third child in less than a month. She wished she could tell them that he adored Elphaba and how perfect they were for one another and that Elphaba, who never let anyone in for fear of being hurt, had allowed Fiyero into her heart completely, and cherished their children above anything else.

However, in the years that she had discovered that Elphaba and Fiyero were alive, Fiyero had remained firm in his insistence that his parents not be informed of his existence. He knew his parents must be devastated and felt awful, but he wasn't willing to risk the safety of Elphaba or his children.

"I can't lose her, Glinda," he'd told her quietly on her last visit, when she'd informed him that she'd received a letter from his parents announcing their forthcoming visit.

"I hate that my parents don't know about their grandchildren, but I can't know for sure how they'd react to everything. My father especially. And I am not going to risk losing Fae. I won't put the kids through that."

Glinda had agreed, imagining Fiyero and the kids if something happened to Elphaba and not wanting to have to experience it for real. Plus Fiyero had raised the very good point that to suddenly come back from the dead after so long would hurt his parents even more.

"I wish I had answers for you," she said quietly, knowing she meant she wished she was allowed to give them the answers they were looking for.

"But Fiyero… died… he did what he did to save the woman he loved. Because the alternative was having to watch her die or be hurt. Could you have stood for that?"

"No," Kasmira replied immediately with a pained grimace.

Liir didn't reply, but looked as though he agreed.

"I just… we thought he was happy," Liir said quietly. "With you, and his life. He was finally settling down, becoming everything we've always known he could be. And then we get word he threw it all away for her and it cost him his life. He never mentioned anything about the witch before and suddenly he runs off with her? It doesn't make any sense."

Glinda took a deep breath. Hindsight was a wonderful thing, she knew. Thinking about their days at Shiz since Fiyero arrived, up until the moment he and Elphaba had run off together, Glinda now could understand everything she hadn't at the time. Her mind flashed back to a conversation she and Lysander had had with Elphaba and Fiyero, their first visit after their marriage. Somehow, the conversation had turned to love and Lysander had asked Fiyero a question.

"How did you know that you'd fallen in love with Elphaba?" he'd asked and Elphaba had groaned.

"Oh, do we have to talk about this?"

"Yes," Fiyero and Glinda replied in unison.

Fiyero told Lysander the story of the Lion Cub and then paused, reaching for his wife's hand.

"It's hard to say exactly how it happened. All I know is, before I came to Shiz I never really thought about anything serious. And then I met Fae and she saw right through the happy, partying, play-boy prince act and she made me realise that you have to stand up for what's not right. It was like, before I saw the world in black and white, and then suddenly I saw the world…"

"In green?" Elphaba supplied wickedly and Fiyero and Glinda both frowned at her.

She laughed at him lightly. "Oh, come on Fiyero, it was right there!"

Lysander couldn't help but chuckle and Glinda shifted her glare to her husband.

Now, she turned to Liir and Kasmira.

"Even at Shiz, Elphie believed that Fiyero could be more than what he was. She called him on every bluff he made, that no one else saw, not even me. I think… he fell in love with her at Shiz, not long before she left, but tried to hide it because of me and especially once she… turned against the Wizard," she said painfully. "He joined the Gale force to find her, and once he did, he realised he couldn't pretend anymore. No matter the consequences."

"But it cost him his life," Kasmira whispered heartbrokenly.

Glinda winced. "Yes."

"You're really not mad? He left you in a midst of scandal, and this woman was your friend?" Liir asked her bluntly.

"Fiyero followed his heart until the end. How could I be mad about that, especially now when things are the way they are?"

Liir and Kasmira exchanged a heavy glance.

"I just felt awful," Glinda moaned to Lysander that night as they lay in bed. "And it was so strange to talk about Elphie and Fiyero as if they really were dead. They're so sad and it just… breaks my heart knowing they can't know about the kids, or how happy Fiyero is."

"I'm very impressed you didn't slip up," Lysander told her with a smile.

"And I get it," Glinda admitted heavily. "About why Fiyero says they can't know. Liir is so… stern. I don't think he's willing to accept the idea that Elphie is anything more than the Wicked Witch of the West. Kasmira, I think, would be okay with it. She'd be shocked, and dreadfully hurt that Fiyero would let her think he was dead, but I think she'd accept Elphie because Fiyero loves her."

"What are you going to tell Fiyero?" Lysander asked, knowing that Glinda had promised to tell Fiyero about his parents.

Glinda sighed and grimaced. "I don't know. I can't tell him how… aged they are. They're still heartbroken, like it's only just happened. And I understand, I don't think you ever get over losing a child… there is just so much pain in their eyes. I think it would just hurt Fiyero to know how much pain they're in. And you know Elphie would feel responsible for it all."

Lysander agreed. Fiyero had a bad habit of making jokes about his brief tenure as a Scarecrow, and Elphaba flinched every time, still feeling guilty for what she'd had to do to save the life of the man she loved.

"Do you think she'll ever not blame herself for everything that happened?" Lysander asked his wife and Glinda shook her head.

"No. As soon as Nessa was born, her father made it clear that it was her fault that Nessa came too soon, and that their mother died. And Elphie believed him without a doubt. When you grow up with that mindset, I don't think you get let go of it," Glinda said sadly.

"But she is happy, isn't she? I'm afraid with Elphaba it's always hard for me to tell."

Glinda smiled. "She's happy, dearest. Trust me. She got the happily ever after she never imagined she'd have."

As Glinda got into bed, she thought about how at this very moment in Aleppo, Elphaba and Fiyero would be preparing for bed themselves, Elphaba completing her nightly ritual of checking on Aerin and Liir, making sure they were covered, and really there. Fiyero would then be going through his nightly routine of saying goodnight to their unborn child, a routine that drove Elphaba crazy, but she loved it at the same time.

Tomorrow, Glinda said to herself sleepily. Tomorrow, she would write to Fiyero and tell him about his parents. Her heart ached for the pain Liir and Kasmira was still suffering, but she knew they were taking a small comfort in the thought that at least now their son was at peace and happy. Which Glinda knew to be true.