Chapter 16
“Do you think they’ve all split up?”
Glinda glances over at Elphaba, then turns her attention back to the water bottle she’s filling. “The Careers?”
“Yeah. There are three left. Do you think they’re still together after what happened to the boy last night, or did they all go separate ways?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Not true. I think your guess would be better.”
Glinda looks up again, a little irritated. Elphaba kneels next to her and touches her arm. Her eyes are pleading—they have been since last night. “You know what I mean. I just…hate not knowing what’s going on.”
“It is unnerving,” Glinda agrees. She glances away as she hands the bottle to Elphaba, staring down at the stream instead. The water is just calm enough to see her rippling reflection—and Elphaba’s behind her.
“I’m not sure,” she says after a moment. “I don’t think Avaric would care if they were all together at the end. He’d like the challenge. But the others…they’re probably all afraid of being murdered in their sleep.”
Elphaba snorts. “Fair enough. So, there’s the two of us, then Fiyero, then Avaric, then…those two other Gillikin girls, right? You think we’re the only ones still working together?”
“Maybe. Unless…” Glinda thinks back to the videos of the reapings. “Avaric and Shenshen are from the same district. I’m almost certain they knew each other before the Games.”
“You think they’re still in an alliance?”
“I think it’s possible.” She notices Elphaba’s frown. “But there’s no way for us to know for sure. Let’s just worry about that when we get there, okay?”
“If you say so,” Elphaba mutters. “I’m just worried we’re going to get there pretty soon.”
They rise from the stream and start moving again. It’s been a quiet day so far, cloudy and cold, although most of the snow has melted away. Glinda plays with the scarf around her neck, twisting her fingers in and out of the material. They’ve moved gradually away from the Cornucopia, but it doesn’t feel any safer. Elphaba is right. With all of them wandering the arena, there are no guarantees. Whatever is going to happen, it’s going to happen soon.
Glinda looks sideways at Elphaba. They haven’t talked about their conversation last night, but she hasn’t stopped thinking about it since. She’s sure Elphaba hasn’t, either. The green girl keeps glancing back at her or reaching over to grab her hand or bumping their shoulders together—anything to make sure Glinda is still there. It makes Glinda’s heart ache at the same time that it aggravates her. All she wants is to keep Elphaba alive, but every time their skin brushes or their eyes meet she loses all will to leave. She wonders, vaguely, if that’s part of Elphaba’s plan.
Elphaba slows down after a while, her brow furrowed. “Do you think we should stop?” she asks. “We haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Glinda looks around them, hesitating. “I think it’s going to snow. It’s so cloudy. And everything seems so still.”
“Glinda?”
“Not here. We can eat, but I want to keep moving.”
Elphaba meets her gaze. It really does feel like it’s about to snow. Something about the air seems sharp, as if the sky is holding its breath, ready to let go.
“I don’t want to leave tracks for anyone else to find,” says Elphaba. “If it snows, we should find somewhere to wait it out.”
“I’m not sure we’ll be able to,” Glinda mumbles. They keep moving, but Glinda continues to glance up at the sky, waiting for the inevitable.
Elphaba pulls out their pack of food and hands it to her. Glinda reaches for it, then freezes, gripping Elphaba’s hand instead. The breeze is picking up again, swaying the branches, but she swears she hears something else.
“We need to get out of sight.”
Elphaba looks like she’s about to question her, but instead she swings the pack back over her shoulder and lets Glinda tug her to one of the larger evergreens that surround them. Glinda glances around as Elphaba starts climbing. She scrambles up after the green girl, who is already disappearing into the leaves above her.
Elphaba finds a split in the branches big enough for both of them and stops there. She grabs Glinda’s arm and pulls her up the last couple of feet until they’re sitting on side by side branches, leaning on both the trunk and each other.
“What did you—?”
Glinda grips Elphaba’s arm, quieting her, and stares down through the branches. Something rustles nearby, and then two figures appear, only a few yards away from their tree.
“Are you sure there’s something around here?”
Glinda feels Elphaba tense at the sound of Shenshen’s voice. She rubs her arm once, narrowing her eyes at the people below them.
“I told you, I heard someone talking,” says Avaric.
“I think you’re hearing things. No one’s dumb enough to wander around talking to themselves.” Shenshen twirls her axe in one hand, eyeing Avaric carefully. “Unless you think those two are still together.”
“I don’t know,” he says tightly. “All I know is that I heard something.”
“Well, there’s nothing here.”
Elphaba shifts her arm just enough to grab Glinda’s hand. She squeezes her fingers once, drawing her attention, then nods up. Glinda looks at the sky. It’s starting to snow.
“Look.”
Glinda focuses her attention back on the ground. Shenshen is pointing up. Avaric follows her gaze, looking almost straight at their tree in the process. Glinda shrinks into the trunk and holds Elphaba’s hand tighter.
“Perfect.” Avaric’s voice is low. He continues to stare for a long moment. Glinda holds her breath. She can feel her pulse in her ears. Finally, he looks back down. “Wherever they are, they’ll leave tracks.”
“So will we,” Shenshen points out.
“Yes, but between the two of us, we don’t have anyone to fear. Come on.” He touches the sword at his belt and starts walking again.
Shenshen shifts her axe from hand to hand. “That’s what you said about the four of us yesterday,” she mumbles, but she follows him anyway. They pass underneath the tree and disappear back into the forest.
Glinda slumps in her branch, her forehead hitting the trunk. Elphaba squeezes her hand, and for a few minutes they just sit there quietly.
“We should get out of here,” she says eventually. Glinda takes a deep breath and gives a tiny nod. Elphaba starts to move but then pauses, searching her face with that same pleading look.
“What?” Glinda breathes, but Elphaba simply looks away and starts climbing down. Glinda rubs her forehead. “Elphie, wait.”
“We need to go.”
Glinda reaches down for her, leaning precariously off her branch, and grabs her shoulder. Elphaba pauses for a moment, not meeting her eyes. Then she pulls away.
Glinda bites her lip and follows her down. She lands softly beside Elphaba, who grabs her hand and turns away from where Avaric and Shenshen had disappeared. Glinda tightens her grip on Elphaba and holds still, forcing her to stop.
“Come on,” Elphaba whispers, tugging on her. “We have to—”
“Elphaba…do you not trust me anymore?” Glinda stares at their hands as she says it.
“Glinda this really isn’t the time or place.”
“No, it’s not, but when is?”
“When we’re not standing twenty feet away from Avaric!”
“He won’t hurt you. I won’t let him.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of!” Elphaba hisses. She lets go of Glinda and presses her palms to her eyes. “Oz, don’t you get it?”
“Get what?” Glinda demands, still whispering. “That I don’t want to see you killed?”
“It’s not like I want that to happen, but—”
“But what, Elphaba? You think that I—”
“I can’t stand the thought of you leaving!” Elphaba steps forward, and takes her hand again. Her chest heaves and she towers over Glinda, her eyes desperate. “After everything we’ve been through…you can’t. You just can’t.”
“I told you I wouldn’t.”
“I know. Is that still true?”
Glinda keeps her eyes on their fingers, tangled together, pale skin blurring into emerald. She blinks hard, trying to clear her vision.
“Elphie,” she breathes. “Elphaba, you are the one person…the only thing I ever…if you…”
“Glinda. Please.”
“I knew I heard something.”
Avaric’s voice sends a chill down Glinda’s back. The girls spin around and see him standing a few feet away, his sword hanging casually in his hand, smirking. Heat floods Glinda’s face. She clenches her fists and narrows her eyes.
Elphaba squeezes her hand so tight it hurts. “Please, Glinda,” she whispers.
Glinda pulls away from her grip. She steps closer, placing herself half in front of Elphaba. “I won’t,” she breathes. “I promise.”
Avaric brushes the hair out of his face and chuckles. “I have to admit, Miss Glinda,” he says. “I’m a little disappointed. Jeron spoke so highly of you, yet here you are wasting your time with a Munchkin. A green Munchkin, no less.”
Glinda tightens her grip on her dagger. She shoves away everything going on between her and Elphaba—all the dread and panic, all the things she needs to say—and focuses on her anger instead. “Jeron talked about me?” she asks coolly. “Did he mention all the ways I could kill you?”
Avaric scoffs. “Do you really think I’m afraid of you?”
“Yes,” Elphaba says. “We beat you once, when we were outnumbered. We can do it again.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” says Shenshen from behind them. Elphaba turns around, her back pressing against Glinda’s.
“Pretty confident, Shenshen,” Glinda says, her gaze still fixed on Avaric. “Have you forgotten what happened the last time we fought each other?”
“Why, you little—”
She hears Shenshen start forward, but then a soft humming sounds behind her, and the footsteps stop. Glinda risks looking over her shoulder just long enough to see Elphaba glaring Shenshen down, her fists raised and glowing. Glinda turns back to Avaric.
“The thing is, Miss Glinda,” he says, still smirking, “You couldn’t kill Shenshen. You had every opportunity, but you were too weak. What makes you think you can do it now?”
Glinda grits her teeth and stays silent. She can feel Elphaba’s magic rippling around them. There’s a chance they can win this fight, but to be honest, Avaric terrifies her. And he’s right. They need to get out of here, now. She reaches back to touch Elphaba’s hip, grabbing her jacket and tugging lightly. Elphaba shifts her feet, taking a half step in that direction.
Glinda glances down at the dagger in her hand, weighing her options even as she adjusts her grip and pulls her arm back.
“Go!” Glinda throws the dagger as she shouts the command. She feels Elphaba disappear, running off to the side, and follows after her, resisting the urge to look back and see where her blade landed. Avaric cries out, but there’s no cannon.
“Did you get him?” asks Elphaba.
“I think so, but it wasn’t serious,” Glinda pants. “Throwing isn’t my greatest strength.”
“You’re unnarmed now.”
“Uh huh. Keep running.”
They do. They sprint through the forest, crashing through the trees loud enough to attract the entire arena, but Glinda doesn’t care. She can hear Shenshen close behind them. The thought of her leaving Avaric alone with a knife in his side is wildly, inappropriately funny to Glinda, and she has the sudden urge to laugh out loud. It turns into a sob and catches in her throat, and she coughs violently, stumbling a little. Elphaba grabs her hand and drags her forward.
The snow is falling faster now, starting to obscure their vision. They need to lose Shenshen before they start leaving tracks. Elphaba lets go of her and twists around, swinging her hand, palm open, behind them. There’s a rush of wind and a crash, but when Glinda looks around Shenshen is still right behind them. Elphaba swings again, and this time they hear the snapping of a branch, followed by Shenshen cursing.
A cannon goes off, echoing through the arena, but it doesn’t come from behind. Instead it’s from the side, where the ground slopes down. Glinda freezes, skidding to a halt and instinctively pulling Elphaba closer. Fiyero is just down the hill, climbing to his feet and pulling his sword out of the other Gillikin girl. He looks up at them, meeting Glinda’s eyes, and recognition flickers across his face.
“Look out!”
Elphaba shoves Glinda as Shenshen leaps back into view. They stumble over each other and all but roll down the hill toward Fiyero. Shenshen stands above them, grinning.
“Perfect.”
She lifts her axe and jumps down. Glinda climbs to her feet, pulling Elphaba along with her. Shenshen misses them by mere inches and is raising her arm to swing again, but before she can Fiyero jumps in between them, blocking her.
Glinda stares, open-mouthed, even as she yanks Elphaba to her feet. Fiyero locks his blade against Shenshen’s and pushes against her. Growling, she kicks out, shoving him back. She drops low and kicks again, knocking him off his feet, and Glinda’s focus returns.
She runs forward before Shenshen can swing down and grabs the handle of the axe. She punches at Shenshen’s wrist with one hand, trying to break her grip. Shenshen shoves her back, but she holds tight and drags them both down. Glinda hits the ground hard and rolls, keeping her grip on the axe and struggling to gain the upper hand. She pries at Shenshen’s fingers, manages to shove one hand off, and yanks on the weapon to free it from her grip. She barely notices when Shenshen’s free hand reaches for her belt.
“Glinda, move!”
Elphaba’s shout warns her just in time. Glinda scrambles away as Shenshen pulls out a small knife and swings up. The blade catches her anyway, slicing through the layers of clothes covering her side. It’s a shallow cut, but it’s enough to force Glinda to put a hand to it, sucking in a breath and crawling back.
Shenshen follows after her, lifting her axe again, but a blast of energy knocks her to the side. Glinda turns her head and squeezes her eyes shut as the air rushes by her. When she looks up again, Shenshen is sprawled across the ground, her axe lying a few feet away.
Fiyero moves toward her and raises his sword. Elphaba kneels next to Glinda, feeling at her side, but the blonde is focused on Fiyero. She stares up at his face as the cannon sounds, but it remains blank.
Until he turns toward them.
Four left, Glinda thinks as Elphaba pulls her to her feet. And three of them are standing right here.
“You.” Fiyero stares at Glinda. “You were there when they…when they killed Sarima.”
Maybe it’s supposed to be an accusation, but he’s breathing hard and looks more disbelieving than suspicious. Still, she flinches, stepping back into Elphaba.
“I’m sorry.” Glinda’s voice is hoarse. “I…”
“Glinda,” Elphaba says urgently. “Glinda, Avaric won’t be far behind. We need to get out of here.”
Glinda stares at Fiyero. His gaze is hard as he meets her eyes, his jaw working. His fingers tighten around his sword. Glinda shuffles further into Elphaba, who takes a half step in front of her, arms reaching back to wrap protectively around her.
Fiyero blinks hard and swallows, then takes a step back. He looks at Elphaba, then back at Glinda, and this time there’s something else in his eyes. Something vulnerable. Something understanding.
He nods once, then backs away and turns, disappearing into the trees.