Chapter 14
The inky black expanse spreads across the white parchment, taking over like a disease. Morrible stares at the mess, at the broken nib, and at the large blot on the paper, her lips curling in distaste.
It’s mesmerising in a strange way to watch the darkness spread, to watch it corrupt the once pure paper.
She had broken the pen in a fit of rage and ended up strangely enraptured by the effects.
A knock interrupts her.
“Enter.” She huffs in annoyance.
A servant pokes her head in. Morrible can practically see the poor girl shaking with nervousness. “Madame, you have a visitor.”
Morrible waits for her to continue and frowns when she doesn’t. “Well?” She demands impatiently.
The servant swallows. “Mr. and Mrs. Upland, Madame.”
Morrible drops the pen, curiously tilting her head. “And they’re here to see… me?”
“Yes, Madame.”
“Send them in.”
A few moments later, the two overtly dramatic parents stand in front of her bed — which she has been confined to; she hates it. The Upland parents had been nuisances the entire time she’d been training their daughter, but she’d managed to ward them off with a few words of reassurance, fake letters, and meetings with the Wizard of Oz himself. They’d been placated easily then.
Now…
“My dear Galinda!” Mrs Upland blows her nose into the handkerchief she clings onto like a lifeline. Her husband places a comforting hand on her shoulder, an equally forlorn look on his face. Morrible has the sudden urge to smite them both. She might be able to get away with it.
Her consideration of the possibility is cut off by another — very loud — sniffle.
“Larena. Come now,” Mr Upland says, his voice at an unusually high pitch. “I’m sure Madame Morrible will be able to help us.”
Morrible twists her face into what she hopes is a reassuring smile. “Yes, we’re working on finding your daughter as we speak.”
“I just can’t believe it! Kidnapped!”
“By the Wicked Witch of the West.” Morrible sees her chance and seizes it. “Truly the vilest villain in all of Oz.”
Larena Upland dissolves into a new fit of sobs. But Mr Upland narrows his eyes at the weather witch. “Were you there? Did you see our Galinda get taken?”
“Yes,” she says dryly, glancing down at her bandaged legs. “I was. And I suffered a great loss trying to protect your daughter.”
“Was she crying? Was she-”
“No.” Morrible says solemnly. She hasn’t seen the girl cry in a while, but she doesn’t tell them that. “She was knocked out by the Witch in a brutal act of violence.”
More annoying sobbing — this time, from both parents.
She’s considering the smiting thing quite a bit now.
“B-But you’ll find her, won’t you?”
“I assure you, we’re doing everything in our power to-”
“And to think, our dear Galinda considered her a friend.” Mrs Upland interrupts. “She wrote to us about the strange girl who was her roommate, and said she was quite impossible to describe. Imagine our surprise when she became friends with said girl! It must have been an act of manipulation. Our Galinda is just too good…”
Headaches weren’t normal with broken legs, were they? Morrible can feel the onset of one as Mrs Upland continued to chatter on. She manages to tune the women out, interjecting with occasional nods or hums of agreement.
“Larena,” she finally says, having had enough of the incessant noise. “we are trying our hardest to find her, but your help would be greatly appreciated.”
Both the Uplands perk up. “Anything.”
“You are quite wealthy, aren’t you.”
“Yes.” Mr Upland says proudly.
“It is quite hard to ask for this, but your funding would greatly help us. The Witch has struck the Emerald Palace’s coffers, you see.” Not quite a lie. The Witch hadn’t directly stolen from them, just their sponsors, and altogether succeeded in making their lives quite difficult with all her Animal movements and rebellions. Her former student has proven to be quite a thorn in her side lately, especially with her newest stunt. She’d not only lost her pet, but she’d also shattered her legs. They would heal with time, but time was not a luxury she had the patience for.
“Of course!” Mr Upland says immediately. “Anything to help the great Wizard.”
“Wonderful! I truly cannot thank you two enough. We will get your daughter back Mr and Mrs Upland.” She looks them both square in the eyes.
After exchanging a few more tedious words with the two, they finally leave.
“Call the Wizard to my quarters.” She orders the servant — a different one, this time — in her room; she nods and disappears within moments.
“Morrible,” the Wizard smiles upon entrance. “how are you doing?”
“Quite well, Oscar. Especially with the new sponsors I have secured.”
“New sponsors?” He frowns. “Who?”
“Mr and Mrs Upland.”
“Oh.” Oscar’s expression is quite priceless before he manages to reel it in. He smiles, rather deviously. “I see.”
“How do you feel about propaganda?”
“Oh, don’t be like that. You know I love it.”
“Of course you do. What do you say we place a higher bounty on our dear witch””
“Especially now since she’s kidnapped our dear symbol of hope. The disappearance of Glinda the Good is impacting the Ozians severely.” The Wizard muses.
“Exactly.”
“I have another idea.”
“And what might that be?”
“Didn’t she have a sister?”
“Yes, she did. Nessarose Thropp.”
“Why don’t we send an invitation to our dear Eminent Thropp.”
“Isn’t she planning a secession?”
The news had stirred up quite a bit of trouble when it leaked out. They had managed to get it under as much control as possible, but the plans for the secession were still underway and, despite their best attempts, they hadn’t been able to talk the new Eminent out of it. Thankfully, she hasn’t gone through with it yet. Such a thing requires quite a lot of preparation, and Nessarose might as well be preparing for war. Because there is no scenario in which anyone sees a secession ending well.
“Exactly.” The Wizard smiles. “Two birds with one stone.”