Story: Lurline Queen and Kumbric Witch (chapter 5)

Authors: bleeding.blade

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Chapter 5

Title: Chapter 4

“This is the second time you’ve rescued me.” Elphaba said by way of greeting.

Laughing, Galinda ushered her through the door and shook her head. “The gesture wasn’t entirely altruistic. As I shared quite candidly during the meeting, I’m not accustomed to living alone.”

Elphaba surveyed the apartment’s extensive proportions and silently conceded that its spaciousness did make solitude a daunting a prospect. “Still, a favor requited doesn’t annul the gratitude that’s owed.”

“I’ll accept your thanks—but only if you promise it to be the last of the formalities between us.” The merry warmth in the amethyst blue eyes immediately put Elphaba at ease.

“I promise,” she nodded and finally smiled.

“Excellent!” The blonde grinned. “Now, let me show you to your rooms.”

~~~~~

After several hours of being thoroughly settled in, Elphaba sank with weariness into the alcove that dominated a quarter of her room. The recess overlooked a private garden that recreated what she suspected was the arboreal landscape of Gillikin. Despite the apartment’s size, it was hardly ostentatious—everything had been appointed with an elegant and understated taste.

With a sweetness Elphaba had been unable to resist, Galinda had insisted on helping her unpack.

“This way, it’ll be easier for me to explain where things are and how things work,” she pointed out with beguiling pragmatism. As they worked through the afternoon, putting clothes into drawers and books onto shelves, Elphaba waited for what she felt was the inevitable question regarding her cousin’s usurpation of her rooms at Crage Hall. But Galinda said nothing of the matter, commenting with some amusement instead that Elphaba appeared to possess far more books than she did anything else.

As if to defuse any potential defensiveness her remark might provoke, Galinda added, “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone before whose library rivals mine.”

“You enjoy reading?” Elphaba asked with a mix of curiosity and wonder. Back home in Munchkinland, her fascination with books had seemed yet another aberration—both a contributor to and a consolation for the isolation she perpetually felt.

“Very much,” Galinda smiled. “I left most of my collection at home in Gillikin, but you can help yourself to whatever I have here.” She paused for a moment and glanced at the clock. “Why don’t I show you the library now? We’re about due for a short break at any rate.”

Elphaba nodded and followed her hostess through a warren of rooms until they arrived at a beautiful solarium. The room was stunning enough in its own right—high ceilings framed crystal clear skylights shot through with the golden light of late afternoon. Breaking up the room’s expanse were pocket gardens and rockeries studded with tiny pools and waterfalls. In the room’s periphery, just beyond the reach of the sun’s fading rays, were shelves upon shelves of leather-bound books.

Elphaba gasped in pure pleasure. “I could stay here for the rest of my life!”

Galinda laughed. “You’re welcome to, if you’d like.”

Elphaba continued to survey the room in amazement. “Are all the other major wings of Crage Hall like this?”

Galinda paused for a moment to consider. “Some perhaps in size, all certainly not in design. Most of the dynasties of Oz possess permanent wings in Shiz University’s residence halls, and all of them will have been appointed in accordance with each family’s traditions and tastes.”

“And is it part of your family’s traditions to invite members of other houses to stay in these lodgings?” Elphaba asked with a hint of dryness.

“Not exactly,” Galinda smiled. “But it is part of Arduenna tradition to rescue and welcome beauty wherever we find it.” There was a gleam in the blue-violet eyes that brought an uncharacteristic warmth to Elphaba’s cheeks.

“Does indefatigable charm also constitute part of your customs?” Elphaba asked wryly.

Galinda laughed outright. “Only if refreshing candor constitutes one of yours.”

Elphaba chuckled. “My candor qualifies as a personal shortcoming rather than an ancestral value, I’m afraid. I was always upbraided for speaking my mind.”

"Pity,” Galinda frowned, arching an elegant eyebrow. “Especially when it’s a fine mind that speaks.”

“Your charm really is tireless, isn’t it?” Elphaba said admiringly. “How can you be so certain of the quality of my mind?”

“An intellect that can range over topics as diverse as art, geography, history, languages, music, philosophy and poetry can hardly be considered coarse,” Galinda replied drily, reminding Elphaba that the blonde had helped organize her book collection earlier that day after all. “Would your implacable modesty also happen to be one of your personal shortcomings or would it be an ancestral value in this case?”

“The former, I think, rather unfortunately for my house.” Elphaba laughed, conceding. Then looking at Galinda with an eyebrow raised, she added, “I should keep my wits about me when I’m with you. That charm of yours is enough to dull any mind, however sharp.”

“I’m not even trying to be charming, my dear Elphaba Thropp.” Galinda smiled beatifically before taking her arm. “I’m simply being candid.”

There was no doubt about it though, Elphaba reflected as she looked out onto the moonlit garden underneath her room. The princess of the House of Arduenna wasn’t so much indefatigably charming as she was utterly captivating. She didn’t know why the realization caused her to feel so much delightful unease.

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