The Day of the Seventeen-Headed Dragon: A Legends of Oz Story (ON HIATUS)

❀ | Chapter III: Chaos and Conversations | ❀

Entry 48:

'At the time the person you love the most dies, it can be a heartbreaking thing that shifts your entire worldview. Fear and dread can consume someone's thoughts without them realizing it. My wife's father always felt the need to protect her mother from the moment they met and vice-versa.'

'But sometimes you cannot protect the person that you love from everything, as these two eventually had to learn.'

⋯⋯⋯💙⋯⋯⋯

     Raindrops poured against the windows of the carriage that took Mallow and China Princess away from the Emerald City. For most of the ride, they remained silent.

     China was shaking a little from her intense anger and jealousy that warped her judgment. How did Dorothy get all the happiness in the world while she was completely miserable? She scoffed in pure frustration and turned farther away from her husband, who was sitting on the opposite side of the carriage.

     Mallow could sense that something was bothering his wife, and his compassionate nature came out. Although they fought, he knew that she still loved him. Even if she no longer loved him as a husband, China would at least respect him as the father of her son.

"Rosaline, dear." He said in an understanding voice.  "Look at me, please."

"That's China Princess to you..." She replied coldly, continuing to look away from him.

Mallow sighed, tired of her antics, but remained hopeful that the woman he loved was still in there. "Can you at least tell me what's bothering you? You can be distant from me, but I need to know what's wrong."

"Well, since you asked nicely, I'll tell you." China replied with some of her jealousy coming out. "Who in Oz actually believes that Dorothy married Scarecrow out of love? No human woman would marry a sack of straw without an ulterior motive."

"Oh..." The marshmallow man sat in shocked silence for a solid minute, processing what she said. Her words made him realized that the China Princess he knew before was being consumed by envy.

     When her husband didn't respond, his wife only got angrier and folded her arms. "Dorothy wants something out of her marriage! She is using him to get her hands on a crown! Why he married her, I will never understand!"

     "I can see why their relationship seems that way, but we both know Dorothy's character..." Mallow responded calmly. "She's kind, especially to Crow, and I'm sure she is doing her best to adjust to life in the Emerald City. I don't believe she would ever do anything to hurt him on purpose."

     "Oh, I believe it! I've seen the way they act, and it's all a ploy! They can fool Lion and Tin Man, but they can't trick me into believing their fantasy!" China Princess replied, her voice becoming even louder, now getting mad at her husband.

"You know as well as I that they both really love each other." Mallow answered plainly, simply defending his friends. "Everyone, including those who hate them, can see that. I think you're imagining things."

China stared at Mallow with an indignant and shocked expression while continuing to yell at him. "Imagining things?! You're the one who's delusional like everyone else! I didn't think you could be such a fool!"

"I'm not a fool. I can just recognize that they do truly and deeply love each other." Her husband, instead of engaging with her, gazed out the window of the carriage with sadness. "That's more than what can be said about us..."