Arrival at Kiamo Ko

After seven years of silence and penance at the Cloister of Saint Glinda, Elphaba—now calling herself Sister Saint Aelphaba—travels with the Grasstrail Train into the Vinkus. Her stated purpose is to face Sarima, the Dowager Princess of the Arjikis and the widow of Fiyero, the man she loved and whose death she believes she caused. The journey through Kumbricia's Pass and the Thousand Year Grasslands has stripped away the last of her cloistered detachment, leaving her raw and determined. She arrives at Kiamo Ko, a fortress of steep black angles and conical towers, built as a waterworks headquarters and later seized by Fiyero's father as a tribal stronghold. The castle, perched on a perilous slope, is the seat of the Arjiki princes, and Elphaba enters it carrying the weight of a confession she has rehearsed for years.

The Confrontation with Sarima

Sarima, a pale, heavy woman with a sharp wit and a practiced authority, receives Elphaba in the castle keep. Elphaba, dressed in black like an old maunt, immediately identifies herself and declares her purpose: "I think I was the cause of Fiyero's death." Sarima, however, refuses to hear the details. She interrupts, saying, "You're not the only one" who blames herself, and insists that the conversation is hers to control. She links her arm with Elphaba's and leads her into the dining hall, introducing her as "Auntie Guest" to her five sisters—Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six—who are curious and hostile. Sarima's refusal to listen is a deliberate act of power; she will not allow Elphaba to unburden herself on her own terms. The meal passes in silence, with Elphaba devouring the fish and cheese but speaking not a word, her confession trapped inside her.

The Terms of Imprisonment

A week later, Sarima summons Elphaba to the Solar. She acknowledges that the mountain passes are snowed in, making departure impossible until spring. Elphaba reveals she had planned to find a cave and live as a hermit, but Sarima dismisses this as impractical. Instead, she offers Elphaba and the boy Liir—who has accompanied her from the mauntery—the use of the southeast tower. The offer comes with a firm condition: Sarima will not discuss her husband's death. "I don't care to discuss my husband or the affairs of his death with you," she states. Elphaba, trapped by the winter and by Sarima's intransigence, accepts. The tower room, with its bowed walls and broad east-facing window, becomes her witch's lair. She revels in it, but the arrangement is a form of imprisonment: she is bound to Kiamo Ko by guilt, by the weather, and by Sarima's refusal to grant the forgiveness she seeks.

The Unspoken Burden

Elphaba's presence at Kiamo Ko is a constant, unspoken accusation. She had told Sarima in the hall that she was responsible for Fiyero's death, and Sarima, by refusing to hear the details, keeps Elphaba in a state of suspended judgment. Elphaba's own guilt is compounded by her knowledge of what happened: she was the lover Fiyero was visiting when he was attacked by the Gale Force in her hideaway in the Emerald City. She had been part of a conspiracy to kill the Wizard, and Fiyero's murder was a consequence of their affair and her political activities. Sarima, however, believes a different story—that Fiyero was having an affair with Glinda, and that Sir Chuffrey, Glinda's husband, had him killed. Elphaba cannot correct this without revealing her own role, and Sarima will not let her speak. The result is a stalemate of grief and resentment, with Elphaba living under Sarima's roof as a guest who is also a prisoner of her own past.

The Beginning of a New Life

Despite the tension, a routine develops. Elphaba takes her meals with the family, though she remains silent and withdrawn. She begins to explore the castle, finding Fiyero's old schoolbooks and, in a disused attic, a mysterious book called the Grimmerie, which Sarima reveals was given to her years ago by an elderly sorcerer who claimed it came from another world. Elphaba becomes absorbed in its shifting, cryptic pages. She also begins to work with the creatures she has brought with her: the bees, the crows, and the snow monkey Chistery. The sisters, who call her "Auntie Witch" behind her back, are wary of her, but Sarima, despite her refusal to forgive, finds a grudging companionship in the green woman. The winter closes in, and Elphaba, unable to leave and unable to confess, settles into a life of waiting—waiting for spring, waiting for Sarima to relent, waiting for the chance to atone.