Miranda Lutwidge (The White Queen) - At the Whites' HQ
I stared after the old man as he left. "He left his own room," Lewis pointed out.
Adonis had seen something, and if he was that keen on keeping it from us then it had to be something bad. He'd seen it when Brae entered. Instinctively I reached out to touch Brae's shoulder, as if to make sure he was still there. If something happened to him or the kids.. I'd be all alone again, and I didn't want that to ever happen.
He twitched when I touched him, so I immediately pulled my hand back. Was he still angry about what I had said before? I hadn't meant anything by it, I had just been angry. I really needed to stop taking it out on Brae. He could deal with my temper, that was one of the reasons I loved him and depended on him, but even he would find it tiring after a while, wouldn't he?
"Spider let me know." He didn't sound happy, not at all. Maybe he was just worried, like myself. I thought my heart would stop when I read what the spiders had written, and once again when I saw Alice bleeding.
"Me too," I mumbled. I didn't want him to be angry with me, but I knew I couldn't apologize. Too proud, like always.
"They could've died," he said. I almost winced. He both looked and sounded so tired. "Yamani could kill you and the Thrones could kill them and all the emotions I picked up from people in my life couldn't compare to what that'd feel like."
"I know," I said silently.
"Do you? Do you really?"
The harsh tone made me take a step back. He's just tired, I told myself. "Yes, I do. How do you think I would feel if you, Lewis or Alice died?" I didn't pause long enough to let him answer. "It would destroy me."
I felt a slight tug at the hem of my dress. When I looked down I was met by Alice and Lewis' big worried eyes. "Mom, why are you sad?"
I quickly wiped my tears. I hadn't even noticed them. "I'm crying because I was really really scared that something had happened to you." And it had. I bent down and hugged them, feeling slightly better when I felt them close to me. I wasn't going to leave them alone again, ever. From now on either Brae or I would have to stay with them. I hated being cooped up in the HQ day after day, but I'd rather be stuck here than running around out there unable to do anything to protect them if this happened again. It could happen again, and probably would. As long as this war went on they wouldn't be safe.
"I'm going to take a walk," Brae said suddenly.
"I'll make sure they go to bed."
"I want dad to read us a story!" Alice suddenly said, scowling at both me and her father.
"Dad needs some air," I said simply. "I'll read you whatever story you want, okay?"
"But you're no good at reading stories."
"I'll read a story tomorrow, I swear. Now be nice to your mom." He hugged them quickly and looked up at me again. "I'll be back in a while." I nodded and watched him leave, suddenly feeling like there was a distance between us.
"Come on, kids! Time for bed." I tried to make my voice as cheery as I could, which wasn't much, and lifted them both up. Carrying them both to their room was quite a balancing act, in a few months I might not be able to anymore, seeing at what rate they both grew.
I watched them change to their pajamas, helped them brush their teeth and then tucked them in. Alice wanted heat the story of the lonely princess who found a knight in shining armor and took the throne back from an old ugly ogre, while Lewis wanted to me to tell them the story about how a princess defeated a mute dragon and then had to fight a magical curse. I choose to tell them a new story, a story about a mother and father bear who took revenge on a hunter who had injured their cubs.
Alice fell asleep in the middle of the story, but Lewis listened stubbornly to the very end, before he finally let his head sink down towards the pillow. I quietly turned the light off and snuck out of their room.
Now I had some business to attend to. I had seen Luna there earlier, but I had been too busy to talk to her at the time. I went looking for her, but couldn't find her. "Where's the girl who was here earlier?" I asked one of the soldiers that was patching himself up.
"Oh, I think she left. You should've seen her. She fought like.." My glare shut him up quickly.
"Congratulations, you were outdone by a girl. Now what are you waiting for? Go get her before I cut up your other arm!"
"Yes, ma'a- Yes, my queen!"
Useless idiots. All of them. They hadn't even been able to protect my babies. Was that really too much to ask!? The remaining soldiers did the only sensible thing and made themselves scarce. I wouldn't be able to hold it much longer. Hopefully I'd calm down before Luna arrived.
***
When she got there, escorted by two guards, Brae was still out. Too bad. It would be better if he handled this. "You're finally here." Luna simply raised an eyebrow. I knew it wasn't the right approach to take with her. Besides, is she really had helped out in the fight then I owed her an apology. "Thank you, for helping out. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't. I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about my children. They are easy targets for Lordshire and my sister."
"Yea, you're. Wanna tell what was so important I had to come here twice?" She crossed her arms, and I frowned. She didn't seem to realize just how much it annoyed me that I had to force myself to thank her.
You could've just stayed the first time, I almost snarled, but I managed to swallow it. "I need you to poison Lordshire." She blinked. Honestly I hadn't expected myself to be so blunt either. "I'll pay you whatever you want, just make sure it gets done."
"I don't need any money," she said.
Then let me just show it up your.. No, I had to play nice. Act queenly, and all that. "You'd be making Wonderland a favor. Have you seen the poor district lately? The people there are dying of starvation, while Lordshire carries around a cane with a diamond shaped like his head on."
"I'd bee doing it for the sake of the poor, and not for you. I might even use the same poison on you if you ever turn out to be a worse ruler."
"I'll take your word for it," I muttered. When I finally got that b****** of the throne I'd have to remember to never eat anything that hadn't been tasted by someone else first. Oh, and that reminded me.. "Lordshire has people that tastes his food before he eats it, so you'll have to think of a clever way to get the poison to him."
"That won't be a problem." Normally I liked when people were confident, but she just came across as cocky. If she gets caught and tortured she'd probably spill everything she knew about me, the kids and our HQ, and I really didn't want that. I just hoped that she took this as seriously as I did.
"Don't take him lightly, he's smarter than he seems."
"Just leave him to me."
I frowned. It truly was a miracle that I hadn't shot her yet. If it hadn't been so late, and the day hadn't been so stressful I probably would have. "Report back to me as soon as you're done."
She walked away without a second glance, and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't like dealing with free agent. She could be working with my sister at the same time, and I wouldn't even know about it.
***
I went back to the kids' room to check if they were asleep, and spotted Lewis with a picture book, reading quietly to himself. I snuck past Alice's bed and gently tucked him in again and blew out the candle. I didn't have it in my heart to lecture him tonight, so I just kissed him on the forehead and left.
My and Brae's room was still empty. He wasn't back yet, and that worried me. I knew he liked to be alone from time to time, but right now I needed him with me, to hold me and tell me that everything would be fine.
I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for some time, but eventually I couldn't keep my eyes open any more, so I changed into my nightgown, white like everything else in my wardrobe. When I was braiding my hair Brae finally came back, looking a bit better than before.
"Are they sleeping?" he asked.
"Alice is. I caught Lewis with a book again." I smiled slightly as Brae came over and finished braiding my hair.
"You ordered that woman to poison Lordshire."
No matter how many times it happened I still never managed to get used to his abilities. "Yes. I've heard good things about her, and she should be able to pull it of. I figured that was safer than making an direct attack." I turned around to look him in the eyes. He still looked tired, and slightly lost. "I'm sorry about earlier." But you were trying to order me around. No, I really needed to swallow that pride. Brae wasn't a guard or soldier that I could order around like I wanted, and neither did I want to.
He simply wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I reached up and buried both my hands in his hair, pushing his hat of, and gently pulled him down so that I could kiss him. I didn't like seeing him acting so distant. Cheesy as it might sound, he had saved me just by being there. I had been alone and sick, everyone I had ever trusted had betrayed me and I had for the second time been exiled from Wonderland.. And then came Brae, and he would never betray me. I didn't need to put up any walls around him, nor watch my back. I could just be me, without having to be afraid.
"I love you," I said, pulling away from him just long enough to say it. I kissed him again, and he picked me up and carried me to the bed.
Garion Thornbranch (The Talking Door) - At the Hearts' HQ
"Everything. You can start with your name."
"You know my-- oh right." Of some reason I had expected him to remember at least that, but it seemed like all him memories really were gone. He didn't know who Knightly was, and he didn't remember his unborn child. I didn't know how Knightly would react to all this. Would he even be able to love her again? As far as I knew he could've changed a lot this months. "You called me Thorn." Well, after our first encounter he called me everything except my name, but I guess that was only natural since my dog had attacked him.
He nodded and took out his notebook. I really hoped that he was going to draw, 'cause I hated when people took notes when I was speaking. "Who is this Knightly person you spoke of? It sounds so..familiar..but.." It sounded familiar? Maybe he'd remember if they met.. Or he'd just panic and run away from the responsibility. I'd probably do the latter. "It's really frustrating. How well did we know each other? I want to know who you are. What was I doing before? What were the things you saw me draw? What was I like? Do you know what happened? Who-"
I quickly put my hand over his mouth to shut him up. There was a limit to how many questions I could answer at once, and the potion I had taken made it difficult to concentrate properly.
"Man, Rook. Give me time to at least process what you even asked, let alone answer. You're not the only one confused, you know." I took my hand back. "Not like I see my dead friends around all that much." Not that I had that many dead friends to begin with. I didn't normally allow myself to become close to anyone. I shook my head when I thought about Minerva. I had really broken that rule a lot since I came here. First Rook, then Knightly and now Minerva.
"You were an artist," I started. I wasn't sure how much I was going to tell him. Should talk to Knightly first before I introduced them. Chances were that Rook didn't even want to see her, and in that case I didn't want to tell her something like this. "Not an overly successful one, but you managed to get by. You lived in the poor district.." Should I tell him about Knightly or not? "Well, I already told you how we met. I don't usually befriend people, but you were.. Persistent."
"So we were close?"
"Yeah, I guess we were. You used to know everything about me." And by everything I really meant everything. From the true extent of my abilities to my whole history. I couldn't remember ever telling anyone as much about myself as I told Rook. "One day you were walking down the street, and an idiot was playing with a gun and accidentally fired it. I tried to heal you, but I can't fix.." I looked away for a moment as the memories flashed up again. I had hated myself back then. Hated myself for ever letting myself feel anything for anyone but myself, and hated myself even more for not being able to heal him. "I can't fix people who are already dead."
He stayed silent for a moment, before repeating the question that I didn't want to hear. "Who's Knightly?"
"Listen, I.." I took a deep breath. I would have to tell him sooner or later, and he didn't know Knightly's address so he couldn't run over there at once anyway. "If you want to see her then I really need to speak to her first. There's really no way to prepare someone for this," I gestured towards him, "but she deserves a warning first. God knows I wouldn't want you just showing up at her doorstep like you did with me."
"Okay, I'll let you talk to her first.. But please, tell me who she is." I could see in his eyes that he had already figured out most of it for himself, but I should fill him in on the details.
"She is.. Was you fiancé." I paused a moment, to let it sink in. "She used to play guitar on the street. You like her music, and I guess that was how you fell in love." That was the easy part. Now came something that he wouldn't have been able to guess. "She's carrying your child. It should be born in about two months."
"I want to see her." I couldn't read his face, but he seemed to struggle with himself.
"Yeah, I figured you would. I'll take you to her, but as I said, I want to talk to her first. And just so you know, she's.. She's doing alright now. Of course she was devastated at first, but she's strong. I've helped her out with food and such as much as I could." I stood up, still feeling dizzy. "I can walk now. We could go there now. You'll just have to wait outside until I've told her about you. I don't even know if she wants to see you at once but.. Well, we'll just have to see."
I barely made it through the door before I was more or less run over by a woman. "Hey, watch where you're.. Minerva?" I blinked. Well, wasn't this awkward.
"What are you..?"
"I'm.. I healed your queen. And now I'm leaving. She's fine now. The queen, that is."
"Oh."
"Yeah." I glanced at Rook, who seemed lost in thoughts. "I have something I need to do but.. You could swing by my place later." What the heck was this tension? I couldn't even remember the last time I had felt embarrassed. "Well, see you."
With that Rook and I left, and I couldn't resist glancing back at Minerva, finding her doing the same thing. Really now, I wasn't a little boy anymore, and this was just.. Stupid.
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