Young Writers Society

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.

Erillian Blackguard, Spider King.

He was a combination of confused, ammused, and annoyed when Lordshire had left. Confused because of what Regina had said. Could he really rebuild wonderland? Surely he was the only one who wanted to fix this city. But it wasn't even his own city. Why did he care so much? He shook his head, no longer smirking from when Lordshire had left him.

Checkers, he thought. He would remember that. Erillian liked games, maybe a little too much for his own good. But Lordshire wanted information. He had too many pawns, even if they didn't realize it. With the information he gave them, he could bend them. They would have to act upon his information. But how to do this? Sooner or later, he would get caught. He laughed to himself. Quite a gamble I'm in here, aren't I?

He sat for another couple hours, thinking about his next moves, before a spider came in and confirmed that the light was green.

"Sir," it said. " It is currently ten o'clock at night. Knock outs are in position. Shall I give the command?"

Erillian grinned. Knock outs were the code word for spiders who's venom was powerful enough to tranquilize a grown man. "Bite away." he said. Some number of hours later, a large spider slipped through the bars of his cage, bearing a key.

"There you are." she said.

"Thank you very much." Erillian said, grinning.

"No problem. You're stuff is right around the corner." said the spider. And it made its way out.

"Before you go, leave my note." he said. The spider turned back, and with her several other spiders gathered to spin a web, in which they spun Erillian's royal seal, a spider perched upon an eye, and the words "Told you I'd get out." in large silver webbing. I'm so obnoxious, he thought to himself as he made his way out of his cell, leaving the door ajar.

~|~

After Erillian grabbed his stuff, which was shut away in a closet, he was able to walk through the hallways past the sleeping guards. The urge to just kill them as he passed was overwhelming, but he didn't do that. However, before he left, he had to visit some things. His spiders had spoken of a new threat, a terrible threat that arose in the castle. One who's hunger was never sated, who would stop at nothing to get her prey.

He spotted the beast, the creature who had so voraciously been devouring his spies. "You," he called, pointing with his shotgun at a grey and blue cat, trying to get a tennisball sized spider off of the cieling. "Cat."

She turned around, saw the shotgun, and disapeared. "Yes?" a voice said alluringly, a pair of gleaming white teeth floating near his face.

"Quit eating the spiders." he said, looking at the teeth. Her head reapeared.

"Why?" she said innocently.

"Because," he said with a grin. "You might get sick."

"I'm gonna tell Lordshire you escaped." she sang. "I'm gonna tell!"

"I think he'll figure it out on his own." said Erillian. "Bye."

"Bye." the cat said indifferently. She whisked away, disappearing completely probably to alert Lordshire. Fan f***ing tastic.

He loaded five bullets into his shotgun. This is gonna be fun. he thought despite himself. Just more minds to mess with.

He made his way upstairs unseen, by some miracle of fate. None of the guards had seen him as he made his way to Lordshire's bedroom. He opened the door noiselessly, and there was a shuffling noise. The bed. Regina was there. A spider whispered to him from across the room.

"Sire!" it said urgently. Erillian silently thanked the fact that he was the only one who could hear the spider. Regina did not stir again, her breath coming smooth and calm. "Sire! I found it! It's here!" The spider was perched upon a small table, upon which there was a checkerboard, set in marble and granite. Erillian nodded, and set up the checkers as quietly as he could, finely carved Ebony and Ivory disks which he placed on the black squares. He retrieved a piece of parchment and upon it wrote three words:

You go first.

Regina stirred once more, and Erillian made quickly and silently for the window, and unlatched it. A rope of webs had already been prepared for him when he got there. He climbed down to the ground, and when he reached the bottom, the spiders cut the line. They would dispose of it. By now the cat had reached Lordshire and the guards would be patrolling the grounds. The first guard he met on the ground didn't even have time to draw his weapon. Erillian had knocked him out from behind with a blow to the back of the head with his shotgun, making only a dull thud. He tied up the guard using the rope and leaned him against the wall.

And then he strode calmly past several unconscious guards at the front gate, and left, making for the poor district. He still had to meet Yamani whenever she decided to blow up that statue. He briefly wondered when that would be, before making his home for the night on the roof of a baker, laying next to the warm chimney, watching the white smoke rise over him, the stars behind it, and then falling asleep.

When morning came, they still hadn't found him. He had to lay low. He made his way to the White Queen Miranda's headquarters, seeing as that was where he would be least wanted.

Yamani (Queen of Hearts)

"Why I want you to shut up?" He asked, glancing at me. "Because you're an idiot, that's why."

I scoffed, smirking. Good answer.

I hated to think that I was actually starting to like him, but he was funny. I had to give him that. I glanced at Haigha, who seemed angry. Aw, it's okay Haighie, he's just messing-- no, I'm mad at you.

I glanced at the Rook, who seemed a bit surprised. Of course he would be...the doctor just called the Queen an idiot...I probably shouldn't tolerate that. I shrugged the thought off.

"This is gonna hurt." I snapped my head up at him as he grabbed my shattered arm and pulled on it. I inhaled sharply, clenching my teeth, biting off a yelp.

"I can put you to sleep if you want. I've got plenty of chloroform with me."

Yes. Oh god yes, I need sleep. No. "No." I hissed from between clenched teeth.

"Suit yourself."

I glanced up at Haigha. He looked as pained as I was. I glared at him. But the pain in my arm quickly washed over me, drowning the hate, and I let myself fall back onto the table. I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth, as my entire arm hurt.

I felt my body shaking, sweat beading on my forehead. What is this? Some sort of sick joke to amuse you, Haigha? Kick me while I'm down.

Suddenly the pain in my arm stopped, and relief washed across me. I sighed, and opened my eyes. The man moved to my leg, and closed them again, clenching my teeth, my fingernails digging into my palms. I tried to focus on my breathing. Focus on slowing it.

Several long minutes passed, and then the same wash of relief flooded up my leg. For the first time in what seemed like ages, the pressure was off my chest, and I could breathe easily again. I gulped in lungfuls of the damp air thankfully.

He moved on to the cuts. I gasped as he cut the first one open and pulled the stitches out. He put his hand over the cut and made it itch and burn, like my arm in the alley-- before leaving flawless skin behind.

He moved across my body, healing each cut. By the time he stepped away from me, I was feeling drastically better. Far better than I was expecting. He then smeared salve across all the burns and bandaged them. I didn't think I'd ever felt so indebted to someone before.

"I think I bloody well deserve a sincere 'thank you' this time."

"Thank you." I said, wishing there was a stronger word to convey my gratitude. He blinked and looked at me, surprised.

I'm not that big of a b*tch.

"Come here." The man turned towards Haigha. "I should check your head."

Haigha shook his head. I glared at him again. Aw, look. He got a little bruise.

"Stupid b******. In a few hours you would've puked, and a while after that you would just have dropped dead." Thorn put his hand on Haigha's head.

Thorn flopped down on a chair. "Well then. I'm beat, but you two will live. Both of you need to rest, in bed.. Preferably separate ones. Still, I know that you are both idiots, so I assume that you'll be running around killing people as soon as I have turned my back to you." I took a breath before continuing.

"You," I looked at the queen, "should change those bandages once a day and put more of this on, unless you want an infection and horrendous scars." I tossed her the jar with salve. "If you move around too much one of your broken ribs might puncture your lung. You might want to think about that before running of on any new adventures."

"And you," I looked at the man this time. "Try to avoid heavy blows to the head, or you might die."

They all looked at me as if they expected me to say goodbye and leave, but I remained seated. I didn't really have a choice. It took all I had just to stay awake. "Oh, and I'm too tired to move, so unless someone want to carry me back to my place I'll just stay here for now."

I grinned. You can stay in any room you please, as long as you please.

Haigha stared Rook down. I saw Rook shift, and I knew he was going to abandon me, and take Thorn with him. You coward. Don't leave me alone with Haigha. I don't want...to talk to him. Not yet.

As they left, I closed my eyes, and fell back onto the table. I groaned and rolled off the table, staggering across the floor, to the bed. I crawled into it and curled into a ball, my arms pulled protectively to my chest.

I felt the blankets being pulled over me, and opened my eyes a crack to glare at Haigha. "I don't feel like talking. I need sleep."

He nodded, and sat down in a chair. I glared at him a moment before rolling over and clenching my eyes shut. It didn't take long to fall asleep, even though I was angry with Haigha.
~~~

Smoke, fire, flames greedily devouring every last speck of propaganda. Lordshire and his b*tch wife were nowhere to be seen; neither was sister dear. I looked around, at the rubble and the expectant faces surrounding me, staring at me.

I bent and picked up a small, soot covered doll. I brushed it off and handed it to the little girl nearby. I stroked her hair back, giving her a half-hearted smile. I turned back to the big people, knowing I'd have to address them sooner or later-- even though I'd rather take a blade than make a speech.

Arm trembling slightly, I sheathed my blade. I looked at the blood splattered cobblestone before me for a long moment, gathering my thoughts, then drew the courage to look up.

"Living under a dictator is h*ll." I forced my voice to stop trembling, and met each gaze in turn. "War is worse. I know you'll all been through tremendous hardships, on my behalf, and that won't be forgotten."

I walked to the side, the crowd parting to let me pass. "Reconstruction will start first thing in the morning. For now, please accept my offer of food, and a place to sleep. I've instructed my men to prepare a hot meal, which you can receive from the kitchens. From there, you can go to docks, to receive unprepared food items."

I scanned the faces, looking for Haigha.

"There are sleeping mats being laid in many of the boats, for use by anyone who's home was damaged in the seize. I know it's not much, but it's all I can do until we accumulate enough timber to rebuild...I thank you all for your loyalty. You are the reason Wonderland is so great..."

I swallowed hard, letting my head fall back down, feeling a bit like an idiot-- my throat raw from urging my men on in the battle. The crowd was eerily silent. I cleared my throat, desperately wanting away from all these people.

"All hail the Queen!" A single voice rose up.

It was quickly met with a chorus of other voices, chanting "All hail the Queen!"

I blushed slightly, but grinned triumphantly. I waved at my people, and walked up the stairs, exhaustion washing over me. "Where's Haigha?"

The guard at the door gestured inside. "Throne room."

I giddily walked into the Throne Room, nodding to the guards that opened the door for me.

"Haigha! Haigha? Oh, there you are!" I said, grinning, running towards where he sat on the throne.

I slowed a few feet from the throne, when he made no move to get up to meet me. I looked at him curiously, perched on the throne, one leg draped over the arm nonchalantly, a strange expression on his face. I'd never seen so much...malice...in him.

"Haigha?"

He lifted his eyebrows arrogantly.

I frowned, concerned. "Haigha? What is it?"

Guards charged forward, grabbing my arms before I could defend myself.

"What the h*ll--? What is this?" I jerked on my arms, until a guard pressed a dagger into my throat.

"Haigha!" I screamed, looking up to his eyes for help, scared.

He grinned wickedly, and I noticed the crown gleaming on his head. "Die."

I screamed, sitting straight up, half falling out of bed. Strong hands caught me, and put me back in the bed. I took a deep breath, and looked up to see... Haigha. I glared at him, and jerked my arms away from him. "What are you doing here?"

He gestured at the bed.

"Yeah. I was sleeping. You don't need to stand watch."

He lifted a shoulder.

I glared at him, jerking the blankets back. "What? Just keeping me healthy so I can do the hard work?"

He looked at me, bewildered.

I jumped out of the bed. "Don't try acting innocent. I'm on to you, you b*st*rd."

I started across the room, and stumbled, catching myself on the dresser. Haigha's hands were around my waist, steadying me. I swatted his hands away, pushing myself up. "Get your f*cking hands off me! Never touch me again! You hear me? Never again!"

I grabbed my cloak, lying over the chair, and glared at him. He looked utterly bewildered. You're a good f*cking actor. I tied the cloak around me tightly, and started out the door.

He was right behind me. He got in front of me, and I stopped, snatching the note he waved. "Why are you angry?"

"Why am I-- why am I angry?" I spluttered. "I'm not angry, a******. I'm f*cking p*ssed! That's what I am."

"Why?"

"Like you don't know." I snarled. "I'm on to you. I figured out your game, while I was strapped down in the dungeon."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you being a power-hungry, egotistical m*th*rf*ck*r!" I screamed.

He looked bewildered. "What?"

"Oh, yeah, look so cute, so innocent. Play off the emotions of poor, dumb little Yamani. The displaced Queen, in her moment of weakness--hoping I'll get better soon, so I'll give you power."

His eyes were wide. "What? NO! That's absurd."

"Is it? I don't recall you trying to save me, when the evil b*tch was cutting me to ribbons!" I screamed, my eyes burning. I wasn't far from the moment my anger would turn to tears-- and I couldn't handle that. Not now. I didn't want Haigha to comfort me, and I knew he would.

"No. You weren't there for me. You abandoned me, when I needed you the most." I said bitterly, walking past him, stormed towards my room.

I resentfully took the note Haigha kept waving at me.

"You're not being fair. I was knocked out cold. There's nothing I could've done."

I knew I wasn't being fair. I didn't care.

"Making excuses. That's all you're good for, you miserable a** wipe."

He looked p*ssed. I didn't care. I turned and grabbed the doorknob to my room, feeling my anger fading, hoping I could get away from Haigha before I had a melt down. I threw the door open and stopped short, my mouth gaping, too shocked to say anything.

My entire room was filled with...spiderwebs. A fresh wave of anger washed over me. "Erillian." I said coldly.

A spider came in front of me and clicked its pinchers, gloating. I growled in frustration and slammed my foot down on the spider, sending its guts in all directions across the floor. I took another look at my room, my frustration building to the point of me not being able to stand it anymore.

I grabbed the lantern hanging on the wall nearby and threw it in my room, aiming for the corner of a chest, so it shattered. "BURN YOU F*CKERS!" I screamed, loudly, my tears finally breaking free.

Haigha dove forward, trying to smother the fire out. I stormed outside as soldiers joined Haigha in my room, putting the fire out. I clawed at my face, trying to stop the rebel tears that streamed down my face, cursing myself for being so weak.

I walked away from the caves as quickly as I could, stumbling and falling many times, feeling sick to my stomach, light headed. I leaned against a tree, my forehead pressing into the bark, the pain a welcome distraction from the sickness in my stomach.

I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. It was Haigha's. I'd felt it enough to know. I shrugged, standing up straight, never bothering to look at him. "Get your f*cking hand off me."

His hand never moved.

I whirled around, clawing at his hand. He took it away, and handed me a note.

"Mani, we should talk."

"Don't you call me that. Don't you ever f*cking call me that again! I'm done talking to you. I'm sick of talking to you. I'm sick of f*cking seeing you. Get away from me!"

"I'm not leaving you."

"Like h*ll you're not. You're leaving. Immediately. This is your eviction notice. Get the f*ck away from me, and my Head Quarters, and my men. You're not welcome here."

"Mani..."

I slammed my fist into his face as hard as I could. My hand slid up his face, making a long scratch up his cheek. I was still weak, pathetically weak, but he wasn't expecting it, and jerked back, stumbling backward.

I stared at the blood on his cheek a long moment, then looked down at my throbbing hand. I cursed and shook my hand. I'd always known rings hurt when you were punched with them, but I hadn't realized they hurt the hand they were on too.

I clawed at the ring, jerking it off my finger. I flung it at him. "And take your f*cking ring too. The wedding's off."

Haigha waved a note. "I'm not leaving you."

"You are." I said coldly. "You swore your fealty and unquestioning obedience to me. I order you, as your Queen and commanding officer, to get the f*ck away from me. Never come back."

I stormed away from him, until I was out of site. I stopped, panting, light headed. I saw a big spider looking at me, eye level, just in front of me. "Quit f*cking spying on me." I snarled, slamming my fist into the spider

The spider's guts splattered everywhere, and I felt a pang in my stomach. I gagged, and then dumped the contents of my stomach on the ground. Maybe I am knocked up. That's just f*cking wonderful.

~Brae

"How do you think I would feel if you, Lewis or Alice died?" Miranda asked. "It would destroy me."

She had tears in her eyes - I only saw her crying once before, and I've never seen it in memories of anyone who's met her - and I felt like an idiot. It was all just too much - I felt dizzy, and I struggled to keep my mind in present instead of taking trips to memories of everything around me. It was somewhat funny, at other times, trying to explain how, for me, objects and places had memories just as people. They weren't subjective, of course, like those of conscious creatures were, but they still held interesting information, if one knew now to search for them.
Miranda looked so sad as she hugged the kids; I imagined us being a normal family, far from the royal affairs and not having to watch over every step. I almost laughed at myself. She'd never be at peace living like that, especially if it meant her sister or Lordshire would be ruling the country - we had to get the throne. I had to. If I wanted to make my family happy.

"I'm going to take a walk," I said, figuring I can't stay there much longer without either fading or saying something too cheesy or too harsh - I wasn't quite sure which one seemed more fitting.

"I'll make sure they go to bed," Miranda said, and Alice scowled at both of us.

"I want dad to read us a story!" She demanded. So much like her mother. How could I explain to her that I can't even stand being in the same room with anyone, my children and my wife included?

"Dad needs some air," Miranda said, saving me. "I'll read you whatever story you want, okay?"

"But you're no good at reading stories," Alice was harsh. I frowned a little, and walked closer to them.

"I'll read a story tomorrow, I swear," I said, hoping I'll be able to adhere to that. "Now be nice to your mom." I hugged them, closing my eyes to the emotions and memories. I couldn't control if I got them or not anymore - I guessed it was due to using that other ability, something I haven't done in ages. I let them go and looked back at Miranda."I'll be back in a while."

I hated myself for making my voice so cold. Even to myself, I sounded mad or distant, and I knew she'd feel bad about it, even though she'd never say it to me.
She and her stupid pride, I thought to myself as I marched over the harbour. I loved her - it even sometimes surprised me how much, and I wasn't sure if she knew that. Being the only person a queen trusted, and knowing it, got harder and harder as time passed.

I frowned as I glanced at the pillar they tied the Throne soldier to. His clothes and skin were badly burned, and he seemed younger tied up like that - I supposed everyone did in such situations - and I found myself caring far less than I thought I should. In fact, not even close. I felt strangely empty inside.

The White guards looked up, perhaps wondering if I wanted something, but I just waved them off and left the HQ. I still haven't told Miranda about him. Nor have I told her that I was planning on leaving the HQ.. She never liked me doing that, so I stopped telling her. But though our army wasn't closely as big as Lordshire's, there was too many people around.

I wandered out of our ship, and passed through a wreck of some old building. Once, I knew, they held fairs there, selling fish and all the goods they could bring by ships from Island Kingdoms. But then times have changed, and all left from the main building and the smaller houses surrounding them, were skeletons of buildings, taken over by forces of nature. Ivy and strange thin trees, and dark flowers with no scent at all, grew from the holes and covered the surrounding area, making it practically impossible to find. One could come here and die, I thought to myself, and it'd cover the body and he'd rest in peace forever, undisturbed by the fights for thrones.

I sighed, sitting down on some never-quite-built wall. What was I even doing there? I didn't like using my powers to hurt people, yet I had no other choice. If I wanted to see Miranda on that throne, if I wanted to see Lewis and Alice protected behind the castle walls, living in Wonderland their parents would make, I had to fight myself. Sitting in the HQ, making plans.. I shook my head. Nothing was the way I wanted it to be.

When Miranda gets that throne, you will be crowned King of Wonderland, I told to myself. Your kids will be heirs, prince and princess. Can kings be as lost as you are now? I sighed. Lordshire wasn't lost, was he? He knew his way with words, he talked to the people, he organized the army.. Erillian was different, but nevertheless, he knew what he wanted and how to get it, or at least he knew how to pretend it's so. Neither of them took more chances than needed, neither of them lead countless battles with themselves, thinking of the future..or did they?

I got up, frustrated, took the hat off and ran my fingers through my hair. What will you do, Brae? I smirked at myself, glad Miranda couldn't read people like I could. I hated looking at her when she was so sad and worried. She was damn good in hiding it, of course, and I could hardly tell of most of her thoughts and feelings if there wasn't for my powers, yet that didn't change the fact they were there. She was hurt, and she knew I worried too, and she hated making me so..but she wanted the throne. She wanted what was hers. How could I put my own wishes before hers and ask her to leave that hunt for throne? No, I could've never asked her that. I could've never bring it up, for even if she'd agree, she'd never be happy that way.

I bit my lip as I sat back down and left the hat next to me. Stupid thing. I should know how to control myself by now. Frowning, I took off the medallion around my neck, and held it in my hand. Then I put it on the wall beside me as well, and slowly let go of the string, until I wasn't touching it anymore.

The images flashed through my mind. Uninvited, uncontrolled, yet almost somehow addictive. I could tell of everything. I didn't need to touch the buildings to know the stories of those who used to live there, I didn't need to even look at a few birds nearby to know of their lives.. I was far enough of the HQ, yet I could tell that Miranda waited for me, wondering what's taking me so long... The pain was threatening to split my head in half, and after a moment I had to close my eyes so the world stops spinning. I clenched my fingers to fists, yet didn't make it go away. Stop being so whiny. How do you expect to protect them if you can't even protect yourself?
I grabbed the medallion as I felt my temperature rising, putting it back around my neck. As I opened my eyes and reached for the hat, I found a spider on it.

I smirked.
"Spying on me, King?" Looking around, I found no sign of Erillian, so I looked back at the spider. I could tell he wasn't there b accident - and I was sure he could understand me enough to send a message. "Tell your lord I wish to speak to him. In the morning, if convenient. Right here. I'll be waiting."
*

I found Miranda in our room, looking like a ghost in her white nightgown, braiding her hair. She glanced at me, still seeming worried. I made my best to not appear tired or angry. In fact, I realized, somewhat caught by surprise, I indeed wasn't feeling bad. Losing the control over my powers was painful, yes, and I never even told Miranda of what I was doing there every now and then, but it didn't leave me feeling tired or hurt. It left me feeling powerful.

"Are they sleeping?" I asked, somewhat scared of my own thoughts.

"Alice is," Miranda said. "I caught Lewis with a book again."

I walked over to her, finishing the braiding of her hair, and reflected her smile as her thoughts flashed through mine.
"You ordered that woman to poison Lordshire," I noticed.

"Yes," she said, and I almost grinned at her feelings - she still wasn't quite used to me doing that, even though she knew everything of what I could do. "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 left strings of her hair fall from my fingers, as I caught her feelings from before. She was so worried - she just wanted me to be there, and I was thinking of being the King instead. Why can't you ever do the right thing, Brae?
"I'm sorry about earlier," she said, surprising me. She was sorry? I recalled the fight we had before the attack - it seemed like centuries ago. So unimportant.

I hugged her, smiling a bit as she pushed off the hat again. It was done a lot today. She kissed me, and I pulled her closer as I let her emotions flash through my mind again. It was so much different with her - not just reading, like with other people. I could feel what she felt. I almost wondered if I could take part of her bad emotions no myself and let her be free of fear and worrying and sadness for a change.
She thought of the days we met - and I couldn't help but think of how strange it was back then. How she disliked my way of treating her, though I didn't plan to change. How she acted cold and distant even after I told her of what I could do a even after I proved her what I could do. How we were both lost and we were both alone, and there was no one we could trust. How I knew she didn't care about me the first night we spent together, nor did she want to have the family we happened to get. And how she changed - how we both changed. So much that letting her go now seemed like something more painful than anything I've ever felt.

"I love you," she said.

I know, I smiled. And you have no idea how good it is to be sure of it.
I picked her up, barely separating my lips from hers, and grinned at her as I put her down to bed.

"I sometimes wish you could read my mind," I said as we separated for a moment. She smirked at me.

"What would I find there?" She asked. I thought for a moment. A huge mess. I wondered if it would ever be possible. She didn't know, because I never told her, but I knew there was a way - I knew our children inherited curious mixtures of Miranda's and my powers, and that they only needed to find out about it to be able to use them. But I said nothing of it. Instead I just kissed her again, hating myself for not being able to live up to everything she thought I was.

She didn't even notice when I took off the medallion again and let it fall to the floor by the bed. My heart beat faster, so strong it was almost painful, and I could hear thousands of voices. I never did it among people before - now I knew why.
I could tell of every person in the HQ, but Miranda's feelings and thoughts burned even stronger than my own, deleting everything. I couldn't focus, I couldn't think. The sounds were dim, I could barely breathe and darkness crept from the corners of my mind, slowly covering the room and the world around me, as I lost control over everything.
Miranda's hand was cold as ice as she touched my chest.

"Brae, you're burning--" fear took place of concern. "Where is it?" She pushed me from herself and shifted, so that now her face was over mine. I could tell of her heart beating faster, as mine threatened to break through my chest. I didn't know what happened in my mind. I couldn't find words to tell her.

Do it, I thought, feeling like I was lying in fire and sensing Miranda's wish for the medallion to be back where it belonged. I didn't know if I could still use that power - I didn't even know if I was still alive. Make it appear. Make it appear.
*

I clutched the sheets as the feelings disappeared. The medallion - the piece of fabric in it, that is - was back around my neck, as if I never took it off. Miranda glared at it with a puzzled face, her eyes looking even bigger than usually. I struggled to keep my breathing calm, now feeling like the bed was made of ice.

"How..," Miranda whispered, pointing at the medallion, and then shook her head. "Idiot. Are you crazy? Why did you take it off?"

I met her eyes, cursing myself as I found unshed tears in them. How many times can you make her cry in one day? I sat up, wrapping my hand around her and pulling her close as she tried to move away. She eventually gave in, hugging me back and burying her face in my neck.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I..I hate not being able to control it. I hate having to wear that s*** all the time. I just-" I closed my eyes again, wondering if I could hug her so hard to break her - she sometimes seemed fragile like that, though I knew she wasn't. "I'll never do it again. I'm an idiot."

"You are," she muttered, and I smiled a bit. I parted her from me, enough to kiss her again.
*

I woke up with the same smile I fell asleep with. Miranda's head rested on my shoulder, with her hand on my chest, and the sheets covered more her than myself, but I couldn't care less about that. She was so calm, so peaceful - even her dreams had nothing to do with all the troubles surrounding us. But I had things to do.
I pulled out of her hug, careful not to wake her up, and gently kissed her forehead before leaving the room. She made a silent sound, but didn't wake up, and I closed the door behind me.

I found my way to the hidden marketplace, not being interrupted by anyone, and I smirked as I found the familiar figure in black waiting for me there.

"I thought you said you'll be waiting for me," he said.

"Nice to see you, Erillian," I replied. Like you don't know what I was doing before I actually fell asleep. "I'm glad you decided to come at my call."

"I won't lie to you, I was about to come anyway," he said, and my eyebrows raised.

"Have you? To see Miranda or to see me?"

He was the one smirking this time, though he seemed a bit troubled by something. I wondered if he'd take my hand this time if I offered - something told me he wouldn't.
"Shouldn't it be the same thing?" He asked. Touché.

"I'm not the White Queen," I said carefully, frowning a little. "Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about." I took a deep breath, wondering how he'd react. "I have a favor, Erillian. Or at least, that's what it is for now." Miranda would never agree. But I need to protect her - that's the only thing I can do. "I am your connection with the Whites. Despite of my wife being the Queen, I'm the one you make deals with, and the one you blame if those deals don't turn out right. Not my wife, not my kids. Me. If you decide to take a side with either of our opponents, and if they ask for information, you will tell them about me. If they catch you and you have no choice, you will tell them what you know about me and leave Miranda and the children out of it. I present the Whites, no matter what Miranda or the others say, when it comes to our business with you." I glared at his sunglasses, wondering if he's looking back into my eyes. "Do we have a deal?"
***




~Rook

"You were an artist," he said, sounding somewhat indecisive. "Not an overly successful one, but you managed to get by. You lived in the poor district.. Well, I already told you how we met. I don't usually befriend people, but you were.. Persistent."

"So we were close?" I asked, frowning a little. What aren't you telling me? And why aren't you telling me that?

"Yeah, I guess we were. You used to know everything about me." His eyes got that distant look again, as if he got lost in memories once more. "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.." He looked away, and I knew better than to interrupt. "I can't fix people who are already dead."

So, I really had people who not only knew me, but cared about me. Thorn.. I hated myself for not remembering. And that other person..
"Who's Knightly?"

He didn't seem at all happy with me asking that question.
"Listen, I.." He took a deep breath. "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," he gestured towards me, "but she deserves a warning first. God knows I wouldn't want you just showing up at her doorstep like you did with me."

A woman or a girl, caring so much about me that she needed to be prepared to hear that I've returned. I didn't like the sound of it, though at the same time I loved the idea of having someone who loved me somewhere out there.
"Okay," I nodded. "I'll let you talk to her first.. But please, tell me who she is."

"She is.. Was you fiancé." He said, and I felt a bite of something strange this time. Fear? I couldn't tell. "She used to play guitar on the street. You like her music, and I guess that was how you fell in love." Music. I remembered the song I whistled to get my spies in the Poor District. Could it be?
"She's carrying your child. It should be born in about two months."

I could almost literally feel my thoughts leaving my mind. My what? No.
"I want to see her," I managed to say, proud at myself for keeping the voice somewhat calm. I was fighting to find proper things to say - my head felt like a broken hourglass, leaking thoughts like sand all over.

"Yeah, I figured you would," he sighed. "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." He stood up, and I slowly followed his example. "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."

He moved towards the door, and I vaguely registered him walking into Minerva - or vice versa - and exchanging some words. A child? I couldn't stop thinking of that. Should I go and see her? I know nothing of her. Nothing but a name in a void, nothing but a few words he just said to me. [i]I don't know how to be a dad! How the hell-- did I even ever know my parents?
*

"Thorn," I said as we left the HQ, glaring blankly at one of his dogs. He turned his head to me. "You said she's doing alright?"

He slowly nodded, frowning as if he read my mind.
"Don't think of not showing up," he said, pointing a finger at me. "You should meet. I don't think I could keep it from her anyway." I looked away, holding my notebook as if my life depended on it, and he seemed worried. "We don't have to go to her yet if you don't want to."

I nodded, shrugged and then shook my head. I had no idea what I wanted to do.
"How should I react? What should I- I don't know anything about her, about you, about myself. Perhaps I changed more than you noticed."

He sighed and stopped as we reached the square. Lordshire's statue glared at us from above.
"Listen, Rook. You're still worrying and you're still drawing, and it's still equally easy to talk to you. Right? Stop being an idiot - though you did choose a side - and get back that optimism of yours."

I pulled him into the tavern I was hiding in before, as I noticed a few Throne soldiers passing by. I highly doubted they knew who we were - but still, I didn't like talking in the open. He blinked at the unexpected interior, as the bartender and her daughters surrounded us.
Thorn took a seat at the table in the corner and I grinned. It was the same table I always preferred. Getting my usual, I stared at the cup long before talking again.

"You said I used to know everything about you," I said. He slowly nodded. "What do you mean by 'everything'?"

His expression varied between worried, amused and indecisive. I wondered if he'd tell me the truth - like if know the difference anyway.
"I mean everything. And now you're going to ask me to tell you again, won't you?"

I grinned at him.
"Well," I said, "looks like you indeed do know me."
***

Jubiah

Grabbing my things, I prepared for the journey ahead. Once again I was doing a personal mission for Lordshire. God, I can't believe that that was five years ago. It feels like yesterday, I think, let's just hope that I'm not too rusty after all this time.


Grabbing my things, I carefully picked my way to the back door of my house- well, our house, Caleb and I's. That was why I wasn't going out the front door. I couldn't stand how I knew Caleb's face would look, how he would feel, when I told him that I was going on another dangerous mission. I had promised him that that had stopped at the battle at the castle all those years ago. But here I was, leaving, going head-on into an extremely dangerous situation, and I couldn't even say goodbye to his face. Instead I had only left him a letter on our bed, bed, explaining that I had to leave and that I couldn't tell him why and to please forgive me. I couldn't tell him hardly anything about my job.

Opening the door, I saw Caleb emerge from the hallway, confusion and worry inscribed on every inch and line of his face. "Jubiah?"

"Caleb... I'm sorry. I have to go. I have to go and gather some information for Lordshire. I'll only be gone for a few days. I can't tell you where I'm going or why, it's best that you don't know- for your own safety."

"But what about you? I don't want you to get hurt." He whispered in my ear, stroking my cheek lovingly.

"I will be I swear." I whispered back, kissing him tenderly goodbye. And with that, I turned my back on the one man that I had truly loved. But it was for the good of New Wonderland.

Nylan Aramasphere

Wonderland City, Poor section!

Night had fallen on Wonderland City. . . .

Nightfall meant only a second layer of suffocating darkness to those in the Poor Section, all the poor, outcasts, vagabonds, and criminals who scrounged there for a meager living in the half-darkness of their lives and home. Tonight, unlike on most nights, the streets were deathly still, none of the usual prowlers could be seen, homes were dark, the homeless were hidden . . . for a very good reason.

Word had it that The Spider King was somewhere in the city, why he was there, or how he got there were questions that the people had no idea about. But hundreds of soldiers were scouring the city for him now, searching every crevice and corner they could find, and not exactly being gentle with whomever they found.

Nylan glared out at the squad of soldiers marching by the abandoned doorway he was hiding behind. He wasn’t in any condition to fight that many Throne soldiers, for fight he would have to if they caught him. They gave trouble to anyone they found in this part of the city, and if they saw him, armed and dressed as he was, as a rebel, it would be a hard fight, with no questions asked, no quarter given.

Carefully he stepped back into the shadows of the doorway, glad for the thick layer of soot on the floor that muffled the little noise that he made.

He sat there for half an hour after the sounds of tramping feet faded away . . . Thinking.

Wonderland City , he mused to himself, it was inappropriately named, he decided. For it was not a city of the Land of Wonders in any way, it was the city of the Land of the Hopeless. He’d been away for a long six months, and now that he was back, everything had changed, War . . . Death . . . Poverty . . . Hopelessness. They were all growing with abandon, spreading over the countryside like a disease, eating away at the economy, in the city they burned like a desperate fire, consuming everything.

At least he brought good news to the queen, his mission to gain the trust and loyalty of the Southern Bandits had not been in vain. He had half a dozen of their finest assassins hidden in the forest who had left their tribe and traveled the hundreds of miles to Wonderland City, held to him by promises of high pay.

Once he was sure that the soldiers had passed on, he quickly slipped out of the doorway and ran, full-pelt, down the street, heading for the nearest entrance to the tunnels that led to the castle.

He breathed easily, but he kept his eyes open wide for any sight of the blue uniform of the Throne Soldiers. It’s on South Road, the one that the old robbers den is on, a big black house, three houses above the turn to the blacksmiths road. He recited his directions in his mind, jubilant as he ran past the blacksmiths house and spun around the corner.

He saw the house he was looking for instantly, and ran for it as hard as he could; there was no time to delay, and no point in taking chances in getting caught. The locked door didn’t even slow him down, one kick and it was down. He knew it was an abandoned house; why not make it look like it.

Slowly he slipped inside, his senses on the alert, there being no promise of what he would find in a place like this, on a night like this.

And a good thing it was that he was ready, because if he hadn’t been he’d never have dodged the sword that whistled out of the darkness beside him, heading for his head.

Cursing, he dropped to the floor and rolled over the ash covered floor into the house, coming up facing his attacker. To his surprise it wasn’t one of Regina’s men, as he had expected, but a vagabond. He frowned and jerked his curved swords out of their sheaths.

The man jerked his sword out of the doorframe and turned to face him, a fearful look in his eyes. He was young, probably only a teenager, with scraggly blonde hair and thin, weak arms.” Drop the sword!” Nylan commanded, expecting the boy to be more than happy to comply.

But he wasn’t, instead he leveled it at him with a curse.” D*mn you! Get out of here!”

He’s got more guts than appears, Nylan muttered to himself. He spun his swords to a ready position.” Have it your way then!”

The boy was wisely silent and attacked quickly, swinging clumsily for Nylans head. But it took only that swing for Nylan to see that this was truly a boy, a boy with a boy’s skill. He caught the blow with one curved sword and then spun around, lightening quickly, and slammed the other into his opponent’s side. There was a crunch and now the boy screamed, his ribs shattered by the flat of the heavy sword. He fell to the side, his sword clattering to the floor, clutching his side.

No point in killing him , He sighed to himself, kicking the long, straight sword to the side and quickly glancing around the empty living room for doors. In the cellar, under the black carpet, quickly he headed for the kitchen of the house, the classical entrance room to a cellar.

The rooms floors were covered in soot, footprints were everywhere, but otherwise they were surprisingly intact for an abandoned house. Regina must have made sure to that. There were a half a dozen entrance houses to the castle, all of them had their own entrance to the cave system through which one could get anywhere in Wonderland City in a matter of minutes.

In the dusty kitchen he did find the door to the cellar, a small trap door over a hole in the floor, and down it he went, careful not to make any noise. No need to get into more trouble than necessary.

The cellar was clean, lit by a small, green flamed lantern, left there by Regina’s men, and covered in different colored carpets, all tacked to the floor (Not an at all strange floor cover for a poor house). Under the black carpet, he remembered, and quickly saw the one he was looking for, a small black fleece, lay on the floor in the corner.

A moment later he was running down a small, one man tunnel, sandy and wet, walls spider-webbed with tree roots, a few yards of tunnel ahead and behind him lit by the small green lantern. It was some thousands of yards to the castle from here, only a few minutes.

He paced swiftly, as always. Suddenly a steel bound door loomed out of the darkness ahead of him and he stopped. This had to be it, the entrance closest to Regina’s chambers. He took a deep breath and knocked softly.

He was answered by a soft rustle of keys, and then a click. The door swung inward to reveal two other of Regina’s personal servants and guards, spears leveled at him, scarred and weathered faces ready for anything. But they quickly recognized him and came to attention with a bow, one of them stepped forward.” You’re rather late returning Aramasphere.” He growled menacingly. Nylan was close to the queen, and he was one of the finest warriors in the castle, but he commanded little true respect from people. Well, from people who didn’t know him anyway.

Nylan slipped into the small, featureless, badly lit, stone walled room and looked around.” Yes, I am. But I do not return fruitless. Where is the queen? I must speak with her.”

The man glared at him.” In her chambers I would suppose. You’ll get there by way of that door.” He pointed at a small, steel framed door in the wall to one side.” Go down it until you see a door on your left. Be sure to knock. It’s a new back door to her chambers that she had installed.”

Nylan nodded, Regina had obviously upgraded her secret service.

He nodded to the two men, giving them a thin smile, and slipped through the door and paced quickly down the tunnel until he came to the door in the stone wall on his left, he carefully knocked.

Minerva
Dogboy held out his hand to make good his offer to heal me, and I waited for him to do something more, but he just stood there with his hand out like a fool. Then, when I was about to scoff and tell him to go away, that voice, the voice that made every decision a little bit harder, whispered, “Take his hand. See what happens.” I fidgeted, tossing pros and cons around before putting my hand was in his. It was a weird sensation... whatever he was doing. There was a tingling around my ankle, on the verge of pain, and suddenly it was better. I blinked, rolling my ankle several times in several different directions. It was good as new. Amazing.

"Well, there you go," he said as he let my hand go, "You should probably keep away from my turf, the dogs doesn't like your scent."

I studied him. He would be a d*mn good resource. Not only would the Hearts have a healer in their ranks, but he would get around town, hearing anything his patients told him. The things I could know if he reported to me...

I stopped him with a soft hand on his shoulder when he turned to leave, determined to catch him. "I hope you don't mind me asking,” I purred, smiling just a bit, "but where were you back when the Rebels stayed in that building?"

"Don't really remember. Country of Fields, probably. I like the spiders there. They tend to keep all idiots at bay."

I kept my eyes from narrowing. Not Erillian. I widened my smile instead and began to ask another question.

"Yes, I do travel a lot,” he interrupted, “No, I have no family.” I knew I was starting to grin. He was perfect. “No, I'm not on anyone's side.” I froze. “No, I do not intend to join any side nor do I have any information that would be useful for you and the.." I glared at him daringly as he sized me up, tried to place me. ".. Hearts?"

I blinked, trying and failing to ignore his sickly sweet smile as it dug under my skin and irritated the crap out of me. I hadn’t actually expected him to place me. "Well, at least you don't know where we're hiding,” I said in my best ‘who-gives-a-sh*t’ voice.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Besides, people tell me all sorts of things when I help them. People really like sharing information even when they're not required to...” He frowned. “Which is exactly what I'm doing right now, like a proper idiot."

"And you call me a klutz?" I scoffed.

"I'm gonna go home now, so don't twist your ankle again."

"Aaaaw, really?" I drawled. "But I still had things I wanted to ask you."

"I'm not helping out in another senseless civil war!"

I couldn’t withhold a slight start at the unexpected yell.

"I've seen enough meaningless deaths already."

I raised my eyebrows. If he had been out of Wonderland five years ago, what civil war had he been helping out in? And what meaningless deaths? I could have gone home. I may have even managed to go to the harbor and save my day from uselessness, but I wouldn’t. Now, I really did have questions.

So I followed him, ignoring my poor shoe which would be forever ruined. I started with the obvious after I realized he wasn’t going to acknowledge my presence which irked me more than I would admit. “Who are you?”

He gave me a disdainful glance. “I’ll tell mine if you tell yours,” he sneered.

I frowned, quickening my step to keep up with his long stride. I couldn’t tell him, obviously. Perhaps I could make up a name... Maybe...

He scoffed, and that maddening little sound drove me to spit, “Minerva Heart.”

His shoulders tensed, and he glanced at me. I raised my chin, hoping he would question my honesty. Instead he muttered, “You’re ugly enough.”

I couldn’t withhold a gasp. I shifted my face self-consciously into lines I knew were attractive before I even had the chance to consider brushing off his insult without reacting.

He smirked. “You can call me Thorn.”

I wished, how I wished I had some scathing retort, but I could only think of the similarities of his name and his personality: prickly. “What civil war?”

His face hardened. “What?”

“You weren’t here for the Wonderland war,” I began.

“No.” He took faster steps, so he was in front of me again. I’d have had to jog to catch up, and I wasn’t about to do that. He turned a corner.

“No?” I called and swore when I practically ran into him.

“Leave me alone,” he growled.

I blinked up at him, open my mouth to retort.

“Leave. Me. Alone.”

I frowned. “You’re wasting your talents!” I snapped, crossing my arms as he began to turn away.

His eyes narrowed. “Healing the poor is a waste of talent?” he hissed.

I refused to back away at his hard gaze. “You could be changing the future, not wasting away here!”

“Changing the future with you and the Hearts?” he said in an overly bright voice. “Oh!” He clapped his hands together. “That’s just my dream come true! Why not let the tyrant retake her throne?” He leveled a glare at me.

“And Lordshire is so much better!” I made a big show of looking around. “This place looks like heaven compared to the last time I looked at it.”

“Now, just because I don’t side with the Hearts-“

“You mean just because you don’t do anything...”

“I would think I do more than you!”

“Please. You skip around touching people-“

“You don’t know what I do with my day!”

“Collecting stray mutts-“

We went on, overlapping, growing louder and louder, batting insults back and forth, until it wasn’t about whose side who was on, but all about winning. Winning what? It didn’t matter.

I’m not sure how it happened or what I was thinking. I’m pretty sure if I had thought much I wouldn’t have done it. I just know I was pulling his head down, and he was pushing me up, and we were meeting in the middle, and we were kissing.

Now, due to my previous employment, I’ve kissed hundreds of men hundreds of times. I fancy myself a master at knowing what they want, knowing what to do to get what I want, but this wasn’t like that. That was cold and calculating. I often felt like God, playing with my little toys. This wasn’t cold, and I wasn’t God. I was a puny human swept away, and it made me nervous.

I jerked away, breathing heavily, and stared at him. Taking another step back, I swallowed convulsively. “I... How dare you,” I breathed, sounding every bit like the Duchess I could have been.

I hadn’t been able to read his face, but as the words left my lips, his nostrils flared. “Sweetheart, that wasn’t just me.”

I almost told him I had plenty of experience and I didn’t need his condescending explanations, but that wouldn’t help my argument. Anything else would make me look like a prude, but I had to say something. My d*mned indecision bit me as he chuckled.

“You came onto my turf anyway.”

I was still backing away, trying to decide how I could make a haughty exit, but I was so tired of this turf talk. “You don’t own the street! I should be able to walk wherever I want without having my life threatened by rabid beasts!”

“They’re just-“

I ignored the fact that he had spoken, “There’s not anything for me here anymore, hasn’t been for five years. I ran into this ghost town by accident. I shouldn’t be torn to shreds for that.”

He paused. “What were you running from?”

My mouth opened and closed uselessly as I realized what I had just said. No. No, no, no. We weren’t going to be talking about me. “I think I’ll take my leave now,” I said tightly and whirled around, took one step. “F*ck!” I jumped off of glass lying under a busted window and cried out when I landed on my foot again. I sat or... crumpled would probably be a better word. I closed my eyes against tears and took several deep breaths. I felt him beside me, refusing to open my eyes. He knelt down and was shaking his head when I finally got the courage to open my eyes. I didn’t look at my foot though.

“You don’t really like walking, do you?”

“If your turf wasn’t booby trapped, maybe I could get out of here.” God, was that a waver in my voice?

He stared at me. “This is not my fault.” I knew that, but it certainly didn’t make me feel any better. “I’ll have to get the glass out of your foot before I heal you.”

I opened my mouth to send him away, so I could nurse my wounded foot and pride in silence, but I caught myself. I wasn’t leaving without help. I got up with my arm around his neck. I hopped to the old HQ, leaning on him. I was too focused on keeping my balance to start another conversation, and he must have pitied me enough to stay silent as well.

We finally got into the HQ and I collapsed into a chair, trying to pretend I wasn’t as out of breath as I was. Looking around, I studied the many vials and raised my eyebrows at the ones labeled, ‘Drink me.’ He was rustling around somewhere behind me. I craned my neck. The place was definitely falling apart, but at the same time, there was something warm about it that Miranda’s militaristic ways had never had.

“What…” I jerked my foot back, biting back a yelp. He glared at me.

“I need your foot to get the glass out.”

I grit my teeth. “You could have warned me,” I muttered as I relinquished my foot to him again.

He took my foot in a firm hand and went on in silence. I tensed up with every shard until he finally murmured. “Relax a bit for me.” His voice had lost some of its harsh edge.

I studied his face, trying to relax. I started with my head, working down. I closed my eyes. “What’s in the bottles?” Down to my shoulders.

“Depends.”

My chest. “The one’s with ‘drink me’?”

“Poisons.”

My thighs. “You make them?”

“Yeah.”

I gritted my teeth at a particularly painful bit but focused on my calves. “The others?”

“Antidotes, potions.”

Finally my feet. I let out a soft sigh. “Poisons could come in handy.”

“It does.” I felt it when he started healing me. It wasn’t as strange this time. It was practically soothing after the picking. I opened my eyes slowly, wriggling my toes. He put his hand on my toes. “Not yet.” It was silent for a few more moments. “Now.”

I moved my toes again, rested my feet against the floor and stood on them, balanced on the hurt foot. I smiled. “That’s a miracle. What I could do with you.”

He stiffened.

I raised my hands, wanting peace for a minute at least. “Slip of the tongue.” I padded over to the table of potions. “What are you doing right now?” I glanced back at his hesitation and smiled at him. “Just curious. Maybe I’ll need your services one day. Poisons are always… helpful.”

He came beside me. “Well, I’m playing with antidotes right now.”

I nodded, sniffing at a bowl before jerking back, wrinkling my nose.

He chuckled. “It doesn’t always smell so great.”

“That’s something good?”

“Should be.” He pointed at a dried herb hanging from the ceiling. “The islanders use that to detoxify, but it smells awful.” He waved at a different herb with bright orange flowers. “That’s one of the most poisonous plants in the Country of Fields.”

I sauntered toward it.

“Er… I wouldn’t touch it.”

I looked over my shoulder at him, intrigued. “That bad?”

He waved his hand in a so-so motion. “Best not to risk it.”

“How do you use it?” I breathed.

He grins. “I can show you.”

***

I smirked at Thorn as he tied a tag with ‘Drink Me’ around the top of the jar. “And that’s how you make poison.”

He handed it to me. “For you.”

I took it and smirked at him. “Maybe Miranda will come down with something. If anyone comes to you, you don’t know.” I winked at him.

He frowned. “I would help her, Minerva.”

I grimaced. “What?”

“I would give her an antidote.”

I smiled coyly, brushing my hand over his shoulder. “Come now, I would reward you for your loyalty.”

He backed away, slamming the supplies we had used in a basin. “I wouldn’t accept.”

I glared at his back. “She’s as bad as Yamani!”

“I would heal Yamani too.”

I let out a frustrated groan. “Why don’t you just heal everybody?”

He stood in front of me, arms crossed. “That’s the plan.”

I scoffed. “You can’t do that!”

He sneered and leaned forward. “Watch me. I’ve been doing it. It’s better than pointlessly killing people.”

“We’re fighting for justice!” I almost made a face at the propaganda spewing out of my mouth, but instead, I took a step forward.

“You’re fighting for a chair!”

“You know it’s far more than just a chair.”

“The fact is, Yamani-”

“Miranda and Lordshire-“

Silence fell as one waited for the other to speak, so they could shoot them down. And the next moment I was smashing my mouth to his as he crushed me against him. He boosted me onto the work desk, and I laughed as he lifted my skirts.
***
I avoided Thorn’s eyes as I sipped at coffee. I stared out the window instead, wondering where the cool words I had used to use to make light of a night had gone in the last five years. It wasn’t like I was new at this.

He was cleaning up the vials we had knocked off last night. I was blushing like a schoolgirl… This was ridiculous. I cleared my throat and looked at him, watching him throw away the broken vials. He glanced at me. “Thorn…”

“Let’s not,” he muttered.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Okay then, let me help?” I got up and took the mop he offered. “So…” I said into the heavy silence and pushed the multicolored liquids around slowly. “Have you been to the islands?”

I smiled expectantly. “I’ve never been out of Wonderland.” I glanced around the room as if it were a cage. “Not even out of this city.” I scoffed. “Except for the caves which aren’t an improvement.” I went to mopping, not looking up.

“…I didn’t actually come from the islands or Wonderland, but the islands are… different. Not so much the land, though there’s some wacky stuff, but the people…”

I listened to the stories he told of places I had only looked at on a map on my dad’s knee, wondering how he had seen so many places in such depth in what couldn't be much more than a decade and when Thorn had fallen silent, I found myself talking about my childhood. Not the bad things, the torture or the struggle for power, but the happy things, the things girl’s dreamed about when they wished to grow up in a castle. I came to a stop when I got to my parents’ deaths and looked down at the spotless floor. “I haven’t thought about that for years,” I murmured.

He tapped a finger against the table. “Have you ever thought about not having a side?”

I shrugged. “For a while I was on my own side.”

He nods. “Why not go back to that? It’s easier.”

I frowned. “I was alone for a long time,” I began and glanced up at his scoff, but his expression was veiled and he said nothing. I took a deep breath. “And it wasn’t that I didn’t have people when I was with the Whites, but Yamani and I were close growing up, and I had forgotten what it was like to smile at someone and mean it.” I stopped myself, shook my head. “I don’t know why I’m explaining myself to you.”

“Perhaps, you’re the one wasting your talents.”

I blinked at him. “And what do you think I should do instead?” I tightened my lips should I go back to what I was doing?” Had I even told him about my last profession? Did it even matter if I had?

“Well... perhaps...”

I scoffed and leaned the mop against the table, pulling a chair. I put one foot on it in a provocative position. “What do ya like, honey?” I crooned. “Black hair?” I shifted the color. “Bigger lips? You got it, baby.”

“Minerva...”

I glared at him. “And everyone likes bigger tits, right?”

“Stop.”

“You have some weird fetish? Well, I can make my arm look like it’s burned to a crisp for you.” I wasn’t actually going to do that, took too much energy, but I liked the way he paled just a bit. I made my arm shift just a bit, a little darker.

He stood, looming over me. “Go back.”

I frowned, putting both feet on the floor because my pose suddenly felt ridiculous. “What do you mean?”

He took a lock of my hair and pulled it in front of my eyes. “This.” He made several hand motions that I couldn’t comprehend. “You. Go back.”

I slowly shifted back, studying him. “You know,” I said because I didn’t know what else to do, “You could sleep with the Queen of Wonderland.” I smirked. “All three of them.”

“Just shut up,” he muttered and kissed me when I opened my mouth to protest. “I like you better quiet.”

I tried to protest again, but he swept me up. Neither of us did much talking after that.
***
I left that night, carefully avoiding the place where the glass had been. I had lost my other shoe somewhere in Thorn’s place. I stiffened when I heard a bark, but the dogs were just watching me. I must smell like him.

I surprised myself by not being bothered by that. I made my way home quickly to find that I had missed quite a lot...
***
I ran through the caves. Having been of no use pacing around, I had finally gotten to the harbor and secured three spies. However, I had been made aware of Yamani’s return and had returned to the caves as fast as possible.

Some idiot opened a door right as I was running by, and I jostled him before trying to continue.

"Hey, watch where you're... Minerva?"

I froze at my name. Thorn? I turned around with a frown. "What are you..?"

"I'm.. I healed your queen. And now I'm leaving. She's fine now. The queen, that is."

I blinked. Really, I don’t think I had ever expected to see him again. All I could think of to say was, "Oh."

He nodded. "Yeah."

I stood there like an idiot.

"I have something I need to do but... You could swing by my place later."

I just stared at him.

"Well, see you."

I tried to think of something witty to say, something light and fluffy. Something that quietly hinted at the fact that I wasn’t swinging by his place ever again just because that’s how I was. Instead I watched him for a little while as he left before finally kicking myself into movement. I glanced back once and caught him looking back at me.

Why was I acting like a school girl?

I shook my head and continued on without looking back again. I practically tripped over Yamani who was kneeling on the ground. “I- Yamani? What are you doing out of bed?”

"I need you to poison Lordshire," the White Queen said. "I'll pay you whatever you want, just make sure it gets done."

I blinked. Wow. I wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth. Hm. "I don't need any money,"

"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." she tried to persuade.

Like that excuse would actually work on me. I mean, yea, it's a great excuse for wanting him dead, but not the real reason. She most likely couldn't a damn about the people.

I was quiet for a moment before answering. "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," she muttered, and I almost smiled.

Almost.

"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." Miranda continued.

Good tidbit of information. I nodded. "That won't be a problem."

"Don't take him lightly, he's smarter than he seems." she warns.

I doubt he's as smart as he thinks he is, but not taken. "Just leave him to me."

She frowned before answering, "Report back to me as soon as you're done."

I walked away without a second glance, the guards falling beside me to escort me to show me out.



I headed into the city to find a few ingredients i'd need for my poison. Most if the herbs needed, I grew myself, but there were a few I had to buy from a certain kind of "vender" who specialized in what I needed. The guys was beyond shady, and most likely on the run for something he did in the past. I rounded a corner and slowed my steps as I got deeper into the alley, coming to a complete stop, holding completely still. There was a whistle and snap. I answered with my own whistle and step before talking another step forward, then stopping again. A man in a black cloak stepped for ward.

"How nice to see you again, Luna." a deep voice dawned. "I beginning to wonder if i'd ever see you again."

"Oh come now," I smiled. "you know you're the only man for me, Rex."

He gave a little chortle as he came to stand in front of me. "You're too sweet to."

"Apparently not sweet enough to let me see your face." I cross my arms over my chest.

He changed the subject, pulling something out of his sleeve. "I have the ingredients you require."

He handed me something bundled into a pouch and took a step back.

I stuck the pouch into one of my jacket pockets. "Thanks. Got anything else for me?"

"There's a 'bug' on every wall of every castle. You just have to know where to look." he shrugged.

I could almost picture him with a smile on his face. Almost. Then I frowned. A 'bug' on every wall of every castle? What did he mean by 'Bug'? Hm. "I need one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I know there are a few flies on Lordie's wall. I just need to know which ones they are so I can lay a few eggs." I answer.

Lord 'Lordie' Lordshire (Knave of hearts) - King of Wonderland

"Can't you knock?" Reggy asked the guard.

"Precisely." And here I was thinking only I found that to be a problem. "I was telling him the same." I turned to Mackzies, "Well, off you go."

"So," She began after a short silence, "how did the chat with Spider go?"

"What an interesting thing to ask. You two talked for quite some time before I entered."

"I told him I'd get the throne myself if I were him," she said.

You- I looked at her, "You did what?"

"We knew each other years ago," And so he takes priority over your husband, "He'd make a far better ruler than either of the Queens."

"I'm not sure if you noticed, the throne is currently occupied," I gripped my cane. I knew Reggy was manipulative, but would she go that far? "You could be charged for treason for those words."

"Charge me for treason, then," she dared, "What will you do, have me torture myself?"

"There are other people with skills," I noted.

She shrugged, "Loyal to me."

Was she really doing this? "Are you implying that being loyal to you doesn't mean being loyal to me?"

"I don't know," she snapped, "what the hell do you think?"

"It's not easy to tell lately," I furrowed my brow, "What was all that with Yamani? Do you think she'd let me go if it was the other way around?"

She stared at me.

"Answer me, Reggy."

"They love each other," she finally said, "If we killed her, he'd not stop until he'd kill us, because that's just how it goes. She's a strong person, Lordie. She was still cursing at me after having more bones broken than I even thought one could break before falling into coma." yeah, gory stuff, I get it, "But she's a woman, and a rather young one on top of it. I told her a bit of a story. I told her of all the truth - of how her beloved really only wants her power, of how no queen should trust promises made by people who know them. Of how power is like fire, and those born without it are like flies, attracted to it and eventually ready to do everything for it. I told her I knew how that felt. I told her what a king with the power of voice could to to her beloved Wonderland."

Now I was the one staring. I wasn't angry, even though I wanted to act like it, I was more... more... I don't know, I don't usually do emotions. But you could've at least told me your plan.

"I poked her heart enough to crack, and she's going to break it herself, along with his." she continued. "And when they're separated, when they're desperate and confused, they'll be vulnerable. Perhaps vulnerable enough to give up. Perhaps enough to lose their battles. Perhaps enough to switch sides."

She turned her back to me as soon as she stopped talking. I wanted to reach out to her, to tell her I wasn't mad. I didn't want her to think I hated her. But instead, I just stood there.

"I should've told you," She said, fumbling with her shirt, "But I wanted to be sure she won't remember I said it all - she needs to think her mind did it on its own. It's easier for me to delete the memories if I'm the only person sharing them."

She turned back to me and I found myself trying to hide the smile I didn't realize I'd had.

"What would you say," she asked slowly, "if I asked you to leave the throne?" Honestly? I'd say- "To just leave. Go away, disappear. It could be so much easier - no dangers, no worries, no plans.."

I looked at the floor, "You sound like you want to leave me." I poked her with my cane and she tried to hide a smile, "It's a bit too late for those thoughts now. You had a choice to pick a side five years ago. You want to leave? Why haven't you left already, then? You seem to have friends to take you in."

She didn't answer me, and she didn't look at me, and I decided it'd be best to give her some time alone.

I began to make my leave, but her voice stopped me, "I don't..want..to leave," Then why bring it up? "But I can't live like this anymore."

I turned to her now. You know what, if we had the chance, I'd say we-

"I don't know what more you want," she continued, "I did everything you asked. I changed myself for you, I changed everything I was, I stayed by your side for years! I..will be the mother of your heir, and you still can't even trust me!" But I do... "I don't want to leave and I don't want you to give up on the throne, but I don't want you dead on it either! And it's not because I want to keep my own title, but because I-"

She turned and didn't speak again. I didn't even try to hide my smile this time. I found it adorable how much she cared about me. Frankly, it wasn't something I was used to. And neither was the burning sensation I had in my gut. What was it called again? Feelings? Emotions? I kind of liked it.

This time I did reach out for her. I stood behind her with my hand on her shoulder. She tensed a bit when I first touched her, and it made me wonder. Did she think I would hurt her?

"Reggy," she didn't look at me, "As much as you won't like it, I'm going to do stupid things. I'm going to get myself into trouble. I might even end up getting myself killed for this country. But I won't do anything without thinking about you first, both of you." I let my hand slide off her shoulder. "I still remember the first time I met you."

She turned to me now, eyes wide. I smiled at her and continued, "I needed a Queen, and I was in the mood for a drink." She pursed her lips, but I continued, "You were the only one at the bar filled my aesthetic requirements, and frankly, that's all I really cared about then. I wanted a figure head, not a wife. It never crossed my mind that almost five years later, they'd be someone I genuinely cared for."

I made my way to the door again, I'd had enough of these feelings for one day. "I have a lot to thank you for, Reggy. You helped me in more ways than I care to count. I might be disappointed in myself if I did, you know? You saved me, Reggy. No one cared about me before. There was no one to put a leash on me, no one who cared whether I got bed safely. Without you, I would've been gone a long time ago, and I never did thank you for that, did I? Never told you I love you for it, either."

By then I was already out of the room. I heard Reggy muttering something from behind me, but I was too busy wiping away the strange liquid from my eyes to pay any attention.

* * *

With two of my castle guards by my side, I walked into the bar, everyone bowing at my presence. I took my usual seat at the counter, nodding at the Jester who sat next to me once more.

"Back again so soon, King?" the bartender asked.

"Rough week. Send two Lordie Express' over here." I told her.

"Will do."

I turned to the Jester, "Do you spend all day here?"

"Only because I live here." he replied.

"In the bar?"

"Upstairs."

"Don't I pay you enough to get a real house?"

"Of course you do, my Lordliness."

I raised an eyebrow.

"King Lordshire," he corrected, "I'm not just very wise with some of my other investments." He took a long drag from a tall glass of ale in front of him.

"Drinks done." The bartender called, handing me my drinks.

I downed the first one in a single gulp and let the stinging ease my head. Once I felt the burning in my throat, I held the second glass up to Mackzies, "Want some?"

He shook his head.

Suit yourself. I downed the second glass and slammed it on the table. My throat itched for more of the ale, and my mind for more of the distraction, but I knew Reggy wouldn't be happy to see me coming home drunk.

Who cares, she's not the boss of you. I blinked. That was weird. Even after all I just said to her. I'm just being stupid. Of course, she'd made a plan to sabotage Yamani all on her own, how could I hate her for that? But you sent the Bandersnatch to get Yamani. And that's when the realization finally set in.

"Something wrong, sir?" My second guard asked.

I turned to bartender once more, "Two more drinks, please."

* * *

It was pitch black out when we finally made it back to the castle. The Jester had decided to make it his duty to accompany the guards in carrying- walking me to my room.

Once we were in the hallway approaching the room, the Jester asked, "Uh, is it normally like this in here?"

I took my hand off the wall and stumbled a bit, "Li- like what, funny boy?"

"Well, cozy." he replied.

I smirked at the compliment, "I do try to make, make the place feel... nice." I walked past my two guards and headed for the room door when I stumbled over something, "Hey, you guys, clean- clean that up."

I felt around for the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. Reggy was sleeping, maybe I could pull a prank on- what are you, five? I instinctively sat down at my checker table and stared at. Oh that's nice, it's already set up. And look, there's a note.

'You go first.'

Spider King. I stood up instantly, I think. I actually knocked over the chair and stumbled out into the hallway, tripping over everything in my way. It was then I finally noticed all the, hopefully, unconscious guards on the floor.

And despite all that I should be feeling, I started giggling, "Oh Spidey, just remember, you started it."

Blair DeVore - Outside of Hearts HQ - The Battle of Skill, two powerful minds clash!

I was not sticking around for all that, I quickly left as the fight between the two started not wanting to be caught in the middle of something that didn't involve me. As I left, the guards paid me no mind, some nodded and gave me a smile as I passed them by but nothing more than that. I remember that Yamani drank my canteen dry when I found her, there had to be a river around her, or a lake. How else is Yamani keeping dehydration away? just as I was leaving the caves I found two soldiers standing around talking to each other.

"Excuse me, do you two know where I can find the closest river or lake?" I asked the two.

"Yeah," he pointed his finger out west, "head straight that way, there's a river out that way." the guy said.

"Careful, some Thorn Soldiers were spotted out that way to, we have yet to confirm if there still there or not," the second one said.

"Right," I replied to them.

I started my way to the river it was almost nighttime, but I would be quick back to the cave to meet with Yamani. It wasn't long before I came across something I hadn't expected, there was something big and black on the ground, I look around quickly but see nothing else but trees and leaves. I approached the big black thing on the ground, only to discover it wasn't a thing, but a person, a dead person. He had a clock over him obviously someone just left him here, he was dead though, I found his alliance insignia, Thorn, should have guessed.

I pulled the clock off of him and poked around his body, he had a sniper rifle, sweet, not my custom made one, but it'll fit the bill for now. I poked his body for ammo and other things, but eventually came across a file on his body, I looked around again, half expecting someone to jump out and attack me. I opened it, and my, I was surprised it contained details on the Queen of Hearts, blood type, age, place of birth, etc, etc, Lordshire must have sent people out to hunt for Yamani. Interesting, and they just so happen to leave this guy for dead? talk about comrades, but that's when I heard the dagger, I look up just in time for the dagger to cut across my cheek and sail right on by me. I barely flinched at it, but I did see someone else, a guy with three scars on his face, his hand outstretched and an evil glare in his eye.

"May I help you?" I said slowly.

"The file, hand it over," he said.

He just threw a knife at me, and he expects me to hand this over to him? fat chance, I stood slowly, closing the file in one hand and holding it.

"You want this, come and get it," I said without second thought.

"I don't got time for this!" he pulled a knife from his belt and threw it, it sped towards me, I extended my free hand and caught it by its tip and flawlessly using the momentum behind the knife, threw it back at him. He barely flinched as the knife sailed past him, just grazing his ear and landing in the tree behind him.

"Not bad," he mouthed.

"Let's get this party started," I mouthed back.

There was lightning over head as we just stood there, soon I felt a drop of rain on my nose, and quickly, it began to rain. Slowly at first, but it picked up until it was pouring down hard. We dashed to the right keeping up with each others pace, we ran into the woods, I ran dodging trees left and right, but soon stop dead behind a tree as I let him run until he realized I stopped, quickly putting the file into an open pocket of Blazar. I soon caught my breath, as it was to dark to see, I hated darkness, but this was no time to be afraid. I reached for my daggers in my boots. This would be a long day.

Jensen Stormweaver


Jens sighed, I’m too old for this s***.

It was rare enough for the king to get drunk, and on the few occasions that he did indulge himself, he had a very obvious reason. Now, as Jens stood there, outside the ornate door to the king’s chambers, wiping his hands on his cloak, he was totally clueless as to why the king might be indulging himself like this on such a night.

God d*** the idiot, he sighed fondly.

He waved Mackzies goodnight and slipped into his tiny room, pulling the steel door shut behind him. It had a tiny cot shoved up in one corner, inconsequential clutter to Jens (Who would have been happy to throw it away and sleep on the floor if the King had allowed it), and a small pair of cabinets holding the two guards belongings. The center of the room was predominated by a massive chest/cabinet, practically cracking the stone floor it was so heavy, which held all of their ‘little toys’ - weapons, explosives, practice dummies, and other things.

He sighed again, it was home, and he wanted nothing better.

Everyone but Mackzies assumed that he was sleeping when he went into his shared room, but the truth was that he was fooling with his toys, sitting about, thinking up every possible way to kill/ incapacitate/ stop/ wound/ somehow hurt, Lordshire, and then thinking up every possible way to counter these possibilities. Tonight he had one way to kill/ incapacitate Lordshire on his mind: Poisons.

How lovely it would be if he could slip a few drops of Verku (A deadly type of snake from the deserts) venom into Yamina or Marinda’s cup of spiced milk in the evening one day. It could not be seen, smelt, tasted, or felt and its effects (3 second headache and instant death) would not be noticed till an hour after being consumed, hence making tasters useless. It was the perfect poison. Apply one drop: it would knock a person unconscious for half a day. Apply two drops: they’d be in a coma for the rest of their natural life (And maybe some of their un-natural life too). Apply three drops: previously described effects would come to pass. Applying more would cut down the delay.

Unfortunately it had an antidote.

He grunted, unlocked his side of the chest, and pulled out a smaller steel bound chest. He slipped in a key and then flipped it open, inside where row after row of vials, in opposing rows: Poisons and their antidotes. He’d been bothering himself for weeks on the option of someone poisoning his King, now it was time to take some action to prevent it.

If he were an assassin trying to kill the King, then he would use a poison. Why? Because a direct attack would be doomed to failure (Due to certain guards), he grinned to himself. Any kind of long range deal wouldn’t work either, because the guards where fast enough (Well, Mackzies was fast enough) to intercept any bullet or projectile. Hence, the remaining option was poison. The only defense against this option where antidotes and tasters!

Jens spat onto the marble floor, leaving a smear, what a sickeningly inadequate defense! Happily Verku’s where rather particular to sizzling hot temperatures. As of such their venom was rather hard to get ahold of this far away from their natural habitat. He groaned reluctantly and replaced the small green vial of Verku Venom Antidote: Not needed.

What would he use if he wanted to poison the king? How would he apply it? Did he know if the king had tasters? He wouldn’t use anything common, for sure, anything that the usual roadside assassin used could easily be stopped before it brought death. (Not that any precautions were in place for this). He slipped four small blue and black vials into a small pouch at his belt: Needed (No point in taking chances).

But if he really wanted to kill the king . . . He couldn’t use something fast acting or the tasters would intercept it, he couldn’t use anything too common or it would be too easy to stop. He would use something more exotic. Something more like Verku Venom: something that could get past tasters. But what would he use? Verku Venom itself was out of the question. The un-curable Mylake and Purhein poisons? No, they took months to kill; the queens didn’t have that kind of time. Quickly he set aside almost all the vials, leaving only five in the padded box.

Trystic Deathspill? No, only a fool would use a poison that dangerous. He was likely enough to start an outbreak of the plague or cause an explosion that would turn the planet into a crescent moon, a permanent crescent moon. He set the small vial carefully to the side.

Jensbane? Maybe, it had a twenty minute delay, and gave an excruciating death, just what the queens would want. It couldn’t be detected either. He tossed the small red vial of antidote into his pouch, hoping that the poison’s name wasn’t somehow prophetic.

Tethrin Acid? Yes, for sure, it was an option. Not as painful as Jensbane and not as un-detectable as Verku Venom, but it was bad enough. He tossed it’s anti-venom into his pouch as well.

Childsdeath? He sighed as he saw it; the name of the poison had a tragic history, to say the least. It could be seen when in a clear liquid, such as wine or water, but in anything else it could pass off as dirt. He put away its antidote.

Purtiafacen? He winced as he saw it; frog slime wasn’t at all appetizing to him. But it was an option, though it could be smelt. He grunted to himself and put away the poison’s anti-venom.

Unless some slimy, underhand assassin could think up or find a new poison, then nobody would be getting his King, not through poisons anyway. He tucked the pouch in his belt, now all he had to do was make sure he kept close to the king and give Mackzies a set of his own antidotes to keep with him.

The Unofficial Head of the King’s Defense Force slipped out of his room and headed for the battlements on the castle outside.

Ah, the feel of the wind in one’s hair, as sparse as it may be! Jens chuckled to himself as he looked out into the night. Wonderland city was dimly lit all before him, behind him sprawled Wonderland city’s castle, mighty, and very breach-able.

He looked up and down the small road that ran along the top of the castle wall, to one side stretched the row of crenulations, and to the other stretched a long drop onto hard roof and road. Suddenly he spotted a form leaning in the darkness against one of the crenulations. A SLEEPING SENTRY?! Jens almost screamed!

Instead he spat over the wall, listening to the satisfying splat as the spit hit the roof of a house below, imagining what he would do to that sentry, carefully he tip-toed forward, the young sentry still lay against the wall, dozing. For a moment he fancied the idea of pitching the young man over the wall, but he disposed of the thought quickly.

There was no point. Instead he stepped forward and grabbing the man’s spear, jerked him off his feet. The man gave a muffled cry which was abruptly cut off as his face collided with the wall.” What the h*** do you think you’re doing, you d*** idiot, burn in h***!” Jens roared, though not really furiously. He jerked the man back to his feet.” You’re an embarrassment to the Kings Defense Force! Sleeping like that, I should pitch you over the wall instead of waste my time yelling at you!”

He smiled to himself as the man, no, boy, scrambled back to his feet, bowing.” I will not sir! I will never do it again! If I do, then – then – you can pitch me over the wall!”

He grinned broadly and handed his spear back.” I’ll oblige.” He then paced further along the wall, glancing back satisfied to see the young man pacing resolutely back and forth, his spear at the ready.

He smiled and looked around the city, so many were discontent, so many hated his Lordship. The fools, the poor pitiable fools, no king could not be everything the people wanted; nor could any man (Or men). These people had no idea of what a real bad king was. He did, Lordshire was reviving the country, and the people still hated him. He doubted they even noticed how much he’d improved their lots.

Finally he stretched, his back creaking, and returned to his quarters, stomping through the marble corridors, musing for any poison he may have missed.

Miranda Lutwidge (The White Queen) - At the Whites' HQ
When I woke up that morning Brae was no where to be seen. That idiot. I muttered under my breath as I got up and got dressed. Really now, was it to much to ask to get to see his face when I woke up? I am his wife after all, not some cheep.. I winced as I accidentally tugged to hard on the hairbrush. I shouldn't get angry. He was working hard to get the throne for me.. For us.

I carefully chose some fresh flowers from a vase and braided them into my hair. Alice would probably like some too.. But red flowers would look so much better in her dark hair. I stared at the flowers, letting my brow furrow as I thought of nothing but red. The flowers ended up purple. I sighed and shrugged. Luckily she liked purple.

"Time to wake up," I said with a gentle voice as I peaked into their room. Alice had crawled over to Lewis' bed during the night. I couldn't blame her, after all she had been through yesterday.

There was a winy: "Just five more minutes," so silent I couldn't even tell who said it.

"I don't know about you.. But I feel like eating ice cream for breakfast." Lewis sat up with a jerk, and Alice soon followed. "Dad's out so you can eat whatever you want," I said with a grin. Brae would find out later, but then it'd be too late and it was his own fault for not being.. No, stop blaming him. He's doing it for you. "Get up, get dressed or I'll eat it myself!" I said in a sing-song voice and slowly began walking out of the room.

They more or less flew out of their beds. While they got dressed I ordered a guard to bring us some ice cream to the room. I knew that I was spoiling them, but I just couldn't help it. I wanted to give them all that I could possibly give.

Adonis came in when we were almost done. I still hadn't forgotten his strange behavior yesterday. He had seen something about Brae, and refused to tell me. "When the cat is out, the mice party," he remarked at the ice cream.

"Do shut up and have some," I said and patted the seat of a chair.

As he sat down his eye's suddenly became strangely empty. Another vision? After only a few seconds he was back again, frowning slightly. "This day will bring big surprises," he mumbled and scooped up some ice cream on his plate.

"What surprises, exactly?"

"The kind you should shoot."

I kept nagging for more information, but he told me nothing.


Garion Thronbranch (The Talking Door) - At a tavern
"Well," he said, "looks like you indeed do know me."

I ordered in a double whiskey, the cheep and strong kind. My story was indeed a long one, and it wasn't very pleasant either. "I grew up in the North, in one of the small and meaningless countries."

"I thought it had all been.."

"Yeah," I muttered. "This was a while ago. Anyway, I wanted to fight, so I joined the army." This seemed to surprise him just as much now as it had the first time I told him. "I had discovered my ability not long before that, and as soon as the ones in command noticed they signed me up as one of the medics. There were a lot of causalities, I saw some gruesome things.." I took a big gulp of the whiskey and felt it burn it's way down to my stomach. "We were outnumbered and were running low on provisions. Since most of the generals had gone missing the soldiers decided to raid the nearby villages." I drank what was left in my glass and ordered a refill. "My family was in one of those villages. They were butchered."

"That's why you hate soldier."

I shook my head. "That is just the beginning of it." I didn't feel like telling him the rest. It only got worse. "I left, and traveled across the North. Back then all the countries were fighting, with each other and themselves. Wherever I went there were always people who needed my help. Eventually I stopped helping the soldiers, 'cause I knew they'd just get up and hurt more civilians. After a few years I'd had enough." I didn't want to talk about the details of those years. It was bad enough to just remember, I didn't need to say it out loud as well. "Left for the Island Kingdom, stayed there and learned how to treat wounds and such without powers.. And of course potions, poisons and antidotes. Went to Wonderland when I had nothing left to learn from my mentors, and got hired as the court physician." Rook didn't even blink this time. He had either realized how old I really was, or thought that I was lying. "The king was an idiot, so I told him so and got exiled. After that I stayed in the Country of Fields and watched as the so called 'Spider King' took over. Quite interesting, actually. When I figured that anyone who might have met me here would've died I returned to see how this new king would act. So far I'm not impressed."

"That was a long story," he said, seeming a bit uncertain.

I chuckled. The whiskey was starting to make my head feel warm and fussy, but I knew it wouldn't last long. My body dealt with both alcohol and poisons much faster and more effective than any normal person's would. "That's the extremely short version. I'll save the rest for later." Rook opened his mouth to ask what I knew he would, so I cut him of. "I don't know. I stopped keeping track of the years. Two, maybe three hundred."

His face suddenly paled. More than you expected, ey? "So you don't.."

"Age? Nah, not physically at least." Through the whole conversation I had managed to keep my voice void of emotions, and I felt almost proud of myself. "That's why I don't usually make friends. You were the first exceptions since.. Way back."

"You should make more friends then," Rook said with a slight smile. "One can never have too many."

"I don't like watching people grow old and die," I muttered. For some reason an image of Minerva popped up in my head. She'll grow old as well. The thought almost angered me. It wasn't like I was going to stick around her long enough to see that. Why had I even..? I realized Rook was talking to me. "What?"

"I said: You have a lousy attitude."

I scoffed. "Unlike yourself, I'm old and wise. That optimism of yours might make it one life time, but not four."

"You act like an old fart."

For a moment I just stared, then when I saw his lips curl to a smile I couldn't help but laugh. "Gee, thanks." I shoved my almost empty glass away from me. The effect was wearing off already. "Now you know my story.. Or the main parts of it. Want to see Knightly?"

He nodded stiffly. "Yes, I should talk to her."

I got up from my chair and went to pay the bartender. On the way towards Knightly's place I told Rook a bit more about himself and Knightly, how she didn't like dogs and how she loved the smell of newly baked bread more than any perfume. It felt weird to be the one telling Rook about all that. He should know it already.

"Wait here with the dogs. I'll come out and get you when.. If she wants to speak with you."

"Sure." He looked nervous, afraid even, so I squeezed his shoulder and smiled for a second before turning a corner and knocking on the door.

She smiled when she opened the door. "Thorn, back already?"

I tried to force myself to smile, but found that I couldn't. I just hoped that the chock wouldn't affect the baby. "I need to talk to you." She looked slightly confused, but let me in. "You might want to sit down for this."

The confused look turned into a worried one. "Has something happened?"

"Nothing bad has happened, it's just very.. Surprising." I more or less led her over to an armchair, and then I sat down on the footstool. "I didn't tell you this, and neither did Rook 'cause we knew you'd get angry." The mere mention of his name seemed to pain her, but she hid it well. "He drew the child." She frowned, but I didn't want her to interrupt so I quickly continued. "The child, you and himself in the same picture."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"'Cause the picture is going to become reality. You know how his pictures works."

"Thorn, he's dead! It can't happen anymore." I saw the tears in her eyes, barely contained.

"His powers brought him back to life. I met him today. He's alive. Rook is alive." She just looked at me like I had gone insane. "At first I thought I was dreaming or hallucinating, but I wasn't. He's really back. He even has a scar on his head."

"It's not.."

"I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't sure of it." So far she was taking it rather well, if she even believed me, that was.. Or she might just be frozen from the chock. "He doesn't remember anything." She stayed silent. Yeah, definitely chock. "I've told him about you, the child, his history and myself, but he didn't remember a single thing himself." I waited for a bit, hoping that she would say something. When she didn't I gently took one of her hands. "Knightly?"

"Where is he?"

"Outside. I can bring him in if you want to, or we can do it some other time. It's up to you."

She just stared at me, with a kind of desperation in her eyes that I didn't know how to deal with. I couldn't do anything about it until she told me what she wanted to do.

"I want to see him," she said at last. Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Okay. I'll go out and get him."


Haigha March (The March Hare) - Walking around the city
"Don't you call me that. Don't you ever f*cking call me that again! I'm done talking to you. I'm sick of talking to you. I'm sick of f*cking seeing you. Get away from me!"

I didn't understand. Why was she acting like this? I knew I should've saved her, I should've fought harder to protects her, should've fought better, but I had never expected her to act like this. She had yelled at me plenty of times before but the way she was looking at me now.. It was like she hated me. "I'm not leaving you."

"Like h*ll you're not. You're leaving. Immediately. This is your eviction notice. Get the f*ck away from me, and my Head Quarters, and my men. You're not welcome here."

She couldn't mean that, she just couldn't. No, she was just upset. If I could just calm her down everything would be fine. She'd forgive me for being weak. She knew I loved her, and she couldn't have simply forgotten about it. Did she really find me so pathetic she couldn't even stand to see me? "Mani..."

The blow to my face came completely unexpected, and I staggered back as pain once again shot through my head. I touched my cheek and then stared unbelieving at the blood on my fingers. She actually hates me enough to hit me.

As I looked up she pulled the ring of and tossed it at me. This can't be happening. It just can't. "And take your f*cking ring too. The wedding's off." If she hated me then why had she looked so happy when I proposed. What had they done to her in that dungeon?

I showed her the note again. "I'm not leaving you." Even if she didn't like me.. Hated me, even. I'd still serve her, because I had sworn to do so. I'd go back to being just a soldier. Maybe she'd change her mind. She had to change her mind.

"You are." Her voice had suddenly turned cold. "You swore your fealty and unquestioning obedience to me. I order you, as your Queen and commanding officer, to get the f*ck away from me. Never come back."

My heart dropped. She knew exactly how seriously I took orders, and that I never would disobey her, which meant that she really wanted the get rid of me. Before I had time to write anything she stormed of, and I was left staring as she disappeared behind a corner. I just stood there for a long time, not knowing what to do. In a second all my plans for the future had been burned away.

I bent down and carefully picked up the engagement ring from the floor. You have to leave, a voice in my head said. You're disobeying a direct order.

Slowly my feet began moving, and I had no clue where I was going, nor did I care. It didn't matter. I was no longer allowed to stay where I truly wanted to be.

***

I looked up, as my feet stopped moving again. Where was I? The extravagant buildings and swept streets told me everything I needed to know. Rich district, and the blackened foundation in front of me could only be one thing. My old house. The one that I had accidentally burned to the ground, and my parents with it.

I had always wanted to rebuild it, which was why I had stubbornly refused to sell the plot of land. This was the place I had wanted to grow old in, together with Yamani. Of course, that could never have happened even if.. Even if she didn't hate me.

After a while I realized that the people were staring at me. Right, I didn't bring my cloak, and I had blood on my face. I should move before the guards came. Did it matter? No, no I really didn't care if the tossed me in the dungeon. After failing Yamani like that I deserved it. It wasn't like I could tell them anything without killing them or myself. Maybe that was what I should do. Go over to the castle and scream until my throat felt raw, or I died. Most likely the latter. That way I'd at least help Yamani get to the throne, and get myself out of her life at the same time.

As I started walking towards the castle I realized that Lordshire might not be the biggest threat. Miranda was here, wasn't she? If she ever caught Yamani she wouldn't just let her go. Yes, I would deal with her instead.

I turned around and made my way towards the harbor.

Adrian Eratrine

Adrian was getting edgy and wondering about this Wonderland city, if he would meet a Lordshire, whatever that was, and become a personal assassin to him like the man Nylan, a good assassin that one. But he soon became tired of this wondering and took a side track off to the left. He’d left his companions back at Canker hill, sitting in boredom as they awaited the arrival of the man from the castle that Nylan had told them would soon arrive, and gone on a walk through this dark, and dismal forest.

Suddenly, out of the mist of ash loomed a figure, chewing on something. Adrian whipped out a knife and spun behind a tree, the man hadn’t even noticed him. He sighed, replaced the knife, loaded his bow and stepped back out into the trail in front of the man.

The man froze, a sandwich half way to his mouth, and stared at the gleaming broad head before him.” Who are you?!” Adrian demanded.

“Uhhh. . . . duh. . . “The man began.

Adrian brought the arrow head a few inches higher, seriously hoping all the people of this land didn’t talk like this.” WHO ARE YOU?!” He demanded again, more forcefully.

“Uh, I am a Hearts soldier,” The man stammered,” Who are you?”

“Who has a bow pointed at the other person’s chest here?” Adrian asked, annoyed. What was he going to do to this man? Wait for the castle man to arrive and give him to him? He was an enemy soldier. Maybe he should just string him up by his heels here and leave him.

“Um, you’re on the thrones side? “The other man guessed, thinking that Adrian would tell him if he guessed correctly. He squinted up at Adrian, his little blue eyes scrunching up, the sandwich in his hand forgotten.

Adrian looked at him carefully, and said “What does it matter? You won’t be caring for too long” He lowered his bow and then whipping out his larger knife, he stepped forward, but the other man stepped back lightening quickly and pulled out his own sword, and there weapons clashed together with a loud ring. The man was fast. They quickly spun about, trading blows, neither able to land anything.

Finally the man caught Adrian’s bracer with a glancing blow and slammed his long knife from his fingers.” Ha!” He cried in triumph. But Adrian simply whipped out his second knife and slammed the man in the wrist. The blade did not pierce his chain mail armor, but it did knock his sword to the ground.

They stood, facing one-another for a few moments, both equally armed, with similar
knives.

Suddenly the man leaped forward, but Adrian was ready for him, and catching his wrist slammed him onto his back, and then pressed his knife against his throat. He was about the give the killing move, when the man twisted and knocked Adrian’s knife to the side. They stood, facing each other, unarmed.

“Um” The man stared at Adrian, his brown hair still in the dead forest.” You, uh, probably, uh, already know it, but you’re pretty good with your, um – knife. I’d be willing to be you’re not a Throne?”

“Not, yet” Adrian replied, scowling, but feeling a twinge of greed stir in his heart.

“Want a, um, better job than anything that stinking Lordshire can give you?” His words where just what Adrian had been hoping for and he straightened.

“How much will you give me?” he asked.

“That will be determined by how good at your job, you are. Whatever that is” The soldier said “100 silver per month that is my max”

“Give me 40 Silver a kill, and I can assure you the loyalty of one of the finest Thurial Assassins.” Adrian bargained; he didn’t care what side he was on. Just as long as he got paid! That was the Assassin way.

The man looked thoughtful for a moment.” Agreed” He decided firmly” Now! You must swear loyalty to the cause of the Hearts! Repeat after me – I hereby swear my un-dying loyalty to the Queen of Hearts for as long as I do live!”

Adrian smiled thinly.” Oh, it’ll only be un-dying as long I get paid. But by that requirement only will I swear.”

The man nodded his acceptance.

“Then I hereby swear my un-dying loyalty to the Queen of Hearts and her cause.” Adrian said firmly, the thought of 40 pieces of silver, glittering in his mind.

“And I: Lord General Aradrak Kule, accept!” The man replied.” Seeing as I recruited you, I’ll be making sure you’re paid, and you’ll be my man.”

Adrian nodded.” Yes, sire.”

Kule grinned.” This way!” He turned and paced off into the forest, closely followed by Adrian.

Jubiah

Walking into the Tavern- which I still managed to frequent regularly even with my demanding job and all of the craziness surrounding it- I immeadiately saw the familiar face of none other than Luna Wenchester sitting on a barstool talking to a couple of patrons. They were Throne soldiers, by looking at thier uniforms having a fairly low rank, possibly foot soldiers.

"Hey Jubiah." Luna greeted me. As if struck by lightning, the two soldiers clumsily turned around, stood ridgidly at attention and saluted. God, I hated this. I didn't know how Lordshire could deal with it. I could barely stand the salutes and bowing the soldiers gave me.

"At ease." I sighed, knowing that they would be unrelenting unless I said those two magic words. "Hey Luna."

"Hey, I need to talk to you. It's important. And.... private." I said, looking warily at the two soldiers.

"Okay..." Luna said, motioning to the farthest and darkest corner of the bar.

Crossing the Tavern floor, Luna and I sat down on two ratty armchairs, huddled close so that the Throne soldiers- who were obviously straining to hear us- couldn't hear us or read lips.

"So what's so important?"

"First of all, I won't turn you in."

Luna raised an eyebrow as she looked at me, her expression doubtful. "And what, exactly, wouldn't you turn me in for?"

"Look, I know you're working with the Whites. I want to help. I know it sounds insane, but things are getting worse and worse with Lordshire on the throne. It was no better with Yamini. I think Miranda might be different. I can help. Lordshire trusts me more than anyone else. I can be a valuable asset with that. I want what's best for the people of Wonderland. Lordshire isn't it. But to help I'm going to know where the Whites' HQ is. Lordshire told me to infiltrate it. But I want to help. I can mislead Lordshire as to where it is- he knows more than you think- but only if he thinks I'm on his side, and only if I know where not to say the HQ is."

Throughout all of this, Luna was completely silent. Minutes streched on agonizingly slowly, filled with silence in the noisy, cluttered bar.

Slowly, Luna said, "Ok. I can get the message to the Whites."

And with that she left, leaving the Tavern the doors swinging shut behind her.

~Luna~

After meeting with Rex, I head back to the Tavern. Both Lini and Gideon are gone i;m guessing. The thought of Lini still crying over what I said had me feeling the need to numb my senses. I sat down at the bar and motioned at Jack.

"What'll ya have tonight, Luna?" he leaned against the bar.

"Make it a bourbon," I sigh. "A double."

"You got it."

Just as he turned to the shelf of never ending liquor, the door chimed. The two soldiers i'd noted hadn't turned around, so they didn't know it was Jubiah.

I smiled as he took the seat beside me. "Hey Jubiah."

As if struck by lightning, the two soldiers clumsily turned around, stood ridgidly at attention and saluted.

"At ease." I sighed, before looking at me. "Hey Luna."

I nodded at him as I sat my drink was set down in front of me. I took a generous swig before he spoke again. "Hey, I need to talk to you. It's important. And.... private."

His wary gaze slid to the two soldiers. Hm. "Ok...."

We moved to the farthest corner of the bar and sat in two worn out and disgusting chairs.

"So," I turn to him. "what's so important?"

"First of all, I won't turn you in." he began.

I raised and eyebrow, my doubt clearly showing through. "And what, exactly, wouldn't you turn me in for?"

"Look," he began. "I know you're working with the Whites. I want to help. I know it sounds insane, but things are getting worse and worse with Lordshire on the throne. It was no better with Yamini. I think Miranda might be different. I can help. Lordshire trusts me more than anyone else. I can be a valuable asset with that. I want what's best for the people of Wonderland. Lordshire isn't it. But to help I'm going to know where the Whites' HQ is. Lordshire told me to infiltrate it. But I want to help. I can mislead Lordshire as to where it is- he knows more than you think- but only if he thinks I'm on his side, and only if I know where not to say the HQ is."

I sat there in silence, looking at him. He talked so fast, I almost couldn't keep up. Almost. How in the hell did he even find out about me working with them? Hm. My reply was, "Ok. I can get the message to the Whites."

Without another word, I stood and turned to leave the Tavern.

**************************

I diddled around for a few hours, killing a bit of time before heading back to White's HQ, for third time to talk to Miranda. As I came into sight, two of her guards approached me. "What business do you have here, woman?"

"Tell the Queen she has a visitor."

***************************

"This had better fucking be important." she growled as she came into the throne room."I was in the middle of something."

I took one look at her still tussled hair and couldn't fight the way my lips twitched as a smile tried to break it's way through. "Don't you mean the other way around?"

Her face flushed a bright red color, and i'm surprised she didn't say, "Off with her head!!", but maybe she was learning to control herself.

She took a deep calming breath. "What was so important you had to drag me from my sleep?"

"Somehow, someone found out you hired me to kill Lordie," I answer. "and wants to help."

She was silent for a moment. "What did you say?"

"All I said was that I would get you the message." I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "So do you want to meet?"

"I'll think on it and get back to you." she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have-"

"Have to get right back into something?" I couldn't fight the smirk that spread across me face. "Or wouldn't that be vice versa?"

"Guards!" she snapped. "Get that b*tch out of here now!!"

I was gone before they stepped through the door.