Young Writers Society

Lord Lordshire (Knave of Hearts) - King of Wonderland



"You might wish to check if anyone entered the castle uninvited," she said.

Dump the news of my child on me, then tell me to leave, and I thought I was the cruel one.

I rubbed my forehead, "We're going to talk about this later."

"I'll tell the guards to be on high alert." She told me, leaving the room.

"Don't try to avoid it! And don't forget!" I yelled after her.

She was already gone, along with my... child. The heir to the throne. My heir to the throne. I smirked at the thought of a mini-me running around the castle, the thought of someone calling me 'father'. Of the course, the thought of having a daughter as psychotic as Reggy frightened me a bit, but I supposed I'd learn to live with it.

No, stop being happy. You are mad at Reggy- Regina, and you will stay that way.

* * *

"Alright, fine, I'll take th' letter t' th' King." I heard the forced accent from below me.

There was a boy sleeping against my wall and another one staring down at a folded piece of paper. He looked around a bit and his eyes seemed to find their way to me, "What letter do you have for me?"

He seemed nervous, "Uh, yessir, I do."

He didn't really answer my question, but he made his way up the stairs, seemingly regretting each step. He hung head down the whole time, even while he handed me the letter. I eyed the boy cautiously before I took it, I felt like I'd seen him before. If only I could get a good look at his face.

Unfolding the letter, I felt my stomach flip, the words Bloody Red Queen Lives in large print at the top. The rest was detailed military files and accounts on various incidents and sightings of her.

"'cuse me, sir." Came the young boys voice, footsteps following after.

I realized too late. I glanced around but she was long gone by now.

I'm just on a roll today, aren't I?

* * *

I stepped into my room and sat on the bed.

And I'd put a garden in their room, they'll be flowers from all over the world...

Is this what having a baby was doing to me?

And I must remember to get a pool installed somewhere...

I better not be getting my hopes up for nothing.

There was a tap on the door and it creaked open, Regina walking in after it, "Lordie?"

I stood up and faced the wall, "Don't Lordie me. I just want to know what's going on."

She raised an eyebrow, "What's that in your hand?"

"My cane?"

She folded her arms across her chest.

I looked down to see I was still holding the letter. Hm.

"This... this is nothing, just a-"

"Lord."

I turned to face her, "Fine. We'll both talk. You tell me about the thing growing in your belly, and I'll tell you about this letter."

~Rook

I tried my best not to notice Haigha's glances at my drawing. Most people did that - I could understand it was automatically, but it still tended to annoy me a bit. I could stand people looking at my drawings and commenting later, I even liked that, but looking over my shoulder.. that was distracting. I was however, drawing him, so I said nothing.

The princess seemed a bit less thin than she was in reality, but I was satisfied with the way her face turned out. Haigha's, on the other hand.. I didn't like drawing him while he was standing right next to him. I glanced at him for a moment, scanning him quickly, and then did the rest of it. I was almost surprised to see it turning out the way it did - they looked like they were talking, so I payed more attention to it and made sure it's obvious. If I learned anything about my drawings, it was that I needed to make them detailed enough if I wanted them to work. I drew a few trees around them, wondering if I should add myself. Drawing just the two of them was like making a promise that would never fulfill.

Haigha took out his notebook as I started drawing another figure. Strangely enough, I never needed to draw myself in details - knowing it was me was enough. I looked at his words as he put the notebook under my nose.

"Why are you drawing that?"

I looked up at him, finding him frowning. I shrugged.
"Why not?"

Because, he wrote, it can never happen.

This time, I was the one frowning. He must have known of what I do - he was Yamani's most trusted, she wouldn't let me in until knowing everything and discussing it with him. Following that logic, it was something else - I didn't know much about his history. Despite of being pretty confident about m way with words, I wasn't quite fond of the idea of asking him personally or Yamani to tell me about his past. It somewhat surprised me to find very few people in their group knowing barely a bit about what happened before they all got together. A soldier in the castle, in their service for a long time, been through a lot of things and never makes a sound - that was about it.
From what I picked from their one-way fights, he and Yamani loved each other, and he really cared for her. I bit my lip, wondering if that was the problem. People never liked getting their hopes up and then seeing them crushed again. I added a bit more hair to my own drawn head.

"That's me," I pointed. "If I put myself in the picture, than it will happen."

He shook his head.
"It's not possible."

"Everything is possible," I said, smiling. "Have some confidence in my powers."

"Just stop it."

I sighed, wondering if I'll eventually get some part of my body broken for my optimistic efforts.
"It will happen. Sooner or later, but it will - just trust me, will you?"

"How?"

"How to trust me?" I grinned at the way he looked at me. "Alright, I'm serious. I don't know how. You'll learn to control it, for the time of that conversation at least."

No, he wrote again, it's not possible.

I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. He was the most stubborn person I've ever talked to. I smiled for myself - talking perhaps wasn't the way to describe it. I felt strange to use my voice and not hear anything in return. I couldn't stop wondering what'd it be like to keep silent, completely silent, all the time. It sounded terribly lonely.

"So you think," I said. "People say one can't cheat death - yet we both have, haven't we?" I waited for reply, but his pen didn't move. I took out the page of my notebook and handed it to him. "Keep it. You'll see, you will talk to her once."

He scowled - as in, seriously madly this time. I wasn't particularly easy to scare, but theoretically he could've sighed and killed me with it, so I didn't feel like saying anything more. He took the paper from me, and wrote in his notebook again, making a hole in the paper as he put the dot. Then he handed it to me, and turned away, letting me know more than clearly that conversation is over. Shaking my head, I looked down as his words.

"If that ever happened," it said, referring to the drawing I did, "we'd both be dead afterwards, so don't. I don't care what kind of powers you have, you still don't know what happens after the picture."

I opened my mouth again - because it was in my nature to make people share my optimistic views, since I failed to understand why anyone would wish to sulk into dark thoughts while everything around was dark enough itself - but Haigha just turned back to me, took back his notebook and crossed his arms, his face telling me to keep silent if I want to stay optimistic.
***


~Regina


"We're going to talk about this later."

He sounded cold and distant, and nothing was playing out the way I wanted it to. I looked at him, for a moment seeing his memories of the past day - it would be so easy to just let it slip away..

"I'll tell the guards to be on high alert," I said, turning my back at him. Leaving, I could hear him yelling after me, but I couldn't pay attention. What the hell, Regina? My conscience ran wild. What are you doing? What are you thinking?
I thought of it, yes - both about him and about others - and I have erased memories of many before, but I never actually almost did it. Was that the baby's fault? Or was I turning into someone who really doesn't care about anyone, the way I'm making myself seem to others?
*

I slammed the door of my room behind me, not even giving the guards the chance to check if everything was alright. I made a circle around my room, feeling like a bird as my drew twirled around me.
What kind of conversation was that? Why did you even tell him that that way - why did you tell him that at all? How can you be such an idiot, Regina, have you learned nothing?
I stood before the mirror and slammed it with my fist - it broke a tiny bit, leaving thin and annoyingly painful cut on my hand. I stared blankly at the blood. To think it'd be so dark, so in contrast with my skin colour...
I looked up to meet my own eyes, finding them blurred with tears.

What the hell. I didn't do crying - I never cried, not for something like a little fight. We've had our fights before, far more before we managed to handle each other's temper, and this time we didn't even yell at each other. Yet still, I felt worse now than after any fights before.

Go to him, I said to myself, wiping my hand. I hugged myself, but this time the baby didn't move under my touch. I shook my head, gave myself the most confident look I managed, and walked out again.


I found him sitting on his bed, but he got up the moment I opened the door.
"Lordie?"

"Don't Lordie me," he said angrily. "I just want to know what's going on."

How hard is it to understand, do I need to draw it for you? I looked down not to get tempted to use my abilities again. He clutched his hand around a piece of paper, seemingly not even aware of it.
"What's that in your hand?" I asked. He moved the other hand a little.

"My cane?"

I crossed my arms at my chest, staring at the paper. After a second, his eyes followed mine, and he looked a bit surprised to see it there.

"This..." He muttered, buying himself time. let the topic change, Regina, just let the topic change... "this is nothing, just a-"

"Lord."

He turned back to me, still acting equally distant - I wondered if he had any idea of my feelings, or if he even cared.
"Fine," he said, in his kingly voice which was usually never directed at me. "We'll both talk. You tell me about the thing growing in your belly, and I'll tell you about this letter."

I took a deep breath to manage to keep my voice low and my words somewhat calm.
"It's.. not.. a thing."

"Whatever," he replied. "Who else knows?"

"My doctor." The tone of my voice surprised even myself - I usually sounded so cold only when addressing prisoners in the dungeons. "I told no one else. What is the letter about?"

"Yamani is alive. How many weeks?"

"A bit over seven months," I hissed. He was speechless for a moment.

"Seven- seven months?" his eyes flew over me. "I'd never tell."

"I noticed," I muttered through my teeth. For a person who dealt with words all the time, he sometimes knew exactly how to tell all the wrong things. "You would if you cared to pay attention."

"Unlike you, I have a kingdom to-"

"Is Yamani in the castle?"

"Is the kid mine?"

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION EVEN IS THAT?"

He actually backed away a little, maybe because I glared into his eyes and looked like I was about to break something.
"Even if Yamani was in the castle, she isn't anymore. She'd know by now that I know of her."

"Good." I was shaking, and all the anger from a moment ago just seemed to have evaporated. "Now, your highness, excuse me as I go kill someone."

He did nothing, and I turned around - next moment, my vision blurred and sharp pain pierced through my stomach, and I would've fallen if he hadn't caught me.
No, I couldn't stop thinking. It had no reason to hurt now, I was sure of it. Everything was supposed to be great, they told me there was nothing to worry about. I looked up to meet Lordie's eyes, and he seemed somewhat worried now as well.
Up until our hands touched, I haven't noticed how cold he was.

"Reggy, you're burning up."

Oh. Or that.
"I'm fine," I said, my thoughts running wild. They told my mother everything was fine too, didn't they? There was nothing wrong, not in the beginning - was it possible that the occasional fights between my parents lead to my baby brother's death? I'd have never forgiven myself if something happened to this baby. I rested my head on his shoulder, not quite caring if he's still mad at me or not. "I don't want to fight."

I let him lead me to the bed and make me sit down - then I just kept staring at nothing.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" He asked, and I shrugged.

Because I didn't know how you'd react. Because I didn't want to get the hopes up. Because if I got killed and you never found out, it would be easier than if you knew. I said none of it.
"You never told me the queens were alive," I said. "Call it even."
***

Miranda Lutwidge (The White Queen) - The Whites' HQ
"Your sister was in the castle."

I blinked. No, wait. She couldn't be. Why would that wrench be here at the same time as me? Well, the reason was obvious, but why couldn't fate or whatever give me a break. Dealing with Lordshire was dangerous enough, and having her here.. It wouldn't make things any less so. "What? Yamani?" I managed to say, even though I knew it was a stupid question.

"How many sisters do you have?"

"How do you know? Did her and Lordshire-"

"She was in disguise, and really good one. She bumped into me in the kitchens." Thank God she didn't know who Brae was. I couldn't imagine him getting away unharmed if she had.

"What else do you know? Tell me everything, now."

"She's planning, just like us. She wants to stop waiting and get herself to the throne, and is in love with her most trusted man. Reminds you of someone?"

I frowned. I was nothing like my sister, and if I hadn't loved Brae I would proably have shot him for making that comparison. "Shut up. What else?"

"She got a message from Spider king - Erillian, do you know him? And she doesn't know who I am."

This was getting worse by the second. Erillian was supposed to be on my side, but it seemed he was betraying me, just like so many others. One might think I should've gotten used to it by now, but it still hurt. I hadn't even realized that he had gained some of my trust. "Why didn't you do something?"

"Like what? They'd know it was me if I killed her. I'd get in their dungeons and you'd never see me again." I swallowed. Never see him again. He and our kids, those were the only ones who I couldn't stand to lose. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest. "Maybe she takes care of Lordshire for us - let it be for a while, we shouldn't rush it now."

"Even if she does take care of Lordshire, we'll still have to deal with her afterwards.. But yeah, I guess you're right. We'll just watch for a bit." I let go of him again and backed of so that I could see his face. "Speaking of watching.."

"You're not going to spy on Yamani, it's too dangerous."

I frowned. I wasn't sure if his powers really included mind-reading, but it sure seemed like that. "I'm not staying here any longer. I'll go insane if I have to keep waiting for you to come back from all kinds of missions. I'll wear a cloak, and I'll keep a low profile."

"A low profile, you?" He snickered, and I just barely managed to resist the urge to punch him in the face.

"Then come with me."

"It thought you were waiting for that assassin."

"She's smart enough to find me. I'm going. I want to know what they're up to."

"It would be much simpler for me to just.."

"No," I cut him of. "I'm going."



Haigha March (The March Hare) - Outside Lordie's Joint
"If that ever happened, we'd both be dead afterwards, so don't. I don't care what kind of powers you have, you still don't know what happens after the picture." I took my notepad back and shoved it into my pocket. If his pictures really became reality, then this one was a curse.

"Come on!" The sudden slap on my back sent me flying, almost stumbling over my own feet as I landed. It only took my brain a moment to realize it was Yamani, but my heart still pounded like it wanted to escape from my chest. I glanced at Rook's pale face and assumed that I probably looked the same. A deep breath, then I looked up at Yamani, searching her face for any bruises, but not being able to find any. I could barely believe that I had let myself be distracted to the point where I had forgot to check the back exit. I wanted to ask her what she had been up to, but before I could take my notepad again she was walking away. "Not now. Let's go. I just want to go home."

I followed her, a step behind as usual. In one pocket I had the engagement ring in its box, and in the other I had the drawing that Rook had made. I wanted nothing more than to talk to Yamani, but I couldn't. If all Rook's drawing really became reality, then I would probably hurt Yamani, just like I had hurt myself and killed my parents by talking. No, I should stop dreaming about it. It could never be. I blinked and realized that I had crumbled the drawing. Should probably burn it as well, in case it was a curse or something like that. Well, curse was the wrong word, but it had to be some kind of magic.

In silence, silence as in no questioning looks or notes, I followed Yamani back through the poor district and towards the caves. She had run into some trouble after she left the tavern, I was sure of it. If she hadn't then she wouldn't be so eager to go back.

"Fine, now you can ask," she said as she closed the door to her room. I merely raised a quizzical eyebrow. I wasn't really sure I wanted to know. "I got a job in the kitchens.. Of the castle."

For a moment I just stared. Then I started flailing my arms around in what I hoped would express my anger. Well, it felt more like I was having a heart attack than feeling angry. My frustration only grew when I realized she was trying to fight back an amused smile. I tore my notepad out, dropping my pen and watched it roll over to her feet.

She picked it up and gave it back to me. "You're angry, I get it."

I shook my head. "Not angry."

She sighed. "Then what?"

"I'm scared." She made some witty remark that I didn't bother listening to, instead I kept writing. "What if you had been caught? Do you think Lordshire is kinder to his prisoners than you were?" I knew very well how she and Minerva had tortured the prisoners in their youth, and I didn't like thinking about it, but the thought of Yamani being the one who's being tortured.. That was worse than anything I could imagine.

"I'm not stupid, and I can take care of myself. I even talked to Lordshire and he still didn't recognize me." She quickly closed her mouth, like she realized that she had said the complete opposite of what I wanted to hear.

I shook my head and sat down on the bed. My thoughts were being invaded of images of Yamani being tortured, so many images that they made me dizzy. I had never believed that a human could actually be able to worry sick, but now I was sure that Yamani was going to be the death of me.

"You're pale." Now she both sounded and looked worried.

"No s***?" I wrote slowly.

"Okay, I admit it, it was stupid, but at least I found out a few things." I raised and eyebrow. "Lordshire knows I'm here, and that was definitely one of Miranda's soldiers that stabbed me."

That would've made me laugh like a hyena, if I had been a normal person, but instead I rubbed my temples for a while, before writing: "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes, 'cause at least we know that she's here now."

"Please, don't get yourself killed." I looked at her with a pleading expression as I got up again. "I've survived many things, death included, but that's something that even I couldn't cope with." I smiled slightly. "And I don't care how f****** cheesy that sounds."

That earned me a slight laugh. I finally calmed down a bit when I wrapped my arms around her and drew her close to me. "I'm not going to die. At least not anytime soon.. And I'll be more careful, if that makes you feel better." I buried my face in her hair and squeezed tighter. "I love you." I squeezed her even tighter. "And now you're crushing me."

I let her go and smiled apologetically. I still had the little box in my pocket, but this wasn't exactly that perfect moment I had been waiting for, on the other hand I would probably never get that moment no matter how long I waited for it, with Yamani being who she was.

"Don't laugh." She frowned as I showed her the note. She didn't understand, but as I got down on one knee her eyes widened, and they widened even more when I pulled the box out and opened it so she could see the ring. My heart was beating hard. Despite all the time I had spent trying to learn her every expression, I still couldn't read this one.

Yamani (Queen of Hearts)

Haigha was being far too complacent to suit me. No questioning looks, no notes, nothing-- just quietly following me. And I couldn't stand it. I nearly slammed the door of my room. "Fine, now you can ask."

I turned around to find him with a lifted eyebrow. "I got a job in the kitchens.. Of the castle."

He stared at me for a long moment, his eyes bulging slightly, then started flailing his arms around, glaring. His silent explosions amused me. I knew they shouldn't. I knew it had to be awful to not be able to cuss me out-- I'd cuss me out--but he just looked so cute. I had to bite back a smile.

He stopped suddenly, glaring at me sharply, when he realized what my look meant. He jerked his notepad out, his pen flying across the room, landing by my feet. I bent and picked it up, handing it to him."You're angry, I get it."

I moved across the room and grabbed a damp cloth, wiping my face and neck off.

He shook his head. "Not angry."

I sighed, pulling a comb through my hair. "Then what?"

"I'm scared."

"Yeah, well, I'm not-- guess there's a reason I went."

"What if you had been caught? Do you think Lordshire is kinder to his prisoners than you were?"

I hesitated. I was scared when I saw Lordshire. I'd thought exactly the same thing. But I'd never admit it. "I'm not stupid, and I can take care of myself. I even talked to Lordshire and he still didn't recognize me."

I cut myself off quickly, slamming my hand over my mouth. He weakly sat down on the edge of the bed, looking sick. I sat down beside him, rubbing his arm. "You're pale."

"No s***?"

"Okay, I admit it, it was stupid, but at least I found out a few things." I said gently, crawling behind him and rubbing his shoulders. He lifted an eyebrow. "Lordshire knows I'm here, and that was definitely one of Miranda's soldiers that stabbed me."

He turned his head slightly and looked at me. His eyes were filled with that bewildered humor that I got so often. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes, 'cause at least we know that she's here now."

"Please, don't get yourself killed." He looked at me pleadingly and stood up, turning towards me."I've survived many things, death included, but that's something that even I couldn't cope with." He smiled. "And I don't care how f****** cheesy that sounds."

I laughed gently and crawled to the edge of the bed, standing up. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I closed my eyes. "I'm not going to die. At least not any time soon...and I'll be more careful, if that makes you feel better."

He buried his face in my hair and squeezed me tighter, sending a shiver down me. "I love you." He tightened his grip again. "And now you're crushing me."

He let me go and smiled apologetically. "Don't laugh."

I frowned at him. At what?

He knelt down, and I looked at him, my heart racing. He pulled out a small box, and opened it, candlelight glinting off of a shiny ring. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach; I couldn't breathe.

I'd been before Lordshire not an hour before-- ran into several people who had every right in the world to kill me-- and I hadn't been this scared. I didn't know what to say. What to do. So I gaped.

I looked into his eyes. They were full of emotion. I felt like I was looking straight into his heart. Oh my god... The realization of what he'd put before me-- trusted me with-- scared me further. I didn't trust myself with my own heart-- that's why I hid it. From everyone. Including myself. What have you done?

"Haigha..." I breathed, staring at him, shaking my head. "You don't want to do this."

He looked hurt. I backed up, still staring at him. "You...you deserve so much better than me. I'm a bad person."

Haigha stood up, his eyes fixed on mine, and he held my forearms gently, looking down into my eyes. He didn't agree. "You don't even know..." I looked down.

He gently put his fingers under my chin and pulled my head up, to look at him. He trusted me. He wanted me. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, slowly, never taking his eyes from mine. I felt my eyes welling up, and threw my arms around him. "I love you."

He hugged me a long moment, tightly. The tighter he held me, the more I tightened my grasp, until I couldn't breathe and I didn't think he could either. Finally he turned me loose and gently set his hands on my shoulders, pushing me down on the bed.

I sat down, and watched as he carefully took the ring out of the box. I held my breath as he slid it on my finger, and then lifted my hand to my face. It was perfect-- white gold, a princess cut diamond-- beautiful, but not too flashy. Exactly like I wanted.

He stayed bent. I looked back into his face and grinned. He grinned too, and slowly straightened.

"Come here." I grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him onto the bed. I kissed him, shrugging my cloak off.
~~~

I smiled sleepily as I was gently roused to a massage. I sighed and rolled over, pushing myself up onto my elbow. "Morning, babe."

He kissed me gently.

I grinned again. "How are you this morning?"

He nodded, and handed me glass of orange juice.

"Thanks..."

He nodded, gesturing at me.

"I'm wonderful." I sighed, stretching, pushing myself up into a sitting position.

He smiled.

"How'd I do? Am I getting better at this?"

He blushed and nodded.

I grinned. "You are too...though you're not much for pillow talk." I winked.

He grinned sheepishly.

"Ah well. I can live with that." I said playfully, setting the juice down on the bedside table and putting my hand on his bare chest, kissing him again. He wrapped his arms around me and...there was a knock at the door.

I stopped, sighing, and laid my head on his chest, whispering. "Maybe, if we're really quiet, they'll go away."

"Miss Yamani!"

"Really quiet..."

"It's really important, miss Yamani!" A recruit shouted. "We need you."

I sighed loudly and rolled out of bed. "Someone had better be bleeding."

"He is!"

I glanced at Haigha, my eyes wide, and quickly jerked my clothes on. Haigha had his pants on by the time I dressed, so I jerked the door open, fastening my belt. "Where?"

The recruit glanced at Haigha, jerking his shirt on, her eyes judging, then back at me. "Up at the training grounds. I'll show you."

Haigha and I hurried up to the training grounds, and dispersed the crowd. The boy had an artery cut-- it was beyond our skill. We pinched the vein and hurried him to the Dormouse. The boy, screaming like a stuck hog, insisted on holding my hand the entire afternoon as the Dormouse tried to patch him up.
~~

"Well, that was a bunch of shit." I muttered, down at the creek, as Haigha and I were washing the blood from ourselves. "Way to kill a moment. Stab the lad-- where did that jacka** even get a real sword in the first place? Who's is it? I'll run it up it's owner's a**. B*****ds."

I felt Haigha's hand on my shoulder, and looked up at him. He was calm, amused by my anger, as always. I scowled down at the water. "B*****ds." I muttered again.

"It's okay."

"No it's not." I growled, standing and taking the towel he offered me.

"There's always tonight."

"Yeah-- shit, no...I forgot. Erallian."

He gave me an inquisitive look.

"I dunno, that guy who calls himself the spider king, or some s***. He wants to meet with me tonight, by that massive statue of Tyrant Lord."

Haigha narrowed his eyes.

"I know, I don't like it either. But I don't think he's dangerous. You and I should be able to handle him fine."

Haigha hesitated, glaring.

"I can't not go, or he'll think I'm scared. The last thing I need is someone else wanting my-- our-- throne."

Haigha looked a bit surprised. I was a bit surprised with myself. But that is what it is.It's ours.

"With any luck, it won't take too long. I believe we had some unfinished business-- and I really don't want to wait 'til tomorrow night."

"There's always now."

I grinned and grabbed his shirt, pulling him close to me. "Agreed."

Erillian Blackguard. Spider King.

The days passed quickly. He hadn't had much trouble in the city thus far, but he had gotten a lot of weird looks from the guards. He didn't much care for hiding. He had seen some really f****ed up things, though. The guards were just taking random people to the side of the road and beating them up.

Whilst he walked, he noticed a guard take a little girl to the side. Not anyone Erillian knew, but he knew what the guard planned. He took the girl into a little building, and there was a brief shriek. It was cut off, probably by a piece of cloth. Erillian couldn't take it. He went into the building. He didn't even look to see what was happening. He already knew. The guard was up in an instant, sword drawn. The girl was on the ground, clothes torn from having been half forced off of her back.

"Hey, you..." he began to say, but Erillian didn't play games. His machete was buried in his head before he could finish. He sealed the corpse with his royal seal, a spider perched upon an eye, and put it in the corner. The little girl had long since run from the place. Other than that, it was abandoned. So he took a look around. Turned out this guy must have used this place a lot. There was dried blood on the floor. Sick f***. As for the seal... Let them try and arrest him. He'd take them all to hell with him. He noticed The spider in the corner.

"Dinner," he called in a cold, daunting sing song voice. The corpse was covered with spiders before he left, a chorus of cheery "Thanks Boss!" following him out the door.

~~~

The night had come for him to meet the Yamani by the statue too slowly. He was there waiting for an hour. Then again he was an hour early, probably from having nothing to do all that day. The sun came up. He wandered around. Killed another guard. The usual. They hadn't picked him up yet. Doubtful they even discovered the bodies yet. The first one was probably a skeleton by now. Still, he had sat for an hour, doing nothing but waiting. But that wasn't why he was annoyed.

"You brought a friend." he called to her as she approached. He didn't feel like hiding. No reason too.

"You didn't say I had to come alone." She replied. Touche.

"You two had a nice night last night," he said. "You'll end up just like Regina in no time at all."

"Oh?" she asked, keeping her cool excellently. "How do you mean?"

"Pregnant." he said, grinning triumphantly. Her reaction was as expected. She hadn't seen that coming. After a moment she recomposed herself.

"Tell your little freaks to advert their eyes when they're behind closed doors."

"I could do that, yeah. But that would defeat the purpose. Point is, Regina's pregnant, and she wants you and your sister dead. Whether or not the kid is Lordshires, it'll take the throne when it comes of age. And it'll follow Lordshires legacy."

"Oh." she said. She was used to witty retorts, no doubt. "Well you get right to the point... What of it?"

"That puts you in a bit of a spot." Erillian reminded her. But she knew that. "Now, I hate the thrones. Hate 'em. And I kinda don't like giving them what they want. Problem with that is, they're probably looking for me, too." he said. Haigha was still silent, eyeing the spiders everywhere.

"Yeah?" she asked. "Their after everyone who doesn't fall on their face and worship them. Question is, who's side are you on?"

"Nobodies, really. I killed two guards in two days. If I were on somebodies side, they'd kick me off right away. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend. You would do well to remember that. Besides, you hate him too. For that I would keep you alive. We have a common enemy here. I think an alliance is in order. Don't you?" he said. The spiders clicked their pincers dauntingly. Nice touch, guys, he thought, as Haigha and Yamani flinched.

"I'm listening..." she said, still looking around at all of the spiders. They surrounded them at this point.

"I can promise you information. More information than you could ever hope to get using people." he said, saying the last word as though he were referring to something highly outmoded.

"Well," she said. "I've got manpower. Do you have a plan? Or a strategy of some sort?"

"Nope." he said proudly. "Just get me close enough for long enough to blow his head off. That's my plan. I'll get out of your way after that."

"F*** no." she said. I like her. "That bastard is mine." Very good.

"Rock paper scissors?" he said, grinning.

"I like the way you think." She said, almost grinning. "But no. I think it's rather obvious that I have the most right to kill the bastard. He is wallowing all over my throne, after all."

At this, Erillian was a little annoyed, but he masked it well. He didn't care about her right to kill him. As far as he cared, who ever caught the f***er first could kill him. Instead of saying this, however, he said "Fine. As long as he dies. I wanna be there for it, though. And," he added "if your friend gets any ideas, he should speak up." he said. I wanna know why he can't talk.

"That's agreeable to me." she said. "And Haigha's not much on words. Besides, we've got similar ideas anyway."

"Whatever you say." Erillian replied.

"Good." she said abruptly. Maybe the spiders got to her. "Meet here the same night after this statue explodes? Same time?" she said.

"I'll check my calender. Just don't have too much fun without me. I'll know about it if you do. No matter what." he said, grinning. He would, too.

"Likewise. I don't need bugs to get information." she said. That's because you don't have bugs as an option, he thought to himself amusedly. She looked at Haigha, and nodded. "I've got other matters to attend to. Goodnight, Lord Erillian."

"We'll see." Erillian replied.

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

Even. That sounded good.

"I thought I was done dealing with them all those years ago," I whispered, "I guess I should've been more careful."

She sighed, "You shouldn't blame yourself. You had Wonderland to take care of then."

I smirked while she was still looking away. No matter what I did, I could never get her to stay mad at me.

"So what are we going to do now?" She asked.

"You are going to get some rest. We can make plans or something in the morning." I said, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Oooh no," She got up after me, "I'm not going to sit around and let you do something stupid."

I sighed, "Reggy..."

She folded her arms.

That's twice today. As annoying as it was, it always amused me how I could never win with her.

"Fine," I put my hands, "We'll both get some sleep. I'll send for a military council in the morning."

She looked at me a bit cautiously and said, "Promise?"

I put my hand on my chest, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

* * *

I waited until I was sure that she was fast asleep before I left. It was still very early in the morning, but I was sure Mercury wouldn't mind. I found him waiting in the throne room with a cloak on. Normally a night guard would investigate immediately, but his appearance kept even them away.

"Long time no see, Ruiz." I held my hand out for him.

"Too long, sir." He bowed, ignoring my hand.

I smiled at his loyalty. He was one of my personal soldiers, one who would give life for the throne. He almost reminded me of... Haigha.

I quickly got serious, "Did you hear the news?"

"Sir?"

"The old Red Queen is still alive, and that means there's a strong chance the White Queen is as well."

He remained silent.

"As we have no information the White Queen, I'll keep your search strictly towards the other one," I handed him the files I had gotten earlier, "She's been sighted in the Northern Woods quite often, so you can start your search there. However, I have a... hunch, that she's in the city, so don't be too close minded. But remember, make sure citizens don't see you."

"I understand sir, I'll begin immedi-"

"And here's something that's not in the files," I whispered, "She might have a soldier with her, kind of like her bodyguard. I'd assume they're quite close after all these years, so that should narrow down your list of suspects."

"Got it."

"When you're done reading those papers, put them with the classified files. Keep them in lock for ten, no, fifteen years."

"Will do, sir." And with that he was off.

I made my way back to the room, wondering if Reggy had woken up, and if she'd get mad. I wouldn't be surprised if she finally decided to use those powers of hers on me. Maybe I'd finally have a chance to practice mine.

And we absolutely must get the child their own zoo, it's jus- Stop it.

* * *

I woke up to Reggy rocking my shoulder, "You up?"

"I am now." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Some soldier's here to see you."

I sat up, yawned, and stretched.

"How kingly of you." Reggy teased.

"Good morning to you too," I put my blazer on and grabbed my cane, "Meet us in the conference room when you're finished getting dolled up."

"What, you're not having breakfast?"

"You're the once eating for two now." I smiled at her and left the room.

* * *

We sat side by side on the circular table, surrounded by six of my top war advisers.

"We're always going to be divided on something like this, my King. Us three want a quick ending to the situation, send out our troops for a full scale invasion of the forest. Kill anyone not loyal to the throne, it's simple and effective." The first one said.

"Effective? No. Dangerous? Yes. We don't know what we're facing, we might as well be sending out troops into the pitch black without weapons. What we need to do is prepare the city, go on the defensive, not offensive. On account of their increased activity, we can only assume that things will be coming to a head soon, and it's better to be safe than sorry." The second argued.

"They'd take that as a sign of weakness. We have the element of surprise, and we should damn well use it. They won't see us coming. If we can catch them off guard, we'd get this over with before we have a war on hands." The third joined in.

"We're running through a maze that way. We don't know where the enemy is, let alone the force of them. All we know is that they're led by the Red Queen, and everyone know what a terrible leader she was." The fourth stated.

"At least we can agree on something. That should just be more of a reason to attack them head on. With her, everyone's probably disorganized. It'll be easy to swoop in and take them out while they're in confused." The sixth noted.

"No, it's best to send our troops to the borders, atleast until we can come up with a better plan. No one gets in, no one gets out. We'll be ready for anything serious that way." The fifth chipped in.

They all turned to me simultaneously. We'd been through this many times. Each would speak their mind and I'd make the final decision. It was a foolproof method of military democracy.

I sat there stroking my beard, "All of you're plans seem quite... noisy. We have to be quiet about this, can't have the public getting exited over nothing can we? All we need to do is take the head of their operations out and everything will fall apart. What do you think, Reggy?"

"Well, is there anyone close to her with her? Family? Friends?" She asked.

"From what I remember, she was with this man, Haigha, quite often. He was a quiet chap, but blinded by his love of course. He fought for the attention of the Red Queen, and as a result he would take a blade for her, Lord knows he already has. No pun intended."

"How romantic." Reggy smiled.

I looked at her, "There's no place for love in war, my dear. But not to worry, I've already arranged for the Queen to be taken care of. All we need to figure out is where her troops are, if she has any, and how to take them out."

Reggy was suddenly alert, "Don't kill her. Send her to the dungeons for me, maybe I could talk to her for a bit."

I thought about it for a bit. Maybe I could brag about how great life's been treating me.

"Fine, I'll give you a few days with her. But I'll be the first to talk to her."

"I suppose that could work."

I nodded to her and turned to the council, "In that case. We'll be dismissed until further notice."

Jerano the Jester

Jerano bent over the wood bar and slurped out of his mug of slops, enjoying every last sting of the alcohol on his taste buds. He also detected some sweat and garlic in the fluids. Quite good if you asked him, and it was made better by the fact that it was free.

Mercy, the large daytime bartender of Lordie's Joint, pushed Jerano's head back from the table, causing him to spill the drink all over himself while she wiped a dirty cloth across the mahogeny bar face.

He heard snickers from behind him.

"Oh yes, slapstick!" he said loudly and annoyed in his booming, baritone voice. "The most intelligent of The Comedies."

"Shut up, fool!" a random patron yelled. Turning to make a witty comeback, Jerano quickly rounded out a double-take, noticing that it was a large, beefy guard.

"Man, Mercy. Things are rough in the Wonderland lately," he muttered, stirring his drink with his index finger. "Specially for us thespians."

"You mean Fools?"

"Let's not worry about specifics or semantics here, Mercy. Can I get another fill-up here, I might need to entertain someone. Can't do that sober, can I?"

She chortled and filled him up another glass of disgusting bar-grease beer. "Well you can bounce sober, can't you?" At this, Jerano winced.

"Oh for my sake I hope I don't have to bounce today..."

"Well," she said, "I don't see King Lordie himself coming in here today. Rumor has it that-"

And at this, the door swung open and in walked none other than Lord Lordie McLordshire Jr. Esq. the Third and Company of Lordlike-Emotions. If it wre anything more than the Tenth day of Christmas, ten lords may have leaped in, but sadly, it was nowhere near that time, and the only entrance that was made in those few seconds was the King of Wonderland.

"Madrigold!" yelled the King. "I need a Lordie Express!"

The large woman disregarded Lordshire's mistake of her name and merely concocted a Lordie Express, which consists of a raw egg, three scoops of Jub-Jub cream, and two shots of whiskey. The kind ignored the many patrons of the bar who stood and bowed as he waltzed into his own establishment and took a seat next to Jerano at the bar.

He took a long swig from his mug, then looked to the side at Jerano, who politely bowed, a sickly Jester smile on his face.

"Ah, fool!" The king looked a little sad. "I am a little sad. There are very important political things that Cow didn't have time to read all about but has gathered that some evil Queen is alive that you are not important enough to know about, and I am need of some entertinment. Tell me some jokes, knave!"

Jerano gulped. "Okay. So Sherlock Holmes and Watson decided to go camp out to stake out a possible murderer. They lie, facing the sky after several hours, and Holmes says to his assistant, 'Watson, my dear boy, when you look up, what do you observe.' Watson, always looking to impress Holmes with his own deductive skills, replies, 'Well, I see the stars in the sky, and the moon, and it gets me thinking of how vast and expansive and infinite that the universe is. And it makes me realize how all us humans are so insignificant and small, and how, in this infinite expanse, there must be other sentient life out there, because the odds are just too small that we are the only ones like this.' Sherlock stares at him and yells, 'Watson, you idiot, our tent's been stolen!'" I stopped and smiled. The room was silent. "Heh? Heh?"

In the back corner, a wiry old man drunkenly cracked up.

"See, he's got it, he's got it." I gestured to the man. I looked at the king and the rest of the patrons, who just stared at me inquisitively. "You don't like it, sir?"

"Who's Sherlock Holmes?" said the King.

"Tell the one about the Jabberwocky!" someone yelled form the bar, and he was met with some approval and cheering, and Lordshire nodded.

"Oh great, not the Jabberwocky joke again," I muttered. "Okay, so a Slithy Toves goes up to a Tulgey Wood and slikes, 'May the goop of the thimbles, have a frumious nose?' And the Vorpal blade barb's"- I paused for comedic effect- "'I don't borogrove no momes for a Jabberwocky!" I hung my head in shame.

The bar erupted in laughter. Amidst the shrieks of joy from the king and the bar patrons, my yell of "It's not even funny! It's just nonsense words!" was drowned out.

"Now THAT'S funny," said Lorshire. "Now bounce for me!"

"Oh, please, Lord, don't make me-"

"I said bounce, fool!"

So, reluctantly, I pulled the top of my Jester's hat, and yanked it back down, sending myself belly first into the floor. Immediately, I bounced up so fast that I almost left my eyeballs on the ground, and slmamed into the ceiling. I then bounced back to the floor, and the process continued for about a minute, drawing raucous laughter from everyone in the bar. When I came out of the ordeal, I was shiverring, and bruised and Cow cannot spell and everyone was still laughing. I bit back manly tears and sat back down.

"Ah, fool, you never cease to make my day brighter." The king finished off his drink and left as quickly as he had entered.

When he was gone, everyone went back to what they were doing before the king arrived- drinking. I picked up my slops again and chugged it, knowing that I would need it.

"Mercy, will you marry me?"

"I thought you would never ask, Jerry," she said, yanking on my hat and pouring me another beer.

"Oh, good," I said stupidly and put my head down on the counter,.

~Regina

Yamani Marble, Red Queen. Actual Queen, or at least more so than myself. I remembered her as little girl with dark hair and proud grin, looking down at me and my mother though we were both older and taller than her then. The last time I was in the castle, back in the times they were still on the throne, I almost got killed. The princesses' parents insulted mine, and I talked back - and never bowed to them again. It was somewhat of a miracle to walk out of it the way I did.

Glancing at Lordie, who listened to his generals with a somewhat annoyed expression in his eyes, I wondered if the Red Queen remembers me. She wasn't all that little last time I saw her, but I wasn't more than just one of the girls from the poor district, and I doubted she and her sister ever payed attention. I've changed, especially seeing the way I acted and looked like now, and I was pretty sure too many things have happened in her life to remember me anyway.

Did Lordie know? That was a strange, not quite welcomed thought. My eyes narrowed at him. He was in the castle at the time, wasn't he? I payed no attention back then, nor did I know enough of the court life to know anything, but theoretically, he could've been there. I frowned a little, recalling how he found me in the Tavern.

"What do you think, Reggy?"

I almost jumped a little. Lost in thoughts, I didn't quite follow the conversation. The generals and their plans seemed too hostile, too obvious. Yamani might have been way different than myself, but she was young and she was a woman, and they were focusing on her army instead of focusing on her personality.

"Well, is there anyone close to her with her?" I asked. "Family? Friends?"

"From what I remember, she was with this man, Haigha, quite often. He was a quiet chap, but blinded by his love of course. He fought for the attention of the Red Queen, and as a result he would take a blade for her, Lord knows he already has. No pun intended."

"How romantic," I muttered. And there's your answer, gentlemen.

"There's no place for love in war, my dear," Lordie said. I didn't reply, but he was wrong - there was place for love. It was inevitable. Just like we've fallen in love - despite of not even quite confessing it - so did the Red Queen, and I had a feeling same might apply for her sister as well. To choose love over war, no..but to use love for the purposes of war, for that there was always place.
"But not to worry," my husband continued, "I've already arranged for the Queen to be taken care of. All we need to figure out is where her troops are, if she has any, and how to take them out."

What, take them out?
"Don't kill her," I said quickly, ignoring the strange looks I got from around the table. "Send her to the dungeons for me, maybe I could talk to her for a bit."

Lordie looked at me, considering my words, and nodded a little in the end.

"Fine," he said, "I'll give you a few days with her. But I'll be the first to talk to her."

Good enough.
"I suppose that could work."
*

I stayed for a while after they all left, and eventually got back to Lordie's room, to find it empty. Somewhat disappointed - I counted on talking without yelling about the rather close future, but also of plans for later - I more fell than lied down on the bed, diagonally, staring at the ceiling. There was a mirror up there, and I seemed like a doll to myself.
Get dolled up. Exactly that.

Turning my head, I found a spider on one of the pillows. I frowned, and reached to it, putting my hand so it can climb it.
"I won't hurt you, " I muttered, wondering what Lordie would say about me talking with spiders. He didn't like them in the castle - which was more than understandable, seeing that he's heard of Spider King as well - but I didn't have the heart to kill them. I grinned a little. I'd do nothing to a spider, yet I've done so much to so many people down in my dungeons. I watched as the spider ran around my hand, wondering if it's thinking of anything and if it likes me for not being mean to it.
"What thoughts of past do to me," I muttered, staring at the spider. I knew he could hear me - I knew exactly how fast Erillian will know of every word I said, and everything I've done while saying them. I sighed, recalling the fight Lordie and I had. Spider King must have heard of that by now. I wondered if he's spread the news, and if they reached the runaway princesses.
"Your master and I share a past, you know," I said to the spider, silently, knowing no one could hear me but it. "I wasn't a queen back then, though - I wasn't anything." And I was different. I hated the royalty. I despised everything related to the throne, and he agreed with me. I sighed, putting the spider back on the pillow. "Go. Report if you must or whatever, but I don't want to see you in our bed again."
*

I left the room, realizing I'm somewhat hungry, but turned in the opposite direction of the dining hall - towards the dungeons, where I had more important business than talking or eating to do. "You're the one eating for two now." I smiled a little, shaking my head. He did care - and I couldn't stay angry for a long time even if I wanted to.

"My Queen," the dungeon master bowed, seeming surprised. A young apprentice stood by his side, with a knife in his hand and a bit green in the face. The man chained to the table between them breathed shallow and heavy breaths.

"Take the smaller knife," I said, gesturing to the apprentice. "You want to cut, not chop him into pieces."

The apprentice put the knife down, but looked back at me.
"We need information," he said.

I smiled, perhaps surprising him - he seemed younger than me, barely in his twenties, but his hand wasn't shaking and I took it as a good sign.
"Chopping people into pieces won't give you information," I said. "It will give you a lot of useless pieces and a lot of mess to clean. Let me explain something to you. You take the smaller knife, and do cuts. When they start begging you to chop them into pieces, you offer them to tell you information instead."

I looked down at the prisoner, smiling for myself. I could imagine the princess on that table, with tears in those proud eyes of hers.

Looking forward to meet you, Yamani Marble, and welcome you to my castle. Soon enough, Red Queen will indeed be a suitable name for you.
***



~Brae

"I'm going."

Just like that, with no further discussion. I was still frowning, holding Miranda's hand so she wouldn't run off before hearing what I had to say.

"She will meet with Erillian tomorrow. We go then, and don't you even think of leaving the HQ without me."

She frowned, and I let her hand go - but not before I picked up she's really mad.
"Are you ordering me?"

I locked my eyes on hers.
"Yes, I am."

"You might want to reconsider that," she hissed.

You're not alone anymore," I replied, forcing myself to keep my voice calm. "You don't get to make decisions like that on your own. If you want that throne, you have to learn to act according to that title you want so much."

"I don't want the title," she sounded furious, and I cursed myself for even starting it. But her recklessness and constant need for control, and not looking at the bigger picture..it was frightening. Painful and scary and annoying and I felt like burning on the inside whenever she'd even talk of putting herself in danger. "It's rightfully mine. I deserve it."

"Not right now."

"Go to hell." She turned to leave, but I caught her, pulling her closer and holding her hands behind her back. She maybe was the queen, and she was the one commanding our little army, but I was still stronger. She tried to get out of my hold, and I finally pushed her down to the bed, holding her hands above her head and making her calm down. "Let go of me!"

"Shut up and listen." She blinked at me - I never treated her like my superior, but I never talked to her this way either. I sighed a little. "I love you. Can't you understand that? I need you, our kids need you, so stop being an idiot and making us worried."

"Brae-"

"You want Wonderland, I know. You deserve Wonderland." I leaned my forehead on hers and close my eyes. "Fine. We'll get you Wonderland. I'll get you the whole damn world, but I can't do that if you keep making reckless decisions and forcing me to watch over every step you make."

I shut up and let her go, sitting to the bed next to her and putting the hat aside. The feelings rushed in automatically - everything I was touching, the bed and the sheets and the floor and the clothes, everything sent me memories and thoughts, but I shut them down. I still had the piece of fabric in the medallion, and it was enough to keep me able to control it.
Miranda was silent for a few long minutes, finally sitting up and hugging me from behind. I closed my eyes on her touch.

"We'll get us Wonderland," she whispered then. I shook my head.

"With what price, Miranda?"
*

"I hate it."

We stood in the square, in our cloaks and keeping in shadows, glaring up to Lordshire's monument. Miranda barely took her eyes off him, frowning all the time, but I was too worried to stop looking around. When I was alone, it was different, I knew I could talk my way out of any situation - and even if not, well, it was just me.. The thought of both of us getting caught, of Miranda dying or of both of us dying and leaving Lewis and Alice alone, made me feel dizzy. I didn't take my hand off her as we awaited.

"There," I muttered then, and she looked down. Two figures appeared, seemingly out of thin air, and the third approached them. I blinked with surprise - the third person was standing there for an hour already. Spider King indeed wasn't bad at keeping low profile.
Miranda shifted at the sight of her sister and her silent companion, but said nothing.

"You two had a nice night last night," Spider said. "You'll end up just like Regina in no time at all."

I looked at Miranda as I picked up a weird feeling. Regina Lordshire, I thought to myself. We knew practically nothing of her - except for the fact he found himself a nice match.

"How do you mean?" Yamani asked, and I almost smirked. If one didn't know them, they almost even sounded alike. I wondered if Yamani ever confesses it - Miranda knew it, but didn't want to admit it even to herself.

"Pregnant," Spider announced, and Miranda and I glared at each other. A kid. A heir.

"Maybe it's not his," Miranda muttered.

"It's still next in line," I replied. "Do you know what it makes Lewis and Alice?"

She gave me a worried look and nodded.
"Competition."

"Tell your little freaks to advert their eyes when they're behind closed doors," Yamani cut. Still feeling a bit sick, I turned my attention back to them. I wanted to get back to the HQ - I didn't like the feeling I suddenly couldn't fight off.

"I could do that, yeah. But that would defeat the purpose. Point is, Regina's pregnant, and she wants you and your sister dead. Whether or not the kid is Lordshire's, it'll take the throne when it comes of age. And it'll follow Lordshires legacy."

Well, no surprise, we got that part as well. I knew how Miranda feels about it - I knew she'd kill the queen if she managed to come close enough, with or without the kid in the way. My head started hurting. She didn't even know... Each of the queens will soon enough have at least one child to worry about. I didn't want to kill children - I didn't even think I could do it. But making it last another generation..?

"That puts you in a bit of a spot." Spider said to Yamani. "Now, I hate the thrones. Hate 'em. And I kinda don't like giving them what they want. Problem with that is, they're probably looking for me, too."

"Yeah?" Yamani asked. "Their after everyone who doesn't fall on their face and worship them. Question is, who's side are you on?"

God, she sounds like Miranda.

"Nobodies, really. I killed two guards in two days. If I were on somebodies side, they'd kick me off right away. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend. You would do well to remember that. Besides, you hate him too. For that I would keep you alive. We have a common enemy here. I think an alliance is in order. Don't you?" he said.

I frowned as spiders crawled out of everywhere, surrounding Yamani and her friend. Spider king, right. I didn't particularly like spiders. But his words were indeed interesting. I knew Miranda felt differently - betrayed and angry at herself for even trusting him for a moment..but he was right, we did all share an enemy. If he wasn't going to align with the Thrones, perhaps we should get him alight with us.. Miranda would never accept a deal in which his loyalty wouldn't be only to her - and probably her sister wouldn't either - but on the other hand.. Lordshire and his wife had armies, and we had small groups of men and no walls to protect us. I pulled her closer, as we pretended to read something for a poster on a wall, listening as Spider King promised Yamani information from his spiders.

Spiders, I thought to myself. There were spiders everywhere. I knew we could never get rid of all of them, no matter how hard we tried - which meant he had to know about us as well. About Lewis and Alice.. If you tell her about us, I'll force you to make those spiders of yours eat you alive.

The King and the Queen - neither of which had business to call themselves so in Wonderland - argued about killing Lordshire for a while, and I couldn't help but grin a little. Have we opened the season, then?

"Meet here the same night after this statue explodes?" Yamani asked. "Same time?"

Statue will explode? Miranda felt something in between of amusement and sadness she's not going to be the one to blow it up.

We stayed in shadows for a while after they separated. What now? I wanted to follow them, to know where the HQ was, but Spider was right there, and we needed him before it was too late. I cursed something silently, hating myself for even thinking of separating.

"You should talk to Erillian," I said, and Miranda opened her mouth to protest. "Don't argue with me. If you go after them, could you promise not to try anything?" She said nothing. "Exactly. You're the Queen, love. We need him. Talk to him, and I'll follow them, alright?"
***

Yamani (Queen of Hearts)

Haigha and I walked around the bend and hesitated, squinting in the dark, at the statue. Someone was already leaning against us, early.

"We're not late, are we?" I asked.

Haigha looked at a watch, then shook his head, and showed me the clock. We were early too. I carefully scanned the area, but I only saw one other person-- presumably Erillian.

"See anyone?"

Again, Haigha shook his head.

I took a deep breath, a bit nervous that this was really a trap of Lordshire's, but nodded. "Then let's go."

Side by side, Haigha's rough palm scratching my hand, we confidently strode toward the statue. I glanced down and saw a half-eaten skeleton covered in spiders. Gross.

"You brought a friend."

I turned a cold gaze on the man.

"You didn't say I had to come alone."

The man seemed a bit amused. He stood, straightening his shoulders as we stopped a few yards in front of him.

"You two had a nice night last night," he said. "You'll end up just like Regina in no time at all."

"Oh?" I asked, dropping Haigha's hand. "How do you mean?"

"Pregnant." he said, grinning triumphantly.

I felt my eyes go wide. Pregnant? Me. Oh h*ll no. Huh ugh...wait, Lordshire's having a kid? Great. That's just what I need. I quickly narrowed my eyes, recovering my composure. "Tell your little freaks to advert their eyes when they're behind closed doors."

"I could do that, yeah. But that would defeat the purpose. Point is, Regina's pregnant, and she wants you and your sister dead. Whether or not the kid is Lordshire's, it'll take the throne when it comes of age. And it'll follow Lordshire's legacy."

"Oh." I answered simply. Obviously. "Well you get right to the point... What of it?"

"That puts you in a bit of a spot." Erillian said. "Now, I hate the thrones. Hate 'em. And I kinda don't like giving them what they want. Problem with that is, they're probably looking for me, too."

"Yeah?" I asked carelessly. "Their after everyone who doesn't fall on their face and worship them. Question is, whose side are you on?"

"Nobody's, really. I killed two guards in two days. If I were on somebody's side, they'd kick me off right away. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend. You would do well to remember that. Besides, you hate him too. For that I would keep you alive. We have a common enemy here. I think an alliance is in order. Don't you?"

I cringed as the spiders that had quickly flooded around us clicked their pincers. Mess with me and I'll massacre you all on the sole of my boots.

"I'm listening..." I eyed the spiders, an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"I can promise you information. More information than you could ever hope to get using people."

I glanced at Haigha. He didn't trust Erillian. I didn't either-- but Erillian would be a useful ally, for now-- and his army could easily be exterminated once I was through with him.

"Well," I said cautiously. "I've got manpower. Do you have a plan? Or a strategy of some sort?"

"Nope." he said proudly. "Just get me close enough for long enough to blow his head off. That's my plan. I'll get out of your way after that."

"F*** no." I snapped my eyes back up at him. "That bastard is mine."

"Rock paper scissors?" he said, grinning.

"I like the way you think." I answered, a smirk playing at my lips. "But no. I think it's rather obvious that I have the most right to kill the bastard. He is wallowing all over my throne, after all."

"Fine. As long as he dies. I wanna be there for it, though. And," he added "if your friend gets any ideas, he should speak up."

"That's agreeable to me." I answered. The more witnesses the better I'll like it."And Haigha's not much on words. Besides, we've got similar ideas anyway."

"Whatever you say." Erillian replied.

I hesitated a second. Well...that's everything, isn't it?

"Good." I glanced up at the statue standing cockily behind him. I'll enjoy watching that crumble. "Meet here the same night after this statue explodes? Same time?"

"I'll check my calender. Just don't have too much fun without me. I'll know about it if you do. No matter what." He grinned.

"Likewise. I don't need bugs to get information." I answered. I looked at Haigha. I wanted to get back to the caves. I nodded. "I've got other matters to attend to. Goodnight, Lord Erillian."

"We'll see." Erillian replied.

I turned and started for the road, but the spiders didn't move. I sighed loudly. "If you would call your... 'army', off..."

Erillian chuckled and murmured something. The spiders parted, giving us a narrow path to get through; lined with spiders making clicking noises on either side. I looked up at Haigha.

I do have one fear...and that fear is spiders. Now's a wonderful f*cking time to realize that, Yamani. Dammit. I hate being a girl.

Haigha met my gaze and nodded once. I swallowed, and nodded once. I can do it. There's nothing to spiders. They're bugs. Like ladybugs. They turn to powder beneath your heel. An army indeed. I squared my shoulders and strode down the aisle they made like the Queen I was-- brave and unwavering, never even glancing at them a second time.

The moment I was sure we were out of earshot I dropped my act. I shuddered, brushing invisible creepy-crawlies off myself, and shook my fists; a mini temper tantrum. "I hate spiders! Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em!"

I glanced up at Haigha and found him smirking.

"Oh, shut up." I snapped, feeling my own anger melting. A moment later and I felt like smirking myself. I looked away quickly, clinging to the last shreds of my anger. "F*ck spiders."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned into Haigha. I grinned. "Fine. I guess they're not that bad."

Haigha stroked my cheek.

I wrapped my arm around his chest, under his arm. He pulled me closer to him. I laid my head on his shoulders as we walked towards the cave. I felt myself getting excited as we got towards the more familiar ground-- still untouched by Lordshire.

"I'm glad that didn't take long. I'm ready to get home." I looked up at Haigha, grinning wickedly. "You know what I'm going to do to you when we get there?"

He lifted an eyebrow.

I turned towards him, laying my hand on his chest, and softly detailed exactly what I had in mind, watching his grin grow with my every word. "How does that sound, babe?"

"Sounds like you plan on taking fornication to a new level."

I started at the voice, and snapped my head around to the bushes I thought I'd heard the voice come from, to the left. An archer, standing with his arrow trained on me. Before I had a chance to react, or even process what I'd seen, pushed me to the ground.

I rolled the instant I hit, grabbing a throwing blade from my boot, rolling to my knees-- I loosed the blade, felling the archer. I leapt to my feet and looked around. There was no one else. I glanced at Haigha as he was standing up, arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

Felt my stomach fall. "Idiot." I snapped, completely ashamed of myself. "That arrow was for me."

He half-smiled, making me even more ashamed of myself. I took a deep breath, putting my hand over my mouth as I looked at arrow sticking clear through his shoulder. I shook my head slowly. "I'm sorry. So sorry."

He stroked my cheek, looking into my eyes. He wasn't mad at me; but I was still mad at myself. I broke off the arrow, cringing when Haigha did. "You've got to stop doing this. You're going to get yourself killed." I chastised, jerking the arrow out. "And it's going to be your fault. No one hates you; but you're getting hurt because of me anyway."

He didn't agree.

I scowled at him, pressing a clean rag into his shoulder gently. He half-grinned again, stroking my cheek. I fought to maintain my glare. "I'm serious, you big dummy."

He just looked at me.

I snorted and looked around, moving towards the archer, taking my blade and cleaning it on his shirt. He'd already bled out. "Who sent him? Is this...Lordshire." I cursed. "It is. What the f*ck? B*st*rd."

I stood up, glaring, and wagged my blade at Haigha like I was wagging my finger. "I'm going to kill that a****** son of a b*tch."

"Let's go. We can't stay here-- there might be more."

"I know." I drew my sword.

Let me go first.

"Haigha, no." I said, my eyes snapping up to his face. He's got every intention of taking another arrow for me. "No."

Let me do this for you.

"No." I shook my head, brow creased. "Please."

Please. He looked into my eyes pleadingly.

I opened my mouth to argue, but I couldn't. He squeeze my hand, drawing his katana, and started walking again. I followed close behind him. I saw a flash of movement where the cliff to our right broke in a wash, and looked up, jumping back just in time to avoid a man as he jumped out of it.

"Haigha! Watch--"

Something hard hit me in the back of the head, and the ground rushed up to meet my face.
~~~

My head throbbed, blood viciously slamming into my temples. I scowled, never bothering to open my eyes, as I forced myself awake. I moved my head slightly and inhaled sharply as I pang shot clear through my head. Wherever I was smelled badly; like blood, fear, death. Like my dungeon.

What am I doing in my dungeon?I thought groggily. Why does my head hurt? Was I in a fight with one of my prisoners, when I was...

My memories hit me hard. The meeting, the archer, the man jumping from the bushes. My eyes snapped open. "Where's Haigha?"

"As touching as that is...I think I'd be more concerned about what was going to happen to myself, if I were you."

I tried to turn toward the voice, but found myself strapped flat on my back to one of those stone tables. I turned my head toward the voice, glaring. "Lordshire."

"Who else?" He asked, cockily striding into my view.

"B*st*rd." That's what that meeting was. Erillian is in league with Lordshire, and lured me out in the open. B*st*rd...b*st*rds.

"Tsk, tsk, as diplomatic as ever, I see."

"Enjoying my money, I see." I glared as he walked around the foot of my table. "Getting fat."

"So are you." He said, hesitating by my side, laying the tip of his staff on my stomach. "Or are you?"

I hesitated, glaring at him, thinking about what Erallian said. "What do you mean?" I thought I knew.

"Is that fat, or is there something else in there?" Lordshire tapped my stomach gently with his diamond likeness.

His gentle pat was far worse than any blow would've been. My heart raced in my chest has he fixed his cold gaze on me. "Go to hell."

Haigha March (The March Hare) - By Lordshire's monument
"You two had a nice night last night," the so called Spider King said. "You'll end up just like Regina in no time at all." I should've figured he had spiders everywhere, but I really couldn't have guessed that he would be such a pervert. I forced my face to stay somewhat indifferent, but I felt a strong urge to shoot him.

I kept listening, one hand at my gun at all times. I didn't like him, not one bit, but the information he provided was quite useful. The current queen, Regina Lordshire, was apparently pregnant. That was bad news for the Hearts. If Lordshire hadn't been keen on keeping the throne before, he certainly would be now.

"..the enemy of my enemy is my friend. You would do well to remember that. Besides, you hate him too. For that I would keep you alive. We have a common enemy here. I think an alliance is in order. Don't you?"

I watched Yamani's reaction as the spiders started crawling out from everywhere, I knew she din't exactly like spiders but she now she seemed almost.. Scared. I glared at the king, or whatever he was. Was he trying to make some kind of threat?

"I'm listening.."

"I can promise you information. More information than you could ever hope to get using people."

She glanced at me, but I couldn't really give her any consoling words nor advice that she didn't already know. I didn't trust him but he could be very useful, and very dangerous as well. We didn't know what his true plans were.

They argued for a bit about who was going to kill Lordshire. I had thought of killing him myself, if I got that chance, but I knew all to well how much Yamani wanted to do it, and I didn't want to take that away from her.

"..if your friend gets any ideas, he should speak up." I glared again. If he knew so much, then he probably knew that I didn't speak, if not why as well.

"That's agreeable to me. The more witnesses the better I'll like it. And Haigha's not much on words. Besides, we've got similar ideas anyway.

"Whatever you say."

"Good. Meet here the same night after this statue explodes? Same time?" I blinked. Wait, what? Hadn't there been enough failed attempts to blow up that tacky thing? Not that I didn't want it gone, I doubted there was anyone but Lordshire himself who actually liked that thing, but we should be focusing on the actual person and not the monument.

They said their goodbyes, and we both turned to leave, but the spiders blocked our way. Yamani sighed. "If you would call your.. 'army', off."

Erillian ordered his spiders to move, and so they did. I turned to look at Yamani, and she did indeed look afraid, which wasn't like her at all. I smiled encouragingly and nodded once, hoping that my calmness would transfer to her. She nodded once in response and took on a confident face, but the fear in her eyes didn't go away. I blinked when I saw her straighten up and walk through the spiders.. I couldn't remember seeing her acting so queenly in my whole life.

As soon as we were out of earshot she dropped the act and returned to the Yamani I knew. "I hate spiders! Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em!" It was quite entertaining really, how she could take all sorts of stupid risks and make me worry sick, but at the same time be afraid of bugs.

"Oh, shut up." I grinned. Did I ever do anything else? "F*ck spiders." I put a hand on her shoulder, and she grinned as well. "Fine. I guess they're not that bad."

I stroked her cheek. Afraid of spiders, huh? Guess there really was a girl underneath the though exterior. She wrapped an arm around me, I put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer and she leaned her head against my shoulder. We walked like that in silence for a while, until we got out of the city.

"I'm glad that didn't take long. I'm ready to get home." She looked up at me with a grin I knew all too well. "You know what I'm going to do to you when we get there?"

I raised an eyebrow, and prayed that the Spider King didn't have any of his little spies nearby. She turned towards me, put a hand on my chest and started telling me things that made me both grin and blush. I found it both amusing and annoying that between the two of us, I was the prude. "How does that sound, babe?" I leaned down to kiss her, when a sudden voice made us both jump.

"Sounds like you plan on taking fornication to a new level."

I spun around and didn't really have time to think. A man was aiming at her, so I instinctively tossed myself towards her, pushing her to the ground before the arrow reached her. I fell down beside her, but by the time I had gotten up again the archer was already dead, with one of Yamani's knives sticking out of his chest. I couldn't see anyone else among the trees, but it was dark and there was no way I could make sure.

Yamani looked at me, her face becoming a bit paler as she stared at my shoulder. I looked down as well. Right, that hurt a bit. "Idiot. That arrow was for me."

I smiled at her. As long as she was alright I was not going to complain. Besides, it wasn't bleeding much, which meant it hadn't hit any major arteries. "I'm sorry. So sorry." I cocked my head to the side. I wanted to tell her that she had nothing to be sorry for, but since I couldn't I stroked her cheek instead. Really now, what kind of fiancé would I be if I couldn't even take a couple of arrows for her.

She quickly broke the arrow off, looking almost more pained than I felt. "You've got to stop doing this. You're going to get yourself killed." I clenched my teeth as she pulled it out. I had been right, no major arteries had been hit. "And it's going to be your fault. No one hates you; but you're getting hurt because of me anyway."

I shook my head. None of this was her fault. Honestly, it wasn't anyone's fault. It was a war, simple and plain, and I would keep taking arrows for her until it was over.

She scowled, which made her look adorable, but then pressed a rag to my shoulder which made me clench my teeth again. "I'm serious, you big dummy."

Big dummy, huh? That was even more adorable.

"Who sent him? Is this...Lordshire." She cursed a few times, and I forced my thoughts to return to the situation at hand. We couldn't stay here, there could be more people hiding. It wasn't very likely that this guy would be working alone.

She wagged her knife at me and cursed some more. I would have to remind her about the language later, but right now it wasn't important.

I pulled my notebook out. "Let's go. We can't stay here, there might be more."

"I know." She drew her sword.

"Let me go first."

"Haigha, no," she said and stared me in the eyes. "No."

She didn't want me to get hurt, I understood that, but I couldn't let her get hurt either, and she was more important than I. "Let me do this for you."

"No." She shook her head and frowned. "Please."

"Please." I looked at her, begging her to let me do this for her.

She tried to argue but no sound came from her mouth, so I put the notepad back in my pocket and took her hand instead, drawing my katana with the other. We stated walking again. Me first and she slightly behind me.

I heard a sound, and then Yamani's voice. "Haigha! Watch--" It was too late. My heart dropped as I felt her body crumble. I turned just in time to catch her before she would've hit the ground. There was blood coming from the side of her head. More soldiers jumped out from the forest and the cliffs, surrounding us. I knew they were too many, but I had to get Yamani away from there, somehow.

"Give up, you have no chance."

I'd rather die, I thought as I hoisted Yamani up on my injured shoulder and twirled around, using my katana to force them to back away. I let out a wheezing breath as another arrow buried itself in my back. If it had been just me then I could've tried using my voice, but Yamani was here and that could kill her, so I had to come up with something else.

I fell to my knees as another arrow hit me in the leg. Before I knew it Yamani was torn from my hands. Panic. I hadn't felt that overwhelming fear in a very long time. Lordshire would torture and kill her. I couldn't let that happen, never.

I lunged towards the closest man I saw, and grinned as I heard a pained scream. I more or less threw myself over the man and out from the opening that he had made when he fell to the ground. In a second I was up again, supporting myself on my uninjured leg and pulling one of my guns with my free hand. Three men were carrying Yamani's lifeless body away, and I managed to hit one of them in the head even though the distance had grown quite a bit. I wanted to scream when I saw the remaining two men keep going, not even slowing down. I couldn't catch up with them, not with this leg.

I couldn't save her. The sudden realization made my legs give away. I couldn't save her, I had let her down, she would die. I barely felt the arrow that hit me in the chest, but welcomed the deep darkness that it brought with it.


Miranda Lutwidge (The White Queen) - By Lordshire's monument
"You should talk to Erillian." No way in h***! I was not going to sit here and talk to that traitor when I could stalk, possibly even kill my sister. I was about to give him a piece of my mind, but he cut me of. "Don't argue with me. If you go after them, could you promise not to try anything?" Wasn't doing something the whole point? "Exactly. You're the Queen, love. We need him. Talk to him, and I'll follow them, alright?"

"I don't need any d*** traitor," I hissed. "I'd rather send him to hell right now than sit and talk to that slimy b******!"

Brae sighed. "Don't kill Yamani, nor Haigha. Remember what I said about them taking care of Lordshire."

"I'll do what I bloody well please!" I said before hurrying after my wretched little sister. Brae probably realized that there was no point in reasoning with me, 'cause he didn't try to stop me. I loved him, but that didn't mean that I didn't want to stab him at times. God knows that I had good reason to, trying to order me around like that.

I kept muttering to myself, following the lovey-dovey couple out of the city. I should just shoot them in the back now when I had the chance.. Seemed like sister dear was going to get married, to judge from the shiny ring around her finger.

They stopped suddenly, and I dove in behind a tree. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but suddenly they both froze and turned to look at something in the forest. I watched as Haigha took an arrow for Yamani. Naaaw, how sweet. I was definitively going to chain her up and force her to watch as I gutted him. Yeah.. That would be fun. If they survived this little situation that they had gotten themselves into, that was. Right now it seemed like Lordshire was going to be the one to kill them, not scratch that, he would get to kill Yamani, Haigha was probably dead already. I suddenly got an bad feeling, and I didn't know why. Was it because I wouldn't get to kill her? No.. No, that wasn't it.

I frowned as the remaining soldiers that surrounded Haigha suddenly fell to the ground, as if someone had pressed the off button. Another man came running out from the forest, kneeling by Haigha's side. I tried to ignore the feeling in my gut, but it refused to go away. Before I knew it some more men had lifted him up and carried him away. Hearts, no doubt.

Their HQ had to be somewhere close. I was going to follow them, when a big hairy spider landed on my shoulder. Before thinking I brushed it of and stomped on it. "Keep your disgusting spiders of me, you b******!"

I looked up and saw a strange web between two branches that I hadn't seen before. I stared for a moment before twirling around and running as fast as I could back to the HQ. Dread, that had been the feeling. I had known something was wrong. Even though I probably ran faster than I ever had before it still felt like it took ages for me to get to the ship.

When I arrived I was met by a few dead Whites, but I couldn't see the kids nor Brae anywhere. I grabbed the shirt of one of the soldiers standing about and jerked him down to my level. "Where are they!?"

"B-B-Brae took care of the sold.." Brae was alright. At least that was a relief.

"The kids, you idiot!"

"Adonis is stiching.."

Oh, God. Stitches. They were hurt. I let go of the soldier and ran inside, just barely taking note of Luna hanging about. I ignored her and sprinted towards Adonis' room, slammed the door open. I was faced by a crying and screaming Alice with blood on her dress and a gash in her arm. Next to her was Lewis, comforting his sister but crying as well.

"Oh, my babies!" I dove towards them and hugged them hard, not caring if I got blood on me. "It's alright now, mommy's here. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." For a while I just held them, letting them cry and scream until they had calmed down a bit, then I gestured for Adonis to come help Alice while she was sitting in my lap.

When the door slammed open I instinctively drew my shotgun and aimed it at the door. "Oh, Brae," I said with a relived sigh and put the gun down.

Mercury Sevun Riuz

I grabbed my cloak, re-reading the letter once again. It was clear what Lordshire needed.

I silently snuck through the castle, finally reaching the throne room. It was guarded by a young man, barely out of his teens. He looked at me, sleep deeply rooted in his eyes. He must have been new, for most of the seasoned guards usually run from the sight of me. "You are relieved, soldier. Go and rest." He reeked of relief.

"Thank you--"

"Go, be gone." He nodded quickly, and the room was silent once again. I wrapped my thin blue cloak around me and stared out at the night sky. It's been a long time since the sky's stars had ever shown their true might on Wonderland City, because of the filth and pollution covering most of its streets. Tonight, it seemed a little better, although it would never be the same.

I heard the Lord's cane before he reached the throne room. I turned to meet his presence. "Long time no see, Riuz."
“Too long, sir.” I bowed, ignoring his hand. I don’t shake hands with anyone. Yamani’s father knew that. Too long, indeed.

“Did you hear the news?” He asked suddenly, as if his thoughts took a turn for the worse.

“Sir?” No one tells me much of anything, and I don’t care for politics.
“The old Red Queen is still alive, and that means that there’s a strong chance the White Queen is as well.” That is completely expected. I said nothing, though. Apparently he thought me to reply, but seeing as I didn’t, he continued. “As we have no information on the White Queen, I’ll keep your search strictly towards the other one,” he handed me a folder, no doubt holding the specifics of the Red Queen’s location. Unreliable as always, but it was better than nothing. “She’s been sighted in the Northern Woods quite often, so you can start your search there. However, I have a… hunch, that she’s in the city, so don’t be too close minded. But remember, make sure citizens don’t see you.”

“I understand sir, I’ll begin immedi--” he looked around, then moved closer.

“And here’s something that’s not in the files,” his voice got lower, and his cane took his weight as he moved even closer to me. “She might have a soldier with her, kind of like her bodyguard. I’d assume they’re quite close after all these years, so that should narrow down your list of suspects.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

“And when you’re done reading those papers, put them with the classified files. Keep them in lock for ten, no, fifteen years.”

“Will do, sir.” The discussion was over. I left to quickly skim the notes, leaving him alone in the throne room, to his thoughts.

~~~

I strode out to the barracks. Capturing a queen of Wonderland City, the heir to the throne, would not be easy. That would be certain death for any normal soldier. I am no normal soldier, though. My hand absentmindedly felt the scar on my side. It still hasn’t completely healed.

I knocked on the door, its sound echoing through the small building. The door opened not a moment after. “Sir.” Tyler was at the door, only in his undergarments. I could see the other four men getting on their clothing, all looking at me. “Get ready. We have a mission.”

~~~

“Three by the trees, three by ground.” I said silently, pulling out a throwing knife. “Tyler, D’moore, and I will be the sooner, scouting the area.” I looked at Maxis, Johne, and Carter. “You three will do the latter, trailing behind us. If I whistle once, that means there are more than four guards, twice, one or two guards, thrice, and she is alone."

"Do you know where she is?" Tyler asked, pulling out his bow and notching an arrow on it.

"I was informed of the general area from one of the royal spies. They're not as reliable of a source as they think they are, so we'll do a sweep." I felt the folder in my cloak pocket. "They could be anywhere in this forest, from the plains to the cliffs, and I don't want to be out here all night, so let's be quick and in depth about this." They all nodded, and we set off.

~~~

The trees were more dense here. After an hour of searching that plains to no avail, our search migrated to the cliffs.

I could not hear the ground team, but seeing as they're trained to not make noise, I wasn't worried.

Tyler was in the lead, D'Moore in the middle, and I occupied the rear. My mind was in complete observation mafe. Only a portion was focused on jumping from limb to limb, branch to branch, barely keeping ahold, but it was enough. Most of my mind's energy was focused on any human presence in the woods.

My thoughts were compltely shattered as I heard a crack that silenced all of the night's noise for a brief moment. I looked down, fearing the worst about the branch I was on. It was fine. Looking up, I see Tyler jumping down into the brush below. D'Moore.

I jumped down to a branch that allowed me to see all the way to the barren floor. D'Moore was delicately balanced between two large branches, his right leg in a bloddy mess. "Tyler, continue scouting, I'll take care of him." He nodded, and jumped away.

I worked quickly and quietly. He knew to say nothing, and I don't think he could even if he wanted to. His face was contorted in pain, and his breaths were shallow and uneven.

The pants were ripped at places, and I could see the bone on one area. Ït's infected." I muttered, and a moan escaped from him. Pulling out a couple of aloe leaves and ripping a piece of cloth from my cloak, I quickly made a makeshift tourniqet for him.

A piercing sound split through the woods, then another. So, they found the Red Queen and she had at most two people with her. "Can you walk?" I asked, studying his leg.

"No, but I'll be fine. Take this with you." He handed me a tomahawk. I gave him my cloak, and jumped out of sight.

~~~

I saw the other three below me as I came across Tyler releasing an arrow, probably to strike Yamani. A man, Haigha, I'm assuming, pushed her to the ground and took the arrow. That was Tyler's mistake.

I have heard that both of the Queens know how to fight, and Tyler coming in by himself was stupid, and deadly. I knew what was going to happen before it did, and there was no way I could have stopped it. Yamani threw a dagger at him, and it met its mark, killing him almost instantly, from what I could tell.

I waited for the right moment, silencing the others below me, and pounced on Yamani, knocking her out with the hilt of the tomahawk swiftly. The other three picked up Tyler. "Take him to D'Moore, you'll find him easily enough." Maxis and Cater quickly left with him. Johne pulled out his battle axe and met Haigha in battle as I checked Yamani's pulse. Still alive. Good news for Lordshire.

"Mercury!" I turned to see Haigha and Johne in a standstill, with Haigha quickly getting the upper hand. I threw a dagger, Haigha narrowly avoiding it.

"Take the Queen." I took out a small curved blade and got in between Johne and the man. He looked like he was about to speak, but looked at Yamani and his expression turned deadly. He thrusted, and I stepped back, lifting my tomahawk to block his attack, but he qas quick, and his sword dropped to jab into my stomach. I had anticipated something like this, and my blade parried his attack.

I thrusted my blade, feinted ass he tried to parry, and quickly knocked him out with the hilt of my tomahawk. He went down. Kneeling beside the man, I checked his pulse. It was still beating faintly.

"You were an honorable opponent." I whispered as I pulled out a knife and cut a triangle with a small teardrop in the middle into his neck. "Now you will have to always remember this day."

~~~

I heard the clinking of metal and I saw them. Three guards and what looked like an officer. Which Queen they were from I could not tell. "Check the woods. The Queen must be here somewhere." The officer shouted.

I dropped down in front of them, and they immediately pulled out their swords.

"Drop them, or I'll be the last person you'll ever see and your kingdom will fall." Okay, so I was stretching the truth a bit, but it was needed.

"Why are you here?" The officer asked as he slowly lowered his arm.

"Your Queen is captured, but I am not without honor." I pulled the man into view, and two of the guards, with my permission, grabbed him. "Gather your troops. She's in Wonderland City by now, being tortured I suppose."

"How do you know this?" The officer asked.

"I was the one who kidnapped her, of course." With that, I dispersed into the trees. I haven't instigated a war in a long time. Now would be the perfect time to start up again.

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

I needed a break. I needed to take some time off to plan for my family. I needed these Queens to stop popping up out of nowhere trying to ruin my now great life. But most importantly, I needed a drink.

I stepped into Lordie's Joint and watched as everyone bowed to me, believing the facade I put on in public. After ordering my special Lordie Express and having my personal fool bounce around for me, I left to attend to more important matters. Of course, I sent a guard to tell the fool to come to the castle once in a while, it would be fun to introduce him to Reggy.

Once I was back in the castle, I left my guards on their own and made my way to a room I rarely visited anymore. With any luck, the man I needed would still be there. After retracing my steps in my mind and making sure I was at the right door, I lightly tapped on it twice. I would've tapped three times, but the door had already swung open by then.

I smiled, "Ah, Jubiah, just the man I wanted to see."

"Lordshire?"

I raised my eyebrow.

"King Lordshire. It's not like you to visit me personally. I would've thought you'd call a meeting if you wanted to talk to me."

"Let's just say that this isn't a military matter. Yamani and Miranda are still al-"

"I was there when it happened."

Right. "We're in the process of getting Yamani right now, but no one knows about Miranda, at least as far as I know. And I want to keep it that way."

"So you want me to find her?"

"I could care less if you found her, she was always too careless for her own good anyway. What I want you to do is find out about her. Has she grown close to anyone, where is she staying, all that stuff. Think you're up for it?"

"Been a while since you've sent me on a personal mission, five years if I remember correctly."

I smirked, thinking back to the time we almost got Yamani, "And you couldn't even get the job done then."

"This time's gonna be different."

"I hope so. Good luck."

He nodded and shut his door. Great to have such loyal soldiers, wasn't it? As I turned, my smile quickly became a frown when I noticed the spider glaring at me from the wall. Had it been watching us the whole time?

"Sir!" The voice came from down the hall and was followed by a soldier approaching me, "The prisoner you sent for has arrived. She's currently been kept in the dungeon."

I smile crept its way back on to my face and I turned to the spider, "You want some entertainment? Watch this."

* * *

"Where's Haigha?"

I smiled, I guess the fool was still with her after all. "As touching as that is... I think I'd be more concerned about what was going to happen to myself, if I were you."

She struggled to move, but ended up just turning her head, how adorable, "Lordshire."

"Who else?" I smiled and took a step closer.

"B*st*rd."

"Tsk, tsk, as diplomatic as ever, I see."

"Enjoying my money, I see." She watched me as I walked around the table, "Getting fat."

"So are you." What a perfect chance to tease her. "Or are you?"

She hesitated, "What do you mean?"

Oh no way. "Is that fat, or is there something else in there?" I tapped my cane on her stomach.

"Go to hell."

Man, I am too good at this. I should just place bets on Miranda now. "I'd just put you back on the throne if I wanted that."

I took a deep breathe, but stopped halfway when the stench of the dungeon finally caught up to me. My goodness Reggy, you've been having too much fun down here.

"Remember when you locked me up down here? It was that cell right there," I said, pointing to a random cell, "Me and Jubiah, stuck together. I guess I never thanked you for that, did I?"

"You should be thankful I locked you up instead of killing you."

"We've grown quite close since then," I said, ignoring her comment, "And now he's one of my top military advisers. Quite the soldier you let go, I must say, quite the soldier."

I looked around to make sure there were no guards around, taking note at the spiders hiding in the corner, "And here's a little secret. Right about now, Jubiah is in the middle of looking for your sister."

She didn't look as surprised as I'd hoped, maybe she was hiding it. "And when we have the both of you here, we'll get to lock you guys in the same cage and see who kill the other first. Who knows, maybe I'll give the winner their throne back."

"You're still as sick as ever."

I tapped my cane on the floor and smiled, wait until she meets Reggy.

"So what now? No questions? No threats? Or are you just going to kill me?"

I pursed my lips, "I'd love to kill you now, saves me the trouble of going through all of this again in the future. But of course now there's politics involved when it comes to murder. Besides, all I need to do is keep you locked up here and whatever scheme you have going on out in the woods will come crumbling down. Knowing you, you'd be too arrogant to leave someone else in charge, let alone have a second in command."

"That's a damn lie! They'll still have Hai-"

"Haigha? That mute fool?" I started giggling, "That's a good one, Yamani. No, do you really expect anyone to take him seriously? Did you expect him to write down everyone's jobs? The mans not fit to write a list of grocery items, let alone a list of military operations," I found myself laughing at the very thought, "Remember that one time he decided to fight for you on his own? Huh? Remember what happened? Oh yeah, he died."

She shot me a look of pure hate.

"He DIED! And he'd be six feet under right now if it weren't for those mindless powers of his," I heard footsteps coming towards us, "But that's enough of that, isn't it? Maybe I'll get to chat with you later, right now I'd like to introduce you to someone," Reggy walked in accompanied by two guards, "Yamani, meet Regina Lordshire. Reggy, Yamani Marble."

The two locked eyes and gave off the impression of hate at first sight. Maybe I should leave them alone.

"You ladies don't have too much fun with out me. Guards, release her from the table and place her in whatever cell Reggy would like."

"Yes sir!" They exclaimed, and go to work.

I looked at Reggy and she nodded.

"I leave it to you then." I stole a glance at her tummy then turned to leave, but not before hearing a whizzing noise coming towards me.

I focused my mind, everything becoming blurred for a short second, then stabilizing with my reappearance behind Yamani. She was standing up now and the guards were struggling to restrain her.

"You have a lot to catch up on, my dear." She turned to face me, eyes revealing her shock.

I smiled, "Surprise."

And in a swift movement, I swung my cane into the side of her neck and she fell without a sound.

Minerva
I smirked at Haigha's glare because it was good to be reminded- on quite a regular basis- that their relationship was not rainbows and butterflies and all things peaceful and good. I told myself I just liked seeing him irritated, but I heard myself saying, "Oh, don't glare like that, it's scary." I smiled when he smiled because he was family through Yamani, not that anyone was going to find that out. I didn't tell Yamani she was family.

"I'm going to follow her."

I snickered. She wouldn't like that. "Of course you are. Mind if I follow you into the city?"

He shook his head, but we were off almost exactly after that. Rook joined us at some point and then Tabitha who drew me into a strange conversation.
****
Wormholes? As wonderful as that sounded, I couldn't believe that. I opened my mouth to reiterate my argument, glancing around to see where Haigha was, only to find that he wasn't. “Hmm, I guess we split off with Haigha.”

“Oh yes, he went off ways away. I do agree that the black holes are the keys of everything, but the concept of wormholes itself is the going to be the first attempts at time travelling.”


But I barely heard her with her silly wormholes. I was staring up. This was not where I was needed.

“Minerva?”

I glared at the cat then, putting a finger to my lips, as I glanced nervously at the castle. I backed away as she moved forward.

“Ooh, this is shiny.”

I didn't like that tone, not at all. "Shouldn’t we go look for Yamani?” I murmured though that had not been my plan.

“You could, I think I saw a mouse that needed attending to.”

I looked up at the castle, thoughts swirling around my head. A part of me, the part that would never truly be loyal to anyone, was already making me shift into a form I wasn't used to, preparing to go do something for myself, go listen to a conversation, find out a little nugget of information. God, it had been too long since I had actually spied on somebody. I had been so busy killing off former spies and creating new ones. I missed the thrill, the prickle on your skin when someone who would and could kill you swept by, murmuring to a friend about plans.

And the sane part of me, the tame part of me whispered, "You'll be caught." I practically laughed. Caught? I had information on everyone! I had information to last years. They would never kill me. They couldn't kill me, and what was so wrong with being a Throne? The Thrones were winning, and one should always try to be-

I whirled around suddenly, chest heaving. No. I had tried too hard to be loyal, had been loyal for too long. I started walking away which quickly morphed into a jog which was suddenly a run as I tried to outpace my thoughts.

When I stopped, my legs trembling, my lungs burning, I swore to myself to get into shape. I hadn't really been running all that long. I looked around then, struggling against the instinct to lie on the ground panting, and frowned. I had planned to loiter around the harbor to woo some dockworker with a few gold pieces and a good promise for more into my network. I was too far away for that now. Due to Tabitha's distraction and my panic attack, I was in a completely worthless part of town. Nothing went on here. I glanced up and frowned at a decaying building.

Well… Nothing went on around here anymore. I frowned up at HQ, just the sight leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I was about to trudge on when I heard a soft growl. I turned around slowly to see three dogs, looking ready to split me up for supper. I put my hands up slowly. "Hey there," I cooed, "What are three handsome men like yourselves doing around these parts?"

Dogs didn't seem to be as easily affected as men…

I glanced around, looking for an escape as they began to close in. The alley beside me was a dead end, but I didn't necessarily have to get away. I probably couldn't outrun them anyway. I just needed to…

I ran for the back of the alley and hefted myself up on some crates, biting back a yelp when one grabbed for my shoe. The beast got it, but I was free, climbing further up on the teetering pile. Finally, when I felt safe, I looked down at the snarling animals and grinned when one jumped, not coming close to my swinging legs. I sat down and did the only thing I could do. I waited.

Two left quickly, but one, the one with my dratted shoe of all things, lay down and stared up at me. I tried climbing down once, but it stood and growled then.

I could wait a stupid dog out. Except… I got antsy. I started talking to it, flirting with the d*nmed thing as if that would help. I threw my remaining shoe as far as I could, but it didn't even pass the mouth of the ally to my shame. The fiend just looked up at me anyways as if I was an idiot.

"Go home," I repeated for what had to have been the fourteenth time in the last ten minutes, not counting the thirty minutes before that. It just barked up at me, wagging it's tail. It was friendly when I wasn't trying to get on it's level. "Oh," I called down, "Aren't you a charmer." I put my hand to my heart. "I promise you, my heart just stopped beating." I fluttered my eyelashes, but I had to stop myself. God, I had lowered my standards to a dog.

I was about to turn my back on it, completely ignore it… for a good three minutes when, hallelujah, the animal just got up and left, hurrying out as if called. It even left my shoe. I started climbing down, almost to the bottom when I heard a bark. I froze and tried to twist around to see if it was coming back. I only caught a glimpse of a man standing in the mouth of the alley with that dog and several members of its family when there was a worrisome creak, and I went tumbling down.

Miss Tabitha Marxil Kitshire

Ooh, mice. An entire colony of them. My claws extended and I pounced on two, ripping them to shreads with my nails and stuffed them into my mouth, ripping their flesh apart in my mouth.

Queen of the cas, and the mice? I thought dreamily as another three rodents fell to my paw. That's a nice title. I think I could live up to that extremely easily. Finally, with a full stomach and leaving an empty nest in my path.

I heard footsteps and looked up. There were three people quietly, or at least trying to be quite as they hurried through the alleyway. One was being carried by the other two, and his body was smaller in structure than the others, maybe the body belonged to a woman.

They got closer. "Let's take her through the kitchens into the dungeons, it's the fastest way." So a woman it is.

"Someone might see her if we go through there." I started trailing them, my curiosity growing.

"It's not like anyone in the castle will care whether or not the Queen of Hearts passes by their kitchen." I turned invisible and Luther poked his head out.

Yamani? Captured? Who would've ever guessed? I smiled a bit. Oh, Luther, you humor me sometimes.

~~~

They shut the door before I could get in there a third time! My invisible form was silently padding the hallway outside the cell Yamani and now Lordie and Regina were in. Luther was very hurt by the fact that I got the door slammed on my face three times in a row.

I saw a curved window aboce the door with bars crossing it like an arch. Maybe you could get up there and take a look-see on what's going on. I smiled, my pearly white teeth almost illuminating the dark hallway. Luther, you are indeed the biggest and brightest of all egos.

I felt myself lift off of the ground, like a cloud was lifting my up. I soon was at the top of the door, but I would go no higher. I looked up to the window, but I could not see anything at the position I was at. I rested my forepaws on the door and looked inside. Lordie was in the corner, looking at Regina doing certain terrible things to Yamani.

This was interesting. I might try this sometime. I could feel something move, and looked down to see the door opening, with Lordie coming out.

"Awwreeechh!" I fell in a hump of fur on top of Lordie as he closed the door.

"What the?" Lordie shouted and pushed me off of him.

I landed on my feet and started licking my paws. "Hello there." I said amusingly.

Yamani (Queen of Hearts)



"Go to hell."

"I'd just put you back on the throne if I wanted that."

I glared at him as he took a deep breath, then stopped, wrinkling his nose. I felt a bit of smug satisfaction. That's right Lordie dear, I know you've never gotten your hands dirty, but it stinks when you do.

"Remember when you locked me up down here? It was that cell right there," He gestured at the cell across the hall. "Me and Jubiah, stuck together. I guess I never thanked you for that, did I?"

"You should be thankful I locked you up instead of killing you." I should've killed you.

"We've grown quite close since then," He continued. "And now he's one of my top military advisers. Quite the soldier you let go, I must say, quite the soldier."

He looked around. I took the pause to glance out the open doorway, to the cell he indicated. If he's telling the truth...that means we're the 7th cell down from the room, on the...right? With the loose vent-- if I can--

"And here's a little secret. Right about now, Jubiah is in the middle of looking for your sister."

I lifted an eyebrow. I wasn't particularly surprised. If he'd managed to ambush me, I couldn't see why Miranda would be a problem for him.

"And when we have the both of you here, we'll get to lock you guys in the same cage and see who kill the other first. Who knows, maybe I'll give the winner their throne back."

Bastard. "You're still as sick as ever."

He smiled cruelly and tapped his cane on the floor.

I tried the binds on my wrists, glaring at him. Quit gloating, now...let's get to business. "So what now? No questions? No threats? Or are you just going to kill me?"

He pursed his lips. "I'd love to kill you now, saves me the trouble of going through all of this again in the future."

I'm sure you would.

"But of course now there's politics involved when it comes to murder. Besides, all I need to do is keep you locked up here and whatever scheme you have going on out in the woods will come crumbling down. Knowing you, you'd be too arrogant to leave someone else in charge, let alone have a second in command."

"That's a damn lie! They'll still have Hai-"

"Haigha? That mute fool?" Lordshire started giggling. "That's a good one, Yamani. No, do you really expect anyone to take him seriously? Did you expect him to write down everyone's jobs? The mans not fit to write a list of grocery items, let alone a list of military operations."

His giggles grew-- getting me angrier by the moment. Haigha was perfectly competent.

"Remember that one time he decided to fight for you on his own? Huh? Remember what happened? Oh yeah, he died."

A pang hatred like I'd never felt before shot through me, and I turned my glare on Lordshire. If I could move-- if we our places were swapped-- I would've killed him, slowly.

"He DIED! And he'd be six feet under right now if it weren't for those mindless powers of his."

I'd cut him to pieces-- his fingers first. Rip the nail off, cut each finger at each knuckle, slowly dice his hand away-- stop the bleeding so he didn't pass out when I got to his wrists. Get him revived enough to watch as I burned each piece of his hands in front of him-- shove the ashes down his throat. See if he was giggling when I was through with him.

"But that's enough of that, isn't it?" No. That's not enough for you. I'd start on your toes next.

"Maybe I'll get to chat with you later, right now I'd like to introduce you to someone," A woman walked in the cell. I didn't like the looks of her.

"Yamani, meet Regina Lordshire." Haha, he introduced her to me-- putting me in the place of honor. Take that, b*tch. Reggy, Yamani Marble." March.

I turned my glare to her face. Her glare locked on mine. Ah, he's going to have his little b*tch do the dirty work.

"You ladies don't have too much fun with out me. Guards, release her from the table and place her in whatever cell Reggy would like."

Ooh, fool.

"Yes sir!" His guards snapped to attention, loosing me. I laid perfectly still, complacent.

"I leave it to you then." Lordshire was facing away from me, looking at Regina's stomach. Guess she is knocked up. The instant I was free, I dove for the fist sized chunk of brick, and hurtled it at his head.

The guards grabbed me the instant I was on my feet. I jerked my arms away, busting one in the mouth, grabbing his sword out of the scabbard, glancing at Lordshire to find him...gone?

"You have a lot to catch up on, my dear." I whirled around, shocked to find him behind me, not even trying to conceal it.

"Surprise."

I saw his cane swinging towards my head, felt his likeness imprint itself on my neck. I blacked out.