Wonderland: 9

For the rest of the breakfast, the queen ate really quietly, she constantly looked up to the books and the other tables, filled with papers, as if she was thinking what should or could she tell the hatter without putting his life in danger… But, once again, wasn’t his life already endangered only by being inside the castle?

She let a sad sigh and the hatter started thinking he should have kept his curiosity to himself. They always say curiosity killed the cat and thing is he was still a bit afraid what the queen was so quiet for. Was she thinking if it was worth it keeping him alive if he was always going to be so lousy? Was she thinking if she should send him away?

…

For a minute the thought of going back home made the hatter pretty sad and he couldn’t understand why. Wasn’t that his hope when he said his goodbyes to Dormouse and the Hare? That maybe if it was an invitation the queen would let him go back home?

What was he even thinking?

- I need you to understand, hatter, that the more I tell you, the more dangerous it will be from now on. So, if you’d rather go home than stay in the castle and sew the things I ask you, since you need information for that, I won’t get mad at you. – she spoke unusually calm, and the hatter soon found out that the calmer she was, the more terrified he felt. Didn’t she care if he left? – It is my fault, after all, for not being able to protect everyone fast enough. Ella was right, I should have focused on military and not diplomacy, I was such a fool.

- My queen, I’ve never seen so many people smiling while thinking about you if not on those days I spent in the castle. – he bit his lips, unaware of what he even thought of accomplishing with those words, but he felt he needed to say then, although it was madness, and he knew it. – I know you only worry about our safety, but it seems you did that the last time as well, and it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, right? So… - he continued, before he lost his courage to speak, or whatever craziness helped him continue talking. – So please, let us help you. You say the kingdom was going to be invaded have you not returned. You also say that if you can’t avoid a civil war, your people will die, people that are even outside of the castle, simply for being on the street or on their way. So, please, let us help!

For a long time, all they both could hear was the wind. It was howling so strongly that the queen’s long silver hair would whip the wooden hair in which she was sitting. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply and moving her hands, that once were over the table to rest on her own lap.

- It’s a wonderful view, isn’t it, Vincent?

- I’m sorry? – he was lost by the change of subject.

- The view we have in the terrace. Ella told me to get a room with a view to the Snark Islands, since our enemies would probably come from there. But I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to spend all of my days looking at the sea and feeling afraid… - her voice was so small. For a second the hatter thought that if he wasn’t listening to her so intensely he might not even have heard the last part. – So I chose to let my back to the sea. To the frigging hell with our enemies. I don’t rule for them, right? I chose a room where I could look at our people. You can see all the way to the Wood of Giant Beasts from here.

- Can you even see my house?

- Uhum. – she answered, pointing a direction with her head. – That way. Not much further from the Hare’s manor.

She got up and walked her way to the terrace’s railing slowly, touching it with her hands. She waited until the hatter was beside her before pointing it out.

- To the right here we have the croquet grounds, in front of us the city… That big house after the woods is the March’s Manor.

- It’s pretty big even looking from as far as we are.

- Yes, it is. And that one over there, - she pointed a bit to the left, right behind the hare’s house. – It’s yours.

- Yes… I can see Fungal Forest there and the Wood of Giant Beasts behind it…

- Are you feeling home-sick, Hatter?

- I might have grown up in that house, but all of Wonderland is my home. – the queen looked for a moment, interested. – When I was little, I used to walk through all the paths I could reach by foot and go as far as I could during the day to explore. I even entered the Wood of Giant Beasts and the Tulgey Woods a few times. That’s madness, I know, but I wanted to see what was hidden there, I wanted to understand what kind of hat a person going there would need.

- Well, it’s no mistake you’re the better we have here. The better we ever had. – she stretched her back before resting her elbows at the railing again. – I knew your father once. He told me the secret to work with people was reading then well. My father agreed, my mother thought he was too smart to be a hatter, but thing is, I was to little to understand that at the time. He was pretty sure, but I believe, someone who is only able to read his customers is not so good as someone who can really understand them, because he have experienced it before.

- That’s nonsense, my queen. – and even though his words were a bit harsh, he was speaking as sweetly as a marshmallow, just as if he was unused to the idea of being recognized. – My father was the better hatter that ever was, that’s why he was chosen as the hatter of the king.

- Yes, he was. But the king and the queen never had a son to follow on with their kingdom, and by law, the only way their daughter could became queen was marrying a prince or some royalty from some other land. – the hatter didn’t understand why exactly she had bought that up, not until she continued. – Several royal boys showed up on the castle that day, but the princess couldn't choose one. Not like this. How could her at such young age choose a boy to get married to? Of course, it was because the other kingdoms were already pressing their parents for a long time and they had threatened the kingdom several times should they not choose a king soon.

For a second, the queens eyes were far away in the distance, drifting through the clouds as she continued with the story, the hatter never gathered the courage to interrupt her, after all, he never had heard such story.

- The girl was still pretty young to notice her parents never invested time in creating an army strong enough to protect the kingdom, nor did she foresee, besides all of her magic tricks, that the way wonderland lived happily ever after, as if it was a dream couldn’t maintain itself for much longer, since she was a girl. When she reached a certain age, her parents told her she would choose a partner, or they would. The young princess was so furious she almost set her mother’s hat on fire in the middle of dinner by accident, and she was forced to once again, receive all of those boys on the castle.

She hung her head low, watching the lights of the city far below then for a second, before continuing.

- There were even more boys this time. There were those older than her, those the same age as her and those younger than her. Some even came with all of their brothers, so she could choose her favorite between them all. Those made her feel disgusted. It was easy to see the younger boys were afraid, but still their parents kept announcing their abilities as if they were some kind of horse on sale. The queen had suggested she went for a younger boy, that way it would be easier to force him to do what she wanted. The king had suggested she went for an older one, so he would be wisier and would be useful to the kingdom, but the old hatter, while he was helping the girl get ready for the showroom had suggested she follow her heart and chose which ever she desired, after all, she would be the one forever stuck with the bastard.

- My father said that?

- Yes. During the day the girl was furious that her parents were still forcing her into that, so she decided to pick one her age, so she wouldn’t make nor her mother, nor her father happy. She decided for the only son of a rich family at the south of the lands, a blond, short boy with scared face. – she sighed. – The soon to be king seemed like he was happy to hear he was chosen, but his family wasn’t so happy to hear that they weren’t invited over to Wonderland, or the castle, but rather, just the kid. They soon discovered the family had spent almost every last coin they had making up a fake status just to put their child in line to try and change their country, winter were upon then and most of the farms there were icing.

- So they took them in?

- No. Even the king and queen were only accepting a husband to their daughter because they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves in case of a military attack, but it wasn’t as if they liked the boy or his family. They sent his family away after they began causing trouble in the city. But the boy's family wasn’t that merciless, his father was a well know merchant, although now poor, and was able to arrange a meeting with a group of thieves. They were to invade the castle and set everything on fire, but my room. With the official queen and king out of the way, their kid would receive them on the kingdom… Or so they though.

- So the fire wasn’t an accident?

- No, they murdered your father that night, along with mine, all because he gave the queen-to-be courage to go against her parents will. They were really good, the thieves, entering the castle during a change of shift and being able to set fire to the whole right side of the castle. The iron handles melted and my mom, dad and your father were trapped inside their room, where they burned to ashes. But that night I was still awake, thinking about the choice I’d done. When I heard the screams I run away from my room and the boy followed me. I ran into several of the thieves and was able to kill all of them, except for one.

The silence was stretching so long the hatter had to switch his position, feeling suddenly aware of the woman besides him.

- For day and night I tortured him myself, messing with his head, hypnotizing him, using my sorcery on him, using spells on his brain, until he had told me everything there was to tell, and then, I sent him home with a new mission. On that night, he murdered the boy’s mother and explained to the boy’s dad how he had done it. He also explained the boy’s father that it was all my doing, that he could hear my voice inside his head, digging his brain. He opened a hole on his own head in front of his eyes. A few days later, the father came to the castle again, he asked for my forgiveness and promised he would never again do anything of the sort against any ruler in wonderland, ever. I agreed, and I cut his head of myself. The view of his head rolling down the hill brought me peace, for so many years… The king never questioned my orders, nor did any other kingdom ever mess with us again, especially after the card guard. If they did, I would be mean to one of you and let the word get out, and their plan would back off. They wouldn’t dare mess with the queen that beheaded the family of her own husband and her own people.

- So that’s why.

- You asked me once why was I such a bitch to you in the past. It was because I would only do it to fight off attacks that would hurt even more people. It wasn’t fair, I know and I’m sorry. But it worked. Not that it matters now, with the card guard almost completely gone, they are back at it again.

- Who?

- Are you good at geography, hatter?

#alicethroughtthelookingglass #wonderland #aliceinwonderland #english