Possible Side Effects, Ch. 24

[wanderamaranth]

Summary: Jabberwocky blood is powerful, but has a short shelf life. Then, there are the possible side effects...

Disclaimer: This is fanfic, folks, not for profit.

Rating: T

Warnings: Mentions of adultery, murder, and baby-making. You know, the usual. ;)

I apologize now for this chapter. It is a beast that nearly ate my soul. 10,000 + words, and it still feels more abrupt than I think it should.

In the dream, she remembers details her conscious mind can not.

The way her would-be killer's teeth had gleamed, a reflection of the marble surrounding them both. The slight tilt to her head, the red curls that were normally so perfectly tamed tumbling loose over her shoulder, making her appear softer and yet at the same time that much more dangerous than she ever had before. A woman with nothing left to lose, when all of her self-imposed constraints and checks had been stripped away.

Blue lined the knife that she used to aim the weapon, an uneven smear that only the knowledge she's gained since reawakening told her was royal blood. Even unknowing of that, as she was in this dream-state that was and yet was not the past, the blue on the edge of that knife pulled her stomach tight, and made her throat dry in the dreadful knowledge that it had done some violence, and was prepared to continue to do so towards herself.

A tiny finger, one more appropriate for a child's hand than a grown woman's, slowly squeezed the bronze colored trigger, and Alice knew that wasn't right, even as she watched it happen. For surely the trigger had been pulled quickly; if it hadn't been, that meant that the entire room full of people had simply stood there and witnessed her murder without making any attempt to stop it from occurring.

Smoke and fire flashed from the small pistol tip, leaving Alice just enough time to wonder how the projectile was able to leave the barrel so accurately without chipping or hitting along the blade, and then there was pain, white-hot exploding across her vision; and the next she knew, there was the Hatter, leaning above her, his eyebrows slanted in the most concerned manner, his lips moving slowly, the sound of his speech like a sonnet spoken underwater. She strained to reach him, to touch him, but his voice just became deeper, and slower, as his face began to melt away, a watercolor left out in the rain.

"Hatter…please…" she mouthed, unable to force her throat to utter the words. She did not know if she pleaded him to stay with her, to leave her, to end the agony of pain that enveloped her, or all three. All she knew was that she needed him, for something she could no longer provide for herself.

Alice woke with a start, her chest heaving as her body bucked, desperately gasping for air; her cheeks were wet with tears. She felt her chest and stomach gingerly, but of course there was no injury there. The White Queen's apothecary skills had seen to that.

She stared up at the white canopy draped over the top of her bed, focusing on regulating her breathing and calming her racing heart. The same dream had come to her every night for the past week-the week since Iracebeth's ill fated attempt at seizing the High Crown from her sister. Another errant tear slipped down Alice's cheek, and she dashed it away, furious with herself for allowing a dream of events passed and a woman thoroughly dead to disturb her.

Rising from bed, she determined the best way to put it all behind her was to start this newest day post-haste.

On that evening, (the one that still caused her to wake with cold sweats and a shaking body) the Hatter had gently explained to her what had occurred in the throne room-or what he himself was aware of happening.

"What about the White Queen?" she'd asked him, once the narrative of Iracebeth's death was done. (Alice was not quite sure what she thought of that particular story; she knew she should feel grateful to Stayne for protecting her-and for protecting the Hatter, which she would not have thought him likely to do!-but she could not get over her sense of unease at his actions.)

When he confessed to not knowing of Mirana's state, Alice had been quite cross with him. "Her death was sought tonight, Hatter! Yet you have not thought to inquire as to whether or not she still lives?"

Tarrant had reacted so strangely and violently to her concern ("Oh, am I to care more for she than ye? Ye, whom her lickspittle malodorous crowleys have paid barely a mind to, when her Majesty has all of the best care and comforts that can be provided with one in her position?" was one portion of his rant, and everything from there became less and less intelligible for the young woman) that Alice was quite taken aback. Unable to rise from her pallet, she'd had to listen to him ramble, attempting to stop him with an occasional Hatter!, but never succeeding. When he finally wound down, Alice's stomach was tight from fighting the urge to stand and go to him, which caused the wound in her abdomen to ache quite fiercely, despite the Berspintu candy ("For the pain, dear."-and what a sickeningly sweet tasting lozenge that had been!) Mirana's healers had forced on her earlier.

"Hatter…" she began again, cautiously (for she was not certain what it was about her earlier inquiry that had caused his fit; if it were anger at her wishing to know of the Queen's welfare-which seemed an odd thing for him be angry about, as when she'd been here last he'd been fiercely loyal to her-or if it was self-recrimination at not attempting to find out prior to her asking.) "do you know anything of the Queen's welfare?" Perhaps if she phrased the question anew in a different manner, he would not have the same type of reaction?

"I dinna care at the moment, Alice." he said, eyes fluctuating between burnt umber and pond slime green. "Ye're injured, and that is all that concerns me."

While a small part of Alice swooned in girlish appreciation of such a sentiment, (she was sure Jabber would have referred to it as the Almost Alice bit) the rest of her had a completely different reaction. Panic clawed at Alice's throat as the Hatter approached her bedside. If he were to grasp her hand now, if he were to sit with her and continue to say such things (such sweet, wonderful things!) then all of her emotions would come tumbling out like the acrobats she had seen in China; her disbelief at nearly dying, the disgusting manipulation of his form by Jabber, her trip to that shadowy place beyond with two doors, dark and light-and above all, most terrifying of all-the fierce love she felt for him, frightening even to her with its depth and scope. She couldn't burden him with such a thing! Yes, they had shared several very pleasant moments in Somewhere Else…but that was there, and not here, and she had no way of knowing what his feelings would be on the matter.

She gave into Panic, (just as she had the day that Hamish proposed-it seemed a dreadful habit on her part) and requested the Hatter leave her presence immediately, "until you are ready to speak to me in a rational manner." Alice was unable to run herself; all there was for her to do was to chase him away with her words, knowing even as they passed her lips that it was Not a Good Idea.

She was successful-devastatingly so. All traces of color left his face, and he'd woodenly stood, knocking over the small stool he sat upon. He took a bare moment to right it, then sketched an oddly formal little bow in her direction, murmured, "Of course, your Majesty." and ducked right out of the room.

She'd regretted the words almost as soon as they left her mouth, but what was done was done. Alice watched him leave, a feeling very much like despair joining the ache of the wound in her abdomen, and wondered what it was about her that made it so that she was always saying or doing the wrong thing, good advice to herself be hanged. The urge to call him back was great, but Pain and Pride were greater.

Doubt soon joined them, crawling upon her shoulder and whispering vile things into her ear. Just because she felt a certain way for the Hatter, did not mean that he felt anything remotely similar for her. She was a vile young woman who could not even manage to be grateful when the gentleman sat with her, worried for her, instead of his Queen! No, instead she upbraids the man and banishes him from her presence! If she'd been able, she would have arisen right then and alighted after him, but just as her wound prevented her from running away, it also stopped her from rectifying her mistake.

The blonde resigned herself to trying to remain still and calm. Tears threatened to come, but she forcefully comforted herself with the reassurance that surely, he would return. He was her friend, if nothing else-he could not stay cross at her forever, could he?

The answer to that seemed to be, disturbingly enough, yes. Despite Alice's best efforts, she had not seen Tarrant since their brief argument.

Truthfully, that first day, she'd been a bit busy to focus too particularly on the lack of a Hatter in her room. The whole of that day was spent in a flurry of questions and treatments and bandages changed, with her in varying stages of consciousness. When she was conscious, well, she simply told herself that he would come 'round, if she was simply patient.

In the early morning following the terrors of the night before, the White Queen had floated to Alice's bedside, her long fair hair pulled into a knot at the base of her neck, face devoid of any cosmetics whatsoever. If anything, the lack of lip color just made the Monarch's lips look even larger, and Alice was torn between staring at them (for their sheer size-oh how she wished she had lips that large!) and the lumpy, awkwardly tied bandage about her neck.

"Oh, Mirana!" Alice had cried, wishing she could sit up without a great deal of pain. "It is such a relief to see you up and about!"

"It is a relief to be doing so, as well. How are you, my dear?" Mirana had asked, her voice barely pitched above a whisper. The back of a gentle hand rested on her brow, and Alice turned into the touch, smiling weakly in relief at seeing her friend seemingly well.

"My abdomen aches, a bit." Alice admitted, "but I'm much more concerned for you! How is it that you're walking about so, after such an injury?"

Mirana heard nothing beyond Alice's admission of pain. "Your wound has not been treated?" she asked sharply. Her face was devoid of emotion, and Alice wondered if that was due to the Queen hiding some strong feeling, or if it was caution in not moving more of the muscles about her face and neck than necessary.

"The Healers came and bound me…gave me something they said would help with the pain…" Alice replied.

"Yet they did not actually heal the wounds?" Mirana pressed. A sound that would have been called a growl from any one other than she tumbled out of her lips, and a small hand fluttered to her throat, holding it lightly as she winced in apparent pain. "I will return shortly, Alice, and remedy this terrible oversight."

The Healers had been able to treat her completely, yet did not? Alice didn't know why she was surprised at finding that healing a wound such as hers was possible-perhaps because she assumed, naively, that if such a thing were able to be done, it would have been done so for her without any prompting whatsoever. For what is the purpose of a physician or healer, if not to Heal? Her musings were interrupted by the return of the White Queen, a slithering Leech and Waterfowl in tow, each speaking to her in the most excitable of voices.

"We must insist, your Highness, that you remain abed! Although you may be feeling much better now-" The Leech began first, or was the first to continue what seemed like a fierce argument in her presence, at any rate.

"A full twenty six hour period must be taken for rest! We do not want you straining yourself in undue need!" the Mallard finished for him.

Not bothering to even turn to face them, Mirana set the concoction she'd brought with her back into the room upon the bed side table, and began to carefully set about exposing the wound that had been hastily dressed hours prior. "Undue need? You gentlemen do not heal the hurts of my Champion, herself a Queen of Underland, and then have the nerve to tell me when I attempt to rectify your shortcomings that I am straining myself unneedfully?"

The silence from the two creatures was palatable. Alice went to grasp the Queen's hand, to tell her that she herself did not need to be the one to take care of her, but Mirana batted her hands away, and with a final tug, exposed her stomach fully to the cool air of the room. A dull hiss escaped between Mirana's teeth, and she said, in carefully measured tones, "Leave us. Now." As the two Healers moved to do her bidding, she said, in a quiet aside that they heard nonetheless, "But do not leave Marmoreal's walls. We will be having a discussion later, when my undue actions are completed."

A whoosh of fabric, feathers, and a squish indicated that the two Healers exited the room rather hastily; Alice smiled, wishing she had been able to see them as they each struggled to get through the doorway at the same moment. It sounded as though the Mallard had won, but she could not be sure…

"Your skin is still marred by the soot and powder of my sister's pistol, and yet you smile." A warm rag dabbed at her torn flesh, and Alice turned her eyes to Mirana, only then realizing that she had been drifting in and out of slumber.

"I was so worried about you, your Majesty." Alice said. "When I saw you fall…when I saw all of that blood…"

Mirana paused in her ministrations, touching her throat lightly. "Yes, well, I was quite concerned for myself at the time, so you were in good company." she feebly joked.

"How did you-"

"Survive?" Mirana asked. At Alice's nod, the Queen said, "My Healers were most determined. I was brought here by a Pawn, or so I am told… They immediately closed the wound, and then set about replenishing what blood I had lost."

"In what way?"

Setting aside the rag (which was quite dirty and covered with bits of flesh and soot and other assorted things Alice would rather not think about having been under her bandages) Mirana scooped up a healthy glob of viscous mint green paste, and began to firmly rub it into her wound. Alice bit her lip to keep from crying out, but Mirana's focus was on just her ragged flesh, and she did not see the motion.

"Why, by eating blood pudding, of course." Mirana replied, a bit distantly. "Oh, but I forget that not everyone is trained in the ways of the Healing Arts."

Alice desperately wished to ask how it was that the White Queen was able to partake of a dish such as blood pudding with her vows, but refrained from asking. Asking too many questions, her mother had told her, was a sure way to make other cross with you. The last thing Alice wanted was Mirana upset with her, especially when she was addressing her wounds, and not in the best of health herself.

They both fell silent then, as Mirana finished with the slime and began to reapply her bandages. Only when it they were wrapped tightly around her once more did the Queen speak. "There. A good day's sleep, and it will be completely healed. You are very lucky that the projectile did not strike anything of vital import; especially with the attentions my Healers paid you."

"Please don't be too cross with them." Alice said. "They were only concerned with your well-being, as we all were. If they had spent more time with me than what they did, I would have asked them to leave me to attend to you anyways. Well, if I were awake to make such a request, that is."

"You're…very kind, Alice." Mirana said, as she fussily tucked a stray curl behind one of Alice's ears. Such small actions made Alice feel very well cared for, like a child with it's mother. "And of course, completely right."

Straightening abruptly, Mirana gathered up the dish that had held the healing agent and the dirty rags from the bed side table. "I'm sorry, Mirana." Alice said softly, and the White Queen turned large eyes to Alice. "For the loss of your sister." Fumbling over her words, Alice rushed in with, "Even though she…she was still your sister. So I'm sorry."

Tears pricked the corners of Mirana's eyes. She turned her head away from Alice for a moment, squeezing them tightly shut, to prevent them from falling. When she felt she had control over herself, she turned back to Alice, a sad smile upon her lips.

"Rest now, Champion." she placed a kiss on her forehead, her lips cool on her heated skin. "I shall check on you later."

---

Mirana had kept her word, certainly. In fact, she had not had a more constant companion that week than the White Queen, other than perhaps Chessur, who seemed to take special delight in narrating all of her activities aloud. ("Oh, you're going to go out to the gardens now, Alice? How fascinating!") Snellum visited as well (although the Mouse was only there when Chessur was not) and occasionally Stayne or Nivens would grace her with their presence.

The March Hare Alice only saw on the two occasions she had been able to slip into the kitchen without her newly formed entourage; Mallymkun she saw not at all. Mirana saw to it that Alice's wounds were taken care of, that she was fed, that she had soft, billowing clothing that was easy for her to dress herself in.

There were tea times with talking turnovers (who lived up to their name to such a degree that Alice felt unable to bring herself to eat them-for if they turned over in such a manner while still on her plate, what would they do in her stomach?), short strolls through the gardens in the afternoon to listen to the morning glories chortle the day's earlier exploits; and even a few hesitant discussions begun by the former Knave concerning Above and Under, and which parts of each she preferred over the other.

All in all, Alice would have been very happy indeed, had it not been for the glaring absence of the one individual she wished most to see. There was no true reason for her to linger any further in Underland; her original purpose had been fulfilled-she was healed, and the White Queen's reign was secured. Chessur had made a few hints about the possibility of her staying to assist him in 'a task most noble', but other than that and Stayne's questions on London life, none spoke of her return to England at all. Alice had the feeling that it had been generally agreed that perhaps if no one mentioned her homeland, she would forget to return there!

She hadn't thought that perhaps she might have a reason to stay in Underland; it was true that she felt more accepted, more like she belonged than she ever had Above (even if she could not get them to relinquish the ridiculous idea of her being a Queen!). Then her last meeting with Hatter in Somewhere Else happened. Tarrant had begged her to trust him, to allow him to pull her to him through the dream…he had kissed her so passionately…the small butterfly touches, the way he'd held her body flush against his own…and she had thought, in the haze of the moment, that perhaps Underland would become her home.

Yet now she sat, her morning ablutions done and her hair wet and loose around her, fingering the brooch she still wore around her neck. Ne Obliviscaris, it read, and indeed Alice had not forgotten her familial obligations. Much was waiting for her Above…her mother, her sister…the prospect of opening a new outpost in Jakarta…she would dearly like to travel to India. There was only one individual hat would be able to convince her to consider a new life in her Wonderland, to leave the family she loved dearly and cling to a new ideal, but he seemed to want naught to do with her.

Each day, Alice's conviction that his anger at her for the panic-fueled words she'd uttered grew less and less certain. Now, a full week since she had last spoken to him (those harsh words!), Alice was forced to recognize the fact that the Hatter may not wantto see her at all. Many hours of the second day after Iracebeth's attack (called the Wendering day in the Oraculum) the young woman spent searching the grounds of Marmoreal, asking any who would listen if they had seen the Milliner. All had the same discouraging answer, and finally, exhaustion from her injury (for although it was physically healed, it had still been a Trying experience, and thus draining) forced her to stop and take a short nap. When she awoke, Chessur had been there, grinning cheekily and informing her that Mirana requested her presence for Tea. Every day after that was spent in a similar manner; she'd rise, wash, and dress, then go on a journey searching for her friend. After a frustrating (and increasingly, depressingly fruitless) morning, she would be called upon by one of her other friends to attend to them, and would reluctantly do so.

She'd heard from Chessur and Mirana that the Hatter was still within Marmoreal's walls, (she'd asked) but had yet to see proof for herself. There were moments, when she was up and walking about, calling for him or inquiring of the increasingly sympathetic servants that she believed she would see a flash of orange, or the flutter of ribbons out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned, there would be no one there at all, let alone a Hatter-shaped man.

Another seemingly constant presence on the periphery of her vision were the Magpies. After their initial introductions to her in the Room of Doors, and their subsequent assistance in securing the Hall during Iracebeth's attack, they had staunchly gone back to being voyeuristic viewers of her life. When she was feeling particularly down, only one winged shadow would trace her steps; when she was in pleasant company and able to laugh, there would be two. She never saw more than that, but she knew with an instinct she would not have claimed to have possessed even two weeks prior that they were there, watching her. Instead of making her feel preyed upon, it was rather a comforting sensation.

It was as if with the knowledge of their shadowing enabled her to walk about Marmoreal unaccompanied without fear, which Alice was not sure she would have been able to do otherwise. The memory of Iracebeth's attack was too fresh; even though her co-conspirators had all been arrested (and were confined to a single wing of the Castle, until such a time as an appropriate punishment could be settled on) there was still a piece of Alice that felt uneasy there now. The peaceful tranquility of the sanctuary had been broken.

A knock at the door startled Alice out of her revere, and it was with a greater amount of hope than actual expectation that perhaps the Hatter would be on the other side that caused her to rise and answer it. Mirana stood there, an even larger-and-sparklier-than-usual dress swathing her. Alice fought down her disappointment and smiled.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." she curtsied, and Mirana laughed, the sound like silver bells on a clear evening.

"There is no need to curtsy, Alice." she said. "I was wondering if perhaps you would like to break with our short tradition and join me for breakfast instead of luncheon? There a several matters I desire to speak with you on."

"Of course!" Alice replied, even as she internally withered at thought. Mirana had been a kind and gracious hostess, and as such, deserved an Alice who would be able to devote her full attention to her, of which the young woman in question felt she most certainly was not at that time.

"If you'd come with me, then?" The White Queen offered her hand to Alice, and she took it, allowing herself to be led to the Queen's private gardens. A small breakfast sat awaiting them (small by a cook of the March Hare's enthusiastic standards, that is) on a low stone table. They each settled down on tasseled pillows that were scattered about, and tucked in their meal with abandon.

It was only after Alice's first plateful of waffles and whipped cream had been devoured that Mirana began to speak, recalling to Alice that she had been called to breakfast for a purpose beyond filling her gullet.

"Are you resting well, Alice?"

Remembering to swallow before answering (barely), Alice replied, "Well enough, I suppose, Your Majesty."

Putting down her fork, Mirana reached forward and grasped one of Alice's hands, running her thumb across her knuckles in a soothing manner. "There is no need for such formality between us, Alice. After all, you are a Queen of Underland yourself once again. That is one of the subjects I wished to speak with you today about."

"And the other?" Any other subject had to be better than that one. How was she to tell her that she had no desire to be a Queen?

Pulling her hand back suddenly as if it burned her, Mirana said, in an odd tone, "You have not been the only one to note the absence of our Hatter. If not for Chessur's reassurances, I would begin to think he was no longer in Marmoreal's walls. I had been certain that he would not be able to be long from your side, with you so close at hand. It seems I am mistaken in that regard?" A small smile graced her lips, but Alice believed she could see more than a hint of uncertainty lurking behind her eyes.

Alice had been wrong. She would have much rathered to continue on talking about her Queenness than this.

"We had a disagreement." Alice admitted, and Mirana's eyes widened.

"When?"

"Right before you came to visit me, the evening of…"

Mirana nodded her understanding of the time-frame, but pressed forward in her confusion of all else.

"Whatever for?" the flummoxed woman asked. "He had been most eagerly awaiting your arrival to Marmoreal! I am sure that there is no place he would rather be than in this room!" Mirana had noticed-painfully so-the lack of Hatter in Alice's presence, as well as in her own. She knew not what was disturbing the man; whenever she'd gone to try to speak with him, he'd denied all visitors. The White Queen could have forced herself into his chambers, but such an action was extremely unpalatable.

If she convinced herself that to do such a thing would be for his own benefit, that invasion of his private space, what would be the next thing she would convince herself of? That left her with speaking to Alice of her concerns…which she was frightened of doing, especially without knowing what Tarrant may or may not have told her of her own inclinations towards the both of them.

"We... He…" Alice struggled to put into words the exact reason behind her behavior; the uncertainty and confusion and ultimately panic that caused her to lash out, but finally managed to do so, ending with, "I then told him to leave me be until he was able to be rational."

Such a simple thing, Mirana thought. Such a simple misunderstanding, to have brought them both such obvious sorrow. "Oh, the poor man." she murmured.

"The poor man?" Alice sputtered. "Am I not the one that has run myself into circles looking for him? He's been avoiding me at every turn, I can just tell! Mirana, he wants nothing more to do with me, and it is all my fault!"

"Do you blame him?" Mirana countered, causing Alice's face to freeze in shock. Was she saying-? "How difficult would it be for Tarrant to see you and not be able to speak a single word?"

"Why would he not…" Alice stopped, as she finally realized what the problem actually was. It was not that didn't want to see her at all! It was that he felt he thought she no longer wanted to see him, due to her thoughtless request! "Oh, Hatter…" she whispered. "He can't speak a rational word to me, can he? He's completely mad." Burying her face in her hands, Alice moaned, "I am stupid, Mirana! How am I to get him to even look at me, let alone accept an apology?"

A devious arch to her brow, the Queen said, "We will arrange something, my dear, do not worry on that count. Perhaps Chessur might be persuaded to…well, whichever way it occurs, by the end of the day all will be well. Truthfully…I must admit some relief that this is all just a simple misunderstanding. I had feared that it was perhaps…my doing."

"Your doing?" Alice asked.

Stirring the tea in her cup, Mirana carefully did not look at Alice as she spoke. "Yes. I had…a unique proposition that I presented to Tarrant, before your arrival. It would have hinged on your acceptance, of course, as well, but I…" she set down her cup and saucer, and fisted her hands in her voluminous skirts to try to disguise their shaking. Why was it always that matters of the heart were the most terrifying to speak of? "I was hopeful that each of you would be inclined to acquiesce to my request. Tarrant's reaction was…not what I had desired."

Head swirling, and with half of her thoughts still on what she would say to the Hatter once she saw him again, Alice said, "What sort of request was it?"

Mirana took a deep breath, then another, before looking Alice squarely in the eyes. The gaze was bold, but her facial features were not; her chin trembled a bit as she spoke. "I expressed a desire to have you assist me…" She bunched her eyes shut tight, shook her head, before popping her eyes open once more and saying, "No. I will be completely honest. What I was going to say would have been a form of White Lie, and there have been enough Lies about me for another one hundred years. I told him that I wished for you and he to conceive a child, for the three of us to raise together. As a family."

Alice's response was to drop the raspberry danish she'd just reached for jam-side-down into her lap, where it landed with a small splat. Her mouth hung unbecomingly open.

"A child?" she squeaked. "You wanted Hatter and I to...to...?" She was very firmly Not Going to Consider the activities that would be required for the conception of said child. While certainly she thought on the Hatter in a romantic light (and that felt like an odd thing to admit, even to herself!) it was nothing compared to the Idea of bearing his child. To think, that the White Queen would be asking her to-! With the Hatter! The further implications of Mirana's proposal were completely lost to her, as she was more caught in the idea of she and the Hatter and-!

"Oh, dear!" Mirana rose from her cushion to help Alice from her own in order to deal with the minor disaster of her now raspberry stained clothing. Numb, Alice allowed her to briskly brush the crumbs away. "I first thought of it because you are a Queen of Underland, you see!" Mirana informed her as she fussed. "When you were here as a child, you were Queened during the Game-do you remember that?"

"Faintly." Alice said, sitting back down again. "I mean, I remembered it more clearly after Stayne's Oath, but there are still aspects of that visit that are unclear."

"The important part is that you were made a Queen by Underland." Mirana said, sitting back down again, dark mouth serious. "Before Iracebeth took over all the land, she systematically eliminated all the other Royals. There were once many more than she and I…there was King Yasper of Clubs, the Yellow Queen Chakita, and so on and so forth. That is the way that Underland requires it is run; with several different Kings and Queens under different colors, for the many kinds of citizens that call the land home. Not everyone is happy to follow under a single banner, you know. It is a way of keeping all happy…if a citizen does not feel that the White Realm and all it stands for is to their liking, then they would travel to another, say the Green or the Burnt Orange.

"All the Realms did sit under one High Queen-that would be myself. I was named such by our parents, who were themselves High King and Queen of Underland. It was originally supposed to go to Iracebeth, but I was able to convince them that Racie was too unstable for that amount of power; they agreed, even as it broke their hearts to do so. They married her off to the Prince of the Diamonds instead. She seemed happy enough; she had loved Tertian from afar for years before their union, and it suited him very well to be the King of Hearts."

Alice was fascinated. The politics of Underland had been so complex! Here she had thought they were more straightforward than in London; it seemed she was wrong. Mirana kept speaking, pausing only occasionally to take a sip of water.

"While the High Crown can give mandates, that is not their main purpose. Their main purpose is to settle disputes between other Royals, or to unite them if there is a threat that needs to be eliminated. Iracebeth and Tertian had five sets of twins; they were so wonderful." Mirana voice became misty as she abruptly changed the tack of the conversation, disorienting Alice briefly. "All so different in their own ways, yet each so alike their twin! It was a joy to watch them play in Iracebeth's courtyard, to see the way she would care for their hair and paint their faces! Many were jealous of her good fortune." Mirana paused. "I was jealous of her good fortune."

"I had the High Crown of Underland, you see, but I had no child of my own. My hand fasting with the Green Duke dissolved when the union failed to produce an heir-"

"You were married?" Alice broke in, unable to help herself.

Slightly insulted, Mirana replied, "You needn't sound so surprised, Alice."

Coloring, the young woman apologized, then added, "I just…with all the White…I had thought that perhaps…"

Smiling in understanding, Mirana said, "That I had taken a vow of chastity as well as swearing to do no harm?"

"Erm…Yes! Quite."

Shaking her head, Mirana said, "No, my dear. That is not the case." Her eyes flashed in a brief show of humor. "And have you not noticed the touches of green about Marmoreal? Not coincidental, dearest." She continued on, following that statement with a more serious expression once again. " As I said, I was jealous of her good fortune with Tertian. For many years I watched her fall pregnant again and again, and each time she produced twins! To even have one child here in Underland is a miracle worth celebrating, Alice-but to have so many beautiful babies…I determined, sometime after you left, that I would no longer wait idly by and vaguely hope for the chance to hold a child of my own. I would seize it."

A suspicion was forming in the back of Alice's mind, but she was not going to speak it aloud. Nodding to show she was listening, she picked up a new danish, more to give her hands something to do than from hunger.

"I started slowly. I complimented Tertian. I told him he was handsome, that he was brave, that he deserved more than just the paltry Red Crown." In a voice full of shame, she said, "I offered him the High Crown of Underland, if he were to lay with me and make a child quicken in my belly."

Alice gagged on the small bite she'd managed to take, and hastily set down the danish. It seemed she was not to have any sort of success with that type of pastry that day. Grabbing her glass of water and gulping a swallow down, Alice coughed then said, "You seduced him?"

An old anger stirred in the back of Mirana's eyes. "I did not know then that Tertian had been waiting for just such an opportunity. He lay with me, and then he told me that I would never conceive a child; that when I took up the mantle of the Winter Queen, I had forsaken my fertility. For Winter does not bear fruit, Alice…it brings only the cold, and Death. Never new life."

The moonlight had filtered lazily through the bedroom, making Mirana's skin glow. She rolled to her side, propping her head upon a fist and stared at the male that lay smugly beside her. His entire expression and manner of being made Mirana uneasy; it was as if he knew something she did not. Perhaps it was just his reaction to having his baser urges fulfilled, she told herself, knowing even as she thought it that wasn't quite right.

"How many more times, do you think?" she asked, reaching a dark finger-tipped hand out to rest on Tertian's chest. When they had finally come together, there had been no illusions of love between them; he knew what it was that she sought, and why.

Tertian picked up her proferred hand and proceeded to nip at her fingers. "As many as you'd like. I am quite at your disposal tonight."

"You know that is not what I ask." Sitting up, she pulled the sheet that had pooled at their feet upwards, so that it just covered her breasts. "Approximately how many joinings do you and Racie usually partake in before she becomes with child?"

His rounded jaw had rippled with amusement, then, as he'd said, "I believed that was the sort of talk that sisters commonly took part in. You do not already know of how…fervently passionate Rac is? Even when she is heavy with child we are unable to keep our ardor at bay."

Not in any sort of mood for the lecherous or teasing speeches that he would typically fall into, Mirana sat forward, and had used one of the more stubborn frowns she possessed. "How long, Tertian?"

A lock of dark hair fell across his forehead as he sat up. His small eyes narrowed further. "So that's how it is to be, then, Miri?" He turned away and got out of the bed, unselfconciouslessly naked as he picked up his clothing from where it was stacked neatly on a nearby chair. "We could swive until you were bruised completely over and my prick fell off from sheer abuse, but you will never bear a child, you idiotic chit."

"What?" had been all Mirana had been able to gasp, mind reeling.

"History was never your strong point, was it?" Buttoning his trousers closed, Tertian did not even pause to look at her as he crushed the greatest hope she'd ever had. "There was a reason why the aunt you inherited your White Crown from passed it to you and not an heir of her own loins. White is the Winter, darling, and new life doesn't begin in those dead months."

"You knew…and you still…?" Stomach churning, Mirana faced the fact that she had been thoroughly and completely duped by a man that she had already known was not to be completely trusted, all due to her overriding desire. She had betrayed her sister, and for what? Promises that were leaf-currency, crumbling away in her hands. The taste of sulfur was thick on her tongue.

Swallowing thickly, as if she tasted still that yellow mineral, Mirana said, "Then he told me that I would give he and his Queen the High Crown with no fight, else he would inform all of what I had done. Doing so would mean war between several kingdoms, my own and my sister's as the center. I never wanted to fight with Racie! I was envious of what she had, yes, but I didn't want…not…not that. Yet I could not just give my Crown to her. The same reasons I had whispered to my parents as to her unsuitability of wearing it were still present…and if I was unable to bear a child, then I resolved that Underland would be the one to receive my mothering urges. Iracebeth's realm was known for fits of temper and random violence…I could not, with my vows in place, allow the Red to sit on the High Throne. So I refused him, then attempted to Convince him that speaking of our joining would be to the benefit of none."

"You…Convinced him?" The Capitalization of the Word was heard, and Alice wondered as to its significance, wondering even as she asked if her mind was focusing on the smaller details of the story being woven for her so another part of her could begin to process this confession.

"My eyes, Alice." Mirana admitted. "For many, they have a…hypnotic effect. It is a gift I do not normally use, for it is very draining and raises many questions even in my own ponderings as to the morals of my actions, but…if I concentrate, and stare deeply into another's eyes, they will feel temporarily compelled to look favorably on my requests."

She looked over then, and saw the look of horror on Alice's face. "No, no! It does not work on you, Alice! Do not be alarmed!"

"It doesn't work?" Alice demanded. "Phrasing it as such tells me that you tried!"

"Of course I did!" Mirana said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. "The Oraculum stated that you were to be the one to slay the Jabberwocky. When you refused to be Champion that first evening when we were on the balcony, I attempted to Convince you otherwise. You were resolute. You do not expect me to have such a tool at my disposal and not use it when the fate of my entire land hangs in the balance?"

Settling back into her seat, Alice said mulishly, "No, of course not. That doesn't mean that I like the Idea, though."

"It did not work the way I had hoped with Tertian, either. While it was not a complete failure, as it was with you, I now almost wish that it had been instead of what did occur; so much would be different now…"

"Mirana?"

Shaking her head, the Queen blinked rapidly, looking over to Alice with a sheepish glance. "Thank you, Alice. It seems I borrowed a trait from Tarrant for a moment. I hope he forgives me for being so terribly forward." She took a deep breath, then continued.

"Instead of Convincing him to not speak of…that night, Tertian became smitten with me. Whereas before he was simply taking advantage of my all-consuming desire for a child, afterwards he truly wanted me. He wrote me poetry, sent me gifts, created excuses to come to Marmoreal whenever possible. At first, I think Iracebeth was amused. After she learned that we had been intimate, however…her rage knew no bounds. She ordered him executed, along with any and all that had ought to do with him…including their children."

Not yet having had the urge to mother a child herself did not prevent Alice from feeling cold horror at the White Queen's words. "Her children?"

"Yes." A rocking-horse fly buzzed by Mirana's face, and she absently brushed it away. "By the time I heard of her plans, it was too late; Tertian was dead, and her children were to be felled the very next day. Underland, though, had different ideas. It whisked the Red Royals away from their cells, and hid them throughout Herself-although I did not know this at the time-none did. I mourned with the rest of Underland's inhabitants, for none knew what became of the children all had loved so well…but I was recently informed that they were hidden with a purpose in mind.

For none other than a Royal born or Crowned by Underland itself may fill any Royal Seat that becomes vacant, and Underland knew that Iracebeth's thirst for blood would be ended with husband's death. It was not, either. Once he was gone, she systematically destroyed every other Royal, rampaging through Underland in a single day-the Horunvendush Day. Why she chose to allow me to live, I still do not know…perhaps some lingering vestiges of sisterly affection? Instead, she took the lives of my favorite peoples, the Clan Hightopp…every man, woman, and child, except for Tarrant…who was only spared, I think, because he was with me."

"No." Alice cut in. "She purposefully told her soldiers to allow one Hightopp to live that day. That was the promise she used to bind the Jabberwocky, you see…she said he would gain his freedom once every last Hightopp was dead, and not a moment before." At the White Queen's startled look, the young woman said, "Jabber told me, you see. While we battled in Somewhere Else Altogether."

"O-oh." Nonplussed, Mirana said, "Whatever the reasoning was, we both lived beyond that day. I was of course grateful to Tarrant for saving me from the onslaught of that day. After several attempts at expressing my gratitude, I came to realize that I would not be able to Convince Hatta of the depth of my regard. He was already Convinced that he deserved no such thing, you see, much to my despair. There was precious little motivating either of us to continue on in those dark days. The Hatter slipped into his first bout of what he calls the Badness, a protracted event that lasted weeks.

Shortly thereafter, the blank stretch that the Oraculum had become changed, showing an end to my sister's reign. We would be delivered by a beautiful Champion, and I had a reason to hope once more. So I showed the good news to Tarrant as well, and for the first time in much too long I saw his smile once more."

"It's Alice, your Majesty!" he declared. "I'd know him anywhere. That strange little boy will be returning to us. I knew that she was special. Didn't I say as such to you, after her kind visit to March's Tea?"

"For even then" Mirana smiled, "he was fascinated by you, dear Alice. After your first visit he spoke of nothing but you for a week altogether, though I doubt he was aware of doing so-in fact, he wasn't even aware that you were from Above at the very first."

A tiny blue hat sat perched at a jaunty angle atop the head form, and Tarrant chewed on his lower lip as he carefully sewed tiny seed pearls to the white netting that swept to one side. "It's wonderful, Hatta!" Mirana said, "Albeit a bit miniature, even for a head of my unfortunately small size."

"Oh, it isn't for you, your Majesty." the flame-haired man replied, cursing softly under his breath as he jabbed a finger with the needle. "The Alice-child will be returning to us, I am sure, and I want her to have a proper hat when she does. Terribly unconscionable of her parents, allowing her to scamper about without any sort of haberdashery at all. If I knew who they were, I might go to them and tell them as such myself."

Amused at the sheer amount of devotion the little girl had been able to commander from even one brief visit, Mirana had been reluctant to inform him of the unlikelihood of her return, but felt she owed it to her friend nonetheless.

"The Alice was not a Hightopp run amok, Hatta." His large green eyes had blinked rapidly, startled at the White Queen's strange statement. What else could she have been? Much too charming to be one of the Duchess's offspring, she was, and then there was the general lack of her pigishness…

"She came from Above." she explained, and was sorry to see his clothing darken slightly in a surprisingly deep show of sorrow. His attention stayed on the Hat before him, but he lowered the needle, netting only half decorated with pearls. "I see." he said. "Is a shame, as she was a delightful conversationalist. I should have liked to have met the parents of such a child…if I am ever so blessed with offspring, I hope they are half as amusing. I felt that we could have been great friends."

Mirana was uncertain if Tarrant had meant he would be great friends with Alice or with her parents.

"Well, no matter!" he said, with some cheer. "Perhaps Masiri will like a new hat?" (Masiri was a porcupine of discerning taste.) Picking up the half-finished Alice hat, which was apparently done enough to be a fully-finished Masiri hat, Tarrant set it upon a shelf, and determinedly looked away.

"Your second visit, though, endeared you still further to him."

"Your message is delivered, your Majesty." he bowed before her, and Mirana nodded gently. "Thank you, Hatta. Any news to report?"

"Not…news, as such." he said, twisting the thimble on his pinky. "The Alice child has returned."

"Oh, I know." Mirana had absently replied, only glancing up at the Hatter when his nervous fidgeting stilled.

"You knew and did not think to tell me?" he asked, an odd note in his voice.

"Why would I?" the Queen asked, confused. She's known that her Hatter had enjoyed picking on the child during her last visit, and had been disappointed to learn that she was not of their Realm, but had not considered that he might wish to renew their acquaintance. "She helped me fetch my shawl. It had quite gotten away from me."

"You did not think to bring her back with you?" Tarrant asked, eyebrows twitching. Seemingly recalling that he himself did no such thing, either, he'd subsided with, "She's such a wee thing, to be wandering about by herself. I must wonder once more at her parenting, madam, if they allow her such liberties. I hope she manages to avoid Trouble. "

"I am certain she will." Mirana had smiled.

"Do you not think it unusual, your Majesty, that a girl-child from Above can, without any assistance whatsoever, not only find her way to us once, but twice?" he blurted out, then covered his mouth with his fingertips, wincing apologetically.

"Underland must have her reasons, Tarrant." the Queen had replied.

"I wonder what she does to amuse herself up there. What games do the children play? She seems very eager for conversation. Perhaps she is Starved for it; mayhap children are not permitted to speak Up There at all."

Laughing at the absurdity of such a statement, (for really, who would discourage their children from speaking? It was a silly idea, at the best.) Mirana said, "She is to join Iracebeth and myself for dinner later tonight, Hatta. You can ask her yourself then."

Clothes brightening, the Hatter grinned. "I shall, your Majesty!"

"Of course, someone slipped you too much Upelkuchen and you became quite distressed during the meal. A few winks after scooping up Iracebeth and shaking her…" Mirana sniffed, torn between sadness at recalling a happier time with her deceased sister, and amusement at that sister's expense, "you up and disappeared on us. I still do wonder how it was that you were able to do that."

Reverting back to the subject both ladies were eager to discuss (the Hatter) Mirana said, "After seeing what the Oraculum said, Tarrant was determined to assist what he immediately dubbed the Underland Underground Resistance in any way he could. He hid dissenters to the Crown, he delivered messages, he picked up his sword and began to train in earnest. It was wonderful to see him with a light of purpose about him again! When those things failed to make much difference-the hiding and the message delivering, at any rate-he resolved to wait for you. He, Thackery, and Mally set up their Tea by Windmill House, and there they killed Time."

A small furry shape drew Alice's attention, and she sat up in her seat, to see the Dormouse, who had been completely absent for the same stretch of time as the Hatter had been, struggling towards them with an envelope larger than she was upon her back. Standing, she strode over to Mally, Mirana's dark eyes watching the exchange with interest.

"Mallymkun! Here, let me help you with that." Picking up the envelope, she was startled to see that her name was scrawled across the front in oddly elegant, spiky characters.

"Do you know I've been over the entire castle and half again looking for you?" the Dormouse huffed. "You could have helped me by being in a single one of the places you usually haunt!"

"We are both here now, and I have the envelope." She held it up in illustration, which she hardly needed to do, as Mally was very aware that Alice had it, for it was no longer weighing upon her back.

"What he sees in you…" the Dormouse mumbled under her breath, "I can't imagine. It's certainly not your sparkling intellect."

"He?" Alice sharply asked. "Is this from the Hatter?"

"Instead of swooning at me you could open it and find out for yourself." was the sharp reply. Not wasting any more time, Alice eagerly did so, cracking the wax seal she normally would have steamed open, fingers scrabbling for the card inside. Fine, heavy weight vellum greeted her touch, and she pulled out a plainly elegant little card. Her eyes read the words three times before making sense of them at all, but when she finally did, more than the hint of a smile graced her features.

---

The Hatter stared at the Box sitting before him. Occasionally a finger, of its own volition (which was a terrible breach of etiquette, the saucy thing, to act without his permission!) would reach out and poke the side, or stroke a few of the gemstones embedded into the dark wood. He'd had nothing better to do for the entirety of the past week other than stare at the box, save for follow Alice around Marmoreal's halls, wishing desperately she would lift her restrictions. And he was bloody well done with doing that, thank you very much. At least for today, for she hadn't been searching for him anywhere near the spots she usually did (his workshop, the gardens, the kitchens).

Sighing, Hatter considered the Box once more. He'd could admit that he'd hoped Alice would be with him when he opened the lid, but that was becoming more and more of an unlikely event. (Not that he had the Key to open it anyways, and without an Alice by his side, he wasn't sure it was worth the Pain of Memories to go back to Hightopp Hill and search for it.) No one had said as much, but she would be returning to the Above soon. It was obvious, in the way that she watched those around her, the way she stared at the furnishings in the hallways, the way she spoke to the trees and flowers. She was intending on returning Above, and she would forget, this time by choice.

"You are a fool, Tarrant." he said to himself, voice softly lisping. A small stack of blank vellum invitation cards sat next to the Box, and his eyes flicked from them to the inkwell on the desk, indecision hemming his movements. A shaking hand reached out and snatched up one of the cards, the other inking a quill and jotting down words in what he hoped were in some semblance of the proper order. He sanded it, then stared at the spiky letters. Would this one suffice?

"Would you please leave, Hatter, until you are ready to speak to me in a rational manner?"

Jaw clenching, he ripped the invitation to shreds. Confetti-sized pieces joined the growing pile of rubbish on the floor, Hatter put his head in his hands, ignoring the feel of some still-wet ink smearing along the side of his face. There would be no more tears today, he told himself firmly. He was a Hightopp, and it was about time he started acting like it!

He'd written invitations to the Alice, Champion Alice, and Queen Alice-none of them seemed like the right proper type for his-no, he said to himself viciously, not his!-Alice. Just Alice.

"Just Alice…" he murmured, picking up the quill again, this time a wide smile stretching wide across his face. "Just Alice!" The missive was sanded, in an envelope and sealed with his symbol in a matter of moments. He wrote her name across the front-just her name!-and set it aside.

"Are you done with that now, Hatta?"

"Mally!" Tarrant started, turning to see the Dormouse sitting on the back of a nearby chair. "I did not know you were present!" His bowtie fluttered a bit, as even though her company was unexpected, it was not unwelcome. She had been his near-constant companion this last dark week, and he would have slipped terribly into the Badness if not for her kindness.

"I know." Mallymkun said dryly, hoping from the chair she was on to the top of the writing desk the Hatter brooded at. "I tried to get yer attention, but you were too busy destroying unsent letters. Is it…" Mally paused, for even though she knew the answer before the question was asked, she knew the confirmation of such would be painful to herself, "Is it for her?"

"An invitation." the Hatter corrected, looking down into his lap. "For Alice, yes."

"Do you want me to deliver it to her?"

Astonished that his friend would offer such a thing (as she'd made her feelings for any form of Alices quite well known over the past several days, while perched on the Hatter's shoulder as he followed Alice about), Hatter looked up sharply. He saw only compassion and a genuine desire to help on the Dormouse's features, and smiled gratefully at her. "Would you, Mally? I would deliver it myself, as that it the most proper way of delivering an invitation, but I…I am not certain she wishes to see me, and do not think…" he paused, the words wanting to choke him, his admonishment to himself to be more of a Hightopp already forgotten. "I could not be present, if her answer were to be nugatory. I'm no where near brave enough to…if she were to reject me…You understand, don't you, Mally?"

"Of course, you big lug." Mally's black eyes shone as she considered her friend. Screwing up her own courage, she scampered to atop the Box, stood upon her haunches and bussed the Hatter's cheek. Her whiskers tickled him, and he giggled despite his dour mood. The Dormouse hurried over to the sealed envelope and heaved it upon her back, then jumped down from her perch and towards the door. "You'll be here?" she asked, forcing herself to stop long enough to ask (for it wasn't as if the man could see how her cheeks burned underneath all of her fur, was it?). "So I can bring you 'er answer?"

"Aye." the brogue crept into his voice. "Naw go, afor I be changi n' me mind, hmm?"

Mally went.

"A million times a fool, old son." Hatter said, slumping back down into his chair. "But what have ye to lose?"

---

A/N: More bits of made-up-by-me Outlandish scattered throughout here.

Lickspittle malodorous crowleys-for this, I combined a word from the film (lickspittle) a real word (malodorous) and one other (crowleys) to equal a general term meaning an unpleasant, suck-up oriented person.

Berspintu Candy-a type of pain reliever in lozenge form; so sweet tasting as to be gross

Wendering Day-the second day after Iracebeth's attack on Mirana, in the Oraculum


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