The Looking Glass Wars (21 page)

Bibwit‘s large ears crimped in perplexity. ―Your imagination has not gone, Alyss, because there is nowhere it can go to. It is within you whether you like it or not. You will see. You were born to be a warrior queen, like your mother.‖ But here the wise tutor paused, remembering Alyss sitting backward on the spirit-dane after she‘d emerged from the Pool of Tears. She had been disorientated, of course. Yes, better to think positive thoughts. ―You will fight alongside your army,‖ he continued, ―and you will face Redd because only you have the strength and power to defeat her.‖

―A warrior queen?‖ Alyss guffawed. ―What do I know of warfare or weaponry? The only time I‘ve lifted a sword was when Dodge and I used to play our juvenile games.‖

―By successfully navigating the Looking Glass Maze, you will evolve to warrior queen. The maze will release what‘s inside you.‖

Alyss shook her head, doubtful.

―How the Looking Glass Maze will accomplish this, even I can‘t say,‖ Bibwit continued. ―In Queendom Speramus once stated, ‗Only she for whom the Looking Glass Maze is intended can enter.‘ I look forward to the day when you can tell me what‘s inside.‖

―I don‘t know, Bibwit. I just don‘t know.‖

Wasn‘t it possible that she might no longer be the rightful heir to the crown? Her years and experiences in that other world had severed the girl she was from the woman she was supposed to have become. Redd did away with two generations of Heart rulers that horrific afternoon.

―Tell me about Dodge,‖ she said.

Bibwit was quiet for a long time. ―None of us is the same since Redd‘s return. Some of us are more changed than others. As to the man Dodge Anders has become, I think it best to let you discover that for yourself.‖ The tutor hopped to his feet. ―Well, we‘ll soon be making a trip to the Valley of Mushrooms, where the caterpillars will instruct you. Finish your tea, collect your thoughts, and then we will begin the lesson we should have begun thirteen years ago.‖

Alyss watched Bibwit scurry off. Not having touched her tea, with no thought to what she was doing or where she was going, she stood and walked through the camp. Alyssians gathered outside their tents or cooking food over gemstone fire pits bowed to her as she passed. Some shouted, ―In Alyss we trust!‖ Others declared, ―May the light of White Imagination again shine on Wonderland, my princess!‖ Alyss tried to look as hopeful as she could under the circumstances.

Alyssians. They call themselves Alyssians. Now see where I‘ve ended up.

She stood outside a tent, not just any tent—his—her feet carrying her there almost without her knowing.

Should I announce myself or…?

But no need. Here he was, stepping out of the tent.

―Hello,‖ she said.

Dodge tensed, pushed out his chest, and stood with his back straight. ―Princess.‖

He was surprised, caught off guard—she could see that.

―Was there something you wanted,‖ she said, ―before, when I—‖

―Bibwit‘s told you that we‘ll have to risk a journey to the Valley of Mushrooms?‖

―Yes.‖ Had thought, hoped, it was something else. But what, exactly? ―Dodge, do you really think I can lead a battle against Redd‘s forces?‖

―I do.‖

―That makes one of us. I‘m sure it‘s too late for whatever Wonderland expected of me. I‘d ask you to take me home, but I no longer have any idea where that is.‖

She felt unbearably sad all of a sudden and wished that someone, anyone, would put a comforting arm around her. But her pout only seemed to harden Dodge, to make him even more callous toward her. ―There‘s something you need to see,‖ he said.

If the future of the queendom weren‘t at risk, and if Dodge weren‘t being so cold and distant toward her as he led her out of the Alyssian headquarters, Alyss might have been able to convince herself that they were heading off on a harmless adventure, as they used to do in simpler times.

CHAPTER 36

J ACK OF Diamonds tramped through the Everlasting Forest carrying a case the size and shape of a bread box.

―Prove my loyalty? Haven‘t I proved it time and time again? Haven‘t I turned in traitors who dared to steal her weapons? Haven‘t I kept her informed of Alyssian activities? If just once she didn‘t let herself be governed by her temper…A summit—that‘s how I would‘ve dealt with it.

Pretend to grant the Alyssians statehood, lull them into complacency. I would marry the princess while remaining loyal to Queen Redd and she‘d control the Alyssians through me. That‘s the way to handle things. But all anybody around here wants to do is fight.‖

A kitten the color of burnished gold poked its head out of the top of the case.

―No, you don‘t,‖ Jack said to the animal. ―You‘d better stay out of sight altogether.‖

He put a fat palm on the kitten‘s head and tried to push it back into the case, but the kitten hissed, openmouthed, and scratched him with a nimble paw.

―Ow!‖

Jack tossed the case to the ground, sucked at his wounded hand. The surrounding trees twittered.

Jack could see the kitten‘s tail whisking back and forth out the top of the case, but the animal made no sound. Wasn‘t he in a favorable position here? He had his archrival stuffed in a bag! He could easily do away with a little kitten. Yes, yes. Then Redd would have to rely on him and him alone for counsel, and he‘d convince her to enact plans of which he could take better advantage.

But what of the task at hand—the ambush? And what if Redd were watching him right now in her imagination‘s eye? No, he‘d better wait. To get rid of the kitten was too risky at present. But at the first opportunity…

He picked up the case and continued on through the forest. The kitten‘s tail, still snaking up out the top of the case, brushed against his hand. He paused and looked around. Now, where was the Alyssian headquarters? He always had trouble finding it. To the left maybe? Yes, definitely to the left. But after going a couple hundred paces, he decided it must have been the other way. But four hundred or so paces in the opposite direction seemed to bring him no closer. He was lost.

The kitten growled. But then a wink of sunlight on a crystal shooter caught Jack of Diamonds‘

eye: two Alyssian guards patrolling the perimeter of the headquarters. Aha! He knew it had been close. But perhaps, now that violence was near, it would have been better to stay lost?

He approached the guards with a cautious tread, the color draining from his face, making it almost as pale as his beloved wig. ―We must increase security now that Alyss is here,‖ he said, coming upon them. ―I have requisitioned more perimeter guards.‖

―If you believe it necessary, Lord Diamond.‖

―Obviously I do.‖

―Yes, sir.‖

―Is…the mirror keeper about?‖

―Not at present, sir.‖

―Ah, well.‖

Jack shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He had started to sweat; his scalp itched horribly. ―Any idea when he‘ll be back?‖

―No, sir.‖

―Oh.‖ He felt the kitten moving inside the case, impatient. ―I, ah…I have something for him.‖

The guards said nothing.

―Maybe one of you should take a look at it?‖

If the guard who volunteered had had the time, he might have noticed that Jack of Diamonds was trembling. But as soon as the unfortunate fellow held his face over the opening of the case to see what was inside, out came the two manly arms of The Cat. Jack stumbled backwards, dropping the case. But before it hit the ground, while the guard was screaming, The Cat morphed into full assassin and did away with both guards. A wave of alarm passed through the trees and shrubs of the forest.

The Cat turned to Jack, his claws dripping blood. ―Summon The Cut.‖

Jack reached into a pocket with bumbling fingers. He raised a marbled crystal bubble to his lips and blew into it. Nothing. It was a sound for The Cut alone. He heard them coming, the scissor-sound of their stalking limbs: three decks in all, 156 soldiers.

―I, ah…think I should wait out here,‖ Jack of Diamonds managed. ―I don‘t want my position with Redd to be compromised, which it will be if I‘m seen by General Doppelgänger or any of the others.‖

The Cat knew better. But it was all right; the cowardly Jack of Diamonds would only get in his way. ―Do what you want,‖ he spat, and accompanied by the high cards of The Cut, he pounced into the Alyssian headquarters while the lower numbers began smashing its perimeter mirrors.

CHAPTER 37

D ODGE HADN‘T told her that they‘d be leaving the forest. They should have informed somebody. Bibwit, the general, Hatter. We should have told them we were going. That‘s what the old Dodge would‘ve done… The ten-year-old Dodge Anders who had prided himself on strict adherence to military procedures and the importance of communication among members of a fighting force. But a lot about the adult Dodge was unlike the child Alyss used to know.

He kept in front of her, moving at a rapid pace, and she often had to trot just to stay in sight of him. He turned around every now and again to make sure she was still following him, but really, he could have been more considerate. Wouldn‘t hurt him to slow down a little.

They came to the edge of a shabby city, the one she had already passed through this day. The pawnshops and military checkpoints, the ear-clutter of recorded voices declaring ―Better Redd than dead‖ and ―The Redd way is the right way.‖ The barrage of gaudy, flickering advertisements for products and places Alyss had never heard of. I can hardly…is it really my once-gleaming city? The only landmark she recognised was The Aplu Theater, where she‘d seen performances by the Merry Pretenders, an acting troupe favored by her parents. It was boarded up and had been left to rot. The few Wonderlanders she saw passed through the city like shadows, flitting and ashamed.

Dodge was waiting for her up ahead. About time he showed some consideration. But when she stepped up beside him, she found that it wasn‘t manners that had made him stop and wait for her.

―That is your home,‖ said Dodge. ―Redd left it standing to show how far the Hearts and White Imagination have fallen.‖

She grew dizzy, looking at the ruins of Heart Palace, her mind suddenly aswirl with memories.

Where Father and I used to play tag in the halls and he could always catch me by making me laugh. ―The letters of my name spell ‗alnon‘ or ‗onnal‘ or ‗lonan‘ when shuffled around,‖ he‘d say. And laughing, I‘d say, ―But those aren‘t words,‖ and he‘d know where I was from hearing my voice, and he‘d tag me, saying, ―Why, Alyss, I never claimed they‘d spell actual words!‖

And where there were all sorts of nooks perfect for spying on him and Mother, and I saw him massage the nape of her neck as she sat on her throne, she lifting her face to his for a kiss.

―Can we go inside?‖

―If we‘re careful.‖

The grounds appeared deserted—no Wonderlanders looting the place, hurrying past with goblets and cutlery in their fists, because there was nothing left to take. But Dodge unsheathed his sword all the same, and he guided Alyss carefully to the palace entrance, keeping his voice to a whisper.

―The poor and desperate sometimes live here for a while, until they die from imagination-stimulant addiction or Redd sends them to the Crystal Mines.‖

Entering through the broken front gate, Dodge‘s heart pumped as quickly as if he were in battle.

He hadn‘t personally set foot in the palace since the day he and the rook buried his father—

hadn‘t wanted to return, afraid of what he might feel. He held his face turned away from Alyss, wrestling with emotions he was no longer used to experiencing.

Inside, the once-great halls were scarred with obscenities, and what little that had remained of furniture and decorations lay in charred piles throughout, evidently used as fuel for fires.

―It‘s empty because people stole things,‖ Dodge said. ―Right after, you know…that day.‖

Alyss reached out, ran a hand along the cold stone walls. ―It‘s not empty,‖ she said. The place was full of the past. At a bend in one of the halls: Here is where I imagined the floor covered in squig berries and the walrus slipped on them and dropped the tea platter and squashed the berries, rolling in them and turning himself squig color. In the anteroom of her mother‘s throne room: Here is where I used to charge toll to the servants, not letting them pass unless they gave me a treat of jollyjellies or tarty tarts.

Skeletons of card soldiers and chessmen littered the dusty hall approaching the South Dining Room. Many more skeletons were in the dining room itself. The air tasted as if it hadn‘t been breathed by the living in more than a decade. The walls were pockmarked from Redd‘s attack, but no weapons were anywhere to be seen. Silent tears coursed down Alyss‘ cheeks. She turned to see if Dodge was crying, feeling the sorrowful weight of the scene, but it was difficult to tell in the dimness of the room.

―Your father,‖ she whispered.

―He‘s…buried in the garden.‖

Dodge‘s voice sounded choked. He was taking deep, even breaths in an effort to remain calm.

Anger birthed from grief. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to make someone feel the pain and loss he felt standing in this place.

Alyss bent down and picked up off the floor a triangular-shaped, weathered, chipped piece of bone. It hung on a bit of chain. ―Do you remember this?‖

He wasn‘t sure. It couldn‘t be—

―You gave it to me. I said I would keep it forever.‖

The jabberwock tooth—the one he had given to her as a birthday present. She unclasped the necklace and secured it around her neck. The tooth hung at her throat.

―I never thanked you for saving my life, so…thank you.‖

He winced, as if the thanks physically hurt him.

―Dodge, I know it‘s hard seeing each other after all this time. So much has happened. We‘ve both grown into adults we never imagined becoming. But I would have expected a friendlier reception from you, of all people.‖

―I‘m sorry to disappoint you.‖

―That‘s not what I‘m saying. It‘s just…we were friends, Dodge. We were more than friends.

Wasn‘t that why you came for me in that other world?‖

―To defeat Redd, to face The Cat, I would do anything.‖