There has always been two rulers of Wonderland. The Red and White Queens. They were always siblings and they were always in balance. Until one day, the Red Queen decided she wanted all the power to herself.

"Gwen, wake up my darling." The White Queen told her nine year old daughter. "We must leave. Quickly." The queen's long blonde hair was pulled back into an elegant bun and she wore her oldest clothes.

"Where are we going?" Gwen asked, eyes still closed seeking the sleep they'd just been taken from.

"We must leave. Here put these on." Gwen put on the clothes without truly seeing the dingy cloth. Her mother pulled her out of bed and through the old castle they lived in. She was careful to avoid the knights stationed in the towers and the servants starting their day.

"Your majesty?" a voice froze the woman fleeing with her daughter. She turned to see a young blonde man in his squire's uniform. "Where are you going?"

"Charlie. Go back to your duties. Forget you saw us." The queen ordered.

"Your majesty, please. Allow me to accompany you. You couldn't venture into the forest alone." He said.

"No, Charlie. Go back." She ordered once more before going into the forest with Gwen.

"Your majesty!" he called for them. "Princess Gwendoline!" He attempted to follow them, but they out ran him easily. The pair traveled in the woods until they came to the ocean and met a man in a small boat.

"Your majesty." He bowed his head. Gwen, who was alert now, nodded to the man before they all climbed into the boat.

"Is the Looking Glass ready?" the queen asked her old friend.

"Yes." He told her. "A trusted guard is also waiting to take you over and bring you back when the time is right." He explained.

"Thank you." She said. She went over her plan in her head over and over again. She knew what to do, knew the sacrifices she'd have to make.

When they arrived in the city, the royal pair disembarked and made their way to where the Looking Glass was held. They snuck to the large room where the Red Queen's suits were guarding the mirror. The White Queen glanced around their hidden corner before kneeling before her daughter.

"Gwen, I need you to listen to me. I'm going to draw the suits away. I want you to run through the Looking Glass." She instructed.

"But mom…" Gwen said shaking her head.

"You must do this!" The White Queen told her. "When it is time, you will return to our home. I'm sorry I won't be able to join you." The White Queen smiled sadly at her crying daughter and kissed her forehead. "I love you, my shining star." The Queen ran out of their hiding spot and ran down a separate hallway. The suits, shocked at the sudden appearance of a blonde woman in rags, chased her down. Gwen watched them go before doing as her mother instructed. She ran through the looking glass and into an alleyway. The man had said there would be a guard waiting, but the alley would be empty. Gwen left the alley only to run into a woman and her daughter.

"Are you alright dear?" the woman asked her. Gwen shook her head before bursting into tears again. The woman gathered her in her arms before taking her home. The day was March 23rd.

After six months, Carol Hamilton adopted Gwen. Gwen and Alice Hamilton grew up together like all siblings, the best of friends. The Hamilton's could never know Gwen wasn't from their world. Gwen had to protect her new family better than she had her mother.

The suits had caught the White Queen and took her before her younger sister. The Red Queen demanded answers to many questions, mostly revolving around the whereabouts of her daughter.

"Where is she, sister?" The Red Queen demanded.

"Wonderland is doomed with you as queen, sister. The Red Queen is dead!" the White Queen told the suits and the nobles surrounding them. "The Queen of Hearts has returned to Wonderland!"

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" the Red Queen demanded. The suits hesitated before grabbing the White Queen and taking her away. The Red Queen sat in her throne and watched her sister being drug away. They say that was the day the Red Queen lost all the love her heart could possess. She started being called the The Queen of Hearts.