Mood Rings

VIII.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!"

I sat upright in bed so quickly, it took me a long moment to even realize where I was. My mind whirled with the possibilities, even when I saw Mirana glide into my room and swing the curtains to each side of the window. The sunlight that poured in seemed to scorch my eyes and I had to immediately throw my head back down and cover it with a pillow.

"Alice, really now. Just because you get to stay in a royal palace doesn't mean you get to sleep all day," Mirana scolded gently, though still with her air of gaiety, "Iracebeth has been waiting for you for some time now."

I slowly pulled the pillow off my face to look at her. I had no idea what time of the day it was exactly, but I felt like I only got a few hours of sleep. I had stayed with Hatter almost all night, hating the thought of leaving him alone in that cold room. We had talked mostly about what I should start doing to plan our escape, but the conversation sometimes drifted to my journeys to other countries.

"Why is she waiting for me?" I finally asked, slowly swinging my numb legs to the side to step out of bed.

Mirana smiled. "Does she need a reason? She simply wishes to dine with you. So of course we should begin picking out an appropriate dress for the day, yes?" She went to the walk in closet and swung those doors open similar to how she did with the curtains.

"I can pick out my own clothes," I said, accidentally letting my annoyance slip through. It could have possibly been my lack of sleep, but it was also partially that I always hated when my mother would tell me what I should wear to what occasion just because she thought I was incapable of making suitable decisions.

She turned around with grace. "Of course, Alice, I will leave you to it then." And with that, she practically floated out of the room. It made me wonder if I should be worried that she left so easily.

I wanted nothing more than to lay back down and pass out for a little longer, but my worry over what the Red Queen would do to me if I did kept me moving. I did wonder why she wanted to meet with me though…

*****

"Ah, there she is," the Red Queen stated matter-of-factly as I walked into the large dining hall. She sat at the far end of the table and I felt like I had to walk thirty feet just to reach her. "Sit," she demanded, "you shall join me for breakfast this morning."

A little monkey in a bellhop's outfit struggled to pull out the large chair for me. I wished I could help the little guy out, but the Red Queen was staring at me with such scrutiny, I feared I could get the monkey in trouble for not doing his job properly.

I ran my hand down the back of my burgundy dress as I sat, staring at the highly formal setting on the table. When the Red Queen didn't say anything for some time, I nervously looked over at her to see her still staring at me. It was only then that she spoke again.

"You like cranberry tarts?"

I wanted to say no and refuse her hospitality. Who knew what I might have to owe her later on if I began accepting her offers? But when my stomach growled dangerously loud, causing the Red Queen to raise her high eyebrows even more, I couldn't hide the fact that I hadn't eaten since I had those small cakes at the tea party when I first arrived back in Underland. I was starving.

Blushing only lightly, I covered my stomach with my hand, "Yes, they are quite agreeable."

"Fish!" She screamed so suddenly that I jumped, though not surprised when a fish servant came slipping and sliding into the room with two plates on either one of his front fins. I still wondered how he survived out of water. Did it mean that in Underland fish had lungs as well as gills?

Once the plates were put down in front of both of us, she picked up her fork but asked, "Would you like anything to drink with that? Tea, perhaps?"

When she mentioned tea, I began to feel absolutely horrible. Here I was, about to enjoy a tasty treat, when Hatter was still down in that room locked away. Was the room brighter since it became daylight, or was it still completely black?

I stared at the tart in front of me, ashamed when my stomach growled again. I picked up the fork also, "No, thank you."

The Red Queen merely shrugged and began eating, "I was thinking that after this we could go out to the back garden and play a bit of croquet." She paused in her eating and stared at me as if challenging me to say otherwise, "You do like a pleasant game of croquet, right?"

"I…yes, I suppose. But, if you don't mind me asking, My Queen…why do you want to play croquet with me?"

For some reason, I didn't feel too shocked and when she responded in the same way the White Queen did when I asked her a similar question. "Do I need a reason?"

*****

The game was atrocious. She still had those same poor animals as her objects of choice. I pretended like I had terrible aim so I wouldn't have to feel the impact of the flamingo's head knocking against the tied up porcupine. The Red Queen didn't seem to mind too much. She was winning, after all.

Afterward, she had me sit in the throne room with her as she babbled on about how wonderful she was going to make her boring sister's castle. Stayne made his way in at one point, and though he stood behind her, I felt his eyes continuously on me. I tried to keep my focus on the Red Queen's large head, but I finally couldn't take it anymore and glanced up at the tall man.

I thought that maybe he would look away once I caught him staring, but the meeting of our eyes only made him smile. It wasn't a nice smile either. It was a mischievous smile…one that made me think he was up to something…or knew something.

I began getting paranoid and had to look away. Did he know I was faking my loyalty? Did he see me walking into Hatter's room last night? Was he planning on cornering me later to ask about these things? Or worse…

"Alice!"

I jumped when the Red Queen screamed my name. I looked at her again to see that she looked quite annoyed that I hadn't been listening to her.

"What are you so busy daydreaming about?"

"I…" my mind whirled for something to say. Luckily for me, I have a good imagination. Or maybe I'm just a good liar, "I was thinking of ways to get the Hatter on our side."

"Oh?" She seemed suddenly interested, "And what ways have you come up with?"

"Well…you could use him as entertainment."

She looked amused, "Entertainment?"

I nodded, "You know, have him make you hats and dresses and the like…he is quite skilled with his hands. You could even have him come in here every now and again and tell a riddle or two. He's also very good with words and can come up with creative puzzles and jokes."

"Hm…" She put a finger to her chin and looked up to Stayne. I saw that he already disliked the idea and opened his mouth to tell her it wasn't such a good idea, but she ignored him, "Does he juggle?"

"Um…" The question sounded absurd to me, "I'm not quite sure."

The Red Queen raised her arm slightly as though it should be the most obvious thing, "I was just wondering. After all, he does look and act like a clown. And clown's juggle, don't they?"

I tried to suppress my anger from her words. I was only trying to trick her into letting him do some of the things he enjoyed so he didn't have to be tied up in that dark room that had nothing. I didn't like the way she was making him sound like some sort of jester she hired in to amuse her whenever she wanted.

"I will consider it," was her final answer for now.

I tried to stay positive about getting the Hatter more freedom as I looked around the throne room. There were two red cards standing by the entrance of the door and about six peacocks went around dusting off some of the furniture in the room with their tails.

I was at least glad I didn't see any of the creatures I knew personally under the Queen's spell. McTwisp and Mallymkun were no where to be seen, and neither were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I wondered if any of them even knew that Hatter and I were kidnapped. Were they trying to figure out a way to get us out? In one way, I hoped that they were…but in another, I preferred them to stay away from this dangerous place.

*****

It was nighttime again before I knew it and my heart ached from having been kept from Hatter all day. For some reason, the Red Queen kept me by her side all day. I was relieved when she finally began to yawn and declare it was close to her bedtime.

I didn't know if she had some of her slaves going down to Hatter's cell throughout the day to feed him, but I didn't want to just assume so and have him starve. I repeated the same ritual as the night before; staying awake freezing cold then got up and lit a candle when I figured the rest of the palace was asleep.

I remembered to pull a robe on this time so the cold air wouldn't be so harsh on my skin before I made my way out into the hallway in search of the kitchen. I vaguely recalled the way from the last time I was at the White Queen's castle and she made me pishalvar so I wouldn't be so tall.

I reached the double doors that led into the kitchen and, not imagining that anyone else would be in there this time of night, pushed one door open. I was so thankful for my reflexes that I achieved from having to avoid many tea cups at Hatter's tea parties, for I only took but one step into the kitchen before I saw a large plate come flying toward me.

Ducking, I heard the plate shatter against the door above my head and was glad I moved enough to dodge the falling glass.

"Why are you always so late!?"

My eyes widened when I saw the March Hare standing atop the island counter in the middle of the room. He held up a large spoon that looked like it was about to get chucked at me, also.

"Thackery! When did you get here?" I questioned, coming further into the room despite his maniacal smile.

"I've been here forever! You're the one that's late!" He stated again, finally tossing the spoon to which I luckily avoided again.

"Are you under the Red Queen's spell as well?" I leaned against the counter to be close to him, hoping to get a straight answer at one point or another.

He jumped off the counter and grabbed a large bowl to put over his head. It looked like he was wearing a helmet, and when he picked up a fork, it almost looked like he was trying to mock the Red Queen, "What a mad, crazy thing to say, you late, incompetent…" he seemed to struggle to find another word, "…perpetual…!"

"Oh, shut up you annoying little vermin!"

The voice that came out of nowhere made me turn to my right to see an old lady that looked to be no more than four feet high. She looked pleasant enough…like a grandmother that would only be nice to her grandchildren and no one else. She had been behind one of the large cupboards that easily hid her from view.

She shook her head as she limped toward us, "All day and all night, that's all I hear! Mad this and crazy that!" She kicked a stool closer to the counter so she could see the tabletop, "I swear, if I hear those words one more time…" But she didn't finish.

I stared at her very curiously, quite sure I had never seen her before. She began grabbing different objects and liquids around her to pour into a small pot that was sitting over a flame.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare, you stupid girl?" she asked after a few moments.

I stood up straight like she had just slapped me. Why did those that didn't even know me always have to call me stupid!

"I was only trying to recall if I had met you before," I stated, tightening my jaw when she laughed at me.

"If I don't look familiar than I would think it should be pretty apparent that we've never met," she threw something odd looking into the pot that made it sizzle.

"Ring around the bluddy behg hid!" The March Hare began singing with his "helmet" and "scepter". When he spoke the Outlandish, his eyes bulged and it seemed as though he was going into convulsions.

The old woman closed her eyes in irritation, "Stop it…"

Thackery didn't listen, "Pock-et full wyth bluddy behg hid!"

"That's it!" The old woman moved surprisingly fast when she grabbed a vial full of pink liquid and jumped off the stool. She knocked the bowl off his head and grabbed his ears, forcing him to drink it.

"What are you doing!?" I gasped, running around the counter to try to get poor Thackery out of her grasp. But about time I did, it was too late and the vial was already empty.

I held the March Hare in my arms and felt him go limp. When he looked at me, his pupils were very small and he seemed so calm that it scared me. I glared up at the woman, "What did you do to him!?"

She rolled her eyes at my dramatics and climbed onto the stool again, "Relax, I only gave him something to calm him down. Believe me, you'd give it to him too if you had to spend so much time with him," when she saw that I still wasn't eased down by her words, she sighed. "Don't worry, it wears off within a few hours. I made sure of that when I created it."

Something about how she said the last part made me wonder…

I looked down at Thackery to see he was slowly swaying the fork back and forth across his face, his eyes never leaving the tips. It looked like he was putting himself in a trance.

"Wait a minute," I stood up and walked closer to her, "Do you make all the potions around here?"

She smirked at me, a very proud and menacing smirk, "It's my specialty."

I'm sorry I had you guys wait so long! I've been so busy with school and work it was beginning to feel like I'd never get to write more of this story! And I'm sure some of you could tell that this wasn't exactly my greatest chapter. But with the time I had, I wrote a paragraph here and a paragraph there…and it kept going like this since the last time I updated until now. So while trying to keep all my thoughts in line, I also tried to have a decent flow with the chapter.

Also, terribly sorry that Tarrant didn't get to make an appearance this time around. This is one of those filler chapters, I suppose. I promise the next chapter will make more sense and be a bit more…muchier!