I landed the hover on the front lawns, stroking a hand over the handlebars as I switched off the ignition, sending silent thoughts of gratitude—as though the hover would understand—for bringing me all this way without incident. As soon as I lifted my hands from the handles, the machine seemed to lose all sentience.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the gravel, and I turned to see several large Hearts marching towards me.
No, not Hearts—not like the ones that had been stalking the city for weeks. These were double the size and more humanoid than the other Hearts had ever been.
“You do not have permission to enter,” the first robot spoke in a mechanical voice. “You are an intruder.”
“I wish to speak with the Tweedles,” I said, putting my hands on my hips as I determined to stand my ground.
The robots pointed their spears towards me. “Intruders are forbidden.”
I swallowed but didn’t move. I lifted my chin.
“Forbidden by whom?” I asked, hoping they weren’t attuned enough to human behavior to hear the quiver in my voice.
“Forbidden by order of Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Hearts.”
My heart did a somersault inside my chest. The first robot reached out and seized my arm.
“Hey!” I startled.
The other robot stepped forward to take my other arm. Together, they lifted me into the air as they turned me towards the gates.
“Intruders are forbidden.”
With its other hand, the second robot seized the hover, and, together, the two robots marched me towards the gates.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I struggled, kicking my feet in the air, but it had no effect on the robots at all. “Put me down! And put down that hover, too!”
The robot hurled the hover at the fence, and I gasped as it smashed into the wrought iron fencing, bending the metal column at a right angle as several screws spilled onto the ground.
I froze, wondering if the robots planned to hurl me out of the gates too. I looked over my shoulder and saw someone in a first-story window staring out at us. In that brief glance, I was sure it was Chesh’s friend, Oscar Pankhurst, who had gone missing only a week before.
Suddenly, another piece of the puzzle fell into place. The Queen had kidnapped people from the city—those who could build her robots and restore her palace to its former glory and who knew what else. Maybe they’d also been set to work on whatever mechanism was causing the city to move. I clenched my fists. I couldn’t let the robots throw me out before I discovered the truth.
“I’m not an intruder,” I said in as commanding a voice as I could muster. “I’m here to see the Queen. Take me to her!”
The robots stopped mid-stride.
The Queen of Hearts sat on a throne in the middle of a large room lined with red carpet and large paintings of herself. I had never seen the Queen in person. She’d disappeared before I was born, but I’d seen her pictures in the old newspapers I’d been researching since the Pinnacle clock started unexpectedly working again.
In the flesh, she was more beautiful than the pictures gave her credit. Flawless skin like alabaster, bright red hair pulled into an intricate bun and finished with a gold tiara inlaid with heart-shaped rubies. She wore a fashionably fitted vest and skirts of red velvet. Her lips were heart-shaped and painted red, which made her look as though she was smiling, but her eyes were cold and calculating as she looked down at me without moving her head.
“You are the spawn of the usurper,” she said, a statement of fact.
“Exactly right, Your Majesty,” one of the Tweedle’s said. His voice startled me—I hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room except for the Queen. The Tweedles stepped out from behind the enormous throne to come to stand at each side of the Queen.
They both bowed to the Queen, deeply and in unison. She didn’t even look at them.
“Of course, I’m right,” the Queen said, her voice smooth and rich. “I’m the rightful Queen.”
She rapped a finger against the gilded arm of her throne, then raised one eyebrow. “Bow to me, girl. I am your queen, after all.”
I lifted my chin, but the robot came behind me and laid a metallic hand on my shoulder, so forcefully that I was pushed to my knees. I glared, but the robot didn’t stop, the pressure of its hand forcing me forward until my forehead was pressed against the floor.
“That’s better.”
The Queen rose from her throne, slowly and gracefully. Her skirts swished as she crossed the floor to come to stand in front of me. The robot held me so that I could only see her embroidered slippers and the bottom of her plush skirts and layered lace petticoats.
“What are you doing here, girl?” the Queen asked. I tried to shrug off the robot’s heavy hand on my shoulder, but the robot held me down.
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be dead,” I said, speaking more sharply than I’d intended, the frustration of being held down seeping into my voice.
The Queen rapped me on the head with something sharp.
“Your Majesty,” Tweedle Dum spoke up from behind her.
The Queen did not reply.
“He’s asking you a question,” I said to the Queen.
“He’s reminding you of your manners,” the Queen replied.
Tweedle Dee walked across the room and slapped me over the back of the head. “You must address our Queen as Your Majesty.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Release her,” the Queen commanded, and the robot released me from its grip. I looked up at her. She raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Did the usurper say I was dead?” The Queen threw her head back and laughed. “As though she had such power.”
“Then where have you been all these years?” I asked. “Why have you come back now?”
The Queen hit me on the head again with her red fan. Her eyes narrowed.
“You have no right to ask questions. You’re lucky I do not take your head from your shoulders right here.” She waved a hand, as though indicating I wasn’t worth such concern. “As it happens, I have been biding my time. Waiting until the right time to reclaim my throne.”
“The people won’t accept you. The Forge is better off without you.”
The Queen’s expression darkened as her glare snapped toward me again.
“She lies, Your Majesty,” Tweedle Dum kneeled, putting his hand over his heart.
“The Forge cries out for your return, Your Majesty,” Tweedle Dee added. “The people seek freedom from the usurper.”
“That’s not true!” I said. “President Alice has been a much better ruler than you ever were. The people chose her to lead them.”
The Tweedles were shaking their heads, their blonde hair bobbing as they did so.
“What the people want is irrelevant.” The Queen waved a hand dismissively, then tapped her fan closed, before rapping it against the palm of her hand. “I am their rightful Queen. They are my subjects. Mine. Do not worry, I have a surprise for them.”
I frowned. “What kind of surprise?”
The Queen struck me with her fan again.
I rolled my eyes. “Your Majesty,” I added.
The Queen reached out and grabbed my chin with her hand. Her fingers were strong and bony, without any tenderness at all. She yanked my chin so that my face was angled upward, and she studied me with her cold, dark eyes. Her lips pursed, pinching at the edges and emphasizing their heart shape.
“Do you think I am so foolish that I would tell you so that you can run back to tell the usurper?”
“You think Alice is powerful enough to thwart your plans?” I said.
Tweedle Dum smacked me over the back of the head, harder this time. I glared at him as I rubbed my head.
“Your Majesty,” I added, through gritted teeth.
The Queen laughed. “Of course not, but it would spoil the surprise. I’ll tell you a secret, though.”
The Tweedles looked at each other, rubbing their hands together, before looking
at the Queen in anticipation.
“Tell us, please, Your Majesty,” they said in unison.
I rolled my eyes. The Queen didn’t take her eyes from me as she narrowed her eyes.
“You are insolent,” she said, then she waved a hand as though swatting a fly. “It is of no consequence. No matter what you or the usurper say or do, my friends and I will regain control—not only of The Forge but of each of the Twelve Kingdoms. There is nothing you can do to stop us.”
The Queen twirled around and strode back to the dais, where she sat down on her throne, and flicked open her fan to wave some cool air at her face. Her expression was suddenly bored, and she looked out of the window. The Tweedles rushed back to her side, kneeling next to her as though waiting for the next scraps of attention.
“Where are my roses?” The Queen rapped her fingertips on the arm of the throne. “Bring me the gardener.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” the Tweedles said in unison, and hurried away.
The Queen’s eyes roved around the room then settled on me once again. “Is this one still here? She is polluting my halls with her unbeauty. Take her out of my sight. Throw her onto the street.”
The robot behind me grabbed me by the arms again. “Let me go!” I said as I was yanked to my feet. I pulled away from the robot.
“I’m not leaving. I know what you’re doing. I know you’ve kidnapped people from the streets of Melfall. I’m not leaving until you let them go!”
The Queen raised an elegant eyebrow. “Which people?”
“The ones who have gone missing this past month or so. I saw one of them in the window when I was outside. Do you deny it?”
The Queen stared at me. “My subjects are here at my invitation. They are my special guests. They have been given the opportunity to utilize their talents. They are honored to serve me, as they should be.”
“They’re afraid they’ll lose their heads if they refuse,” I retorted.
The Queen shrugged. “They are some of the smartest people in this city. They understand the benefits of pleasing their Queen.” She motioned to her robots. “She is boring me. Take her away.”
The robot lifted me off the floor and swung me over his shoulder so that my head was hanging down his back. I banged my fists against the metal panels of his back and looked up to see the upside-down figure of the Queen of Hearts as the robot marched out of the hall.
“You won’t get away with this,” I yelled. “Not you, and not your friends.”
The Queen settled herself on her gold throne once again. She curled her fingers around the arms of her chair and watched as the robot marched out of the room. A nasty smile spread across her face, and, for the first time, I saw the glint of her fangs as they pressed against her plump, red lips. Raven was right, she was a vampire, after all.
“You are like the usurper—too curious for your own good,” she said. The robot paused, allowing the Queen to finish speaking. “Know this—you will fail.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Since you are so curious, if you want to know more, you should go to Urbis. My friends and I will be treating the populace to a party. The party to end all parties, in fact. There will be none like it.”
I shook my head, straining to keep my eyes on her as the robot kept a firm grip on my legs. “You won’t get away with this. The people won’t accept your rule—never again!”
“My people will do exactly as I tell them.”
“Your Majesty?” A man in dirty overalls, with bits of twig and leaf caught in his hair, came rushing into the throne room and fell to his knees. In his hands, he held a red rose. “You summoned me?”
“Show me my roses,” the Queen ordered. She held out a hand.
The gardener shuffled forwards on his knees, keeping his eyes on the floor. He was shaking as he held out the rose in his hands. “I live to serve you, Your Majesty.”
“You may live if you serve me,” the Queen replied. “I shall be the judge of that.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
The Queen held the rose to her nose and inhaled deeply. “A pleasant scent, and the color is good enough, I suppose. You shall live—for now. See that every rose in my garden is at least as good as this one, and you shall live a little longer.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The gardener shuffled backward, unwilling to either get up off his knees or to look up.
I struggled on the robot’s shoulder again, but its grip was unrelenting. The Queen rose up and walked slowly toward us. She stopped in front of me, then held out the rose until it touched my nose.
“This one is for you, girl,” she said. Then she tucked the rose behind my ear. “Next time I see you, I shall add your unbeautiful head to my collection.”
The Queen turned her back and waved a hand. “Take her away.”
The robot dumped me on the ground and, a moment later, the gate slammed shut, and the key turned in the lock. I rubbed my bruised hip where it had collided with the footpath in front of the Queen’s Palace. Metal feet crunched on the gravel, getting softer as the robot moved away.
I sat up, with a quiet groan. The rose was still tucked behind my ear, and I examined it.
A perfect specimen, the rose was a rich, deep red, like blood, with a lingering scent. It was exactly the same type of rose that Alice had received every day for weeks. Now, I knew where they had come from. Not an admirer, after all. Jack had been right—the roses were from the Queen of Hearts, and they were a message: She intended to take Alice’s head.
Our heads, I reminded myself. Both of our lives were in danger.
The sun beat down from overhead, and I squinted upward as I got to my feet.
In the distance, I heard the hourly tolling of the bells, and the ground jerked and shuddered as it moved. I imagined the whole of the city shifting around the Pinnacle clock.
The hover was a crumpled heap next to me. I sighed. Poor Chesh wouldn’t see his invention in action. Not only that, I would have to travel back to the hospital by foot. I felt a sudden wave of weariness and leaned against the gate with a sigh.
It was a long walk back.
With the sun beating down on my head, I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other..
7
8th September
Alice closed her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. The cup rattled as she set it back on the saucer. I glanced at the vase of roses, still as red as the day they’d been left on the doorstep. We’d all assumed they were for Alice, but after receiving a rose of my own from the Queen, I wondered whether some, or all, of them might be for me.
“The Queen of Hearts?” Pearl asked, and I turned to find her standing in the doorway. Her hand was over her mouth, and her eyes wide. I knew she’d been standing there long enough to have heard at least some of the story I’d recounted to Alice.
I nodded.
“But…she’s dead. You always said so, Mother,” she said.
Alice hadn’t opened her eyes. She was sitting very still—too still—and her hands were clasped so tightly on her lap that her knuckles were white.
“Mother?” Pearl asked.
I leaned forward to put my hand over Alice’s hands clasped in front of her. Alice jerked away, standing abruptly and walking over to the fireplace so that her back was facing us.
“So I thought,” Alice replied, her words clipped. “Nobody found her body, but I knew the Queen would not leave The Forge unless she had no choice.” Alice rubbed her hands together, as though she was washing them, over and over again. “I was wrong,” she whispered.
“Nobody could have foreseen this,” I replied, getting up to take a few steps towards Alice. “Don’t worry—”
Alice spun around, eyes wide. “Don’t worry? You don’t know what she’ll do to me. You don’t know what she’ll do to everyone in this city. You don’t remember what it was like before—of course, you don’t, you weren’t even born. People lived in fear. Every word they spoke, every time they left the house, the Queen might execute them
on a whim. She took people’s heads because she didn’t like their hats, or the lace on the trim of their shirt didn’t please her eye, or the color of their jacket clashed with her own. You can’t know what it’s like to live in constant fear for your life.”
I watched as her fingers worried at the trim of her shirt, and her eyes filled with tears.
“It has taken many years, but The Forge is changing—finally, changing. Now it may all have been for nothing. The people will be too frightened—too fearful for their lives—to admit the unbeautiful into the city. All these years, I’ve tried to rule the people of The Forge fairly, so that they could live free from her shadow. Now…”
Alice covered her face with her hands. Young Dinah purred, curling around Alice’s legs to rub against her affectionately. Alice sobbed as she bent down to bring her cat into her arms and scratch her between the ears.
Holding Young Dinah in her arms seemed to settle Alice a little, although the moisture in her eyes remained.
I heard footsteps in the hall, and Gaia appeared in the doorway. “Something’s happened?” she said, as her eyes found me. I nodded and pulled my sister aside to explain what had happened the previous day.
“So, we go to Urbis,” Gaia said.
Alice looked up sharply, starting to shake her head.
“I agree,” I said before Alice could voice her misgivings. “The Queen has people helping her. Their next move will be in Urbis. If we’re going to stop the Queen from regaining control of The Forge, we need to go there.”
“It might be a trick,” Pearl murmured. She moved closer to Alice and put an arm around her mother. I noticed how similar they looked. There was no doubt that Pearl was Alice’s natural daughter. There were years between them—noticeable by the fine lines around Alice’s eyes and the few grey hairs that marked her temple—but otherwise, they were almost identical images of each other.
“We have to take the risk,” I replied. “You should stay here with Mother. Gaia and I will go to Urbis.”
Alice glanced at us, her eyes shifting from me to Gaia, and back again. “Alone?”
Ivy: Daughter of Alice Page 34