A Dream So Dark

by L. L. McKinney

  Twenty-Six

  MEMORIES

  “Because I love you.”

  “You what?” The Black Knight’s eyelids fluttered as his mind short-circuited. He hadn’t heard that right. Clearly, he’d imagined the last bit, but what the devil did that say about him?

  He glared up at Addison Hatta, who’d gone from trying to crack his skull open to claiming he didn’t want to hurt him, when there was absolutely no reason for the other to want to do anything but tear him apart. And yet …

  Hatta just continued talking, like he wasn’t spouting utter nonsense. “Or at least I used to.” He pursed his lips, his brow furrowed. “I know I fucked up, and I’m paying the price for that. And I know what I did hurt you, but … strewth! For you to pretend you don’t even know me? To do all of this!” He flung his hands into the air. “With how much you hated what I’d become, you just went and did the same thing?”

  “I am nothing like you!” Anger poured through the Black Knight. “You’re a coward. A traitor, who murdered Queen Portentia and allowed her usurpers to take her place. Then you drove her remaining forces into the Nox.”

  “W-what?” Hatta stared like he wasn’t sure exactly what he was hearing, or like no one had ever confronted him for his crimes. “Murdered? Portentia wasn’t—”

  “It never occurred to you we’d retaliate, did it?” The Black Knight felt a smile twist his lips, satisfied with the shock on Hatta’s face. “That we’d ever grow strong enough to come back from the brink. But we have, and you will all suffer as we did.”

  Hatta continued to stare at him, his lips pressed into a thin line. After a moment he tilted his head, his expression suddenly thoughtful. Something in the Black Knight shuddered, as if it recognized that look. But it couldn’t. He didn’t.

  Instead his mind pulled at one of his earlier visions: Hatta standing over him, Hatta pulling him to his feet, Hatta leaning in and …

  “Who is we?” Hatta’s voice jolted him from the memory.

  He blinked rapidly. “What?”

  “You said it never occurred to me that ‘we’d’ retaliate. That ‘we’d’ grow stronger. Who is we?”

  The Black Knight lifted his chin. “Those loyal to the true Queen of Wonderland.”

  “Which can’t be Portentia, because she’s dead. According to you. So who will rule in her place?”

  “Her Majesty,” he offered almost reflexively. “She who is most loyal.”

  “Does Her Majesty have a name?”

  Of course she had a name, he wanted to say, but when he tried to conjure it, his mind went blank. He could recall her face and her title—Her Majesty, his lady—but no name.

  “You don’t remember your name. You don’t remember her name. What do you remember?” Hatta leaned in, his gaze curious, searching.

  The Black Knight attempted to draw back, but the table hemmed him in. A pinch of pain twisted between his eyes. “I remember you betrayed us…” He hated the way his voice faltered.

  “How?” Hatta pressed. “When? Do you remember where it happened? What happened? Do you remember any part of the war? Any of the battles? Do you remember life before it all started?”

  He tried to. He tried to recall any of the details Hatta demanded, but all he found at the back of his mind was darkness and pain, an emptiness that allowed the questions to ricochet off one another.

  “What about the Red Queen? Do you remember her, your duty to her? To serve her, protect her.”

  The pinched feeling between the Black Knight’s eyes began to spread through the rest of his head. “I … I don’t…”

  “She was your queen, and you followed her into oblivion, surely you remember that!” Frustration edged Hatta’s tone.

  But he didn’t. Try as he might, he couldn’t recall anything before waking in the darkness, rescued from the swimming black by Her Majesty. He was lucky to be alive, she had explained. Few others made it out in one piece, but he was strong. He was resilient. He had fought bravely by Portentia’s side until the end. An end brought about by the traitor, Addison Hatta.

  Now, with Her Majesty’s strength, he could fight again, in Portentia’s honor. He could take the mantle of the one who had betrayed them, and he could secure the throne and Wonderland’s future from the usurpers. He could be her knight.

  And he accepted.

  “You … you don’t remember anything, do you.” Though Hatta’s words were soft, they leveled an accusation at him like a sword, cutting through the Black Knight’s muddled thoughts.

  His fingers twitched, wanting to reach for his own weapon in order to defend himself, but it was gone. The weight of his recklessness in coming here unarmed and seeking … he didn’t even know, started to press in around him.

  “I remember you.” The Black Knight’s heart was racing. It pounded so loud in his ears a part of him feared Hatta would hear it, or somehow sense how afraid he was.

  And he was afraid. Afraid of how none of this made sense, and yet every bit of it did.

  “But you don’t remember the truth.” Hatta reached for him.

  The Black Knight smacked his hand away again. “I said don’t touch me.” There wasn’t as much force behind his demand this time. “If you’re going to kill me, get it over with.”

  Pain flickered across Hatta’s face. He shook his head, adamant. “I said I would never hurt you, and I meant it, but you have to let me help you, Humphrey. I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s clearly wrong, with this, with you.” Hatta glanced toward the door. “There’s a healer here, a woman who might be able to … I don’t know, but I can’t leave you like this.” He extended a hand once more, but this time simply held it between them.

  The Black Knight stared at that hand. It couldn’t be true. It had to be a lie. But if it was, why couldn’t he remember? And why hadn’t he tried to before now?

  Hatta sighed. “Either way, you can’t sit there all day.”

  A sudden stab of pain shot from the Black Knight’s skull through the rest of his body. He doubled forward, his head in his hands, as pressure built behind his eyes.

  “You can’t sit there all day.” The words echoed in his mind, growing louder and louder, folding in over one another. You can’t sit there all day. Can’t sit there all day. Sit there all day. There all day. All day.

  “You can’t lie there all day,” Hatta said, his words thick with amusement.

  The Black Knight blinked his eyes open. The purple Wonderland sky stretched over him, orange clouds thick against the daylight. A shadow fell across his face and he glanced to the side to find Addison Hatta standing over him. The silver of his armor seemed to glow faintly. Two women stepped up on either side of him. The woman on his left, her dark hair pulled back from her face and bound in a tail, wore white armor similar to his. The other, her hair a pile of bright red curls atop her head, wore a plume of skirts in various shades of purple folds falling to the ground.

  “I wasn’t planning to be here all day,” the Black Knight heard himself say. “Just most of it.”

  Hatta’s smile widened, and it sent his stomach spinning in the best way. “Well, you’ll have to come back to it. We’ve been summoned.” Hatta extended a hand.

  Taking it, the Black Knight pulled himself to his feet. It was then that he noticed he too wore armor, the same red as the woman. “Nothing serious, I hope.”

  “Her Majesty likely wishes to discuss potentially assigning us to her daughters,” the woman draped in skirts said. “I hear she feels looking after the four them puts a strain on our captain.”

  Hatta grunted as he slid his arm around the Black Knight’s shoulders, and he in turn curled his arm around Hatta’s waist.

  “I’m more than capable of seeing to my duties,” Hatta grumbled as the two of them started across the field of long yellow grass the Black Knight had been stretched out in. A palace twinkled in the distance.

  “Maybe so,” the woman in armor said as she fell into step beside them. “But the princesses are
getting older and will likely start going out on their own. You can’t be with all of them at once.”

  “I fear for whoever is assigned to the youngest. She’s the one who needs looking after.” The Black Knight felt his lips quirk in a smile, still unable to control them, his tongue, or any part of his body as all of this simply … happened.

  The armored woman returned his smile. “Odette is a handful, always running off with her games of hide-and-seek with her ‘friends.’”

  “The friends none of us can see?” Hatta asked.

  “It’s just the one,” the woman in skirts corrected.

  “Well. None of it matters. You three are the finest knights in the land.” Hatta glanced over each of them, then pressed a kiss to side of the Black Knight’s head. “The princesses will be fine, no matter the assignments.”

  “Humphrey…” a distant voice called.

  Darkness closed in.

  “No…” He strained against the growing black. “No, I want to see. I have to see!”

  “Humphrey.”

  The image faded, leaving the Black Knight floating in shadow and emptiness.

  “Humphrey!” Hatta’s voice rang clear now.

  The Black Knight jolted as his eyes flew open. He glanced around, chest heaving, mind panicked.

  Hatta sagged with a sigh of relief. “Strewth.” His hands tightened where they had hold of the Black Knight’s shoulders. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to get you help. Naette!” He called, looking to the door. “Courtney, someone!”

  That’s when the Black Knight jerked back, drew his knee in, then planted the bottom of his boot in Hatta’s chest.

  With a pained grunt, Hatta toppled over backward and tumbled a short distance away. He started to push himself up at the same time the Black Knight scrambled to his feet. His side burning, his head thundering, he bolted for the window.

  “H-Humphrey, wait!” Hatta wheezed.

  The Black Knight didn’t so much as glance back as he dove through. The instant he hit the ground in a roll that propelled him to his feet, his side screaming, he let go of the hold on his physical form. The last thing he heard as the ether swallowed him was the sound of Addison Hatta’s voice, shouting his name.

  Twenty-Seven

  SOME FRIEND

  Addison groaned as he rolled onto his side. His lungs strained against the blunt force trauma of Humphrey’s surprise attack, like they’d forgotten how to take in oxygen for a moment. He coughed, the taste of blood coating his mouth. His wounds burned, torn open again, no doubt.

  “H-Humphrey.” He forced the word free, trying and failing to push himself up as the other dove out the window. “Wait!”

  Finally, he managed to get his feet under him enough to stumble over to the window. Catching himself against the sill, he stared out into the small alley between this house and the next. Empty. Humphrey was gone.

  “Shit.” Frustration pulled at Addison, but also relief, and a strange … sort of joy? Humphrey was alive. After all these years wondering, forcing himself to accept the “truth” of the other’s likely death, everything was upended. He was alive, and in trouble. Something had clearly happened to him, to his mind, for him to be doing any of this. They two of them hadn’t parted on the best of terms, but it wasn’t anything either of them would be trying to kill each other over. Whatever was going on, this lady had to be at the center of it all.

  A sudden, stabbing sensation shot through Addison’s torso, completely derailing his train of thought. He needed to get help, or he wouldn’t be around to puzzle any of this out for long.

  Arm wrapped around his middle, he made it to the door and pushed out into the hall. “Naette,” he called, moving along with a hand braced against the wall. “Courtney!” Where was everyone?

  Sharp barks pierced the air right before Duma came around the corner, jumping and yapping. Addison smirked faintly at the Bandersnatch as she raced over to circle his legs, sniffling at him. He dropped a hand to rub at her head. “Hey, girl, y-you know where everyone went?”

  She barked again before trotting back down the hall. That was when he heard voices on the air, drawing nearer.

  “I knew pretty much from the beginning,” Courtney was saying. “And she told me about Wonderland, but I never thought I’d see it with my—Hatta!” Her and Effe came around the corner holding baskets and sacks with sprouts of green and blue sticking out of them. She hurried to put her parcels down, then ran over to his side, getting up under his arm just as she had out in the forest. “What happened?”

  Addison grunted, partly in pain, partly in relief. “I had a visitor.”

  “I’ll get Grandma!” Effe put his bags down and raced back the way he’d come. Duma bolted after him, still barking.

  “Went to get dinner?” Addison asked, nodding to the bags and baskets on the floor when Courtney looked at him with her face scrunched in confusion.

  She shook her head. “Ingredients for potions and more healing thingies. Naette wanted to grab some since we were at the market looking for a horse for Xelon. Come on, let’s get you back to the healing room.”

  “Ahh. So she’s gone?” Addison winced as they shuffled around to face the other way, then back down the hall.

  “She wanted to get to Findest as soon as possible, in case Odabeth was already there.” Courtney smiled. “It’s kinda cute, those two. But you and Alice are still my favorite couple.”

  “Are we?” He chuckled.

  “OTP, baby.” Courtney pushed and held the door open with her ankle so they could get through.

  When they finally made it across the room, he sank into the chair he’d been tied to earlier. “Sorry,” he murmured.

  “What for?” Courtney asked.

  He pointed at the splotch of fresh blood on what looked like a new shirt.

  She held the fabric out to inspect it. “Oh. No worries.”

  “Oh my,” Naette breathed from the doorway. Her wide eyes traveled around the space, taking in the broken vials and toppled plants. “What happened in here?”

  “Company. The Imposter paid me a visit.”

  Courtney’s eyes widened. “That asshole was here?”

  “Yes. And … it turns out that asshole is my friend.” Hatta dropped his head back, his eyes falling shut. What little adrenaline that had pumped through him was fading, and pain and exhaustion started to chip away at him.

  Fingers peeled away his shirt and poked near his wound. He flinched but did his best to hold still. “Some friend, to leave you in this condition,” Naette said from nearby. “You’re almost worse than when we first found you.”

  “He wasn’t exactly himself.” Hatta shook his head slowly. “Stars, how did I not see it?”

  “See what, exactly?” Naette asked.

  “Humphrey! The Imposter! Being one and the same.” The way he spoke, the way he acted. Looking back on everything, it couldn’t have been clearer, yet he hadn’t recognized the other at all.

  “Don’t move so much,” Naette chided.

  “If this guy is your friend, why is he trying to kill us?” Courtney asked.

  “Something’s … wrong. He didn’t remember me, at least not entirely. Christ, he didn’t even know his own name.” Addison couldn’t get the image of Humphrey out of his mind, sitting there in front of him just staring at him with such anger, such hatred. “Something happened to him. I don’t know what, but it wiped out everything that he was and turned him into … this.” A tightening sensation crawled up his throat, and Addison swallowed the burn of tears as he pressed a hand over his face. “I should’ve gone looking for him. For both of them. Exile or no exile. He would’ve searched for me. He would’ve…” He bit into his lower lip to keep it from trembling.

  A hand fell over his. He didn’t open his eyes but figured it had to be Courtney, with Naette still working diligently on his reopened and now worsened wound.

  “This is my fault,” he murmured. “I knew, I knew Humphrey wouldn’t just disap
pear like that. Not without telling someone. And I let them convince me of the worst.”

  “People keep secrets,” Naette said as she pressed something cold and wet to his side. “Even from those they’re close to. Especially from those they’re close to.”

  “Maybe it was for a mission,” Courtney offered. “Something need-to-know?”

  Addison shook his head. “He only had one mission at that point, serve and protect the Red Qu—” He froze, his eyes flying open. Courtney was right. The only conceivable reason Humphrey would vanish like that without telling someone would be if he was ordered to, and the only one able to give such an order would’ve been the Red Queen.

  “I serve Her Majesty,” Humphrey had said. His lady. The Red Queen.

  Which meant Alice was headed right for—

  “Sharp poke,” Naette said before a needle pressed into his arm.

  Shivers spread through him from the injection site, warm and runny. A trickling sensation settled over his mind, muddling his thoughts. He blinked against a sudden swell of dizziness. “What?”

  “You need something stronger than the bath.” Naette massaged the spot on his arm. “I was out of this particular tincture, but a trip to the market rectified that. Oh, mind your head. It’ll make you drowsy.”

  “N-no … no wait…” Something … important. About Alice. He was losing it. “Alice.” His eyes rolled shut again.

  “Hatta?” Courtney called, worry pitching her voice higher.

  “Don’t worry,” Naette said, her voice dipping, slowing. “Heeeeee’lllllll beeeeee allllllll riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.”

  Alice …

  “Geeeeeeeeeeeet hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim toooooooooooooooooo thhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeee—” The voice trailed off, swallowed by a buzzing in his ears.

  Hands tugged at his body as he sank deeper and deeper.

  No … He tried to pull away, but the darkness had hold of him. It crawled through him, stealing his strength, robbing him of his senses. Sounds melded together. Voices mingled. His thoughts scattered as his mind drifted, and everything faded to black.