The Looking-Glass Curse: The Complete Series

by Eva Chase

If these were my people, if I was going to save them, I had to do it right from the start. Which meant they were going to have to believe in just me, regular Lyssa.

  “Here’s what we know so far,” I said, pitching my voice to carry, willing it not to waver. “The trial will take place tomorrow morning in the palace gardens. First, Unicorn and Lion will be staging one of their usual fights for the spectators. We’ll have a chance of entering through the east gate. The prisoners should be out in the gardens too, but we have to assume they’ll be restrained somehow. A few of the Spades were taken as well tonight.”

  “A trial,” someone scoffed. “As if there’s any question of the outcome.”

  “I agree,” I said. “The Queen is planning on executing them all. It’s just a big show to try to turn the rest of Wonderland against the rebellion. Which is why we have to stop her from seeing that plan through.”

  “I’m all for that,” the burly man said. “How do you suggest we do it? For an event like that, she’ll have the guards prowling all around the place.”

  “Honestly,” I said, “I’d like to hear what you all would suggest. You’ve run a lot more missions than I have. What have you found in the past that’s worked well when you’re dealing with a large number of guards?”

  “We don’t usually go up against that many if we can help it,” a guy near the back said. “The White Knight always says to get out of there fast if the odds turn against us.”

  Like in the palace, after we’d retrieved the pocket watch where the Queen had trapped Time. When the guards had been breaking down the door, Theo had thrown his devices that had burst into smoke to cover our escape.

  Would something like that help us tomorrow? Smoke might confuse the guards and the spectators… but when there were so many of them, I couldn’t imagine blanketing the gardens with smoke without getting totally confused ourselves. We still had to make it to the prisoners and get them out.

  “I can handle any locks,” Hatter said where I’d left him near the end of the table. He had his head cocked a little to the side, probably because his wound was still hurting him. The white patch of the bandage stood out against his dark blond hair. “You won’t have to worry about that part.”

  As if I wasn’t going to worry about him running around in the Queen’s gardens less than twenty-four hours after one of those guards had nearly put him in a coma.

  “Good,” I said. “So the main problem is getting to the prisoners and getting them back past the wall.”

  “Once we’re out of the gardens, it won’t be too hard to scatter,” a woman said. “The Queen won’t want to leave herself vulnerable sending too many of the guards after us.”

  Also good. Unfortunately, it didn’t solve the larger problem.

  “We’ve used distractions before,” I said. “Can anyone think of something that could draw away most of the guards?”

  “From something like this trial she’s making such a to-do about?” Dum said doubtfully. He glanced around at the assembled Spades, and I could see him making the same assessment I had.

  We were vastly outnumbered, even more than I’d counted on. And the artifacts I’d hoped might make a difference were out of reach thanks to the Queen’s guards too.

  “At this point, we could probably set fire to the actual palace and most of them would stay with the Queen,” someone muttered. “She’d order their heads off if they left.”

  “What about the mission some of the young ones ran this evening?” the burly guy said. “We might have more support turn up at the wall—that was what they were aiming for, from what I’ve heard.”

  “The Clubbers who witnessed the display didn’t appear particularly swayed, in my humble opinion,” Chess said with an apologetic grimace.

  Dee sighed, his normally cheerful expression darkening. “At least they tried. Doria really went big with that display.”

  His gloom passed over the faces around him, but something in his words made my heart leap.

  Went big. How big could we go? How big could I go?

  I had to cover my mouth to contain the slightly hysterical giggle that almost slipped out. Why hadn’t I thought about that before? I’d gotten so focused on trying to figure out how to be the queen of Wonderland, how to access the powers of the royal line I’d known nothing about a few days ago, that I’d forgotten who I’d been first.

  I was an Otherlander. And Otherlanders could do things Wonderlanders couldn’t, as I’d proven when I’d made my dash for the pocket watch.

  I could save my people, and I could do it without putting a single one of them at risk. The opposite of what Aunt Alicia had done: I’d run toward the problem and leave everyone else behind where they’d be safe.

  That was what they deserved in a queen.

  “What are you thinking, lovely?” Chess said, peering up at me with a knowing light in his eyes.

  “I know what to do,” I said. “I can break the prisoners all free on my own. There are powers I have here as an Otherlander that I can use.” It wouldn’t have worked when the prisoners were locked away in the dungeons somewhere deep in the palace, but outside in the gardens—it might not even be hard. A giddy wave of exhilaration mingled with relief tickled through me.

  Hatter was frowning, as if he had anything to complain about after all his mad exploits in the last few days. I swiveled on my feet, taking in the Spades all around me.

  “This is the plan,” I said. “We’ll meet by the road, and you all will wait, hidden, outside the palace walls around the eastern gate. I’ll go in alone. You’ve done so much for this rebellion; I don’t want you in any more danger than you need to be. I’ll get the prisoners out, and all you’ll need to do is help them get away from any guards who pursue them that far. They might need places to hide for a while.”

  “You’re going in alone?” the particularly skeptical woman said. “Are you sure? What’s this power you’re going to use?”

  “You’ll see,” I said. “I think it’s better if as few people as possible know what I’m planning, in case the guards round anyone else up before the trial. I—I’ll pass on word to the White Knight, and if he disagrees with my approach, he can direct you differently.”

  The Spades muttered a little amongst themselves, but they started to disperse. As they moved away from the table, Chess, Hatter, and the twins drew closer.

  “What do you need us to tell the White Knight?” Dum asked.

  Gears were already spinning in my head. “Chess, the club will still be open, right?”

  “It gave every appearance of being so when I moseyed by there,” he replied.

  Hatter raised his eyebrows at me, and then winced as if the movement had provoked his injury. “You need to get off your feet,” I told him.

  “You’re not leaving me behind tomorrow,” he said. “Doria’s in there. I’m coming.”

  “You can be right there by the gate waiting for her. All the more reason you’d better rest now.” I turned to Dee. “Make sure he gets back to the cellar safe house, will you?”

  Hatter grumbled wordlessly, and Dee hesitated, but the more upbeat twin didn’t argue. What exactly had Theo said to them about me? As Dee tugged Hatter toward the doorway, I looked at Dum.

  “You can tell your boss everything you just heard. He doesn’t need to do more than show up to help the prisoners get back to the city either.”

  Dum crossed his arms over his chest. “I think he’s going to want a little more explanation than that.”

  “Just say I’m taking the opposite tactic to how I handled the pocket watch,” I said. “I’ll get those people off the palace grounds. He can focus on how to take care of them after.”

  “You’ll be in the cellar tonight if he wants to know more?”

  “That’s where you’ll find me.”

  He made a face and sauntered off, leaving just me and Chess. The brawny guy hooked his arm around mine. “I take it we’re off to the club?”

  “Let’s go.”

 
“It’s probably best if I’m seen as little as possible at the present moment,” Chess said as we headed up to the street.

  My heart twinged, but I made myself say, “That’s fine. As long as you’ll still talk to me.”

  “I doubt anyone will recognize me from my voice, exquisite as it may be.” He chuckled and faded into the air beside me. “Still here.”

  “Good.”

  We walked in silence through the dark streets for a few minutes, Chess letting his elbow brush against me here and there to confirm he was still with me. I turned the words I wanted to say over in my head several times before I was sure of them.

  “I haven’t seen much of you since last night,” I said. “You were supposed to come see Unicorn with me. I’ve been worried about you. Where have you been?”

  I could almost hear Chess’s careless shrug. “Here and there. Did you miss me?”

  The question was playful, but it made my throat squeeze.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I did.”

  His invisible hand found mine, his thumb stroking over my knuckles. “I’m sorry,” he said in a more serious tone. “Last night, it hit me that… that I’m still not totally free, in many senses of that word. I wanted to determine the best route for getting to a place where I am without putting you or anyone else in danger along the way.”

  I wished I could look into his eyes right now. I glanced up at approximately where his face must have been. “You don’t have to protect me like that. I want to help you.”

  “I know. But I feel this is the sort of quest I must complete on my own.” The wry note had come into his voice. He paused as we reached a vacant cross-street and tugged me closer to him. The graze of his lips sent a warm flush through me even though I couldn’t see the man in front of me.

  “If you go down that street, you’ll get to the safe house,” Chess said quietly. “I think perhaps you should let me take the route ahead of us on my own too, Lyssa. I can slip into and through the club unseen—you can’t. Tell me what you need there, and I’ll bring it to you.”

  He might have a point. This part of the plan didn’t require both of us.

  “All the mushroom pieces you can get,” I said. “Especially the kind that makes you feel larger.”

  All at once, Chess snapped back into sight. He peered down at me. “You mean the kind that would make you become larger.”

  “Go big?” I said with a tight smile.

  He brought his hand to the side of my face, bowing his head over me. “No matter how big you grow, you can still be hurt, you know.”

  “I know,” I said. “But no one else will, and that’s what’s most important.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Lyssa

  T he Queen of Hearts had prepared for the trial as if it were going to be a show at a country fair. From the secret platform among the chittering trees, I could see the stands she’d set up for her “jury” of palace folk, fancier than anything you’d see at a regular fair with the gold railings and red satin ribbons, and the spectator area cordoned off with tasseled ropes. A huge gold throne sat waiting for the Queen’s arrival. A glossy podium stood just to the right of it, ready for the supposed witnesses, I guessed. And at the far end of the little meadow between those structures lay a big iron-barred cage.

  I’d figured it was wise to keep wearing the armored vest, and the edge of it pressed against my waist where I was sprawled on my belly. I scooted forward. The guards were leading the prisoners out to the cage from the palace now.

  My hands clenched as I watched them stumbling along. Doria came in the middle, a bruise blooming purple just below her left eye, and I was abruptly glad that I’d insisted that Hatter stayed on the ground.

  The Diamonds started to gather, most of them in the spectator area, but the ones in the fanciest garb settling themselves onto the stands. The Duchess was one of those, primly patting her upswept honey-blond hair. She looked as carefully poised as when Doria and I had spied on her stroll through the city weeks ago.

  A fresh rush of anger shot through me with the memory of Chess’s story. How she could have tortured anyone that way, let alone that sweet, jubilant man…

  A few city folk had arrived too—the ones the Queen had under her thumb. Caterpillar’s unmistakable jointed body wove through the crowd of spectators. I spotted the long white ears of his lackey, Rabbit, a short distance away.

  Trumpets blared. The Queen strolled into view, a blood-red cape draped across her shoulders that would have dragged on the ground if two attendants hadn’t been hustling behind her, holding it up. Her massive crown glittered over the whorls of her copper hair. She was smiling the same sharp smile as in the painting I’d seen of her weeks ago, and that eerie gold sheen glinted off her wide-set eyes.

  Behind her came a small procession lined by guards on either side. I assumed this was the rest of the Hearts family—the ones who remained in the palace, anyway. The pasty, stoop-shouldered king with his smaller crown followed right behind the Queen’s cape, with several men and women I’d have taken to be somewhere in their thirties at his heels. Some had hair matching the queen’s coppery shade, some a golden color like Mirabel’s. Like the young prince’s had been in that painting—like Theo’s must be without the dye powder. My throat tightened.

  There were no special seats for the rest of the royal family. The Queen sank into her throne, and the rest of the Hearts took spots on the stands at the end closest to her. Everyone, even the princes and princesses, shot wary looks toward their ruler.

  We’re all scared of her. This was a woman who had kept her own daughter locked away so no one knew the woman existed for decades, who’d hit her hard enough to unmoor her mind even more than it already had been. Who was grinning with a razor edge right now at the prospect of watching dozens of her citizens slaughtered. Nausea pooled in my belly.

  The Spades hadn’t been wrong about the number of guards. A row of at least fifty of them formed a ring around the section of the garden reserved for the trial, denser by the cage of prisoners. More clustered around each of the gates, including the eastern one I could just make out over the trees to my right.

  The Queen clapped her hands, and the chatter that had been flowing through the gathered crowd silenced in an instant. “Where are our champions?” she called, her voice so cutting it carried all the way over the wall to my treetop perch.

  “Right here, your Majesty.” Unicorn stepped up in front of the throne in the scarlet short pants he’d worn for the previous fight I’d watched. He gave the Queen a quick bow. Lion sauntered over beside him, shaking back the voluminous mass of his mane.

  Their duel must be about to start. I’d better get ready. I scrambled down the notches in the tree trunk to rejoin Chess and Hatter.

  The other Spades were spread out among the trees. Well, most of the other Spades. When we’d met up, Theo hadn’t been among them. Where the hell was he? Even if I didn’t want to see him, he was supposed to be here for his people.

  I couldn’t worry about him right now. “She’s there,” I said to Hatter immediately. “They haven’t beat her up badly or anything like that.” But the clock was ticking down on how long Doria would keep her head at all.

  My hand dropped to the bag full of mushroom slices hanging from my shoulder. All the growing ones were in there. I’d stuffed the shrinking ones into my pockets.

  “I’m going over to the gate,” I said. “The fight is about to start. As soon as Unicorn makes his disruption, I’m heading here. You two stay outside the walls with everyone else like we talked about, all right? Just get the prisoners out of here.”

  “Lyssa,” Hatter started with a grimace.

  I pointed a finger at him. “You have a head injury.” I turned to Chess, whose stance was tense too. “And I don’t want to have to worry about accidentally hurting you because I don’t see you’re there. I can do the inside job on my own. My head will be too far up for them to even think about chopping at it.”

  Chess gri
nned at my attempt at a joke, but his voice was tight. “If you need us…”

  “I know. I’d better go.”

  I grasped their arms quickly, bobbing up to give Chess a quick kiss and then Hatter, just enough to leave me a tiny bit warmed as I darted through the trees toward the eastern gate.

  The wind whispered through the leaves. I treaded carefully through the brush until I could just make out the gate through the trees. A grunt and a thump of a landed blow reached my ears. The fight had started.

  I dug my hand into the bag and pulled out a handful of mushroom slices. My gut clenched, but I forced myself to pop two into my mouth in one go. I had to be ready. I had to be as big as I could make myself if I was going to pull this off alone.

  As the tart earthy flavor saturated my mouth, the stretching sensation I’d felt twice before now shuddered through me. My head shot upward, my neck extending, and then my shoulders and chest zoomed after it, the vest expanding around my torso as my body grew.

  Wonderlanders only felt like their perspective was growing or shrinking when they ate Caterpillar’s special mushrooms. It turned out they affected Otherlanders much more literally.

  I had to sway to the side as my body loomed up through the trees, my head nearly slamming into a branch. The growth spurt stopped with my head amid the leaves. No, I needed a little more than that.

  I gulped down another slice, and my body jerked even taller. A rippling sensation spread through my legs, and I grasped a tree trunk for balance. I topped out with the highest foliage level with my eyes.

  Perfect. I could see into the gardens now, but not enough of me was showing for anyone to be likely to notice, especially when they were focused on the fight.

  Unicorn and Lion were circling around each other. They’d ended up leaving the meadow of the trial area behind, swiping and dodging on trampled grass closer to the gate. Unicorn must have maneuvered them in that direction.

  Lion lashed out with a paw, smacking Unicorn’s muzzle with a scrape of his claws. Unicorn shook his head as he yanked himself out of the way. Then he charged, his horn pointed straight at Lion’s chest.