by Eva Chase
The glow contracted back into the ruby. The hum died off as well. The Queen of Hearts slumped where she sat, the tension seeping from her stout body. She lifted her head. One of her stiff curls fell loose across her forehead. Her gaze fixed on Theo, her brow furrowing.
“Jack?” she said hesitantly. “What am I doing here?”
Theo’s mouth formed a tight smile. “You’re setting things right, Mother. Come with me. We’re going to end a war.”
The throne called to me to stay, but I’d be back soon. I pushed myself off of it, taking up my sword as well as my scepter. The power that had flowed into me kept tingling through my nerves as we made our way out of the royal chambers, along the hall, and to the parapet where the Queen had watched the beginnings of the battle before it had started to turn against her. A battle that would now be finally done.
We stepped out into the cool night. Clangs and shouts clashed in the gardens below. “Stop!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “The fighting ends now! The throne is mine. The Hearts have fallen.”
“Tell them,” Theo said to his mother, gripping her arm.
The guards had fallen back at the sight of their former queen, who stood shaken and crown-less before them. She blinked, her chin trembling before she found the words.
“There’s nothing to fight for,” she said. “The throne isn’t mine. I give it up.”
“And the Red Queen claims what was rightfully hers!” Chess called out.
The Spades and Clubbers whooped, excited laughter spilling through the gardens. The palace guards dropped their weapons. I gazed out over them in my first act as Wonderland’s official queen and felt the breeze wash over me like a wave of peace spreading across the land all around me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
One month later
Lyssa
“Do you really have to go already?” Melody asked as the waitress cleared our lunch dishes from the café table. My best friend gave me a pleading look that was offset by her wry smile.
There was something comforting about the muted colors and the soft melody of normal Otherland music in the room around me, but coming to this world already felt like taking a trip, not coming home.
“A queen’s work is never done,” I said with a grin. “But I promise I’ll do my best to make it for your big fashion show next week. We’re still studying the whole mirror connection thing to figure out how to predict the passing of time.”
“Well, until you do have it figured out, I’m happy to stay on call for spontaneous meals whenever you happen to drop in.” Melody shook her head, still smiling. “I just tell myself that you’ve relocated to some other actual country. That’s a whole lot easier to wrap my head around. The less said about that crazy place you’re actually going back to, the better.”
I laughed as we stood up. All three of the Otherlanders the Knave had held hostage had been pretty shaken up by the experience, to say the least, but Melody had bounced back the fastest. We had an unspoken deal that I didn’t talk too much about the weirdness of my new life and she wouldn’t hassle me about how much danger I’d put myself in, and we’d continue on like friends who just didn’t live as close to one another anymore.
“Have you heard anything else from your mom?” Melody asked.
I grimaced as I pushed past the café door into the parking lot. “Her last few texts were still in full freak-out mode. I’m sticking with the whole no-contact thing until she can talk to me without having a breakdown.” The last time I’d seen Mom—as well as the last time I’d talked to her, a week after that visit—she’d sobbed and cajoled and demanded that I go back to a hospital or at least come “home” so she’d know I was okay. The way she was acting, she needed help a whole lot more than I did.
The same old sense of duty had prickled over me. But I had other people counting on me now—and I shouldn’t have had to be the one to support Mom back when I was a kid either. At a certain point, enough was enough.
I’d told her I loved her, that I was happy, and that I couldn’t keep talking to her until she could accept those facts without constant reassurance. I’d also nudged her to get in touch with the therapist she’d seen a few times. If she could turn to a counselor instead of to me with all her worries, maybe we could have a better relationship down the road.
“I’m sorry,” Melody said. “Even if I kind of get where she’s coming from.”
“It’s only been a few weeks,” I said. “I think she’ll come around with enough time.”
What the moving guy had made of the whole experience, I wasn’t totally sure. He’d stammered something about needing to get home the second I’d brought them all back through to my house and practically torn a hole in the driveway getting out of there.
When we stopped at our cars, which were parked side-by-side, Melody touched my arm. “You know, even if I kind of get where your mom is coming from, I’m really happy for you at the same time, Lyss. There’s something about you… Like you’re lit up from the inside in a way you weren’t before. Maybe I don’t understand this whole situation, but I can tell you’re doing the right thing for you. That’s the best I could ask for, for my best friend.”
Affection for her swelled in my throat. I gave her a hug, and she squeezed me back tightly.
“I’ll give you a call as soon as I make it here again,” I said.
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Melody said. “Bring me a couple more of those Wonderland dresses if you can spare them, all right? I got some great inspiration from the first one.”
I gave her a thumbs up and got into my car.
My spirits lifted as I drove through the dreary weather toward Aunt Alicia’s old house—my house now, not that I spent much time in it these days. Mrs. Plisby, the woman I’d hired to take care of the place during my absences, was out in the front yard pulling up weeds. I waved to her before heading inside. I paid her well enough that she didn’t ask any questions about where I disappeared to during those absences.
All the furniture Mom and Melody had ordered packed up was now back in place, other than a little rearranging to suit my tastes. The mirror to Wonderland stood in the master bedroom, freshly polished. Even now, a giddy sensation raced over my skin as I stepped close to it and watched my reflection fade away. I touched the glass and reached through it to the surface on the other side.
After some trial and error, I’d found that I could direct my journey through the Otherland side looking-glass just like I could when I traveled from the Wonderland side. No more pond dunkings every time I slipped through. With a whisk of wind and a whoosh of darkness, I popped out into the entrance hall off my royal chambers.
A lot of the grandeur the Queen of Hearts had decorated her rooms with had been stripped away. I’d discovered the cherry wood floor under the thick carpeting and stripped the gold-gilded paper from the walls. The plaster was now painted a subdued moss-green that happened to be one of my favorite shades. On it I’d hung not fancy oils but sketches and paintings the city folk had made in celebration of their newfound freedom.
Out in the rest of the palace, people were still at work removing the unwanted traces of the Hearts’ rule. Afternoon sunlight streamed through windows no longer choked by thick velvet curtains. The smell of fresh paint tinged the air. The workers smiled and waved at me from where they were swiping their brushes over the wall farther down.
I hadn’t checked on two of the former royals in residence today. I stopped by a second-floor room and knocked on the door. Mirabel’s voice rang out on the other side. “Do come again soon!”
She was looking mainly backwards today, it sounded like. I eased open the door to find her sitting on one of the sofas we’d moved to this set of rooms from her Tower apartment. In the last few weeks, she’d decided to put aside her knitting to give embroidery a try. Beside her, the former Queen of Hearts was stitching away at her own strip of cloth.
The older woman looked up at me and offered a faint smile. She always gave the impr
ession that she didn’t entirely remember me but suspected that she was supposed to. Whatever the combined effects of Theo’s memory gadget and my scepter had accomplished, it’d both wiped the violence from the tyrant’s mind and left her a little vacant. But Mirabel seemed to find her mother’s company pleasant enough in her new state. It was easier keeping an eye on her here in the palace than off where the rest of her children might nudge her in less positive directions.
Like every day, I asked, “How are you doing?” and “Is there anything you need?” Today Mirabel asked if she could have some silver thread sent up, but otherwise she showed nothing but contentment. I didn’t ask her to try to pry into the future or dredge up the past. We’d left her head aching with enough of those requests in the past.
Besides, everything around me told me the future was bright.
As I came past the grand staircase into the wide front hall, I caught sight of Doria slipping away into one of the side rooms with Kip and Mallo, all of them laughing. A figure shifted in the shadows beside the staircase—Dee, watching them go, his expression so fraught it sent a twinge through my heart.
He’d apologized profusely for his betrayal, and his guilt over his brother’s death hung over him like a cloud. I wasn’t sure any of the Spades would ever feel comfortable treating him like a real friend again, though. As someone who’d once sacrificed a lot trying to save her mother from going under, I wasn’t going to keep kicking him while he was down, but I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready to give him much responsibility either.
He hadn’t even managed to save his mother. We’d found her body in a pile of what Carpenter had called “discards” out at the Oyster Cove, her reformed head stalled in mid-growth. Apparently they’d lost nearly a quarter of the new pearl-heads thanks to the hasty adjustments to speed up the process. I couldn’t imagine how painful that loss must be for Dee on top of the other.
“I can take a little comfort knowing the Queen of Hearts couldn’t force Mom into being her slave,” he’d said when I’d delivered the news. We’d held a memorial for her and all the other fallen city folk not long after the battle.
I followed the railing around to the door that led to the parapet. From that high vantage point, I could see across the palace grounds all the way to the little town the Diamonds and the remains of the Hearts family were building for themselves on the opposite side of the club from the main city. We’d never found any definite proof that the Duchess and her allies had meant to betray us, and I’d wanted to give everyone a blank slate for the beginning of my rule.
They did have to build the homes they wanted for themselves, though, since they preferred not to mingle too much with the city folk, and I wasn’t keeping them in the palace.
The rough scrape of stone sliding against stone reached my ears from their construction site. Caterpillar’s hulking, segmented form came into view briefly between the trees, lugging a slab the size of a boulder. He’d decided to look to them for new career possibilities now that I’d relieved him of his club.
“I think we need new management all around,” I’d told him, remembering the way he’d leered at me when he’d thought I was just a Dreamer who’d stumbled into Wonderland. Rabbit hadn’t been able to hide his giddiness when I’d handed him the keys.
Closer by, Unicorn had just finished a run around the lawn we’d set down where the mass of rose bushes used to be. Chess ambled over with a remark I could tell was bantering from his tone even if I couldn’t make out most of the words, and Unicorn chuckled in response.
The bright feathers of the royal jabberwocks gleamed as they meandered between the freshly planted flowerbeds—every sort of flower Wonderland had to offer, other than roses. One of the creatures sprawled on its side, soaking up the sun. Since the Hearts had fallen, all the aggression had seeped out of their temperaments. They acted like overgrown feathery puppies most of the time. But if a bunch of Diamonds, say, got it into their heads to storm the palace, then the teeth and the fire would come out.
The main gate opened, and Theo strode into the garden with a couple of the Spades he’d been making the rounds with. A queen needed a royal guard of some sort, and I’d asked the former White Knight to take charge of that area of my rule. No more oddly shaped helms or pleated uniforms, though. He’d gone back to his preferred white dress shirts and gray slacks. They did suit him, after all.
I left the parapet and headed down to meet him. As I came out into the courtyard beyond the front doors, Hatter approached a couple of women sitting on a granite bench at the edge of the garden path. He held out a hat with a tuft of jabberwock feathers to the younger one.
“Fully customized to your requests,” he said with a tip of his own hat. He’d restarted his business out of one of the rooms in the palace, and in the celebratory mood after our victory, there’d been plenty of call for eye-catching hats among the Clubbers.
“It’s gorgeous,” the woman said, setting it on her braided hair. “Thank you so much.” She turned to show it to her companion. The older woman considered it with clear but wandering eyes. She was a pearl-head—maybe the woman’s mother.
“Very nice,” she said in a quiet voice. None of the pearl-heads I’d freed from the Queen of Hearts’ commands had really recovered, but they had some sort of lives still. People had reported a few memories and little signs of their loved ones’ original personalities surfacing. Maybe over time they’d become more themselves.
Theo reached the courtyard as I came down the steps outside the palace. He gave me his assured smile and dipped into a bow as he kissed my hand. “How was your visit, my queen?”
“It was good,” I said. “But I’m always glad to come back home. Have there been any problems today?”
“Nothing major,” he said. “A minor dispute between a couple of the city folk, a complaint from one of the Diamonds.” He arched his eyebrow wryly with the latter comment. “All of it easily taken care of.”
“It’s a good thing I’ve got you to be where I can’t be.”
“You’ve certainly been covering a lot of ground yourself. Every time I see you you’re either coming or going. Where are you off to now?”
There were plenty more things on my to-do list. We’d started Wonderland on the path back to joy, and the atmosphere here already felt so much lighter, but we still had a lot of distance to cover. The thought of all the responsibilities on my extensive list rose up in my head.
Having Theo’s warm eyes on me reminded me that my royal blood wasn’t the only connection that had kept me here. I had been running around a lot in the last few weeks. As his fingers twined with mine, a tingle raced up my arm. It had been days since I’d taken the time to fuel that other, more private connection. None of the items on my to-do list were so urgent I couldn’t put them off for a little while.
I didn’t ever want to get too busy for, er, getting busy.
“There’s actually a matter in the palace you could assist me with,” I said with a sly smile, squeezing his hand. “If you have a moment.”
“Anything for my queen,” Theo replied, his voice dipping low, full of promise.
Chess had turned from his chat with Unicorn to look our way. I made a quick beckoning gesture as I caught his eye, and he bounded over with a grin. Hatter was just heading back into the palace at the same time we reached the doors. I grasped the lapel of his suit jacket—deep green, today—with a playful tug.
“I require the use of your nimble fingers,” I said with a twitch of my eyebrows.
He took the three of us in, and amusement and hunger lit together in his eyes. He tipped his hand to me. “As you wish, Your Highness.”
I did have some sense of propriety. I didn’t touch more than Theo’s hand or Hatter’s jacket as we walked—fairly quickly—through the halls to the Queen’s chambers. Somehow the heat between us flickered higher all the same, fueled by anticipation.
Theo’s thumb traced over my knuckles, sparking a tingle of desire. Chess teased his fingers down m
y back as I opened the door. It was all I could do to push past that door and make sure it’d shut behind us before I pulled my three lovers to me.
Theo’s mouth crashed into mine. Hatter kissed the side of my neck. Chess eased the straps of my dress down, nibbling my shoulder in the first one’s wake. I gave myself over to the rising passion, kissing Theo back hard, knocking Hatter’s hat aside as my fingers tangled with his spiky hair, whimpering when Chess’s mouth dipped lower to the swell of my breast.
We didn’t always come together at the same time. It was nice to have just one or two men to focus on now and then. But there was nothing more delicious than the rush of having all three of them around me.
I tore my mouth from Theo’s and yanked Hatter’s lips to mine. My other hand fumbled with Chess’s shirt. He tossed it to the side and jerked the zipper of my dress to send it pooling at my feet. Theo sucked in a breath and set to work lapping my nipples into peaks with his tongue. Pleasure shivered through my chest.
Hatter wrenched off his jacket at my tug. His hot mouth trailed to my earlobe, and Chess captured my lips. Hatter dipped his hand between my legs as Theo continued working over my breasts, and need flooded every part of me. My hips arched into Hatter’s touch. My core was aching to be filled.
We’d barely made it two feet from the door. I spun myself and Theo around, shoving him up against a mahogany end table. He grinned, yanking down my panties as I loosened his pants. I freed his cock and stroked the silky skin over that rigid length, but I was too hungry for much teasing.
Theo must have felt the same way. With a shift of his arm, he hefted me up to straddle him, braced against the side table. “Whatever my queen desires,” he said, his dark brown eyes glinting as he gazed at me.
I slid down onto his cock with a gasp that turned into a satisfied moan. Theo’s breath hitched. He thrust up into me, gripping my side to hold me in place, bringing his lips to my throat.