by A. G. Stone
"For?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
"I'm taking you to the Glade," he said, as if that would explain our destination.
"'The Glade'?" I repeated, and Blayke chuckled.
"The Faerie Glade," he explained. "It's the glade where only Faeries are allowed to go in. It's very beautiful, with a waterfall falling down from a collection of rocks that hide a river that snakes through the forest and ends right there at the rocks before spurting through and crashing down on to the rocks below. It's enchanted so that only Faeries or non-Wonderland creatures can enter. That means you can come with me."
I grinned brilliantly, my eyes lighting up. "Awesome!" I exclaimed, making a mad dash for my room. "I'm going to get ready!"
Meadow was already waiting inside my room, holding up a dress. Red, a pixie that was under Meadow's wing currently - literally and metaphorically, held a black and white striped corset. I quickly stripped down so that I was only in my undergarments and stood there, arms spread out like a starfish with silver hair and green eyes.
This time, instead of the corset going first, Meadow put the dress on first. It was a black dress with long-sleeves and silver gloves accompanying it; the dress was cut short and hung just below my knees, revealing the black and white striped stockings Meadow had put me in. The collar came up my neck and the blouse was buttoned all the way down to my waist. From there, the skirt of the dress was made with white frills and white lace decorating the black dress to keep the dress from being too boring or depressing.
Once the dress was on me, Meadow and Red went about, tying the corset around my waist. By this point, I was used to corsets, and my breath was even and calm as they tightened the corset tighter and tighter. When they finished, they showed me to the mirror resting on the dresser as per my request.
I giggled at my appearance and smiled at the two who had helped me dress. My appearance was beautiful. My hair was curled so that it fell down my back in fully silver ringlets, and my eyes were simply and absolutely gorgeous. They were bright green now, fully, no traces of brown anywhere in them - same with my hair. As for the dress, it looked the same, except now there were splashes of color - well, if you consider white to be a color. The corset set off the outfit just right so that I appeared just as mad as I was. The bows and ribbons and frills in white were one thing, but with the corset on the outside and flashing white and black stripes, it just made me appear absolutely mad.
"I love it!" I exclaimed, turning back to Meadow and Red. "It's beautiful! Thank you."
They smiled at me. "You're welcome, Milady," they chorused, and we all burst into giggles.
"Now go, Milady," Red said in her soft, velvet-like voice. "Don't want to keep Master waiting. He'll be shocked at what you're wearing."
"Oh, wait!" Meadow exclaimed, holding up a finger. She dove into a small closet in the corner of the room I had never noticed before and brought out white leather boots. "There!"
I slipped them on to my feet and sighed in relief; all the high-heels I'd been forced to wear here for all of the celebrations and feasts and such were killing my feet, so I was thankful for this moment, being allowed to wear non-heeled shoes. It was even better that they were boots. "Thank you, Meadow," I said, turning to the beautiful Faerie.
"You're very welcome, Milady. Now your outfit is complete and you can go with Master to the Faerie Glade," Meadow said, grinning brilliantly at me with her nearly blinding white teeth.
"Wait, she's going to the Faerie Glade!?" Red demanded, her eyes wide. "Only Faeries who have graduated their training are allowed to go there!"
"Master is breaking the rules to bring Milady along. He wants her to get out of the mansion where she's been cooped up for a while," Meadow explained. "He's going to give her a necklace that will protect her so long as she has the willpower to keep fighting against the Queen of Spades. It's enchanted with Drow magic, so the spell is unbreakable."
Meadow shooed me out of the room and I raced down the hall so I could go to Blayke's side.
As I raced down the marble hallway, I crashed into someone or something. I fell backwards, on my butt, and stared up at the person who I had crashed into. It wasn't much of a person at all; it was one of the guests at the first feast, the one who I sat next to. The ferret-like creature.
It had a grim expression, and when it recognized me, it bowed. "Milady Bryony, if you would keep Master Faerie of Spades company. He needs company right now, more than ever, so please accompany. Your company would be best. Without you, he would never get rest. I beg of you, don't leave him alone. If you do, you might find him gone."
"Alone and gone don't rhyme," I pointed out, climbing to my feet and brushing myself off.
But Were ignored what I said for the favor of another question. "Pray tell, why are you dressed like that? Now you don't look like an alley cat. Alley cat suits you much better. Without it, you look like a fetter."
I scowled at him, but he only gestured for me to go into the room to our side. I bowed my head at him and quickly scrambled into the room.
Blayke was standing by the window, his expression solemn. I smiled at the sight of him and ran at him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
"I missed you," I mumbled into his traveling jacket.
Blayke chuckled and ruffled my hair. "I missed you, too, Strawberry. Are you ready to go?" he asked me, and I nodded frantically.
"I am very ready to go. I cannot wait to see Faerie Glade," I babbled, and Blayke laughed as he disentangled himself from me.
"You're babbling, Strawberry," he said, his voice a light, teasing lilt. "Now, climb on my back."
"On your back?" I repeated, giving him a disbelieving look.
"Or, if you would prefer, in my arms," Blayke said, giving me a smirk, and I blushed furiously.
"I-I-I think I'll take the, uh . . ." My voice trailed off nervously.
"Which one will it be, Strawberry?" he asked me, giving me that half-smirk, half-smile that simply took my breath away.
I just kept stammering, and Blayke smiled warmly at me, which made my cheeks heat up even more and made me stammer even more nonsense.
At last, Blayke swept me off of my feet, angled me so that I was pressed against his chest in bridal-style, and took to the air. He flew out the window and I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my head in his shoulder.
"Look at the view, little Strawberry," Blayke said, and I timidly withdrew my head from his shoulder to see the view.
It was spectacular. We were soaring through the clouds, above some mountains and below some mountains and through mountain passes. The ground below looked like a patchwork quilt, all brown and green and blue and yellow. There were a lot of brown splotches, places where - as Blayke told me - the Queen of Spades had burned down plots of land of people who had betrayed her or had gone against her in some way - no matter how small. It made me sad to see Wonderland in such a wretched state.
There were many stone statues that I could see of a woman who I supposed was the Queen of Spades, the evil wretch. From what I had heard, she was evil and wanted to take over all of Wonderland for herself. It pissed me off to think that someone would do this to a land they wanted to be in charge of. That was kind of counterintuitive.
"It's beautiful," I told Blayke, and he smiled at that.
"It is rather beautiful, isn't it?" Blayke replied, looking around at the surroundings as we descended below the clouds. "But not nearly as beautiful as someone I know, whom I'm looking at right now."
He gave me a pointed glance, and I blushed dark red.
I was not used to get compliments, not by boys that I liked. And oh, Lord, did I like Blayke. I think I could even say that I love him. He is very precious and dear to my heart, and I don't know what I would do without him. He had become my life, no matter how unhealthy that is. Well, you know, I didn't really want to rely on Blayke, but considering I wasn't allowed out of the mansion except on special occasions such as this one, I didn't really have much of a choice.<
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It made me sad that I had to rely on someone else for happiness, but Blayke is probably the best person to choose to rely on for happiness. Blayke is such a wonderful, happy, cheerful, light-hearted person. He was just absolutely amazing and I loved him dearly. Oh, wow. Look at that. I actually said it; I love Blayke.
Blayke landed in a tree with wide enough branches that the both of us could stand on one easily, without slipping. He set me down gently and sat down. I then curled up next to him comfortably, resting my head on his shoulder.
Blayke lifted my head up. "You need your head up for this, lovely Strawberry," he said, and I lifted my head up.
Blayke carefully wrapped a necklace around my neck. He offered me a mirror and I accepted it. I examined the necklace in the mirror, ignoring my fully silver hair that fell down past my waist and my luminous green eyes that shimmered in the light of the sun.
It was a choker, a woven black choker with a bright blue stone in the center of the necklace. Where the stone was, there was leather weaving in and out of the cloth that made up most of the choker. There was white lace on the top and bottom of the choker, and there were little red hearts sewn into the lace. The necklace was just beautiful.
"I love it, Blayke!" I exclaimed, and he smiled down at me fondly.
"I'm very glad you like it, darling Strawberry," Blayke told me and he swept me up bridal style again, taking me down to the Faerie Glade.
The Faerie Glade was beautiful. The grass surrounding the little pond that the waterfall poured into was bright green and dotted and accented with flowers in every color of the rainbow. They didn't open their eyes or come alive, so I assumed they must have been a different strand of flower. The water inside the little pond was clear, so crystal clear that I could see the sandy and rocky bottom of the pond without straining my eyes at all. There was a barrier of rocks in every shade of color in the rainbow surrounding the Faerie Glade, and I fell to the ground and relaxed in the grass.
Blayke chuckled and allowed himself to fall down beside me and lay in the grass with me. He looked up at the light blue sky and began to point out stars, for in Wonderland, stars are always out, just as the sky is always out in the human world. He began naming the stars and their constellations that each star was in. As he named each star, we began to scooch closer to each other. At last, I had my head resting on his chest, snuggled up into his and inhaling his scent of nutmeg, orange, and oakmoss. He smelled so wonderful; I only snuggled into his chest even deeper.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the woods surrounding the Faerie Glade, and out from the forest came Rabid Knight, leading a whole bunch of card soldiers. They had found us.
Chapter 25:
The Capture
I jumped to my feet and stared at the card soldiers and Rabid Knight. Blayke followed, hiding me partway behind him.
"Hiding a fugitive you be!" Rabid Knight screeched, frothing at the mouth. "Let Bryony come out and speak for herself! She be the fugitive, not ye, Faerie of Spades!"
"Think about this, Rabid Knight," Blayke cautioned, his arm keeping me from stepping forward. "She'll find who killed your family and cursed you to this appearance if you only let her go free."
"Evil she be! If protect her you will, then capture you I will! Demands the Queen of Spades that the new Alice be brought to her court to be beheaded!" Rabid Knight shouted, and I winced.
"I'd rather not be beheaded," I mumbled under my breath, and Blayke nodded slightly at me.
"You won't get Bryony," he said, glaring at the card soldiers and Rabid Knight. "Not as long as I breathe. Bryony -" he turned to look at me, giving me a sad smile "- run. You'll be safe; I promise. That necklace you're wearing, it will protect you so long as you wish to save Wonderland. It was originally meant as a present to show you that I'll always be yours, but it turns out the spell my friend put on it will come in handy. I know you probably don't feel the same way, but -"
He was cut off by being taken into custody and dragged away by the card soldiers.
I fell to my knees and grabbed the grass where Blayke had stood. "Blayke," I sobbed, "I love you. I need you. Come back, please."
Rabid Knight regarded me with suspicious eyes and nodded.
"Leave ye now I will, but no second warning will ye receive. Come for your friend soon, all right?"
I blinked at the ending part of his speech but nodded. "I will. Just keep him from being executed, please. I love him."
"And he loves you. That's what he would have said if the card soldiers hadn't acted in that moment," Rabid Knight said, hopping forward. He touched my hand gently with his soft paw, and the necklace didn't protect me.
I touched the necklace, surprised that it wasn't doing what it was supposed to.
"So long as the one in question has no plans of harming the person wearing the necklace, the necklace will not shock or harm the one in question," Rabid Knight explained, and I nodded.
"But why don't you want to hurt me?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
Rabid Knight chuckled. "Because I see potential in you, potential for great things. I will protect you for now, but know that the next time we meet, we will be enemies once more." He bent down and kissed my hand, his whiskers and tiny, wet nose brushing against the back of my hand. "My name is Hades, Hades of the Court of Spades. It was nice to finally meet you, Bryony Hollander of the Wilds."
I blinked. "Is that what they're calling me now?" I asked, and Hades smiled at me.
"It is one of the things they are calling you now. The others I cannot tell you, because they would be spoiling your adventure. But I can tell you that they are calling you future royalty because of your excellent leadership.
"Everyone is so ready to have the Queen of Spades' rule over. She has done many evil things," he explained. "Now, I will try to postpone Blayke's execution as long as I can. You'll have to hurry and come with the Mad Man of Diamonds and the Dark Prince of Hearts. Only they will be able to help you free your love. Now go. Go back to the mansion and talk to the Faeries there. They will guide you to the next step of your journey. Good luck."
Hades began to walk away, and I called after him. "Wait!"
"Yes?" he asked, turning back to face me.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, curious.
"Because, Bryony of the Wilds, you are the one to save my family," Hades said before he disappeared.
I sighed and began the journey back to the mansion.
Chapter 26:
The Mission
When I came back alone, Meadow's face fell, and a lot of Faeries and Pixies alike began to sob. I felt like giving up and giving in, but what Hades had told me motivated me. I straightened up and gave the Faeries and Pixies a serious look.
"Quiet down!" I boomed. "I can't hear myself think with all of your sobbing and crying!"
Immediately, they all went silent, turning to me.
"Now, we're going to rescue Blayke. But first, I need to go to free the guests of the Mad Tea Party," I said, and Meadow nodded, flying forward.
"I understand. Come with me, Milady. I will take you to the mirror that will lead you to where the Mad Tea Party guests are held," she said, bowing.
I followed her down the hallway, and she asked me for details on Blayke's capture.
"When the card soldiers and Rabid Knight came," I said, a voice inside of me telling me to keep quiet about the part about Rabid Knight becoming sane and introducing himself to me as Hades; the Faeries were sure to disbelieve me, "Blayke stood in front of me, his arms out in front of me. He refused to let the card soldiers and Rabid Knight take me away, instead saying that he would never let me be taken. He was about to tell me something when the card soldiers dragged him away. Rabid Knight hopped after them."
Meadow looked down and I bit my lip.
"But I'm going to rescue him, and I'm going to tell him that I love him," I said, determined, and Meadow smiled at me.
"Thank you, Milady. I know that you will bring Master back ho
me with you," she said, and I smiled.
"I promise," I said, and Meadow nodded.
"Now, come this way," she said, gesturing to a hallway that I had never noticed before.
It was dark, but when I walked into it, the entire hallway was lit up with a bright light that bobbed down the hallway, leading us through the hallway's many doors to the right one.
"I knew that you were the one, Milady," Meadow said proudly, smiling at me, and I blinked at her.
"What?" I asked, my eyes widening.
"Only the Chosen One, chosen by the gods of Wonderland, will awaken the Wise One from his eternal slumber. That's what that light is; it's part of Master's spirit that has slept in this hallway for over 8000 years, waiting for the Chosen One to awaken it. This is Master's way of watching over you," Meadow explained. "Once you enter the right room, the part of Master's spirit trapped in this room will enter your necklace and reside there until you complete the Quest. Once you have completed the Quest, then the part of Master's spirit will enter his body and he will be complete once more. Once you have completed the Quest, we will have the rightful Queen of Wonderland."
My jaw dropped as Meadow and I followed the slowly bobbing light. "But I thought that there wasn't meant to be one Queen ruling Wonderland," I said, and Meadow smiled at me, shaking her head.
"No, that's wrong. In the Prophecy, it states that there is one rightful ruler of Wonderland, and she will be the one to save Wonderland from the evil that threatens it. That's what inspired the Queen of Spades to try to take over all of Wonderland; she thought she was the rightful ruler, and when no one agreed, she tried to take her 'kingdom' by force," she answered. "That is the evil the rightful Queen will stop."
"Wait, but I'm the one who's going to stop the Queen of Spades," I said, pointing at my own chest.
"But you aren't the Queen of Wonderland," Meadow finished. And I bit my lip, not listening to hear the rest of what she said: "Not yet anyway."
I followed the light into the dark room that it meant for us to go into, and it entered my necklace quickly, a light flashing once it had finished binding to my necklace, therefore strengthening my protection.