The Wisdom of Madness

by C. J. Archer

  "Only when they're very strong. This one was strong." She sucked in a breath as if trying to calm herself. "We have to get into the tunnel that leads from the audience chamber."

  "Why?" Sir Uther asked.

  "It's the best way in. We must be armed and prepared."

  Seth went to set her down again. "You'll be safer here."

  "No. I'm coming. I can walk. All of us should go."

  He clasped her hand and together they followed the donkey and goat out of the dungeon, through the bowels of the castle to an exit that led to the courtyard. Several royal soldiers dressed in crimson stood, waiting for orders. They watched the procession of three guards dressed in white marching the animals and one woman between them.

  "From the trial," Seth told them.

  They crossed the courtyard unhindered to the back of the castle where stables and other outbuildings huddled together in a disorganized collection. The donkey stopped at a large wooden gate that must be for the use of the servants and delivery vehicles.

  "There'll be guards on the other side," he whispered.

  "How many?" Seth asked.

  "Two."

  Gus tapped Seth on the shoulder. He pointed to a ladder that led to the top of the wall. "The drop won't be too far. What do you say?"

  "I say it's our best option."

  It wasn't too high but they'd need to land properly to avoid injury. Luckily Seth had jumped from many windows, sometimes with a villain pursuing him, or a jealous husband or father.

  He winked at Eva and was rewarded with a flush to her cheeks. Good. She'd been too pale. He led Gus up the ladder, only to pause when he reached the top.

  Hell. Quellery's army waited at the base of the hill on which the castle stood. Like the royal army, they weren't aware of what was happening inside the castle. They simply waited for Quellery's orders.

  Gus tapped Seth's foot.

  Seth continued up but when he reached the top of the wall, he crouched on it. He didn't stand. He didn't want the army dressed in green to see him.

  Gus joined him and air hissed between his teeth. Neither spoke as he held up one finger, two, three. They jumped together, taking out one man each. The guards died in silence, their necks broken.

  Seth unlocked the gate and put a finger to his lips. He pointed down the hill. "Quellery's army."

  The goat swore. "The tunnel entrance is down there."

  "We're just three guards taking prisoners away, as ordered," Seth reminded them.

  They marched downhill, the animals in front. Gus and Seth both now held two swords each, and used them to urge their so-called prisoners forward.

  "Seth, the general knows us." Gus nodded at the leader, breaking away from the pack.

  "Stay calm," Seth whispered. When they were still a few feet away, he hailed the general. "We're taking these prisoners to the dungeons." He indicated the tunnel door nearby.

  The general didn't nod. He didn't say anything. He and his men simply stared at the creatures walking on two feet, and not at the faces of the guards. Thank God for the ordinary man's obsession with curiosities. It would seem Wonderlanders were no different to everyone else.

  They entered the tunnel. The only footsteps Seth heard were their own. "Hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you," he said as the darkness swallowed them.

  "Or paw," Gus added. "Or hoof."

  "Do you know what we can expect to find?" Seth asked, giving Eva's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

  "We won't be troubled until we reach the end," she said.

  "And then?"

  "And then you'll need your swords. That's all I know, Seth. I'm sorry."

  "You gave us a way in. It's more than enough."

  She touched his hand, stroking her thumb along his. Then she let go.

  The closer they got to the audience chamber, the louder the voices and ominous clash of steel became.

  Seth gave Eva one of his swords. "Stay here. David?"

  "I'll guard them." David's voice trembled but Seth could just make out his outline, sword ready to swing at anything coming through the door. Seth moved past him and opened the door, but Gus rushed out first, brandishing both swords, and almost bowled over a guard. Gus dispensed with him while Seth took the other. The queen screamed.

  Behind her, another guard dislodged a bound Alice from his shoulder and shoved her into Seth. Seth caught her but lost his balance. He would have fallen and been vulnerable to attack if Gus hadn't been at his back to steady him. Seth set Alice aside and parried the guard's blade an inch from his nose.

  That had been close. Too close. "I like my nose where it is, thank you," he said, thrusting at the guard. He feinted left, right, then attacked straight down the middle.

  The guard dropped his weapon and clutched the wound as he bled out.

  Gus must have cut through Alice's bonds because she was free. She picked up the fallen guard's sword and hurried toward the fighting. The white-clad guards fought the crimson soldiers. Somehow the royal army had switched sides. It was the best sight Seth had seen all day. The guards outnumbered the soldiers, however, but that would change when the rest of the royal army joined them. As long as Quellery's army didn't arrive too.

  "Wait!" Seth caught Alice's arm before she put herself in harm's way.

  "Markell!" she cried, trying to pull away. "He's injured."

  Seth followed her gaze to where a bloodied Markell lay on the floor, rolling out of the way of a guard's blade as it viciously struck down, time and again. Another guard, seeing the value of the prize on the floor, joined his comrade, trapping Markell between them.

  Alice screamed.

  Seth sprinted but he knew he could not fell both men with a single strike of his sword. By the time he recovered from the first thrust, the second guard would have plunged his blade through Markell. He had to take them both at once.

  He dove, tackling the nearest guard and using their combined momentum to knock over the second. The three of them went down in a tangle of limbs and swords, but at least Seth was on top.

  Gus grabbed him and pulled him out of harm's way. Before either of the guards had a chance to get up, Gus dispatched them with powerful, deadly slashes of his blade.

  Alice ran to Markell and helped him to stand. The man was bleeding from a wound in his side but he was alive.

  "It's over!" he shouted. "Guards, put down your weapons! The royal army is against you. The people are against you! Surrender now and—"

  "No!" the queen shouted from the tunnel entrance. She held the spell book in hand. Beside her, Lady Oxana and Lord Quellery stepped back as their green-clad army surged out of the tunnel. At the head of the column, Eva and David emerged with their hands on their heads, the animals behind them with swords pressed into their backs.

  "Eva!" Seth rushed forward, but Lady Oxana grabbed Eva by her hair and held a knife to her throat.

  She smiled a sickly, twisted smile at Seth. "Do you want to save your wife?" she asked. "Come here and try. Let's see if you're capable."

  He wouldn't be fast enough. His gazed locked with Eva's. His eyes burned but he did not look away, did not blink. He needed that link between them and he suspected she needed it too. Be strong, my love. He didn't know if her seer's powers could detect his thoughts but he spoke the words over and over in his mind, just in case. She offered him a weak smile, so perhaps she understood.

  The few remaining guards and the green army rounded up the crimson soldiers. As they did so, more crimson soldiers rushed through the main double doors. They stopped dead and tried to make sense of the scene.

  "Your army is against you!" Alice told the queen. "Give up and you will be treated mercifully."

  "Quellery's army is well trained," the queen said. "And we have your friends. Put down your weapons or this girl dies first."

  Seth's blood chilled. It couldn't end here. Eva had told him they survived this and married.

  What if she was wrong?

  "There's one way to turn this in our f
avor," Markell muttered.

  "Kill Quellery," Gus said.

  He was right. Quellery's soldiers wouldn't fight for a dead man. They were mercenaries, and if the person who paid them was removed, they wouldn't care to fight anymore.

  "I was thinking of the queen," Markell said.

  "Oxana first," Seth said. He wouldn't put it past her to kill Eva out of vindictive spite, even if all else was lost.

  But he was too far away to do anything. Markell, Gus and the crimson army were also too far away. No one could reach the person Seth loved most in the world to rescue her before that knife opened the vein in her neck.

  Eva mouthed, I love you too.

  She'd heard his thoughts! He'd communicated with her without speaking a word. His eyes burned again and moistened too. He didn't care. It took a moment for the sheer wonder of her abilities to subside and his thoughts to kick in again.

  Drop, he said in his head. Drop to the floor like a stone. She isn't holding you; you can get free.

  Eva made no sign that she'd heard. Seconds ticked by. The queen ordered the green army to advance but they wouldn't take orders from her. They waited for Quellery.

  Quellery hesitated. Seth could see the moment when he realized he could take the realm for himself. The green army was his. The crimson army could be defeated. The queen and Alice could both be ousted.

  Quellery's eyes lit up. His shoulders straightened. He turned to the queen and plunged a knife he must have tucked up his sleeve into her chest.

  At that moment, Eva dropped to the floor, rolled out of the way, and kicked Lady Oxana's foot out from beneath her all in one perfectly timed, fluid move. Seth should never have doubted her. She was, after all, Lincoln's sister.

  "Attack!" Markell shouted.

  "Attack!" Lord Quellery said, snatching the spell book from the dead queen's hands. He flipped through the pages.

  Markell swore. "Don't let him speak any spells! There are ones in there that can destroy us all!"

  Eva scrambled toward Quellery, but Lady Oxana dove and caught her foot. Eva kicked out and managed to hit Oxana in the face. But Oxana brought her knife down.

  Seth lost sight of them as the two armies clashed around him. He fought his way through, blindly slashing. He was dimly aware of Gus at his side, making some headway, cutting a path toward Eva.

  "Leave my sister alone!" David's voice rang out over the sounds of fighting.

  Seth pushed on. He was covered in blood, some of it his own. He didn't care. He needed to get to Eva.

  Finally the way cleared ahead and he saw Eva and David clutching one another. Lady Oxana lay dead at their feet, her throat slashed. David's knife dripped blood. Seth breathed again.

  "Seth!" Gus shouted.

  Seth turned to see Quellery, shielded by a wall of his soldiers, as he read from the book. They had to stop him before he finished the spell. He didn't need to tell Gus that. They didn't need to speak to one another at all. They simply engaged the five men and fought with everything they had left.

  Seth felled one but he was outnumbered. They both were. Quellery's voice droned on and on and on.

  Gus went down, falling to one knee. His two opponents now had the advantage of height. Seth had to get to him. He could not let his friend, the man he thought of as a brother, die here any more than he could let Eva die here.

  Seth roared with anger, frustration and pain. It poured out of him. It lit a fire within him. He felled another soldier but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blade slice through the air, aimed at Gus's head.

  "No!" Seth shouted.

  The blade was blocked. Markell lunged into Seth's vision, his face a picture of determination. Gus quickly recovered his stance and the two of them dispatched the remaining soldiers while Seth dispatched the last of his opponents.

  Then Markell buried his blade in Quellery's stomach.

  Quellery's eyes bulged and he looked down at the blade as Markell pulled it out. Blood poured from the wound. He tried to stop it with his hand but it was no use. He let go of the book and used his other hand too, but still the blood did not stop.

  He plummeted to his knees and, with a gurgling wheeze, toppled forward. The floor seemed to shake with the impact.

  "Enough!" Markell called out to both sets of soldiers. "Quellery is dead! The queen is dead! Fight no more."

  Some stopped but others kept going, their blood lust in control.

  "You are all Wonderlanders!" Alice shouted. "This is senseless. Do not fight one another. It's over. Anyone who continues will not be paid."

  The rest of the soldiers, both crimson and green, stopped and lowered their weapons. One of Quellery's soldiers confirmed he was indeed dead. It was the signal for the entire mercenary army to lay down their weapons.

  Seth dropped his sword. Eva was running toward him, tears streaming down her cheeks, her skirts held out of the way of her feet. He scooped her up, lifting her off the floor, and buried his face in her neck.

  He held her and she held him just as tightly, their rapidly beating hearts saying more than either of them could manage. When he'd recovered enough from the shock and his fear had subsided, he pulled away and set her down on her feet. Then he kissed her. Thoroughly, completely, willingly offering her every piece of himself. It was more than he'd ever given anyone, and he didn't care. His heart was safe with Eva. He knew it to his core.

  She clutched the back of his head and kissed him as if she'd been starved for too long. It was everything he wanted, and more than he deserved, but he'd take it and cherish it forever.

  He was dimly aware of someone clearing their throat. It turned to coughing and finally a fist smacked his shoulder.

  "Save that for later," Gus said in Seth's ear. "Her brother's getting annoyed."

  David scowled at them, his arms crossed, but he didn't look too angry. Seth took Eva's hand then approached David. He was about to shake his hand but decided to hug him instead. It felt right.

  "You saved her," Seth murmured in David's ear. "You saved her life."

  "You saved everyone's life." David pulled away and awkwardly patted Seth's arms. "I suppose you want to marry her now."

  "If she'll have me."

  "I don't think there's any doubt on that score."

  Eva smiled and tucked herself into Seth's side, circling her arms around his waist. He kissed the top of her head.

  "How did you get out of the dungeon?" Markell asked.

  "Lincoln helped us," Gus said.

  "He's here?" Alice asked, looking around.

  Seth fished out the lock picks from his pocket. "He sent these with Eva."

  Alice's brows rose. "His second sight told him to give them to her?"

  "Probably Leisl's, but it was certainly his idea to send these here with her vials of carbolic acid."

  "Speaking of which." Eva reached into the deep pocket of her dress and handed the remaining wrapped vials to Alice. "Take these and use them on Markell's wounds after they're cleaned. I don't have enough for everyone." She looked around at the dead and injured and swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

  Seth rubbed her back. It must be difficult to see so much carnage and not be able to help.

  "Alice might come back with us," Gus said, blinking fast. "She and Markell can go to hospital, get his wounds seen to, and live quietly in London."

  Alice kissed his cheek. "It's a nice thought, but it's not for us. Our home is here, together." She handed the spell book to Markell. He grasped it but she did not let go. His chest heaving with his deep breath, then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her in front of everyone.

  Some of the crimson soldiers cheered then a rousing shout of "Long live Queen Alice!" rang out. An eruption of agreement followed. A few noblemen, standing by the door, repeated the cry.

  "I think you'll be safe for a while," Seth told her. "But it's not going to be easy."

  "Change never is," she said. "I want to implement a constitutional monarchy."

  Sir Uther, the rabbit, stepp
ed forward and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, your majesty." He bowed. "May I have the spell book? My friends and I wish to say goodbye to your friends as ourselves, not in these foolish guises."

  "You don't look too foolish," Gus said. "Well, you do, with them long ears and twitchy nose, but the others are fine looking beasts."

  The rabbit rolled his eyes. "Just wait, sir. When I am my normal shape again, you'll cower in fear. I happen to be a very large man."

  Gus made a theatrical show of trembling.

  Alice handed the book to the rabbit and he flipped through the pages until he found the one he wanted. His clear voice rang out through the audience chamber as he spoke the strange words.

  One by one, each of the animals transformed into their human shape again. Most were men but two were women. They peered down at themselves, patted themselves, touched their hair, their faces, to make sure they were whole and human.

  Gus looked up at the giant man standing before him, holding the book. The bearded, blond Sir Uther smiled at Gus, his two big front teeth protruding over his bottom lip. Gus swallowed. Sir Uther's smile widened.

  "Time to go," Gus said. "Goodbye all." He hugged Alice and shook Markell's hand, then held out his hand to Sir Uther. The former rabbit shook it, chuckling.

  Alice stepped toward Seth but hesitated.

  He bent to kiss her cheek, then folded her into his arms. "Goodbye and good luck," he said. "Be happy."

  "I am. And so are you, I see."

  "Very." He let her go and addressed Markell. "I would tell you to take care of her, but I know you will."

  Eva hugged Alice, all the while giving final instructions on treating the wounds. But Wonderland's medics had already arrived and moved between the bodies with efficiency.

  "Send them home," Alice said to Sir Uther, her eyes shining with tears. "It's time."

  Someone had handed Sir Uther a watch and he held it as he read words from the book. At first it didn't look as though anything had happened, but when he spoke a second spell, the watch flared to life.

  Markell and Alice held hands, and Alice bit her trembling lip, a hand raised in farewell.

  Seth entwined his fingers with Eva's as he felt the pull of the portal's magic.