Malice in Wonderland Bundle 3

by Lotus Rose

  Finally they come to a wooden door that’s irregularly shaped, since it’s form-fitted to a chamber entrance.

  They are informed that the throne chamber is beyond and that they’ll be chained for safety reasons.

  And then they’re led inside.

  It’s a medium sized cave chamber. On the far end, a male jabberwock wearing a gold-colored conical hat sits in a throne that seems to be comprised of skulls and bones. A human woman stands off to his side. “Finally! You are here!” the Emperor shouts out, and his voice echoes through the chamber. “Come come!” He beckons with his hand.

  They are brought forward to face the Emperor—the group’s feet are shackled with a very short chain, to restrict movement. Not only that, their wrist shackles are chained to the individual next to them, so they have to stand in a circle.

  The guards are dismissed. As the far door shuts, the Emperor says, “Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  With a malicious grin, the woman says. “Are you hungry?”

  “You!” Malice snarls. “What are you doing here?”

  Nellie is the former royal cook from Wonderland.

  “She accompanied me,” says the Emperor.

  “What do you mean?” Hatter says.

  The Emperor grins at him, but his smile seems almost cruel. “I know why you’ve traveled here. You’ve come to warn me about the Snark, to convince me that he represents a great threat, and I must say, I agree with you.”

  “You do?” Hatter says.

  “Of course,” the Emperor says. He fidgets with the chin strap of his conical hat. “Because I’ve already taken control of the Emperor here.” He lifts the hat off his head to reveal the Snark’s tentacled body latched onto the top of the Emperor’s head.

  Understandably, there are gasps and exclamations all around from Malice and group.

  “Guards! Oh, guards!” Hatter cries out. “Come in here immediately!”

  The Snark waves the Emperor’s hand at Hatter, and the Snark speaks through the Emperor’s mouth. “Oh, stop that, silly. They can’t hear you.” He places the hat back on. “It seems you’re too late. I’ve acquired the highest position of power in jabberwock society. Though, I admit, Goklam’s power is still quite limited. Did you know this valley is a feudalism, with all these little provinces and areas under different rulers?”

  Jabby growls. “So, what do you want with us?”

  The Snark (speaking through the Emperor’s mouth), says, “My, we’re impatient, aren’t we? You want to get to the meat of the matter...” He glances over at Nellie, who scowls in apparent irritation. “Sorry,” he says, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m just ribbing the good cook here.” He chuckles. “Oh, there I go again.” Nellie’s scowl deepens. “You see, Nellie’s meat-cooking skills are quite horrid for cooking the sort of meat jabberwocks enjoy. And I happen to be using a jabberwock body and tastebuds right now, so I can tell, believe me.”

  Malice says, “That’s understandable, since she used to be the Queen of Hearts’ cook, with her human tastebuds.” She glares at Nellie. “Are you really such a traitor that you’re now serving the Snark?”

  Nellie makes an expression of nonchalance. “He allows me to be a cook, like I’m meant to be.”

  The Snark sniffs. “Yes, she’d obviously rather align herself with a winner. We have an agreement—she cooks for me, and I make her quite comfortable. I shall even allow her to cook meat for the other jabberwocks, once her skills have improved.”

  Nellie makes an irritated noise.

  The Snark continues, “But her pastries have always been top notch, even according to jabberwock tastes.”

  “Thank you,” she says, grinning.

  “In fact,” the Snark says, “that’s how she was able to help me attach to Emperor Goklam here. He has a fondness for any pastry with cherries in it. He gags at anything carrot related. So Nellie prepared him a huge pile of cherry pastries...and a carrot cake. Long story short, I was hiding in the carrot cake, and latched onto his head when he wasn’t looking. He was already wearing this little cone hat all the time, so my disguise is perfect.”

  “Brilliant,” Sleepy B says sarcastically.

  Hatter says, “So what do you intend to do with us now? Are you going to let Nellie practice her cooking on us?”

  “I admit, I’m rather starving,” Jabby says, and on cue his stomach growls.

  “Hmm?” Hatter says, he looks past Humpty on his right, to Jabby. “Oh! I meant is she going to practice her meat preparation by cooking us. Though I can understand how you misunderstood me, my good chap.”

  “I don’t want to be eaten!” Sleepy B shouts.

  “Whoa, whoa, wait,” the Snark says while waving both of the Emperor’s hands in the air. “We’re not going to eat you.”

  Hatter, sounding offended, says, “What? You’re going to just waste our meat like that? Outrageous.”

  The Snark rolls the Emperor’s eyes. “We aren’t going to kill you, you prat. On the contrary, just like I have an agreement with Nellie, I’d like to come to an agreement with you—a temporary partnership, if you will. You see, I need your help...”

  CHAPTER SIX

  HUMPTY IS THE FIRST to scoff. “You need our help?!”

  “Yes, why would we help you?” Malice says. “Don’t you intend to destroy Wonderland, and overthrow me?”

  “Ah, yes,” the Snark says. “Indeed I do. But I don’t wish to kill you. I’m sure we can find suitable employment for you when Woeland rises again. After all, I hold no grudge against you, for as I’ve said, it was the Queen of Hearts who tried to destroy the monsters and banished the jabberwocks here. If I kill anybody, it shall be her, in front of a crowd, and fortunately, she’s already captured and on her way here...”

  “What?” Malice exclaims. “I left her in the dungeons of my castle.”

  The Snark arches the Emperor’s brow. “Have you not been keeping contact with your Queendom? I sent some of my soldiers to break her out.”

  “You scoundrel!” Malice shouts. “Why?”

  The Snark answers, “Because she is the greatest enemy to monsterkind we have ever known, and she must be made to pay for her crimes. I intend to execute her in front of a crowd of jabberwocks, using the Emperor’s vorpal blade. Off with her head, I say.”

  The Cat mutters, “At least something good shall come out of this fiasco.”

  “No!” Malice shouts. “You shan’t kill her! I forbid it! I don’t support the death penalty.”

  The Snark sniffs. “I’m sure that might mean something in Wonderland, but you’re in the valley now, and I’m the emperor in these parts. And I intend to use my powers to make the jabberwocks and even the shifters great and mighty again when I lead them into war. I only regret I can’t help the snarks, because of the bloody Queen of Hearts.”

  The Cat says, “But you have no rightful claim to that power. You only control the Emperor through trickery—”

  The Snark cuts him off with: “Ironic, isn’t it? The Emperor himself had no right to rule, either—at least not by birth. No, he forcefully took the throne by having his soldiers storm the cave and kill everyone in the royal family.”

  “Reportedly,” Jabby says with a sarcastic tone of voice.

  “Ah yes,” the Snark says. “Not all the bodies were recovered, which has spurred all sorts of gossip and false hope that a few of the family might have gotten away—that there still may be a living heir to the throne out there.” He puffs some air out of the Emperor’s mouth. “That’s no more than gossip and fantasy. My point is, Goklam had no official claim to the throne either—he simply took it. Which is what I’ve done.”

  Hatter says, “Once they figure out the Emperor is not all there in the head, as it were, you shall be ousted.”

  The Snark shakes the Emperor’s head. “Poppycock, my good boy. Because by the time I’m finished, the jabberwocks shall be shouting my praises to the heavens. For you see, I shall deliver the jabberwocks to their former glory an
d restore the pride of all monsterkind! And for that, they shall venerate me, practically worship me! And thus shall I become immune to all criticism, all scandal—and you may shout yourself hoarse that the emperor is really a snark, but your protests shall fall on deaf ears. Because one thing I can say about jabberwocks—they care about results. They care about being fierce and vicious, and being real monsters, monsters who shall descend upon Wonderland and destroy it!”

  Malice says, “You don’t have to create misery and mayhem to be strong. The Queen of Hearts is no longer in power, and there is no longer a need for warfare and strife. Wonderland and Jabberwock Valley can work together—”

  The Snark chuckles cruelly. “What? Like your nameless prince ‘Jabby’ works with the humans and creatures of Wonderland? He’s a pathetic excuse for a monster!” Jabby lets loose a low growl. The Snark continues, “Is that what you want the other jabberwocks to become? Pathetic weaklings?”

  “His kindness is a strength, not a weakness!” Sleepy B shouts out.

  The Snark narrows the Emperor’s eyes at her. “And what is this? The insomniac little girl protests? Perhaps you should turn back and go home, little girl—it’s not safe for you here.”

  Sleepy B says, “I have just as much right to call the valley home as anyone else. I was actually born here. And no, I’m not a jabberwock, but I consider myself a jabberwock in spirit.”

  Nellie scoffs. “Wow, you are truly delusional. You’re a fake and a pretender. Oh, I remember visiting you way back when you slept all day in the Storyteller’s castle. Of course, back then, you weren’t blond...”

  Sleepy B shouts, “Shut up, Ninny!...or whatever your name is.”

  “It’s Nellie, Sleeping Bitchy. Oops, sorry, that’s not your name, now is it?”

  “No,” Sleepy B says tersely, shaking her head.

  Nellie taps her chin mockingly. “That’s right, because everything about you is so fake, isn’t it? Even the stupid name you use is fake...Abigail.”

  “Don’t call me that. Besides, my name is really Ebugor, a jabberwock name. That just proves I’m really a jabberwock in spirit.”

  The Snark perks up in his throne. “What did you say?”

  “That I’m a jabberwock in spirit, so I want what’s best for them and—”

  “No, no!” the Snark says. “Your name! What did you say it was?”

  “Ebugor.”

  The Snark narrows his eyes at her. “How does a human come to have a jabberwock name?”

  Sleepy B shrugs as best she can in her chains. “I don’t know. Perhaps a jabberwock took a liking to me? Or my parents wanted to give me a jabberwock name? They’re dead now, killed by jabberwocks. But I don’ really remember a whole lot. I don’t really think about it much, to be honest.”

  Nellie makes a clucking sound while shaking her head. “Jabberwocks killed your parents, and now you align with monsterkind. Sheesh, you are messed up.”

  “Why were your parents killed?” the Snark says.

  “I don’t really remember. I only remember the very basics of my story. Perhaps because it was so traumatic. Sometimes it feels like it happened to somebody else. It must be a psychological thing.”

  “What area of the valley did you live in?” the Snark says.

  She looks at him for several seconds. “It seems like I should know that, doesn’t it? But I really can’t remember much more than I told you. I remember the Storyteller saying he was adopting me...I don’t even remember how I got to his castle...” She shrugs.

  “Perhaps if we torture her, she’ll talk,” Nellie suggests.

  The Snark shakes the Emperor’s head. “That’s unnecessary. Obviously, her parents gave her a jabberwock name because they were puny humans and recognized how mighty and powerful the monsters are. Since they were surrounded by jabberwocks, they chose a jabberwock name. Had there been any snarks about, they would have chosen a snark name—bowed down to us!”

  Hatter says, “Aren’t you a little too short for that?”

  “Bah,” the Snark says. He locks eyes with Sleepy B. “You say you consider yourself a jabberwock in spirit, and wish to aid the jabberwocks. Well, good for you. So do I, for they are my fellow monsters, and under my power, they shall regain the glory of battle and the majesty of flight.” He looks at Jabby. “Wouldn’t you want that for the monsters? Or are you the member of the team who’s actually a human, in spirit.”

  Jabby has a shocked expression on his face. “You can help the jabberwocks regain flight?”

  “Why, of course I can, my fellow monster. Have you not heard the prophesies?”

  “Of course. Do the days of prophesy approach?”

  “Yes, my lad!” the Snark exclaims. “The days of prophesy are at hand. And I shall lead the jabberwocks to their grand destiny! Within the next few days, a new age shall be ushered in for the jabberwocks, a time of great change brought about by a ruler who has, in the prophesy’s words, ‘both human and jabberwock been’. That ruler shall obviously be me, for I have taken control over both human and jabberwock hosts. You see, destiny brought me here sitting on this throne, to replace the real Emperor Goklam, for he is unfit to lead your monsters.”

  “Unfit how?” Malice says.

  The Snark answers, “Since I am latched onto his head, I can read his mind. He knew the times of prophesy were coming, but the Emperor was perfectly content to sit on his butt and let nothing happen.”

  Humpty says, “We have been told the Emperor was meek.”

  The Snark says, “Meek? He brutally murdered the royal family to gain power—he wasn’t meek. That’s why he rejoiced when the kissing spell was cast—he had no idea who cast it, but he claimed credit for it and endorsed it, for he found all the fighting before it to be too much of a hassle to him. He didn’t want glory and battle—no, he wanted to sit in his cushy emperor job and collect his bribes and eat his cherries. He wouldn’t have even bothered trying to regain flight for the jabberwocks.”

  Jabby makes a sound of disgust. “What? What kind of jabberwock wouldn’t wish to fly?”

  The Snark shrugs. “One who likes cherries?”

  “Bah,” Jabby says. “Strawberries are better.”

  “Blueberries,” Hatter says simply.

  “The point is,” the Snark says, “that I shall make a better leader for the jabberwocks, for, unlike the disgrace to monsterkind, Goklam, I actually have aspirations. I desire for greatness for monsterkind, and I shall empower them and rally them to follow me! With me guiding the war chariot, we shall revive Woeland and crush all who oppose us beneath our bloody talons!” He pounds the arm of the throne. “And I shall be their almighty, venerated leader that all sniveling humans and nonmonsters shall bow before!”

  “Crikey,” Hatter mutters. “First of all, if you’re in a chariot, you’d crush them beneath your wheels, not talons. Second, who died and made you king?”

  “Emperor! I’m the Emperor.”

  “But there’s a problem with that, isn’t there?” Jabby says. “The Emperor has limited influence, because all the separate areas have their own rulers, and follow their own laws. Yes, you may have taken over the Emperor, but that doesn’t mean you can simply order the jabberwocks do your bidding. I know I shan’t follow you.”

  The Snark favors him with a cruel, somewhat threatening smile from the Emperor’s face. “Perhaps you shan’t, but I’m certain other monsters shall. I have a plan to make the jabberwocks rise up in support of me. You see, all monsters—and humans as well, for that matter—are yearning for a strong leader to guide them. And they simply adore being given things—it makes them so grateful. That is the sort of leader that monsters will be enthusiastic about following: a leader who throws out Christmas gifts while crushing the brains of his enemies beneath his taloned toes, beckoning his subjects to follow in his bloody footprints.”

  The Cat says, “That’s a tall order for a tentacled parasite who’s really quite short.”

  The Snark grunts. “Perhaps it’s not so wi
se to goad me. I’ll get to the point as to why you are standing here before me, and why I haven’t simply had you killed. You see, for my plan to work, I need your help. Allow me to explain...”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE SNARK SAYS, “COME out, now,” and claps the Emperor’s hands.

  From behind the throne steps a short, stooped figure in a hooded brown robe. His or her head is bowed, the fabric of the hood concealing the face—even the figure’s hands aren’t visible, since each hand is tucked into the opposite sleeve as it stands.

  “This,” the Snark says, sweeping his hand at the cloaked figure, “is the Emperor’s royal witch—she’s my witch now. I don’t know her name, where she came from or even what she looks like, but I know she gets results. It wasn’t she who cast the kissing game spell, but she can lead us to the way of getting rid of it, for she is in tune with the prophesies, and has been instructing me on the three noble tasks of these times of prophesy. She can help us accomplish them.”

  The whole time, the cloaked witch stands there unmoving.

  “Wait,” Sleepy B says, “Are you saying you want to work together to accomplish these three tasks?”

  “Yes,” the Snark says, “Because we’re the only group that can accomplish them, which is why destiny has brought us all together here today.”

  Hatter says, “I thought you brought us here, in shackles.”

  The Snark says, “Destiny leads us by shackles, and I have a date with it, isn’t that right, sweety?”

  “You talking to me?” comes a croaky old female voice from beneath the hood.

  “Yes, please help them understand.”

  The witch gives a slight nod—her face remains shrouded and hidden. She shouts out, whilst barely moving, “The time of prophesy is at hand! A time of great decisions and momentous events. I, along with others, have been studying everything related to the prophesies, and have come to decipher most of their meaning, though not all. But since I understand more than most, and happen to be a witch who can access the special purpose jabberwocky mini-realm, I shall serve as your guide.”