by Gwynn White
William leaned forward and took my other hand in his. “This past year has been hell for me. I can’t live without you. Life is just…it’s nothing. There is no point to any of this. I know you can’t come back. I’m trying to make good on the promise I made the day Jabberwocky died. I’m trying to tie up all the loose ends, and then I want to be done with it.”
“What?”
“I’m going to pass the business to Jack. I’m trying to get out. I have been all this time. It was just such a disaster. Jabberwocky was in over his head, much more than we knew. There were so many problems to clean up. You wouldn’t come back. I couldn’t just leave. The man was like a father to me. But I’m close now. This job…”
My heart pounded in my chest. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I thought I could finish it. I nearly had the matter settled. Jabberwocky was indebted to the Queen, and I needed to clear that debt. Until that was done, there was no way I could leave. I had a plan, but it fell apart. The diamond is the last key to my freedom.”
I shook my head. “The Queen of Hearts is a maniac. You’ve seen with your own eyes what she really is. Don’t tell me you can just forg—”
“Never,” William whispered. “But I have no choice. To get back to you, I must pass through her. And I would do anything to get back to you.”
“William,” I whispered. I closed my eyes. Understanding, then pain, racked me. So much of this was my fault. I had left William to deal with this on his own and had judged him for it. It was just after all we’d seen, I couldn’t imagine staying a moment longer in the life than I had, dealing with creatures like the Queen of Hearts.
William and I had seen what the Queen of Hearts did to Anna. What we’d seen in that room was nothing. I’d last seen her just days before the job with the banker. I’d never forget the night Jabberwocky had woken me well past midnight with a job that had rocked me to my soul.
“Alice,” Jabberwocky whispered so not to wake Bess. He rocked my shoulder softly. “Alice, wake up.”
“Sir?”
“William is downstairs. I need the two of you to go, now, and take a package to the Queen of Hearts.”
“What? Now?”
I looked at Jabberwocky. He looked ashen. He’d been sleeping less and less these days. Something was terribly wrong here. “Get dressed,” he whispered then left.
Moving quickly, I pulled on a pair of black pants and a shirt. This time, I equipped every weapon I owned, keeping the White Queen on hand. I quietly slipped out of the room only to hear William and Jabberwocky on the third-floor landing above me.
“Alice,” Jabberwocky called.
He looked down the stairwell and motioned for me to come upstairs.
When I reached them, I looked briefly at William only to discover that he was as confused as me.
Jabberwocky motioned for us to follow him up the narrow stairwell that led to the roof of the house.
Once we reached the roof, both William and I were surprised to see an airship hovering above the house. Airships were prohibited from coming low into residential neighborhoods. The airship had its lantern off. I eyed the balloon. In the dark of night, it glowed a dim orange color. The insignia looked like Medusa. I didn’t know the ship or its captain, but the whole thing just felt wrong. A rope ladder wagged in the breeze.
“The ship’s captain will take you to the Queen’s manor. She’s expecting you. Deliver the package and come back immediately.”
“Excuse me for saying so, but the last time we—” I began, but Jabberwocky cut me off.
“Do your job, girl, or you and your sister will be on the street. Get that package delivered and take what she gives you. I don’t care what you see,” he replied sharply.
In all my years of living and working for Jabberwocky, he’d only ever been kind to me and Bess. I was shocked.
“Yes, sir,” William said then headed up the ladder.
I stood staring at the man who’d practically raised me.
“Mister Mock,” I said softly. “You’re in trouble. What can I—”
“Deliver the package,” he said, his tone softening. “Just…just deliver the package.”
He said then turned and headed back inside.
I climbed up the ladder behind William and slipped aboard the airship.
Without a word, one of the crew pulled up the ladder and the captain, who looked like he’d prefer if I didn’t notice him, turned the airship toward the Queen’s manor.
“Bloody hell,” William whispered.
“I was asleep. How in the world did you get here?”
William shook his head. “Messenger woke me up, told me to come at once. I arrived the same time the airship got here.”
“Do you know what the package is?”
William shook his head.
We stood at the side of the ship and watched as the streets of London slipped past us as the airship made its way to the Queen’s abbey. William took my hand. His fingers were cold. He stood clenching and unclenching his jaw. I eyed the crew. None of them were making eye contact.
We arrived just a short while later, the gothic gables of the Queen’s abbey taking shape on the horizon in the moonlight. The captain maneuvered the ship above a grassy spot on the grounds. Moving deftly and quietly, the ship lowered as far to the ground as she could without damaging the rudder.
“Get out here,” one of the crew members told us as he tossed a rope ladder over the side of the ship. “We’ll lower the box.”
Without another word, William and I climbed down the ladder. We stood in the grassy space to the side of the Queen’s abbey. From inside, I saw the flash of lamplight. I felt the strange sensation that we were being watched. A moment later, I heard an odd clicking sound. I heard the clank of metal coming from the garden. A moment later, three sets of red lights appeared in the darkness.
“William,” I whispered then pulled my blade.
I looked overhead. The crew had opened the galley and were lowering a box to the ground. One of the crew members stood on top the crate, guiding it gently to the ground.
William had pulled his pistol and stepped between me and the strange lights. There was so much wrong here I didn’t know where to look. I heard the manor door open. Overhead, the crew of the airship held pistols on the red lights, the manor, and us.
A moment later, under the glow of the moonlight, I saw the glint of metal. Three very large automatons emerged from the garden. The red lights had been their optics. They were moving toward us. One couldn’t help but notice the maces, swords, and axes they carried.
“Halt,” a voice called.
I turned to see the Queen’s henchman—the man in the black turban we’d met on our last visit to the Queen with Anna—moving toward us.
The automatons stopped at once.
Once the box was lowered to the ground, the crewman unharnessed the box, lashed the harness around himself, then waved to his crew. I heard a winch click on, and the rope quickly retracted.
“Carry this inside,” the henchman instructed the metal men.
The automatons, while their movements were very awkward, moved forward and lifted the box. They marched slowly toward the front door.
I nodded to William, and we followed along behind.
“Jabberwocky has sent his favorite pets,” the man in the turban said as he walked beside us toward the house. “Do you know what’s in the box?’ he asked with a smirk.
“We don’t care. Your Queen has something for us. We’ll have it and be gone,” William said grimly.
“Your transport left you behind,” he said, waving a hand overhead.
Overhead, the airship lifted quickly as her balloon filled with hot air. It glowed like a lantern against the night’s sky. The ship turned and headed back toward the city. Fabulous.
“Nice night for a stroll,” William replied with a false smile.
The henchman smirked then motioned for us to follow him inside. The massive creatures carried
the box with ease to the second floor. There we followed them down a long hallway. Some of the doors on this floor were open. Men and women, most of them drowsy, many of them naked, lay on beds or the floor. Some were drinking or smoking opium. Others seemed to be lost in a stupid slumber.
I had decided it was better if I kept my curious eyes to myself when I noticed a familiar face. Sitting glassy-eyed at the end of a bed, staring into an empty fireplace, was Anna. At least, I thought it was Anna.
Unable to stop myself, I went to the door. “Anna?” I called.
The girl didn’t look up. It was her, but it wasn’t her. She was so very thin. Her cheekbones and shoulders protruded like they wanted to burst from the paper-thin skin that held them in.
“Anna?
“This way,” the Queen’s henchman said.
“Alice,” William whispered.
I stared at the girl. There were cuts all over her forearms and on her neck. “Anna?”
William grabbed my arm. “Come on,” he whispered then pulled me away.
Anna turned and looked at me. Her big blue eyes had gone dim. A half-dead thing looked back at me. She stared at me for a moment then looked back at the empty fireplace.
“This way, pets,” the man with the turban called sharply.
“What happened to that girl?” I demanded.
“The Bandersnatch should not ask questions,” the man replied then turned to the automatons. “Stop,” he called to them.
The machines stopped with a jarring halt that rattled the box.
For a moment, I swore I heard a groan come from inside.
I cast a glance at William.
“Stay here,” the man said then entered a room with a set of double doors.
From inside, I heard the Queen of Hearts’s shrill voice. A moment later, the man opened the door.
I was surprised to see the Countess exit.
She eyed the box, then William and me. She gave us both a knowing look then headed down the hallway. I turned to watch her go.
The henchman motioned for the machines to enter. “Put it there,” the man said, pointing to spot on the rug in front of the fireplace. “Then return to your posts.”
Their heavy footsteps clomping, the machines stomped awkwardly into the room.
William and I watched as the automatons set the box down with a thump. This time, I clearly heard a groan.
“Keep it down or I’ll have your head,” the Queen called.
The machines turned and left the room, William and I moving out of the way of their red-eyed stare. I wasn’t certain how the optics worked. I knew they had limited visibility and limited cognition, but they were able to make their way without any problem. Their heartless manner frightened me. So much brute strength with no soul seemed a terrible thing to me.
“As usual, Jabberwocky’s timing is miserable. I suppose Bandersnatch and Caterpillar are here?”
“Yes, madame,” the henchman answered.
“I wasn’t asking you,” she replied sharply, her voice filled with annoyance. “Don’t stand in the doorway, Jabberwocky’s favorites. Come in. I’m almost done.”
Done? Done with what?
Reluctant to move, and more than curious as to why the Countess had been there, I entered the Queen of Hearts’s boudoir. The room had a large medieval style canopy bed with velvet drapes. There was a round table, many chairs and chaises, and elaborate wardrobes. The walls were lined with tapestries that depicted images I didn’t at once recognize. The heroes and settings looked foreign. Mongolian, perhaps? Persian? I wasn’t sure. I eyed the room, looking for a clue as to why the Countess had been there. I found it in the form of an old book sitting on the table. There was nothing written on the spine, and the book had the ragged appearance of a journal. What was the Countess doing mixing with the Queen? What hold did she have on everyone?
As we moved further into the room, my eyes also sought out the Queen. Around the corner from the elaborate bed was a fireplace. Sitting in front of it was a copper wash basin. Long white legs dangled over the sides of the basin. William stopped as soon as he spotted her.
The Queen laughed.
“Caterpillar, you spend your entire day with tarts’ breasts dangling in your face. Afraid to see a proper lady bathing? Or are you afraid that your Bandersnatch will see the lust on your face when you take in my beauty? I don’t know how you do it, Alice. I’d be so jealous I’d have to murder every tart who pushed her tiny tits in my lover’s face, whether she took his eye or not, just out of the principle of it.”
I looked at William. Neither of us knew how to respond.
“No reply? Very well, then. Bandersnatch, be a dear and fetch my robe from the chair.”
Shaking my head, frustrated with the entire situation, I rounded the end of the bed. I tried to avert my eyes, simply grabbing the robe and getting only close enough to hand it off, but I couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of the Queen. But more than that, I caught a glimpse of her bath.
I stopped and stared.
“What is it, Bandersnatch?” the Queen asked with a laugh. “Want to join me?”
The copper washbasin wasn’t copper at all. It was glass. The reddish orange sheen had come from the liquid inside. She was bathing in blood.
The Queen laughed.
“You’ve gone positively pale. Hearts, you see,” she said, then I heard a splash.
Against my better judgment, I looked. The Queen grinned at me as she sat in her bath of blood holding a human heart in her hand.
“Why do you think they call me the Queen of Hearts?” she asked with a laugh.
I stared at the heart.
“Look at my face,” she whispered.
I couldn’t take my eyes away. Bobbing on the surface of the bath water were at least a dozen human hearts.
“Look at me,” she demanded, her voice shrill.
I looked from the bath to her. I inhaled sharply. She looked like a girl no older than sixteen. She was even more beautiful, more radiant, than she’d been the first time I’d seen her.
The Queen laughed. “Now, give me my robe.”
I held it out to her.
The Queen of Hearts rose. Blood dripped down her body. Her skin was as pale as milk, but her body was beautifully formed, almost like she’d been carved out of marble.
“Aren’t I beautiful?” she whispered.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Well!” she demanded.
“Yes,” I replied.
“The most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?”
I thought over her question. A flash of my mother’s yellow hair, the color of sunflowers, falling in ringlets and the sound of her laughter tumbled through my mind. An image of Bess followed it. No. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, but I thought it best not to say so. “Yes.”
“Humph,” she replied, recognizing that I had lied. She slipped on her robe. As she belted the robe, she headed toward the table where the old journal was sitting. I couldn’t help but notice that she left bloody footprints in her wake.
“Now, let me see,” she said as she eyed over the table. “Ah yes,” she said, picking up a small case which she then took to William who, I noticed, was doing everything he could to not look at her. “Here you are, Caterpillar. Now, let’s see what you think. Am I the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?” she asked him. She winked at me then unbelted her robe and let it drop to the floor.
William looked at me, his face twisting with anguish. Steeling my heart, I nodded to him.
He looked at her. “You are very beautiful. You look…different.”
“Yes. I do look a bit fresher, don’t I? Quite a neat trick the Countess worked out for me. She’s very good about things like that. But you didn’t answer my question, Caterpillar. Am I the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?”
William smiled at her. “You are beautiful. But no.”
“No?” she asked. She ran her hands sensually over her breasts. “Are
you certain?”
“You are beautiful, but no.”
The Queen sighed then turned to me. “It’s better to be feared than loved anyway. Bandersnatch, seems you have a loyal man. Now you know,” she said then grinned at me.
She picked up her robe and slid it back on. “That’s what your boss wanted,” she said, motioning to the small case she’d handed to William. “See them out,” she added, motioning to henchman who opened the door.
He motioned for us to follow him.
More than happy to get out of there, I headed toward the door.
“My—Your Highness, if you don’t mind, I wanted to ask about Anna. Are you…are you done with her?” I looked back to see William staring at the Queen.
“Anna?” the Queen replied, looking confused for a moment. “Oh yes, Miss Farm Fresh. I’m afraid she’s quite dried up.”
“If you’ve no use for her, maybe—”
“Take her. Consider it a bonus,” she replied then sat down on the box the automatons had delivered. She rapped on the lid. “Comfy, love?” she called with a laugh.
William turned and nodded to me. We quickly headed out the door before the Queen could change her mind. I raced down the hallway to the room where I’d seen Anna. She lay on the floor.
I knelt down. “Anna?” I reached out and turned her face toward me.
Her eyes were wide open, frozen in the grimace of death.
“Too late,” I whispered.
“Anna?” William said, kneeling beside me. He lifted her hand, feeling her wrist for any sign of life. He shook his head.
“Do you still want her?” the Queen’s henchman asked, a sick joking tone in his voice.
William rose, glared at the man, then we turned and left, both our hearts sick with guilt.
As we walked back to London that night, I’d sworn it was the last time I would ever deal with the Queen of Hearts.
Apparently, I was wrong.
The sunlight shimmered through the window onto William’s dark hair. Tints of blue, gold, and copper shimmered in the sunlight.
I stared at him.
“Alice, I’m going to get out. I’m ending it. All of it. I can’t live without you. I’ve saved as much as I can. You can’t—won’t—come back, and I don’t blame you. So, I’m coming to you, as I promised. I just need to clean up this last problem.” He reached out and touched my cheek. After a moment’s thought, he leaned toward me.