Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland, any version as it happens. I borrow these characters so I can have my fun with them. And by that, yes, I do mean torture them. After all, it's what I do best.

This is the third story, the previous two being Mirana of Marmoreal and Alice Kingsleigh. Whilst you would probably survive reading this story as a stand alone, it would enhance your experience to read the other two so you can get an inkling of what Alice and Mirana might be thinking. That rhymes. Go me.

A/N: Well, folks, here we are down the final winding road of the last instalment in the trilogy. I wish I could say we were close to the end, but that would require for me to definitely know the end. And it remains a mystery. Which I am okay with... it is how I like it. One thing I hope we get is resolution, perhaps even some actual Malice... well, you know. Or to be dead honest, just those two talking where they both have a semblance of some sanity! Either one is good.

So down the rabbit hole we go.

Again.

Long ago, in very much the same vicinity as present day Marmoreal, there lived an altogether different, if not entirely unconnected, queen. Isolde of Crims was heralded throughout every kingdom as being the epitome of graciousness, with a heart as full and open as her mind. She was unanimously loved by all her people and many suitors came from far and wide to quest for the Red Queen's hand. But that was where the matters usually got tricky, for once their eyes alit upon the monarch, even those who would dare to persist would do so out of lust for power, maybe sheer greed, but never love. For Isolde had been scarred at birth, with facial blemish so repulsive that no suitor had ever seen beyond it, their eyes averting in disgust. Yet patiently Isolde continued to receive them, never allowing her growing disenchantment to affect her judgement, remaining as fair and steadfast in her kindness to all, as in those days before she understood that she was destined to remain alone. Surrounding herself with loyal courtesans she mourned the loss of only one thing dear to her heart – a child – an offspring who would carry on the royal name.

From far away, Trillana, the queen of all the Faerie, watched Isolde through the years, her heart moved with compassion as it never had been by a human plight. Being only several hundred years old herself, she thought to cast a spell – an enchantment over Cederic, the king of Loeten – that he should only see Isolde for the good that lay inside. The spell was successful, but in her haste and youth, Trillana failed to bind the magic properly, and on the their wedding night the full eclipse cast darkness over all the land, and over faerie veils… and Cederic recoiled in horror when he saw Isolde for what she was… But not because he was repulsed, at least not by her scars, by then he was entirely in love; no, it was for a truly different reason… the one thing he had grown to despise were lies. Believing it was she that tricked him into this, he fled the kingdom vowing never to return, promising that he would spend the rest of all his days spreading the word about Isolde's treachery… and the duplicity of vain queens.

Devastated by unfounded accusations, inconsolable beyond all reason, Isolde wondered whether she had truly purpose to continue living and in her desolation, having found none, she sought to take her own life. Upon this circumstance, Trillana wept, vowing in return that her own folly and Isolde's sacrifice would have some semblance of a joyful end. Collecting Faerie tears, Underland's most influential magic, she came to Cederic, telling him of Isolde's fondest wish and of her own tricks and lies. Agreeing to fulfil Isolde's deepest longing, he acquiesced to raising Illianora – Isolde's child born of potent magic and enchantment, but inadvertently… betrayal and deceit.

The latter manifested early on but 'twas a while to display: from an early age Illianora of Crims was known to be selfish, capricious, sometimes outright cruel; but her otherworldly beauty and her father's doting love tended to mask it… at least at an early age. Later, the many suitors from the farthest outreaches of Underland were often pitted against one another, the future queen's own courtesans blanching in horror at their bloody ends. Yet none of them could bring themselves to say a word: some because they could not believe that one produced by two such monarchs as Isolde and Cederic could truly bear such unfeeling traits; some because they themselves could see their own reflection in the princess, and knowing her true nature, were far too clever not to take her side; some simply still were cowed for she was royalty… and so she flourished, believing herself righteous in her acts. Eventually, it was Theobald of Marmoreal that won the Illianora's hand and her heart, their marriage the most lavish in the land, celebrated by all in the surrounding kingdoms… except Trillana and the Faerie realm.

Incredulous, she gazed at Illianora from the shadows, watchfully tracking every callous deed, and on the day of Illianora's marriage she gave the princess one last chance – granting her five more years. Five years for the queen to change. Willing to trust in Theobald's good heart and his ability to see past superficial beauty, she chose to believe that with his love and guidance, Illianora would relinquish all her darkness, that she would become a worthy monarch, proudly carrying on her mother's name. Receding deep into her realm, she marked a day – the midnight of the May Eclipse – when her own powers would be drained by the moon, when she'd be at her most weak and could appear… human. That night, in five years time, she'd pass the ultimate in Faerie judgement – a trial to test Illianora's inner substance – – the outcome… whether the Faerie gift of life would be renounced.

And so true to her word, she did appear on that day, clothed not in luminescence but in shadows, dressed not in nature's vivid riches but in rags; but most of all, disfigured was her timeless Faerie beauty, left in its place her true face of a toothless, weathered hag. Approaching the queen just as the moon was sheathed by shadow, she begged just for a simple favour – kindness, an evening meal her only lowly humble demand. Her answer – "What is this? How many times must I request that commoners are kept out of my private chambers? Take her to the kitchen, feed her slops… or kick her out, I do not care either way. Just get her out of my sight."

Incensed by Illianora's inability to grant even a basic courtesy, Trillana prowled the halls of Crims in rage, awaiting the passing of the eclipse, all the while gathering essential knowledge. Not but an hour later, she appeared once again, just as a sliver of the moon kissed darkened balconies with its first breath of light. This time she caught them all: Illianora, Theobald and Cederic; the latter recognising her even in disguise.

"Your majesty…"

"Silence!" Trillana's shrieking voice clapped hands to ears, its pitch so high the fine glass of several statues crawled with sudden cracks. "I am here to retract what was so readily bestowed so long ago…"

"N-n-o." Cederic's voice trembled in fear. Falling to his knees, he bowed to the Faerie queen, "Please, you majesty. I do not know—"

"Oh but you do. For years you have both turned a blind eye to what she is, to what she does. Her outward beauty makes you just as sightless as her mother's scars had always clouded her suitors' vision. She doesn't deserve the gift of life, she never has done. Now I will right the wrong as best as I know how."

Understanding that something was terribly amiss, that for once she had erred with actual repercussions, Illianora started to cry but Trillana was far too wise to be taken in by artifice, too shrewd for crocodile tears.

Seeing that the queen would not be swayed by any of his daughter's pleas and bargains, Cederic played his only remaining card, "then take my life. We both know that you owe a debt to me, your majesty. That is my wish - the gift of life will be relinquished, but in the process… you will right another wrong."

The Faerie queen rendered helpless in the face of such compassion, aware Cederic's words contained a measure of truth, cast her thoughts far and wide and came to a swift decision, pronouncing, "very well. A life surrendered for a lifetime spared."

"Thank you—"

"Don't thank me yet." The queen's face having slowly sparkled into once again exquisite ethereal beauty, her visage blighted with a sudden spiteful glower. "Humankind has once again proven themselves unworthy judges and more worthless bearers; yet sacrifice means Faerie magic will continue its existence, its power flowing through your daughters' veins. A punishment must be bestowed, one fitting of your crimes. From this day forth, the only thing you truly care about," the queen waved a hand towards the two rocking cradles in the corner, "will bear the weight of your own darkness, Illianora. And this time, I will not err on the side of kindness nor will I put my faith in you… they do not earn a shroud… their foul deeds will outwardly taint their image."

"T-they are only innocent children…" Weeping in earnest now, Illianora implored for lenience.

"I do not change them but impose greater consequences to their choices. Don't ever forget who truly saddles them with their debt. "

"What will I tell them?"

"You can tell the truth or you can lie, I do not care either way." The queen's cold nod mocked Illianora's earlier words. "This stipulation is but for a sole purpose… no creature will be blind to your flaws again."