Journey to The Past
Chapter One-A Celebration Is Planned.
Ten years had passed since the Frabjous Day, and all of Underland was preparing to celebrate the momentous occasion. From Witzend to the shores of the Crimson Sea, all the people and creatures were awaiting with eager anticipation the Grand Celebration that their Queen had been planning for the past three months. Shopkeepers, hatters, tailors, and bakers were working overtime to make sure that this was a celebration to end all celebrations.
At Marmoreal, the planning was no less frantic. Mirana had her Court tailors and seamstresses working day and night to create the most elegant costumes for the Lords and Ladies of Court. The kitchens were a constant bustle of activity as Thackery and the Head Cook concocted as many delicious recipes as they could invent-and some were quite odd, even for the Mad March Hare. The walls of the palace were scrubbed until they shone, and the hangings and tapestries were taken down and given an extremely thorough cleaning.
Even the White Army had been included in the planning. Stayne had been told by Mirana that she wanted her Army to look their absolute best, and that each soldier must be fully armed in order to provide a Royal Salute-a grand honor that had only been performed once, and that required the soldiers to perform many fancy sword exercises. It took an extremely competent swords master to be able to teach all the maneuvers required, and Stayne was more than up for the task. But the same couldn't be said for all his soldiers.
Alannah was sitting on the couch in the cottage when Stayne walked in, a look of supreme tiredness on his face. He hung his sword on the peg by the door, and flopped down onto the couch next to her, sighing in exaggerated annoyance. She looked over at him, and spoke drily.
"Is there something on your mind, Ilosivic?"
Stayne sighed, eye closed. "I'm wondering how long it will take me before I simply lose my patience with Corporal Danvers. I've tried five times to teach him basic sword exercises, and each time he manages to either drop his sword or almost cut his fingers off. What's even more embarrassing is that all the other soldiers picked up the techniques quite quickly. I'm at a loss as to what to do."
Alannah smiled patiently. "Try it a sixth time, and maybe show him exactly what he's supposed to do. Danvers is smart, I'm certain he'll eventually figure it out. How long did it take you to learn?"
Stayne smiled as he remembered. "Ages, it seems. At least, that's what Captain Bierce said. He was the Captain of the Guard when I first arrived at Salazen Grum, and he took me under his wing. I would spend hours watching him practice with his sword-it was like it was an extension of him. One day, I asked him to teach me everything he knew…"
Author's Note-I'm being mean and putting the flashback in the next chapter. Also, sorry for the shortness of this chapter.