Chapter 1: Trouble in Wonderland
Things were not so good in Wonderland.
Jack Heart, King of Wonderland, gazed out of his chamber window in his newly built castle. His chambers were on the top floor, naturally, but at this point he wasn't sure if that was such a good thing. Being on the top floor made it easier for others to keep tabs on him...and trap him if that was what they wanted to do.
He had known, of course, that becoming King of Wonderland would not immediately fix all of the problems that were in his land. There was so much to fix, since his mother had so royally ruined the country. There were the refugees to think of and pardon, many of whom were still in hiding and didn't know about the change in power, the economy was basically in ruins, and much of the population were little more than addicts. Of course, it wasn't drugs they were addicted to. It was the bottled-up emotions, the "Pearls" that had been sucked out of the Oysters while his mother had been in charge that the vast majority of the citizens of Wonderland craved.
He had made Pearl ownership, trafficking, and use illegal once he had been formally crowned as King, and had tried to ensure that any and all of the Oysters which were left in Wonderland were sent back through the Looking Glass as quickly as possible. Of course, that had been expensive, because their minds had to be wiped of all memories of Wonderland. However, underground tea shops had began popping up everywhere, and they were selling Pearl at outlandish prices. And his people were over-dosing on the stuff. How they were overdosing Jack didn't know; as far as he knew, people had never ODed on Pearl before, and he had no idea why they were now.
Jack had even went through the trouble to break up the Stone of Wonderland into pieces, and fashioned into much smaller rings. Now, you could move through the Looking Glass into the Other world, but you were no longer able to vanish people into Wonderland. It was pre-emptive move to ensure the impossibility of bringing in people and using them as Oysters again. He wore one of the pieces around his right ring finger, and had hidden the other rings.
More worrying, and perhaps more important, at least to Jack, was the fact that there were rebels who wanted to overthrow him. He hadn't been in power for even two full years and already he had enemies. Who he had pissed off he wasn't exactly sure, but he knew he'd made somebody angry. Threats on his life had been made, and his food-taster had turned up very dead just the week before. He had taken a bite of Jack's baked borogove, had muttered something about a bitter taste, and then keeled over backwards. Jack still had not replaced him.
"What's the matter, darling?" he heard the familiar throaty purr of Duchess' voice behind him, and then felt her body heat behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, putting her chin on his shoulder.
"Same old, same old, I'm afraid," jack replied, not taking his eyes off the land below him. "Threats on my life, rebels, drugs...you know, another normal day in Wonderland." He pursed his lips. "And not a damned thing I can do about it, it seems." At this he did turn, and studied Duchess carefully.
She was wearing her usual outfit: a gold, strapless belly-top and long, slinky gold skirt, along with very high heels, also gold of course. Her long, platinum blonde hair was teased to a seemingly enormous height, and her eyes were heavily lined with kohl. Bracelets adorned her wrists, and she wore around her neck a thick, gold collar. Her alabaster skin shone in the lamp light of Jack's room.
Duchess stood patiently, not being unaccustomed to people regarding her for long periods of time, and was very still. The way she stood so still made her look like a statue, a perfect, beautiful statue carved from some yet-undiscovered stone.
Jack had, obviously, considered her as the traitor, but after much consideration, and some spying on his part performed by one of his trusted Spades, he had cleared her name off his list of suspects. Besides, she had shown him her loyalty when she had freed him from his mother's clutches, and had proven herself as a true friend, time and again during his time rebuilding Wonderland.
He nodded, to show her that he had finished looking at her, and she went from being still to being in motion so fluidly it was surprising. She stepped past him, so she herself could look out the window. Her large eyes took in the scenery below them, rolling hills of green, with small villages scattered throughout the countryside. In the distance was Wonder City, with its very tall buildings above the very large river, which snaked its way to the sea, known as the Sea of Tears.
"Not a thing?" Duchess finally spoke.
"I'm afraid not," he replied, "that's the thing about being in power, there are always those who will go against you." He sighed, closing his eyes, very tired. He put out a hand to brace himself against the wall. "Of course, usually they wait until you've finished building and renovating your new castle before making tries on your life."
"Have you eaten anything today?" Duchess asked him worriedly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Mmmm....I don't remember," Jack replied. "I don't think so." He opened his eyes to Duchess' retreating figure. She strode into his antechamber and got the attention of a Suit.
"The King has not yet eaten today. Are you an imbecile? Would you like him to die of starvation on your watch?" she berated him. The poor Suit shook his head, clearly embarrassed and maybe a little bit frightened. Duchess could be scary when she wanted to be. "Well, see to it that he gets a plate of breakfast foods." The Suit hurried away. She turned back towards him. "There now, you'll have some food in less than two shakes of a borogove's-" she was cut off by a knock at the door.
"Food for the King!" a voice called out.
"Tail."
"You didn't have to do that, Duchess," Jack said to her.
"Of course I did," she replied. "You are my King, and I can't have you dying of starvation before you turn thirty." She turned to the door. "Come in."
Another Suit walked in the door, and Jack recognized him as the 3 of Diamonds. He was carrying a tray laden with fruits, toast and waffles. He set it down on table near the wall.
"Was this food tested?" Duchess asked.
"Yes milady."
"When was it tested?"
"In the kitchens, milady."
"Are you an idiot?" Duchess asked.
"Umm... no milady."
"Are you trying to make a threat to the King's life?"
"No, milady!" 3 exclaimed, starting to look panicked.
"But you thought it fit to bring the King a tray of food which has traveled all the way from the kitchens to his chambers, making it entirely possible that someone slip something in the food on the way here?" Duchess asked, starting to glower at the poor Suit.
"It's not poisoned, milady!"
"Says you, a Suit who used to work for the Queen," Duchess retorted. She took a menacing step towards him. "Get a food taster up here now."
"Duchess, it's fine." Jack cut in, grabbing her by the elbow. He turned to look at 3. "Was it tested?" he asked.
"Yes, milord," 3 said, bowing slightly.
"Well, send for a taster because I want it tested again," Duchess said to him. 3 nodded and turned to dash out of the room.
"Duchess, I don't really think it's necessary, if the food's already been tested," Jack said to her.
"Well, I say it is necessary, who knows if that Suit was telling the truth?" Duchess replied. They stood in relative silence for a moment. "Jack," she began, "I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to you...I truly do... care for you."
"And I you, darling. You know that."
A moment later the door opened. A very large man walked in, who was definitely not a Suit, nor was he a food taster. Jack felt fear in the pit of his stomach. The man was easily 7 feet tall, muscular, and barrel-chested. His arms were very easily the size of Jack's legs, and his thighs reminded him of tree-trunks. He was very clearly an assassin; he was even dressed all in black. He was hairless, with startling green eyes. Jack wondered idly how he had gotten in the castle without an alarm being raised.
"Who are you?" Duchess asked, but Jack knew the answer already.
The large man walked up to them, shaking his head. "You just couldn't eat the food, could you? You would have died quickly you know, with very little pain. But now I have to take charge. I can still do it quick, if you do something for me." He had a deep, gravelly voice which was not altogether unpleasant.
"How dare you!" Duchess shrieked at him. She dashed past him, opening her mouth to call for the Suits, but the large man grabbed her by the arm and very casually threw her against the wall, effectively knocking her unconscious.
"Pity about the girl, really," the man continued. "But I won't have to hurt you if you tell me about the rings. A quick snap of the neck, that I can promise you."
"The rings?" Jack asked, already knowing what rings he referred to.
"You know, the Stone of Wonderland. What have you done with the pieces?"
Jack chuckled softly. "I'm afraid that's something I cannot divulge to you," he replied. "You'll just have to kill me."
The man in black tsked, as if this news was very distressing. "Well, I will kill you, but now that won't be for awhile. And by the time I'm done, you'll have wished you'd told me."
He struck so quickly Jack didn't even see it coming, nor did he see anything after. His world went black.