The gardens of the White Queen's palace were something to behold, especially in the warmth of spring when the tumtum trees came into flower and all manner of greening could be seen. Nothing could ever replace the Red Kingdom in Jacob's heart, as there was where he was rooted and grown, but it did not mean he could not admire places elsewhere. Especially when in the company of the Mad Hatter, who was currently hatless and lying peacefully against his lap, eating a slice of lemon cake.
When they began their attempts at peaceful coexistence, queens of both colour bid their advisors to share company as well, to further their understanding. To be true, he had not anticipated a great deal of enjoyment to come from it, but for once, he was quite chuffed to be mistaken.
A white rabbit—not a Rabbit—bounded out of a bush and lolloped over to them, snuffling its silky white whiskers importantly. Jacob smiled at the sight of the little creature; they were nary found in the gardens of the Red Castle, but the White Queen was endlessly fond of them. "I'm afraid I cannot help you, I haven't a watch and cannot give you the time," he said courteously, which of course, was how one was supposed to address a rabbit or a Rabbit, to avoid falling down their holes later on. It flicked one ear at him and continued on with its merry bounding.
"Excellently done, Sir Knight," Ezekiel remarked, nibbling on another slice of lemon cake. "I'd hate to lose you down a rabbithole. Who knows where you would turn up again?"
"With my lack of luck, somewhere east of Queast," Jacob replied and held out a hand for his own piece. "Do you think the queens will connive of a way to contort two crowns into one, then?" he wondered as he laid back against the tumtum, curlicue bark pressing into his back.
Ezekiel shrugged against his thigh, having taken off his hat and idly flipping it in his hands, tossing it high and catching it again by the ribbons, spinning it about cleverly. "Perhaps. Would be an honour to see and a favour to hear, of a certainty." He flashed a pearly white Cheshire grin up at his Knight. "I doubt they spend all that time in private chambers discussing only ships and sealing-wax."
Jacob laughed brightly, tilting his chin up to look through the dappled leaves of the tumtum at the sky, picking out fluffy white Rabbits and their watches in the shapes of the clouds, watching a murder of tar-barrel crows scatter as they were chased by a Jubjub bird. "It would be a fine thing," he agreed. "You and I might share company for more than a day were they to find a proper way."
"Do you mean to say you don't enjoy our tea parties, Sir Knight?" Ezekiel interjected.
"Of course I do, dear Hatter, but I should like to have an unbirthday party with you sometime," he answered with a feline smile of his own, running his fingers through the mop of hair Ezekiel had atop his head, which never behaved whether it was covered by a hat or not, coiling in curls about his fingers. "I have a place of mine own in Tulgey Wood, tucked away nice and safe-like, away from all manner of Bandersnatches and borogoves. It's quite lovely, and lovely is far lovelier when shared with a lover, as you well know."
Ezekiel thoughtfully rearranged a pin in his hat, fixing it to the ribbon just so. "A lover am I, then?" he asked.
He realised his slip of speech then, and decided it was best to take this beast by the ear. "In heart and mind if not yet in deed," Jacob replied, and he produced one of the bright red roses that he had procured from the Queen's garden before their venture here, holding it before the Hatter. "And only if you so desire."
Ezekiel gazed up at the rose. "It's not painted, is it?"
"Of course not. I would do no such thing. I'm a Knight, not a Card."
The Hatter opened his mouth to reply, but as was wont in such situations, they were interrupted by a most untimely Knight of a different colour; Sir Galahad, the White Queen's first guard, was calling for them, making his way through the gardens. They hastily got their feet back beneath them, attempting to at least look the part of the dignified dignitaries they were meant to be (although Jacob knew very well that what his Queen and her own queenly consort got up to was most undignified). As he straightened his shirt, he noticed that he had somehow managed to lose track of his rose. Flowers were apt to flee if not properly gardened, but not usually when being given as a gift, as that was quite rude of them. Jacob near asked Ezekiel if he had seen where it had gone, when he saw that the Hatter held the rose in hand. With a smile that was altogether un-Cheshire-like, he broke off most of the stem and fixed it to the ribbon on his hat.
A courtship it is, then, Jacob thought giddily.
"Ah, there you are, Hatter, Sir Jacob," Galahad declared. "If you would follow me to the castle, the Queens Red and White have a proclamation to make to all Looking Glass creatures. It seems they've come to a more concrete contract between their courts."
A contract of betrothal, it turned out to be, and Jacob had no cause to hide his glee, raising a cheer with the rest of the court. Somewhere in it all, Ezekiel managed to slip up to his side again, the red rose still proudly affixed to his hat. "Well, Sir Knight, it seems you'll soon show me this loveliness in Tulgey Wood after all," he remarked slyly.
"It certainly seems to be so. We'll have an unbirthday party when we get there."
"I daresay I'll hold you to that."
"I expect no less from a Hatter."