I've wanted to write these collections for some time now. Thank you very much.
Alyss Heart slinked past the crowds of Wonderland, bearing a costume not in the least dissimilar to the one she wore at the Clubs' rally. She disguised herself to be rounder and messier than a regal bride, wandering through the streets further and further away from her home and its shimmering splendor.
She wasn't fleeing from her wedding. Of course not. She loved Dodge, even if he would be very unhappy at her leaving the castle without him—or at all.
But she needed a moment to calm herself. Most days when the pressures of the queendom relied too heavily on her, she would turn to and confide in her fiancé. Yet recently, he was often a reminder that she should be choosing a chorus of flowers and an arrangement for the tarty-tarts and so-on and so-forth.
However, her plan to breathe blatantly failed her when a hand grasped her arm, pulling her aside from the steady-paced crowd. She made no noise for fear of being caught by all the others, yet her adrenaline pumped, as quickly as in her last battle.
"Alyss," the person whispered, and she quickly recognized—
Dodge, dressed as milliner, glanced about frantically and ducked as people in heart-themed attire sprinted closer and closer, the crowds thickening. Only the few remaining suit families among the many imprisoned refused to wear hearts, though there had been no official decree for such attire. But everyone seemed to be rejoicing the hope that a somewhat-commoner could marry into a suit family and take the queen's name of all names! So, with newfound celebration, every citizen of Wonderland encouraged the queen and her guardsmen in matrimony by agreeing to wear hearts at their public attendance.
Yet Dodge Anders wasn't fooled. Among them were Arches, men disapproving of his marrying Alyss and allowing contentedly for a queen to rule. He also knew of the old-fashioners who would stop at nothing to see that suit families remained on the throne alone. This had driven him to follow her.
"Dodge—"
"You didn't tell anyone where you were going."
"I told the Walrus Butler," she answered evenly, folding her hands.
He shook his head, and after concluding that no one could see them behind the jelly-belly stand, he slowly intertwined their fingers. "I searched everywhere."
She couldn't help but smile at their hands, and he did in turn. "Dodge Anders, as I learned in Oxford, it's bad luck if you see me before our wedding."
He tensed, and she wished she hadn't mentioned that place. "We're not in Oxford."
Tentatively, she pulled her hands from his and sat them on his forearms. "Maybe they have a point about it, though. Look at us now, dwelling on unhappy times." They did, certainly, look at each other, but the costumes made them laugh, and all that time, she felt so comfortable, felt as if she needn't have run this time.
However, occasionally, when laughter dies, deep seriousness ensues. It did then, and she wondered for a moment what he was thinking.
"Are you nervous?"
Dodge? A man who had been fighting battles with snarling enemies since he was ten? He was nervous?
"Dodge?"
"I know. You don't mind the attention. I guess I don't either. We're going to be married after all. But, after the wedding, what if I've done something during the ceremony, or anytime after? Will I live it down? What about..." He paused; Alyss tilted her head. "What about children? What if we don't have a suitable queen, like Redd? Or what if we don't have a queen at all?"
Before she could imagine an answer, the first bell of the evening chimed over the queendom. She could see Bibwit in the distance wincing from the noises and lack of both bride and groom. But with his acute hearing, she was certain he'd found them by their talk and was waiting to gently chastise them both—perhaps he was even giddy to ridicule the new king and prepare him for the duties of being royalty.
"That's something to consider after the wedding," she drawled, then kissed him and dashed away. After all, she hadn't played chase with him in years.