What up?
-Static
/*\
The days after the ball alone were meticulous. Ace took the Queen's orders, carried them out, and returned to his small home, exhausted and in need of a long shower. In the weeks that passed, he could not get even two minutes of spare time, but then, he would need far more than two minutes for the plans he wanted to make.
Alice Liddell.
It was just as well. She would probably be just as ditzy as the rest of the girls who commonly threw themselves at him, though she seemed to have a bit more rebelliousness. Even if she wasn't, she was already attached. Ultimately, she was untouchable, whether he liked it or not.
No, she was off-limits. He needed to forget about her, but for whatever odd reason, her image had implanted itself in his mind. He had seen prettier girls, certainly, but then for a aristocrat daughter she was not bad-looking. She didn't have the large nose or the pretentious clothes or the bland hair color. He had been unable to fully determine the shape of her figure, through her unusually young clothes, but though he had seen better, he had also definitely seen worse. Instead of a generically courteous smile, she had looked at him politely, but with irritation clearly spattered across her face.
Yes, that had to be it. The only reason he remembered her was because she acted different. She had known who he was - everyone in the bloody kingdom did - but she had shown no reservations. Instead of being coerced into speaking with him of boring and trivial matters, she had disregarded him. It had been as though he were a peasant she had met on the street, rather than one of the most respected individuals within the kingdom.
He found he did not like the feeling.
That's what I get. He thought to himself, I tell myself time and again that I hate the attention, and once I'm treated as a mere passerby, I have the audacity to feel offended.
Softly laughing at himself, he stood up and walked to the bathroom, stripping off a piece of clothing with each step.
He really needed that shower.
/*\
Finally, at long last, a day off. Ace could relax. Though normally he wasn't much one for reading, he felt in the mood for some alone time. He liked the other soldiers well enough, certainly, but even someone as friendly as him needed his space.
He chose a book off the shelf and lightly tossed it on one of the cushions of his couch, blinking sleepily at the sunlight radiating through the window. Next, he moved to the cupboards to see what he might be able to scrounge up for breakfast. As he gazed over the shelves, and took inventory of his supplies, he dropped his eyes. No matter what idea came to mind, there was something missing from his meager stores. He sighed in defeat.
Of course, today just had to be the day he ran out of food.
/*\
In order to cut through to town, Ace had to travel through the woods. The day was nice enough. The sun was out and shining, not a cloud in sight. The rays of light pushed through the leaves of each and every tree, giving the illusion of a world entirely tinted green. Small animals could be heard in the underbrush, and birds sang their hearts out. It was really too bad that he was feeling so lethargic. It was a lovely day for camping.
He was halfway down the trail, lost in these musings when a different sound caught his attention. It was definitely a person. No animal would attempt to silence itself, not that way, and he was pretty sure they didn't cry. Then it came again, that muffled sound of soft weeping. It sounded like a girl.
Ace stood still for several minutes, thinking over what action he might want to take. It would be the right thing to do, if he were to investigate what was going on, but at the same time...he had no interest in encouraging people.
But...He thought, I don't want to be a bad guy. If I ignore it, then I'm proving that I'm not a good person on some level. And it was true. Though there were...'incidents' within the city, Ace did not consider himself a genuinely bad human being. He knew the difference between right and wrong, and to ignore the sobbing in the middle of the woods could end up being dangerous for whoever was crying. Therefore, to carry on would be wrong. He veered off the trail.
The tiny hiccups were easy to detect, but as the Knight got closer and closer, the small noises started to quiet. It was as if she was too tired to shed any more tears, and so Ace started looking at the ground. He knew how to track, and though most of the time his targets were game animals, he had no issue locating the girl.
After almost fifteen minutes of traipsing through the woods, he finally pushed aside a few low-hanging branches, and came across a tree. It was one of the largest in this forest, and curled up at it's base among the roots, was her.
For a moment he had no idea how to react. He had only interacted with her once, in a rather awkward manner, and the experience was so brief, he himself had never gotten the chance to actually speak to her.
Alice Liddell. The girl whose image refused to leave the recesses of his mind.
Was this coincidence or was there some sort of reason the Universe had decided to present her to him once more?
Either way, he needed to take action. She had passed out under the tree, curled up in a fetal position. Her arms were wrapped around her torso tightly, and the striped stockings of her knees met her forehead. It was as if she were trying to protect herself from something.
After a brief inspection, Ace determined that there was nothing physically wrong with her. There had been no fight, for she bore no injuries to her person nor clothing. She had been crying for a different reason, and now he needed to wake her up.
"Hey," He murmured, gently prodding her shoulder. "Hey," his voiced increased in volume just a little, and he had pried her arm from her waist. "Miss, you must wake up now."
Her eyes flew open and she jumped, lurching away from him and slamming her back into the tree bark.
"What-!"
"Shh," he cooed, "Shh, it's alright. My name is Ace. I'm-"
"I know who you are." She briskly interrupted. "Why are you holding my arm?" He let go, and held his hands up in surrender.
"My apologies," he responded smoothly, "I heard you crying, and when I found you, you had fallen asleep on the forest floor. I thought it might not be wise to leave you here, should a man of a less virtuous nature find you." She bristled,
"I did not fall asleep." She retorted, "I was simply...resting. I wasn't crying either."
Needless to say, Ace was fascinated. Where many girls might have asked to sob into his shoulder, she shied away from him. She held her head high, fueled by female pride, and glared at him, daring him to contradict her.
Challenge accepted.
"These say otherwise." And he gently traced his index finger from the corner of her eye down to her chin. Tear stains, trailing lines down her face. She looked down, and huffed.
"...Even if I was crying, why does that matter? I'm awake now, I'll return home soon. There is no need for you to inconvenience yourself further."
In other words...go away.
It will not be anywhere near that simple. The man mentally stated.
"Come now," he chastised, "What kind of knight would I be if I just left you out here all alone?" And he spoke with such seriousness, such appallment, that she had to look up to his face. Scarlet eyes went wide with horror, his mouth shaped into a soft O, but the expression was exaggerated. He was clearly trying to keep from laughing, and it looked so odd and so awkward, that through her annoyance with him she could not help but to giggle.
"I suppose it would make you kind of a lame knight." He grinned,
"Exactly, now might I have the honor of knowing this beautiful young woman's name?" He asked flirtatiously, gesturing to her person. It would seem awfully creepy if he let it slip that he knew the name of a complete stranger. She raised a perfect blond eyebrow. In spite of her earlier emotional distress, she couldn't keep down the urge to say something.
"Get me home safely and maybe I'll tell you." She answered haughtily, and promptly stood up, and started walking.
/*\
The Knight wasn't too surprised to see that Alice lived in a nice neighborhood. He was surprised when she led him into Titania Estates. Only relatives of the royal family were allowed to live in this neighborhood, as it was close to the castle and relatively easy to protect.
He idly wondered how many people would have to die in order for the girl to ascend the throne.
It wasn't much longer until she stopped in front of a house, and Ace made a point to commit it to memory. It was three stories tall, white with pinkish-red trim, and several windows made of stained glass. There was a decently-sized flower garden off to the right, and on the left were rows upon rows of edible plants. Lush lawns neatly framed a pale brick pathway from the street to the front door, and the shingles of the roof were a darker shade of brown. The number on the mailbox was 1865, and the house itself was sat on Carroll Drive.
Ace got the feeling that he'd need to remember this place.
Then the girl beside him moved, and he once again focused his attention on her.
"Well, I ought to be going in." She stated softly, almost...reluctantly? She took a small step forward when Ace caught her arm.
"You forgot something." And when she tilted her head at him questioningly, he sighed and rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "Your name?" Her expression cleared up.
"My name is Alice, Alice Liddell."
"Well, Alice Liddell. If you might be open to the idea...might I see you again? Preferably under happier circumstances?" He joked, lightly tapping the fading stripe on her cheek. Her eyes narrowed. Whoops, maybe he should have been a little more sensitive...
"I suppose." She answered, and after agreeing on a day and a time, he finally turned and went his own way.
/*\
Once Ace had returned home, he changed back into his pajamas - if he was going to laze about he might as well be comfortable - and he proceeded to read the book he'd left on the couch hours earlier. As his eyes flickered over paragraph after paragraph, he soon realized he'd skimmed over ten pages, entirely unable to recall what he'd just read. He set the book on the coffee table and sighed.
Alice was interesting, there was no denying that. At the same time...he didn't want to expect too much from her. She had only agreed to an outing with him out of courtesy, and he wagered she'd be exactly that, a she. In his experience, common women were exceedingly fickle creatures, noblewomen even more so. They had no responsibility, and were raised with the notion that they would be taken care of, from the cradle and their fathers, to the grave with their husbands. Though that was the fault of a flawed society rather than their own selves...they had no concept of what life really was. Put quite simply...
He didn't think he'd have anything in common with Alice.
It wasn't worth dwelling on. Her Majesty had insisted that he take interest in someone, if only for the time being.
Perhaps he'd be lucky, and she would remain interesting.
/*\
Heyyy so another chapter for Commandeer. I feel really nervous about this. This, technically, is not my plot-line, and if you read the original - written by The Mad Earl - you'll see that I changed something, rather significantly. I really hope she doesn't mind...
-Static
