Mirana picked up the vorpal sword as in a daze and put it back in the armors upturned hands. She felt empty as if something important had been pulled out of her with Alice's leaving her and she cried to the heartbeat of her lost champion. She told herself the loss of a dear friend was the cause of this pain, this soul wrecking aching pain that engulfed her.
The Hatter found her sitting at the feet of Alice' armor hours later with an empty smile and dried streaks of tears on her face. Turning to ask the champion what was wrong he could not see her anywhere and Alice rarely left her queens side. Then he noticed the soft sound of a heart beating. He looked between his queen and the living armor. In an instant he knew what was wrong.
"Is she truly gone..?" he asked in a low voice.
Mariana was snapped out of her memories of Alice by the sound.
"...yes she is..." looking up at the armor she added "She left her heart here though and said that she would be back if we ever need her."
"But why did she leave my queen?" the Hatter said through his own tears.
"I do not know.. she said she could not stay here... that I do not need her anymore...How could she think that? How could she leave me?" The queen broke down in tears again.
The hatter saw his queens lost expression and decided to lead her to her room and let her rest.
"Come Mirana you need to rest" he told her. As the queen slept the castles many servants grieved the loss of their champion and worried about their queen. For three days and three nights the queen slept and when she finally awoke Alice was but a lost friend whom she could think of with sadness and joyful memories. The long slumber had closed the heart to the pain.
The work was all in Miranas life from then on. Without rest she worked to rebuild her country and when her advisors asked her about finding a suitable king for underland she simply said that there was no time for such a thing yet. She found herself visiting the armor and listening to the heartbeat as often as she could finding solace listening to her champions heart knowing that as long as that sound was there Alice was safe in her own world. She told the lost champion of the dreams for underland and how everything was proceeding accordingly to plan. She talked of her many days working herself to sleep and her loneliness and every day as the left the unresponding armor she touched it and felt the heartbeat echoing in its steel prison as she said
"I miss you Alice, miss you as I never missed anything else."