Chapter III: Bloody Knaves...
The King of Hearts leaned over, inspecting a patch of daisies that were growing by his feet. With a giddy smile, he sniffed the sweet flowers.
"Hmm...we would like a few of these back home...there's enough red flowers there already, some white might make a nice change..."
The King reached out with a gloved hand and gently plucked a daisy out of the ground.
He yelped and dropped the flower as a high-pitched scream of utter pain pierced through his ear.
The daisy turned toward him, as if to spite him. It then ran—using its roots like legs—and buried itself back into the ground.
"Ruffian!" it squeaked, before the dirt beneath the King fell silent.
The King blinked, and then snorted to himself.
"How very rude..."
Just then, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"My congratulations on your success at finding Time," the Knave of Hearts' voice said. The diminutive soldier was apparently talking to the Card Guards. "Now, here are the new orders I called you back for..."
There was a pause.
"Await for further command upon arriving at the coordinates given. This order CANNOT be countermanded. Not even by the Queen, herself. All orders from the Queen of Hearts are to be considered null and void from this moment on!"
The King blanched, but pretended to stay focused on the flowers, never turning towards the Knave.
"Are your orders understood?"
Another short pause.
"Good. Go."
After another moment, the Knave's footsteps were heard behind the King. His majesty stood up, trying to act as if he had just now noticed this impish figure.
"Ah, Knave," the King said, clearing his throat. "Have the Cards returned to bring Time to us?"
"They have located him," said the Knave in a very flat voice. He then added, "Now, come, Your Majesty; it is time we returned to Card Castle."
"Yes, yes, of course," the King agreed, perhaps a little too hastily than he liked—or noticed, for that matter—and followed the Knave as they began to walk back in the direction from whence they came. "Knave, if the Cards have located Time, then where is he?"
"He evaded their grasp."
"Ah, yes. Slippery devil," the King said with a nod.
There was silence for a short moment.
"Knave?"
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"All that talk earlier...about our beloved being 'weakened...'"
The Knave stopped.
"What of it, sire?"
"The thought dawns on us that our dear one has been more...needy, to say the least, as of late. Not that she wasn't before, but, every few minutes for the last few months...or maybe years, who knows...it's been nothing but, 'Where's Time? Where's my tea? Has the Time of the Jabberwocky arrived yet? Where's the Looking-Glass? Where's our daughters?' Never a peaceful moment...do you think there's something 'up,' as it were in the common tongue?"
"I can't say...but I CAN tell Your Majesty one thing..."
"What is that, foolish Knave?"
"Within the day...perhaps even sooner...all that will change."
The King gaped.
"You can't be serious, Knave!"
The Knave smirked.
"Your Majesty, you will find that I am always quite serious."
The King frowned, eyeing the Knave uncomfortably.
Just then, the Knave turned, on alert, his hand on his short sword.
"Your Majesty?"
"What? What is it?"
"I would advise you to run to Card Castle as fast as you can."
"Why?"
A low, howling noise filled the forest, and echoed everywhere. A shuffling and rustling came from the brush, growing closer...
The Knave drew his sword, and the King shivered.
"Because, Your Majesty, I believe a Bandersnatch is upon us. I'll take care of him, now RUN!"
The King wasted no time, and took to his heels, screaming all the way.
The Knave waited till he was out of earshot, then, with a scoff, sheathed his blade.
"Numbskull," he muttered.
"An excellent ploy, Knave of Hearts," came a voice from the shadows.
"Thank you."
"We are alone now, yes?"
"Naturally."
"Perfect. You can never be too careful in this place where even the trees have ears. Have you done my bidding?"
"Yes; the Queen is almost powerless, a virtual slave to her own mind. She can't even recognize what's happened, and she's unable to change anything or move against us. The only people even vaguely loyal to her now are that idiot husband and one cowardly furball; the latter serves more out of fear, as it is. The damage is done. A new age is ready, without any hindrances."
"Not from the Castle, at any rate. You have done well, Knave."
"My thanks," the Knave said, with a small bow. "And my reward?"
"All in due time."
"Remember our bargain," the Knave said, fingering his blade again, and holding up a hand, revealing a shallow scar on his palm. "We sealed it in blood, and marked the roses of white with it."
"But of course! I swear to you, you'll get exactly what you asked for: you shall be the highest head in all of Wonderland."
The Knave smiled hideously.
"Then the proper preparations are all in order?"
"Indeed. And, when the Time is right..."
The figure trailed off, laughing, and vanished back into the forest.
The Knave nodded, chuckling quietly to himself, and sprinted as fast as his stubby legs could carry him after the King of Hearts.
Elsewhere, another figure, with three glowing red eyes, stared at the misshapen, lumpy rock in its thin hand, turning it slowly, over and over, inspecting it.
"A great storm is approaching. The loathsome boulder will receive the title he so seeks, but as the Jabberwocky approaches even he will be swept by...their madness.
The figure "hmmed," tossing the rock up, and then catching it again.
"They shall meet twice, where sorrow is most plentiful. The first shall be the eye of the hurricane. The second..."
The figure chuckled throatily.
"Alas; even I am uncertain of its outcome. I do foresee a decision, the choice that will end this quarrel. I see a figure ready to plunge into the abyss, and I see two bodies left in cold blood. He shall take his prize. He shall take the Looking Glass. But what of Time, and those who aid his journey?"
The figure paused, and after a moment, blew a smoke ring over the stone in its hand...
It instantly gathered moss.
He dropped it.
"Only time will tell."
