Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance… And the offenses that ate her inside out spoiled her soul, and killed everything around her.

Chapter Three: Bloody Big Head.

. . .

She ordered her men to create some fitting clothes for Uhm to wear. After all… it was the friendly thing to do. Uhm was probably freezing out there… after all, it was mid-fall. The weather was horrible… One of her cards returned to her with a large curtain for Uhm to cover herself with as they escorted her to her to the chambers that Iracebeth had ordered them to clean up for her.

"Uhm can stay as long as she pleases…" She said. "She is my new favorite." She turned to the overly large girl and threw her a sweet smile. An honest one, at that. No one questioned her… they just cleaned the room and made space for the large girl. "Make yourself at home, Uhm." The Queen smiled at Uhm, and the girl curtsied in return.

With haste, the servants managed to sew up a gorgeous dress using the tablecloths and curtains around the palace… To their surprise, it seemed that their Queen was selfless enough to at least, give up her beautifully, hand-sewn curtains to clothe a friend. Surely, this was a side of her that they had not seen before. The Queen was smiling… she was happier, and everything about her seemed to change when she was around Uhm. It was as though a missing part of her had been found. Uhm was her new friend, and Uhm made her feel complete.

Iracebeth sat back, glancing at one of her books as she sat in a cozy, velvety red chair as she waited for Uhm to step out from behind the blocker to show her newly sewn clothes… She adjusted her reading glasses and waited a moment… after a few short moments of pure silence, she called out,

"Uhm? Do you need any help in there?"

The response was quick, "Oh! N-no thank you." The Queen nodded slowly and went back to skimming the book in her hands, her tongue slowly gliding across her lower lip as she read, looking down the bridge of her nose, through her reading glasses. "Okay!" Uhm called. Iracebeth smiled, and she slipped her glasses off, set them down on the side table and turned her full attention to Uhm who was stepping out from behind the blocker… dressed in a gorgeous shade of red. The dress seemed a little tight fitting… but it looked lovely!

"Oh, Uhm! It's gorgeous on you…" At this point, she was ever so grateful that she did not invite her other nosey friends… they would have probably tried to kiss up to her, as they usually did. While, Iracebeth didn't mind it, she preferred Uhm's humbleness, and she preferred Uhm for not constantly trying to be her friend.

The large girl had a smile that lit up the room, and she looked down at the dress she was wearing and grinned. "You really think so?"

"Of course!" The Queen smiled, showing her teeth as she pushed herself up from the chair she was sitting in to look up at Uhm, beaming proudly. Their moment, however, was brutally interrupted as suddenly the Knave of Hearts came bursting into the room, throwing the doors wide open and panting. He looked frantic and did not seem to notice Uhm, having been so preoccupied with something else.

"Your Majesty…" He began, "We have a lead who might know where Alice is hiding…"

"Oh!" She exclaimed and she tapped her bottom lip gently in thought using the tip of her pointer finger. "Yes… Yes. Who is it?"

"Tarrant Hightopp."

"Ah…" She sighed softly "The 'Mad Hatter'. Yes. He used to hat my sister." Her last line was muttered softly under her breath as she turned away from the Knave, gritting her teeth softly. "… He never liked to hat my head. No… he said it was too big." Her face began to color as she remembered how much it hurt… seeing her sister wearing such beautiful hats, made by such a talented hatter… and yet, the hatter refused to hat her head. Simply because, 'it was too big'. "Stane, I will meet you there… bring Mr. Hightopp to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." And with that, The Knave of Hearts turned around and closed the heavy, metal doors behind him, and Iracebeth waited a moment, making sure that the Knave was totally gone… She turned to look at Uhm and spoke.

"Uhm, I'd like for you to sit beside me at the throne." She thought she had saw Uhm's face light up for a minute, and Uhm nodded.

"Oh… I'd love to."

"Smashing!" Iracebeth lifted her skirts, taking a few steps to the door and pausing just a few steps from it… she was waiting for one of her servants to come forth and lift the heavy knocker and open the door for both her and Uhm. She did not need to wait for any longer than a minute, as immediately, a small group of servants, all frogs, hopped over to the door and worked as a team to open it. They held the door open for their Queen and for Uhm… and as they passed into the corridor, Iracebeth did not even say 'thank you".

. . .

Uhm and the Queen made a dramatic entrance, and as usual, the big-headed woman stormed up to her throne, where she turned around and sat, a blank expression on her face and a bored façade. She sat down with a pleasant plop, and she looked to one of her servants to hold up a cushion of Uhm to sit. She waited a minute… then two…

"I need a pig here…" As soon as the words left her mouth, a pig was heard, squealing and whining softly… and the little pitter-patter of cloven hooves scurried across the rock floor. A well-fed, pink pig ran and jumped underneath the Queen's lifted feet, and the pig landed on its stomach beneath the heels of her shoes. She smiled and looked to Uhm. "I love a warm pig belly for my aching feet… Would you like one, Uhm?"

"… No thank you." The large girl responded, with a nervous giggle. Immediately, the Queen turned her head, her focus turned to the heavy doors which were opening in front of her, shining brightly a light which shone in through the stained glass windows of the corridor, and Tarrant Hightopp was led, both hands and feet chained, by her Royal Majesty's monkey servants, who instructed him to get onto his knees at the foot of her throne.

Whoever knew, how much magic the Hatter could do with his words, and Uhm watched patiently, as he wooed her, ever so gently… Her head, now, was not too big to hat, but instead, was a magnificent globe of a head, a monument to display his hats on, instead. Oh, how he coated her with his sweet words and soft music, the tune that she had longed to hear for so long. Her head, the only one in the world big enough to rightfully display the Hatter's hats. Which, she had to admit, were always utterly beautiful.

Looking into the Hatter's eyes, for the first time in years, The Queen turned to her servants, Stane, and Uhm, and she addressed them all, "Leave us."

Author's Notes: I promise, this will be the shortest chapter.

I didn't want to leave you guys with a super short chapter and call it an "update" so instead, I decided to try to finish two chapters today, since I magically got my inspiration for this story back! Yay!

You know the drill. R & R, thanks! I would definitely appreciate it for this story in particular.