Disclaimer: Ownership of the Alice have I not.
A/N:
Chapter four, huzzah.
To WolfDragonGod: The short scenes at Marmoreal (for the most part) occur prior to the accident which sent Alice back in time, meaning that they're still flashbacks. The timeline in this story is a wibbly-wobbly paradox.
To Guest: Thank you very much, writing Mirana is always fun.
To ChronoCresentFlames: The only dumb questions are those left unasked. aXm stands for 'Alice X Mirana', I could've just done a nice little 'xXx' as a breaker to draw attention to a shift in scene, but decided to spin it.
Danka my feathered friends, alien brethren from Mars, and fine Earthborn readers for following this story as far as you have, there will be more to come. Not gonna jinx it.


Chapter Four: Keeping Pace


Alice looked out the window of the carriage and watched the woods go by, her sleeping ward's head resting comfortably on her shoulder. The road they travelled down was not frequently travelled, but obviously well kept as there was a large gap maintained between the path and the edge of the sparse forest. They'd started their journey back to Daphne early that morn, in the light of the pearly dawn, and Mirana had fallen asleep soon after the initial sorrow of leaving Marmoreal left her. Alice, on the other hand, had kept wide awake, her eyes basking in the beauty of the wilds of Underland while searching them for potential threat.

Before their carriage were four knights, two of whom were still green behind the ears. Behind the carriage, covering the rear, were four of the family's most trusted retainers. The retainers were below Alice in authority, though far more trusted by the general court and the king and queen, and would always accompany Mirana on journeys-though Alice would accompany her as well, at a closer distance. The four, Eckhart, Wilhelm, and the brothers (Clove and Arne) came from families which had served the rulers of Underland for several generations, and had protected Mirana since she was five years of age and first moved to Daphne.

Alice had also learned why Mirana lived at Daphne instead of Marmoreal, and discovered that King Charles believed it safer for his daughters to live at separate estates, his theory being they would be out of the way should war return to Underland and therefore less likely to be claimed casualty to conflict. Though Mirana had been born at Marmoreal, and spent her first five years of life there, she spent the majority of her time at Daphne and only travelled to Marmoreal two to three times per year-though Alice had heard, from Eckhart, that she would return to Marmoreal four times in the coming year, the fourth being for the Great Tournament in which most knights, nobles and retainers were invited to participate in. From what she'd learned from Eckhart, Mirana had not been to see the Great Tournament since Lady Praline's debilitating accident-which made travel near impossible for her, and caused several more retainers to accompany Mirana to and from Daphne until Alice.

The carriage continued down the road, the slight rocking of it lulling Alice into a fitful sleep marked by dreams of the accident which had brought her there, her arm wrapping tight about young Mirana's waist and head coming to rest atop the younger girl's.


aXm


They rolled to a stop and Alice jerked awake, jarring the half asleep Mirana and causing her to slip off the bench and onto the floor of the compartment. Looking around Alice saw a great castle of pale gray stone, with accents of blue, and line of servants and the guard-which served only to confirm her suspicions that it was indeed Daphne. The knighted woman turned and pulled her ward from the floor, the slip of a girl quickly complied and gracefully righted herself with Alice's help.

The door to the carriage opened and Mirana nudged Alice out before her. As the woman stepped down she peered about, examining the grimy servants and the sweaty guards before turning and helping her lady down. Mirana followed Alice's example in stepping down slowly and taking a look about, though she did so far more gracefully and with a bright (though tight lipped) smile. Her lipped smile broke into a full out grin as a much older woman hobbled from the castle, and she flew from Alice's side to the woman and wrapped her arms about her tight about her.

"Madame Praline!" Mirana exclaimed, pulling away and looking up at her mentor and former keeper. "What are you doing out of the castle?"

"I came to welcome you, of course, and your new keeper," Praline responded, her dark eyes leaving Mirana and traveling to Alice, examining her critically.

"That is no reason to further damage your health!" Mirana exclaimed.

"Perhaps not to you my lady, but to me it is reasonable enough," Praline replied thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side, eyes still lingering on Alice.

Mirana's brow knit and she chewed her lower lip. Behind her Alice stood dumb for a moment before starting forward toward her ward, the servants still standing silent at the welcome.

"Servants, return to work," Madame Praline instructed, her eyes flashing as Alice's locked with hers. "You've never held a position such as this, have you?"

"No, but perhaps the soft touch of ignorance is exactly what is needed," Alice responded, matching the woman for strength.

"Mirana dear, go inside and rest, Lady Kingsleigh will assist me-no need to fret," Praline stated, the youth glancing between the two before fluttering away. "Perhaps you are right, perhaps the best way to culture innocence is to present it with the ignorance of a hungry mind, it would explain why you would succeed where I feel to fail."

"You know me well and yet we've only just met," Alice replied coyly, smirking.

Praline chuckled, dark lips twisting into a smile which was bright enough to make Mirana seem wan in comparison. The woman hobbled a bit closer to Alice, and the young woman quickly noted how heavily Madame Praline seemed to lean upon her cane, and the strangeness of her hips. Her left leg seemed to drag dead behind her body and was awkwardly set: as though she'd taken a massive wound to the hip and it hadn't healed correctly. Alice's eyes lingered a bit too long and the dark haired woman noticed.

"Keeping up with Mirana, when she was younger, was even harder than it is now. I trust you've heard that I was wounded," the woman stated before glancing down at the general afflicted area. "It was...an accident, no one's fault really, though the physician set it wrong, it would still pain me even if it had healed right."

"Many mentioned that you'd had an accident and I'm still curious as to what happened," Alice responded.

Praline spat, "You're a clever woman with a good heart Lady Kingsleigh, you must be if you've captured Mirana so easily, but you're far too curious. Put it out of your head, the past is the past."

"For you perhaps," Alice thought bitterly, she was starting to understand why Praline had been picked as Mirana's first keeper: the woman was worse than a thousand Jabberwock on a bad day.

"Now, it's obvious you've never done any sort of work like this before-though you may have once held a sword in battle from what I've heard," Praline began. "The sword not withstanding, you'll need supervision and guidance-which I intend on giving you whether you like it or not."

"Understood, it wouldn't be...presentable? Passable? Proper! Yes, it wouldn't be proper for me to look confused would it? Isn't that why her majesty was detained at Marmoreal why I learned?" Alice responded.

"No, it would not," Praline replied morosely, eyeing Alice strangely: the woman spoke of Mirana as though the girl was already queen, but with many people living backwards, she did not question it.

So began the great Six Month Feud, a great battle of the minds waged between Lady Praline and Dame Kingsleigh and recorded by the scarred servants of Daphne. The feud in truth lasted much less time than the six months estimated by the scullery maids: the two becoming fast friends after the first initial month of dislike and mistrust, and merely putting on a show for their own amusement.

As Mirana had warned, she was a handful, and it seemed that Alice was pulling her away from trouble twice every hour-save when the girl was sleeping which, thankfully, offered Alice repose.

Lady Praline, and the retainers, continued to educate Alice in the arts she was in need of and even some she was merely in want of. Though the retainers taught her a good deal more of fighting, Praline was an excellent teacher of history and language, but even Praline could not teach Alice to read Outlandish-that honor was reserved for no one other than Mirana, whom read to Alice every afternoon of Outlandish poetry, epics, sagas and tales galore. Alice and Mirana returned twice to Marmoreal (once for the youth's birthday, and once for the Great Tournament-in which Alice competed against Iracebeth's keeper, and lost).

Unfortunately, as all good things are bound to do, Alice's friendship came to an end when Madame Praline returned to Marmoreal for the final time, nearly a year after Alice had first arrived at Daphne.

It was whispered among the staff of Daphne that Praline's last words were 'I've lived on borrowed time Alice, and time has a way of catching up with people-whether they know it, want it, like it or not-step carefully,'.


aXm Marmoreal, one month and three days after the Frabjous aXm


Tarrant found his friend and liege in the same place he'd found her the past three days, in the kitchen where the accident (in which poor Alice had been lost) had taken place. The woman was staring, as she always did, across the table-at the place her dearest Alice had stood that day. The Hatter took off his hat, no one knew where Alice was or if she was alive, but all hoped for the best and wished their queen would leave her post and forgo her static-if only to eat or drink more than a spoonful.

Try as they may not even the physicians could hold Mirana to her bed for more than a few hours at a time, and getting her to respond was nearly impossible. They'd taken her to the room of thoughts, and all they'd heard going through her head was 'it's all my fault' the dreadful thought repeated over and over again in a never ending cycle, overshadowing all other thoughts she may have held.

He took a seat beside his queen, pulling up a stool which had survived the blast, and pulled her close to himself, his arms wrapping about her as he tried to comfort her and draw her from her reclusive state-much as he'd tried all the three days prior. He would have sung her a lullaby, to calm her inner turmoil, but none he knew were calming. He could have recited her a verse, but all he knew he'd forgotten in madness, save that of the Jabberwocky. Tarrant was surprised when he felt his queen clutching at his shirt, bunching it in her hands as tears began to roll down her face.

"What have I done, oh what have I done dear Tarrant?" she sobbed.

"I think you have lost your muchness," the Hatter replied, "a man by the name of Alice, I believe, aye, I did know him well-he'll be back again, no doubt."

It was true, he didn't doubt Alice would return, but wondered if she would return to them as herself (as the Alice) or as another, again. He'd known, for many years, that his queen had fallen for the Lady Kingsleigh, and she'd been much the better for it. As Mirana sniffled, her tears soaking through his shirt and chilling his chest, the Frabjous day returned to him, and Mirana as well.

"He's bound to return," Tarrant muttered, holding his broken friend closer.


A/N: I could be cruel and say 'no chapter next friday' but that would be lying...