The map room was exactly as its name implied, its walls hung with maps of all descriptions, from ancient parchment to new and brightly colored. But it took Mirana to fully utilize its most helpful feature.
Standing at the head of a white marble table, the queen took a pinch of black powder from a small jar and sprinkled it on the clean surface. And there appeared a detailed map of the route from Marmoreal to the Outlands.
"You will want to ride from the south of Marmoreal and directly west through Snud to Grampus Arch. I know Casiphia will want to avoid Witzend because of her enemyx besides which, that would take you into the mountains of the Outlands and there is no reason to subject yourselves to that. Unless Hamish manages to lose himself in the mountains, of course," Mirana mused.
Alice and the Hatter looked dubiously at each other as Mirana blew a few more grains of powder onto the table. "There," she pointed at some tiny buildings that now appeared on the map. "There is a tavern just as you leave Marmoreal, where you can find a decent meal, and there are two taverns in Snud that will be along your way. You will have no trouble finding the latter two, as there is only the one road to travel.
"However, after the second Snud tavern, the road ends and you will find it necessary to camp at night. You can follow the Unnamed River through the Outlands so that you will have a water supply and something to mark your way; also, I would expect Hamish to be sensible enough to stay near the river as well, once he discovers it."
Alice looked closely at the map. "The river runs east to west?"
"Of course it does." Tarrant looked puzzled. "What other way could it run?"
Mirana continued. "I am sending you with two pack horses, who will be carrying tents and blankets and teapots and all the other accoutrements you may need. Alice and Casiphia are going to find this quite a change from the way they are accustomed to living. I trust that you, Tarrant, Ilosovic, will do what you can to ensure their comfort."
"I think we will manage," Ilosovic said.
"And remember," Mirana added, "don't take any looking glasses. We do not want anything, er, unwelcome traveling from Outland to Marmoreal, or the other way around."
"I'm looking forward to this," Casiphia said. "Even if nothing exciting happens during our travels, this will be an adventure."
"What do you think, Tarrant?" Alice smiled at her consort. "Do you think we are up to the challenge?"
"Indisputably," the Hatter replied. "And I happen to have a few culinary tricks that I've learned from Thackery to ease our camping."
A knock at the door heralded the arrival of Nivens. "You'd best be on your way if you want to make it to the Boar and Biscuit before dark," he said, referring to a large pocket watch. "Hurry, you don't want to be late."
As the party left the map room, Tarrant stopped Alice and Casiphia. "This won't do, it will never do," he mumbled to himself as he plucked the wide-brimmed straw hats off their heads and sat down on the floor with them. He looked through one of his bags and withdrew a selection of ribbons and silk flowers, and before long he had beautifully-ornamented chapeaus ready for the ladies.
"It's lovely," Casiphia said, examining the white satin ribbons and tulle that sprang from the back of her hat. "And Alice's too, of course." That one sported a playful blue bow and a spray of silk delphinium. And with this last bit of preparation, the four took their places upon their mounts.
They were an odd and colorful group as they rode away from the White Castle, Casiphia in gray linen with her father's old green cloak, Stayne in his usual black, Alice in one of the tunic-and-trousers outfits she favored—blue as expected, and Tarrant in a brilliant scarlet coat, green trousers, and purple and blue striped shirt, with his usual top hat pressed firmly onto his shock of orange hair to keep it in place.
Four white horses, one bay, and one enormous black stallion carried the travelers and their provisions along the streets of Marmoreal, where townspeople poured out of buildings to see the procession. They waved and smiled at Alice and Tarrant while looking nervously at Stayne and Casiphia from the corners of their eyes. Alice had chosen to ride a horse rather than the Bandersnatch because the creature tended to make horses nervous, but she was especially glad of that decision now. Waving and smiling townspeople were so much more pleasant to see than screaming, fleeing ones.