I'm in a rush so I haven't checked over this. I'm going to France at 8.45 tomorrow so I want to get this chapter up quickly before I go. I hope it's ok, and that I haven't made huge mistakes. Love you all, readers and reviewers alike. Have a great summer/winter depending on which hemisphere you're in. Hope you enjoy this :) Dray xx

They had checked the (now derelict) Red Palace at Salazen Grum just in case the Iracebeth had decided to use it again, but it was still empty so they had proceeded to Queast. The large house was on the very edge of the quiet little town. A group of renegade red guards stood sentinel around it, making it impossible to get inside unarmed. The White Queen's search party set up camp a couple of fields away, behind a large wooded area. It was decided that they would wait until it was dark, and then use the element of surprise and attack.

The Hatter was restless. Even with time hurrying as quickly as he could without alerting the Red Queen, it was still several hours till nightfall. Anything could be happening in there. He couldn't stand it when he thought of the bloody big head getting her hands on his Alice. No, he had never disobeyed Mirana before. He always trusted her judgement, and hadn't once gone against her wishes.

Well... There was a first time for everything.

-

Inside the old house, which had always been a place of happiness and peace, Alice was starting to wake up. Slowly, cautiously, so as not to let anyone in the room know that she was conscious, she moved around. Nothing broken, a few bruises and scrapes and a large cut over her right knee, but nothing life-threatening. Oh, and she was tied down. To a chair, was her best guess with her eyes closed. And a thin swatch of material tied as a gag across her mouth. She sighed silently to herself. Why was she always a damsel in distress when she was here? In Otherland she had been strong and able to get herself out of any trouble. Here, she was... Well, she was just a child. Everyone was, really. She supposed that when there was peace there was no need to be on one's guard all the time. The Red Queen's reign had hit Underland and its inhabitants hard.

After a while, Alice opened her eyes. She was in what appeared to be a comfortably decorated (if slightly old) hallway, facing the front door. Iracebeth stood in front of her grinning maliciously and holding a dagger in her hand. Time only knew where she had obtained that, but Alice didn't think she was going to use it to cut fruit.

"Pretty little thing, aren't you? Miwana's pretty too. I hate pretty things. Nobody likes me because they're too busy ogling that despicable sister of mine."

-Yes- thought Alice, -and they can see you're murderously insane- her mind suddenly flashed back to the Hatter in his destructive bouts of Madness. No she mentally scolded herself, don't even go there. she suddenly missed her Hatter terribly.

"My lovely guards tell me that your precious knight in tatty armour has come to rescue you. You'll get to see him again after all. It appears he's on his own... Not as intelligent as I thought." She was clearly enjoying every moment of this.

If you touch him I swear I will kill you Alice wanted to shout at her, but it was futile. She wouldn't give the bloody big head the satisfaction. She sat in the chair, stoic and unresponsive. A signal of two knocks were heard on the door.

"Ah, here he comes."

The Red Queen smirked at Alice and hid. Behind the frame of the door that led into the front room. Outside, there was an almighty clattering of metal on metal. The Hatter was coming for her! But was he prepared to meet the Red Queen? Alice wanted to tell him to turn back - she wasn't sure what Iracebeth would do to him. She would rather spend her life in captivity than lose the Hatter to this hateful woman. Alice had never been religious, but she closed her eyes and begged her father to help her, to send him a message or a sign or... Anything as long as it stopped him getting hurt. The door crashed open and the Hatter stood there with his sword in his hand and a wild look in his eyes. She did the only thing she could do. She yelled through the gag for him to go away. He couldn't understand her and stepped inside. As he got closer to her, the red queen came at him from behind. She twisted his wrist so he dropped his sword, and hit him hard. He fell to his knees in front of Alice and the red queen held the dagger to his throat. Alice was screaming and tears were running down her face. She struggled against the bonds so hard that the chair nearly fell apart.

"Don't..." the Hatter wheezed. "You'll hurt yourself... I'm sorry, Alice."

Alice stilled, crying silently. She spoke through the gag. It was very muffled but there was no mistaking what she was saying.

"I love you, Tarrant."

"Remember your muchness, lassie" the Scottish brogue was a small comfort in such a hopeless situation.

"Well, isn't this sweet?" the Red Queen's sarcastic voice cut through their thoughts as she tightened her grip roughly. A small trickle of blood glowed brightly against the Hatter's pale skin. A couple of the guards who had been knocked out had come around and came inside to help the queen. They tied him to another of the chairs and sat him in the front room within Alice's sight. Alice laughed weakly through the tears. She had known that the Hatter's inability to kill would be his downfall. She only hoped that someone had noticed their absence and that help would come soon...