Chapter Seven: Love as Strong as Death [1]
Alice took a step back, glaring at the figure in front of her. "What have you done with him? What have you done to my husband?"
Though Tarrant's body stepped toward her, it was the Red Queen who answered. "Oh, don't worry. He'll be fine. A bit upset once he learns that he's responsible for your death, I suppose, but nothing too serious. I think you're the one you should be worried about right now."
"I don't care what you do to me, Iracebeth, but leave my husband out of it!"
He stepped closer, pushing her back. "Oh, but it's so much more fun this way! By the time I'm finished with the two of you, he'll be so upset over what he's done, he'll lose whatever sanity he had left! I suppose, if you wanted to save him the pain of it all, you could always eliminate the problem yourself…It would save us all a great deal of trouble, really."
"I will do no such thing!"
"Good. Because I'd rather prefer to take off your head myself." He ripped a decorative dagger from its display on the wall, pointing the tip at her chest.
"You won't get away with this, Iracebeth! Tarrant will stop you."
He chuckled darkly. "My dear girl, the only way that he can stop me is to stop his own heart! As long as his body lives, he is under MY command! Of course, you could stop me…but I'm willing to bet that you won't." He offered her the dagger. "Go on, Alice…Save yourself. Save that little one that you and your Hat Man so dearly love. Or are you so selfish that you would give up an unborn child's life to save that mentally deranged husband of yours?"
Alice looked at the sword, then into his eyes. There was no trace of the man she knew and loved, no warmth, not even madness. There was only her. And yet she could not bring herself to end his life. She looked down again, defeated.
"Ha! Where's your muchness now, Champion?" In an instant, she was pinned against the wall, and the blade was at her throat. A deafening roll of thunder shook the castle, rattling the windows and sending tremors up the walls. "I don't usually believe in giving my victims last words, but I plan to make your death as painfully long and drawn out as possible, so I'll give you one last chance to speak your mind."
Alice took a deep breath and looked into the wine-dark eyes of a man who was not her husband but had her husband's face. "Hatter," she wept, "I know that you're still in there somewhere. If you can hear me, please know that I don't blame you for this…and that I love you."
For a brief moment, his eyes flashed green, and she thought she saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. He lowered the knife. "Alice…?"
"Hatter?" Alice smiled through her tears. She sighed in relief. "I knew you'd come through."
NO! You are MINE! You belong to ME, and you will DO AS I SAY!
Mah heart belongs tah Alice, but there is nae part o' me that will EVER belong tah YE!
You're not strong enough to defeat me, Hat Man!
His eyes were a swirl of emerald and maroon. He knew he couldn't hold her off forever. "Help me, Alice…Help me get rid of her once and for all."
She shook her head, refusing to believe what he was asking her to do. "No. NO! I won't let you!"
He looked at her with tears in his eyes, tracing her cheek with his bandaged thumb. "Ye said ye love me, Alice. Now ye 'ave tah let me go." He placed a hand on her stomach. "Tell the wee li'ul boy tha' Ah love 'im."
"Hatter, NO!"
Turning from her, he ran to the balcony, flinging open the French doors with enough force to shatter the glass. Raising the dagger high over his head, he prepared to drive the weapon home. His hands shook with determination rather than fear.
You're wrong, Iracebeth. You're wrong because love is greater than fear. Because love is as strong as death. And because I love Alice more than I love my life.
But before he could plunge the knife into his chest, a bolt of lightning zigzagged across the night sky and found the tip of the blade. Suddenly, there was a blinding, white-hot light and searing heat. A wave of excruciating pain traveled down his arm and slammed into his chest. He could feel the electricity coursing through his veins, weaving purple spider webs across his skin. He heard a sizzling, popping noise. He heard Alice scream. Then there was silence save for the beating of his heart which stammered…then stuttered…then stopped.
"HATTER!"
Alice screamed as she watched her husband's legs give way beneath him. The dagger clattered to the floor, and he crumpled like a paper flower left out in the rain. Racing out into the storm, she knelt at his side, putting her fingers to first his throat, then his wrist. No pulse. Frantically, she started ripping open his soaking wet jacket, trying desperately to get to his chest. Surely, there was a beat. Surely, he could not be gone. But when she put her hand over his heart, she felt no movement within. Panicking, she shook him by the shoulders.
"Hatter! Hatter, get up. Tarrant, this isn't funny!" She shook a bit more forcefully. "Tarrant Hightopp, don't you dare leave me! DON'T YOU DARE! You're my other half, remember? I need you…Please," she sobbed, "don't leave me."
Alice laid her head on his silent, empty chest and cried, letting her tears mingle with the cold, unforgiving rain. She barely noticed when Mirana, who had heard the commotion down the hall, came running in. She hardly cared that the rain was getting harder. She heard neither the queen's condolences nor her attempts to convince her to come inside. Numb with grief and weak from fatigue, she fell asleep against his chest, listening to the rhythm of the rain beating against the balcony railing. If she tried really hard, she could pretend for a moment that it was the beating of his heart.
Thump-thump. Alice didn't want to wake up because she knew what she would wake up to. Thump-thump. Why did this dream have to seem so real? She felt the warm, golden rays of the morning sun on her face, her wet clothes and hair clinging uncomfortably close to her body. She'd have to open her eyes sooner or later. Thump-thump. She sighed. She would miss that sound. At long last, she forced herself to wake up, allowing her eyes to flutter open. Thump-thump. Oh, drat! That dream was still hanging around. Alice gave herself a good pinch on the arm. Ouch! That really hurt!
Thump-thump. Wait. There it was again! And if she wasn't dreaming, then…Alice sat straight up.
"HATTER!"
His eyes fluttered open. "No need tah shout, luv. Ah'm mad, not deaf!" He smiled weakly.
And then she was sobbing and laughing and holding him close. "Oh, Hatter! B-but how did…I-I mean, I thought your heart stopped, and I assumed you were dead and – "
"It did."
Alice stopped laughing. "What?"
"It did stop. Only for a moment, but it was long enough. The Red Queen is gone."
"Then you were…?"
"Dead? Yes. Well, sort of. Though I suppose it really depends on what your definition of dead is, seeing as I did turn out alright in the end, and I'm very happy about that because I really wanted to see our child and I would have hated to leave you and I suppose you would have missed me, too, though I would understand if you didn't and – "
"Hatter," Alice chuckled.
He shook his head. "Sorry. I'm fine!"
"Of course I would miss you, you crazy, mad, wonderful man!" Alice wrapped him in her arms and kissed him passionately on the lips. Suddenly, she pulled back to look him in the eye. "And don't you EVER scare me like that again, Tarrant Hightopp, or I will give Chess your hat and tell him to hide in a place where you will never find it again!"
"Oooh! I like the sound of that," purred a voice from overhead. The blue and gray cat slowly materialized on the railing of the balcony, his ever-present grin larger than ever. "So, I see that our Sleeping Beauty has awakened."
The Hatter rolled his eyes. "Good mornin' tah ye, too, Chess!"
The cat suddenly disappeared, then rematerialized near Tarrant's shoulder. "I do so love that hat…Are you certain you won't consider bequeathing it to me?"
"Fergit it, cat."
"Well, that is a pity, seeing as though I was the one to take care of it these past few days while you were…otherwise occupied. I was going to give it back if you were willing to share, but..."
The Hatter stood, glaring at the offending feline. "Chessur, yew stinkin', slurking, urpish, pilgar-lickin', shukum-scutted – "
The cat simply rolled his eyes and vanished in a wisp of turquoise smoke, returning a few seconds later with the hat in tow. "I was only joking, Tarrant. After such an ordeal as yours, a hat is the very least that you deserve. As a matter of fact, I believe the king and queen were planning a rather large, expensive funeral…"
"Oh!" Alice gasped. "I completely forgot that Mirana came in last night! We must tell her the good news immediately! Would you kindly fetch her and Stayne, please, Chess?"
"My dear, I am a cat. If you want someone who will go fetch things for you, you should talk to Bayard."
"Chess..."
The cat floated around her head, seeming not to notice the urgency in her voice. "Nothing personal, Alice, but cats simply do not do 'fetch.' Now, if I were dog, mind you, I'd – "
"Chess, I really need you go get Mirana…"
The Hatter looked at his wife, confused by her sudden change in manner. "Alice, are you alright?"
"Yes, but…I think…I think my water just broke."
Tarrant's eyes went wide. "Chessur, ye lazy cat, git yer fuzz-bottomed scut in there an' git the queen, NAUW!"
[1] Reference to Song of Solomon 8:6. Song of Solomon is one of the greatest love poems I've ever read and quite possibly one of my favorite books of the Bible.
