Chapter Eight –
Underland Doesn't Have Storks,
It Has Jubjub Birds
Ilosovic
Until the day the twins were born (not the Tweedles, I mean Tarrant and Alice's first two children), I had been under the mistaken impression that the being abruptly woken up at some strange hour by their impending arrival was something that happened solely to the parents of the oncoming children. However, our dearest friend McTwisp proved me and the rest of Marmoreal wrong by bounding through the gates and blasting his trumpet sometime in the wee hours of the morning that day.
Being a soldier all my life, my first thought when I heard the horn echoing through the courtyard was that we were under attack, so I immediately ran to the balcony of my room and searched the horizon for any threats. When I didn't see an approaching army or a legion of demons heading our way, I realized what was happening. I should have known in the first place; our battle call sounds completely different than what he was playing.
"Well, this morning will be interesting…" shaking my head, I slipped my boots on and strode out into the hall where the others were slowly, sleepily gathering.
Mally and Romy, along with Aurora, scurried out of a knothole in the wall, rubbing their eyes and yawning. They had moved in with her not long after Alice had come back, but no one had thought twice about it. The Dormouse hadn't had any "gentlemen callers" before, as Mirana put it, so we just didn't question this. She was happy, and that's all that mattered to us.
"Wha's all the bloody ruckus about?" her fur was ruffled from sleep; her nightgown was wrinkled and crooked. Romy wasn't in a much better state himself. Aurora's eyes would hardly stay open.
"What is going on out there?"
Just then, the White Queen flitted down the hallway dressed in one of her simpler gowns, looking like she'd been awake for hours, just as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as you please, "The new arrivals, dears. They'll be here soon!" she clapped her hands together giddily, and then shooed us back into our rooms, "Get dressed! Get dressed! We have to leave as soon as possible or we'll miss them!" she scolded.
Even through my door, I could hear Mally mutter something about New Witzend and it being "five bloomin' minutes away…" and insisting that "Even if we did miss 'em, they'd still be there after we got there."
Laughing quietly at her ever-fiery temper, I changed out of my nightclothes and into clothes that were only one step up; I didn't figure I would need my armor to sit in the Hightopps' parlor and wait on the babies. As important as today was, it wasn't exactly something that called for formal attire, but had Alice decided to have them at the castle rather than at home, it would have been another story.
That would have entailed yet another gala that would include the entirety of Underland's citizenry, which would mean dress uniforms all day and a long parade of people coming in and taking up Tarrant and Alice's precious time with their kids. Mercifully, she had decided to forestall this event until they were a little bigger, stating that she didn't want to shock them with so many strangers at one time. She wanted to get them used to all of us first, before she introduced our more far-flung friends.
And she didn't object when I suggested –when everyone else was out of earshot – that she didn't want Thorne frightening them this early on. She wholeheartedly agreed that he was a bit much for most people of any age group, and I thanked her silently for postponing another visit from him.
But my relief was short-lived. While we were boarding the small carriage that would take us to New Witzend, I heard Mirana telling one of Bayard and Bielle's pups, who aren't such pups anymore, to round up their siblings and spread the word to the other kingdoms and the Outlanders.
I guess every rose does have its Thorne after all…
Ilosovic
As soon as we arrived, Luna practically dragged the White Queen out of the buggy and into the door, breathlessly explaining that they needed some potion or elixir for Alice as quickly as she could brew it. She gave me a quick hello before they disappeared inside, leaving me, the Mice, and the two older Bloodhounds in the red glow of the rising sun.
Dad eventually called us in too, after realizing we were standing around outside, and we sat down with what looked like the entire male population of the town. The only girls that weren't with Alice were the two Mice, Felicity, Mady, and Ezzie, and Christian said that the baby had been crying the entire time her mother had been out of her sight…they had only just gotten her quieted down when we arrived. Mady was outside with Remy, running about in the yard to keep themselves occupied.
Little Ezzie toddled over to me as soon as she laid eyes on me, still snuffling and begging to be picked up. She buried her face in my shoulder, but not without giving the rest of them "the evil eye" first. The poor thing hadn't been in my arms for five minutes and she was sound asleep; she'd worn herself out throwing that tantrum.
"I certainly hope that those two are prepared for days like this…" I thought to myself as I cradled her, silently wondering where the expectant father was. As if he'd read my mind, the grandfather-to-be said that his son was pacing up and down the hallway like a caged animal, as he wasn't allowed inside – no one was – until it was all over and done with.
"He's been going crazy since she started sometime last night…" Chessur, who loomed behind his own two children, said coolly as he stretched over the back of the sofa, "I don't think Tarrant has sat still since that door closed."
"Can't say that I would be able to either, if it were me in his shoes. Twins are a lot to take in for a first-time parent…I would think so anyway…" my voice trailed off, and so did my mind.
It was hard not to let it wander at a time like this, at a time that I could have experienced myself had it not been for…well, for obvious reasons. A bitter smile threatened to curl around my mouth when it occurred to me that maybe it was for the best that I didn't have children after all, because they very well could have been the Red Queen's too…but I decided wasn't going to let my resentment for her ruin what had been a good mood. I didn't have to worry about that now, and never would again. She was gone for good.
And when I looked down at Ezrabeth sleeping in my arms, I was happy with what I had for the first time in forever. She and her sister may not have been mine, but I realized that that really didn't matter. I had them –in spite of Madalya's iciness toward me – and their mother, and that was all I would ever need.
Not exactly what I had always wanted, but more than I probably deserved.
Tarrant
So many hours had passed since the house had filled with our friends and family; since the twins had decided to start making their grand entrance, and I had spent every waking second of them wearing down the floorboards in the hallway and wringing my hands like dishcloths.
Worry had clouded out all other emotions and drained every ounce of color –and most of my energy – out of me. I know that Zada and Luna and Mum and Mirana and Jasmin had grown tired of seeing me when they rushed out of the room to retrieve something, but I couldn't tear myself away from the door that Alice was on the other side of. I was terrified that if I stepped away, even for a moment, it would all go horribly wrong…and I would lose everything. My tattered mind could only endure so much more…and that would surely be what made me spiral fully into madness…
Suddenly, in the midst of my walking up and down the rug, the White Queen emerged from the room with a brilliant smile and glided over to me hurriedly, "Hatter-! Tarrant, quickly! Go tell the others! They're almost here!" she squealed, taking my hands and bouncing up and down like an excited schoolgirl.
It took me a moment to register what she'd told me…then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
"Oh!" I raced into the parlor, startling everyone in the process, and began trying to formulate the words I needed into a sentence or two, "The…she said that…they're…nearly almost…how'd she put it now?"
Everyone's heads snapped up, even Ezrabeth jolted awake, "What? What is it?" they all chorused at once. She only yawned and rubbed her eyes.
The words finally came, and with them, my tones and hues returned, "The babies! They're coming! Mirana said they're almost here!" now I was the one hopping around ecstatically as my head began to wrap around this concept.
I was about to become a father.
There was an enthusiastic round of congratulatory cheering for several minutes, and it almost lapsed into clapping until another noise reverberated through the room and we all fell silent. It was a shrill sound that started softly, then rose in volume and pitch until it was a full-blown wail. Shortly afterward, there was a second howl to match the first, only it was slightly lower and not quite as long-winded.
Every face in that room was smiling when we realized that it was the babies crying.
They were here at last…I nearly cried myself.
They were here.
I was just short of bursting into the room where my wife and newly-arrived children lay when Jasmin stepped through the door wearily, wiping her hands on her apron, "Another reason Ilosovic's an only child…" she mumbled before turning to us, "I'd nearly forgotten just how much effort went into bringing a child into this world."
"Is she alright? Alice, I mean…And the babies too! Is everything alright?" I instantly rushed to her side, clinging to her sleeve desperately.
She nodded, patting my hand lovingly, "The others are tidying up a bit before you come in. Alice is doing wonderfully, and both the babies have a strong set of lungs on them." She shook her head, as if she were trying to rid her ears of their sharp cries.
"Believe me, we heard." Ilosovic remarked, "Was I that loud?" he asked his mother.
"Nah mate, you were much louder than them!" Christian replied, to which Stayne's mum agreed, "As little as I was, I remember you screeching all through the castle. We all thought the windows would shatter."
The look in the Knave's eyes suggested that he was about to say something to the effect of "Like mirrors do when you look into them?" until Luna rounded the corner carrying more cloths and a water basin. Then, something different, though equally devious, flickered through them, "Say, which one of the twins did Alice have first? The boy or the girl?"
Luna was relieved that the children had arrived at last, though she was dismayed that she had missed being there. That sadness, however, was replaced by eager anticipation when she overheard the question that had been posed; she and the two previously arguing parties had made a bet against one another.
Without a moment's hesitation, Jasmin beamed proudly at the two men and proclaimed that my daughter had beaten her brother by a full five minutes. Their crestfallen faces made me wonder if they'd wagered their most prized possessions on the matter…and Luna's was just as proud as if she' single-handedly taken out an entire army.
"Perhaps I should fetch the mop to wipe up their tears?" she grinned mercilessly at her defeated opponents, "I need to get my coin purse to collect my winnings anyhow."
Ilosovic winced and looked up at her piteously, "Have you no shame or compassion, woman?" he whimpered. She shook her head and declared that they ought to have known better in the first place, and that there was no shame in winning fair and square, then flounced into the delivery room to assist my mother and our cousin.
He and Christian vowed never again to gamble against her for any reason as long as they lived. They swore they'd never been so humiliated about losing in their whole lives; apparently they'd both doubled what she'd offered, and seeing as how they both lost to her, she had won four-fold.
Their words seemed a bit melodramatic to me, but then again, who am I to talk about talking? I went on for ages about how Alice was "the proper Alice-size" in Marmoreal the last time she'd come, contemplated things that began with "M" and spouted off the names of more hats than I care to remember in Salazen Grum, and quite frequently had asked whoever would listen why a particular bird resembled a certain piece of furniture when I didn't know the answer myself. To be thoroughly honest, I don't even know that there is an answer to that!
Then again…I am a bit mad, aren't I?
A few moments later, after Christian and Ilosovic's dejected sighs had ceased and their heads were only slightly dipped in disgrace, the three women –my mother, the White Queen, and Zada– reemerged from the room looking exhausted, but happily so, "You can go in now, Tarrant. They're waiting on you…" Mum pushed the door slightly ajar and stepped aside.
Just in the nick of time too. I wasn't about to waste any getting in there to see the newest members of the Hightopp Clan.
My son and daughter.
The first thing I noticed about both of the children was that their hair was quite obviously inherited from my side of the family; wild and brilliant orange even at only a few minutes old. It was harder to discern which side the curliness came from though, as both of us had hair coiled into ringlets, and so did they.
The second thing was that their eyes also came from me; bright green irises beneath snowy white lashes. I was astonished that they were open this early on, and I was amazed at how alert and curious the two were. Their fresh, wide eyes followed my every move as I approached their mother, and there seemed to be a spark of recognition in them when I spoke. They knew who I was then; they sensed it, "Hello there, little ones. We've been waiting on you an awfully long time…Daddy was very excited to hear you were coming you know. And Mummy too."
"I thought they'd never get here." Alice said, gently bouncing the little girl in her arms, "They're beautiful, aren't they dear?" she sighed, resting her cheek on the boy's head.
I could only nod and think, "Just like their mother…"
She smiled up at me, "Here, you take one of them for a bit…my arms are about to fall off. Little buggers won't let me put them down." She sat up and motioned for me to join her on the bed –with her head, as her arms were full at the moment – so I could hold one of the babies. Our son put up a little more of a fuss when his mum tried to hand him off, so she handed me our daughter instead, "Mind her head…"
I took the little pink blanket in my arms as gently as I could, and gazed lovingly at the tiny girl looking back up at me, "There's my little lassie…hello sweet girl." My daughter returned my gap-toothed grin with one without a tooth in it, "Has your mummy picked out a name for you and your brother yet?" though I wasn't really asking her, she gurgled happily in response.
Alice shook her head, and our son grasped at some loose hair of hers that fell within his little arm's reach, "I was going to wait on you to come in before I decided on that. I want one of them to have a common Overlander name, and one to have a common Underlander name, but I can't decide which I want to have which…" she brushed her hair away, and gave him her finger to hold onto instead, "What do you think, Tarrant?"
Pondering this, I leaned down to plant a kiss on the baby's forehead, which earned me a tiny little hand on my nose, "Hmm…I don't rightly know dear. That sounds like a very clever idea though! One with one name and one with the other…"
She giggled, pondering our options and cradling our boy. We sat there in silence for a few moments, soaking in the feeling of holding them for the first time. It was pure bliss. It was heaven. I knew there would never be another feeling that could equal this.
Then, Alice smiled, stroking the back of the baby's hand with her thumb, "Darling…I just had a thought! Since I'm from there and you're from here, our daughter could have the Underland name…and our son could have the Overland name. To switch it up."
I rocked our little girl, watching her yawn and wriggle beneath the blanket, "Mmm…yes, yes I like that. What a crazy, mad, wonderful idea!" I beamed at my wife, then at my daughter, "Wouldn't you agree…?" pausing, I searched for a name that would suit her. Scores of names filed through my mind, though none immediately jumped out at me.
I considered names that began with the letter M…Morgana, Mirrah, Meridian, Marysa…
No…those would never do.
I looked at ones that started with the letter H…Hadley, Henna, Helina, Arleigh…
Wait, that last one starts with an A…silly me!
I tried A, just out of curiosity…Azalee, Andria, Anika, Avrile…
Suddenly, a name struck me, out of the blue, "…Amalie! We'll name her Amalie!" I exclaimed. Alice cocked her head to the side and looked up from our son's face to mine, "I don't know if that's even a name…but I like it! Don't you dear?"
She nodded vigorously, "Very much so. It's very unique, just like I'm sure she will be." She added tenderly, "Amalie it is then."
Feeling quite pleased with myself, I then turned my attention to Amalie's brother, "Now, what about him? What shall his name be?"
Alice crinkled her nose in thought, her eyebrows knit together in concentration. She stared down at our son, then off into space, then back at the baby thoughtfully.
She considered names that began with the letter I…Isaac, Ivan (Stayne would have found that amusing I'm sure), Ian, Isaiah…
Nothing pleased her.
She thought about names with R as the first letter…Rodrick, Reginald, Randall, Robert…
Too bland, she said.
Then the letter J came to her mind…Jeremy, Joshua, Johnathan, Jason…
"Jackson! That's it! Jackson!" she blurted out after a brief pause, "Oh, I've always loved that name! And it sounds just perfect with Amalie! Doesn't it, my little dove?" she kissed his fingers one by one.
I rested my head on top of Alice's and held Amalie up beside Jackson, and we looked at the pair of them; their cherubic little faces, their bottle green eyes, their hands grasping at one another, their tiny pink lips smiling up at us. They were perfect. Absolutely perfect. There was no other way to describe our sweet twins.
However, there were a few Outlandish words that came to mind when another set of twins peered in the door across the room.
"Has she had them yet Hatter?" Dee asked, peeking his round head inside.
Dum appeared on his brother's shoulders, "Course she has you dummy! Otherwise we wouldn't be here yet."
"Contrariwise we was already here before them, so we would be here if they wasn't yet."
"I mean we wouldn't be here in this room if they wasn't here yet."
"How do you knows that? You ain't Absolem, y'know."
"Boys!" Alice said sharply, deflating any further argumentation, "No bickering in front of the children…now I want you two to be good examples for them, and we can't have them fighting when they get older, now can we?" she asked, though it wasn't really a question.
The Tweedles shook their heads in shameful unison, "No…can't have that." One mumbled.
"Wouldn't be right at'all." The other muttered. They both nodded in solemn agreement.
Pleased that she'd gotten them settled down a bit, she smiled and sat up a little straighter, "Would you two be dears and go fetch the others and let them come in? I don't suppose we can keep them all to ourselves forever…" she sighed. I didn't see why not…they were ours after all…but then again, I supposed that the rest of the family would like to see them every once in a while…
Tweedledee and Tweedledum happily obliged, but then proceeded to argue over who was going to tell the others to come in. Alice realized she had taken up a lost cause in trying to get them to stop –it was just in their nature to constantly quarrel, I suppose – and just laughed.
Dad was the first to get in the door, after someone shooed the Tweedles aside from the entrance, with Mum trailing right behind him. She had already held Amalie once right after she was born, so she took Jackson from his mother instead. He was a little more cooperative this time.
"Oh, Tarrant…he's the spitting image of you! Just look! He even has the little dimple in his cheek like you did." She rocked him back and forth, cooing to him and giving him kisses. Dad busied himself toying with Amalie's hair and making faces at her that made her smile. She hadn't a tooth in her head, which made her grin even funnier.
"Why, she's pretty as a picture! Lovely as a dream." Zada leaned over Dad's shoulder to get a better glimpse of her newest cousin, and to show her to Remy too, "Isn't she a darling?"
"I reckon she's cute…for a baby anyways…" he grimaced, which only made the baby giggle harder, "Babies always look funny to me. They're all pudgy and wrinkly…" he made another face at Jackson, who gurgled in reply.
Christian laughed heartily and stood behind his son and wife, "Remy, in case you forgot, you used to be a baby too. You were just as pudgy and wrinkly as these two here…actually, I think you were even bigger than them." The child denied ever having been an infant with all his heart, despite his parents' insistence that he just didn't remember it, and proclaimed that even if he had been one at some point he wouldn't have been in such a state. Remy declared that he would've been normal-looking at the very least –though what counts as normal in Underland is beyond even me – with nary a wrinkle or a smidgen of tubbiness about him.
His parents relented and decided to humor him for the time being. If he didn't want to be a baby, he didn't have to be.
Mum turned to Luna to ask if she wanted to hold Jackson, but was met with the sight of her niece trying to wrangle her own child in her arms. Ezzie was still cranky after her brief nap, and both Ilosovic and her mother had their hands full trying to get her to calm down. Madalya was standing off to the side, pouting, not offering her assistance.
She then turned to Zada, but she was now holding both Amalie and Remy, who seemed to be fascinated by how tiny his new cousin's fingers and toes were. Jasmin and Mirana were still cleaning up, so their hands were occupied as well.
"I want to hold him, Grandmum…"
Mum looked around, startled, before her eyes rested on Mady, who had emerged from behind her mother and shuffled over to her grandmother and cousin, "What did you say darling?"
She spoke again, louder this time, and inched forward, "I want to hold him… Jackson." Mady and the baby exchanged a glance, and he cooed to her. Mum smiled and lead the girl to the chair next to the bed, so she could sit down and get a better grip on him.
Mady crawled into the seat and waited patiently to be given the baby, pre-positioning her arms so that she could hold Jackson like she'd seen everyone else do. Mum laid him across her lap in her arms, then stood behind them to supervise. Luna's daughter rocked the baby gently, humming tunelessly as I'd seen her do with her own sister, until he fell asleep clutching one of her fingers, "He was sleepy…" she whispered, her thin finger trailing down from his hair to his cheek, and then under his chin, "Ezzie looks like that when she gets sleepy, that's how I knew. I watch her a lot when Mummy works at the dress shop."
Alice tilted her head back so she could see her, smiling tenderly at the little girl, "Mady dear, you can come over here anytime you like and help me watch the twins, if you like. You're very good with the babies, aren't you?" she offered.
She nodded, "Alright then. I'll come if you need me. Haven't got much else to do…can Ez come too?"
"Of course! Both…" Alice remembered another young body in the room, and turned to smile at Remy, "all three of you are more than welcome to come any time you like, as long as we're home." Remy said that he wouldn't babysit –he'd let Mady handle that, since she knew more about it than him – but he would play with the babies all day, once they got big enough. She found this arrangement acceptable, and the two cousins shook hands on it once she gave the baby back to his mother, much to the adults' amusement. They, however, didn't see what was so funny. They were serious as a plague.
Luna was nothing short of flabbergasted that Madalya had volunteered to babysit; she later relayed to me that she usually whined and sulked when she was asked to watch her sister for even just a few minutes, often remaining silent the entire time she babysat or for hours afterward. Her mother had never understood why, she said, but she supposed it was just because she had had so much thrust upon her at such a young age, and that she had to grow up so fast after her father was gone. But, she wasn't complaining about it, figuring that Mady's interest was drawn to the idea of having new faces under her care and a helping hand, and left it at that.
"She won't be the only one overseeing the new generation, will she Chessur?" A new voice remarked, and we saw Absolem flutter in at last, "I see you've already got your paws full." He added, landing on the bed post at Alice's feet. The two Kittens grinned to mirror their father, and all three purred in unison.
Luna rolled her eyes, but she was still laughing, "I don't think it's the little ones we're going to have to watch. They're better behaved than some of you lot are!"
Ilosovic snorted disbelievingly whilst holding Ezzie sideways, with her arms around his right arm and one of her legs dangling over his left. Her cheek rested in the crook of his arm, and judging by the way she was grinning, she was apparently quite amused by being in this position.
"You want to bet?"
Christian suddenly began shaking his head fervently, "No, no, no! Don't go down that road again! She'll clean you out for sure!" he warned the younger Stayne.
He blanched, and started shaking his own head, "Never mind. Forget I said anything…"
Mirana sighed, probably wondering how in the world she was all going to cope with this lot and the children all at once, and flitted over to see Amalie for herself. Zada gave her the baby so that she could take a break and get the circulation back in her arms.
"She's going to be the prettiest little girl when she grows up, Hatter…I don't know what you're going to do with her! And her brother won't be able to keep the girls away at all!"
The White Queen laughed airily, "If need be, I shall dispatch Ilosovic and Alexander to guard the doors and to fend off any would-be suitors. No unworthy beau would be brave enough to take on the likes of the pair of them." She teased, smoothing the baby's blanket down in the middle, "Some of the worthy ones might not be either." She added, almost worriedly.
Amidst everyone else chuckling, they both assured her and us that they would keep out the riff raff, but the respectable and honorable had nothing to fear.
The Butterfly took this time to interject that we all hadn't anything to fear anymore either, as during his demon-hunting stint, he and his compatriots –Chessur and a few of the more powerful Outlanders – had destroyed the vast majority of the creatures that they had discovered in the farther reaches of our world. He said that, although they had not discovered the source of the beasts' power and magick, he doubted that we would be having many more problems for a very long time. The demons had been dealt a hard blow, and would take a while to recover.
He said we were safe once again to travel more freely between the worlds, between the kingdoms, between houses. We didn't have to constantly watch our backs or worry about what lies in wait in the dark. Our enemy had been weakened, which made us feel ten times stronger.
I wanted to Futterwacken then and there, but it was a bit too crowded. Later, perhaps.
And hence, the threat that had so long loomed over both worlds was lifted, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Now we could really celebrate!
For the time being, that is.
Elsewhere in Underland, things weren't all peaches and cream, however, and they all should have been very concerned about what was going on there. Namely in the depths of the Outlands. Drina was on the move again, after a lengthy hiatus from her usual tricks and mischief, and soon found herself at the mouth of a very familiar cave. She had been busy these past few months…
But how could anyone in Marmoreal have known about that?
She carried on her back a bundle, much like the one her cohort had brought through the Portal a few months ago, only this child was much different. He was a different child altogether as a matter of fact. He was of her making, not conceived by the normal ways, but by the knowledge of dark magic that she possessed. He was almost like a doll made of flesh and blood rather than fine china, with his strange blue-hazel eyes and inky black hair, and his tiny heart-shaped birthmark in the crease of one eye. The little boy was too tall and lean to be a doll though, but that's what his mother had wanted, so that's how Drina had made him.
Speaking of her…
A woman emerged from the shadows in the dark recesses of the cavern, her scarlet hair falling in waves down to her knees. She was dirty and tired, her dress tattered and torn, and she was vengeful and bitter down to her core.
She used to be the Red Queen, after all.
"Is that him? The baby?" Iracebeth stepped out further into the night air, the wind blowing her fur shawl around. Drina had helped her with other things besides this, but she felt no way indebted to the rogue Outlander; if anything, she felt entitled to such help from "commoners", because she was still under the delusion that she was a queen of something. The witch paid no mind; she had more important things to worry about.
"Yes, dis is de little boy you asked fah." Drina pulled the harness from her shoulders and took the child in her arms, "Tell your son happy birt'dey, your 'ighness." She smiled devilishly, handing the young "prince" to his mother. He squirmed a little at first, not being used to her presence, but he eventually calmed down. Drina then produced a knapsack from thin air and dropped it at her feet, "Dese are 'is clothes. 'e will need to get used to de palace clothes of Marmor'al…since 'e will be wearing dem soon."
Iracebeth looked up from the adoring gaze of her child, "How soon do you mean?" she inquired warily.
"When 'im is ten ahnd 'is sistah is two, dey will be taekan to de castle so dat de plan can continue." The witch replied, leaning on her staff and watching her handiwork, "Den, we wait."
"For?"
"De right momahnt to strike." Her red eyes glistened in the moonlight like stained glass windows into a soulless shell; she then eyed the baby and asked flippantly, as if she were having a totally normal conversation with her best friend, "Hwhat will 'is name be?"
The former Red Queen pondered this for a moment. She'd had nothing else to think about –besides revenge – since she'd been given this offer by the Black Witch, so there were countless possibilities that she'd gone over. A few nights ago, she'd made her decision, and she quite liked the ring of it when the name rolled off her tongue.
"Victor. Victor Stayne."
Drina was very pleased with this choice herself. The name was very noble and knightly and heroic, all the things she hoped this child would grow to be…so that it would be that much more devastating when their scheme was carried out, " 'De victorious one'…" she cackled to herself, " 'im will indeed be great ahnd victorious…as will we…" with one last jeer at her unsuspecting opponents that were miles away, seemingly safe in their beds, she disappeared in a puff of smoke to make a midnight visit to her other coconspirators. They were both delighted that everything was running smoothly thus far, in spite of the temporary loss of some of their demon power; the other woman was practically giddy with joy.
The second person she called upon, the man from the Portal, proposed a toast to the prosperity of Marmoreal and all the rest of Underland too, "Long live the Queen." He sneered, taking a long sip of his Nidarian ale.
Notice he didn't say which Queen he meant.
