So, my parents are having their friends over tonight and I am "banished" to the basement with my cell phone, my iPod, and my computer. I'm also watching Phineas and Ferb while writing this. But I said I'd post, and I'm sure you're all anxious to find out what Lowell and Mirana are up to. Oh, and horse romance. Gotta love that horse romance. (3/5/11)

Chapter 4 Part 1: In Which Lowell and Mirana Conspire…

"I see… well, come with me to the throne room. I have a bit of a, proposition… for you," Mirana said.

Lowell followed the "queen" down the hall and couldn't help but feel that he was being watched. And he was, by all of the guards and lords and ladies. And then he remembered that he was wearing makeshift clothing and that his actual garments were back in that round room.

"So, uh… what was that dog like thing that was chasing me?" Lowell asked, his voice echoing in the long hallway. Mirana turned to face him and she kept walking, or rather… gliding… was she floating? Lowell couldn't be sure.

"The bandersnatch? Oh, I'm so sorry about him. He doesn't take well to strangers. Alice actually got hurt the last time she was here, but that's another story," Mirana said apologetically. Alice's image appeared in Lowell's mind and he thought about the three pink lines on her arm that he had accidently seen one day when she wore a sleeveless dress. Her explanation for these had been an accident from her childhood, but he knew her story was fishy. Two words came to his mind, mystery solved. Two guards opened a set of white double doors and he entered the throne room. Mirana made her way over to the oraculum off to the right where it had been only hours before.

"What is that thing?" Lowell asked, approaching the table.

"It is the oraculum… it is a compendium of everything in Underland… past, present, and future. And this is where I need your help," Mirana said, meeting eyes with Lowell. He cringed and tensed up at the sudden change in the queen's voice. "Anyway," she began, her voice going back to its normal pitch. Lowell rested his eyes on the oraculum, his hands on the table. "I need you go find Alice and Tarrant. We can talk about your, conditions, for doing this once I finish telling you what will be provided.

"I'm listening…" Lowell said, raising an eyebrow. Mirana looked down at the Oraculum.

"According to this, they'll reach their destination in four days' time. You have until then to find them. I'll provide the fastest horse in Marmoreal. He can travel a three days' journey in half a day," Mirana explained. Lowell smirked.

"Go on…" he said.

"I will also provide the best defense I can offer," Mirana added. "Anything to get them back here, before they find what they're looking for." Lowell tensed up again as her voice changed pitch.

"Oh, absolutely your majesty, but now for my terms, you see… Alice is very favorable, in my eyes. And I can sense that you are perhaps, jealous of her? For this, hatter of yours?" Lowell guessed. Mirana sighed and looked away.

"You're smarter than you look Lowell Manchester," Mirana said, her voice now having permanently taking on the deeper tone. Lowell stepped back, but wasn't surprised. Jealousy did weird things to people. It just had to be a bad effect. After all, weirder things had happened to him since arriving. Lowell crossed his arms over his chest.

"I see, well. My terms are simple. I get Alice, and you can have your Hatter. See, I can tell when someone is jealous, and trust me when I say that I know how you feel. So I'll do it," he said. Mirana held out her hand, expecting something. Lowell took her hand and gave it one shake. Alice would be his.

Meanwhile…

"So, Freedom… are you related to Ernest?" Alice asked as she ate some of the food that Tarrant had purchased in Iplam North.

"Oh no, but he seems to have a thing for me. Always has, ever since we were foals," Freedom said, her gaze falling on the gray horse who was making conversation with Tarrant by a small brook. Alice giggled and looked over at Tarrant. The bread and butterflies in her chest acted up and she looked away almost immediately. "Well, well, well, I see that you have a thing for that milliner," Freedom said, using her nose to nudge Alice. She huffed and looked at the horse.

"So what if I do, it's none of your business how I feel about him!" Alice exclaimed defensively. Freedom's snout grew close to her face.

"You like him!" she said triumphantly. Alice turned away, but it didn't stop her horse from taunting her. Tarrant and Ernest were making their way over, and Alice could already feel her cheeks light on fire.

"Are you ready to hit the road?" Tarrant asked, holding out a hand to Alice. She was nervous to take it because Freedom was staring, but she locked her fingers with his anyway. Who cares what a horse thinks anyway? Alice thought to herself. He released her hand and turned to the two horses which now stood next to each other. "We need to keep heading north to Iplam heights. We'll stop when it gets dark," he told them. Both horses gave Tarrant a single nod. Alice mounted Freedom, and Tarrant mounted Ernest. They began walking slowly so that Alice and Tarrant could talk as they traveled.

"I have to admit Hatter, this was a great idea, getting horses for the journey," Alice said. She could feel Freedom smirking beneath her, but Tarrant didn't notice.

"Well thank ye lass, but they didn't come cheap," he said in his brogue which wasn't threatening in the least. Alice felt her cheeks warm up again, but she pushed the feeling aside.

"I feel that doesn't matter as much as actually getting to Iplam Heights," Alice pointed out. Tarrant nodded slowly in agreement. It grew silent for a while, the horses sped up a bit and they cantered along the path. Alice could see blurred hills in the distance, and she assumed that they'd stop short of those hills, considering they had plenty of daylight left.

"So, Alice… tell me about your fa," Tarrant piped up suddenly. Alice turned her head to her mad friend and smiled sadly.

"You want me to tell you about my father?" she asked in confirmation.

"Aye," Tarrant said simply. "You don't have to of course. But I figured…"

"No, it's fine. You've been traveling with me to find him… so I figure you should know," Alice said. Tarrant looked expectantly at the blonde. "He could have been considered half mad. My father had all sorts of hopes and dreams that he one day hoped to accomplish. To travel to China with the company was one of many. When I was younger I would have dreams of Underland, and then I called them nothing more than dreams, he would put me back to bed most nights. I once asked him if I'd gone mad," Alice explained.

"What did he say?" Tarrant inquired.

"Yes, I was completely mad, bonkers, off my head," Alice said with a chuckle which turned sad very quickly. "But then he told me a secret, he told me that all the best people are." Tarrant gave Alice a toothless smile.

"All the best people are…" Tarrant repeated. "Would that include an old, mad milliner?" he asked. Alice met his green eyes and gave him a grin.

"Especially old, mad, milliners," she said.