-Hatter-
It was a long journey to the castle of The Queen of Hearts. Hatter remained determined upon his horse to reach the castle before any harm could come to Alice. The moment he felt his horse slow in pace, he would whisper in the horse's ear to keep going, just a little farther. He did not stop to rest during nightfall. As Wonderland's plants began to fall asleep, and the nocturnal plants crept their way up towards the moonlight, Hatter rushed by them in a fury of speed. He was unfazed by their luminescence, lighting a trail for him in the dark. Wonderland was old hat for him. He certainly wasn't impressed by Alice's London he had seen through the portal. There was something utterly conventional about her life that irked him.
He road on until dawn. The outline of the Queen's castle came into full view, and Hatter could hear trumpets. His heart began to thump loudly. He knew that sound. The King had finally returned to his home, and that could only mean that Alice had reached the castle. There was no moment to lose, but there was still time. Even though the Queen was bloodthirsty and vicious, she always believed that all accused of crimes should stand trial. Were these trials ever fair? Almost never. They nearly always ended in an execution with the Queen bellowing "off with their heads." The executioner was one of the richest men in Wonderland.
Instead of riding across the drawbridge and storming into the castle, Hatter had another plan. He slowed to a stop in the forest and told his horse to keep out of sight. The horse obeyed with a firm neigh. Hatter pulled a vile from his coat pocket. He eyed it for a few seconds before replacing it once more as if to confirm its existence.
He crept through the bushes and found himself close to the entrance of the Queen's garden. The garden was the easiest way to enter the grounds undetected. But, it led into a labyrinth where the Queen's guards patrolled lazily. Sometimes her guards would get lost for a few days. This is the only way, he thought as he pulled the little vile once more from his pocket, uncorked the top and drank its contents.
He shrank to the size of a small ant. All he had to do was wait now for one of the Queen's guards to pass by. Sure enough, two guards emerged into the clearing. They did not see Hatter, for one would never remark a creature as small as an ant.
Hatter climbed into the shoes of one of the guard, crossing his fingers that the guard knew his way back to the castle.
An hour had gone by and Hatter found himself at the back entrance to the Queen's castle. Even at his tiny size, he heard the guards say,
"The trial begins tomorrow."
"Why tomorrow?"
"Didn't you know, the Queen is gone at the moment. She's visiting the Duchess and her baby."
Hatter sighed in relief, but he knew that Alice would not be left unguarded. Alice was the King's ticket to freedom. After ten years, he would never let her out of his sight.