Chapter Ten: Next Stop, Wonderland.

The rain had slowed and stopped as the Kingsleigh's carriage pulled up to the side door entrance to the kitchen, at the request of Alice. The rain outside dripped off the eves of the house in a continuous splatter and the three inside the carriage quickly made their exit and entrance into the house. The kitchen was empty for the moment, which Alice was very grateful for as she ushered the two behind her further into the warm room. The rest of the house staff had been given the rest of the day off, no one would see them.

"Take the seats by the fire place, would you like some tea?" she asked, picking up the kettle, knowing the answer would be yes.

She set the water to boil over the fire, quickly got out four cups and a small box of chamomile tea. After setting each cup up with a bag, she retrieved the sugar and a small tin of cookies. What she was about to drop on her mother was going to be quite a shock, so Alice wanted to make it as soothing as she could.

"I'll go get my mother, stay here." she said after warming herself by the fire briefly. Alice strode out the doorway to the rest of the house and began searching for her mother.

"Good Heavens Alice! What happened to you?" Helen blurted out when she saw her daughter and the ragged state she was in. "I thought you were still at the Ascott estate, what's wrong?"

"It's a rather long story Mother, I'll tell you in the kitchen where it's warmer. There's someone I want you to meet." She took her mother's arm and led her back to the kitchen promising to answer all her questions as well as she could, and hoping that her mother would believe her and not think her mad.

When the two returned, the water had heated up and there were two cups for tea waiting for them. Tarrant and McTwisp sat at the kitchen table, drinking their tea and talking to one another. As the women entered, both man and rabbit stood up, McTwisp on his chair to see better.

"Mother this is Tarrant Hightopp and Nevins McTwisp. They're my friends and they helped me escape from Hamish today. Tarrant, McTwisp, this is my mother Helen Kingsleigh."

"Hello Mrs. Kignsleigh, it is a pleasure to meet the mother of such a remarkable young woman." Tarrant said, holding out his hand to shake hers.

"Indeed it is, she looks just like you." McTwisp added.

"Oh, um, thank you Mr. Hightopp, is it? And did that rabbit just talk?" Helen asked returning the handshake, as she and Alice sat down.

"Yes I did." McTwisp replied, sipping his tea. "I am the Court Page to the White Queen of Marmoreal in Underland, Mirana."

"And I am the Royal Hatter to the White Queen." spoke Tarrant.

"Really?" asked Alice. "That's wonderful."

Tarrant smiled. "A Hightopp has always been the Royal Hatter, the best of our clan is always chosen for the job." he added softly.

Helen watched the three converse around her, the word "Underland" stuck in her mind, before seeing the rip in her daughter's dress and asking once again what had happened and if someone could please explain everything to her. The rabbit and strange man drinking tea in her home were strange enough as it was, and she would deal with them in due time, but for now all she really wanted to know was why her daughter's dress was ripped and she was a bedraggled mess.

"Hamish attacked me." Alice stated, pulling the sides of the torn sleeve apart to show her the bandage and the length of it. "I refused to marry him again and he attacked me, chased me into the woods and tried to kill me. Tarrant saved me."

Helen stared at her only child before asking if it was really true and to see the wound. Tarrant and McTwisp nodded and Helen saw the neat fine stitching on Alice's arm. She was no doctor, but even she could see that the wound had been carefully cleaned and the stitches straight and even. She gently took Alice's arm in her hands and turned it in the available light, seeing just what had happened to her daughter.

"Thank you for protecting her." she said to Tarrant, squeezing Alice's hand. "What is Underland?" she asked in the next breath. "Where is it?"

"It is where we're from." Tarrant responded. "You can get to it through a rabbit hole, though I've heard a looking glass can be used as well."

"Tarrant has asked me to marry him Mother, I plan on doing so and want you to come with me."

Helen's eyes widened. She didn't really know what to say, she remembered why the word "Underland" had tripped in her brain, it closely resembled a place that Alice had talked about as a child. Wonderland, she had called it. She had always thought that Alice had made it up, that her child just had a vivid imagination. She swallowed the last of her tea, she had been wrong.

She put her cup down with a click and quietly looked at Alice, searching her face for any sign of, well she wasn't really sure what she was looking for, to be honest.

"How long would we be gone?"

"A few days, a couple of weeks at most." McTwisp said, picking up a cookie and biting into it. "The ceremony is a fairly simple hand fasting, most of the preparations are underway now as a matter of fact. Marana has offered to let us use her garden and a ballroom for the reception, and I came up here to see if Alice had any questions or if she wanted anything in particular for the wedding."

"How long do marriages last in Underland Tarrant?" Alice asked.

"Most of them are forever, but it is custom to renew the vows after being married for a year and a day. If at that appointed day, the couple no longer wish to be married, the union is dissolved. The majority of couples stay together though."

The group talked for some time before Helen was comfortable with the idea of her daughter leaving home to get married and doing so in another world. "Your father would have loved this, he would have jumped at the opportunity to see another place, an entire world." Helen said as she packed a few dresses and undergarments. Alice smiled at that. "I know. He would have loved Underland just as much as I do. I hope you like it too."

They were soon packed and Helen wrote a note to the butler and head maid, explaining that she would be gone for a bit for Alice's wedding, and that they were to continue running the household while she was gone. She laid it on the kitchen table and the group of four made their way to the rabbit hold that was close to the Kingsleigh's house.

As they approached the tree that housed the rabbit hole, the ground trembled slightly and the hole fell into place, the ground where it appeared vanishing down the rather large hole. They gathered around the opening and looked down into it. It was dark and seemed to be rather deep.

"Do we just jump in?" Helen asked.

Alice nodded. "Yes. I hope the landing's not like last time..."

"Last time? What was it last time?"

"Down? Hard and upside down. Ready?" Alice asked, taking her mother's hand.

"It should be just fine Mrs. Kingsleigh. This time this entrance has been directed towards the White Queen's castle. We'll be fine." Tarrant replied, stepping up next to Alice. He checked he sword to make sure it was strapped on properly.

"Would it help if we all jumped together?" the rabbit asked, offering a paw to Helen.

Helen blushed lightly and nodded. She felt silly taking McTwisp's paw, but it was rather gentlemanly of him to offer. Or was it gentlerabbitly of him instead? No matter, it was nice either way.

"On three then." Alice said, stepping forward. "One... Two... Three!"

On "three" she and the others jumped, her mother's hand tightening on hers, and vanished down the hole and through the looking glass.

Helen watched in fascination as a jumble of things fell past them. They had started off in a dirt tunnel and at one point, she could have sworn she saw a skull buried in the dirt as they passed. She saw a rocking chair, a table with what appeared to be a glass chess set on it, and an endless supply of books and maps and a couple of globes, one of which looked positively ancient. The was all rather interesting, but she hoped that they would be landing soon, the feeling of weightlessness was beginning to get to her. The surrounding walls were going from dirt and roots to taking on an appearance of tile flooring, just dirt colored. It soon became what it looked like, tile floor all around, in a white and gray checkered pattern. Alice squeezed her hand and smiled as the group began to slow down and cam to a stop about a dozen feet away from a huge silver framed mirror. The frame looked like it had been made from the ocean's waves and the color was the same as the sky before a storm, shiny and bright. Before it stood two guards, both dressed as white chess pieces, both of them were knights, and they crossed their lances over the mirror as the four approached.

"Halt! State your business." the knight on the right commanded.

"The Court Page and Royal Hatter returning from the above world with the Hatter's intended bride." McTwisp replied. "This is Alice Kingsleigh and her mother Helen Kingsleigh." He brought the two of them forward for the knights to see.

"Champion, it is a pleasure to see you again, congratulations on your impending wedding." The knight on the right said, shaking her hand. "And it is an honor to meet the mother of our greatest warrior." he said, turning to Helen and taking hers.

"Indeed it is, Champion, Mrs. Kingsleigh." said the left knight and stepped aside for the group to pass.

Stepping through the mirror was a bit like stepping through really thick water, you could see what was on the other side and knew it was there, but it took a few minutes to get to it. The mirror opened up into a silver and white waiting room with several chairs and ottomans scattered about, and sitting in one of the plush velvet chairs was the queen. She was reading and waiting for them with a tea tray and a selection of finger sandwiches, should they be thirsty or hungry. Alice was the first through, followed quickly by her mother and then Tarrant and the rabbit. Once the were through, the mirror vanished, as if it had never been there at all to begin with. McTwisp excused himself from the group, citing wedding business he had to attend to, promising to get with Alice later to show her what was being done.

"Alice!" Mirana cried, rushing to meet her friend, the book forgotten as it tumbled from her lap. She quickly enfolded Alice in a hug. "It's so good to see you again and congratulations are in order about your wedding. It's been such a long time since we've had one at the castle."

"Hello Your Majesty, it's nice to see you too."

"It's Mirana and you know it." the Queen replied, smiling. "And who have you brought with you?"

Alice turned to Helen and made introductions between the two.

"Welcome to Underland Helen, I hope you find your stay pleasant."

Helen quickly sketched a quick curtsey. "Thank you your Majesty. If you don't mind my asking, why did the two knights call Alice "Champion"?

"You never told her." Mirana stated, looking at Alice. "Very naughty of you."

Alice blushed. "Sorry, but she would have never believed me."

"Believed what?"

"She is called "Champion" because she is the Champion of Underland, she defeated the Jabberwocky and helped free this world from the rule of my older sister, The Red Queen." Mirana replied.

"What's a Jabberwocky?"

"A dragon The Red Queen kept. She used it to terrorize the people and she killed my entire family with it." Tarrant growled, eyes flashing a murky orange. He spat on the ground. "Her name is never spoken and she is rarely spoken of by most people. She was a sadistic tyrant and murderer, not a queen." His eyes returned to green as Alice squeezed his hand. "No offence to you Mirana, you can't pick who you're family is. Your sister can't hold a candle to you."

"None is taken Tarrant, I'm very aware of the things my sister has done, I just hope to not repeat them."

After settling in, both Alice and Helen found themselves in Tarrant's workshop. McTwisp had come to Alice's room and said that Tarrant was making her dress. Helen stared at the mountains of hats that were piled across the room on shelves, tables, hanging on the walls and the rather large stack of hatboxes that were ready to house them.

"Oh my... you'd never see anything like this at home." she said, running a finger down the brim of a black velvet hat with white seed pearls on the edge and a white lace sash wrapped around it, the tail of the sash draped down the back and pale pink and silver roses tucked into the fabric around the hat. "Or this." she said, noticing a blue and white striped one with large white ostrich feathers and blue ribbon. She picked it up and tried it on.

"Feathers are a bit much." Tarrant said, coming around from a pile of fabric. "Color looks nice though."

"Hello Tarrant. McTwisp said you were making my dress.." Alice replied as her mother put the hat back.

Tarrant nodded saying he needed her to try it on to make sure the fit was correct.

"A few adjustments along the waist and the hem needs to be taken up just a little, but I was right, it does look beautiful on you." Tarrant kneeled at Alice's feet pinning up the dress and making notes of what needed to be done. Alice smiled at her reflection, she felt lovely in the gown, and for once didn't mind the skirts and trappings that went with them.

Knowing that Tarrant had made it just for her helped a lot. It was made of a silvery blue fabric with ruffles down the back starting at her waist, ending in a small train. It was a strapless and backless gown with a sweetheart neckline and darker blue curlicues all around the edges of the gown. She had matching sliver-blue elbow length gloves with the fingers cut off. She had never worn something so daring, but she loved the way she looked in it and loved the fact that Tarrant made it himself. He had honestly out done himself and Alice could see the love that went into every stitch of her dress. She may have not picked things out herself, but Alice knew she would find no better top side, and knew that the dress had been made with just her in mind. After changing back into her own clothing the two bid Tarrant good bye and made their way to the ballroom Mirana had set aside for the party, to see what was going on for the wedding feast. Time flew be quickly for once and soon all the details were settled. Alice fell into bed that night very tired, but happy.