Love Checks Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own any dialogue, characters, settings, etc. from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," nor from Disney's animated "Alice in Wonderland," nor Disney's most recent 2010 film of "Alice in Wonderland." What very little creativity that remains is – surprisingly – mine.

Chapter 10

Night had fallen once again. Mirana found herself surrounded by her ladies in waiting as they guarded to make sure she didn't leave her seat at the dining table.

"Thackery," she began weakly to the March Hare. "I'm not hungry. Honestly. Let me go to bed."

"No!" the Hare proclaimed as he removed the salad that sat before her with a bowl of his famous stew. "Try this instead! The Queen must eat!"

"But I don't want to eat. Anything. I just want to sleep."

"No!" Thackery shouted again as he threw the ladle across the room. "You sleep too much! You sleep even more than Mally! That's not good! You're not a dormouse! You need to eat!"

Mirana stared at the bowl of vegetable stew, but no appetite came. She turned to one of her maids with a sorrowful look.

"Please, Your Majesty," the maid nearest her pleaded. "You need your strength."

Mirana looked back to the bowl before her. "What good is strength when one's kingdom is no more, leaving one so very alone?"

"But, Your Majesty, you are not alone we are--"

"Leave!" the March Hare suddenly screamed to the women at Mirana's sides. "Be gone I say!" He threw several teacups at them, making them scamper out the room. "I don't need your help no more!"

Once the room was clear of the maids, Mirana gave Thackery a skeptical look. She then began to stand.

"Sit!" the Hare yelled at her, a teacup narrowly missing her head.

"Thackery, I don't want to eat," Mirana whined.

The March Hare jumped onto the table and took a seat on the other side of the bowl of stew. "I don't care if you're hungry or not. I don't care if you want to or not. You will eat."

"No, Thackery, I won't--"

"Yes, you will! What would Tarrant do if he saw you like this?"

The White Queen said nothing as she dropped her gaze to her fidgeting hands in her lap.

"Tarrant would be very upset! Very, very upset!"

"I know," Mirana whimpered. "I just… I just miss him so much. I'm afraid of what will become of him…"

"Shh! Hatter's a smart man! Have hope, White Queen!"

Mirana looked up at the March Hare. "I just wish this would all pass already. I wish the Frabjous Day came and went. I wish Tarrant was with me this very moment."

Thackery frowned as a single tear slid down the queen's fair face. "If he was here he would not approve of your state."

Mirana swallowed a heavy sob.

"Please, White Queen, take a few spoonfuls of my stew. Do it not for you or me or your ladies. Do it for the Hatter. You must look good for when he returns."

"But--"

"He will return! Be patient and be hopeful! Tarrant will come back to you!"

Mirana gave a closed-lip smile before repeating, "Tarrant will come back to me."

Thackery laughed at this. "Yes! Good! Now eat!"

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

With the castle finally in silence as the night grew on, the White Rabbit made his way down to its depths. He had heard quiet exchanges between the number soldiers of an odd rumor and needed to find whether it was true or not.

"Oh dear," McTwisp gasped as he entered the prison ward and found the Hatter huddled in pain on the hard stone floor. "You are here."

Tarrant turned his head just enough so that he could see the white creature. "McTwisp?" he groaned.

"Oh, my! This is not good!" the rabbit panicked. "This is not good at all!"

Tarrant slowly pushed himself up to a seated position, one hand pressed against his right side. "Oh," he moaned angrily. "That Knave…"

"Shh," McTwisp said. "Don't get worked up now. We need to get you out of there."

"I can't leave without the Vorpal sword."

"You need attending to--"

"I need the sword!" the Hatter abruptly snapped. "I can't return to Mirana without it!"

"I'm quite sure Mirana wouldn't mind. She's a very understandi--"

"No! My orders were to return to her with the sword! If I show up without it, then I fail her!"

"You could never fail the White Que--"

"I'll fail her!"

McTwisp gave a sad look to the broken man behind the iron bars. "When is Ches when we need him?" he sighed.

"You called?" the tabby cat practically sang as he appeared directly between the Hatter and the White Rabbit, the iron bars going right through him.

"Ches," McTwisp began. "We need you to retrieve the Vorpal sword and then free Tarrant."

"The Vorpal what?" Chessur asked as he weaved between the bars in mid-air.

"The Vorpal sword!" McTwisp yelled. "You're the only one that can get in and out of its holding place."

"Are you mad?" Chessur grinned. "The Bandersnatch is in there with it!"

McTwisp unhappily tapped his foot.

"Don't be upset with me," the Cheshire Cat purred. "That sword is only meant for one person."

The White Rabbit looked at the blue-striped tabby cat curiously.

"The champion of course… Alice."

"Alice," the Hatter said strongly between heavy breathing, "is on her way to Marmoreal as we speak."

"Is she?" Chessur grinned madly. "How delightful!"

The Hatter frowned at the cat. "Where is the Vorpal sword, Ches?"

"Locked away with the Bandersnatch, of course."

"And where exactly is the Bandersnatch?"

"In the side courtyard."

McTwisp shot a glance at Tarrant. "You can't seriously be considering to get the sword yourself."

"What other choice is there?" Tarrant winced in pain.

"But with the beating and all that the Knave did to you…"

"I'll be better!" he shot back. "You'll see!"

Chessur frowned sadly at Tarrant. "You really aren't in any condition to fight off the Bandersnatch."

Tarrant glared angrily at the cat. "You won't help," he stated flatly.

"Not my place to help." Chessur rolled about in the air. "But… if I were you… I'd wait for… Alice."

"Alice?" McTwisp asked. "But she's on her way to the White Queen."

"Perhaps. But remember… Alice is her own queen. And it was her own curiosity and determination that navigated her through our world, for she rarely listens to anyone. She has a mind of her own."

"But she doesn't have much muchness," Tarrant groaned. "She's lost it. She won't slay. She told me."

"Alice isn't predictable, Tarrant," Chessur said, twirling in the air. "And neither should you."

Before the Hatter could retort, the cat vanished.

"I suppose that could happen," McTwisp whispered, more to himself than to Tarrant.

"If it does come true, then McTwisp, you must help Alice get the sword."

"And what about you?"

"Don't worry about me!" the Hatter cried as he writhed. "We simply can't go to the White Queen empty handed!"

McTwisp nodded.

"Now, go! It's getting too close to morning."

McTwisp looked to the narrow window near the ceiling; the first rays of dawn streaming through.

"Will you be all right?"

"Yes! Go!"

McTwisp hesitated a moment longer before running back the way he had come from.

Tarrant looked around the shadowy gloom of his cell. "I'm sorry, Mirana," he barely spoke. "I don't mean to fail you."