CHAPTER X

The Dawn Of War

Here the tale turns back towards the story of the Monarchy, and their coming to the battlefield. From passing the road across the Golden Mountains the Queen of Hearts and her host of royal servants travelled at a reasonable pace throughout the Realm of the Red Lands. She sat inside a red and golden carriage led by magnificently-dressed steed. Behind and in front were another number of elite soldiers riding on horses, and behind there dragged another carriage, but it was for captives; a prison on wheels, and whoever lay inside behind the barred windows there moving abode was not pleasant in the slightest. As they travelled a few miles from the shores of Prince's Lake, the Queen, her head resting upon her fist, starred out the window with boredom in her eyes. She sighed. 'How long until we arrive at the Plateau?'

'Not long, your Majesty,' answered the Driver from the front of the carriage. 'We are near to Prince's Lake now so the journey towards Checkmate Plateau will be short; perhaps by dawn, my Lady.'

'Can this moving brick move any faster?' snapped the Queen. 'It is utterly boring sitting and watching trees fade by.'

'I am unable to, my Lady,' answered the Driver. 'The roads are becoming darker, and we wish not for an ambush by Red soldiers.'

'An ambush?' said the Queen. 'Nonsense! The armies will be journeying south-west to the Plateau. They pay no heed to us until we arrive. Their "Ladies" are expecting us there.' After that, the company drove to a halt. The Queen seem bewildered for a moment until she peered out the window in their travelling direction. A host of Heart soldiers came pacing up the road led by an Elite riding a majestic steed. The Queen smiled. 'Ah! Knave,' she called as she left the carriage by her footmen. 'I see you have returned to greet your fair Lady. Where have you been wandering?'

'Yonder the borders of the Red Lands,' he replied as he unmounted his stallion. 'I have been straying in the White Lands in search of an object valuable to thee.'

The Queen's eyes lit up with mirth. 'The Prism? You have the Prism? Let me see-'

'But the quest was not completed,' he interrupted.

At that, the Queen's face turned red as the colour of her hair, and she stomped her foot with the might of a falling tree. 'What! You have not the Prism?'

'I apologise, your Majesty,' he cowered before her wrath. 'But we have a captive.'

'O, that makes everything so much better,' she said with bitter sarcasm. The Knave beckoned to his soldiers, and struggling behind the host there emerged the Hatter, seized by a troop of the Knave's men, and they forced him onto his knees.

The Knave smirked. 'I present to you a traitor.'

The Queen's burning blue eyes shot a sharp glance at her messenger. She huffed. 'And so what treachery have you been committing behind my back, Hatta?' The Hatter refused to look up into her flaming pupils, and he said nothing. The Queen gritted her teeth but restrained her igniting rage. 'So? What have you been doing, Hatta? Are you not going to answer your Queen?'

The Knave knelt down beside the Hatter. 'Your Queen just asked you a question,' he said sourly. 'It would be wise if you would answer her.'

But the Hatter refused to open his lips, and he shook his head. The Knave stood back onto his feet, and he glanced at the impatient monarch. He sighed anxiously anticipating her next move; whether it would be her head exploding like a volcano or stomping away like a spoilt child. But the Queen did neither, and instead she peered up at the Knave, and snickered. 'The messenger refuses to talk,' she said. 'You may as well throw him in with the other one. You, my Knave, can inform me of what treachery he has committed, and of the whereabouts of my precious Prism.'

The Knave bowed, and he beckoned for his men to escort the Hatter into the prison-like carriage. The Hatter did not attempt to struggle himself free, feeling as though he has lost the willpower from him. The soldiers, bitterly, pushed the Hatter into the shadowy carriage, and they locked the door behind them. As the Hatter - his hands shackled behind his back - sat sluggishly upon one of the benches on the side of the carriage. As his eyes declined to peer up from the brim of his hat, but when his tiresome eyes glanced upon another's feet opposite of him, they did. As they gazed up, he met the large eyes of the Egg Man. 'Humpty,' he said quietly.

'Evening, Tarrant,' he answered. He appeared as though he had been through a rough stage: his clothes were tattered, and his eyes outlined by darkened rings. The top of his oval head was cracked in several places, and even a drop of translucent albumen oozed from the broken dent on the right side of his head. Although he smiled, it was a weak one, and there was no emotion there. The Hatter pitied him, and he lowered his eyes. 'How are you?' asked Humpty, despite he knew what the answer would be.

'Not that well, to be honest,' replied the Hatter, looking back up at him.

'Did you make it to Bishop's Hollow?' asked Humpty. The Hatter nodded. Humpty continued. 'Did you find the resting place of the artifact?' Once again the Hatter nodded. Humpty was engrossed. 'Is it safe?'

'Yes,' answered the Hatter finally.

Humpty sighed with relief. 'Thank goodness; I was afraid they'd have confiscated it from you or the others. Where are they, by the way?'

The Hatter shrugged his shoulders. 'I don't know. But they're safe wherever they may be. I'm assuming Alice has journeyed on to the abode of the Lion and the Unicorn.'

'The Lion and the Unicorn?' said Humpty in wonderment. 'Why does she seek them?'

'Because she believes if she has the crown she can have the power to end this war.'

'She's a smart girl,' answered Humpty. 'But taking the crown from them is not as easy as taking candy from a baby. She needs to find a clever way to retrieve that crown. She cannot steal it; they will pursue her to the very ends of this world until they get it back. They're stubborn, those two are. She needs a lot of luck on that mission.'

'I did tell her, but she wished to continue anyway,' said the Hatter. Then he scanned the Egg Man, and made note of his condition. 'I suppose they roughed you up a bit, then?'

Humpty chuckled. 'This? This is nothing. I've been through worse beatings then this. I've cracked my entire head open before but I survived. The Knave may deliver unforgivable torture, but he'll never crack me,' the Egg Man laughed. 'Besides, the worst they could do to me is kill me, and they haven't done that yet. They're probably waiting until after the war is won (that is, if they win it), then they'll escort us back to the castle and there receive our trial, whether it be life in the dungeons or death.'

'Death seems to be the Queen's favourite,' said the Hatter. 'Death is inevitable.'

'Indeed it is,' agreed the Egg Man. 'But a war isn't unless one can find a way to end it. She's a spirited girl, that Alice; she'll find a way to bring peace. I mean, didn't she before?'

Then the Hatter gazed at the Egg Man in curiosity. 'How do you know of-'

'Why wouldn't I?' Humpty smiled. 'There's something enchanting inside that girl - well, she's a lady now. She's much more fair than Seraphina, that's for sure, even if that old shrew believes she's fairer than any other creature in this land. But she's also intelligent, and determined, and there's definitely more to her than meets the eyes, don't you agree, Tarrant?'

The Hatter smiled. 'There is,' he sighed. 'There is.'

'I deem the Prism to be safe in her hands,' then Humpty strayed towards another related subject. 'How did they find you?'

'The Rabbit,' answered the Hatter, a hint of bitterness and pity within his voice.

The Egg Man scowled. 'I knew he was a spy! He betrayed you. He led the armies to me first and then towards the Hollow. He cannot be trusted. I never liked critters, anyway.'

'Do not speak too ill of Nivens,' said the Hatter. 'He wouldn't have done it in scorn of us. Illosovic got the better of the Rabbit, but the Rabbit is easy to interrogate. He may have been at fault, but it is something I can forgive him for. I don't know if Alice would though. She's stubborn also. However, the Rabbit may redeem himself,' then his eyes gazed beyond into memory, and he frowned, 'unlike another I knew.'

'Who be this?' asked the Egg Man in curiosity.

The Hatter shook his head. 'I matters not,' he said. 'Even if the Rabbit was a scout I cannot hold grudges on him anymore; after what he had been through two years ago.'

'Two years ago?' said Humpty. 'Wasn't that the time of-'

'The Vanishing,' concluded the Hatter. 'Yes, it was. And that is a period of time that I will never be able to shake off.'

'And as we can see the Queen hasn't either,' he said as he peered out the window. The host were beginning to make a move, and the carriage began upon the road. The Egg Man sighed. 'We are straying towards a damned future,' whispered Humpty. 'Unless one can repent then all is lost.'

'Who must repent?' asked the Hatter.

Humpty did not answer straightly, and instead said: 'In past there was evil; in present there is judgement; in future there may be atonement; but those who repent after the judgement, cannot redeem themselves hereafter. Enough is said,' and he fell into silence, leaving the Hatter pondering his words: In past there was evil, he thought, and he immediately thought of one whom he detested. Then the judgement was already made before the atonement, and he sighed, then it is too late for your redemption...

As he fell into silence also the Heart Army continued onward towards the Checkmate Plateau: a high land where once a great battle was fought, but it had been forsaken for generations. He lay restless for the carriage passed upon a number of dents in the road, but the Hatter could not sleep, only close his eyes in thought, and his thoughts transformed into dreams, and within his mind a face he recognised appeared within a waterlike substance, and as the waters rippled the face grinned... And then... All was still...