As the arch of rock that marked the border of Outland came into sight in the distance, Stayne began to look more and more unhappy. Casiphia whispered to Quill, who moved closer to Brautigan so that Casiphia could take her consort's hand.
"It may not be the most practical way to ride," she said. "But I feel better this way, and I hope you do too."
Ilosovic took her hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed it through its kid leather glove. "I haven't the words to say," he replied. "So I hope you will accept this as a token of my appreciation."
Outland's perimeter was marked by its famous natural arch which stretched far above, sun-bleached stone bright against the autumn blue of the sky. All that lay beyond was flat desert, with shimmers against the horizon of mountain and greenery, promising but far, far away.
"It's so—grey," Alice said.
"It is indeed, love," Tarrant said, looking less than enchanted by the view.
Ilosovic pushed away the memories that were trying to gnaw at him, of Iracebeth screaming at him and the mountains and Outland in general until her voice wore completely away, and of the silence he kept, knowing anything else would be useless. Only a day they had been there, shackled together, and the thought that he might have spent years that way, with the former Red Queen growing madder by the day...
Stayne felt his heart rate quicken despite himself. Casiphia felt this, even through their gloves. "Notice, if you will," she continued. "You are here upon your own horse, accompanied by your own wife with whom you live at Marmoreal. With the full acceptance of the White Queen. Alice and Tarrant are with us. This could hardly be more different than the circumstances under which you were last here."
Ilosovic suddenly edged Brautigan even closer to Quill and pulled him to a to grip Casiphia's shoulders, Stayne pulled her to him and kissed her roughly, a gesture she returned in kind.
"Different circumstances. Yes," he said after catching his breath.
Tarrant, who had watched this exchange with curiosity, said quietly, "I never would have thought."
"Thought what?" said Alice.
"Thought—well, that," the Hatter said. "It seems there is more to the old boy than I previously believed."
"I'm still glad you're here to mediate between us," Alice said. "He and I together without anyone else around...surely that could not end well."
"You might be surprised," Tarrant said. "I was. Am. Expect that I will be in the future as well."
"You two grew up together, did you not?" Alice asked.
"Not together, precisely—oh, you mean we were boys in the same village. Yes, that is so."
"What was Ilosovic Stayne like then?" she asked. "Arrogant?"
"Yes, rather," Tarrant said.
"Ill-tempered?"
"At times. Mostly I remember how competitive he was," the Hatter said. "If there was a game or task that he didn't excel at, he would work at it until he did. He was always rather intense. Of course, after his parents died, he was off to the castle to request sword training as if it were the only trade he cared to turn his hand to. He turned out to be good enough at that, as we all know."
"I'm still trying to understand what makes him the way he is," Alice said. "I will try to remember those things; perhaps it will help. Although I'm glad Casiphia is also along to keep the peace."
The lady-in-waiting in question, meanwhile, was gazing at Stayne as if she were watching the sun rise for the first time. "I believe I am going to enjoy this journey," she told him. "And I hope you will too."
"Stranger things have happened," he replied. "They keep happening, for that matter."
Alice's own white stallion was dancing with impatience, and the girl called out, "Hadn't we better be on our way? I do not know if it will be easy to find Hamish in this landscape, so we should get started."
The other three recalled that this was, in fact, the reason they were in the Outlands at all, and could not argue the point. So they set off across the pale stone and sand of the outer edge of the Outlands, watching for a lost red-haired man and wondering what dangers they might encounter on their way.
They rode carefully, with an eye out for creatures that might pose a threat. The sun was high but the air merely pleasantly warm, and Alice hoped they might see some picturesque Outlands vegetation before much more time had passed.
