They had decided to help Mirana pack for Underland, so they could take her directly there at the week's end. It was Wednesday according to Alice, so they could go touring a while until Saturday. They arrived to Mirana's room, and Alice felt at home.
In the corner was the tea table in her photograph, and her four- poster bed was next to it. The brussels carpeting was still nice and new, and on her vanity there lay costume jewelry and her Chessur doll. In the seat was the Tarrant doll, and on the floor was the White Queen's miniature.
Mirana jumped from Tarrant's arms and dragged out a large suitcase from the closet. She went to her drawers and opened them.
"Turn around!" she ordered them, and they obliged, albeit a bit confused. She reached into her drawers and pulled out all her bloomers. "Stockings are for codfish," she stated firmly as she dropped the undergarments into the suitcase, then covered them hastily with a small gown she liked. "Okay, you can look now."
They found it cute she was so embarrassed by it, but Mirana only let Alice help her pack. Tarrant was sent to get a carriage, and took up conversation with Helen, who had stormed out of the courtyard.
By the time Mirana and Alice returned, the carriage had arrived and Helen was waiting inside, Tarrant opting to wait for them outside. He helped get Mirana's bag into the back, and got Alice and Mirana inside the carriage before getting in himself.
The way home was quiet, as Mirana snuggled up against Tarrant's side and fell to sleep.
"She seems to have really attached to you," Alice smiled, looking down at her niece.
"Yes, well done Tarrant. She never takes to people this well." Helen looked to Tarrant's eyes, which were back to their lovely green.
"I've had experience with children. When my family was alive, the mentality was that it took a clan to raise a child. I've helped raise all three of my sisters. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you view things, my elder brother never helped raise any of us." he ran his stained fingers through the girl's long pale locks. "Alice, have you any idea why a Raven is like a Writing Desk?"
"They're covered in ink and their notes are flat?"
"You're not even close," he replied as he looked upon the girl, a smile playing on his lips.
By the time Mirana was laid in bed, the goodnights had been said, and nightclothes donned, Tarrant was exhausted. Alice was already curled up beneath the blankets, and he lifted them to follow her into sleep, when he found she was only in her bloomers. A raging blush crossed his white face, and he lowered the blankets, taking a quilt from a neighboring chair. He laid upon the blankets on his side, and brought the quilt to him.
But then he began to dream a terrible dream.
It started nicely. He was having tea at his parent's house, like he used to before the Horvendush Day. Only this time, Alice was there, sipping with them. Out the window, Tarrant saw Mirana and his sisters play with a beautiful little girl, who was no more than three years old. She had wild curly orange hair, with bright green large eyes, and skin as white as chalk, but she looked like Alice, remarkably so, with the curve of her smiling lips, and the sound of her giggle...
"Congratulations, honey," his mother beamed at him. "That's a wonderful daughter you have."
"Thank you," he answered, confused as ever. "But how are you here?"
"We're not, darling," his mother shook her head sadly. "Your brother sent you all to us. A shame, really, with the next child coming and all." she looked to Alice, and Tarrant's gaze followed hers to Alice's swollen abdomen. A child...
"A... a child. But... my brother?" he was grasping for thought, and it dawned on him. "We... we're no longer of the living?"
"Well, for now you are. We're here to prevent you and your family from dying. You have to be prepared for him, Tarrant." his mother became stern.
His father stepped forward. "Once he hears of your marriage, he'll be after you. In this future, you didn't get yourselves Soul Bonded. Do the Soul Bond BEFORE you get married. Have her mother witness it. Trust me, a Soul Bond will save you from him."
"I know Outlanders can't hurt other Outlanders with it, but Alice is from the Otherworld, Aboveland, Upstairs!" he was grasping Alice's hand, and she looked at him and smiled.
"Tarrant, I'll be fine. Once we Soul Bond, I will be an Outlander. I'll be a little paler, and my eyes will change shades, not colors. Oh, and the pain. There will be pain from my blood changing. But you must help me through it. Or we will all die."
And the morning sunlight awoke him from his nightmare.
Author's note: I know this one is short, but I don't want to have too many situations blending together in this one. Beware, the next chapter has some serious stuff in it