AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hi. Sorry it has been a hot minute. A lot going on in the USA, as you all obviously know (or should know). Hope you're well and taking care of yourselves! We're progressing through this awful pandemic, slowly but surely. Let's hang in there 3 Love my nuggets. Sending good vibes. Thank you for following along on Ana's journey!
~ Nuggs
Chapter 92
It took about another five seconds before the entire room of Wonderlanders realized who I was. Just about everyone came running over to Tarrant, Tannyn, Will, Halil and me. I'm not cocky or anything, but I figured they really were this excited because of me. Even the many people I didn't know. They surrounded us.
It was weird being so well-known in one world and kind of a nobody in another.
"Excuse me. Excuse me!" a whacky voice cracked through the crowd. "That is my wife! Hey! Ow, that's my stomach!"
Oh. Mercy.
He clawed his way to the front and dropped right at my feet, kissing the top of both of them. I grimaced.
"H-hi, Mercy."
"I can recognize you anywhere, heh," Mercy said.
"You didn't realize who she was until Absolem opened his big mouth." Shire emerged from the pool of people and winked at me before glaring at Mercy again. "Stand up. You're embarrassing yourself."
"Impossible." Now Mercy was winking at me.
"Everyone, please, give Ana some space. Thank you," Will said, controlling a room with ease. "Get back to your tables. Meeting in five."
"Does that include me?" Mercy asked.
"Especially you," Will said.
Mercy sighed and ran off with the rest of the Wonderlanders back to the wooden tables in the back. Even Shire went back; I was oddly disappointed, but I guess we'll catch up soon. A few happened to stay: Absolem, Aster and Von.
I hugged all of them. This was overwhelming, almost like everything else that's been happening to me. But at least this was the good kind. I think?
Absolem looked at me over his glasses. His hair was out, not in his usual ponytail. It showed off how delicate-looking his face was, thanks to the way it framed it so well.
"You're so descriptive," Stephanie said.
Sorry, sorry. Habit.
"I like it. I was an artist, you know. I like seeing how your words translate into the picture in front of us. He is quite pretty."
"Ana, you're in for quite the spectacle," Absolem said.
"I'm glad you're still glowing, darling." Aster bowed his head. "How are you feeling?"
I smiled. "Better now," I replied. I glanced at Von. "Auspicio's not here?"
Von shook his head. "'e's with 'er Majesty right now actually."
"Yeah, he's accompanying her at Diamond Kingdom," Will explained. "It's hard to arrange for him to be here safely."
"Let's commence the meeting," Tannyn suddenly said. He looked at all of us expectantly.
The guys dismissed themselves to the back, leaving me, Tarrant, Tannyn, Will and Halil again.
"Hatter, set the table. Will and I will gather our agenda. Ana, stay near the front with your friend here."
Halil and I awkwardly remained in our little isolated space while Tarrant, Tannyn and Will set up for whatever this meeting is going to be. I was still so confused.
"Did you know about this?" I asked Halil.
He stared forward, unmoving.
"Halil?" I whispered.
"No."
"Oh."
"But…" He slowly looked at me and tilted his head to the side like a puppy. "This feels good."
I could barely make it out, but there was definitely the tiniest itty bitty smile creeping onto the knight's face, and it made me happy. "Yeah. I agree."
"OK, everyone!" Will hollered, his white ears tall on his head. He was standing on a long rectangular table that I assumed Tarrant had set up just now. "Let's begin, let's begin."
Tannyn jumped onto the table without breaking a sweat. I wouldn't even call it a jump – he just stretched his legs and stepped up. When you're that tall, the world is just your steppingstones, huh?
"You should consider writing, Ana," Stephanie cooed. "I would love to illustrate it."
The timekeeper held his hands up to shush the rest of the Wonderlanders who were still chattering amongst themselves. "Firstly, we'd like to finally welcome our guest of honor, Anastasia Liddell." He gestured towards me in the corner. "She is the reason the Bandersnatch Society has finally pulled together. Ana, we welcome you."
The room roared with applause. I stepped forward to curtsey before hiding myself in the dark corner again. Someone in the room laughed as the applauding died down. It was Shire. I squinted at him and he stuck his tongue out at me.
"I also would like to welcome another new member," Will chimed in. He pointed back at our corner again. "Halil, former Green Shield, currently on the run and wanted by the Queen herself. He is the face of martyrdom and dignity. He left the Kingdom and is now, along with Ana, a key in our goal."
"And what's our goal, people?!" Tarrant yelled from the foot of the table. He didn't even bother putting himself on their makeshift stage. He was loud enough.
In a spine-tingling chant, the room shouted in one voice: "Take Heart Kingdom back!"
I felt my eyes widen and I quickly looked at Halil. He was already looking at me.
We didn't need words. Our good feeling was accurate. This was good.
In a rush of adrenaline and sportsmanship, I ran forward and raised a fist in the air. "Down with the Queen!"
The room was quiet for a second, probably from shock that I decided to stop being so shy. Then, they all chanted it back at me. "Down with the Queen! Down with the Queen!"
I looked back at Halil victoriously, but he didn't return my smile. Instead, he looked pretty nervous. Was there something wrong with what I said?
The crowd clapped and cheered some more before Tannyn held the room's attention again.
"You all have been working very hard these past few days in collecting information and increasing our numbers for this powerful alliance," Tannyn said. "Now, I'd like to call up our Head of Research."
I didn't even have to look to see who was making their way to the stage. Absolem. Though to my surprise, standing clutched to his side was Amor. When she and I made eye contact, she waved her fingers at me subtly.
"Thank you, Timekeeper," Absolem said. He cleared his throat and held up some papers in front of him. "Today we're able to gather so inconspicuously because the Queen of Hearts is at Diamond Castle as we speak. She is pushing a merger, meaning her ultimate goal is to swallow up the four kingdoms, and what would rationally come next is all of Wonderland. Outskirts and uncharted. All of it."
"We are here because how she rules Heart Kingdom is not the way, and we are tired of her unstable influence over all of our lives."
"My assistant and I have been looking into numerous things, though what we've found will astound all of you."
"The so-called retired King and Queen of Hearts have been exploring Wonderland and aiding in mapping our dear country to see how far we extend, and who else could be out there."
"But they have been gone, without any communication, for far too long."
Audible gasps shimmered throughout the tunnel.
"He is talking about my parents…" Stephanie murmured.
"The Queen has lied about receiving letters from our true leaders. They have not been sending any communications about their whereabouts. They have not sent any communication at all."
More gasps.
My hand slipped over my mouth. I was afraid of where this was going.
"Thanks to our amazing network of our diverse Wonderlanders, we've found a body covered at the landing point of Suicide Hill in Bandit County. Madam Malinda, thank you for your intel."
"N-no…"
"That body belonged to the late Mathias," Absolem announced. He took a deep breath while Amor patted his shoulder. "Bandersnatch Society, the King is dead."
"N-no!" Stephanie cried out from inside of me. "No!"
Her sudden explosion of grief was so powerful that I had tears rushing to my eyes. I wiped them quickly to avoid bringing any attention to myself. Between the quiet tears, I didn't even realize Halil had returned to my side again.
The room was reacting strongly too, of course. It was just hard for me to focus with Stephanie's emotions creating a fog in my head.
"I know. This is…hard to believe," Absolem continued. "But we confirmed the body is indeed the King of Hearts. And we all know that this was not something he did to himself. There is evidence of a scuffle."
"Shire, could you provide our visual?" Tannyn called out.
Shire stood up from one of the tables and casually walked to the front, a massive roll of paper tucked under his arm. He hopped up on the table as easily as Tannyn did, and I could only attribute it to the fact that he was part cat.
The room fell into deathly silence as he unrolled the paper. I moved forward with Halil so we could see the front of it.
"Sketched before you is what we found at the bottom of Suicide Hill," Absolem stated. "You can see the crippled remnants of His Majesty, marks in the ground indicating a fight, and several piles of dirt that we assume was to cover up the body. However, we also found small footprints trailing from one of the dirt mounds and headed further out of Bandit County."
Stephanie began to calm herself in my head. Gosh, I hope she's OK. This was too much.
"We figured it was the perpetrator's prints, but it didn't make sense. Unless they had little intelligence, they would have covered it. They left a few hoof prints from the horse they may have used for travel, but even that was mostly covered." Absolem reached around and pointed at one of the footprints. "There is a hand drawn heart on one of the markings. Someone stopped and drew that in, intending for it to be seen."
"Folks, I think our perpetrator tried to kill both royals and left them for dead. But one of them made it and walked away later, leaving this humble message behind."
"Her heart is still beating. That's what this little symbol means," Absolem explained.
"The real Queen is still alive somewhere in Wonderland," Tannyn finished. He bowed his head at Absolem and Shire, then turned to the rest of us. "We find her, we form our army, we end this tyranny."
Everyone in the room started talking all at once. Tons of questions and concerns, but mostly excitement in how to find the missing Queen.
Shire hopped off the table and annoyingly made sure to land in front of me. "You alright?" he asked. "Is the princess alright?"
I sighed. "As much as someone who just found out that their father is dead and their mother is missing in action can."
Stephanie was radio silent right now, actually. It made me uncomfortable.
Shire nodded and rolled up his impressive sketch of the crime scene. "We'll find her fast. I knew there was something weird about the royals ditching their kingdom this long."
Shire glanced at Halil. "Though I'm curious about who did it."
Halil said nothing.
"He would never do something like that," I said, putting myself in between Shire and Halil just in case Shire was planning on getting even more provocative.
"I don't think it's him. Calm down," Shire replied with a smirk. He patted the top of my head with his paper roll. "But I've got a hunch it's one of her brainwashed knights."
And with that, he walked off.
But then Stephanie made herself heard again.
"Auspicio."
"He wouldn't," I murmured.
"He would. He did," Stephanie said, her voice cracking again.
"You heard him when he got to speak to you through me that night. How sorry and ashamed he was," I said, focusing on the ground so no one would notice I was talking to myself. "He wouldn't do it again."
"I…I cannot find myself to agree."
"Darling?"
I jumped. Aster was standing in front of me now, staring intently at me. The rest of the Society was still discussing things amongst themselves.
"Do you have something you'd like to say?"
He crossed his arms.
"A name, perhaps?"
I shook my head.
"Is he in this room right now?" Aster asked, his voice low and growly, but instead of making me blush, it was terrifying me.
I didn't respond.
"Didn't think so," Aster said with a sigh. He placed his hands steady on my shoulders and leaned close to my face. "Do the right thing, darling."
He kissed my hand and walked away to talk with Tannyn and Absolem. I stared down at my palm, frozen. The kiss lingered in a way that burned and crushed my spirit entirely.
Auspicio didn't do it.
"You know he did, Ana," Stephanie cried. "How could I have wasted so much of my living love on a knave that draws blood?"
"Ana, please listen-"
I'm not saying he didn't try to. But I don't think he did it.
"My father is dead, Ana. That means Auspicio succeeded."
He couldn't. Something just isn't right.
In that very moment, I lost control of myself. Literally. I had no power over my body, my voice, not even my eyes. Stephanie took over.
Princess, no! Please!
Stephanie guided my body forward to the stage and climbed the table. The room naturally quieted down as people noticed I was now putting myself front and center.
Princess. Don't. We don't know for sure-
"It's the Knave of Hearts!" I yelled.
Von immediately stood from the crowd.
"Auspicio killed my fa-" I paused. "A-auspicio killed the king!"
"That is a big accusation, Ana," Tannyn said, keeping his voice still. "Are you certain it was the knave?"
I nodded. Well. Stephanie nodded for me.
Princess.
Halil crept to the front of the table and stared up at me, his back to the rest of the room. "How do you know?" he asked in a hushed tone.
I clenched my hand and exhaled.
Stephanie, please don't-
"Because he killed Princess Stephanie!"
As the room reacted in utter chaotic confusion, I could see Von looking pale with disbelief. I could see Aster in my peripheral, sitting himself down at a table, watching me. I could see Halil lowering his head. Will trying to keep himself cool and collected. Clare and Chef Cruz looking at each other. Mercy freaking out.
Shire's ear twitching.