Chapter Thirty
JACK
Though he was completely locked out of the Anti-Realm, Jack was relieved to know he could still coerce doors into opening where he wanted them. The night was still young, and he had a couple hours he could use to search for Alice and still on time for brunch. Sleep was for the old and Jack had to know where Alice was, and he needed to know just what Hatter did to make sure she got to safety. When he opened the door the smell of glue and expensively dyed fabrics was so strong it nearly blew him back as he entered the Hatter's workshop that the Queen provided.
Hats of all shapes sizes and colors piled high to the ceiling were in near piles all around the room. There were so many piles of hats that he was surprised that he was even able to step inside the workshop. The Hatter sat in the center of the room using a hand-crank sewing machine to stitch a hat together while humming a far too happy song as he worked. His top hat was gone, his unruly orange hair had been combed back away from his face and he wore a ridiculous Heart themed outfit that seemed to brainwash him as he worked. Even the light in the Hatter's eyes was nearly gone as he worked.
Jack could only stare at the Hatter as he watched him put together a top hat, looked it over with a frown before adorning it with a ribbon and a feather before he was pleased. It was odd to see the Hatter actually doing his craft rather than brewing a pot of tea, and it was almost unnatural to see him doing it. He was chained to his sewing table, the chain was long enough for him to get up and get materials he would need to craft a hat, but not far enough for him to reach a window. It was only when the Hatter placed the hat on the head of a mannequin did he notice Jack staring at him. "Jack! My friend!"
He immediately went to run around the table to greet him with a hug but was quickly tripped up and reminded of his chain attached to his ankle, which he just laughed at. "How good it is to see you!"
Despite the laughter and smile Jack knew the Hatter hated it here. "Hatter, are you all right?"
"Yes, yes, fine, fine," he chittered as he stood and dusted himself off. "I forget about my attached friend when people come visit me, the Queen gets amusement out of it, and it doesn't really hurt. But what are you doing here? Are you in need of a hat? Mending that one perhaps?"
"No, it's fine," he shook his head and pressed it securely on his head.
"Oh, then I mustn't dilly dally," he chimed as he scurried back behind his sewing machine. "The Queen has ordered that I make her three of a kind of every hat, and as you know that is quite a lot, so I really must get back to it."
"What about Alice, Hatter?" Jack hissed as he approached his mad friend. "Did she make it to the White Palace?"
"Alice?" He blinked and his smile faltered, and his eyes dilated as he struggled to remember. The light slowly returned but flickered out nearly as quickly as it came.
"Blonde girl, pretty face, curious eyes," Jack listed off trying to jog his memory. "The one who's here to save Underland?"
"I thought that was you?" He blinked curiously at him; recognition returned to him. "Or are you just saving the Queen of Hearts?"
"Hatter!" Jack snapped. Under normal circumstances he would play into his mad friend's mind, but time was of the essence and he needed answers. "Where is Alice?"
"I don't quite remember," he stared off listlessly. "Before I was brought here, she was taking a ride by hat and I had to throw her away to make sure she wasn't brought here with me."
Jack's heart froze and all of the suits jumbled together and fought to be in control. This was a first for him. The suits normally had smooth transitions for one another, and this was the first time they had struggled so hard against one another. Heart tried to remain calm and plan, Diamond wanted to yell at the Hatter for being so reckless, Spade was on the verge of a panic attack, and Club wanted to break everything in the room as anger built within Jack. So many emotions were boiling within him that the only self-control Jack had was to clench and unclench his hands to keep everything together.
Jack grabbed the Hatter by the front of his shirt and a growl escaped through his gritted teeth. "You threw her away!"
"Well, yes, she was riding the hat," the Hatter reasoned. "She was safe and secure on it, so I threw the hat away along with Alice, so she wasn't brought here."
"Where did you throw her?" He was careful to grip the Hatter's shirt and not claw at his chest. It was taking a good amount of self-control to keep the Heart in place because Diamond was so quick to snap at this moment.
"In the field by the tree across the river Between Night and Day," he answered immediately, "I was trying to take a shortcut when the Knave's hounds sniffed me out."
Jack released the Hatter who fell to the floor while Jack ran his hands through his hair. He tugged at his curls and wanted to scream. The grass was as tall as wheat fields and would be a tangled jungle for Alice to maneuver in especially with her being so tiny. He highly doubted that she would have made it through on her own, it at least explained why no one had found her yet.
"I can't believe this. . ." he pressed his hand to his head and could feel the headache rising in him as his head and his heart went at war with each other. His heart was furious that Alice was lost while his mind tried to reason why it was good that she was gone. If she was gone, or at least lost, she couldn't bring Frabjous Day which meant that the Queen had a little longer to rule, it meant that she was probably safe since she wasn't brought here and it meant that the Queen could finally get her Happy Ending; except that she couldn't with the Knave lurking about and putting ideas into her head.
"It's all right, my friend," the Hatter hummed as he grabbed a roll of fabric and brought it back to his sewing station. "Even if Alice didn't make it to the White Palace on her own, the Cheshire Cat would have undoubtedly taken her there."
"Chess." He had completely forgotten about that troublesome cat and he only hoped that he wasn't such a scared cat and did the right thing in taking her to the White Palace, or if not there back to his house. If there was one person that would somehow save the day or at least just help Alice it would be the Cheshire Cat. "Hatter, you're brilliant!"
"No, I'm mad," his brow furrowed as he looked at Jack. "Are you feeling well, friend?"
"Much better, Hatter," Jack perked up and secured the hat on his head. "I need to go see the Cheshire Cat."
"Oh, all right," the Hatter nodded as he happily returned to creating a new hat. "Tell him to bring me my hat when you see him. Knowing him he has it. He's always liked my hat even though it will never be his, make sure he doesn't try to keep it!"
"I will!" Jack ran through to the door, willed it to open at the Cheshire Cat's house, and instead of being met with a warm house all aglow, the house was cold and not a single light was on. The Knave and his group were still out searching for Alice and it was very likely that the Cat had not returned, or if he had he was keeping a very low profile. Even if Alice wasn't with the Cheshire Cat, he needed the mental security to know that she was safe with the White Queen.
His heart had been pounding with hope, but quickly fell into his stomach at the lack of life within the house. He shook his head in disbelief. The Cheshire Cat had to be here, he just had to! He pushed the door closed behind him as he stepped in the living room and tried to see if maybe he was asleep. "Chess?"
"If you're looking for the Cheshire Cat, he is not here," an annoyed grunt came from behind Jack and for the first time since entering Underland Jack summoned his scythe. He pointed it in the direction the voice came and was met with the unsurprised face of Father Time as he stood clad in his pointed blue attire.
Jack blinked as he dismissed his scythe, "Father Time?"
"Yes, and you're the Wild Card that the Cheshire Cat begged me to lend a little bit of time for," he looked Jack up and down unimpressed. "You're a lot shorter than I thought you'd be."
"And you're more asymmetric than I thought you'd be." Jack hadn't expected Father Time to be so young, then again time does flow differently in Underland. The short comment made him grind his teeth, but even he knew better than to upset Father Time if he wanted to make sure Alice was all right. He did after all put the Hatter, the Hare and the Dormouse in an endless time loop at the Tea Party, Jack didn't need to be in an endless time loop just days before Frabjous Day. It would just be too cruel.
"I like to be eccentric," he smiled knowingly with a shrug.
Jack's brow furrowed and he looked around the house. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for the Cheshire Cat and Absalom the Wise," he huffed and flicked a contract out. "They both signed a contract for the Cheshire Cat to give me the additional time clocks he stole from me years ago in exchange for additional time for you; yet I can find neither in their homes."
Not being able to find the Cheshire Cat was one thing, but Absalom? Something was very wrong if Absalom actually left his mushroom habitat.
"That's why time slowed. . ." Jack pieced together quickly but didn't dwell on the idea too much. "Why are you looking for them?"
"The Cat gave me clocks, but they weren't the real time clocks!" He rolled up the contract and hid it away in a pocket on his eccentric coat. "Since they violated the contract, I set the time to its original course."
That explained how he lost two days while moving between Realms, but what didn't explain was why the Cheshire Cat was nowhere to be seen. "Where is the Cheshire Cat now?"
"You're guess is as good as mine," he huffed and pulled out a pocket watch. "I've wasted enough time this evening looking for him in the White Palace as well as here. If you find him let him know that I want my clocks!"
Before Jack could further ask him about Alice's whereabouts, Father Time turned on his heel and left in a strange contraption. It was nice to know that the mystery of time had been solved, but now that things were on their regular course without additional hours that meant Frabjous Day would come whether Alice was with the White Queen or not. There was a small relief that the Cheshire Cat had Alice, but it would only truly be a relief if he knew where the Cat was.
"Think, Jack, think," he paced the floors as he tried to figure out the next best course of action. "The Hatter said he flung her in the fields Between Night and Day. . ."
He would go there, yes, but the closest door to get there was the Hatter's now abandoned windmill house and that was still miles away. He wanted to scream as the panic was quickly setting in. Alice was still tiny and now lost and a war was about to happen with or without her to fulfill the prophecy. It didn't matter how far the fields were from the Hatter's windmill house, all that mattered was finding Alice. He should have given it more thought, should have reasoned out better possibilities, should have done something that would have sent him to the Red Castle, but instead he chose to go running after Alice; again.
Without a moment's hesitation he yanked the Cheshire Cat's door open and threw himself into the Hatter's quiet windmill house. He had hoped that the Cheshire Cat would hide with her there, but it was too out in the open and the hounds would have sniffed them out easily and it came as no surprise when there was no sign of life in the Hatter's home. He wanted to scream in frustration, but now that he knew that time had gone back to normal, he had even less time than before. The night only lasted so long and he had to be back within the Red Castle's walls before brunch if he were to keep his own head.
Upon seeing that the house was empty and there had been no signs of life in days since the Hatter's arrest, Jack sprinted out the door and off in the direction of Between Night and Day. Only the crickets and the moon above him were his companions in his haste through the forests and fields as he called for both Alice and the Cheshire Cat. Everything was a blur, even if he could have seen color none of it would have mattered since they all became the same shade of gray. Thunder rolled overhead and rain soon followed, as if it was Underland's attempt to slow him down, to stop him from running to the tree. He only ran harder, screamed louder, and his desperation got worse as he pushed himself to make it to that tree.
He didn't care if this was Underland's sick joke of trying to get him away from Alice if she were still there, or if it was Underland's way of telling him to turn back because he was going the wrong way, he needed to get to that tree. He probably should have listened to the thunder, should have paid more attention to his surroundings, should have run with the wind instead of against it, but he pushed and pushed and pushed until he watched a single bolt of lightning strike the tree he was so desperate to run to. It took the blinding flash of white light to force Jack to a stop. He stopped so suddenly that he tripped over tree roots and fell face first into a puddle of mud, his hat laying upside down beside him.
When he pushed himself to look at the tree it had been burnt to a crisp, the air still tingled with electricity and Jack knew that if he dared take another step further that Underland would strike with lightning again. He would be good to no one if he were electrified to a crisp and then no one would get a Happy Ending. Still, a part of him wanted him to go to that tree just in case Alice was there, but he knew better. If Alice had been at that tree, she would have been dead and with how violent the strike had been he probably would never have found her body either.
He pushed himself up, to at least sit up, and just let the rain pour over him. It was cold and it made him feel cold, it made him want to stay there until a tree sprouted out of him. His clothes were soaked through all the way to his socks in his shoes, his hat probably ruined with the mud, and for the first time in a long time Jack wanted to cry. With his eyes pointed towards the sky and the rain pouring over him he wanted his tears to fall from his eyes and mix with the rain and just take his cares away as they fell. He couldn't remember the last time he cried; he had his tears beaten out of him so many times he was sure that somewhere down the line they just dried up. His tears dried up, but his heart didn't; he almost wished it were the other way around. At least if his heart was dried up, he would have taken Alice to the Queen immediately instead of trying to help her flee the Red Army. But she had shown him colors. . .
Even though he was soaked through and exhausted he could bring himself to be mad at Alice for showing him colors. He didn't even regret saving her, he should have, but he didn't. A dry laugh escaped him at the irony of it. He was the Queen's Wild Card who was supposed to get rid of Alice, yet he saved her and didn't regret it. Another laugh escaped him, then another and another as he realized how ridiculous he was. He was so caught up in the ways of his heart and his desperation to find Alice and the Cheshire Cat, all the while hoping they were at the White Palace.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open as he remembered what Father Time had told him. He hadn't found the Cheshire Cat at the White Palace, nor his home. The Cheshire Cat was aloof and enjoyed his endless games of hide and seek when someone was really looking for him. Just because the Cheshire Cat was nowhere to be found did not mean he hadn't taken Alice to the White Palace after all. If Time had taken the time to look for the Cheshire Cat to tell him that his extended time was up, that only meant that the prophecy would run its full course and was on track. Alice had to be in the White Palace now, he wouldn't know what to do if she wasn't.
ALICE
It has been quite the adventure with the Cheshire Cat. She had not anticipated traveling by hat to be so enjoyable and relaxing as it was with the Cheshire Cat. As soon as he found her, he took her back to the Hatter's windmill house to see if the Dormouse and the Hare were there. Neither were and he only lingered long enough to tell her a history of the windmill house and how the Jabberwocky had darkened the sky with flames and smoke as the Hatter lost his family and the White Queen lost her Knight that wielded the Vorpal Sword and her crown.
When there were no signs of survivors and the Tea Party empty, the Cheshire Cat wanted to return to his house to collect provisions, the cake that makes one grow, and a change of clothes for Alice. The doll sized ones she wore were nice enough, but the Cheshire Cat was in a strange collection of random items and had a vast array of clean clothes for her to pick out. Once they had everything that they needed from the Cheshire Cat's house, he floated onward towards the Red Castle.
He gave another history of how plentiful the land had been before the King and Queen had married. It had been a beautiful wedding, but things drastically changed after the Queen practically took over as ruler of the Red nation. Taxes were raised, it was hard to sell things, hard to buy things, and even certain resources were difficult to grow because of the Queen's demand that all livestock and produce be brought to the Red Castle. She ruled the people by fear and with an iron fist that quickly snubbed out any rebellions that should arise. There had only been a handful, but it was enough to keep the people from ever speaking out whenever a Card Soldier was near.
Time seemed to finally catch up with itself and run more smoothly and not as slowly as it had before, and it made the Cheshire Cat uneasy in their travels to the point he never stopped. He didn't even stop as they passed through the towns within the walls of the Red Kingdom. Despite the glaring red walls outside that were built up around the castle, the countryside was beautiful and reminded Alice of many family summer trips when her father was alive. It was strange to see cows talking to the farmers as they were milked in the morning and to see the hens telling the farmer's wives which eggs they could take, and which ones needed to remain. There were plenty of things in Underland that were similar to what she knew in London, but there were plenty of things that still bewildered her and seemed to be impossible.
They slipped in and out of the town easily and made it all the way to the castle before the Cheshire Cat stopped. He stopped at the edge of the moat where he set the hat down and sat beside it and looked grimly at the water. A terribly pungent smell of rot and slime burned her nose to the point it made her want to vomit and she almost did when she finally saw why the moat smelled so terrible.
Heads. Scores of decapitated heads.
Heads that were hacked at the neck and left in the water to rot and decay and to warn trespassers of their fate should they dare enter the castle. The smell was enough to make her faint, and had she not decided that she would go into the Red Castle to save her friends she would have begged the Cheshire Cat to take her to the White Palace. She supposed that was his plan all along to convince her to turn back now, but she wouldn't, she couldn't.
"Why are we stopping here?" She asked as she looked at the cat.
"Because this is where I have to stop." He answered as he licked his paw and smoothed down the fur on his forehead. "I cannot nor will I cross that moat to enter the Castle."
Alice looked indignantly from the cat to the head filled moat and back to the cat. "Surely there is a bridge of some sort to get in?"
"There is," he nodded his head in the direction of a drawbridge that was heavily guarded by Card Soldiers. "But I'm not risking any of my nine lives to cross their path."
She grimaced as she turned back to the head filled moat. "Is this really the only way?"
"If you want to get in unseen, yes," he nodded with a smirk. "It would be all too obvious that there were intruders entering the Bloody Big Head's castle if I were to float over the wall with the hat."
"There is no other way?" She was glad that they hadn't stopped for breakfast this morning. She was already squeamish upon seeing the sunken heads in the moat, if she had anything in her stomach it would have surely been empty upon seeing this.
"Not for you," he shook his head. His ear flicked as he watched her, "Unless of course you would prefer I take you to the White Palace where you are supposed to be."
"No," she shook her head and reinstalled her determination. "I am here, and I must save my friends and Jack!"
"Oh ho, so Jack is no longer a friend?" He raised a sly brow and his tail flicked in interest.
"O-Of course he's a friend!" She stammered and felt her face grow hot.
The Cheshire Cat had a knowing smile on his face but said nothing and turned his gaze back to the moat. "Well then, I suppose you best get going. You won't have much time now that time is moving again."
She had a sour comment cross her mind, but she thought better of it and bit her tongue instead. The last thing she needed him to do was push her into that moat and she got stuck in the mouth of a decaying head. Instead she slid off the hat and braced herself for her jump. If she were her normal height, she would have been able to cross this in no time, however, the less attention she drew to herself the better. She swung her arms back and forth to get the momentum going as well as to pull herself from her hesitating thoughts. The path before her required focus and no trepidatious thoughts.
Without a second thought she made the first jump. Landing on the head was considerably easy, however as she pushed herself to stand to jump on the next one, the head bobbed in the water and offset her footing. With a tiny squeak of a grunt she threw herself onto the next one and bit back a scream as her eyes locked with the empty one she had landed on. She had only made two jumps and she already wanted to turn back, but she couldn't. She had to save her friends and Jack. She didn't dare count how many heads were ahead of her and only focused on getting across.
Fifteen heads and one soggy shoe later she landed on the other side and nearly kissed the earth for its solidity and finality that she crossed such a terrifying terrain. She couldn't linger long, she needed to still find her friends. With a triumphant smile she turned to wave at the Cheshire Cat only to see an empty space and no hat where they had originally been. She pouted at that knowing full well the Cheshire Cat could have taken her across but forced her to cross on her own. She wanted to be mad at him, but she supposed that if he would have taken her across, he would have just turned and taken her to the White Palace instead. She hoped he made it to safety wherever he went, for now she needed to focus on getting her friends out of this place and hopefully convince Jack to go with her.
TRES
Of all the things that Tres had anticipated seeing at dawn when he came out to watch the sun rise while he drank his coffee, watching the Wild Card climb the hills of his pasture and fields was not one of them. Seeing his brother drag himself in after a night of too much alcohol, sure, that was something he was getting adjusted to and wanted to correct out of him, but it was anticipated when he didn't come home for dinner last night. The Wild Card, on the other hand, was not. He couldn't hide the grimace that he felt within his soul as it was this very man that he was assigned to watch for the captain to seduce his ex-fiancée. After living in the barracks with his fellow Card Soldiers in the castle walls he knew that exhausted look of defeat far too well. Whatever the Wild Card had been doing before now had not ended how he wanted it and he had not quite come to terms with it. The poor man was haggard beyond belief and was practically a walking husk with how filthy his suit was and how sleep deprived he looked.
With a sigh he took a good gulp of coffee before setting his mug down on the windowsill and stepped out to see what the man would do. The Wild Card stumbled and tripped up a lot and fell to his knees more with sleep deprivation than actually being clumsy. The Wild Card barely made it to the top of the hill before collapsing on his knees and just staying there. Another sigh escaped Tres as he marched his way past the cows and sheep that grazed to see the Wild Card completely passed out. He was not sure what possessed him to do so, but he helped the Wild Card to his feet and took him down to the house.
The moment Tres touched him Jack snapped up and there was a Spade on his cheek and dark circles under his eyes. That was weird, he could have sworn it was always a Heart on his cheek. Tres was glad that the Wild Card didn't have a weapon on him, he would have been dead if he had. Despite the intimidating glower the Wild Card gave him Tres kept a smile on his face to mask his momentary fear. "Are you all right?" He helped the Wild Card up to his feet.
"I'm fine," he groaned as he wobbled as he stood. "Just had a late night. . . I'll be fine once Heart wakes up."
"You wanna come in and rest your feet for a bit?" Tres watched him carefully. He wasn't going to get very far in his current condition.
"Can't," he shook his head and rubbed his face irritably. "Gotta get to the castle."
"You should come and take a load off then," Tres urged.
Jack shook his head and nearly threw himself back to the ground. "Can't –"
"Miss Auris will be here for a visit to get a tea order for the Queen and I'm sure that she's goin' to have a wagon or a carriage you can ride in."
The Wild Card stood unsteady on his feet, his mouth a tight line as he thought the idea through and finally gave a nod. "Do you have coffee?"
"Just follow me," Tres chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll have a fresh cup for you and at least a bread roll to hold you off until Miss Auris gets here."
The Wild Card said nothing as he just followed Tres back down to the house. Tres had the Wild Card sit in the rocking chair on the front porch which he did not argue and took it with a grateful groan upon sitting in it. In the few seconds of going inside to get him a cup of coffee and coming back out to ask how he wanted it the Wild Card seemed to be asleep. Though the Wild Card's eyes were closed he was definitely not sleeping, Tres saw how tightly he gripped the chair and how stiff his body was as he sat still in the rocking chair. Tres had fallen asleep while standing on guard for hours and it was just a matter of recharging to regain energy rather than actually sleeping to get much needed rest. Tres said nothing as he ducked back inside the house and dropped a few sugar cubes into the coffee for the Wild Card before joining him out on the small porch.
The Wild Card's breathing was even in his recharging and Tres still said nothing as he placed the cup of coffee on the railing of the porch for him. Tres had planned on doing his chores to keep an eye out for his brother to give him an earful, but it would seem as though he would have to still keep an eye on the Wild Card. It was strange to see a Wild Card so vulnerable, it almost made him human and if Tres didn't know that he was the Wild Card he would probably think he was just a normal man. But a Wild Card was dangerous, more dangerous than any Card Army the Queen possessed; he was less disposable compared to the Card Soldiers. The Wild Card was a one man army so long as someone possessed his Card, that was the only thing that made him similar to the other Card Soldiers, but the vast difference was even if he were stabbed in the heart or his head would be removed from his shoulders, if the one holding his Card gave an order he would follow it until his body was destroyed and could no longer fight.
The Wild Cards were the thing of nightmares to tell children to be good and were highly illegal throughout Underland after the last war. So much destruction had been caused and new lines had been made with the division of the land. No matter what amount of freedom the Wild Card had outside of the rules of Underland, no one would want the life of enslavement his life would ultimately be because he was a living weapon. As he sat exhausted and fighting sleep Tres's heart ached for him and he couldn't help but wonder if the man ever knew what happiness was. He always had a smile on his face, but it never quite met his eyes as if he knew that it was futile to be happy here.
The Wild Card chuckled, and his eyes cracked open, "It's rude to stare."
"You'll have to forgive me," he chuckled nervously and sipped his coffee. "Never though the Wild Card would be on my land, let alone my porch."
"I was just trying to pass through," he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his face. "I had hoped I would make it to the castle before passing out, or at least making it to a door to pass through."
He let out another yawn before sipping on the coffee. Tres could only watch him, he didn't quite understand what he meant by passing through a door, but he just assumed it was gibberish with how tired he more than likely was.
"Has a girl with blonde hair come through here?" The Wild Card asked casually, his eyes scanning the fields as if expecting to see this girl appear.
"I haven't seen one," Tres shook his head. "I was up most of the night waitin' on my brother to get home and I saw you before anyone else."
The Wild Card merely grunted with a frown and continued to drink his coffee. He definitely was not pleased to hear that answer but did not seem too surprised.
"Would it be the Alice that you're lookin' for?" The Wild Card went rigid at the question and if Tres could see the right side of his face, he would have seen how the Spade was trying to round out to the Club. If he weren't aware of how exhausted the Wild Card was, he would probably be more worried with the growing tension in the air. "I know you were lookin' for her before I resigned from the army. Is she the reason you were out so late?"
Tres could see the Wild Card's grip tighten on the handle of the mug and the tightening of his jaw as he kept his gaze forward.
"If you haven't figured this out already, which I'm sure you have since you're a Wild Card, I don't work for the Queen anymore," Tres sighed and leaned on the railing of the porch. "You're obviously hidin' something and it has something to do with Alice, otherwise you would have brought her in."
"I'd be careful with how you say things if I were you," a warning growl came from the very sleep deprived Wild Card. "The way you say it makes me sound like a traitor."
"I'm not calling you a traitor," Tres sighed and looked at the Wild Card. "I was assigned to keep an eye on you in the castle only to have my Captain sleep with my fiancée and break off my engagement. If there is anyone in all of Underland that I would call a traitor, it is not you."
"I'm sorry to hear that," the Wild Card relaxed a little as he finished his cup. "The Knave has a nasty habit of using others for his needs and wants and throws them away once they've served their purpose. I'm sorry both you and your fiancée were caught up in his antics."
Hearing that come from the Wild Card cut a knife through his heart. He was betrayed by a woman he loved and looking back on it he should have realized just how one-sided it was, but he still wished for her happiness. There was nothing to gain in wishing for her demise, the Knave's on the other hand was completely different. Everyone knew of the Knave's habits and the weird affair he had with the Queen; he already had enough seeds of grief to reap without adding Tres's heartache to it.
"Well that definitely doesn't ease my mind on anything," he admitted and ran a hand through his hair. "Are you normally this blunt?"
"Only when I'm reee-aally tired," the Wild Card smirked. "I promise it's nothin' personal, it is just harder to be nice I guess."
Tres caught the accent in his voice but said nothing about it. He wasn't entirely sure if the Wild Card was making fun of him or if he was that exhausted that he couldn't properly say certain words. When Tres didn't detect any malice from the Wild Card, he decided to let it go.
Tres watches the Wild Card's face carefully before pushing the question further, "Have you been helpin' the Alice?"
Narrowed brown eyes full of suspicion stared daggers into Tres and he was surprised he was taking the Wild Card head on like he was. Tres wasn't the bravest of the Cards and he also wasn't the weakest, but he wasn't normally one to push for confrontation; he just felt like he needed to probe him with questions to figure out what he's thinking.
"I can't say what I've done has seriously helped her," he threw back the rest of the coffee before standing and setting it on the railing of the porch. "I just haven't brought her in."
"Might as well be the same thing," Tres shrugged his shoulders. "She's gotta be more important to you than what everyone realizes."
"She's not just a hero. . ." The Wild Card kept his gaze out of the billowing fields before them. "She's a girl that was brought here and forced to take up the mantle of being the hero."
"You must really love her if you're willin' to go behind the Queen to keep her out of the Red Kingdom," Tres noted and watched how still the Wild Card stood, as if he hadn't truly realized why he had done things up to this point.
"Love isn't strong enough to describe it," he let out a dry laugh and clutched at his chest.
"Love is plenty strong when it's used correctly."
"It's just not enough when it comes to challenging the Queen of Hearts," he sighed and glanced at Tres. "She's always loved the idea of love and everything that goes in with it, but she won't really allow herself to love others or herself."
"It could be that her love isn't strong enough," Tres shrugged as he too finished his coffee. "Or she's just too scared to."
"Whatever it is, I have to have a little more than my own feelings and affections for the girl that I was supposed to bring into the Queen of Hearts to truly take on her rage," he rubbed his face irritably, "especially since I'll probably be late to brunch."
Off in the distance a small carriage drawn by two black horses came riding up the way. Tres smirked as he looked in the distance to see that it was the carriage that Auris told him she'd be in. After she left the other day, he had informed his mother that Auris wanted a few samples for the Queen and she would be back to pick them up once they were ready. His mother made one of each of her own private teas and was so excited to get them together and ready for Auris, though she did seem a little worried about the Queen of Hearts being the one to drink it. The Wild Card seemed to calm down and be at ease as he too watched the carriage pull up in front of the house.
The driver hopped out of his seat and opened the door to assist Miss Auris from the carriage. Today she wore another plain dress, though this one was a lovely burgundy that complimented her pale skin. She too looked tired as if she had just woken up and had been deprived of a few nights of sleep; what was up with the Court members not sleeping? Did the Queen work her Court so hard that they hardly slept?
She had a smile on her face as she looked to Tres but the moment her eyes locked with the Wild Card's it fell and she froze with a frown. She told the driver something and in a few marching strides she made it over to the porch, eyes locked on the Wild Card.
"What in Underland are you doing here?" She hissed and Tres was rather taken aback. He had never heard her get so angry before. He looked at the Wild Card to see that he was just as surprised.
"Good morning to you too, Auris," he merely smirked at her, but she was far from amused.
"Do you even know what time it is?" She disregarded his good morning to her. "Do you even know how much trouble you will be in if you're not there for brunch?"
"Brunch?" Tres couldn't help but question. Thankfully neither of them paid him attention as they continued their conversation.
"It's a bit of a long story," the Wild Card chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"You don't have time to tell me a long story, Jack!" She snapped and the Wild Card only seemed to find her frustration and concern amusing.
"You're right, I don't," he rolled his shoulders back and stood up straighter. "But now that you're here, I have a request to make of both of you."
"A request?" Tres blinked.
"Even as time is ticking against you," Auris threw her arms out in disbelief, "you still have the audacity to keep pressing your luck!"
"I must," he shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets with a smile. "It's part of being a Wild Card, I suppose."
Auris sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose and Tres felt very sympathetic for Miss Auris. She already had quite the taxing job to take care of and entertain the Queen of Hearts and now the Wild Card wanted to add to her list of jobs.
"How about we come inside and discuss this?" Tres offered and cleared his throat. The two Court Members looked at him in surprise as if they had forgotten he was there.
"T-Tres!" Miss Auris's face and ears burned a deep shade of red as she looked at him. "Oh, my goodness! I-I'm so sorry you saw that! I – I – I – "
Tres waved his hand with a smile to dismiss her concern. "All is well, Miss Auris, it has been quite an interesting morning."
He led the way inside and thankfully they both followed him inside. His mother had already packaged and labelled the teas for Miss Auris in a basket on the table and she was more than likely still sleeping. While his guests settled themselves at the dinner table, he made another pot of coffee. From their whisperings he could just barely pick up that Miss Auris was scolding the Wild Card, which in and of itself was very amusing but there were so many things happening and so many things soon to come that surely he would know better than to act this reckless.
He prepared four cups of water and had it boiling in a pot over the stove while he went to work grinding the coffee beans into grinds with a knife. While the water boiled so did most of his thoughts as he recalled his conversation with the Wild Card.
The Wild Card was helping Alice. Though he was not technically helping her by taking her to the White Palace, he also was not bringing her into the Queen of Hearts. Of all the people in Underland Tres expected the Wild Card to know better. This Alice must be quite something if she is able to completely turn the head of a Wild Card against his Queen; or perhaps the Queen of Hearts was never really his true queen. . .
He was satisfied with the beans he had grinded. He quickly tossed them into the water and watched the pot carefully. Once the grinds had been cooked, they would sink down to the bottom of the pot and then he could serve the coffee. He made sure there was enough for the two guests and himself as well as his wayward brother should he ever decide to come home.
His brother wasn't a bad kid, but ever since Tres left and joined the army things just seemed to get more complicated with his brother. He was a good worker when the right amount of money was involved, but he lacked motivation to do anything to live a decent life. As much as he hated to admit it, he more than likely got all of their father's bad habits, worst of all the drinking. Tres still couldn't quite figure out how his father had managed to marry his mother; she did always say that he wasn't the heavy drinker when she knew him, but it was the only father figure he had in his life. Tres did everything he could to be a good influence on his brother, but maybe he ended up doing too many things for him and took away motivations to have him do anything for himself.
A knock came from the doorway and caused him to jump out of his thoughts. He turned to see Miss Auris looking flushed and agitated, but much calmer than she was before. "How's the coffee coming?"
He stole a glance at the dark brown water and was surprised to see that most of the grinds had already sunk to the bottom of the pot. "Nearly done," He smiled as he turned to the pot to stir the grinds down to the bottom. "Everything all right?"
"Yes," she huffed as she went to stand beside him and watch him work. "Jack can be frustrating at times. . ."
"You call him by his name?" He raised a brow at her as he stuck a ladle into the coffee and poured it into a cup. He held it out to her, and she gratefully accepted it.
"Wild Card gets tiresome after a while," she admitted with a shrug. "He's just as normal as you and I and only has just enough of a wild streak in him to get in trouble. He's not like others before him."
He hummed in response and poured the other two cups full of coffee. "Any idea what this request is?"
"There is no telling," she huffed and dropped a few sugar cubes into her cup. "Nothing bad from what I know of him, but it certainly won't be easy."
"Better go find out, huh?" He smiled gently at her and carried the two cups of fresh coffee into the dining room area. The Wild Card was leaned over the table with his head in his arms recharging again. Tres set down the cup in front of the Wild Card while Auris took her seat across from him. Tres opted to stand as he watched the Wild Card's eyes flutter open.
"You look awful," Auris pointed out as he stretched his arms over his head with a yawn. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Probably two days, maybe three?" He groaned and held the cup of coffee close to his face.
Tres sipped on his cup and watched the Wild Card carefully. "So what is this request?"
"Straight to the point as always, eh, Tres?" The Wild Card chuckled, and Tres could only blink. When did he learn of his name? He couldn't recall ever giving it to him nor them ever talking before now, yet he said it in a way as though he had known him a long time. Tres said nothing and continued to sip on his coffee while he waited for the Wild Card to speak.
"As you both know Frabjous Day is fast approaching and the Queen has locked the King away in his room until that day of reckoning." The Wild Card set his cup down and placed his hands on his knees as he spoke. "This is complicated to explain, and I can't tell you everything because of rules that bind my tongue, but I need you two to help the King escape on Frabjous Day."
"Surely you jest," Miss Auris shook her head and set her own cup of coffee down. "Do you realize what it is that you're asking us to do?"
"I am very aware what this means," The Wild Card took a deep breath. "Still, if things are to turn out the way I was told so long ago, the King needs to escape his room while the Queen is out on the battlefield else, he will lose his head and the Queen will lose her heart entirely."
Both Tres and Auris could only stare at the Wild Card as he looked at them both dead in the eye. There was no malice nor mockery nor lies hidden anywhere in his words nor his eyes and Tres believed him. He cast a glance at Auris who looked as though she had swallowed coffee grinds.
"What is so terrible to befall the Queen that would cause her to behead the King?" Auris whispered with wide eyes. "Things were going so well between them, she wouldn't just –"
"In a time that I know her," Jack grimaced as he spoke, "she loses this war and the crown, the Knave tries to kill her and in her own fear of the King leaving her she has him beheaded. . ."
"No," Auris shook her head. "No, this can't be."
"Miss Auris," Tres went over and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with wide eyes blown out with fear. "You've told me previously that you put a lot of trust in the Wild Card, Jack. We both know that if there is anyone in all of Underland that would actually try to help the Queen of Hearts it is he. He alone is the only that would truly be able to change anything in Underland."
Her breathing was quick, filled with anxiety, but she knew his words were true. The Wild Card was the only one that would prevent such tragedies from happening, his coming to them and hinting at the Queen he knew was all the evidence that they really needed. Tres looked to Jack, "What is it that you would have us do?"
He smiled in relief as he looked at Tres, but there was also a bitter sadness in his eyes too. "When the Queen takes me and the rest of the army out onto the battlefield, I will need you to one way or another get the King out of his room and take him someplace safe. It's rare in Underland, I know, but so long as you get out of the Red Kingdom you should be fine."
"Should be," Auris huffs and runs a hand through her hair. "You do realize that we will all lose our heads if we get caught?"
"No, only one of us would lose our head," Jack said definitively. "If anyone is going to lose their heads by one of my plans, it will be me. I swear that neither of you will lose your heads because of me."
There was a fiery determination, almost a wild one, in his eyes as he looked between Tres and Auris. Tres could see why it was so easy to trust him, he had such a burning passion and sense of honor about him that any man in their right mind would follow this man if he was a leader. It was no wonder why the Knave was so determined to get rid of him.
"Why are you asking us to do this now?" Auris asked suspiciously. "Wouldn't it have been easier to have just asked me once we were at the Castle?"
"Would you have agreed to do it alone?" Jack raised his eyebrow at her. She immediately shook her head. "Besides, should anything else fall back on me and I have to take the blame I don't want it reflecting back on you, Auris. You're too good for the Queen and yet you've been the most loyal to her than any other person I have ever seen. Both you and Tres deserve a happiness that even Underland can't take away."
Jack looked to Tres and there was that bittersweet look again, as if he knew Tres for such a long time. Yes, Tres had a hard life, but everyone in Underland did. He was nothing special nor was he an exception to anything, he was just a lowly Card Soldier, ex-Card Soldier now. Still the look the Wild Card gave him shook him to his core and made him wonder just what other sorts of things he knew.
"Very well, I will do it," Auris sighed and gulped her coffee down. "I expect a better explanation on things on the way back to the castle!"
"Of course," he smiled, and his eyes wrinkled and only showed how tired he really was.
They all finished their coffee in silence after that and Tres couldn't shake the odd sense of familiarity the Wild Card had shown him. He tried not to think about it and only tried to think of the best course of action that would need to be taken in two day's time to rescue the King. Auris's mood only improved after the coffee and after she had retrieved the tea samples for the Queen.
Tres walked them out to the carriage, Auris promising to come as soon as they had discussed what needed to happen to rescue the King and waved them goodbye wondering just how things were going to play out when Frabjous Day finally arrived.
Author's Note:
Thank you for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far!
The way I tried to describe Tres making coffee is called Cowboy Coffee, and in one of my opinions is one of the strongest forms of coffee because of how concentrated it is. It is similar to a French Press style of coffee, only you don't have the actual French Press to push the grinds down to the bottom and you have to wait for all the coffee grinds to settle at the bottom.
Please remember to leave a comment or a review to tell me what you think of the story so far.
Thanks for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned!
Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter