Alice at Last
Chapter Six
Iracebeth stared down at the man in front of her behind the bars, her eyes colder than normal, both anger and hurt swimming in the chocolate orbs. "I truly thought I could trust you," she finally spoke after several minutes of silence. "I suppose your lust is greater than your love for me."
The main remained there, attempting to think of something, anything. He knew that she wouldn't hesitate to kill him. "… She wanted it," he began slowly, a laugh of pure disbelief escaping the queen.
"No child wants to be sexually touched, especially not at six years old. Even if she did 'want' it, her reaction after made no sense. She wouldn't scream for help nor would she cry herself to sleep. What you did traumatized her," she spat. "She refuses to leave my side because she's so terrified."
"She's working against me…" he continued. "She was with Mirana for who knows how long. No doubt she has developed a negative view of us. She can be a weapon Mirana is using against us."
"And surely Mirana would endanger a child's innocence to get information. Even I'm not that fucking sick. You're a pedophile, simple as that and if you continue to lie to me and attempt to get yourself out of the punishment you rightfully deserve, your death will be much more painful than a simple beheading, do you understand?"
He glanced up now, fear rolling through his veins. "And you will kill the only person left who still love you?"
She stared down at him, shoving the tears that threatened to fall away. "You don't love me. You love the power and the protection that you get from me." She looked down at the stone floor. "I don't need your love… Alice is my concern now…"
"Alice isn't yours. Nor is she Mirana's. She has a home away from here! She will eventually be forced to return to it." He chuckled suddenly. "And did you not understand what she said? Mirana has taught her to be afraid of you."
"She's not," she replied simply, growing impatient and annoyed. "She clung onto me as though her life depended on it. She doesn't fear me! She feels safe around me! I had to wait until she fell asleep to come down to see you. Do you hold no remorse? No shame or guilt for hurting someone who has done nothing wrong? Who barely has even begun to live and now does so in fear about something she shouldn't even fucking know about yet?! Tell me, Ilosovic… what sick bastard are you to hurt her? What gives you the fucking right? Because I certainly did not. I forbade it. And you went against me. You somehow managed to commit a crime that I would deem punishable to you. I have pardoned you from a lot but this, I can't."
"And when she grows up? If she doesn't want to stay? Will you kill her for treason like you've done others?"
Iracebeth became quiet, taking in a deep breath as she began to process the question. "That is hypothetical… That, I do not know. When the time comes, we'll both see. There are variables but now, there are none…" She stared at him for a few solid minutes before sighing. "… The beheading shall occur tomorrow at the break of dawn… I hope it was worth it."
"I didn't succeed," he hissed. "Surely there shouldn't be a penalty."
"If you are not dead, then there is no certainty of you not succeeding if you attempt again. If you do succeed as well, you will probably kill her. You have no self-control and will no doubt lose it all if you take her."
"So you see me as a child murderer."
"You're a child rapist… Which is just as bad or even worse. You've gone too far. This is the end of it." She turned and left with that. Upon reaching the bedroom, she noticed that Alice was awake. The girl looked terrified, still attempting to get over the previous night's events.
"Alice?" Iracebeth walked over, sitting on the bed, gathering her in her arms. "Are you feeling alright? How'd you sleep?"
The girl said nothing, immediately clinging onto her. "Where were you?" she whispered.
"I had to talk with someone. I didn't mean to worry you," she responded, stroking her hair to calm her down. "I know you're worried but no one is gonna hurt you anymore. I swear it. Are you sure he didn't injure you?"
She nodded. "Don't check," she whispered. "He didn't hurt me."
"If you insist. Alice, I'm not going to force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. Do you understand? You're very safe in this castle. Stayne is locked up. He can't hurt you."
"But what if he escapes?"
"As soon as we find him, we'll kill him on the spot, even if he isn't on the castle grounds. He can't hurt you. No matter what. Criminals do not escape Underland."
"But we're not in Underland. We're in Wonderland. That's two different places," Alice mumbled matter-of-factly. The redhead chuckled.
"Right. Forgive me. There's another place nearby called Underland. I consistently get the two confused."
"They do sound alike," the child agreed before looking up at Iracebeth. "What do you do here for fun?" she inquired suddenly.
"Not too much. On nice days, I play cricket. I used to play chess but I haven't found someone to play with in a while."
"Father likes chess," Alice sat up, smiling. "He's promised to teach me when he comes back from his trip but since I'm down here…" She looked up at her, her eyes sparkling happily. "Might you teach me? Please, oh please?" she clasped her hands in front of her, a hopeful look on her face.
"I have some work to do…" She began thinking aloud before she stood with Alice, beginning to exit the room. "Oh, why not? A day off wouldn't hurt none." She carried Alice throughout the castle to which the child waved to each and every servant and guard that passed along. "You're awfully friendly," Iracebeth remarked as they got to the back of the castle.
"I like being friendly. Not too many were to me and I didn't like that. I always felt that I was doing something wrong or something that I shouldn't be and that I shouldn't be around them so I just… stayed away. Your people are nice though! They always wave back!" she smiled.
"Well, you're too cute not to wave to. Based on what you tell me, everything seems extraordinarily different here than the Abovelands. Tell me, do you like it down here?"
"Very much… I've gotten a lot of love down here. More than ever up in London. I've been very happy," her voice trailed off. "But I do miss everyone."
"They've treated you so poorly though. Why would you miss them?"
She shrugged. "Because I love them… They're all I've known my whole life. But I don't really wanna go back home yet."
"Yet? So is there a chance you want to return?"
"For a visit. I don't want to live up there truthfully. I'm very content down here. It's like a fairy tale dream that I never want to wake up from!" she smiled. She looked up at a large red and black checked door. "What's behind this?"
"The chess room," Iracebeth smiled.
"You have a whole room just for chess?!" She asked, absolutely shocked.
"Of course. Chess isn't like a board game. It requires a full room." She opened the door after setting Alice down, smiling at the look of absolute wonder plastered on the child's face. "Everything is huge," she continued. "Is it not at your place?"
"No. You can hold all the pieces in your hand because we have to move them… How do you move your chess pieces?"
"We tell them where to go. As long as they can move to the spot you tell them to," she explained. "Red pawn to A-3," she demonstrated, Alice watching in astonishment as the pawn walked forward much like the automaton she had saw at the London museum.
"How does that work? Do you have a wind up switch that controls them? Like a pocket watch?"
"No. They only respond to words relevant to the game. All others aren't processed."
"Are they alive?"
"Not exactly."
"Huh?"
"They only function on this floor. It provides them the energy they need to move about."
"So if you told them to move on another floor, they couldn't?" Alice inquired.
"That's right. Each space has a specific energy to it. And they're all assigned a letter dash number. You try."
Alice looked across the chess room before calling out a different square. "Black pawn to B-3!" she called out, confused as to why the pawn made no movement. "Mine's broken."
Iracebeth laughed at that, shaking her head. "Yours isn't broken. It's a different space. Our chessboard has sixty-four squares, thirty-two red and thirty-two black. Since it's possible for a piece to move to the other side of the board, it can get confusing on what space to go to. Got it? Why don't you start from the corner and count down from sixty-four? Can you count that high?"
Alice nodded before she ran over to the other side of the room, beginning to count. Iracebeth waited patiently as she eventually put the pieces together. "Oh! Black pawn to B-45!" She called, clapping joyfully as the pawn moved. "Wait…" She stopped as she counted each row and column. She ran to Iracebeth. "I have a question."
The queen nodded, gathering Alice up. "What is it?"
"There's eight rows and eight rows moving the other way. It's like a ship map! If we label a row from one to eight and then the other row from A to…" She stopped, quickly doing the alphabet whilst counting on her fingers. "… H, then we can say B-5 and it'll still go to that space! Like a graph!"
Iracebeth arched an eyebrow, impressed by her logic. "Really?" She counted the pawns. "Red pawn to B-3," she called out, watching as it moved. She looked at Alice to continue, watching her count.
"Black pawn to A-5!" She yelled, watching the pawn move up next to the other pawn.
"Wow… Where did you learn that?"
"Father has a lot of maps and all of them have graphs and labeled," she spoke. "One is long and one is wide and they cover the entire map and each line is labeled like this."
"I can't believe it," The Red Queen thought aloud. "A six year old just simplified this board for me."
"Can you teach me how to play now?" she looked at he woman holding her to which she nodded. She spent about an hour explaining the game to which Alice caught on quickly. They played a few rounds, well, until Iracebeth decided to let the girl win.
Alice was sitting on top of the black king piece, having been able to pull herself up for she was used to climbing things. She looked across the board, Iracebeth standing at the side as she counted the squares, turning to her remaining rook. "Umm…." She rested her head on the rounded part of the piece, thinking of where she should go. She looked at Iracebeth's remaining piece before it hit her. "Black rook to C-4! Checkmate! Checkmate!" she called out, smiling widely at her victory. She stood slowly, Iracebeth seeing this and rushing over.
"Alice! Be careful that you don't fall! Please!" Her heart stopped for a second, seeing her foot slip and her grip fail. "Alice!" she called, running to the girl who hit the floor with a harsh thud. She knelt down and picked her up. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Is anything broken?"
"I'm okay!" she smiled, still gleeful about the victory. "I won! I won! Did you see?" she inquired, Iracebeth laughing now that her concern was gone. She nodded, beginning to leave the room.
"Yes, you did very well," she smiled.
"Maybe I can win next time without you handing the win to me?" she leaned her head against her neck, Iracebeth becoming shocked. "I know you did," Alice continued. "You put all your pieces in my path. You didn't do that the other times. I hope one day I become as good as you."
"You will, my dear. With plenty of practice, you'll do just fine," she smiled.
"When can we play again? Can we play soon? Oh, please, please, please?"
She smiled at her enthusiasm, her happiness contagious, she had to admit. "Maybe in a few days."
"Tomorrow?" she tried, hoping for a positive response. Iracebeth shook her head.
"I need to make up the work that I've neglected today. It's not gonna be possible tomorrow." Her own eyes saddened as a look of disappointment fell over Alice. "No. Don't be sad. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"Can I at least stay with you tomorrow? Please? I won't bother you. I promise." She looked up at her, her eyes doing all the begging. Iracebeth glanced at her before looking straight ahead.
"You know exactly what you're doing, don't you, you little conniver?"
The girl turned a light pink. "Umm… I mean, I'm just asking," she whispered, her small fingers curled into the front of the queen's dress. "It's fine if you don't want me to."
She shook her head at that. "Not what I meant. What I mean is that you're using your eyes and cuteness."
"I am?" Alice tilted her head at that, searching Iracebeth's gaze for some form of answer.
"I suppose you don't realize it. Oh well," she hummed easily as she carried her. She opened the door to Alice's room, feeling the girl tense in her arms. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't wanna sleep alone," she whispered.
"Because of Stayne? Honey, he can't hurt you. He's locked up, remember?"
"I know but I used to sleep with Mirana though. I don't like sleeping by myself. In London, I've always had a stuffed kitten with me to sleep with but I'm used to sleeping in her arms," she admitted, her voice growing softer each passing second as though she was admitting to something she did wrong.
Iracebeth stood in the doorway, thinking about what she was going to do . She was wary about a few things and while she wanted to believe that Alice had no ill intentions, Stayne's words resided deep in the back of her mind. No child could be so innocent, nor trusting… But a lot of children were naïve, yet Alice was smarter than any child she's ever met, even though they've lived longer than Alice has.
"Alice," she began slowly, attempting to construct what she wanted to in her head. But she didn't know how to go about it without offending the girl given she had nothing against her. "… Has… Mirana ever said anything about me needing to be killed or overthrown?"
The girl was confused as to where this was coming from. "No… She… She's said that she doesn't mind you ruling. She just doesn't like that you kill so much. But she's upset about the reasoning behind it, that you're hurting. She think you kill because it's a way of defending yourself, so you don't get hurt anymore than you want to."
"She's said all this?" Iracebeth inquired, truly not knowing how to feel about her sister's words. Alice nodded in return.
"She feels guilty for taking your crown but she's upset on how you took it back. She says she never thought you would risk her life to get it and she's scared that you don't love her. She said that she's scared of you but still loves you."
Iracebeth sighed, heading to her bedroom and setting Alice down, rubbing her eyes tiredly, cursing beneath her breath. "… You're taking in a lot for someone so young, you know."
The girl stared ahead, merely shrugging in response. "I guess."
"You guess?" she looked at the child.
"Margaret and Mother says that the sooner I mature, the better… That I'll be better off in life and more prepared… That I can solve problems faster and be a good wife and mother and if I really focus, that I might get a job and become wealthy like Father."
"So much is expected of you at such a young age. I know how that feels… But my parents never insisted upon marriage."
"All girls are expected to marry and have children. I'm just glad that I wasn't sent to a boarding school so I get love whenever Father comes home." Her eyes suddenly saddened and Iracebeth noticed.
"Alice?"
"I miss Father," she began, tears forming. "Every time he comes back, he brings me something from his travels and spends most of his time with me. I miss him the most… I don't even know if he's alive. He goes on so many trips and Mother always tells me not to be too upset if he doesn't come back… That he might not come back one day and I'll never see him again. And that I wouldn't get the chance to say good-bye to him." She had begun to fully cry at this point, absolutely terrified and upset. "I don't know what I'd do if I never see him again… He's been the only one whose shown so much love to me. I know Mother and Margaret love me but… But…" Her breathing spiked as she began to hyperventilate.
Iracebeth took the child, feeling horrible that she had to deal with so much fear at such a young age. She remembered her childhood, that although stressful, she rarely worried about losing either of her parents or Mirana. She felt no child should fear that much. "Relax. Deep breaths, just relax honey," she whispered, attempting to soothe the distraught child. She tried to think and remember what would cheer her up as a child. Tarts. She stood and began to head to the kitchen, Alice still in her arms. She ordered the chefs to ensure that she had twenty-five tarts to last her throughout the day and so far, she has only had eight. She would leave a few for a midnight snack but didn't mind giving them to Alice. Part of her was fine with giving her the remaining if that meant the girl felt better.
She set the child down on a boasted seat, lifting the cover from the dish that had the tarts. She didn't eat them because of her sweet tooth but rather it was her mother's recipe and it would always bring her to a happier time in her life, where she was content. She hoped that it would provide the child with some form of happiness and solace that it gave her. "Here. Try it," she smiled as she handed the berry filled treat to her. "It's snoozleberry. It's absolutely delicious. First, take a deep breath. I don't want you choking."
Alice looked at it, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "Snoozleberry?" She looked at the magenta filling before taking it. The taste was unlike anything else she had tried before. Iracebeth smiled when she saw the eyes light up.
"Delicious, right? It's my mother's recipe. She made the best sweets in all of Un- Wonderland," she corrected herself. "Father told her that she should open a bakery but she said that it wouldn't taste as good because she wouldn't be making it for us. She always put a lot of love in everything that she made for us…" She smiled fondly at the memory. "She would have loved you if she was to ever meet you… I wish she did. She loved children…" She took a tart for herself and watched Alice who seemed relaxed and content now.
"Do you want children one day?" Alice inquired upon finishing.
"No," she answered simply. "I'm not fond of taking care of children. Many are wild and ill-mannered."
"Then why take care of me?"
"You're better than others I've come across. But I also haven't found someone to have children with. I've considered it with Stayne.. But after what he's attempted, I couldn't… And I won't…" she sighed, setting down the half-eaten sweet. She looked at Alice who saw her dismayed expression. "Don't worry about it though."
"Do you not love anyone? Besides Mirana?"
"Love is a difficult emotion… I wish… it was easy. But no… I don't love anyone…" She watched in confusion as Alice got off the chair and walked over, wanting to be picked up. The queen did so, hesitating when Alice hugged her suddenly.
"Then let me be someone else to love."