Hi again :)
Here's another chapter! Have fun!
Alice squinted at the sudden bright sun on deck. She hadn't been out for ten seconds before she heard Mason's shout.
"What are you doing?" he demanded darkly. "No! Stop them! Stop them! Alice!"
She heard the desperateness in his voice and she stepped back as a clamor of footsteps neared. Finally, in the shade of the cabin she could see.
Pirates! But not any pirates of the sort she's heard of- Outlandish pirates!
She trusted her crew - surely they could have seen this attack for miles! Surely they could have outrun them yet again! Her back hit the cabin door, stopping her as they rushed forward. One hand clamped around her wrist and another yanked her arm forward.
She struggled against them, trying to wrench her hand away, but it seemed they wouldn't take no for an answer. She continued to fight in vain against them and the rope they tied around her until she heard the cock of a pistol.
She turned to see Mason pointing his gun at the captain. "Let her go."
But the pirate boomed with laughter. "Or ye'll do what?" he dared. He eyed Mason. "Ye don't have the guts to pull the trigger, boy."
Alice winced as the pirate captain knocked the pistol from Mason's untrained hand and twisted the young man into a headlock. Despite her annoyance with him, she couldn't find it in herself to feel contempt at seeing him helpless.
He nodded to his men and released Mason. "Bring 'im too."
The last thing Alice saw before being thrown in the brig of the pirates' ship was the captain threatening her crew, his gun underneath Glasdon's chin, "Ye stay 'ere. Or there'll be no survivors."
She scooted away from Mason until she could look at him from across the cell.
He didn't quite glare at her from his spot in the corner. A frown was on his face. "What'dya get us into?" he asked carefully. "Pirates, Alice. Really? Pirates?"
Her eyes were hard and defensive as if he were accusing her of something even though she could tell from his voice that he was only concerned. "I don't know what they want. I- There is no one on this earth I have wronged- except for Hamish but he had it coming." She puffed a laugh under her breath at the memory.
Then her mind went back to the current matter. "But I don't know what they want from me. I don't know where they're taking us."
She was silent for a moment. She looked at Mason and asked, "Why did you put up a fight? Why did you try to stop them? With me gone, you would've had the whole Wonder to yourself- Captain Montgomery. All you ever wanted."
His eyes flicked down. He picked at the wooden floor and gave a shy shrug. "I think that's the first time you acknowledged me as a captain."
She glared at him. "You shouldn't have done what you did. You shouldn't be here."
He gave a snort. "And let them drag you away? Alone? To who knows where? No, I did what I had to."
"Why?" she demanded defensively. The old-Alice started to come out. "I don't need a caretaker, Mason."
The young man shrugged again. "Mrs Kingsleigh thought you might."
Alice made a noise of disgust. "I can't believe- hold on, yes, yes, I can believe that you and her made a decision to not let me make decisions myself!" she huffed.
He was silent for a moment - which Alice found remarkable. Was it possible the boy could hold his tongue for more than a second?
Mason did have to admit that going behind her back and speaking with her mother was a little mean, but Mrs Kingsleigh had good intentions - keeping her daughter safe. Of course, the older woman had told him Alice wouldn't understand if she knew the truth of 'not letting her out of his sight'.
He sighed, "I mean- at first I was doing this for her. To make sure you were alright and, her words not mine, didn't lose your way in your own mind."
Alice refrained from rolling her eyes.
"But now-" he paused.
She watched him carefully. He seemed to be having an internal conflict.
"I'm not doing this just for her anymore..." He wrung his hands nervously. "When you fell ill, I- I realized that I had been utterly foolish in treating you as someone less than I, when I really should have been treating you as the equal you always were. To lose you, Alice-"
She turned her head - she didn't want him to finish his sentence.
"I put up a fight because I needed to know you were going to be safe. Your well-being isn't just for your mother anymore... it's for me as well."
Alice didn't look at him.
His words hung in the air.
What felt like days later, Alice squinted as the door to the brig was thrown open. She and Mason barely had time to collect their wits before a burlap sack was tossed over their heads. Alice struggled again in vain but had no choice but to trust that these pirates weren't going to send her off the edge of the ship and into the ocean. She heard Mason struggle and felt both relief and betrayal that he was behind her.
Relief in that they were bringing him along.
Betrayal in that she found comfort in knowing he was also being brought along.
A tall guard dressed in silver frowned as the pirates dragged the two captives along. His frown deepened when the prisoners were made to kneel before him as if they were slaves. He looked to the captain. "Her Royal Highness ordered them to be unharmed," he said sternly. He made to turn away, "I shall inform her of their abuse-"
The pirate captain stepped forward quickly, looking very shaken at the mere thought of being cursed for the rest of his life. "We di'nt harm 'em," he defended. "Jus' di'nt want 'em snoopin' the decks."
The guard raised an eyebrow in doubt at the pirate. The he looked to the female captive as she gave a snort from under the cloth sack. He faintly lifted the edges of the cover. "And are these... necessary?" he asked, glancing up.
"Oh, yes, sir. They were indeed."
"Mhmm," the guard said very unconvinced. He stepped in front of the second captive and sighed. "And what's this? She simply tasked you with finding one."
The pirate nodded greatly. "Her Majesty did, aye, sir, but this lad would've been trouble if we 'adn't taken 'im too."
He glanced at another guard. "I see. Take her to Her Majesty. And take him to the East Wing."
The burlap sack covered his eyes and not his ears. Mason spoke up. "Wait? East Wing? No! I'm supposed to be with her! No, wait! Alice- Where are you taking her?"
"It's none of your concern," the guard gripping his upper arm said. "She's in good hands, that I can tell you. Come on. Got loads like you in the East Wing."
Alice stood on her own two feet once more after the guard lifted her up. "Don't harm him!" she shouted after the two. "He's... unfortunately, my responsibility!"
Mason's ears perked up. "Your responsibility?" he snapped in return.
"Yes, in case you've forgotten!"
"Who was it that tried to save you just hours ago!"
"And look what a good job you did!"
"For pity's sake! Get them out of here!" a guard snapped, rubbing his temple.
Alice stepped away from her captors the moment the sack was off her head. She regarded them warily as if they'd suddenly place that awful thing back over her eyes. Keeping an eye on them, she hesitantly looked around.
This place seemed vaguely familiar and Alice felt as if she had entered a dream.
A dream because she sure as heck couldn't be where she thought she was. For one thing, these pirates were in her world! It wasn't as if they could magically cross over into-
She turned to the doorway at the sound of careful cog steps. She frowned in both disbelief and amazement. "It can't be," she muttered to herself.
The small clockwork-being came into view.
"I can hardly believe my eyes," she smiled. "A familiar face!"
Wilkins gave a shy smile in return.
"My, you were the last person I had expected to see." Alice knelt down to his level and couldn't contain her happiness and hugged him.
He stepped away a bit flustered. "Uh, erm, Miss Alice... That's- oh, I'm afraid nobody's ever thought of me- I mean told me- Well, I'm no person, Miss," he stuttered. He cleared his throat. "Uh, erm, Princess Mirana would like a word with you."
"Princess Mirana? Then it is her castle I'm in- but how?"
"Her Highness will explain," he said. He turned and started down the hall.
Alice obediently followed. She smiled again when she came upon another pair of familiar faces.
"'ello, Alice!"
"The Tweedles!" she greeted. "Oh, you don't know how relieved and yet odd I feel about all this!"
"Odd?" one said.
"Yes, she said odd."
"That's what I thought. Hm, what could be so odd about this?"
"I dunno. It is odd we 'aven't seen each other-"
"Oh, yes, always about with 'atter! Never a care for us Tweedles. Never a care."
"That's because you're stupid."
"I'm not the stupid one. No, no, you forget brother that's you."
Alice smiled fondly to herself - she really did miss these two blokes but what on earth could Princess Mirana want with her? Could it have something to do with the crack that appeared in the face of the grandfather clock aboard the Wonder?
Solid white doors stood before them before she knew it.
Alice's heart was in her throat when she entered the room. She caught one look at Princess Mirana and feared the worst had happened to her precious Wonderland. She fidgeted her hands. "This is not a dream, is it?" she asked first. She wanted to break the ice but her friend looked like the ice had been broken long ago. "I'm really here... Well, uhm, you- you wanted to see me?"
"It's about Time."
The young girl saw the princess' mouth was in a tight line. "I... do not know of what you will say," she began. "But I know something plagues him for I have seen it in my world."
But Princess Mirana wasn't pleased to hear of Alice's concerns. "My dear, there is a reason we are not known to every human out there. There is a reason Time is alone." She didn't look remorseful. "This affair of yours cannot go on."
Alice's brow twitched. "Ma'am?"
"Do not play so innocent, Alice Kingsleigh. I know of what relations you have with Time." She looked over at the loyal clockwork servant. "Wilkins so thoughtfully provided the evidence."
The blonde turned and looked at Wilkins who slumped in on himself - guilty and ashamed of letting his master's biggest secret slip. She faced Princess Mirana again and said rather calmly, "There's no crime in love."
Princess Mirana didn't look forward to an argument. "Do you not hear, child? Time has already taken a beating. The Grand Clock is close to breaking. An unknown force is driving him mad." She glared at the girl. "As leader of my people, it is my job to protect them. You, Alice, you and this 'love' you have with Time is this unknown force. By the heavens, should you continue down your path of ignorance-"
"Ignorance?!" Alice snarled.
"-I fear it shall bring destruction and the end of all time in Underland," she finished.
Alice felt her face heat with rage. "I-I- I expected something like this from- from Iracebeth! Or Hatter, even! But you? You who I've always seen as kind and- and my friend!"
"In matters of need, I put my kingdom first," she replied calmly. "We are not friends at this moment, Alice."
She tried to fight back. "You cannot ask this of me-"
"I am not asking you," she narrowed her eyes. "I am demanding that you break off this relationship."
Alice shook her head. "I cannot abandon him. You cannot make me abandon him!"
"It is not love, Alice," Princess Mirana sighed... almost pitying the girl.
The blonde felt anger rise within her blood. "And what do you know of love?" she hissed. "You don't have a husband! You don't have a lover! So what if Time and I can never be together? I know that it will never work. We could never have a future, but this is- This is a bond that we share and-"
"Lust is a dangerous thing," she warned. "To ignore its signs is to condemn yourself to death."
Alice refused to believe her.
"And as for my personal life, my marriage is to my kingdom," she said though there was a pull at the corner of her mouth. "I had a husband once. He died. In battle, fighting for his people. Do not tell me I don't know of love. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think of him."
Princess Mirana's confession weakened Alice's anger. She stepped forward. "Then you cannot ask me to leave the only man I've ever loved. Please, Your Highness. Time..." She looked down at her hand and traced the faint silvery scar. "I love him too dearly..."
"Alice."
She raised her head.
"Should you choose to go against my orders, I have only one choice." She carefully studied the girl. "I must replace Time."
Alice realized then and looked away. "Of course, he's but a personification of time," she breathed. To refuse Princess Mirana would mean she would lose her Time forever... but to do as the princess asks is to break her heart - and no doubt his - but have her Time alive and well.
She wrung her hands and let out a shaky breath. She looked to Princess Mirana and the taste of regret filled her mouth, "What must I do?"
Okay, the good news: I got the next seven or eight chapter mapped out :)
The bad news: I don't know when I'm gonna post 'em