Alice tripped twice as she tailed the Second. She was careful to keep her distance. It would have been easy to follow had the Witzenders not gotten in the way so often.
This time, it was a large group that surrounded the Second in the middle of the street.
Most of them were young children. They petted it, passing it along, and hugged it as if it was a puppy.
The most daring of them threw it into the air, only to catch right before it hit the floor. The rest laughed and clapped in amusement.
There were some adults among them too, most likely their parents. They were as bewitched with the little creature as the children.
"What a lovely borogove." One of them said. "They may be annoying in the wild, but they could make fine pets at home."
"If they are all as charming as the Inventor's, the Queens should make a royal decree for everyone to have one!"
"And they are pink! Though this one isn't. And pink is a nice color, is it not?"
"It is, it is." They chanted in unison like a herd of sheep.
Alice smiled.
It was good to see that the Witzenders had found bliss once more, despite the dark era that had loomed over their world for so long.
For all her happiness, the overwhelming presence of pink in the streets made her uneasy. It spread across every building like ink on paper. It was so abundant it was painful to look at.
The over-saturation made Alice's eyes water whenever she stared at it for too long.
"Ow."
It happened again.
She used her sleeves to wipe off the tears trapped in her eyelids. It took her only an instant, but when her sight was clear once more, the Second and the meddling group were gone.
"Great. Just what I needed."
She looked around for it in the market plaza.
It was overflowing with sellers and anxious buyers.
Soon the thought of reaching her destination on her own became tempting.
She knew how to get to Time's lair. If King Oberon's statue was still in the same place, then finding the way would come naturally to her. She'd only need to search for the correct memory and follow it.
In that aspect, losing the Second was just a minor inconvenience. True trouble would come when she'd have to explain it to Time.
He would blame her.
Alice sighed as she pushed her way through the numerous Witzenders that didn't seem to mind her presence. She wasn't in the mood for another of Time's lectures, and she feared she wouldn't be able to keep her calm again.
Besides, she cared for the little Second. It was annoying and too cumbersome when it wanted to be, but so were all pets to certain degree, and that didn't kept people from liking them.
Alice stopped amidst the endless flow of people, cod fishes and frogs that passed her by as if she was a street light in the middle of the road.
Her eyes became watery again, but this time, pink was not to blame.
Dinah.
What fate had her kitten met?
Alice looked down. She could only hope it had been a gentle one.
She wished she could have done more, but knew she had done all that she could.
It was true, but not comforting.
"Cry not, child. You're Underland's Champion, remember?"
At first, Alice thought it was her conscience's voice echoing inside her ears. It must have been a long while since she had last heard it, because Alice didn't remember it being so squeaky.
Most of the time, it sounded like herself.
Or had her voice always been so squeaky, and she had just noticed?
She cringed, and wished that it wasn't so.
"Wake up, Alice. You have much to do!" Said her conscience again, only that this time, the voice came together with a sharp pricking in her earlobe.
Alice hissed in pain.
Partly relieved that the voice wasn't hers, but equally irritated by the uncalled attack, she looked down to her shoulder and met a familiar face.
"You needn't hurt me to get my attention, Mally."
The dormouse grinned. She patted Alice's ear with little tenderness.
"This time, I did. You were so lost in thought that I thought you were gone for good. But let's not speak here, it's too crowded. Come, follow me."
"It's alright, I know the-"
"Hush and do as you're told." Mally gave Alice no time for replies and jumped from Alice's shoulders with the elegance of a warrior. Her feet made no noise when she touched the ground. "This way."
"I think I'm starting to know how Bim feels." She said to herself.
She went after Mally without truly following her lead at first. It wasn't until the streets became too similar and her memories to unreliable that Alice, with her pride slightly bruised, realized she indeed needed help to find Time's lair.
She had the small hope of bumping into the Second along the way, but it was nowhere to be seen. As long as no Witzender had come up with the brilliant idea of kidnapping it and claiming it as his or her own, it wasn't a big deal.
As it was the case with Dinah, Alice could only hope for it to be alright.
This worrying thought slowly faded from her mind and was replaced with the numerous new sights of Witzend.
She had been in the town before, but this was the first time that it felt real.
Visiting a place in the past, where she had been little more than a dissonance in time's perfect flow, felt like a made-up memory now that Alice had the chance to experience it again in the present.
The people, the smells, the sounds, the shops, and even the saturating pink. They formed a whole with which Alice could interact at her will, without fearing to doom all Underland to an eternity of rust in the process.
She wished Tarrant had been there together with her.
If something felt amiss, it was his absence.
That would change soon.
Alice would make sure of that.
"Over here!" Mally whistled to her from the entrance of an old clock shop. It was the same Alice remembered. "Hurry."
The streets in that part of town weren't as lively as the others. The sudden silence that surrounded the area almost seemed to emanate from King Oberon's statue.
The imposing King, now showing traces of wear and tear, was surrounded by bouquets of flowers.
Pink.
Alice had always been neutral to that color, but now she was beginning to feel repulsed by it. She wondered what had been on Mirana's mind when she'd decided to soak all of Witzend in it.
Maybe, if she met her again, she'd ask her. Not from Champion to Queen, but from friend to a friend.
With Oberon's stony eyes lying on her back, Alice hurried to the clock shop's door. Her hand had just touched the knob when she caught something with the corner of her eye.
The orange glow of a lit hearth shone through the window of a nearby shop.
It was Tarrant's family business, just a few steps away from her.
Then, the shadow of a figure became visible as its owner stepped in front of the fire. She could only see his back. On his head rested a colorful top hat.
Alice froze.
The thought of investigating burned in her mind and tickled in her fingers.
"Alice!"
Alice closed one of her eyes, expecting the sting, but Mally kept her pin sheathed, unlike her sharp tongue.
"Why is it that someone always has to come and fetch you when you are needed?" Mally reproached Alice. She stood in her shoulder, so close to her ear that her whiskers tickled her ear. "You are not a child to get lost so often, Alice. You should be able to find your way on your own by now."
"I wasn't lost." Alice retorted. "I was distracted, it's different."
"Hardly." Mally sounded unconvinced. It took her a second to notice what had caught Alice's attention. Alice felt her sigh like a tiny breeze against her ear lobe. "It isn't him. Tarrant isn't there. I trust you know that."
"I do, but…"
"Forget it, Alice. There's no one there you should meet, not now at least."
"Are they alright?" Alice's concern, though sudden, was genuine.
She could only imagine how Tarrant's family were dealing with his absence.
The image of a family torn apart for so long, only to be reunited again and separated once more, wasn't too uplifting. She hadn't had the chance to meet them before, apart from the quick encounter she'd had with Tarrant's parents in the past.
It didn't matter what her bond with Tarrant was; for his family, she knew she was little more than a stranger, except for Bim.
She wished it wasn't that way.
She wished she had the chance to get to know them, or to meet them at least. If she did, she could give them her word that she would bring Tarrant back.
It was just a promise, but to a family touched by tragedy, every hope was welcome.
"Are they alright? You shouldn't ask questions to which you already know the answer, Alice." Mally's sarcasm couldn't hide her sadness. "If you are so curious, I'll tell you anything you want to know, but not here. Let's go to Time's lair, it's safe there. That's a sentence I never imagined myself saying."
Alice took breath to reply.
"Hurry now, before someone sees us." Mally hurried, and Alice had to let go of her newly catch breath in the form of a sigh.
Inside the shop, everything was the same as Alice remembered. But the more closely she looked, the more she discovered that nothing had stayed the same.
The walls were still adorned with clocks of all sizes and shapes, but now there twice as many than before. Their collective ticking was an agitating hum that resembled the buzz of many honeycombs.
It was almost nerve-wrecking.
"I know it's annoying, but you'll soon become used to it." Said Mally. Her ears occasionally followed the rhythm of the clocks. "Only Time can find this soothing. I tried to convince him to get rid of them, but he didn't listen to me, as you can see."
"Oh, I see it. What I wish is that I couldn't hear it." Alice tried to cover her ears, but the muffled sound was just as annoying.
"It isn't ideal, but it's what we have now. We'd better make good use of it; besides, it's not as if we'll be here for long, Alice."
"Are we going to the Market Plaza again?"
"We are going to get Tarrant back. The two of us."
Alice put her hands down. She could still hear the ticking of the clocks, but she no longer listened to it.
Mally's words had forced it to blend into the background.
"Now, don't look so surprised." Mally frowned and put her hands on her hips. "You may be Underland's Champion, but Tarrant is my friend too. And you'll need my help, like you always have."
"What is going on, Mally?"
"You don't know? Didn't Time tell you? I should have known. He's as unreliable as ever!"
"He did. What I mean is…" Alice swallowed and leaned against the only porting of wall that wasn't covered with clocks. "Is it true? Is Tarrant gone because he missed me?"
Mally's eyes wide opened. Her body stiffened, but her voice wasn't as stern was before.
"It's true, Alice. You see, after you left, he spent most of his time sleeping. For a time, it was enough for him to look for you in dreams, but one day he just disappeared and…"
"Mally."
"I'm alright." Said the proud dormouse. "He wanted to see you again, not in memories or in dreams, but the true you. No…, it was more than that just seeing. He wanted to be with you."
"He could have summoned me." Alice said in frustration. "Mirana would have agreed. She has the power to bring me back, doesn't she? She could have send Mc Twisp, or Absolem, or any of you to guide me back. Why didn't Tarrant ask for her help? Why did he put himself in such danger?"
Alice shouted the last question. Her fingernails were dug deep into her palms.
Mally stood where she was, unaffected by the sudden outburst.
"Underland may seem to be at peace, Alice, but things are not what they seem." She said. "Mirana and Iracebeth rule together, but it's far from being a stable reign. I'm afraid our White Queen is too busy amending the mistakes of her sister to listen to her friend's needs, not even Tarrant's. And even if she had called for you, how do you think the Bloody Big Head would have reacted? She would have gotten so furious that her big skull would have exploded. No, Tarrant was alone in his quest for you, both out of choice and necessity."
"I'm here now, am I not? If you needn't Mirana's help to bring me here, why didn't you summon me by yourselves before?"
"Simple."
Alice and Mally looked up and discovered an amused Chess looking at them from the roof. None of them knew for how long he had been there, or how much he had heard.
"They didn't bring you here earlier because the only one reason you are here now is because of me, dear Alice." The cat laughed. "But blame me not. It was Time's idea, and Mally's too. I was just a tool in their crafty machinations. If you must get angry, I shouldn't be your target."
"I wasn't going to put the blame on you, Chessur." Mally replied. "You cowardly cat."
"I didn't put blame on anyone, dear Mally. I just foretold the truth."
"Tell the truth to me then, Chess." Alice took a couple of steps towards him. "Because right now, I think you are lying."
Chess put a paw on his chest and closed his eyes.
"That hurts, Alice. I would never lie to Underland's Champion!"
"If you are so willing to lie to the White Queen, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't lie to me. Or does Mirana know you brought me back? Or that you are capable to summon me without her permission or help?"
Chess disappeared and materialized before Alice.
"Keeping things secret isn't the same as lying, Alice." He asserted. The look on his face, though not angry, took Alice for surprise.
Had she been a child, she would have been scared.
"It is for me."
James flashed in Alice's memory, but he faded just as quickly as Chess evaporated again, only to return to his former place on the roof.
"If I'm a liar, then you are a liar too. Mirana knows not you're here, so unless you tell her, you are the same as me."
It was a straight logic that Alice couldn't contradict, no matter how much she wanted to.
"You could have told him." She said in a whisper.
"I beg your pardon?" Chess put a paw behind his ear.
"If you had told Tarrant of your ability, and brought me back without bothering Mirana, before he tried to get to me on his own, he'd still be here."
Chess' smile vanished.
"Enough, Alice." Intervened Mally. "I know you're upset, but Chess isn't to blame. Tarrant never asked for our help, he just disappeared."
"Indeed, he just vanished." Said Chess. He looked at Alice, and she saw in his eyes that this time, he was truly offended. "Like we cowards do."
She took no pride in hurting the cat , and would have apologized had Chess not disappeared without saying anything else.
"I'm sorry." She said to Mally instead.
Mally didn't answer. Alice wondered how many of her friends she could anger in one day.
"It wasn't just that Mirana was busy. I think she would have refused to bring you back either way. We can't just summon you whenever we please, Alice." The dormouse sat on a shelf, tired but resolute. "I mean, we can, but we mustn't, not unless you are required…, whenever Underland is in danger. If we bring you here when it isn't, well…"
"What happens?"
"I don't know, but we are about to discover, because it's just what we've done. But something tells me it's not going to be pretty. Maybe we can inquire about it a bit. Tell me, Alice, how was your way down here?"
"I was on a train, in my own world, when suddenly- "Alice told Mally all about the accident that had almost ended with her existence in either world.
Going through those memories required a lot of Alice's energy, but she managed to give Mally the most detailed version she could.
The dormouse's face turned somber.
"Something tells me it could have gone smoother." Alice said. "I don't know, it's just a hunch. Not that my fallings into Underland have ever been subtle and relaxing. I'm either bumping my head into pianos or landing freefalls on my belly."
"I can't deny that." Mally conceded with a faint chuckle. "Still, this time you were hurt bad in your own world. It could have ended worse, much worse. It isn't the way it must be. I guess now it's my time to apologize, Alice. I knew the dangers of bringing you here the way we did, but I still agreed to it."
"What exactly did you do? How did you bring me here?"
"We all agreed to it. I, Time, Chess, and Bim." Mally sat down. Alice did the same. "You already met the lad, haven't you?"
"Yes. He's a decent chap."
"Oh, that he is, when he isn't getting into fights without a reason. Can you believe that once he challenged one of Mirana's veteran White Knights to a duel just because he thought it would be hilarious? And he was armed just with a spoon, under the advice of his newly self-proclaimed squire, Thackery Earwicket! He was lucky I was there to break the whole thing off, or else he would have ended up with more than just some scratches and bruises."
"I'm guessing he took that as an offense to his honor, got angry at you, and pouted about it for days."
"Is he really that predictable? Well, I guess he can't resemble his uncle on everything." Mally leaned over closer to Alice. "It's funny how that stupid boy is the one that convinced me to bring you here. But what is incredible is that he is made Time a part of all this. In that, he truly is Tarrant's nephew."
Alice raised an eyebrow, causing Mally to smile.
"When we discovered Time in Iracebeth's castle and he pretended to be a long-lost inventor, I saw through his lie right away. I thought I was the only one who did, and more than once I considered revealing his lie to Mirana. Had he not been my only lead to Tarrant, I would have exposed him without caring what became of him afterwards. Tarrant thought of Time as a friend, you see, for whatever reason. If he had run away from home, there was the chance he might gone to him. It was a farfetched idea, but Tarrant was nowhere to be found, and I was desperate enough to believe anything that may lead me to him."
Mally cleared her throat and continued.
"I never liked Time, and I began to resent him for how cynically he tried to deceived us. But I needed him; I needed to know what he was hiding. I planned to face him myself and make him confess everything before he became too settled in Witzend. But before I knew it, Mirana had become too impressed with his trinkets and creations, and named him her Royal Inventor. People around here became fond of him too, especially when he began to make their lives easier with whatever creations he came up with. They came to adore him, and even more when he began building the Train under the White Queen's command. Unknown stranger one day, eccentric celebrity the other!"
Alice was silent. Her ears had become accustomed to the clocks' melody.
Mally remained in the same position and scratched her whiskers.
"It took me every ounce of my patience and cunning to find the right moment to face Time alone. When he wasn't busy following Mirana's orders, he spent his free time by himself, locked up in this shop as if it was his sanctuary.
I still remember the night I managed to sneak in without that pesky Second-Borogove alarming him of my presence. I was trying to get Bim back home after our daily search for Tarrant, but the lad was too busy pestering Chess about teaching him how to vanish. He only stopped when he caught sight of the Second wandering carelessly in the streets; Bim let Chess go and scooped the machine in his hands instead, asking it if he wanted to fight just to kill some time."
"What a poor choice of words!" Alice exclaimed.
"Indeed. The Second took them literally and attacked Bim, who saw that as a formal acceptance to a duel. He began to kick and punch it, while he evaded the shots of black spit the borogove threw at him. I was about to stop that mess, but then it came to me that it was my chance. I turned my back on them and ran as fast I could towards the Inventor's shop, sneaked under the door. My heart was thumping in my chest… and then I found him.
He was sleeping on a throne he had built out of clocks and scrap metal. It looked awfully uncomfortable, but he was lost in sleep. He wasn't wearing the hat that concealed all his face. I had never fall for his trick, but my blood still boiled when my suspicion was confirmed true. My sight turned red, and without knowing how, I unsheathed my pin, leaped towards his face and stabbed him in his nose.
His scream was deafening, and for a moment, all the clocks in the shop ticked as if roaring. He tried to slap me away from him, but I dodged his hand and jumped towards his eye. I told him to confess everything he was hiding, or else I would pluck his eye out as I had done with the Bandersnatch."
"No wonder Bim is so brash." Alice said. "With you as his role model, it's only natural."
"I was sick of Time's lies, sick of pretending to be happy about our new Inventor when I knew his tricks. Time refused to speak at first, and when he finally did, he simply scoffed, saying how it all was the Hatter's fault. I took that as a confession and told him to speak, but he claimed he had nothing more to say to a lowly rat like me. Had Bim not stormed into the shop that instant, I'd have a new, sky-blue trophy hanging from my belt."
The image came too vivid to Alice's mind. She bit her tongue, and found herself at the brink of speaking in Time's defense. Whatever his flaws, she didn't think he deserve to have an eye plucked out.
Knowing she would angry Mally, she kept that thought to herself, and was grateful for the fact the dormouse was her friend and not her enemy.
"Oh, Hi Mally." Mally said with a poor but recognizable imitation of Bim. "Hi Time, I mean Sir Inventor. Your borogove is a worthy opponent, we agreed to have a rematch someday soon. Are you two fighting too? Can I join in?"
"He knew all along?" Asked an incredulous Alice. "I don't know what surprises me the most: how perceptive or how uncaring he is."
"I know how you feel." Scoffed Mally. "I ordered him to shut the door behind him and put the bloody borogove down. He shrugged and did as I told him, and then he asked Time if he could try his stupid, big hat on. I swear, that lad is just…"
"Like Tarrant?"
"He is." Mally almost smiled. "Time took the chance to get me off of him and stand up. He tried to attack us, maybe freeze us in an eternal second again, but Bim stopped him. No fair, you can't use your timely tricks! Okay, you can, but only if you teach me how to use them first. Come on, say yes. I jumped to the boy's chest and forced his mouth shut. Silence, Bim, I told him, worried sick about him. But somethign in the boy's name took Time aback, and instead of cursing us, he just backed down and told us to leave. Bim and I, of course, disagreed. I told Time he had no right to ask us anything, while Bim assured him that we wouldn't tell anyone of his identity. He said that would take the fun out of it all. For Time, that seemed reason enough to put his defenses down."
"Whatever his motives, I'm glad Bim brought a more peaceful resolution the matter." Alice said. "What a hero, bringing peace by seeking fights."
"Aren't heroes tall he same? And please, never tell Bim that, or his head will become as big as Iracebeth's." Mally rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"My sarcasm must be rusty." Alice said to herself. "And then what? Did you, Time and Bim became best friends and dance happily around a dodo in a Caucus Race?"
Mally gasped in surprise.
"Even worse! You won't believe what happened next: Time asked for our help! Well, something of the sort… more like we reached an agreement. He began to rant about how much he wanted to go back to his own castle, about how sick he was of being in Witzend surrounded by naïve fools. Bim laughed at him, and told me how Time or Sir Inventor was the best thing that happened in Underland in a long time, and how he wouldn't allow anyone to deprive him of such amusement.
I scolded him for his childishness, and reminded him that Time knew of his uncle's whereabouts. Bim's eyes gleamed, and when he asked Time if that was true, he almost screams of excitement when Time confirmed my words. Where is he? Is it somewhere fun? Can you take me there too? Come on, say yes!"
Alice grunted, unsure if Bim was searching for Tarrant out of concern of his uncle, or just to amuse himself.
That was another trait he and Tarrant differed in.
She felt her affection for Bim squander.
"When Time spoke again, his voice sounded as crafty as relieved. He assured the boy he could send him where his dear uncle was, under the condition that we helped him back into his realm and promised never to disturb him again. Bim dreaded the idea of Sir Inventor leaving Witzend, but changed his mind once Time convinced him that the place where Tarrant is was the most interesting place to ever exist.
I'm sure Bim saw through the lie as clearly as before, but for him, any place seems better that old boring Witzend. Once he agreed, I had no choice but to follow him into Time's deal: we would find a way to get Time close to the grandfather clock inside the castle without alerting the Queens, and in exchange, he would leave behind a way for us to get to Tarrant. I added one more condition to the deal, and I'm sure you know what that was, Alice."
Mally looked at Alice right in the eyes.
"He'd have to bring me here...without Mirana knowing." Alice slurred the words.
Mally nodded.
"It doesn't make me proud to admit it , but I knew that if I wanted to succeed in this derrand, I'd need your help. Time knew of a way to summon you. He said it was common knowledge easily found on old books, if one knew how to read them correctly. "
"By using Chess?"
"Yes. Chess can't materialize his body in your world, but with Time's help, he can send some of his thoughts and lure you to an entrance Time would activate. As far as I know, it's just like when Mc Twisp guided you twice to the rabbit hole, or when Absolem led you through the looking glass; both were entrances that Mirana had opened for you." Mally laughed with bitterness. "Chess lured you by taking over the mind of your kitten, and Time brings you by using a grandfather clock… we aren't exactly gaining points in creativity, are we? Had it been me, would I have guided you through a hole in the wall?"
"Nobody guided me the first time I came here. I chose to follow Mc Twisp." Alice said with a touch of pride. "And why didn't Mirana know about this before? I understand the others didn't, but she's always been so resourceful and wise…"
Mally demanded silence with a gesture of her hand.
"If you want to argue about it, ask her in person. I barely understand it, to be honest. Or you also can ask Time, if you have the ...time, but he'll either leave you with more questions than answers, or bore you to death. Though judging by how chaotic the whole thing went, I bet he didn't know what he was doing at all."
"In that case, I think an ignorant existence is preferable." Alice didn't discard the idea of asking Time, but it was far back in the line of her priorities.
"That almost sounded wise. Don't forget the almost."
Neither laughed at the jest, but both Mally and Alice accepted it as a peaceful end for their conversation.
Alice's head was filled with questions. She longed to ask them all to Mirana, but now she doubted if meeting her again was a good idea in the first place.
She may be Underland's Champion, but Mirana was the rightful Queen. Alice's presence in Underland when she hadn't allowed it could be taken as a great offense. And even if Mirana proved more merciful and understanding than usual, Iracebeth's poisonous tongue would cause trouble one way or another other.
If the deception had been only against the Red Queen, Alice would have found it adventurous, but when it came to deceive Mirana, it felt treacherous.
Perhaps it would be solved once she had brought Tarrant back to Witzend. Mally would speak in their favor, and Chess too, if he felt like doing so. Alice also hoped the Hightopp would show their support.
At the very least, Bim would do so.
Alice shook her head. She was planning too far ahead.
Tarrant came first.
"Get ready, Alice." Mally unsheathed her pin and sharpened it with one of the metals pieces laying around. "Once Time arrives, that's where our quest for Tarrant begins."
"Unless you have a Vorpal Sword in your pocket, I'll have to go weaponless." Her arms had become a bit stronger after going back to the sea (as her victories against Harper in arm wrestling proved it), but Alice doubted that would be enough to venture into whatever danger lied ahead.
Mally grunted and looked around.
"There! You can use that for now." She pointed behind her.
When Alice discovered it, she felt like hitting Mally in the head with it.
"This is a spoon."
"If Bim could make a weapon out of it, so can you. If it displeases you so much, you can sharpen your mind instead."
"How nice, Mally." Alice said with her mouth twisted and putting the spoon in her pocket.
Mally laughed, and Alice joined her.
They stopped abruptly when someone knocked at the door. Alice could see a slim, tall figure behind the tempered glass.
Mally's ears flattened. She dashed towards the door, pin in hand.
"Who's there?" She demanded.
The figure outside remained quiet and knocked again, this time with so much strength that a fissure appeared in the door's glass.
It left as suddenly as it had arrived, after getting no answer from the inside.
Alice was still tense, as if expecting the stranger to return.
"Who was that?" She asked with her mouth dry.
"Probably some fool too eager to see what new creation the Inventor has come up with." Mally slowly stepped back, her gaze fixed on the door. "Let's not worry about it, he's gone. With luck, Time will be here soon, and then we'll be gone too. Anyway, Alice, you can relax now."
The crashing sound of shattered glass drowned Mally's words. Like a cannonball, someone had jumped through the shop's window, hugging his legs and hiding his face between his knees.
Alice barely had time to move out of his way.
The stranger landed next to her, on top the hundreds of glass pieces that had once been a colorful window. He got up as if he had just woken from a nap on a comfortable bed.
After dusting shards off his clothes, he looked at Alice.
Alice stepped away from him, but stopped when she noticed the hat adorning the stranger's head.
He was also holding something in his arms.
The Second looked at Alice and ticked.
"Did your manners take a vacation? How dare you enter like this…" Mally was already standing in front of Alice and the stranger.
She gasped and put down her weapon when the stranger, far from being scared, smiled and doff his hat at her.
"Oh , it's you." She spoke not with anger, but with resignation.
Without a warning, the stranger dashed towards Alice, almost stepping on Mally, and held the feathered Second so close to her face that she sneezed twice.
"The borogove said I should bring it here, but the door was closed, so I used the window. Doors now seem unnecessary, don't you agree, Alice?" He asked. "You are Alice, right? I can't remember if you are, but if I could, I would remember you. Tarrant would, but I'm not him. Do you know what I mean? Because I don't."
"Uh?" It was the most eloquent thing Alice could think of.
"I like you answer very much." He said in convincement, still holding the Second on Alice's face.
"Enough of that, you." Intervened Mally.
"Which you? You me or you you?" The stranger's voice was agitated, as if his own life depended on that dilemma.
"You know what I mean."
"I do? Bliss, what a relief!" He grinned and threw the Second into the air to celebrate his regained peace of mind. After three successful throws, he let the Second fall flat on the floor, his attention fully fixed in Alice again. "I saw you before, and you saw me too. Tarrant wanted to see you too, but now he's gone, but you're here. Tarrant…. Have you seen him, Alice? Have you?"
"Calm down, Pimlick. Alice is here to bring your brother back." Said Mally from Pim's shoulder "Isn't it true, Alice?"
Alice glared at Mally.
She would have preferred to reveal that information herself, but she mellowed when her eyes met with the expectant eyes of Tarrant's brother.
The resemblance was more akin to the father, but if Alice looked with more caution, she could see traces of Tarrant dispersed on his face. That alone was enough to strengthen her resolve.
"I will. I promise you."
"Callooh-Callay! Alice's here! I'll tell everyone of your return." Pimlick said while jumping out of joy. He jumped his way towards the door, almost stepping on Mally again. "Alice's back! Alice's back!"
The dormouse and Alice shared a quick glance before they both hurried and held back Pimlick before he managed to leave the shop. Alice held him from the shoulders, while Mally climbed up to his nose.
"Hush! No one should now she's here, do you understand?" Mally explained with a tone more patient than she had ever used with Alice.
"Why? Is it wrong for her to be here? Am I involved?"
"Pimlick, this must be a secret. Maybe you can be the herald of her return later, but not now."
"It's wrong, isn't it? Now I know, and the Bloody Big Head will behead me, and my family too." He began to struggle to break free. Alice's arms burned as she tried to calm him down, but her attempts were as successful as Mally's soothing words. "BLOODY BIG HEAD, BLOODY BIG HEAD! EARTHQUAKE, LITTLE ANTS!"
"Enough, Pimlick!"
"BLOODY BIGH HEAD!"
Soon Alice's biggest problem wasn't that Pimlick would manage to escape, but that he would attract a curious mob of Witzenders to Time's lair.
Her quest hadn't even begun, and yet it was already close to come to an end.
Amid the ticking clocks and Pimlick's screams, the Second ran around Alice's feet, unaware or uncaring of the chaos he had created.
"No."
"It was an order, not a petition. If you don't agree, you'll leave me not choice but to assign one of my White Knights as your escort, Bim."
"I'm not going back home; I did nothing wrong!" Bim yelled. "If you don't believe me, ask the Inventor. I've been working in the train, not stealing someone else's tea cups. Tell her, Inventor. Tell her!"
A gelid silence fell upon the room after Mirana stood up. Bim flinched the same way he did when Mally pricked one of his earlobes.
The Inventor remain still, unaffected by the boy's rage or the Queen's authority. Mc Twisp was standing next to the Queen. He muttered several "Oh dears" as he watched the scene with morfication.
"Your family needs you." Mirana said to Bim, who dared not look her in the eyes. "That's why you must go back to them. If you don't, then you will be doing something very wrong, Bim. Zanik is worried about you, everyone is."
"No. Do not ask me again." Bim's face was crimson. "Now if you excuse me, I have stuff to do. Be well, your Majesty."
He gave a lax, if not mocking, reverence to Mirana. The Inventor turned his head to look at Bim, but he quickly lost interest in him.
Just before Bim could reach the entrance, Mirana's threat was fulfilled. Looming behind his back like his shadow, a White Knight grabbed Bim by the arm.
The display shamed Mirana, but Bim had left her no choice.
He was destructive and bold when angered. If he wanted to leave the castle, it would be with a White Knight following close behind.
Otherwise, he wouldn't leave at all.
As much as Mirana wished, there was no other alternative.
"Bim, it doesn't have to be this way. Just go home." Mirana said. "Please."
Before Mirana could decipher the changes in Bim's face, a hand clad in red broke the White Knight's grip on the boy.
Iracabeth's presence had been so sudden that it almost matched Chess's appearing skills. The Inventor became tense, his shoulders moving at the compass of his quickening breathing.
Mirana couldn't blame him.
The presence of her sister had startled her too.
"What one Queen forbids, the other allows." Iracebeth roared as if she was speaking to a multitude about to rebel. "Leave, boy. Leave knowing you have your Red Queen's permission to do so."
Bim stared at her.
His face, moments ago red like blood, was now as white as Mc Twisp's fur. He did as Iracebeth told him, running so fast that he tripped as he crossed the entrance.
When Iracebeth let the White Knight go, he grabbed his amr and grunted in pain before Iracebeth ordered him to get out of her sight.
"What?" Iracebeth asked to her sister, who gave her a killer glare. "We rule together, don't we?"
She laughed and left, with her loyal Tweedle following her lead.
Mirana felt anger surging within herself. If Mc Twisp and the Inventor hadn't been there, she and Iracebeth would have engaged in an argument no less conflictive than a sword duel.
What stung the most was that Iracebeth was right.
They ruled together now.
Mirana was beginning to understand its meaning.
She wasn't sure she liked it.
"Your Majesty?" Mc Twisp meekly pulled from her dress.
"Let us move on. I'll talk to her later." Mirana said. "You know what you must do know, Mc Twisp."
"I know. I'll make sure the preparations are ready. It'll be a great ceremony." Mc Twisp bowed his head to her and to the Inventor, who didn't answer, as usual.
She danced an order to him, letting him know she was no longer in the mood to discuss the train's expansion after the little scene Iracebeth had caused.
The Inventor didn't reply ,and instead, he walked towards the entrance so fast he outran Mc Twisp.
Mirana gave little thought to it. Her mind was too plagued with Iracabeth's impertinence.
She sat on her throne again, waiting for the idle hours to cool her temper before the ceremony.
It had been Mally's idea.
What better way to celebrate the Inventor's improvements to Underland than with a celebration where all Underlandians would be present?
Even a reserved man like him could find some joy in a public homage worthy of a hero.
Not even Alice, Underland's Champion, had been celebrated in such way. Most Underlandians didn't know how se looked like, and her legend extended to her actions only.
Mirana smiled at the memory of her friend, and wondered if she would have to summon her again if Iracebeth's impertinence evolved into something viler.
She missed Alice, but she wished it wouldn't come to that.
All that she wanted was for her and her sister to rule together in peace.
Perhaps it wasn't as much a simple wish as she had thought.
The image of a crown came to her mind.
Once it rested on her sister's head, everything would get better. She had to believe it.
That was the true reason why she had agreed to Mally's idea.
It would not only be a ceremony, it was also a crowning. And , if everything turned out alright, it was also the start of Underland's new age.