Chapter 6: In Which the White Queen is Discovered

"But who is Helen Spiderwick, exactly?" Alice asked after they'd stopped for the night.

"Helen Spiderwick was a big-time supporter of the White Queen. She was very wealthy, very powerful, and very patient about getting what she wanted. That combination meant death for the Queen of Hearts when she first took over. So, Queenie had old Helen poisoned, and ordered the body burned. But before C-day(cremation day, that is), the body was stolen from royal custody and hidden by some of Helen's most faithful servants. The tomb they made her has been called 'Helen's Sunken Mausoleum'." Edward answered.

"And that's where we're headed?" Alice asked.

Edward nodded. "It's said to be hidden in an enchanted pool under a layer of ice. There's a riddle that tells how to crack the ice and get down to the Mausoleum, but I don't know how it goes."

"Why do we need to? I mean, if it's there, then..." Alice trailed off.

"If I knew the riddle, we could solve it and get the tool we need to crack the ice before hand, and save ourselves a lot of time." Edward said. "But you're right. No use dwelling on what can't be helped. Well, goodnight, Alice."

"Goodnight, Edward."

Two nights later, they came upon a perfectly round pool about four feet in diameter, and covered with crystal-clear ice.

"Now to find the riddle..." Edward mumbled, visibly un-tensing at the sight of the pool.

"I be the guardian of this pool. What business have ye here?" a female voice rang from across the pond. A pale girl with deep blue eyes and fiery red hair dressed in black and jade green emerged from the woods.

"We come in search of Helen's Sunken Mausoleum." Edward told her, tail twitching excitedly.

"Ye will only find it if ye can solve the riddle." she said, and recited, "A holy flower and a flame, are often one and the same. If you cannot play the game, Fool, pay the price."

"Holy flower!?" Edward hissed. "What's she playing at? There aren't any flowers near here, and if there were, how would we know they whether or not they're holy flowers?"

"Maybe she doesn't mean an actual flower." Alice suggested. "Maybe 'holy flower' is a metaphor for something."

"But what could it be for? There's nothing here but the trees, the pond...and her." he looked shocked(as much as a cat can, anyway).

"The only thing it makes sense to apply the metaphor 'holy flower' to is someone, probably a young woman or girl, deeply devoted to their religion." Alice said.

Edward nodded. "That makes sense. 'Flower' can used to describe shy or virginal young women, and 'holy', well, that's pretty much a no-brainer. But what about the holy flower being the same as a flame?" his eyes widened. "Her hair! Her hair is flaming red!"

"Excuse me miss...what's your name?" Alice asked.

"Erzebet." The girl replied tonelessly.

"What a pretty name! It means 'devoted to God', right?" Alice asked.

Erzebet nodded.

"And if you're the holy flower, then the flames would be your hair, right? You're the answer to the riddle, aren't you, Erzebet?" Edward asked.

Erzebet's only response was to kneel before the pool like a mechanical doll, splaying her flaming hair out across the ice. And the moment the first strands touched the ice, it combusted into flames, melting the ice.

Alice and Edward turned to congratulate each other, but even as the words left their lips, the world went black and everything faded into oblivion.

When they woke up, they stood on the steps of a cathedral-like building that seemed to built entirely of pure black marble with faint veins of white running through the stones.

"This must be the place." Edward whispered.

Alice nodded, then said, "Wait! How can we breathe and talk down here? It shouldn't be possible."

"I guess they call it an enchanted pool for a reason." Edward said with a grin.

"I guess," Alice agreed, tugging open one of the tall, warped wooden doors. Inside, all the water drained out, and in the center of the room, sunken into the floor, was a black marble casket.

Edward ran and jumped up on top of it, then wiped some silt off the lid, reading the inscription. "Aha!" he cried, tail twitching in triumph.

"What?" Alice asked, coming over to his side.

"I know where to find the White Queen now." he said with a smile. He jumped off Helen Spiderwick's casket and ran to the far side of the room. Alice followed and saw a door when she got there. She pushed, and it yielded.

All that was in the next room was a black wrought-iron candle holder with a half-melted black candle in it under a white canopy.

"All we have to do is light that candle, and a trap door leading to the White Queen should appear." Edward said, eagerness and hope clear in his voice.

"But Helen Spiderwick died after the White Queen went into hiding, right?" Alice asked. "So then how-"

"It might not lead to another part of the tomb." said Edward. "Maybe, by the time the tomb was built, She had gotten a communication to Helen's servants about where she was, so they could build a passage in the tomb that lead to her for when the Golden Star of Hope appeared."

"Makes sense." Alice murmured, leaning down and picking a box of kitchen matches up off the floor. "And look, they even left us a way to light the candle." She struck match into flame and held it to the wick. And even as the wick caught flame, a trapdoor slid open in the floor.

"Alice!" Edward cried.

She whirled around and saw the door in the floor. "Let's go." she said, scooping Edward up and heading down the stairs. But before they got halfway down, the figure of a pale, white-haired woman dressed all in white ran up to them.

"Did you open the door?" she asked them breathlessly.

AN: Is this the White Queen? Or another ploy by the Queen of Hearts? Tune in next time to find out! Peace, my peeps!