Chapter 3 – Execution
It was a quite morning the next one, I started my day as always.
It all changed when McTwisp, the new page, called all the people in the garden to announce, almost crying, another execution: "Your Majesty, the Red Queen Iracebeth of Crims, order the presence of her court all at the execution of…" he took a deep breath and sniffed, before looking sadly at me, then he continued "…of the Mad Hatter and Mallymkun the Dormouse".
I gasped, putting my hands on my mouth, as he continued to look at me.
"It will be within an hour. Thank you…" he finished sniffing.
I knelt on the ground, silent tears escaping from my eyes and fell right in my hands.
McTwisp came over to me and put a paw on my back: "Tarrant told me everything… I'm sorry…"
"Tell meh whe' the dungeons are…" I told him.
"Well…" he sighed "You have to reach the kitchens first: then, go right, straight on until the corridor finishes. Down the stairs you will see, last floor…" I stood and started to run, following the path he had just described me, but the Rabbit was still behind me.
"You'll find a door checked by two guards!" he warned me.
"Ah'll take mah risks!" I told him back.
"Just… be careful!" he yelled, stopping at half of the corridor.
Kitchens, right, corridor, stairs, last floor, door,… guards.
"Ah have teh ente'" I said.
The one on my right spoke for first: "Why?"
"Ah have teh see a pisone'!" I answered.
"Who are you?" Still the one on right asked.
"Ah'm the Royal Horse Traine'!"
"Does the Queen know that you are here?"
"Neh, but…"
"Do you have a permission?"
I felt my eyes became orange and my dark circles black: "LISTEN: ALL AH HAD TEH DO TODAY, IS DONE! SO, AS THE QUEEN ALLOWED MEH WHEN AH STARTED, AH CAN GO WHE'EVE' AH WANT, EVE' IF SHE DOESN'T KNOW! ALL CLEAR?!"
"But…"
"Just shut up, bro! She has a motive and a permission, she's all right!" the one on left said. He had a familiar voice to me, but I didn't recognize it very well because of the helm.
"Now, miss, we will close you inside: when you'll want to exit, just knock" he added as he opened the door.
"Thank yeh…" I muttered. I slowly slipped inside and looked for my twin. My hand flashed on my mouth and my eyes became golden when I finally saw him: sat on the wet and dirty ground, his hat was there too, his smile gone, his eyes sad, the wrists scratched by the chains.
"Tarrant…" I called him as I knelt in front of the bars, pulling them like I had to rip them from between us.
"Tean! Hey! Calm down!" he placed a hand down my check, cupping my jaw, the other one was on my mine.
I took a deep breath and close my eyes, letting a tear slip down my cheekbone: "Why are yeh here? Wha' have yeh done? She just cannot close yeh-"
"Tean, it's going to be alright, I promise… Alice is safe at Marmoreal with the Vorpal Sword and-"
"Ah don't ca'e 'bout her! I ca'e 'bout yeh now! She's gotta kill yeh!" I cried between the sobs.
"Sshh, there…" he whispered whipping the tears away "I'm proud that you'll be the last Hightopp…"
"Ah don't wanna be the last one! Ah wann' us teh be the last ones!"
He stared at me a bit longer, caressing my cheek with the thumb, before sigh: "I don't think it will be possible…"
As he said so, I stood, went to the door and knocked: "Ah love yeh, lill brothe'…"
I spent the whole remaining time curled up in a ball, arms crossed atop my knees and head between them, in the corner of Diablo's box.
He wanted to come with me and I agreed: I needed both moral and physical support.
POV change - Terence
I just couldn't believe that: I finally got her in front of me, after all those years… but I did nothing!
I was something like paralyzed… All I could do was staring at her, while she was trying to convince my colleague that she could enter in the prison even if the Queen didn't know she was there.
As I heard her accent and saw her eyes change color, I was sure that it wasn't a dream.
"Just shut up, bro! She has a motive and a permission, she's all right!" I told him, as her gaze turned to me.
I opened the door saying: "Now, miss, we will close you inside: when you'll want to exit, just knock".
"Thank yeh…" she almost muttered, as she entered and I closed the door behind her. For a moment, I thought that she maybe had discovered who I was.
When she came out of the cells, she didn't even looked at me, she was staring at the ground, before she ran away.
"Tean, the horse trainer, eh?" my friend Danny asked me. I knew him even before we met here: he always tried to cheer me up from the day I lost my Tean, but it quite never worked. We both had our card-armor: he was a 9 and I was a 5.
"How do you know her name?" I asked.
"I heard the Mad Hatter call her?" he said like it was the most simple thing in the world.
"You recognized her too?"
"I keep saying that the Fate plays with you two! I mean, your name is Terence Five and on your card-armor is signed a 5! Her name is Tean, which seems 'ten' she was your girlfriend,…"
"She still is, we just hadn't seen each other for a long time!" I told him firmly.
"Ok: she is your girlfriend, so you are her sweet half!" he laughed for a while, I didn't.
"Very funny, Danny! Very funny…" I just added, without even grin.