~ Third Person POV ~
After a few moments of silence Tarrant sighed in defeat and began to tell the story of his love and his own childhood. "We were drawn together at the age of five. That year my father thought me old enough to learn our trade and the King allowed me to join my father throughout his job. That was the first day I met Mirana."
The hatter started to go in his own head but was pulled out by the young girls voice, "Hatter!"
"Oh right where was I...Ah yes the first day we met. Well I start as any other day excluding my residence. I still told the same riddles and such with my father constantly apologizing for my rudeness. When I saw Her, she was gliding down the corridor and I was frozen for I knew not what to do in the presence of royalty." The hatter began to blush more knowing what was next to come. "Luckily she spoke to me first and the tension melted away." He drifted off smiling in remembrance.
"What did she say?" That got the hatters attention and he had to force himself not to turn beet red.
"She asked me, Do you know the difference between a raven and a writing desk? And I was hooked. Though I never answered it seemed there was no answer.
"I've heard you use that before, many times."
"Later that became our code word for when we need the other." The hatter fell silent after his announcement and began to fidget.
Alice became quiet thinking of all the times she had heard the man in front of her say those tweleve words, haveing never known what he had truely meant. 'That proves it he loves her. Why else would someone remember something from childhood so long ago with and still blush today?'
"We were best friends from that day on and well into adulthood. I stayed in her court all the way to the last day when we were forced to hide." He spoke saddly at the end, "Though it was not always perfect we hit bumps in the road but we helpped the other back up and on track. Some falls bigger than others."
"What was the worst bump you two hit?" Alice asked while thinking about her sister's unfaithful husband.