~Chapter 14~
Moving Along
Upon hearing Chessur's report, everyone immediately sprung into action. Tarrant and Mally ran off to get the boat ready. Alice and Uilleam went to get everything that they needed to make the potion; And Humpty Dumpty, with some help from the March Hare, scrambled to get some provisions ready for the journey. Tweedledum was left holding Sophie, and they were both quite forgotten by the adults.
"Well then, what should we do now?" He asked the small girl sitting on his palm.
"Let's go do some more exploring." Sophie said after a moment. Tweedledum nodded his consent and they headed off towards the Gold Queen's Tower.
::~::
In the kitchens, Alice tore the shelves and cupboards apart looking for the things that she needed. For even though the March Hare had been in charge of the kitchens and the walls were now a tapestry of multi-coloured food stains. The counters were clear and organized and the dishes were all put away. After much searching Alice finally found Mirana's old crafting equipment in a dusty corner cupboard.
"Uilleam. Read out the list for me quickly!" Said Alice over her shoulder. Uilleam cleared his throat and began to recite in a creaking voice.
"One Melting pot and fire fruit."
Alice grabbed the copper cone she had observed the White Queen use to concoct Pishsalver. The other item was in a jar cover in a large pink tea cozy. She set the items gingerly on the counter. She then set the cone in its holder and using tongs, dropped in the prune sized flaming fruit. This instantly heated the cone to the right temperature.
"All right. Next." She said.
"Three Dragon whiskers" he said.
Alice pulled out a long tube with the wire like whiskers inside. She quickly dropped three in and watched as they burned away into a fine green ash on the bottom of the cone.
"A Dash of Fuzzy Feelings." The small stubby jar looked like it contained pink sugar. They did not burn at all but smoked a little.
"4 oz. of Burning Ambition." The amber colored liquid smelled like a mix of every spice market Alice had ever visited in her travels in China.
"Next is a ball of Spider Cotton and a cotton tail." Once these were added, the potion bubbled up in a white billow of smoke.
"Last is a drop of Tiger Snake venom." Alice dug to the back of the cupboard until she found a small vile with a picture of an orange and Black striped snake with legs patterned on the side of its body. Alice showed it to Uilleam and he nodded that that was indeed the right bottle.
"Uilleam. It does not say I need to spit in this does it?" Alice asked just before adding the last ingredient.
"No it doesn't." He assured her. After she added the final ingredient the whole cone erupted in a cloud of blue smoke. The resulting potion was amber in colour and smelled like a wet clover field after a spring rain. Alice quickly poured the potion into an empty bottle and rushed out of the room towards the dock.
::~::
The swords (the Vorpal and Tarrant's Claymore), and blow pipe were both packed in the bottom of the boat and waiting, along with the Hatter and the Dormouse. Alice came running through the trees towards them at top speed. She was just putting the potion bottle away into the pocket of a traveling sack.
"All aboard." Said the Cheshire Cat. He vanished above the boat and once more began to lead it through the mists surrounding Alekhine. This time Alice was awake for the journey and was able to see why the island was so hard to reach. Apart from the dizzying mist the cover the whole area, there were hundreds of sharp rocks poking out of the water. In the light Alice could see that these were not natural in origin, but were man made. For each rock was in fact a large stone Spade with its point jutting out of the water. Any boat larger then the one that they were in would get caught for sure. Once they were out of the mist Alice looked back and could see that the castle and island were completely hidden.
"The journey down river is going to take a few hours, but not to worry I have arrange for other transportation to take you the rest of the way once we land. It should get you past the front gates at least."
"So you mean we are going right into Marmoreal through the front?" Asked Mally excitedly. She was tired of all this skulking around and hiding out on Alekhine. She had almost been upset that they would probably be going to Marmoreal from the back way.
"Yes, my dear scrumptious dormouse."
"Hey, watch your sweet mouth there." She said in warning tone. Mally knew he was just teasing her but still she did want any of his lip at that point in time.
"So tell us Chess, what are we up against?" Asked Tarrant. The blue grinning cat flipped onto his back and smiled broadly at the Hatter.
"I am very glad you asked me, because I have quite a bit to tell." Chess waited until Mally was paying attention before he began to speak.
"Our dearly dreaded Red Queen is up to her old habit of putting us furred, feathered, and scaled creatures to work again in such menial tasks as being furniture or being footmen. However our early observations about her court were very accurate. She has had all the human slaves put to work changing Marmoreal into a rather garish looking residence. She has put on a confidante, a mysterious being named Coran." He paused for dramatic effect. Then Alice piped up.
"What about her new Jabberwocky? Where is he kept? Do you think we should bring the Vorpal sword so close to him? It might tip the Red Queen off that we are coming." Chess nodded at her question.
"He is kept or rather he stays right in the main entry hall. He is always awake and on the alert. What ever the Big head did when she mixed the two beings together it seems she was able to remove that nasty traitorous part of Stayne's personality." Chess flipped back on his belly and vanished for a moment. He reappeared at Tarrant's shoulder. "As for his feelings towards the sword, I think he has none at all. He rumbles a little bit about a new foe. But we are not sure what or who that is." The cat lightly stroked the brim of Tarrant's hat then purring, evaporated again. Tarrant took off his hat and put it firmly under his arm for protection. A second later the cat reappeared perched on the bow of the boat.
"Oh I almost forgot, there is one or two more little tidbits that I wanted to tell you about."
Mally was tapping her foot in annoyance at Chess's disjointed information.
"Well get on with it!" She said gruffly.
"Oh, very well take away all my fun. Well the second to last thing you need to know is that the Red Queen has yet to behead anyone! She is waiting for a special pike to be erected in front of the gates. It will be the place of honor for her sister's sheep skull. The other thing is that there are a lot of strangers being kept in the dungeons."
"What do you mean by strangers?" Asked Alice.
"I mean that they don't seem to understand where they are or what is happening to them. Their clothing is strange as well. Many of them are in the same uniform but the odd one seems to be dressed differently."
"Chess do you think she is conscripting an army from the outlands?" Asked Tarrant in concern.
"It is possible, she was out there for many years, who knows what kind of allies she may have made."
"We appreciate every thing you've done, Chess. Thank you." Said Tarrant. Chess nodded his head then evaporated.
"He's still here guiding the boat. So if there is anything else you want to ask him about, go ahead." Said Mally looking over her shoulder for the invisible cat.
::~::
In the halls of Marmoreal the beast began to stir. The sound of his moving chains echoed throughout the grand entry hall. Ilosovic was well aware of who and what he had become. He desperately wanted to use his new form to inflict great suffering and death upon the woman who had done this to him. However he was not alone inside his own very large head. There was always the soft, smooth, and very strong will of his body's original owner. And that will prevented him from lashing out against his mistress. That will was what soothed him, and told him that the big head was not a worthy foe. She was beneath his notice. No, his true foe was out there in Underland somewhere, and keeping close to the Red Queen is simply a means to achieving his goal. The only problem Stayne had with the reasoning of the other will was that it would not tell him who or what the foe was. Early on he had come to the conclusion that it was not the Vorpal blade. For the other will didn't react to it. Almost as though it no longer cared and was waiting for a new foe to present itself. However Stayne could not begin to guess what that might be. The other will had not reacted to thoughts of Alice, the White Queen or any other enemy that Stayne could think of. So he had given up in frustration, giving into the Will's assurance that a foe would come.
Now he could feel something. It was a change in the air. His forked tongue slid out from between his lips. No. It wasn't the air. It was normal. Something else was happening to him. Stayne called upon the other will and was encountered with a strange reaction. The other will was smiling and had a smug satisfied feeling.
Do you feel it? It whispered to him. Stayne said nothing as he simply sat rigid and tense.
Yes, you feel it, don't worry soon we will know what the new foe is.
Unnoticed, above the Jabberwocky, stood Coran. The sudden stirring of the beast was always something to take note of. It was also something his mistress would need to know about. But not right away, first the White Queen needed to be disposed of. Once that was done and the big-headed freak felt all safe and sound. Then it would be time to start moving his men into the game.
So It's a bit of a shorter chapter but not to worry I am still working on this story. I have just started working on chapter 15.
As always you reviews make my brain work so please review and feed my plot bunnies ! !