Chapter 10: Illusion of Safety

Who can hope to be safe? who sufficiently cautious?
Guard himself as he may, every moment's an ambush.
~Horace

"I'm especially proud of this room," Casiphia told Alice. "It's going to be a museum. If we can get some of the townspeople to return the paintings and sculptures they took from here when Iracebeth was exiled, it will be even more impressive. If not, it's still better that they're enjoyed, rather than being destroyed."

From there they visited the future library ("Although we will still keep the official histories at the White Castle," Casiphia said. "We can't risk any of Iracebeth's enemies causing them any harm.") and the ballroom that would be available for anyone in Underland who wanted to hold a large event.

"And this entire wing will be a tavern, with rooms upstairs for travelers," Casiphia said. "People like me might be willing to ride the entire land without stopping, at least if they have horses like Quill, but the opportunity to stop for the night in safe and luxurious surroundings would have to be a temptation for anyone."

She ducked behind a long counter and returned with two cups of foaming golden liquid.

"It's a very lovely local ale," she explained, taking a sip and licking off the foam mustache that resulted.

"I've never had ale before," Alice said. "My experiences have all been with wine or cordial. This is rather nice."

"Wine and cordial are castle drinks as well," Casiphia said. "Now that I've discovered this ale, I may spend more time here." She winked. "But whatever Tarrant and Ilosovic were drinking the other night—that I have no desire to cross paths with, thank you."

Finishing their drinks, they left the cups on the bar and went on.

"By the way," Casiphia said, "Should you ever have a craving for red wine, as opposed to the white wine that is all we have on hand at Marmoreal, we have turned the dungeons here into an expansive wine cellar. I believe we will have some impressive vintages on hand here before long."

Leaving the tavern wing, they crossed a courtyard and entered another wide hall.

"I think this will just be a room for staff, or anyone who is acting as staff for a party or an event or somesuch," Casiphia said as they peered into a room full of chairs and tables and divans. "This furniture doesn't all need to be here, but for the time being, this is where it has come to rest. Rather like that cat, there."

Alice looked to see the snoring form of Chessur tucked into the corner of an overstuffed chair.

"We should let him sleep," she said. "Cats do require a lot of rest."

"There are still many, many rooms here that we have no idea what to do with," Casiphia whispered as they went back out into the hallway. "It may be years before we are finished here, but I don't see that as a problem. It means we can entertain ideas as we have them, or as they are brought to us."

The women made their way down a long curved staircase to the lower floors. "I suppose we might want to go back to the castle now, if you don't mind," Casiphia said. "It takes a while for courtiers to dress for dinner. And if there's anyone you want to, er, talk to, you might have a chance to do so."

Alice raised her eyebrows at Casiphia, who looked into the distance in all innocence. Unfortunately, this feigned distractedness led to her walking to the stables without paying attention, and in between Quill and the Bandersnatch as the stable boy accidentally walked them past, startling them.

"Quill, over here!" Casiphia said, lunging at her horse, and managing to insert herself underneath the Bandersnatch's claws as it wheeled in surprise.

"Oh, Casiphia, I know how much that hurts," Alice said, examining the wound with concern. "You can let the Bandersnatch lick it, that will heal it."

"It still looks nervous, I don't want to get that close to it," Casiphia said. "I'm going to go look for Chessur."

Holding her cloak to the bleeding scratches, she returned to the castle and made her way to the office.

"What happened to you?" Stayne said, leaping up from his work.

"The Bandersnatch and Quill startled each other and I got too close," she said through gritted teeth. "No, don't be angry, it was an accident. Just help me find Chess and we can get this taken care of."

"Someone get me that blasted cat!" Ilosovic strode off down the corridors, shouting for Chess, as gardeners and workers and Alice all gathered around to see what had happened and make sure that Casiphia would be all right. Chessur took his time apporating, but sterilized Casiphia's scratches with alacrity.

"Ouch, that hurt quite a bit at first," she said. "But it must be healing already because now I just feel a rough cat tongue."

Chess winked at her. "Bandersnatch wounds are one of the best things about being a Cheshire Cat."

"I wonder if the two of you are in cahoots," Casiphia grumbled.

"I would recommend to both that they not be," Ilosovic said.

"They're quite protective of each other," Chess noted to Alice. "Also very well-armed."

"I'd imagine so, from everything I've seen," the girl replied.

"Now I'm grumpy and ready to go home," Casiphia said.

"I'm coming with you," Stayne said. "The accounts can wait. "

"I doubt I really need your protection," Casiphia said. "But I will admit that I would like it. Thank you."

"What else can I do to help?"

"Hmm, you can kiss me senseless. But perhaps not now," she said, looking around the room at the audience that had gathered.

"We'll get you back home, then," Ilosovic said. "Alice, are you coming with us?"

"That depends on how Casiphia is feeling about seeing the Bandersnatch," she replied. "I'm guessing it can get me back to Marmoreal without getting lost."

"No, come with us," Casiphia said. "I'm not upset with the Bandersnatch, and the better my arm feels, the less inclined I am to avoid it. I need to make sure Quill isn't feeling traumatized, anyway."

Quill, as it turned out, was a bit shaken but not in any way from which she wouldn't recover given a bit of time. Brautigan was distracting her with conversation when the humans arrived at the stables, and altogether it was a congenial group that made its way back to Marmoreal, if one that was a bit more alert to accidents than before. Privately, Stayne thought this was likely a good thing.