Author's note: It takes days to travel to kingdoms, I just skip the traveling part when it doesn't really add to the story. You can take shortcuts in this world like how Mirana has potions to run faster, grow, shrink, etc. The common are by hat, talking horses and flying animals/creatures. The rare travelers of this world are evaporation and digging holes to different lands.
I also mixed Lewis Carol's Red Queen (more or less level headed with the often confused Queen of Hearts)
Disclaimer: not the owner of Alice in wonderland.
Two Queens in One Day
The freshly faced Alice tailed behind the White Rabbit to an archway where a rubbery flesh colored rope, blocked their entry.
"Wooth gooth there!" A toad footman mumbled waddling up from the side of the arch with his tongue stretched out.
"Calm yourself, Batrachus. It's just me and the new window washer." The footman untied his tongue and squinted up at Alice.
"Poor girl, you won't even last a week."
"Thank you, Sir Batrachus. Calms my nerves even more when I hear it the second time around." Alice curtsied toward the footman and he waved it off.
"Go , go on then while Queen Big Head is in a good mood. 3 days ago, Stayne sent a letter that'll he'll arrive with a hatter. It has already past 2 days, so he'll be arriving tomorrow. "
"Stayne? Oh, no. " muttered the White Rabbit.
Entering the garden, the roses' eyed her with judgment as she walked by. Alice felt a wave déjà vu.
The Red Queen was easy to spot due to her hair piled so high a bird could nest in it and a camera crew capturing her play croquet. She was edgy with flair of modern Victorian and Vogue; everything about her screamed bloody sharp. She moved like a crane with haughty elegance.
"Your majesty, Proper suggests that we change the angle that you propo- "
"You must be joking Hendrick, I'm great in every angle. Suggest again and you'll be wondering where your next meal will come from. This mallet's obviously broken! Get me one with a straighter beak! Now!" She roared. Throwing the defective flamingo aside, glaring at the line up for her new mallet. The flamingoes dressed in tuxedos with numbers on the bib waited to be picked, looked on miserably.
The chosen flamingo went as stiff as a board, praying to hit the porcupine through the hoop. When the porcupine veered off to the left pass the hoop, everyone visibly relaxed.
Facing the camera she smiled with porcelain white teeth framed behind dark ruby lips, "As you can see, jobs and food are flowing in Crimms. Serving under me, your lives will prosper and experiencing a sliver of my life is luxury enough. - "
A shadow loomed into the shot, surprising the Red Queen, "Who is this enormous girl?!"
"This is your new, window washer. Her name is…ummm" The White Rabbit tried to supply. The Red Queen saw this as an opportunity to show her "kinder" side of hiring, but something was nagging in the back of her mind.
"I knew a enormous girl name Um before, it did not bode well. Speak up girl, I don't have all day."
"My name is Ciela"
"Celia, I like how ordinary you look, I don't like your clothes…it's not red enough." The Red Queen smirked with an even louder voice she said, "My dear girl, anyone with a head that large is welcome in my kingdom. Someone find her some clothes, use the curtains if you must, but clothe this enormous girl." She signaled to stop recording.
The Red Queen tossed her flamingo aside already appearing bored. She walked towards the castle with her entourage quickly followed, giving Alice the stink-eye.
"What is your decision, My Queen? The dungeons and stable rooms are over-exceeding capacity and still under construction; older rooms of the abandoned left wing have vacancy. " A mole inquired while passing the Red Queen a moist towel. Owl like creatures took Alice's measurements down as they spoke.
"Couldn't she just stay in one under construction? The last one died that way?" The mole nodded
"Prepare one of those vacant decrepit rooms, have an older maid tell her, her duties. Mctwisp," squinting at his nametag, "which of my knights brought this one?" She asked the White Rabbit sharply.
"I believe the Zeta brigade."
"Tell them no reward; they didn't even meet the minimum of 10 entities. You Ciela, bend a bit behind me to get into the shot. Hendrick, start the camera."
They went through numerous rooms, lobbies, and facilities till the Red Queen called for a break. Alice wandered towards the portrait room they passed by briefly. One of the two pictures that caught her interest was of a family, two little girls stood under stiff regal looking parents. The one with red hair and arrogant smirk was without a doubt the Red Queen, the other beside the Queen kept her hands daintily up to the level of her shoulders, had her face violently slashed out of the picture. Touching the jagged edges where the face should be, Alice went to the next painting.
Red paint was thrown over the painting and its description scratched out, masking the identity of the shapely woman.
"That's the Red Duchess," Alice, jumped and saw a maid holding the edges of the long veil that covered her face. Hearing the title of her former governess, the Red Queen joined them.
"That is my aunt, I learned so much from her. Inherited her cards,"
"Do you miss her?"
"Oh Abovelands, no. An Alice, killed her before I could." The Queen snorted. "I'm retiring for the night, Stayne will be arriving tomorrow. I would like everyone and everything to be as clean as button."
"Let's go Miss; we have only a few hours before it gets dark to clean the windows. Then, I'll show you to your room, your uniform should be prepared by tomorrow morning." The veiled maid softly said as she glided out of the room. Something about this maid seemed so familiar that Alice wanted to ask if she could see her face. Yet not aware of their customs in this strange dream, Alice held her tongue.
Other window washers were quite happy with the new installment in their team, since it was loads much easier to finish faster since one window for Alice was two to three swipes or a rub. The window washing itself was a joke; they gave her an old tapestry and warned her off in breaking any windows. The buckets were small in her hands and she had to keep refilling, the maid with her laughed and just told Alice to spit on it.
"Just don't get caught" Her laugh tinkled.
"Hey, you two! Its night time now, head in. You both are so lucky to start in late because of the camera crew. We would have had you guys climb the castle to reach the top windows. Oh new girl, if you're confused we start at the top and finish up in the bottom. Next time we'll send you up. Just hope that the Queen isn't in a foul mood or in a humorous mood. She likes to send us up when there's a thunderstorm. Other than that, we're glad you arrived" A humanoid squirrel piped.
Alice and the veiled maid walked to a separate building where the paint was peeling, glowing worms decorated the cracks, and the forgotten old furniture rested. She led Alice through a hallway where other veiled maids in different sizes looked at the new comer to an empty hallway with threadbare carpet.
The moons' light filtered through the glass, she heard the veiled maid sigh.
"So this is what they use the building for now, how nostalgic…"
"Excuse me, I'm Ce.."Alice forgot her fake name, was it Cecil? Cecilia? Almost there, as Alice pondered the name combinations – the maid had an amuse laugh watching her. This is her, this is her Alice. The maid's hand let go of the hem of veil and held Alice's face.
"It's alright if you don't remember, Alice. You're still you, but if you want to stick with the program – your name here is Celia" The veiled let out a short laughter that Alice felt like it was kept way too long.
In another castle, the tenants were in secret panic.
"Muschka, is it the Queen?" A hushed humanoid flower asked watching the part inspector analyze the decomposing goop on the floor where the Queen stood after returning from Wimbleton.
"No, we've been had, she played the old switcheroo with an alchemized dummy. It's pushed its limit for 3 days. These usually last 30 minutes to check symptoms of potions on a wearer." The whole court, sighed in relief, but another tension broke out, "she most likely ran off to find an Alice again. Did anyone notice any signs before the fire?!"
A frog footman stepped up trembling, "Sir, she was a wee bit distracted and distant when I notified her of a call from Galinda the White Witch. She was in the looking glass veranda."
"Nostra, check the call logs from the mirror and confirm from Oz! QUICKLY! Where could she have gone for 3 days without anyone of her court noticing the difference between her and a dummy? Why haven't you reported any of these signs? When was this?" He watched his assistant run down the corridor, before turning back to the footman.
"Three days ago, sir." Moments later, the assistant's footsteps were heard holding a small mirror and a conch shell.
"Sir, Galinda the White Witch didn't call three days ago. It was Elphaba."
"Damnit, if its Elphaba…it'll be harder to find the White Queen."