Page 71 of Knot My Wonderland

The silver patterns beneath my skin flared suddenly, responding to my concern. The miniature landscape shimmered where my attention focused, magnifying the battle unfolding in the Crimson Valley. Then as I kept my eyes on the map I saw something dark start to appear on the map.

“Is that…?” I mutter to myself, seeing what seemed to look like shadows appeared.

"Shadows on the Observatory map," Varik said sharply, moving closer to peer at the miniature landscape. "Thatshouldn't be possible. The Sanctuary's magic pierces all illusions."

Chi's form flickered with alarm as the dark shapes spread across the tiny battlefield. "Unless they're not illusions," he said, his voice tight with understanding. "The King of Spades—he's intervening in the battle."

The shadows moved with purpose across the living map, flowing between the crimson soldiers like liquid darkness. Where they touched the Red Queen's forces, the tiny figures simply... disappeared. Not destroyed, not defeated—erased, as if they had never existed at all.

"He's helping Heart," I breathed, watching as the shadow intervention turned the tide of the miniature battle. The few remaining resistance fighters rallied, pressing their advantage as the Red Queen's overwhelming numbers dwindled to something more manageable.

Through the Heart Stone, I felt a surge of confusion and relief from Heart—he hadn't expected this intervention, couldn't see the shadows his fighters were benefiting from, but was seizing the tactical advantage regardless.

"Why would the King of Spades help the resistance?" I asked, watching the shadowy forces continue their systematic erasure of the Red Queen's soldiers.

Varik's expression grew troubled, his wild green eyes tracking the shadow movements with obvious concern. "The King of Spades never acts without purpose. If he's intervening, it's because Heart's resistance serves his long-term strategy."

"Or because you're watching," Chi added, his tail curling thoughtfully as he studied my reaction. "The Observatory doesn't just show events—it connects to them. The King may know you're here, observing."

The thought sent a chill down my spine despite the Sanctuary's comfortable atmosphere. I remembered the King of Spades'midnight visit, his knowing eyes and cryptic words about patterns and destiny. Had he anticipated this moment? Planned for me to witness his intervention through the Observatory?

"He's sending a message," I said quietly, the realization settling over me like cold water. "Not to Heart—to me."

The shadows on the miniature battlefield suddenly stilled, forming a perfect circle around the remaining resistance fighters. For a heartbeat, they held that formation—unmistakably deliberate, directed at whoever might be watching. Then they dispersed as quickly as they had appeared, leaving Heart's forces victorious but bewildered.

Through the Heart Stone, I felt Heart's confusion mixing with relief as he surveyed the impossible victory. Seventeen fighters against three times that number of Blood Knights, and somehow they had prevailed with minimal casualties. I could sense his mental calculations—trying to understand what had happened, how his small force had managed to overcome such overwhelming odds.

"He knows something's not right," I murmured, my fingers tracing the Heart Stone's warm surface. "He just doesn't know what."

"The King of Spades prefers to remain unseen," Varik said, adjusting his hat as he stepped away from the Observatory. "Even by those he chooses to aid."

The silver patterns beneath my skin pulsed gently, responding to the Sanctuary's unique energy. Here, in this place where all times existed simultaneously, the pattern seemed more settled, more coherent—as if finding its natural rhythm after the chaotic acceleration of the Forgotten Lands.

“We’ll find somewhere for you to rest and then I shall go find the Tweedles again," Varik suggested, his gaze moving toward one of the many doorways leading from the main hall. "They'll need time to recover from opening those dual pathways, buteventually they can create a route back to retrieve Heart, and his fighters."

Chi materialized more fully beside me, his form completely solid in the Sanctuary's stabilizing fields. "The Observatory will continue tracking their movements. We'll know the moment they're ready for extraction."

I nodded, though part of me remained focused on the miniature landscape where tiny figures were already beginning to move away from the Crimson Valley. Heart's successful rescue mission had saved lives, but it also meant the Red Queen would escalate her response. The shadows that had aided them were gone, leaving no trace of the King of Spades' intervention.

"This way," Varik said, leading us toward a corridor that seemed to exist in perpetual twilight. "The residential wing maintains stable temporal fields—you'll be able to rest without worrying about displacement or having visions.”

The corridor opened into a series of chambers that seemed to anticipate our needs. As we passed each doorway, the rooms within shifted—beds appearing, baths filled with steaming water, tables laden with food that looked both familiar and exotic.

"The Sanctuary provides," Chi murmured, his tail curling with appreciation as we passed a particularly luxurious suite. "One of its more practical enchantments."

I paused at a doorway where the room beyond called to me with unexpected familiarity. Inside, a canopied bed draped in silver-blue fabrics dominated one wall, while a window overlooking impossible gardens occupied another. The ceiling was a transparent dome showing stars that moved in slow, deliberate patterns.

"This one," I said, stepping inside. The silver patterns beneath my skin hummed with recognition, as if the room itself resonated with the same frequency.

Varik nodded, unsurprised. "The First Queen's chambers. I suspected the Sanctuary might offer them to you."

Chi followed me inside, his teal eyes widening as he took in the ancient room. "I've never been permitted entry here before," he admitted, touching a silver-framed mirror with something like reverence. "Even during the First Queen's reign, these chambers were private."

I moved to the window, gazing out at gardens that seemed to exist in multiple seasons simultaneously—spring blossoms opening beside autumn fruits, winter frost crystallizing on summer foliage. "It's beautiful," I whispered, placing my palm against the cool glass. The silver patterns beneath my skin responded, creating spiraling designs that matched the garden's impossible configurations.

"The First Queen designed these gardens herself," Varik said, his voice carrying an undercurrent of old memory. "She believed harmony could exist between contradictions if given the proper space to flourish."

I pressed closer to the window, watching as a tree cycled through all four seasons in the space of minutes—buds unfurling into leaves that blazed gold before falling to reveal frost-covered branches, only to begin the cycle anew. "She was preparing for something, wasn't she? All of this—the Sanctuary, the gardens, even the pattern she left behind. It was all part of a larger plan."

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