Page 74 of Knot My Wonderland

"You're right," I admitted, swaying slightly on my feet. The magnitude of what had just happened between us was beginning to sink in, and with it came a bone-deep weariness that threatened to pull me under. "I can barely keep my eyes open."

Chi's expression softened, the feral intensity replaced by something gentler yet no less possessive. "The bed will help stabilize your energy. The First Queen designed this room to harmonize with the pattern you carry."

I moved toward the canopied bed, hyper-aware of Chi's presence behind me—not just his physical form, but his essence flowing alongside mine through our new bond. The silver-blue fabrics seemed to welcome me, the mattress adjusting to support my body as I settled beneath covers that felt like captured starlight.

"Will you stay?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper as exhaustion pulled at my consciousness.

Chi materialized in the chair beside the bed, his form completely solid now—no flickering, no translucence. The bond had anchored him to this reality as surely as it had changed me. "Always," he said simply, his teal eyes soft with an emotion I was only beginning to recognize. "Rest, Alice. I'll watch over you."

I closed my eyes, feeling the Sanctuary's temporal fields wash over me like a gentle tide. Through our bond, I sensed Chi's protective presence—a warm constant that followed me into sleep. But even as consciousness faded, I could feel distant pulses but didn’t know what it was as darkness took over.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Heart

Iwatched as the last of the Red Queen's forces retreated through the burning ruins of what had once been our strongest outpost. My sword dripped with blood magic residue, the crimson liquid hissing as it evaporated in the cold air. Around me, my fighters moved with practiced efficiency, gathering survivors and salvaging what supplies remained.

"Prince Heart," Martha called, her scarred face grim as she approached. "We've secured the perimeter. Twenty-three survivors total, including twelve of the original garrison."

I nodded, wiping my blade clean on a scrap of fabric torn from a fallen Blood Knight's uniform. "Casualties?"

"Four of ours. Nine of the outpost defenders." Martha's voice remained steady, though I could see the toll the numbers took in the tightness around her eyes. "Better than expected, all things considered."

Better than impossible iswhat she meant. Glancing to the side, I saw a figure hidden from view. I could feel my lip curl at the sight of the Spade King.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, keeping my voice low enough that only the King could hear. The King of Spades remained partially obscured by shadow, even in the bright light of the burning outpost. His face, what little I could see of it, betrayed no emotion.

"Ensuring the survival of a valuable piece," he replied, his voice like silk sliding over steel. "Your resistance has its uses, Prince of Hearts."

I tightened my grip on my sword, though I knew it would be useless against him. "I didn't request your assistance."

"And yet you needed it." His dark eyes flickered to the survivors gathering behind me. "Your mother brought six Blood Knights. You would have lost everyone."

The truth in his words stung worse than any wound I'd received in battle.I’d led my people into what should’ve been a massacre. Without the King's intervention—those shadows that swept through the battle like liquid death, erasing the Red Queen's forces without leaving bodies behind—we would all be dead.

"Why help us now?" I asked, struggling to keep the suspicion from my voice. "You've watched my resistance fight for decades without intervention."

The King of Spades' lips curved into what might have been a smile on anyone else. On him, it looked like a predator considering its options. "Circumstances have changed. The dreamer's arrival has... accelerated certain timelines."

"Alice," I said, the name sending a pulse through the Heart Stone I carried. Through our connection, I’d felt her alarm, then a surge of something else—something that made my blood burn with territorial instinct. Now the connection felt different,layered with another presence I recognized all too well. "What do you know about her?"

"More than you," the King replied, stepping further into the light cast by the burning buildings. The shadows around him seemed to move independently, writhing like living things. "The First Queen was not the only one who could see across timelines, Prince. I have watched the pattern's development for centuries, waiting for the right dreamer to carry it."

I felt the Heart Stone pulse against my chest, its warmth now tainted with something foreign—another magical signature intertwined with Alice's that made my jaw clench. "The Cheshire," I growled, understanding flooding through me. "He's bonded with her."

"The first bond, yes," the King confirmed, his dark eyes glittering with satisfaction. "As was always intended. The pattern requires five anchors to reach full manifestation. You understand your role in this, I trust?"

My grip on my sword tightened until my knuckles went white, "My role?" I snarled, taking a step toward the King despite every instinct screaming to flee. "I'm not a pawn in your games."

The King of Spades tilted his head, shadows writhing around him like serpents. "Aren't you? You carry my crystal, feel her emotions, rush to her aid when she's threatened." His voice carried dark amusement. "The Heart Stone doesn't create bonds, Prince. It merely amplifies what already exists."

Through the crystal's connection, I felt another pulse of that foreign presence—Chi's essence now permanently intertwined with Alice's magical signature. The realization that he had claimed the first and most foundational bond sent rage coursing through my veins.

"The Cheshire got there first," I said through gritted teeth.

"Of course he did. Chi has been fragmented for centuries, existing only in pieces scattered across realities. Alice's patternoffered him the first real chance at wholeness he's had since the realm fractured." The King's expression remained infuriatingly calm. "Your bond will be different—complementary rather than foundational."

I felt the truth of his words through the Heart Stone's connection, the way Alice's magical signature now carried Chi's essence like silver thread through silk. It didn't diminish what flowed between us, but it changed it—made it part of something larger and more complex than I had anticipated.

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