Page 76 of Knot My Wonderland

Thomas nodded slowly, his expression grave beyond his years. "And we're all just pieces in whatever game is playing out around her."

"Not pieces," I corrected, watching the last of my fighters disappear into the residential wing. "Allies. There's a difference, even if the outcome might look similar."

The young man's mouth quirked in what might have been a smile. "Spoken like a true prince. I'll leave you to your planning, sir." He sketched a quick bow before heading toward the doorways where the others had disappeared.

I waited until I was alone with Varik, the weight of what I'd learned from the King of Spades settling over me like a shroud. "Tell me exactly what happened between Alice and Cheshire."

Varik raised an eyebrow, his wild green eyes studying me with clinical interest. "Concerned about your investment, Prince?"

"Don't play games with me, Hatter," I growled, the Heart Stone pulsing against my chest in response to my agitation. "I can feel the change in our connection. Something fundamental has shifted."

Varik sighed, removing his hat to run a hand through his disheveled hair. "The pattern within Alice requires five anchors to stabilize completely. Chi formed the first bond—the foundational connection that will allow the others to take shape without overwhelming her."

"And you just let it happen?" I finished, my voice tight with barely controlled emotion.

"Let it happen?" Varik's laugh held no humor. "Prince, I couldn't have stopped it if I'd wanted to. The pattern recognizes what it needs. Chi has been fragmented for centuries—Alice's magic offered him wholeness for the first time since the realmfractured.” echoing the King of Spades words. “That kind of connection doesn't ask permission."

I paced to the Observatory, staring down at the miniature landscape where tiny figures still moved across the Crimson Valley ruins. The Heart Stone's warmth against my chest felt different now—layered, complex, sharing space with another's claim. "The King of Spades knew this would happen. He was waiting for it."

"The King of Spades knows many things," Varik replied carefully, his tone suggesting deeper knowledge he wasn't ready to share. "The question is what.” We lapsed into silence before Varik sighed.

“Go rest. You’ve had a long day and sleep should help clear your head.” He gave me one last look before leaving me alone to my thoughts and emotions.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Alice

Iblinked awake when I heard talking around me, I looked over to where the noise was coming from. Chi was talking and trying to get Vee and Dee to leave.

"—insist that Alice needs her rest," Chi was saying, his voice carrying that protective edge I'd grown familiar with.

"But the patterns shift," Vee protested, his monocle catching the ethereal light filtering through the chamber's crystal windows.

"The melodies change tempo," Dee added dreamily, his opalescent robes shimmering as he gestured toward me. "She must know what approaches."

I sat up slowly, the silver-blue covers sliding away as I focused on the Tweedles' agitated energy. Through our bond, I felt Chi's reluctance to wake me, his desire to shield me from whatever news they brought. But there was something else—an urgencyin the air that made the silver patterns beneath my skin stir restlessly.

"What's happening?" I asked, my voice still thick with sleep as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. The moment my feet touched the floor, the silver patterns beneath my skin flared to life, responding to some disturbance I couldn't yet identify.

Chi moved to my side instantly, his form completely solid in the Sanctuary's stabilizing fields. Through our bond, I felt his protective instincts warring with the knowledge that whatever the Tweedles had discovered couldn't be ignored. "The Observatory detected unusual activity," he said reluctantly. "Multiple temporal distortions across Wonderland's territories. The Red Queen, is not happy, at all."

Vee stepped forward, his silver monocle reflecting patterns of light that seemed to exist in multiple dimensions simultaneously. "Put together the Spade King helped defeat her as you probably already know…” He trailed off.

"...and now her forces are gathering at the borders of all the neutral territories," Dee finished, their voices uncharacteristically somber. "Not just the usual soldiers—she's summoned the Blood Mages from the outer realms."

I felt a chill run through me. "Blood Mages? Are those worse than the Blood Knights?"

Chi's tail flickered about rapidly, unable to keep still. "Significantly. Blood Knights merely use blood-infused weapons. Blood Mages can manipulate life force directly—drain it from entire villages to fuel their rituals."

"The Red Queen hasn't deployed them in over a century," Vee stated, adjusting his monocle as data scrolled across its surface.

"Not since the last rebellion, which Hatter lead, took place in," Dee added, hisdreamy voice carrying a note of dread.

I winced at the implications. "She's escalating because of us," I said, the guilt settling heavy in my chest. Through the HeartStone, I felt a distant pulse of acknowledgment from Heart—he was awake somewhere in the Sanctuary, his mind churning with similar concerns.

"Not because of us," Chi corrected gently, his tail curling protectively around my wrist. "Because of what we represent. The pattern that resides within you, it threatens everything the monarchs have built since the First Queen's ascension."

"The Red Queen fears unification, above all else," Vee observed clinically.

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