Page 80 of Knot My Wonderland

Varik laughed, the sound sharp and knowing. "Not for a moment. But I thought I'd offer the courtesy of asking."

I allowed a small smile. In all of Wonderland, the Hatter was perhaps the only one who had never feared me. Even now, withmy shadows curling around his workshop, he simply continued his work with manic precision.

"The pattern within Alice is accelerating beyond my original calculations," I said, watching as he calibrated the seventh device. "The bond with Cheshire has created variables I didn't anticipate."

"Variables, or complications?" Varik's wild green eyes flicked toward me briefly before returning to his work. "Because from where I stand, Chi's bond is the only thing keeping her stable enough to handle what's coming."

"Both," I admitted, shadows coiling tighter around my shoulders. "The First Queen designed the pattern to require five anchors, but she never specified the order they would manifest. Chi claiming the foundational bond first... it changes the dynamic significantly."

Varik gave a hum, “Is it because he was one of the dreamers that failed?”

I went still, every shadow in the room freezing as Varik's words hit their mark. In all the centuries since the realm fractured, only three people had known that truth—and two of them were dead.

"How?" The word came out sharper than I intended, shadows writhing with barely contained tension.

Varik's hands never paused in their work, but his smile turned bitter. "You forget, my dear King—I was there during the last rebellion. I saw what happened to the other candidates when they tried to carry the pattern." He set down a crystalline component with deliberate care. "Chi wasn't the only one who shattered when the magic proved too much for him."

The memories rose unbidden—three dreamers before Alice, each carrying fragments of the First Queen's pattern. Each one consumed by power they couldn't control.

“Chi just ended up on the wrong side of the Queens from that and because of what he is today.” Varik spoke, voice tired as he remembers the past.

"The First Queen's mistake was assuming all dreamers were created equal," I replied, watching the shadows dance between us. "Chi survived his fracturing because he was never fully human to begin with. The others..."

"Burned from the inside out," Varik finished quietly, his manic energy momentarily subdued by old grief. "I remember. I held the last one as she died."

A heavy silence filled the workshop, broken only by the soft clicking of components as Varik resumed his work.

“And you also are going to become one of the ones like Chi…aren’t you Seth?” Varik asked eyes a little more intense as he looked at me.

I gave a soft laugh, “I would be if she would have me. But that is her call. As much as I would like to have the power to make the choice I don’t.”

Varik's hands stilled over his devices, those wild green eyes studying me with an intensity I rarely permitted anyone to display. "You're becoming sentimental in your old age, Seth. I remember when you would have simply taken what you wanted."

"Perhaps I've learned from past mistakes," I replied, shadows shifting restlessly around me. "The pattern rejects force. It must be freely given, freely accepted."

"And yet here you are, manipulating events to ensure Alice forms the bonds the pattern requires." Varik resumed his work, fingers dancing over components with practiced precision. "Including your own, eventually."

I moved closer, watching as he assembled the final trigger mechanism. "I arrange circumstances. I don't force choices. There's a difference."

"A semantic one, at best." Varik snapped the last component into place with a flourish. "But I suppose it helps you sleep at night, knowing you've technically given her free will, even while ensuring there's only one viable path forward."

I allowed my shadows to coalesce, forming more solid shapes that moved around Varik's workshop like curious serpents. "The Red Queen leaves us no luxury of time or options. If Alice doesn't complete the pattern soon, there won't be enough of Wonderland left to save."

"And that's what this is about? Saving Wonderland?" Varik's laugh was sharp and knowing. "Not your centuries-old obsession with the First Queen's legacy? Not your desire to claim what you believe should have been yours from the beginning?"

My shadows flared with momentary anger before I controlled them, forcing them back into passive observation. "My motivations are irrelevant compared to the necessity of what must happen."

"They're not irrelevant to Alice," Varik countered, carefully arranging the seven devices in a protective case. "She's not a pawn to be moved around your board, Seth. She's a person with her own will, her own desires. If you try to manipulate her into bonding with you the way you've manipulated everything else, it will backfire spectacularly."

I felt the truth in his words like a blade between the ribs. "You think I don't know that?" I said quietly, shadows retreating until they barely clung to the edges of my form. "Every calculation I've made, every move I've orchestrated—it all falls apart if she rejects what I offer."

"Then perhaps you should try being honest with her," Varik suggested, closing the case with a decisive click. "Novel concept, I know, but it might work better than your usual scheming."

Before I could respond, footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. Heart's voice carried clearly through the crystallinewalls—he was approaching with Chi and the others, ready to begin the mission. Varik glanced up at me, a knowing smile curving his lips.

"Time to put your plans in motion, Your Majesty," he said, gathering the case of devices. "Let's hope they survive contact with reality."

I allowed my shadows to resume their natural flow around me, the momentary vulnerability hidden beneath layers of calculated control. "They will," I said with quiet certainty. "The pattern demands it."

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