Page 88 of Knot My Wonderland

I stared at him, trying to understand his angle. The King of Spades never asked questions without purpose. "I'll do what's best for Alice and for Wonderland. My personal feelings are irrelevant."

"Are they?" The King pushed away from the wall, his shadows flowing around him like liquid night. "The Heart Stone doesn't just connect you to Alice—it amplifies what already exists between you. Your emotions affect the bond, Prince. Your jealousy creates dissonance that weakens what should be a source of strength."

I felt the truth of his words through the Heart Stone itself—my territorial frustration created a discordant note in the otherwise harmonious connection. Alice's unconscious mind sensed it even in sleep, her pattern adjusting to compensate for the strain I was inadvertently causing.

"What would you have me do?" I asked, hating the vulnerability in my voice. "Accept that Chi will always have a deeper connection with her than I can hope for?"

"Accept that each bond serves a different purpose," the King replied, his shadows forming complex patterns that reminded me uncomfortably of the silver traceries beneath Alice's skin. "Cheshire anchors her ability to exist across realities. You provide leadership, strategic vision, and emotional stability." His dark eyes met mine with unexpected directness. "Neither is superior. Both are essential."

I leaned against the crystalline wall, feeling suddenly exhausted. The Heart Stone pulsed with quiet warmth as I tried to process the King's words. "And your role in all this? Where do you fit in these 'essential' bonds?"

"That remains to be seen," the King replied, his shadows coiling tighter around him. "The pattern chooses its own anchors based on what Alice needs, not what any of us might prefer."

"You speak as if you have no influence over the outcome," I said, studying his shadowed features. "Yet you've manipulated events since before Alice arrived in Wonderland."

The King's expression remained impassive, though his shadows flickered briefly with what might have been discomfort. "I arrange the circumstances. I cannot force connections."

"A convenient distinction," I observed dryly. "And one that allows you to claim innocence when your machinations inevitably cause harm."

"Harm?" The Spade Kings voice lowered with an almost ice quality to it now, “I would never harm her. I willkillto protect her, and even if she decides to not bond with me, Iwillkeep her safe from the shadows, getting rid of whoever is in her way.”

The King's words hung in the air between us like a blade. I stared at him, seeing past his usual calculated composure to something darker and more obsessive beneath. The shadows around him writhed with barely contained violence, and for the first time since I'd known him, the King of Spades looked genuinely dangerous.

"You're in love with her," I said quietly, the realization hitting me like a physical blow. "This isn't about saving Wonderland or completing some ancient pattern. You want Alice for yourself."

His shadows stilled completely, creating an unnatural silence that made my skin crawl. "Love is a simplistic word for what I feel," he said finally, his voice carrying centuries of longing. "I have watched the pattern develop for decades, waiting for a dreamer strong enough to carry it. Alice is...extraordinary."

"She's not a prize to be won," I snapped, "She's a person with free will," I continued, my hand moving instinctively to my sword hilt. "Not some vessel for your ambitions."

The King's shadows surged outward before snapping back under his control, the momentary lapse revealing more about his emotional state than any words could have. "You thinkI don't know that?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why do you think I've kept my distance, arranged circumstances rather than forcing outcomes? The pattern rejects compulsion. It must be freely given, freely accepted."

Through the Heart Stone, I felt Alice's peaceful sleep, the silver patterns of her magic pulsing in slow, healing rhythms. Chi's protective presence wrapped around her consciousness like a living shield, their strengthened bond creating harmonies that even I could appreciate through our connection.

"You claim to respect her choice," I said carefully, studying the King's shadowed features, "yet you've been manipulating events to ensure she has only one viable path forward."

The King of Spades moved closer, his shadows flowing like liquid darkness. "I've been ensuring she survives long enough to have any choice at all," he corrected, eyes flashing with something ancient and hungry. "The Red Queen would have drained her essence within hours of her arrival if I hadn't intervened. The King of Diamonds would have imprisoned her in his crystal towers for experimentation. The Queen of Clubs would have bound her consciousness to the ancient forests, merging her with Wonderland's wild magic until nothing human remained."

His shadows formed brief images that flickered and dissolved—Alice in chains, Alice transformed into something unrecognizable, Alice fading to nothing as her essence was consumed by hungry magic.

"You think your resistance could have protected her from any of that?" he continued, “I may be manipulative and not give all the truth, but I am keeping her alive.”

I felt my jaw clench, hating the truth in his words. My resistance fighters were brave and dedicated, but against the full might of the monarchs? We'd been surviving through guerrilla tactics and strategic retreats, not direct confrontation.

"So what happens when she completes all five bonds?" I asked, watching his shadows coil with anticipation. "When the pattern reaches full manifestation? What then, Your Majesty?"

"Then Wonderland has a chance to heal," he replied, his voice carrying an unfamiliar note of hope. "The borders between territories will stabilize. The magic that's been fracturing since the First Queen's ascension will find equilibrium again."

"And the monarchs? Do you really expect the Red Queen to surrender her power peacefully? Or the King of Diamonds to abandon his experiments?"

The King's shadows formed shapes like weapons—swords, daggers, arrows—before dissolving back into formless darkness. "The monarchs will have a choice," he said, his voice hardening with resolve. "Adapt to a unified Wonderland or face extinction. The pattern doesn't require their elimination, but it won't tolerate their continued corruption of the realm's fundamental magic."

I studied him, trying to discern truth from manipulation. "And your crown? Your territory? Would you surrender those?"

"My crown serves a purpose," he replied, shadows shifting thoughtfully. "The Void Court maintains balance between realities. Someone must continue that work, regardless of how Wonderland's borders are redrawn."

"Convenient that your role remains essential," I observed dryly.

The King's lips curved into a humorless smile. "The shadows existed before me, Prince. They will continue long after. I simply give them direction, purpose."

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