Page 12 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
This revelation struck me like lightning. "Consent? But she's drugging me, breaking my bonds?—"
"Weakening, yes. Breaking, no." Aldric's voice dropped lower, barely audible above the crystalline hum of the chamber. "The Queen believes she can sever your connections completely, but the First Queen's magic was built on choice, not coercion. Even at your weakest, a fragment of will remains. Guard it. Hide it. It's your only defense when the final ritual begins."
Hope flickered in my chest, small but fierce. "How do I protect something I can barely feel anymore?"
"Memory," he said, his voice carrying the weight of someone who had learned this lesson through bitter experience. "The Queen's magic can cloud your thoughts, weaken your bonds, even alter your perception of reality. But memory—true memory, the kind forged in moments of genuine connection—that runs deeper than any corruption she can devise."
I leaned forward, clinging to his words as the crimson fog tried to creep back into my consciousness. "What kind of memories?"
"The first time you felt the pattern respond to your will. The moment you realized Heart and Chi were more than just allies—they were anchors to who you are." His frozen-blood eyes grew distant. "My younger sister used to tell me that love wasn't a feeling, but a choice made over and over again. Even when the plague was consuming her, she chose to remember joy instead of pain."
I pressed my hand against my chest, searching for the golden thread that connected me to Heart. It felt thinner than before, stretched to the point of breaking, but still there—a fragile lifeline in the crimson haze. The silver connection to Chi flickered like distant starlight, but it too remained unbroken.
"She was right, your sister," I whispered, clinging to the memory of Heart's smile, Chi's protective presence. "Even when everything else is taken, the choice remains."
Aldric nodded, a hint of genuine warmth breaking through his perfect façade. "The Queen doesn't understand that. She believes power is absolute, that will can be broken like bone. It's why she'll fail, in the end."
"But not before she hurts more people," I said, thinking of Lily's vacant eyes, the hollow emptiness where her soul had once resided.
"Perhaps," Aldric said, his voice carrying a note of regret. "But some prices are worth paying if it means preserving what matters most." He moved back toward the door, his perfect composure settling into place like armor. "Finish your meal. The Queen will summon you for dinner."
I nodded, taking another bite of the sandwich though it tasted like ash now. The brief moment of clarity was already fading, the crimson fog creeping back at the edges of my consciousness. But Aldric's words echoed in my mind: memory, choice, the fragment of will that could never be fully extinguished.
"Captain," I called as he reached the door. He paused, not turning around. "Your sister... what was her name?"
His shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly. "Rosalind," he said quietly. "Her name was Rosalind." Then I was left in the quiet room, as I silently ate my food, my mind going a mile a minute, wondering what was to come.
Chapter
Six
SETH
Iglanced around, Alice had only been gone for a full day, and now it's been decided the time for retrieving her had been pushed back to gather more allies. I moved silently through the shadows, watching as the Tweedles prepared themselves for the mission ahead.
They were nothing like their usual playful selves—their movements precise, synchronized in a way that spoke of centuries of combat training most never witnessed. Vee adjusted a series of crystalline devices along his forearm while Dee calibrated what appeared to be temporal anchors—technology far beyond what most of Wonderland understood.
"They're still underestimating us," Vee murmured, not looking up from his work.
"They always do," Dee replied, his fingers dancing across controls too complex for ordinary eyes to follow. "It's our greatest advantage."
I stepped from the shadows, making my presence known. "And your greatest protection. The Red Queen believes you're merely eccentric curiosities—nothing more.”
The twins looked up in unison, their eyes reflecting light in a way that marked them as something far more ancient than their youthful appearance suggested.
"The Queen underestimates many things," Vee said, his voice losing its usual playful lilt. "Including how time works around those who exist partially outside it."
"She believes her temporal distortions will disorient any rescuers," Dee added, finishing his brother's thought seamlessly. "But we've navigated worse currents."
I nodded, my shadows coiling thoughtfully as I observed their preparations. The Tweedles had always been anomalies in Wonderland—beings who appeared frivolous and chaotic to most observers, while hiding depths that even I had only glimpsed in rare moments. Their connection to the pattern was different from the traditional bonds, existing in multiple temporal planes simultaneously.
"Heart doesn't fully trust my involvement," I said, stating the obvious as my shadows formed intricate patterns across the floor. "His suspicion is understandable but could complicate matters if he decides to deviate from the plan."
"He won't," Vee said with quiet certainty, tightening a final crystal on his wrist guard. "His bond with Alice is stronger than his distrust of you."
"Besides," Dee added, "Chi will keep him focused. The Cheshire's pragmatism balances Heart's emotional instincts."
I circled the chamber, observing the array of equipment they'd assembled—devices that seemed to shift between solid form and ghostly possibility, existing in multiple states simultaneously. My shadows brushed against one, recoiling slightly at the temporal displacement it created.
