Page 25 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
Imaterialized in the shadow-draped corridor outside the Red Queen's throne room, my essence coalescing from void-black mist as I assessed the situation. The sounds of battle echoed through the crystalline halls—desperate fighting as Heart and Chi's diversionary force engaged the Queen's defenders. Through the whisper-thin connection to Alice, I could feel her safely reaching the extraction point, the pattern beneath her skin strengthening with each passing minute now that the collar was removed.
My shadows flowed ahead, scouting the throne room's perimeter. The Queen's rage radiated through the palace like a physical force, cracking obsidian pillars and making the living flame chandeliers flare crimson with her fury. Inside, Heart and Chi hung suspended in crimson bonds, their forms wrapped in the Queen's corrupted magic as she paced below them like a predator denied its prey.
"WHERE IS SHE?" the Red Queen's voice cracked like a whip, making the crystalline formations shudder around her."WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN HER?"
Heart's laughter only enraged her further, his ruby eyes gleaming with satisfaction despite the crimson bonds cutting into his flesh. "Did you really think I'd come alone, Mother? That I'd risk everything on a frontal assault when Alice's life was at stake?"
The Queen's perfect features contorted with rage, her composure cracking to reveal the ancient, terrible power beneath. "You're stalling. You know nothing of strategy—you never have. This pathetic rescue attempt proves it."
"Does it?" Chi's voice was calm despite his bound state, his form flickering between solid and translucent as he tested the limits of his magical prison. "Or perhaps you've underestimated Heart.Again."
I moved closer, my shadows flowing like liquid along the obsidian walls. The Queen's attention was focused entirely on her captives, her fury blinding her to other threats. Perfect. My shadows coiled tighter as I prepared to strike, but something made me pause—the way Heart's eyes flicked toward the throne room's eastern alcove, a subtle signal meant for someone watching.
"You always were too emotional, my son," the Queen continued, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper as she circled beneath the suspended prisoners. "It makes you predictable. Weak." She gestured, and more crimson bonds materialized, wrapping around Heart's throat. "Tell me where she is, and I might allow your Cheshire to live.”
Chi's form solidified with protective fury, silver patterns blazing beneath his skin despite the magical suppression. "Don't tell her anything, Heart. Alice is safe—that's what matters.”
The Queen's ruby eyes flashed with malevolent satisfaction. "Safe? How delightfully naive." She raised her hand, crimson energy crackling between her fingers. "Did you truly believe removing one collar would free her completely? The corruptionhas already begun—silver and gold tainted with my essence. Even now, she carries part of me within her."
Through the whisper of Void bond, I felt Alice's distant alarm as something dark pulsed beneath her restored pattern. The Queen hadn't been lying—traces of her blood magic remained, dormant but present, waiting to be activated.
"You're bluffing," Heart snarled, though I caught the flicker of uncertainty in his ruby eyes.
"Am I?" The Queen's perfect lips curved into a smile that made my shadows recoil instinctively. "The tonic doesn't simply suppress—it transforms. Each dose wove my magic deeper into her. The corruption is subtle, but permanent. The longer she's separated from me, the more painful it becomes." She traced a pattern in the air, crimson light following her fingertips. "Shall I demonstrate?"
My shadows tensed, ready to intervene, when movement in the eastern alcove caught my attention. Varik, the Hatter, crouched in the shadows, his chaotic collection of devices humming with barely contained energy as he prepared whatever extraction method Heart had arranged. The Queen, blind in her rage, hadn't detected his presence.
"You forget something fundamental about Alice," Heart said, his voice steady despite the crimson bonds tightening around his throat. "The pattern chose her because she embodies its original purpose—free will over coercion, genuine connection over dominance."
The Queen's laughter echoed through the throne room like shattered glass. "Such sentimentality!” The Queen's hands swept upward, crimson energy swirling around her fingers. "The pattern is nothing but raw potential waiting to be shaped by a stronger will. My will."
I slipped closer through the shadows, positioning myself for optimal intervention. Heart's eyes caught mine for just a fractionof a second—acknowledgment without betraying my presence. The Hatter's devices in the eastern alcove began to pulse with increasing frequency, a countdown to whatever extraction plan they'd devised.
"Now," the Queen continued, her perfect features twisting with malice, "I'll ask one final time. Where is Alice?"
"She's beyond your reach," Chi replied, his form flickering with defiance despite the crimson bonds restraining him. "And your corruption won't last. The pattern is already purging it."
The Queen's composure fractured completely. With a scream of rage, she sent a wave of crimson energy toward Chi, the magic designed to cause maximum pain without death. But before it could strike, Varik's devices activated simultaneously.
The throne room exploded into chaos as crystalline smoke bombs detonated throughout the chamber, filling the air with opalescent mist that interfered with magical targeting. The Hatter's voice echoed from multiple directions as his devices created sonic duplicates.
"Your Majesty!" he called mockingly from seemingly everywhere at once. "You seem to have misplaced your prisoners!"
I struck in the same instant, my shadows surging upward to slice through the crimson bonds holding Heart and Chi. The Queen spun toward me, her ruby eyes blazing with recognition and fury.
"The King of Spades," she hissed, crimson energy crackling around her like a storm. "I should have known you'd involve yourself directly. You were the first Queen’s favorite."
"You should have," I agreed, my shadows coiling around Heart and Chi, shielding them as they dropped to the floor. "Your fixation on the past blinds you to the present."
The Queen snarled, crimson energy erupting from her fingertips in deadly arcs. My shadows deflected the worst ofit, though some broke through, searing across my shoulder with burning intensity. The throne room trembled with her rage, crystalline formations cracking under the pressure of her unleashed power.
"You've always underestimated me, Seth," she hissed, her perfect features contorting with hatred. "Just as you underestimated my daughter's love for me."
"Rosalind would be horrified by what you've become," I replied, my shadows flowing to intercept another blast of crimson energy. "She loved Wonderland as much as she loved you,Cordelia."
The Queen's face contorted at the sound of her true name, a name she'd long ago discarded. The crimson light around her pulsed violently, sending shockwaves through the crystalline chamber.
"You dare speak her name? You dare speak mine?" Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "You, who stood by and watched as the plague consumed her? You, who did nothing while my Rosalind suffered?"
