Page 39 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
"A scrying sphere," Vee said with approval, his silver eyes reflecting the crystal's opalescent glow. "The pattern anticipated our need for surveillance."
I reached toward the sphere, gasping as images shifted within the mist. The Red Queen paced her throne room in a fury, crimson energy crackling around her as she screamed orders at cowering servants. Her perfect features were twisted with rage, ruby eyes blazing with an intensity that made the crystal itself seem to recoil.
"She's mobilized her entire court," Chi observed, his tail lashing as he watched card soldiers spreading across Wonderland like spilled ink. The sphere flickered, showing more disturbing scenes—blood golems marching through villages, interrogating terrified citizens with questions about a "kidnapped princess." Bounty notices nailed to trees bearing my face, promising rewards for information leading to my "rescue." The Queen's propaganda machine was working overtime,painting me as her beloved adopted daughter stolen away by rebels and criminals.
"This is worse than we anticipated," Heart murmured, his ruby eyes darkening as he watched a family being dragged from their home for questioning. "She's using you as an excuse to tighten her control over all of Wonderland."
I stared at the sphere, guilt washing through me as I witnessed the consequences of my escape. The pattern sensed my distress, the crystal clouding briefly before showing a different scene—Seth confronting a squad of card soldiers who had cornered a young woman selling flowers in the market. His shadows dispatched them with ruthless efficiency, whisking the terrified woman to safety before the Queen's reinforcements could arrive.
"Seth is protecting people," I whispered, relief tempering my guilt as the sphere showed similar scenes throughout Wonderland—members of the resistance countering the Queen's forces, creating safe passages for those targeted by her rage.
"The Void Court has always operated in opposition to the Red Queen," Dee explained, adjusting something on his temporal devices. "Seth's network runs deeper than even we realized."
The crystal sphere pulsed once before dissolving back into streams of silver and gold light that flowed beneath my skin. The pattern's satisfaction hummed through our connection—it had shown me exactly what I needed to see, both the danger and the hope.
"You did well," Heart said, his hand finding mine as the last wisps of light disappeared. "That was a true partnership with the pattern."
I nodded, though the spark of guilt flickered into my chest at what people were going though because of me…because I escaped.
“Your escape didn't cause this," Dee said quietly, noting my expression. "The Queen was always going to escalate her control. You simply provided the pretext she needed."
I touched the crystal sphere gently, watching as the images shifted once more—showing the Queen in a private moment, staring at a portrait of a young woman with features similar to mine. Her perfect mask had slipped, revealing something raw and desperate beneath the calculated cruelty.
The sphere clouded again before clearing to show the Queen mixing tonics in her private laboratory, crimson energy swirling around her fingers as she worked. But these weren't the same sedatives she'd used on me—these glowed with a different kind of malevolence, pulsing with corrupted magic that made my skin crawl even through the scrying sphere.
"Control serums," Vee said grimly, recognizing the magical signature. "She's preparing to dose entire populations if necessary."
My blood ran cold as the implications hit me. The Queen wasn't just hunting me anymore—she was preparing to chemically subjugate anyone who might harbor sympathy for my cause. The pattern beneath my skin recoiled from the images, silver and gold light flickering with distress at witnessing such perversion of magical arts.
"How long before she can mass-produce those serums?" I asked, my voice tight with horror as the sphere showed vats of the glowing liquid being prepared in underground laboratories.
"Days, not weeks," Chi replied, his form flickering with agitation. "The Queen has been preparing for this possibility for decades. She just needed the right catalyst."
Heart's golden patterns flared with protective fury. "We can't let her poison half of Wonderland because of me—because of us."
"Which is why your training must accelerate," Vee said, his silver eyes calculating temporal possibilities. "The pattern chose you not just to escape the Queen, but to stop her. We have eleven more days left here…and during those days we will make sure you are ready if needed.”
I stared at the dissolving remnants of the scrying sphere, feeling the weight of responsibility settle on my shoulders. Through our bond, the pattern pulsed with something that felt like encouragement—not pressure, but gentle support for whatever decision I might make.
"Then let's not waste any more time," I said, surprising myself with the steadiness in my voice. The pattern responded to my resolve, silver and gold light spiraling beneath my skin with renewed purpose. "If the Queen is escalating this quickly, I need to be ready to face her."
Heart's ruby eyes searched my face, concern warring with pride. "Alice, you've only been training for three days?—"
"And I have eleven more," I interrupted, the pattern's confidence flowing through me like liquid courage. "The pattern is showing me things, Heart. Possibilities I never imagined. I think... I think it's been waiting a long time for someone who could truly partner with it."
Chi's tail lashed thoughtfully. "The pattern does seem more responsive to you than any previous bearer we've witnessed. But partnership requires understanding both your capabilities and your limits."
"Which is why we need to move beyond basic communication," Dee said, his silver eyes reflecting calculations invisible to me. "If you're truly going to partner with the pattern, you need to understand its full language—not just what it shows you, but what it can do when fully awakened."
I felt a flutter of nervous anticipation. "Awakened? I thought it was already active."
Vee shook his head, a rare smile touching his lips. "What you've experienced so far is merely the pattern introducing itself. Like learning someone's name rather than truly knowing them."
Heart stepped closer, his golden patterns rippling beneath his skin. "The pattern has been in a dormant state for centuries, Alice. The Red Queen's corruption of its purpose caused it to withdraw, to protect itself by revealing only fragments of its true nature."
"But it's responding differently to you," Chi added, his tail curling thoughtfully. "Opening more fully with each interaction. The pattern recognizes something in you that it hasn't found in other bearers."
I looked down at my hands, watching silver and gold light trace delicate patterns across my skin - not random pulses as before, but intricate designs that seemed to tell a story.
