Page 10 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
"Agreed," Seth said, shadows flowing toward the doorway. "I'll brief the Tweedles and prepare the infiltration route." He paused, dark eyes meeting mine with unexpected directness. "Heart... your mother will expect you to be reckless. She's counting on your emotional attachment to Alice making you predictable. Don't give her what she wants."
I nodded grimly, understanding the strategy behind his warning. The Red Queen had always exploited emotional connections, viewing them as weaknesses to be manipulated rather than strengths to be honored. To save Alice, I would needto think beyond my own desperate need to reach her. Strategy over emotion. Planning over panic.
"I won't," I promised, though the fading pulse of our bond made the words taste like ash. "For once, I'll be the son she never expected."
As Seth disappeared into the shadows, I turned to Chi, whose form was flickering with barely contained fury. "We need to gather the fighters," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the pain radiating from my chest. "Only those we're absolutely certain haven't been compromised."
"Martha's already screening them," Chi replied, his tail lashing anxiously. "Varik's devices confirmed five more with passive corruption signatures. They've been isolated in the containment chambers."
I nodded, trying to ignore the hollow ache spreading through me as Alice's presence grew fainter. I could only hope this rescue would turn out alright.
Chapter
Five
ALICE
Iwas led back to my chambers in a fog of disorientation, the attendants' synchronized movements creating a strange rhythm that seemed to echo in my bones. The silk dress felt heavier now, as if the fabric itself had absorbed some of the Red Queen's corrupting magic. Each step sent ripples of weakness through my legs, making me grateful for the silent support of the mirror-eyed women flanking me.
The collar at my throat pulsed with each heartbeat, a constant reminder of my captivity. Through the crimson haze clouding my thoughts, I tried to focus on the bonds—the golden thread connecting me to Heart felt stretched to its breaking point, while the silver connection to Chi flickered like a dying flame. The Queen's tea concoction was working exactly as intended it seems.
The chamber door sealed behind me with a soft click that somehow sounded final, like the closing of a tomb. I stumbled toward the bed, my legs giving out just as I reached the crimson silk sheets. The attendants arranged pillows around me withmechanical precision, their mirror-eyes reflecting my pale face without warmth or recognition.
"Rest now," one of them murmured, her voice carrying an odd harmonic quality that made my eyelids heavy. "The Queen requires you to be strong for tonight's treatment."
Treatment. The word sent a chill through me despite the unnatural warmth still flowing through my veins. I watched through increasingly blurred vision as they set out fresh clothes—another white dress, this one with silver embroidery that seemed to move when I wasn't looking directly at it.
The attendants departed as silently as they'd arrived, leaving me alone. I lay there staring at the crystalline ceiling, watching the refractions of light dance across the surface like trapped stars. The crimson liquid's effects pulsed through my system in waves—moments of clarity followed by deep fog, each cycle leaving me more disconnected from myself.
I pressed my palm against my chest, searching for the familiar warmth of the bonds that had anchored me since arriving in Wonderland. The golden thread to Heart was still there, but it felt thin as spider silk, trembling with each beat of my heart. The silver connection to Chi flickered in and out of existence, sometimes solid enough to carry echoes of his frantic searching, other times so faint I wondered if I'd imagined it entirely.
The worst part was the growing sense of hollowness inside me.
As the room spun lazily around me, the crystalline formations in the walls refracted light into dancing patterns that made my eyes water. I pressed my hands against my temples, trying to push through the fog that seemed to be thickening with each passing minute.
Through the weakening golden bond, I felt Heart's consciousness surge—stronger than before, as if something thathad been dampening our connection had been removed. The sudden clarity was like a lifeline thrown to a drowning person. I clung to that sensation, drawing strength from his distant presence even as the Red Queen's poison worked to sever our connection.
Heart…Chi…I thought desperately, pouring every ounce of my remaining will into the golden thread.I'm still here. Still fighting.
The response came back faint but unmistakable—a pulse of determination and protective fury that made the collar at my throat flare with warning heat. He was alive, wounded but alive, and searching for me. The knowledge gave me something to anchor myself to as the crimson fog tried to pull me deeper into its embrace.
I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the way the movement made the room tilt alarmingly. The silver dress they'd laid out for me seemed to shimmer with its own light, the embroidery moving like living things across the fabric. Something about it made my skin crawl.
I pushed myself off the bed, determined to find any means of resistance while my mind still retained some clarity. The collar pulsed against my throat, sensing my defiance, but I ignored its warning heat. My legs trembled beneath me as I crossed to the window, pressing my palms against the cool crystal surface.
The view outside had changed. Where before I'd seen the bone gardens and twisted trees, now I faced an endless expanse of crimson sky, no horizon line to be found. Reality itself seemed fluid here, shifting according to the Queen's whims. Or perhaps it was the drug in my system, altering my perception of what was real.
I turned away, scanning the chamber for anything I might use—a weapon, a tool, even just a signal to send to Heart and Chi. But the room contained nothing sharp, nothing solidenough to break the collar. The Queen had prepared the gilded cage with a meticulous attention to detail. Even the furniture seemed to meld with the walls, as if grown from the same crystalline structure rather than placed there.
A wave of dizziness swept over me, forcing me to grip the window ledge for support. The crimson liquid's effects were intensifying, spreading through my system in pulsing waves that made it increasingly difficult to form coherent thoughts. Through our weakened bond, I felt Heart's concern spike as he sensed my growing disorientation.
I slid down to the floor, pressing my forehead against the cool crystal of the window. The collar hummed against my throat, its carved patterns warming as if responding to my distress. I traced my fingers over its surface, feeling the intricate enchantments embedded in the bone-like material. There had to be a way to remove it, to restore my connection to the pattern and strengthen the bonds being systematically destroyed by the Queen's ritual.
"I won't let her take you," I whispered to the pattern, to myself. "I won't let her break us."
A soft chime echoed through the chamber, making me flinch at the unexpected noise. The door slid open, revealing Captain Aldric. His frozen-blood eyes surveyed me with clinical detachment as he entered, carrying another silver tray with a steaming cup.
"You shouldn't be on the floor," he said, setting the tray on a small table that seemed to materialize from the wall itself. "The Queen would be displeased to find her daughter in such an undignified position."
