Page 8 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
"The Red Court," Seth, the King of Spades, said grimly, his shadows forming intricate patterns as they analyzed the corruption in the dagger. "She's taken Alice to her inner sanctum. The palace exists partially outside normal space-time—a pocket dimension she created centuries ago to protect herself from magical detection."
I coughed, more golden blood spattering across the crystalline floor. The wound was deepening, the corruption spreading with each passing minute. Through our weakening bond, I felt Alice's consciousness becoming increasingly foggy, as if something was drugging her, pulling her away from me thread by thread.
"Do it," I commanded, my voice carrying the authority of centuries despite my weakened state.
Seth's hands moved with surgical precision, his shadows wrapping around the dagger's hilt while Varik positioned the containment sphere directly over the wound. The crystalline orb hummed with barely contained energy, its surface rippling like liquid mercury as it prepared to absorb the corruption.
"On three," Seth said, his voice steady despite the gravity of what we were attempting. "One... two..."
He yanked the blade free in one fluid motion, golden blood erupting from the wound as the corruption immediately began to spread outward like black veins beneath my skin. The containment sphere flared to life, pulling the dark magic into its depths where it writhed and twisted like a living thing before finally dissolving into nothingness.
Pain exploded through my chest, white-hot and all-consuming, but beneath it I felt something else—the golden bond with Alice strengthening, no longer fighting against the corruption that had been dampening our connection. The moment of clarity only lasted for a minute before pain spread through me and darkness overtook me.
I woke to the taste of copper and the sound of Chi's voice cutting through the haze of pain. The dagger wound in my chest throbbed with each heartbeat, but it was the ache in the golden bond that nearly drove me to madness. Alice's presence flickered like a candle in a hurricane—distant, muted, more wrong.
"Heart, you need to stay still," Chi said, his form solidifying beside the makeshift medical bed they'd moved me to. His teal eyes blazed with fury barely held in check. "The blade was coated with something that's slowing your healing."
I tried to sit up, ignoring the way the movement sent lightning through my chest. "How long have I been unconscious?"
"Six hours," Martha answered from the doorway, her scarred face grim. Through the golden bond, I felt Alice's consciousness growing more distant, as if she were sinking into deep water. The wrongness of whatever they were doing to her made my teeth clench with protective fury.
"Six hours too long," I growled, forcing myself upright despite Chi's protests. The wound protested with sharp lances of pain, but I could feel my accelerated healing beginning to work on the damaged tissue. "She's getting further away. I can barely sense her through our connection."
Seth materialized from the shadows, his form more solid than usual—a sign of his own agitation. "The Queen moves quickly once she has what she wants. Every moment we delay gives her more time to complete whatever ritual she's planning."
"Ritual?" Chi's form flickered with alarm, his tail lashing as he processed the implications. "What kind of ritual?"
"Pattern transference," Seth replied, his voice carrying a dark tone as his eyes flashed with worry before he hid it again.
"Pattern transference?" Chi's form solidified completely, his tail going still with shock. "That's impossible. The pattern chooses its bearer—it can't simply be ripped away."
I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the fresh wave of golden blood that seeped through the bandages wrapped around my chest. The room tilted alarmingly, but I forced myself to remain upright through sheer will.
"My mother specializes in the impossible," I said grimly. "If anyone could devise a way to steal the pattern, it would be The Queen of Hearts."
Seth's shadows coiled tighter, betraying his concern despite his controlled expression. "The ritual requires specific conditions—a blood moon, extensive preparation of the vessel, and the systematic weakening of existing bonds."
The implications hit me like another dagger. Through our connection, I'd felt Alice's presence growing more distant, more muffled. Not just from distance, but from something actively severing our connection thread by thread.
"She's already started," I realized, my voice hoarse with rage and fear. "That's why Alice feels so distant—the Queen is methodically destroying our bonds."
Chi's form flickered with barely contained violence, the silver patterns beneath his skin blazing with protective fury. "We need to move now. Every hour weakens Alice's connection to us."
Seth nodded, his shadows forming intricate patterns as he calculated possibilities. "The Red Court inner section of the castle exists in a pocket dimension, but there are still ways to reach it. Doorways hidden throughout Wonderland for those who know where to look."
"And you know where to look," I said, making it a statement rather than a question. The King of Spades had always maintained connections everywhere—including, I suspected, within my mother's inner circle.
"I know of three potential entry points," Seth admitted, his shadows forming a map-like pattern in the air between us. "The closest is through the gardens—a maze of corrupted flora that serves as the outer perimeter of her domain. The second lies beneath the Crimson Lake, accessible only during the darkest hour before dawn. The third..." He paused, shadows flickering with what might have been reluctance. "The third is through the Mirror Halls, but that path requires a sacrifice I'm not certain any of us are prepared to make."
"What kind of sacrifice?" Martha asked, her scarred face set in grim lines as she stepped fully into the room. The veteran fighter had seen enough horrors to know that desperate times often demanded terrible prices.
Seth's form seemed to waver slightly, as if the very mention of this path disturbed him. "The Mirror Halls reflect not just your image, but your deepest fears, your greatest failures, your darkest secrets. To pass through them intact requires confronting every aspect of yourself you've spent lifetimes trying to forget." His shadows writhed with ancient pain. "Many who enter never emerge, not because they die, but because they become lost in their own reflections."
I felt the golden bond pulse weakly, carrying echoes of Alice's growing disorientation. Whatever my mother was doing to her was accelerating, and we were running out of time for careful planning.
"The gardens," I decided, pushing aside my body's protests as I reached for my weapons. "It's the most direct route, and Alice needs us now."
Chi's form solidified with determination, his silver patterns blazing brighter. "I can phase us through the outer defenses, but once we're inside her domain, my abilities will be severely limited. The Red Court's magic interferes with reality manipulation."
