Page 90 of Happily Ever Witch
The Mad Hatter squinted, as if he was imagining that architectural choice.
“Defeating my army would have taken a spell of incredible magnitude and Esmeralda doesn’t have it.” The Queen of Clubs continued. “She’d have to possess level five magic to pull it off.”
Atleastlevel five magic.
The Queen of Clubs was a level five and she wasn’t sure she could’ve vaporized thousands of men, all at once. No one could do that, except maybe that jackass from El Dorado and he was a level six.
Her breath caught. A level six. Was it possible…?
The Queen of Clubs glanced at her husband, again.
His swirling eyes met hers and she knew he was suddenly concerned. “Whose is fairest, Anna?” He asked, his gaze swirling round and round and round.
The Hatter might be mad, but their thoughts were often in clockwork synch. The Queen of Clubs wasn’t sure what that said about her own sanity, but she knew it made them an unstoppable team.
Except the witch and the dragon had just beaten them.
Unable to help herself, the Queen of Clubs rose to her feet. She moved to the ornate golden mirror hanging beside her throne. It was shaped like a club and imbued with magic. Staring at her perfect, ageless reflection for a long moment, she rallied her courage. Her hair was black as ebony, flowing thick and long. Her skin was white as the snow that covered the icy Kingdom of Clubs. She was still beautiful, even after all these centuries.
The spell she’d cast, so long ago, had been worth the price. To stay forever young, she’d needed to trade something of great value and so she’d given up her chance to have a child of her own. That had been hard. She was naturally giving and very maternal. But, she’d been smarter than the magic trying to constrain her. She’d found another way to become a mother. Now, she had her own dear family and she needed to ensure their future.
The Queen of Clubs took a deep breath. “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall… Whose magic is fairest of them all?”
Hermagic was the fairest in Wonderland.
Ithadto be hers. It always was before, whenever she asked the question. According to the White Rabbit’s Magic Matrix, the Queen of Clubs was fifty-five percent Bad. That was almost perfectly balanced with her Good. She was the epitome of fairness and order. No other queen could ever rule with more justice, or strength, or motherly goddamn devotion. Wonderland would be hers, because she was destined to…
An image of that green-skinned witch appeared in the looking glass, obscuring the Queen of Clubs’ reflection and cutting off her desperate thoughts.
The Mad Hatter stopped twirling his pocket watch and flipped himself around in his chair. “Oh bother.”
The guard inched towards the door, sensing danger. “I’ll just be going…”
The Queen of Clubs’ beautiful face compressed in fury and she stabbed a finger in the playing card’s direction. He was instantly blown off his feet in an unholy gale. His flat body tumbled out the closest window. A panicked scream echoed, as he plunged downward and was shredded by the landscaping of the formal garden far below.
Carnivorous rosebushes were always a bitch to fall into. Especially from five stories up.
“Why wasn’t she stopped?!” She screamed at her husband, pacing around the throne room. “I hired that idiot Florian to ensure my army succeeded and insteadthishappens!”
“We shouldn’t have let him leave, until after the battle.” The Mad Hatter lamented. “We’ll never get a refund on his consulting fee, now.”
“Trevelyan must have done something to amplify the witch’s magic. He’s behind all of this, nother. I told you that bastard was clever.” The Queen of Clubs didn’t know all the details of what had occurred in the Heart Kingdom, but she knew the Green Dragon was directly responsible for ruining her plans.
Again.
She’d nearly had the key to the damn spell years ago, but he’d escaped the Wicked, Ugly, and Bad prison before Snow White could get it from him. He’d used her poor stepdaughter and wrecked the Queen of Clubs’ scheme, all in one night.
“We should just kill him, Anna.” The Mad Hatter’s head tilted this way and that, as his thoughts traveled along twisted, unnatural pathways. “The dragon’s dangerous to have alive. And the witch is his True Love. When a villain finds his True Love, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
“Dragons don’t care about True Loves. Everyone knows that. There must be more to his scheme.”
The Mad Hatter didn’t seem convinced. “Regardless, we control three of the kingdoms, already. Forget about Hearts, for now. Focus on clearing those bigoted, anti-magic humans out of Diamonds.” He made a face. “I should have gotten rid of them, while I was there. I can’t stand the Gyre.”
“They’rehumans. Anyone can handle humans.”
“And yet their numbers keep growing, in every known land.”
She snorted in derision. “I’ll stop them before they expand into more of Wonderland. For now, they’re useful. The more magical people they execute on that beach, the less there are to challenge me.”
