Page 91 of Happily Ever Witch
“And when they come to executeus?”
“We’ll kill them, of course.” She scoffed dismissively. “The Gyre is still small here. Confined to the Diamond Kingdom. I have much bigger problems than those zealots. You’ve seen the calendar! Tove is coming up.” That damn extra day wormed its way into weeks where it didn’t belong, creating all kinds of chaos.
“The eighth square is on schedule…” The Mad Hatter’s voice trailed off as a bread-and-butterfly buzzed past.
Slowly lifting his pocket watch, he pressed the stopper on top and froze the insect in midair. The bug hovered there, suspended in motionless flight. Giggling like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen, the Hatter grabbed it between his thumb and forefinger, and popped it into his mouth.
“I’ve asked you not to eat those.” The Queen of Clubs muttered distractedly. He used his amazing magic for the most ridiculous things sometimes.
She blamed his bloodline for his lack of couth. His great-grandfather had been a yeti. The Queen of Clubs preferred not to know how a hatter and a yeti mated. Yetis were big, grunting animals, so she doubted there had been much romance involved. They also fed on magic and the Mad Hatter had inherited that hunger. He needed to gorge himself on Goodness at regular intervals, to replenish his energy.
It was a small issue, though. There was always some innocent little maid he could suck dry. The death of a few anonymous girls was a small price to pay for his enormous powers. As a species, Hatters’ magic was always linked to time and her husband’s skill was particularly extraordinary.
Her eyes went to the window, admiring the Mad Hatter’s greatest achievement. The Chessboard Tower was situated so it could be seen from the throne room. The Queen of Clubs loved the game. Her husband didn’t even play chess --Again, his bloodline wasn’t the most erudite-- but he’d put all his talents into building the tower to make her happy. He’d given it to her on the day she donned the Club Kingdom’s tiara and become queen.
It loomed over the courtyard, its forbidding exterior tiled in a spiraling, black-and-white checkerboard pattern. Unlike an ordinary, round-faced clock, with numbers and hands, the MadHatter’s tower had a gigantic chessboard at its top. It kept time with ever-shifting pieces. They moved back-and-forth in their proper patterns through mechanized magic.
Keeping track of each moment, until she was promoted to empress.
Only a few pieces remained in the countdown and they showed the white side was the clear frontrunner. There was no way the reds could win. It was preposterous.
So why did it seem like her time was running out?
The Queen of Clubs shook off the uneasy sensation. Her attention switched to the table in the corner. It was piled high with every color and brand of sealing wax ever invented. Made of every possible material and substance. From every known land and three unknown ones. Created from magic, bought at stores, melted, unmelted, stolen, given as goddamn unbirthday presents… And none of them worked in that impossible spell.
Noneof them.
She’d done everything right. She was sure of it. The fault had to lie somewhere else. The Magic Matrix only put the Queen of Clubs at fifty-five percent Bad.Thatwas the real issue. While it allowed her to be completely fair, she just wasn’t dark enough.
She was amother! Loving and selfless to her core.
The ethereal white queen on any chessboard.
Clearly, only someone evil could cast the spell. A dark, super-powered villain, like Trevelyan, Last of the Green Dragons. He was a level five and he’d spent time studying the damn spell. Trevelyan knew how it worked. And his magic was pitch fucking black.
To ensure the glorious future of Wonderland, she needed that spell to work. She wasn’t some power-hungry lunatic, only out for herself. This was foreveryone.
Wonderland needed to change. Other kingdoms mocked its wackiness, polka dots, and revolving procession of beheaded queens. She was sick to death of ruling over one tiny corner of a laughingstock backwater. The whole kingdom had to be fixed. The whimsy ripped out by the roots. The anarchy tamed. The kaleidoscope of colors changed to elegant black and white.
As empress, the Queen of Clubs would create order from the chaos. She’d elevate Wonderland to its rightful spot on the international stage. Media. Celebrities. People whomatteredwould soon call it home.
Once she made Wonderland prosperous and popular, everyone would admit that she was incredible at her job. Hatty would be so proud. Her daughter would have a successful role model. She would finally be applauded and thanked for her many sacrifices. This plan was the only way to have it all.
And like any working mom, the Queen of Clubs deserved itall.
“No.” Her blood-red lips pressed together. “Nothing is lost.” She refused to accept that. “The situation is just… evolving.” She would have to adjust and compensate for other people’s stupidity. Her family was counting on her.
The door to the throne room opened and Snow White came wandering in. “Mommy?”
The Queen of Clubs’ instantly focused on her precious stepdaughter. “Dearest, you should be resting.” She hurried to her side, already fussing over her. “You need to look your best for our family dinner tonight.”
Snow White’s wide eyes blinked up at her, with no trace of intelligence or calculation. It was so sad. Once upon a time, her stepdaughter had been brilliant. A doctor! The Queen of Clubs had paid a fortune to put her through medical school. And now… She sighed. Now, Snow White was as helpless and blank as a doll.
Thanks to Scarlett Riding-Wolf pushing her into the Lake of Forgetting, the real Snow White had been erased. She’d been reduced to a shambles of the capable, confident, independent woman the Queen of Clubs raised. This girl couldn’t come up with an original thought, if you held a vorpal blade to her heart. Could barely recall her old life, at all. Couldn’t care less about restarting her career. She just sat around, waiting for her prince to come. The disappointment was never-ending.
But a mother loved her child, no matter what.
When the Queen of Clubs first came to Wonderland, she’d had no intention of staying in this wretched place. But then she’d met her True Love. That changed everything. At the time, the Mad Hatter had been married, with a baby daughter. She’d quickly slain his interloping wife, of course. What else could you do with a homewrecker? She’d intended to kill the infant daughter too, so she and her True Love could begin their happy marriage with a clean slate.
