Queen of Hearts (The Crown)

by Colleen Oakes

  Advance Praise for The Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes:

  “Dinah is a headstrong, spirited princess grappling with a lot of the same issues that even us non-princesses in the real world face—anxiety, confusion, jealousy, anger, and the growing burden of responsibilities that often feel too heavy to bear. The fact that I cared so much about this complex young woman on the cusp of adulthood and can’t wait for the next book is just a testament to the amazing talent of this breakout author.”

  — Jessica Hickam, author of The Revealed

  “Colleen Oakes has written Wonderland like it’s never been written before. If you loved Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, you won’t be able to put down Queen of Hearts.”

  — Editorial Director, SheKnows.com

  “Fans of Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars will lose themselves in Colleen Oakes’s dark vision of Wonderland, which challenges everything Alice fans thought it was and takes readers on the Queen of Hearts’ journey from adolescence to off with their heads.”

  — Kayleigh Roberts, BOP and Tiger Beat

  “This beautifully written series presents the captivating backstory of the Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and is sure to intrigue both fantasy fans and young adult readers alike.”

  — Emily Kiebel, author of Serenade

  “Colleen Oakes creates a fantastic, dark backstory for the Queen of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in her novel Queen of Hearts.”

  — POPSUGAR

  Queen of Hearts

  By Colleen Oakes

  SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint

  A division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC

  COPYRIGHT © 2014 BY COLLEEN OAKES

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book

  or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Published by SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint,

  A division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC

  Tempe, Arizona, USA, 85281

  www.sparkpointstudio.com

  Printed in the United States of America.

  ISBN: 978-1-940716-02-2 (pbk)

  ISBN: 978-1-940716-03-9 (ebk)

  Cover design © Julie Metz, Ltd/metzdesign.com

  Cover photo © Arcangel Images

  Cover silhouette illustration of Queen by Monica Gurevich, based on previous art by Truenotdreams Design

  Formatting by Polgarus Studio

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This book is for Ryan, forever the good king of my heart.

  “How do you like the Queen?” said the Cat in a low voice.

  “Not at all,” said Alice: “she’s so extremely—” Just then she noticed that the Queen was close behind her, listening: so she went on

  “—likely to win, that it’s hardly worth while finishing the game.”

  — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

  “Wisdom is much better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroyeth much good.”

  — Ecclesiastes 9:18

  Volume One:

  The Crown

  Chapter One

  “Get up, get up, you’re late!” Harris hopped from one foot to the other, his plump face soaked with a cold sweat. He pulled his thick-rimmed glasses off and wiped them on his white checkered ascot. “Dinah! Get up! We are late, late, late!”

  Dinah gave an unhappy moan and buried herself deeper under the thick covers, which were gilded with fine peacock feathers. “Mmrrpph . . . ,” she answered. She longed to return to her mid-afternoon dream—she had been wandering through the Twisted Wood, chasing an iridescent white butterfly, its skeleton glowing through its sheer skin. Just when she had closed her hand around its tiny body, the butterfly was yanked into the sky by something unseen. When she had looked down, its beating heart was still in her hand.

  Dinah settled down into the mattress, fully awake now. Harris politely stood beside her bed, waiting. Bright Wonderland light streamed through her balcony windows.

  “Harris, I order you to let me sleep. I was having a lovely nap.” She kicked a bare leg at him, narrowly missing the pocket watch that he was dangling over her body.

  “Princess, you need to get up. We have a very important summons from the King of Hearts. Your father wishes to see you.”

  Dinah pushed herself up from the bed with a yawn. Naps were an essential part of Wonderland life, and sometimes her favorite part of the day. She was naked and considered covering herself, but then thought better of it. Harris had seen her undressed a million times, seeing as how he had raised her from a child. She was right not to bother herself with worry, not about him. The chubby old man barely gave her a second look.

  “Emily! Draw a bath for the Princess, right away. Extra hot.”

  Dinah jutted out her strong chin. “I don’t want it hot. I like cold baths, thank you very much.”

  Harris gave a belly laugh, the few remaining pieces of his white hair falling over his glasses. “Princesses don’t get to choose many things, Dinah, you know that.”

  Dinah padded over to the side of the tub. Emily was filling it from a long silver swan neck that ran out of the ceiling and poured into the enormous black tub. Large cream bubbles the size of melons rose out of the tub. Dinah sighed unhappily.

  “Why should I have to go to the Great Hall? I never get to say anything, and father won’t even talk to me.” Or look at me, she thought.

  Emily patted her roughly on the head. “You shouldn’t say such things about the King of Hearts.”

  Dinah put one chubby toe into the bath. The heat of the water raced up her leg, making her wince. “I hate bath day.”

  “We know,” replied Emily and Harris.

  Harris looked again at his silver pocket watch. “Go, go! We are very late indeed.”

  Dinah let out a loud cry as she stepped into the tub. She growled at Emily, who dumped a large bucket of water over her head and began scrubbing her with two tiny hedgehog skins.

  “Princess, your ears are filthy!” Emily cried. “What did you do today?”

  “Nothing.” Listened to the ground, she thought. Rode Speckle. Climbed the Julla Tree. Had sword fights with Wardley near the stables. Spied on the Cards.

  Dinah would rather be anywhere but in this bath tub, about to see her father. Her arm was yanked up and Emily attacked underneath it, scrubbing with a vigor that left Dinah feeling raw. She then went to work on Dinah’s torso and legs. With a hefty grunt, Emily helped Dinah out of the tub and placed her on the floor.

  “Dry yourself,” she ordered.

  Smiling, Dinah walked out onto the balcony, into the afternoon Wonderland sun. Standing with arms outstretched, she felt the droplets of water on her skin shrivel and dry. From the balcony she could see almost all of Wonderland proper, the villages outside the palace that would soon be hers to govern and rule. Dinah allowed herself a deep breath of pleasure as her eyes hungrily ate up everything in sight. Out to the north stretched endless fields of wildflowers, and eventually, the Ninth Sea, though she had never seen it. Beyond that, she knew from her studies, were the dreaded Caves of Mourning, which bordered a massive lake. The lake was called the Todren, home to mermaids and sea monsters, of child’s tales and nightmares. To the east, beyond the plains, she could vaguely make out the topless Yurkei Mountains that lay past the Twisted Wood, where explorers and adventurers went to die at the hands of white bears or the Yurkei Mountain tribes. To the south lay the Darklands, a moist, swamp-like region that hosted rogue Cards and wandering ghosts, the home of t
he Penitent Swamps and other places of untold horrors.

  Closer to her was Wonderland proper, which included dozens of small towns, roads, windmills, and rivers that sat just beyond the iron palace gates—this was HER country—the heart of Wonderland, as far as the eye could see. Dinah raised her arms as if to embrace them all.

  Harris popped his head around her red curtain. “We are late, my child! Let’s GO! Dinah, we are very, very late. You do not want the King to be even angrier than he already is.”

  Dinah gave her body a final shake in the sun and sullenly walked inside.

  “Please sit, Your Highness,” Emily prodded.

  Dinah sat. Emily pulled a brush through her thick black hair and Dinah gave a soft whimper. “Oh, stop.”

  Her lady-in-waiting tugged lovingly on her ear. “It wouldn’t get so tangled if you took care of it.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt so much if you didn’t yank,” Dinah retorted. Emily clucked her tongue.

  After the brushing was done, the intolerable undergarments were put on and laced up into place. A white slip and white corset followed. “Why do I need all of this?” huffed Dinah as Emily labored over the laces. “I’m only fifteen.”

  Emily did not answer right away and instead gave a hard yank. The corset’s whalebone ribs tightened around Dinah’s waist. “Because you don’t want your father to see you’ve been having extra tarts, do you?”

  Dinah bit her lip and braced herself against the dresser. When that torture was finished, Harris led her to the center of the room where she stood like a stuffed doll—arms out, legs open, as her entourage clucked about her dresses. A plain black frock with a high white collar was decided upon, one that flared about the face. Dinah hated that dress. Dinah hated all dresses.

  They dressed her in silence and finished it off with a peacock brooch. Emily rubbed rouge on her lips and cheeks to prevent Dinah from looking sickly and drew a small red heart under her right eye. What seemed to be an eternity later, Dinah shuffled down the Hallway of the Golden Birds, feeling quite like one of the bronzed birds perched on golden pedestals that surrounded her. Her silly black dress bulged at the seams. She had told Emily that she was too big for that dress, but Emily wouldn’t listen.

  She’s so silly, thought Dinah. Silly and stupid.

  It was a mean thought, and she instantly regretted it. Dinah’s anger could overwhelm her if she wasn’t careful. Her hair was twisted up in an insufferably tight bun, one that exaggerated Dinah’s already-large black eyes. Upon her head sat the princess crown—a thin string of red ruby hearts outlined in gold spikes. Even though it was thin, it was still heavy. It glittered in the sunlight, and it was the only thing Dinah was wearing today that she liked. On her feet twinkled a pair from the Queen’s shoe collection—molded white slippers, inlaid with tiny white diamonds. Before she died, her mother, Queen Davianna, had taken up the lady’s hobby of slippermaking. They made Dinah’s feet hurt. She hated the way the tiny stones cut into her toes and heels. She had wide feet, and the shoes pinched her soles.

  Dinah looked back at Harris and Emily. He walked quickly behind her, looking a bit like a walrus. He was a cuddly and generous man, kind and fiercely intelligent. He had once been a dashing Card, or so Dinah had heard, but now he was her tutor and guardian, a portly man with white hair and a dozen varieties of checkered outfits. Without a doubt, he loved Dinah deeply—something she lacked in other areas of her life.

  A little bird ran across her path and Dinah kicked it, sending it shrieking into the air.

  “My child!” thundered Harris. “Do NOT let your father see that behavior, otherwise you will be sleeping in the Black Towers.”

  “I doubt it,” snipped Dinah glumly. “I wish that would happen because then I would get to see inside of them.”

  Harris gave Dinah a disappointed look. “Never wish yourself inside the Black Towers,” he said seriously. “You have no idea the evil that lurks there.”

  He began speaking quietly to Emily. Dinah instantly regretted her words. Her father had threatened to throw Dinah in the Black Towers several times, but it never happened. Only the worst criminals in Wonderland went there. And once they went in, they never came out. Rumors swirled that the Black Towers were where the King threw those he needed silenced—Cards, merchants, and bill collectors. The Black Towers were comprised of seven connected black cones, all strung together by a twisting narrow walkway known as the Iron Web, which straddled the door to each tower and ran vertically up and down its sides. She had once heard her father call it a “wicked and colossal wonder.”

  From her bedroom window, Dinah loved to watch the Club Cards scurrying up and down the spirals, like little spiders dressed in gray, holding their books or torture instruments. The Princess had never been allowed in the Black Towers, of course, but she planned to tour them someday with her best friend, Wardley. But for this, she would probably have to wait until she was Queen.

  Dinah, Harris, and Emily approached the Great Hall. Two vast ivory doors loomed terrifyingly before her, elaborately carved with the history of Wonderland. Wicked trees, Yurkei tribes, and sea shells danced before her. She closed her eyes.

  Perhaps, she thought, perhaps if I wish really hard, I could be anywhere but here.

  Dinah longed to be outside, playing chase with the servants’ children, or peering down the pesky rabbit hole by the old oak tree. Anywhere was better than the Great Hall, knowing that her father waited beyond these inscrutable doors. Two Heart Cards, both handsome men, sharp and crisp in their red-and-white uniforms, opened the doors for them as they approached.

  Dinah felt her hands begin to shake and she froze. Not now, oh gods, not now.

  She felt Harris’s hand on her shoulder, and she was grateful for the calming effect it bestowed. He bent down and looked the Princess directly in the face. “Dinah, my child, the King has called you here for a very special reason. Try to be graceful, polite, and lovely. He is your father, and he rules over this kingdom. Try to remember that. Everything the King does is for Wonderland.”

  Dinah’s heart was hammering wildly in her chest. Something was wrong, she could sense it. Why was she being brought here? Was this not just a boring council meeting, where she had to perch upon her tiny chair and look interested as the men of Wonderland argued and boasted of quests, Yurkei raids, and politics?

  Harris licked his wrinkled finger and wiped something from her face. “Dinah, my child, look at me. Everything will be fine. I’ll be waiting for you out here.”

  Dinah was seized by a sudden panic. She pressed against him. “No. NO. I want you to come in with me.”

  “I am not allowed in the Great Hall for this . . . just for today. The King desires your full attention.”

  Harris had never been excluded from an event in the Great Hall. As her guardian and tutor, he was welcome to observe the King’s Council. But not today. Something was wrong.

  “NO!” Dinah flung her arms around Harris. “Please come, I don’t know what’s going on, please, just come with me.”

  Harris detached Dinah from his thick waist. “Dinah! Do not forget who you are. You are the Princess of Wonderland, and you are not to act like this again. Would you like to embarrass the King?”

  Dinah shook her head, “No.”

  “Then go in there and greet him in the respectful way.” He gave her a generous smile. “It will all be alright, child. Trust me. Now put on your brave face. Let me see it.”

  Dinah scowled.

  “No, that’s not it. Now show me BRAVE Dinah. Dinah the fearless, the future Queen of Wonderland, the future Queen of Hearts.”

  Dinah took a deep breath and steeled her black eyes. She stood up taller and sucked in her belly.

  “There, that looks a little bit better.” Harris patted her head happily, but Dinah was sure that she spotted tears in his weathered eyes. “It’s time. We are very, very late. I’ll be out here.”

  With that, he pushed her gently into the hall. The ivory doors slammed shut behin
d her, the sound bouncing around the vast room. Voluminous red banners billowed from floor to ceiling, a black heart stitched across each center: the blazon of the King. Dinah’s white slippers echoed loudly against the marble floors, and she felt thousands of eyes watching her, judging her. She held her crowned head as highly and regally as she could. The entire court watched her walk up the aisle, lords and ladies of noble birth, their bright fashion a blot of color on the otherwise black-and-white marble room. Dinah walked swiftly toward the throne, but the front of the Great Hall still seemed to be miles away.

  The different factions of Cards all nodded their heads as Dinah passed, some saying “Princess” under their breath. She heard a faint snicker and a whisper from a Diamond Card. “Recard.”

  She held her head high and straight, as Harris told her to do. Someday this will be my Great Hall, she told herself. All these Cards will bow before me when I rule beside my father and I will make it death by beheading to laugh or even look at me.

  All of the Cards were in attendance today, a rare sight. There were four divisions of the men called Cards, each serving their purpose to the kingdom. Heart Cards, handsome and skilled men uniformed in red and white, protected the royal family and the palace. Club Cards, dressed in gray, were in charge of administering justice: they punished criminals and murderers, and organized Execution Day. Their most important function was running the Black Towers. Diamond Cards, clad in vibrant purple cloaks, protected and managed the treasury and sought to increase the King’s resources. And then there were the Spades. Spades were the warriors, those in charge of fighting and pillaging. The Spades scared Dinah; cloaked in black, they were hard, grizzled men with dangerous pasts. They were viewed as untrustworthy, brutal, and bloodthirsty. If criminals were reformed and pledged their fealty, they were allowed to join the Spades; that is, if they didn’t die in the Black Towers first.