Everything went dark.
Matilda rushed down the corridor, knowing she only had so much time before someone went looking for Harold March. She could have smothered him with a pillow, but why waste her time on the riff raff when his devotion to dear April would prove useful to control him later when she was queen again? If she didn't complete her task before the end of the day, they would switch bodies again, and Matilda's only shot at staying in Wonderland, where she belonged, was gone forever.
And besides, she might want to play with Harold later. The soreness in her thighs told her all she needed to about how April had spent her time in Wonderland, and it only served to make Matilda realize she'd gone too long without some fun herself. Maybe she should have played with the halfling before she left him. Too bad she'd blown her own ruse by the shock of waking up in bed with him.
"Someone's in a hurry…"
She gritted her teeth. That voice belonged to a creature she absolutely did not have time for, and she'd recognize it anywhere. "Hello, Devrel." Matilda turned to look at the large striped cat with blue blinking eyes and a grin full of sharp teeth. He had settled himself on a window ledge. If he couldn't vanish and reappear elsewhere, she'd push him out.
"Where, oh where does a findling have to get to so quickly?"
Ever the inquisitive one, she'd have to be careful not to let the grinning feline guess the truth like Harold March had. If Devrel figured it out, her plans were ruined. However, he'd be able to transport her where she needed to go. It didn't hurt to try. "Maybe you could help me," she said, doing her best to sound innocent and naïve like poor April. "Since I didn't return home, I was going to ask the queen if I could travel to the White Kingdom to see if I can be of any assistance."
Had the spell worked? Earth magic was much different than Wonderland magic. It required more sacrifice, and as of yet, there was no sign about the castle as to the White King's fate. It may not have reached the Red Kingdom yet, and she definitely was in her castle, not her sister's.
Devrel cocked his head and stared at her. "While the White Queen would appreciate that, it may not be the best time to introduce you."
Matilda bit her tongue, dying to ask why. Was the king dead as planned? "I suppose you're right. I merely wanted to try to fit in since I don't have anything else to do to fill my time."
Devrel blinked and his smile faltered just a smidge.
Great, she'd overdone it probably with the sweetness. What was that blasted Boojum thinking?
Finally, Devrel said, "I believe Cadence was looking for help earlier. I'm sure she would love if you joined her in the gardens."
Cadence was the last person Matilda wanted to see, at least until she secured herself back in Wonderland in this body, but she had to at least pretend to be pleased in order to escape Devrel's focus. The creature could teleport at will and ruin everything. She couldn't let him suspect a thing.
"Of course," she said with a faux smile. "How do I find the gardens again?"
After receiving directions she didn't need, she considered not going out there at all, but if Devrel was suspicious, and by his very nature he was, he would check to see if she went. But she needed to leave the castle anyway, so heading outside did nothing but assist her since the closest entrance to Underland was in the back of the garden. Stupid cat.
It didn't take long to locate Cadence in the gardens as she sat on a bench sobbing. Ah, so the news must have made it after all. Nobody else was around. It would be all too easy to sneak over there and…
She couldn't kill the current Red Queen. Not yet. The spell could go wrong if she killed the wrong person, and then everything would be for naught. Nathanial hadn't deserved to die, but it was the only way back. The magic to secure her return came at a steep price, and it was only half-paid.
Besides, Devrel had to be hiding somewhere waiting to see what she'd do. If she didn't pretend to be April for a little while longer, she'd never accomplish her goal. Hopefully no one went looking for the halfling in the meantime.
"Are you okay?" she did her best impression of wide-eyed innocence.
Cadence's head shot up and she blinked. Then she dabbed at her eyes with the long draping sleeve of her red gown. "Oh, April. I'm so happy you're still here! Congratulations." She smiled warmly. "I'm sorry you caught me like this."
Not waiting for permission, Matilda took a seat on the bench next to her. "Thanks. I didn't expect to be here again…I mean, still."
"I get that." Cadence looked back toward the castle. "Where's Marchy?"
It took all her strength to keep her expression from changing. She didn't want to talk about the halfling. She wanted to discuss the White King. Wanted to hear the words spoken of his fate. "Sleeping."
"You didn't wake him up?" Her eyebrows raised dramatically.
Matilda laughed. "You could say I knocked him back out." If only they could have seen his face when she'd done it.
"Oh!" She grinned. "Gotcha."
"Mind me asking why you are so upset?" Matilda pushed. Why couldn't this girl spill information!
Cadence looked down at her hands and shook her head. "Nathanial, the White King, has died. Adelaide is not handling it well. Apparently, she's been ranting all morning about blood consuming everything in red."
Don't smile. Don't smile. "Oh no. How awful." How fantastic. Everything was going according to plan. But if her dear sister was having dreams about blood and the color red, it was only a matter of time before she deciphered the premonitions and realized Matilda had returned. She had to get to the White Kingdom before that happened. Without Devrel assisting her, there was only one other way to get there in a hurry. Yet here she was, chitchatting with the usurper instead of sticking to the plan. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Cadence stood and shook her head. "We wait for word on the funeral and then most of us will travel there. It takes a few hours to make the trip. You're welcome to attend if you wish, even though you're certainly not obligated."
Matilda bit her cheek to keep her face from revealing any sort of expression. Did Adelaide not show Cadence and Gareth the entrance to Underland? They could travel the kingdoms in mere minutes! It was a secret known only to the royal family and the White Rabbit, who helped dig the tunnels when the sisters were little girls and the realm was divided into three kingdoms. "Do they need help now? I can offer my assistance."
Cadence shot her a concerned look. "Perhaps you should be discussing this with Marchy."
It had been two days. Had the foolish girl finally managed to catch Harold March and force him into a marriage? Even so, April wasn't the type to be ordered around by men. If she had been, Matilda never would have chosen her as her proxy. "I didn't know I answered to him," she bit out.
They stared at each other. Perhaps she should have held her tongue. She was a queen, and even if she couldn't reveal it yet, she wouldn't answer to a halfling.
"I didn't say you did," Cadence said carefully, and not without suspicion. "You two were close last night. Close enough to leave together in full view of the court. I thought you'd be spending the day together is all. If he's traveling to the White Kingdom to assist Hatter, it seems odd to be asking me for permission to go yourself when I can't imagine he wouldn't want to show you around the part of Wonderland he calls his home."
Drat. Matilda hadn't known Harold was to travel there already. If she had been able to pretend to be April when she woke, perhaps she'd already be on her way now without having to sneak about. "Yes, but he has things to do there. I do not. I thought that if you had something you wanted me to do when I got there, I would be more useful."
Hopefully that was enough to save her in her slip-up.
"Sounds fair. Give me a few minutes to talk to Gareth, and I'll let you know." With that, she headed inside, leaving Matilda alone in the gardens.
Without looking back, she made her way through the garden's east wall. At the corner of the roses, she dropped to her knees and began brushing the dirt off a long
gray slab. An emblem of a lock was engraved in the center. From the state of it, 'twould seem that Adelaide really hadn't told the new queen and king of its existence. A fact that was both surprising and pleasing.
"April?" Cadence's voice broke the silence, but she was still near the castle and nowhere close enough to see her. Matilda leaned forward and knocked four times over the engraving and said, "A distance traveled is only as long as one fears it to be." The stone vibrated and pressed inward, then rolled to the side revealing a stairwell. Sconces came alive with illumination. When Matilda was partially down the stone steps, the slab rolled back into place with a loud click.
She ventured the rest of the way down the stairs and along a tunnel. At the end, Matilda pushed open a red door and entered a large, round antechamber with black floors and walls. There were six doors around it in different shapes and colors. One of which, she had just exited. Without paying the other doors any mind, she rushed forward to the cream-colored entrance to the White Kingdom. But when she tried the handle, it was locked.
Had Adelaide deciphered the premonitions and even now prepared to capture or destroy her? She didn't have time to doubt herself. She wouldn't go back to that mundane and tedious life she'd been living. Taxes, capitalism, grocery stores…no thank you. Matilda attempted to kick the door open, but it wouldn't budge. She, Adelaide and Wilhelmina had once had keys for the doors that opened into their gardens and could lock each other out when they had arguments. However, the other doors should all be unlocked.
Matilda stopped in front of a black door with a heart carved into it. She could travel to Heart Castle, though she had no idea what to expect to find there now. She studied a purple door and shook her head. The Isle of Flowers was the quickest route, but those flowers had been the ones to place the sentence on her. She wouldn't be visiting that accursed island any time soon.
Her footsteps echoed on the black tile floor as she stopped in front of blue-painted wood. The paint was faded and peeling, but still somehow vibrant. The Brink of Madness, a peninsula on Madness Bay. She'd have a two-hour hike, but it was better than nothing. Placing her hand on the knob, she turned it and pushed it open. The corridor led into a cave that opened out on the side of the highest cliff. Sea wind whipped her hair and her skirts as she exited.
Matilda threw her arms out and laughed. She was home, free, and nothing and no one would get in her way again. Why, then, did she have a pit in her stomach that made her wish to turn back now while she still could?
Chapter 11
Unbelievable. Marchy pulled at the cravat that held him bound to the headboard by his wrists. Ironic that a woman finally managed to get him in this position, and it wasn't for bed sport. No, Matilda was trying to do something, and she had to do it soon. He wasn't an idiot; the only reason she had kept him alive was because she knew he wouldn't let anything foul become of April's body when that happened. Not while there was still a chance she could be returned to it.
How many bloody knots did the woman tie? He glared above his aching head as he pulled and twisted to no avail. The wood frame of the heavy carved bed didn't even creak under his struggles. The bridge of his nose hurt something fierce; hopefully it wasn't broken.
"Calm down, Hawthorn. I'm opening it." A commotion began in the corridor outside.
Gareth. Marchy groaned around his gag. Just his luck. Hawthorn couldn't have fetched a random guard, but the king himself and the one person who most definitely would mock him for being trussed up. He'd worry about his annoyance later though, for he feared both queens of Wonderland were in grave peril.
Devrel appeared at the foot of the bed, grinning. "Well, this is interesting." The feline said as he started to groom. Then he shouted, "Hurry up, Gareth. You simply must see this." The amusement paired with his ever-present smile was added insult to his injured face and pride.
"The lock is jammed. I am going to have to kick it in. Stay back."
"No need to worry. He's completely comfortable."
Marchy scowled.
The loud thump followed by an immediate crash of the door slamming against the wall was sure to attract passersby. Gareth stepped in, peered in toward the bed, and gawked.
Marchy tried to say, "Stop staring, you imbecile, and untie me." It sounded more like, "Unn huuhnnn huh nninnhumhuh huh huhhe nee."
Hawthorn tore into the room and up the bed, and past Devrel who scarcely graced him with a glance. The clever little dormouse gnawed on the cravat. Obviously, Hawthorn was the only one with any sense around here. Typical.
Gareth finally gathered what little wits he had and strode over to assist, removing the balled-up rag that had been shoved into Marchy’s mouth and secured with a torn bit of the bedclothes. "What happened?" he shooed the dormouse out of the way and fumbled with the knots. "Did April give you that bloody nose?"
"Not her." His nose did hurt. Hopefully she hadn't broken it. "The Red Queen."
"I beg your pardon?" Gareth drew himself back up, incredulous. "That isn't amusing in the least. You dare to impl—"
Marchy rolled his eyes. "Former. 'Twould seem that Matilda has returned. Managed to switch bodies with April after Wonderland decided to keep her. She was who sent her here in the first place. It was all a scheme." His heart panged. Why couldn't he have paid closer attention? He could have seen it coming. Suspected something.
"I don't understand." Gareth waved a hand to nothing in particular. "April came here to bring Matilda back?"
"No." At least, he didn't think she knew about that. She had started to tell them about her boss sending her here more than once. He supposed she could have purposely withheld the information, but she had been trying to tell them Matilda was involved and never got to.
Devrel teleported onto Marchy's chest and looked at him closely. His weight was not a welcome addition. "I knew there was something peculiar about her this morning. She was acting…strange."
"You met her once," he countered, though Matilda had been deceptive in her time here before, she'd never had to pretend to be anyone other than herself. And that, it would seem, was not a strength. Mayhap he should have played along instead of letting her get away to do whatever it was she had planned.
"Last I saw her, she was in the gardens with Cadence," Devrel added helpfully.
Gareth's hand shot to his sword as his eyes widened. While he no longer carried the Vorpal sword, he definitely could use the weapon if challenged. "If she harms one single hair on my wife's head, I'll—"
"Oh, come on, man. Untie me already!" Marchy's impatience ratcheted up another level. He'd been stuck like this for what felt like days. "We all know you'll lose your head if she's harmed."
The king blinked and bent back to his task. "I'm trying. How many knots did she tie this in?"
"Too many." At least it wasn't him alone having trouble with them.
Devrel made a rude noise. "Move out of the way. This is beyond sad." The Boojum tore at the cravat with claws and teeth. A little too much of the animal was near his face for Marchy's liking, but it was over quickly. "There."
Free of his bonds, he rubbed at his wrists and snorted at the slivers of torn red material all over him. That cravat was ruined; Hatter would not be pleased if he saw it. But now he had another problem. He was still naked under the bedsheets. "Uh, if you two would give me a moment of privacy to put on some clothes…"
"No time. Meet us in the throne room when you're dressed. I need to check on my wife." Gareth didn't wait a moment longer before heading into the hall.
A small crowd had begun to form at the doorway. So much for privacy.
"Devrel…" Marchy hated asking the cat for anything. "Could you take Hawthorn and me to my room so I can dress without an audience?" A couple ladies blushed profusely as they looked in at him sitting there with his chest bared. He didn't even feel a tiny urge to flirt. All he cared about was stopping Matilda and getting April back.
And he would get her back. One way or another. Even if he had to drag Matilda out of Ap
ril's body by her withered soul.
April paced the store, mumbling to herself, unsure what to do. She'd cried already. Had a good yell. She'd also thrown Matilda's book of drawings across the room. The last bits of rational thought flooding her head was enough to recognize that she had gone into some form of hysterics, but what else was she supposed to do when she'd fallen for a gorgeous man and now a crazy murderous former queen had stolen her body and she could do literally nothing about it?
You really need to keep it together. Think, girl. Think!
What if Marchy couldn't tell it wasn't her, and he…they…they…?
Stop. It.
She kicked the bottom of the cabinet under the register in her frustration, and almost missed a subtle click. April frowned and looked down where a small drawer had popped open at the base of the old furniture. Squatting, she retrieved a hardbacked journal and flipped through the pages. Matilda's scrolling handwriting filled the pages, along with a few doodles here or there. She stopped on a page with a drawing of chess pieces.
Namely, a broken king.
April sat firmly on her butt and stretched her legs out in front of her as she brought the journal closer. Not because she couldn't see it, but more like she couldn't believe what she was reading.
"The sorcerer guarantees that, through the exchange of blood with the proxy, the life of a person symbolized through a totem will slowly extinguish until the spell completes. If the proxy is incapable of staying after the second day, it will not work again. Likewise, to make the body exchange permanent, another sacrifice must be made by sunset of the third day, or the exchange reverts. This can only be done by sacrificing a member of the subject's direct bloodline."
April dropped the book in her lap and stared at it. If that meant what she thought it did, as long as Matilda didn't murder her own sister, she'd get her body back. She looked back at the drawing of the broken king piece and traced her fingers over it. The White King's sudden illness…did this mean…had he died? Did Matilda kill him?
The Enchanting Page 9
