"And I am only a quarter of that in age."
She gawked. "You only aged ten years in over one hundred!"
"I was unaware that much time had passed there. I have never been to your world." Gareth helped her step over a fallen tree that stretched for what seemed to be miles in both directions. Curiouser and curiouser. She snickered at her own thought pattern. She found herself feeling more and more like Alice than she ever thought possible.
"Earlier, you said people traveled by sea. I knew of the rabbit hole and looking glass because of Alice, but how would one find it by sea?"
He chuckled. "I have heard tales that Wonderland can often be reached by shipwrecked sailors that come across a vanishing isle. I've also heard the place is never in the same part of the world twice, so it is all up to chance."
"Huh. That's kinda freaky." Despite having so many questions, she couldn’t help being more interested in Gareth than the world he lived in. "So...why are you headed to the Red Queen's court? Didn't you say you were from the White Queen's kingdom?"
He sighed. "I am. However, the Red Queen often meets with the White Queen to demand my presence in the Red Kingdom for a royal ball. She has been trying to set me up with a member of her court every year since I slew the Jabberwock. She told me last time, if I had not given my heart to a woman of my choosing by the time we should meet again, she would force a marriage upon me before I exited my prime."
Gender roles seemed to work in reverse in Wonderland. Cadence didn't really know how to respond to that as she was used to females being manipulated and maneuvered about by the men in her world. "But if you can have your pick of the ladies, why not?"
"Because women at court bore me, and I do not wish to be trapped with one I do not desire."
"Oh?" Cadence glanced at him, wondering if he'd clarify. He did.
"I live a life of adventure. I slay dragons, as you call them, and those women want to sit around a castle all day with nothing else to do but watch the sun and moon rise and set." He pulled her to a halt as a frog-like creature with butterfly wings extending from its back hopped by, only to fly away the moment it was out of danger.
"Can't you do the things you love while she does things she loves, and then everyone can be happy?" She cringed, wondering why she hadn't thought her words through before speaking them in such a jumble.
"Cadence," he said, exasperatedly. "Unless I am called to battle for my queen, married couples at court must stay together at all times, or it is considered breaking our vows. Where I go, she goes. Where she stays, I stay. Most of Wonderland works in mysterious—odd ways probably, to your world’s standards—but when it comes to a royal court, rules are strictly followed. Even here, where cats can smile and rabbits carry watches." He smirked at her. "I’ve heard those are impossible things where you’re from, yet here, they are as mundane as breathing."
Devrel appeared in their path clutching a green, fluffy, very dead piglet in his jaws. Cadence hoped they didn't expect her to eat that thing.
***
They reached the edge of the Tulgey Wood by dusk, and through the trees, over a field designed as a chessboard, stood a massive black castle flying scarlet banners. The Red Kingdom, Gareth had called it. But instead of continuing on, he prevented Cadence from leaving the protection of the woods until morning.
"The Jubjub bird hunts the edge of the forest at night. You don't want to be her prey." There went any chance of sleeping.
So they sat around a small fire in the shelter of the trees, roasting two more of those green pigs. Mome raths, Gareth had called them. They were actually quite delicious, all appearances aside.
"What is she like?" Cadence asked, sometime after the fire went out and they were engulfed by full darkness. "The Red Queen."
"Strict, but reasonable. Very matter of fact," Gareth said from somewhere close by. He told her to rest up, as there would be no opportunity to sleep until the next evening. By that time, she would be leaving Wonderland behind. Something she should look forward to, yet it seemed so tragically soon. Gareth intrigued her, but then, how often did one meet a dragon slaying knight and journey with him to an honest to God castle?
Cadence ran a hand over her exposed throat. "She's not going to behead me if I say something wrong, is she?" As a stranger, her chances of accidently offending the queen were pretty high.
Devrel appeared on her stomach and stared down at her, eyes glowing unnaturally in the dark. In fact, only his eyes and grin were visible, even though his weight pressed against her. "Do not mistake the Red Queen with the Queen of Hearts. It upsets her. Besides..." He curled into a ball on top of her. "She had the Queen of Hearts executed and saved our world from her tyranny."
The Queen of Hearts was dead? "I almost feel bad that I'm relieved."
"Don't," Devrel said, and she stroked his soft fur. He purred, but didn't say anything further. The cat was asleep. Even with the warmth of his big body, she still shivered from the cool night air. She rubbed her palms against her arms as she tried to fall asleep...and failed.
In the distance, a cry of "Juuuuub, juuuuub!" preceded a rustling of feathers, and Cadence tensed. But the beating of wings moved farther away from where they were hidden rather than toward them.
"You're cold." Gareth's voice sliced through the silence, causing her to jump. Devrel rolled over and stretched, a paw landing on her chin. His claws flexed unconsciously, sharp points poking into her flesh without breaking the skin. She pushed it away with her index finger.
"Well, yeah. I usually sleep under at least three blankets." She cringed. Gareth traveled without luxurious items, living off the land. He was a survivor, where she was a pampered city girl and sounded like it. Devrel only offered so much warmth.
"You should have worn better clothes," Gareth reprimanded, but he shifted about in the darkness, disturbing leaves and a rattling a bush. Then he lowered himself beside her, drawing himself against her in a fashion entirely too intimate for two strangers. Yet, she didn't want him to move as his body heat engulfed her.
Cadence laid there, stiffly, and huffed. "Who are you, my mother? Jeans and a T-shirt are normal clothing where I'm from. It isn't like I chose to come here. You and your cat kidnapped me."
Lifting his head to gaze at her despite the darkness, Gareth said, "I did not force you to sleep as a goat. What does that even mean?"
She giggled at his interpretation. "It's a word used more often in regards to people taking other people's kids, children, without permission."
"Why not say abducted instead?"
"I wish I could explain why our language is how it is, but I can't."
Taking the answer for what it was, Gareth rested his head against the ground once more and draped his arm across her, just below her breasts. Devrel repositioned himself, so he could remain comfortably on her belly but have his back against Gareth. She stopped breathing for a moment, half expecting him to cop a feel. He didn't, and she was slightly disappointed—which was nuts because she didn't know him very well.
"Why are you taking me with you?" Cadence whispered in case Gareth had already fallen asleep.
"I cannot leave you alone in the wilderness. Wonderland is a dangerous place for one who does not know which way to go."
"But you know the safe places."
"Aye. I have traveled this land several times over. I know everything about it, and I can keep you safe from harm."
She didn't doubt his words, and honestly she was kind of glad Devrel had brought her to Wonderland. Adventure didn't happen in her world, not in the epic story sense. Her grandest journey had been a senior class trip to Disney World.
"Gareth," she began, and his fingers tightened on her side in a reassuring fashion, as though he wanted her to know he hadn't left. Like I wouldn't notice. The thought of him moving away from her struck her as depressing. "If you continue to keep me safe while I'm here, I will pretend to be your girlfriend, er, companion, while at court."
He lifted his head again, and she wondered if he had be
tter vision that she did. She couldn't make out his features, but she could feel his subtle movements and the whisper-soft glide of his hair against her face.
"A noble offer, to be sure," he replied, reaching up and stroking her cheek. "But you need not trouble yourself. I would protect you regardless." Ouch. The age-old it's-in-the-job-description line. Chivalry apparently wasn't dead in Wonderland.
Still, warmth flooded her, and she shivered at his gentle touch. She could almost imagine how her life would change should she stay, and if she did, she wondered if Gareth would want her to. "You should probably know my offer isn't so much for good will as it is from me panicking at the thought of being separated from you and something happening to me." She recalled the mention of the Jubjub bird hunting prey. I'll pass on being digested by a bird, thanks.
He only laughed and told her to go to sleep.
***
Morning hit with the abruptness of a striking cobra. Cadence opened her eyes and shrieked at the sight of Devrel grinning directly above her face. He disappeared and popped up somewhere out of view to tell Gareth, "She's awake. Mayhap you should stop and find her some proper clothing if you wish to pass her off as your lady. First impressions with the queen go a long way."
"It won't make her any less obvious of a findling. If the queen asks her questions, Cadence will only reveal how little she knows of Wonderland."
"She's right here, and she can hear you," Cadence stood and brushed the dirt off her back before she faced them.
"This will not do at all," Devrel said from behind her, and she scoffed. He enjoyed transporting himself about entirely too much. "Her shirt is filthy. She looks as though you have been doing the deed for several days. You cannot take her to court in this condition. It will be viewed as an insult."
"Where do you suggest we go, cat?" Gareth growled out, though at the implications of having slept with her—in the non-literal way in which he actually had—he raked his gaze over her. Did he want to? Do I?
Yes. Hormones were the worst at judgment calls.
"We could visit Hatter. He can sew more than hats, you know." Devrel circled her legs, brushing against her more than once.
"The Mad Hatter?" Cadence asked, awed by the prospect of meeting such a famous character of literature. Gareth frowned at her, as if she displeased him somehow. Yet she couldn't fathom why.
"We do not consider him mad," Gareth bit out. "He's a bit eccentric, but most people are who live here. It does not matter since the Hatter's house is a day's walk in the opposite direction, and you only have one day remaining."
Devrel cackled merrily and swished his tail. "You forget who you are dealing with." And he disappeared.
Moments later, he returned, a tall man in a top hat beside him. The Hatter had short, black hair, green piercing eyes, and was dressed in an assortment of colors and patterns sewn together with no rhyme nor reason. His overall fashion seemed to be a scrapbook collage of the Victorian era. His waistcoat contained seven pocket-watches hanging from chains which dangled among the patches and pockets and buttons. He was also extremely attractive, which she hadn't considered a possibility.
Gareth placed himself between Cadence and the Hatter, jaw clenched. "Now see here, Hatter. I am not sure what Devrel told you, but if you so much as frighten Cadence with your methods, I will end you." His hand rested on the hilt of the Vorpal Sword.
"Slayer of the Jabberwock, could it be you? Could it be true? You've finally taken a woman to woo?"
Eccentric was too mild a word.
"Just make her a dress and be done with it," Gareth sighed, shaking his head. He pulled a button from the pouch tied to his belt and tossed it to the Hatter, who held it to the light, bit it, and then pocketed it with a finalizing pat over the material. Afterward, he approached Cadence and tapped his index finger against his lips, a thimble secured at the end of it.
"These clothes you wear will not do at all, not at all. Your tailor should be hanged." She was relieved he didn't always speak in rhyme the way he had moments before, but she had to bite her tongue not to ask if he meant seamstress.
Not that she had one.
Yet she couldn't let the comment pass unscathed. "Um, okay. I'll call the manufacturers and let them know you said so."
This gave him pause, and he gawked at Gareth. "Your findling is quite insane, you know. Irrefutably mad."
Gareth shrugged. Thanks for the support there, dragon slayer.
The Hatter produced a measuring tape from his front pocket and proceeded in ordering her to hold out her arms. It quickly escalated when he thereafter requested she hold out one leg at a time, bend over, hop on one foot, recite the alphabet backward—which he claimed she did incorrectly due to not including several letters he swore existed, but she knew good and well really didn't—and when she proved incapable of standing on her head for him to do the final measurement, he threw the measuring tape down and declared her too difficult to properly attire.
"Can't you make do with what measurements you did take?" Gareth asked and Cadence wanted to hug him for it. Though she wasn't sure how anyone could remember all the nonsense the Hatter had spouted off about things in order to use them. Apparently her waist measured to sixty-two and five-eighths of a thingamabob in size. She wasn't sure what that equaled to in inches, but it made her feel like a whale.
"Of course, of course. It just might not fit well across her spine because I couldn't get the last measurement."
"How does standing on my head measure my—never mind. Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Hatter."
The Hatter blushed and toed a rock with the worn tip of his boot.
Gareth cleared his throat. "Any day now, Hatter."
Devrel and the Hatter disappeared, and Cadence chucked her now discarded shoes—the Hatter claimed they altered her true height by massive proportions—at Gareth, who ducked and brushed his hair from his eyes. "What was that for?"
"For letting him do unnecessary things and not lifting a finger."
"I do not make hats or garments. How do I know they are unnecessary?"
"Common sense."
"If sense were common, everyone would have it. They don't."
"Ugh!"
"Juuuuub, juuuuub!" Leaves showered them from above, and they both glanced up to where the call originated from.
"Let me guess..." Cadence backed away from the creature observing them with interest. "The Jubjub bird?"
Gareth leisurely drew his sword and inched closer to her, keeping himself between the bird and her. "She only hunts at night, so she may not attack. The noise likely attracted her."
The Jubjub bird fluttered to the ground, roughly the size of an ostrich, but its feathers were variations of teals and blues and purples, reminding her of a peacock. It had a topknot like a cockatoo and a beak of a toucan. When the bird opened its mouth, it flashed rows of sharp, serrated teeth. It closed its beak and tilted its head one way and then the other, eyeing Gareth and Cadence without malice, but interest nonetheless.
"Holy crap!" Cadence whispered.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a freaking snipe!" Why had she dropped her phone before Devrel snagged her? She could have taken a picture and proved all her friends wrong when she went home. Life just wasn't fair. Except you’ll go back to the time you left, dolt! Photos wouldn’t exist. Nothing but memories would return with her if she understood the rules correctly. Suddenly, her joy of finding an actual snipe melted away.
"You'd be better off meeting a Boojum if this is a Snark."
"I thought you said my Snark was a Boojum."
Gareth whipped his head around and gave her a peculiar look. "Why would I tell you something so mad?"
"But... You—"
"Juuuuub, juuuub!" the bird shrieked, rustling its feathers at them. It cocked its head, like it waited for them to make a move. Gareth kept completely still, sword at the ready. Finally, losing interest, the Jubjub bird turned and plodded off into the trees, its call revealing when it had put a dece
nt amount of distance between them.
Gareth faced Cadence then, using his free hand to turn her head left and right. "Are you hurt?"
"It didn't touch me." She pushed his hand away, though she actually found herself quite affected by his concern.
Devrel and the Hatter reappeared and gawked at Gareth standing before her with his weapon out. From the looks on Gareth and the Hatter's faces—Devrel grinned, such was his way—he might as well have been caught with his pants down in her bedroom.
"Fear not." Gareth put his sword away. "The Jubjub bird passed through. She is gone now." If Cadence wasn't mistaken, his cheeks had developed a rosy hue to them.
"Oooooh, the Jubjub bird. I see." Devrel's eyes sparkled, and it made her wonder what he thought he was witnessing, but didn't ask.
"If you two can remain quite decent," the Hatter said, holding out his arms to draw their attention to the snowy white ball gown with brown bodice that matched Gareth's jerkin exactly. He stroked the silky material with the delicate hand of an artist saying goodbye to a prized masterpiece and handed it to her. From a satchel at his hip, he produced a pair of slippers, passed them to Gareth, and bid the cat to return him in time for tea.
Gareth smiled and turned his back once they were alone again. "You better change your attire, Cadence. We have lost too much time on the creation of you dress."
"It's only been, like, forty minutes!"
"Time is different here," was all he said in reply. That answer grated her nerves every time he used it. Her teeth grinded together as she bit down a retort.
Though the struggle was epic to get the dress on, she somehow managed. There was only one predicament: it gaped open in the back due to the loosened strings of the bodice. "Um, Gareth, I hate to ask you this, but can you help me with my laces?" She turned and lifted her hair. He didn't seem to be making a move to help, so she shot a glance over her shoulder.
Gareth stared at her back with an expression that made her toes curl and her body heat throughout. When he noticed her watching him, he cleared his throat, stroked a hand down his chest as though pushing a weight off, and closed the distance between them. Cadence bowed her head to better keep her brunette mane out of his way, and his breath tickled against the fine hairs of her neck. She shivered.
The Vanishing (Wonderland Book 1) Page 2
