Alice Games

by Michelle R. Reid

With a furious yell, White Wizard went on the offensive. Ace blocked, grunting under the attack, and shifted his weight, forcing White Wizard past him. Ace swung, aiming at White Wizard’s side, but a block of ice appeared between them and the Vorpal Blade sank into it. Ace stilled, ears perked up, and disappeared, sword and all, just as jagged ice spears thrust out of the ice block. But White Wizard didn’t have long to relax, since Ace was at him again, seconds later.

  It was like watching a game of chess. Every time one man made a move, the other had a solution to it. White Wizard was an amazing swordsman, his movements fast and precise. Any weaknesses he had were covered by his magic, the ice blocks or spears appearing—or disappearing—as needed.

  Ace was just as skilled. Any form deficiency he had was covered up with his speed and cat reflexes, his ears perked forward and flicking around, as if able to sense when ice was coming a second before it hit. It didn’t matter how much ice White Wizard threw at him, he was always able to disappear just in time and come back for the follow-up attack.

  “Ali!” Red Queen grabbed my arm, pulling my attention from the fight and down to her. She motioned to the ice sticking us to the ground. “We’ve got to get you back to the Emerald Castle. Maybe that will end this madness.”

  I blinked, the reminder of the ice bringing back the biting cold and woke up my mind. The Emerald Castle. The portal between the worlds and my way home. Would it even work until a Queen was chosen? It was worth a try.

  “Oh, right.” I crouched down, almost lost my balance but managed to wobble back into place. I pushed at the ice, but my attention was shattered every time the sound of a sword thudding on ice reached my ears.

  Thud. Male grunt.

  Concentrate, I ordered my mind, concentrate on the problem at hand. Find a solution. Ace can take care of himself. My hands just slid over the damp ice. “This isn’t—” thud “—working,” I muttered.

  Red Queen wiggled and moaned as she tried to get her feet loose. Her right hand slipped off, the wand brushing against the ice. It let out of shower of red sparks in protest. One of the sparks landed on the ice, melting away the ice until it disappeared.

  “Did you see that?” I pointed. “The wand! Hold the tip against the ice.”

  Red Queen nodded. “Sorry,” she whispered to the wand and pressed it against the ice around her feet. Sparks erupted from the tip, eroding away the ice wherever it touched. “It’s working,” she gasped and huffed some stray dark curls out of her face. “The wand spent so much magic on you and me, it’s getting tired. I hope it can hold out a little longer.” It wasn’t long, but it seemed like forever before she was able to weaken the ice enough to pull her feet out, leaving a perfect print of the bottom of her boots behind.

  She looked at me with success blazing in her eyes. “Okay, Ali, let’s get you out.” She pointed the wand at my feet.

  The sparks were starting to come out in spurts, like a sparkler about to run out of gun powder.

  There was a yell of pain. I looked up in alarm, fear squeezing my throat closed.

  It wasn’t Ace. White Wizard fell toward us, a dirty boot print in the middle of his chest. He landed on the ground with a grunt only feet in front of us.

  We gasped and stood up. With my feet stuck in place still, it was hard for me to keep balanced, but Red Queen grabbed my arm and helped me stay up.

  Our movement drew White Wizard’s attention and he turned murderous eyes on us. Ace leapt at him from behind, but White Wizard thrust a chunk of ice at him, forcing Ace to disappear to avoid it.

  Frantically, I pulled on my legs, trying to get the ice to let go.

  Red Queen clenched her teeth and stepped in front of me. She pointed her wand at White Wizard. “Step back!” Red sparks fizzled from her wand.

  I don’t know if she was bluffing or not. I thought her wand was only able to heal and that it was almost out of magic.

  White Wizard laughed at her. “Do you really think that tiny amount of magic can protect you?” He pulled his arm back, ready to attack.

  “Red!” I yelled and grabbed her shoulders. She screamed as I threw her to the side as far as I could.

  “No matter,” he said with a cold smile of triumph and focused on me. White Wizard pulled back his arm in triumph and thrust forward.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and flinched, waiting for the pain.

  It never happened. Instead there was a male grunt.

  My eyes popped open. “No!” I shrieked in horror.

  Ace stood in front of me, Blood in one hand and the other hand around the ice sword extending from his stomach.

  White Wizard breathed a huff of satisfaction. “I finally caught you, you stupid cat.”

  Ace grunted in pain. His breath was puffing in and out, but his voice was firm. “Me too.” His ears flicked back as he lunged forward with a snarl.

  White Wizard didn’t have the time or mobility to react. Blood sliced through his ribs and into his heart. His mouth dropped open in pain.

  Face to face, Ace glared at the man who had haunted him for so long. “You are a horrible person. And a terrible Queen.”

  White Wizard’s mouth closed and opened again, but nothing came out. Instead, he froze. Literally. He turned into a perfect ice sculpture, shocked expression and all. A crack appeared at his heart and a second later, it erupted out until every surface was distorted. The bits started to come apart. Piece by piece, they rose into the air and dissolved into snow. In the warm air, the powder melted and disappeared.

  Off in the distance, a similar thing was happening to the Diamond Castle.

  The ice covering the field disappeared, and the ice monsters exploded into snow.

  Around us people gave shouts of surprise. Like the snow melting in the sun, the animal parts that marked the people disappeared. They shifted, feeling their completely human bodies. A cheer of excitement echoed up, getting louder and louder until everyone was celebrating.

  Freed from White Wizard, Blood’s tip rose in the air. At first I thought Ace was lifting it, until it had risen so high he had to let go. The sword hovered in the air a minute. In a flash of light, it exploded into nothing.

  “Blood,” Ace whispered in defeat, and crumpled backwards.

  “Ace!” I caught him. His weight dragged me down until he lay on the ground with his head in my lap. I stared at him, seeing him in real life without cat ears for the first time.

  My wide eyes stopped at the hole in his gut. So much blood came out of the wound. In all the time I’d spent in Oz, I hadn’t seen anything bleed. But now Ace’s torso was covered in the red liquid.

  Frantically, I bunched up the hem of Ace’s shirt and pressed it over the hole. My mind raced over the first aid I’d learned. In case of a puncture wound, you shouldn’t remove the object until on the operating table. But the ice disappeared with White Wizard. And there was no operating table waiting for Ace.

  He groaned under my hands.

  “It’ll be okay, Ace.” My voice was shallow and shook with panic. “Just—just go to sleep. You’ll be fine in the morning.” Right? People who died in Oz just came back the next morning. Even the ones that bled. Right?

  Amusement mingled with the pain in his face. “Even if it were true, I’m not sure I’d want to wake up tomorrow,” he rasped.

  “What do you mean, ‘even if it were true?’?” My voice shook.

  “You won’t be there. I’ve been ... hollow for so long. I can’t do it again.” He looked up at the blue sky. “Blood. It’s gone.” His voice cracked with the loss. He took a long, pained breath. “Oz’s indecision is gone. There’s only one Queen ... and Oz can move forward now.”

  “So life can go on,” I finished Ace’s thought. “Birth and ... death.”

  In other words, he wasn’t going to wake up tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  My throat burned so badly that nothing else would come out.

  Red Queen stumbled up to us. She must have knocked her head again when I threw her be
cause she was barely steady on her feet, mostly held up by the battered Hareson. Lional limped into view, holding his arm, open panic on his face until he saw that Red Queen was safe. Blood spots were starting to grow on the men, but it didn’t seem like they were gravely injured.

  She dropped to her knees and stared at Ace, brows pulled up and tears in her eyes. “Don’t worry, Ace. I’ll heal you.” She touched her wand to his chest.

  I held my breath, waiting.

  Nothing happened.

  Red Queen made a sound of frustration. “No, don’t run out now.”

  My chest tightened so painfully, I could barely breathe. I had to bite my lips to keep the moan of disappointment inside.

  Ace put a sluggish hand over hers so that she’d look at his face. “It needs rest. And so do I ... I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry for everything. I hope I finally made up for it. Fixed everything I did wrong.”

  Large crystal tears left clean trails down her smudged cheeks. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I confused you so much with my selfishness that you couldn’t understand your own task. And now, I don’t even have the strength to make it right.”

  “It is right.” He gasped. “Right now, it’s right.”

  Tears pricked at my eyes and trickled down my cheeks, blurring my vision.

  Ace turned to me and flashed a weak smile. “You’re a funny Ali. After everything that’s happened to you, now you cry? Over someone like me?” His hand lifted. It shook with the effort but was still gentle as he brushed the tears away. “Don’t cry. I’m fine with this.”

  “Why? I’m not!”

  “You won’t even remember us when you get back,” Ace said. “But I will never forget you, Ali. After all, I waited twenty-six Alices for you.” He sucked in a breath and hacked out some air. “I’d rather die than ache for you for the rest of my life.”

  Red Queen looked at Ace with mixed emotions. “Your heart is no longer alone. You finally found your queen, haven’t you?”

  A ghost of a smile touched his face. “She’d make a ... horrible Queen for Oz.” His halted voice grew faint. “But she’s my queen.”

  More tears streamed down my face.

  His breath stopped. He didn’t turn into dust, like when people normally died in Oz. His corpse just lay there, still and horrible.

  “Ace?” I shook him. “Ace!” My head dropped down until our foreheads touched. I felt the remaining warmth leave his body, and despair filled me. “No!” This couldn’t be happening. My fingers desperately searched for a pulse on his neck, but there was none.

  Lional chose that time to speak. “I don’t know why you’re so worked up. No one wanted him anyway.” His words were hard, though his voice was soft.

  My eyes widened. No matter how much Lional hated Ace, he shouldn’t insult him over his body. I turned and glared at Lional. “I want him.”

  Lional frowned and looked away.

  I did not do all this, work so hard to clear his name and fix Oz, just to have the man I loved die on me. Ace had already paid the price for his mistake; he shouldn’t have to give his life too. I looked at Red Queen fiercely. “Bring him back.”

  She peered through her tears at me. “What?”

  “Bring him back! You have the power, don’t you? You said you have the power to heal people. Heal him. Bring him back to me!” My voice was strong through the tears.

  Her expression crumpled with pain and guilt, head tilting to the side. “I can’t. Not until Oz recovers. White Wizard and I used too much of its magic in the fight. It wouldn’t help now anyway. No one in Oz has ever had the ability to revive the dead.”

  It was like cold water was poured over my head and dripped down to my toes, numbing my muscles and mind. He couldn’t die. He couldn’t. But there was no way I could stop it. No one in Oz could. My eyes widened. Oz.

  I carefully moved Ace’s head off my lap and stood up. I looked at the sky and yelled, “Oz! I know you can hear me!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lional look at Hareson like I’d gone crazy.

  I ignored them. “Give him back!” I demanded to the clouds, so innocently white and fluffy in the blue sky. “Ace did everything you asked him to do. So reward him! Bring him back!”

  Red Queen grabbed my arms. “Ali!”

  I shook her off and kept yelling. “If you can’t bring yourself to reward him, then reward me! I played your game. I figured it out and helped Ace do what you wanted. So reward me and give him back. If you can’t bring him back to Oz, then send him to my world. I want him! So reward me!” I begged at the top of my voice, fresh tears rolling down my cheeks. My voice cracked to a whisper. “Reward me.”

  “Ali!” Red Queen grabbed my face and forced me to look down at her. “That’s enough. It’s not going to work. Ace is gone. Oz couldn’t send him to your world anyway.” I shook my head. “No, if Oz can bring me here, it can send Ace there. He’s already been to the In-Between.”

  Red Queen glanced behind me, frowned, and then focused on me again. Her hands dropped to mine. She squeezed them as her eyes pooled with more tears. “Thank you, Ali,” she said. “When you first came to Oz, I was a little worried. You were so odd, I didn’t know what to think. Then the next morning you met Ace, I thought for sure White Wizard was going to win this Alice Games.” She hugged me. “But I’m thankful you came. I really am. I’d never cared much for the Alices before, but I love you. I’m glad I met you, and I’m glad you met Ace.”

  I stared at her in surprise. “What? What are you talking about?”

  “The Game is over,” Red Queen said simply.

  Hareson nudged Lional on the shoulder and pointed at something over my head. “Look. That’s never happened before.”

  There was a movement in the corner of my eye, and I turned, following Hareson’s finger.

  The Emerald Castle was disappearing. Its green walls were turning into glitter and wafting away with every puff of updraft from the cliff. A physical indicator that the portal between the worlds was closing. Forever.

  “Wait!” I protested. A breeze touched my hair and tore at my clothes, tossing it around and growing in strength. No one else was affected by it; just me in my own personal dust devil.

  Red Queen smiled big, a single tear etching down her cheek. “Goodbye, Ali of Alice.” Her hands slid out of mine.

  The wind intensified into a tornado, forcing my eyes closed and cutting off all sounds.

  Epilogue

  Frowning, I glanced around, searching for a clue as to what was going on. I was in the Milstein Hall at the top of some stairs. Two flights below, the sounds of students talking and working reached up and echoed off the curved cement ceiling above me.

  I knew I was on a tour of Cornell’s campus, but how did I get to the top of the stairs? And why did my heart hurt so badly that I wanted to cry? Wasn’t I doing something a moment ago? Something ... important?

  I tried forcing my mind to snap out of it. I had to catch up with my group. I turned and smacked straight into someone walking the other way.

  My papers slipped out of my hands, and I lost my balance. For a sickening moment, I tipped toward the open stairway.

  “Whoa!” His quick hands caught my arms and pulled me away from the edge.

  “I’m so sorry!” Mortified, I barely glanced at the tall young man. I dropped to the floor to collect my stuff. I couldn’t believe I’d done that! I’m never that oblivious to my surroundings!

  He knelt down too. “It’s okay. You’re not hurt, are you?” He picked up some papers and offered them to me.

  “No, I’m—” I glanced up and froze, hand outstretched to take the papers. Wow, he was hot.

  His full lips were cocked in a half smile, and his deep brown eyes gleamed with perpetual laughter. His hair was, well, orange, cut short and spiked up. There were so many emotions in his handsome face. Affection, relief, warmth, and others I couldn’t identify. It was the first time anyone had ever looked at me like that. Like I was th
e most important person in the world.

  Suddenly my eyes were swimming in water. I blinked in surprise and looked away. What was wrong with me? I run into a gorgeous guy, and he’s nice enough to help me pick my things up, then I burst into tears? Missing some of the tour was not worth this humiliation.

  He glanced down at the papers in his hand. “So it’s Alice Liddell?”

  I glanced at him. He was still talking to me? The weird girl that plowed into him? “Ah, it’s Ali, actually.”

  “Oh, really?” He rocked back on his heels and watched me with interest.

  “Yeah, my mom’s name is Alice too, so I go by Ali.” Ah, I sounded so lame. My face went up in flames. Why was I blushing so badly? Was it because I was fighting an insane urge to throw my arms around him? I was seriously going crazy. Why now? I swallowed and tried to calm my nerves. “And you are …?”

  He flashed a smile. For a second, he reminded me of a teasing cat. “I’m Ace Harte.”

  Ace. Something tickled at the back of my mind. But what?

  Ace glanced at the papers again, fingering the botany program flyer on top. “So you’re in Becca’s tour group? And you’re going into the botany program?”

  “Ah, yeah.” Right, that’s what her name was. I’d forgotten. My hand jumped to my hair and tugged. It was a relief that he knew what botany was.

  He nodded. “What’s your favorite flower?”

  My mouth opened to answer, then I paused. Yesterday I would have said the orchid, but a different flower popped into my mind. “Water lilies,” I said softly. I looked down, frowning. “I don’t know why. They just seem ... magical.” Like knights and rainbows that came out of flowers. An embarrassed smile spread over my face, and I waved it away. “Sorry, that sounds silly.” I glanced up at him and the air evaporated from my lungs.

  He was smiling at me. Just smiling. His eyes were so tender. There was happiness and sadness there too, making my heart squeeze tight. I wanted to reach out and touch him. Soothe away the sadness until there was only laughter on his face.