Chapter Twelve

 

 

While Kyran had been recuperating, the armies of the three Card Kingdoms gathered. The Spades may have been the best soldiers, but that didn't mean the other kingdoms couldn't fight. We marched upon the Heart Castle with thousands of men and women backing us.

Now, we waited on the plain just outside of the castle for the Queen of Hearts to make her move. Thunder boomed, and lightning flashed in the ever present storm surrounding Heart Castle, but my unicorn mount wasn't bothered by it. We were at the head of three armies with my Card Kings. They were also astride unicorns, but theirs were black where mine was the purest white. On my hip was the Vorpal sword, and it was vibrating as if it could sense the coming battle.

An army finally came marching out of the Heart gates, a woman at its head. She was riding a beast that I would have called a dragon except that its neck was longer than any representation of dragons I'd ever seen, and its wings were wider. Its snout was more like a crocodile than a horse, and its eyes were round, fully black, and empty of any emotion. Except for maybe fury. The beast looked furious.

“The Jabberwocky.” Jaxon nodded to the animal. “Remember; you must kill it first, then go after Rina. Do not allow her to taunt you into engaging her or the beast will kill you.”

“Got it.” I nodded.

“Fools,” the woman riding the Jabberwocky hissed at us. She had bright red hair pulled back into a braid and skin so pale that I could see her veins through it. “You cannot win against me.” Then she spotted me. “So, it's true, the Heir to Wilds has returned. Alice, is it? What a shame that you've come all this way, only to die.”

Behind her, her heart soldiers set their shields into the ground, forming a barrier. The shields were in the shape of playing cards, enameled white, with red hearts in their centers. The men behind the shields looked apathetic and tired. They stared at their queen as if she were the one they'd rather be fighting. I had no desire to kill those men.

“I challenge you, Queen Rina!” I called out, shocking my kings and making Nick hiss. “A battle between you and I to determine who rules Wonderland.”

“You cannot,” Jaxon growled. “I told you; we must kill the Jabberwocky first.”

I gave him a quelling look, and Jaxon snapped his mouth shut and shook his head.

“I accept!” Rina said gleefully. “You and I, Alice!” She jumped off the Jabberwocky and strode forward into the space between the armies.

I dismounted as well and walked forward as I drew my sword.

“I wondered why the Card Kings would want that thing.” Rina narrowed her eyes on the Vorpal. “I knew that none of them could wield it.”

“Not too bright, are you?” I asked her.

As her eyes widened at my insult, I rushed past her and stabbed the Jabberwocky in its chest. The Vorpal flashed white and cut through the tough hide easily. Blood gushed, and the monster screeched. It drew back as Rina screamed in protest. I angled to the side as the Jabberwocky charged me, its wings whooshing out angrily. The tip of its barbed tail struck the earth beside me, and I scampered up an embankment. Another ear-splitting screech came as the Jabberwocky jumped up the hill, and I scrambled away. Clods of dirt went flying next to my face as a wing tip stabbed the ground. I rolled away just before its jaws could close around my arm, then I stared up at it.

I felt the strangest sense of familiarity, but I shoved it away as I sent out a cut of magic. The magic was deflected of its rubbery hide. Still, it was enough to distract the Jabberwocky, and I was able to crawl out from beneath it and run further up the hill. From my vantage point, I was able to direct the magic better, and I angled my hand down as I folded. The Jabberwocky bent in two and roared, but it only lasted a moment. I dealt out thin cards of magic and only managed to knock its legs out from under it. I shuffled, and it tripped, falling on its flat face. Then I fronted, throwing up an illusion of a wall of fire.

The Jabberwocky drew back in terror, rolling a little down the hill. I chased after it and lifted my sword. Just as I was about to bring it down on the Jabberwocky's neck, Queen Rina shouted for me to stop.

“She is your mother!”

I froze, looking up from the beast to my kings. They shook their heads, as confused as I.

“I swear to you,” Rina declared, “that the Jabberwocky is Queen Julia.”

“No,” I whispered.

The Jabberwocky started to move, and I laid my blade at its throat. It stilled, staring up at me with an intelligence that was beyond any beast, even one of Wonderland.

“You lie!” Draven shouted at Rina. “Queen Julia went to kill the Jabberwocky, but it killed her.”

“Do I lie?” Rina chortled. “You idiots! The Jabberwocky wasn't the threat against that village; it was I, my magic that was shrieking in the night, scaring the villagers. I knew that Julia would come to conquer the monster hunting her people, and I laid a spell in the very earth, just for her. Julia fell right into my trap. She cast her illusions and sprung the spell I aligned with her magic. It altered her own Fronting magic, using it to turn an illusion into reality. Instead of killing a monster, she became one. It made her the Jabberwocky and bound her to me. A wild queen to power my magic.”

“Mother?” I stared deep into the Jabberwocky's dark eyes, and something flickered within them.

“You must kill it, Alice!” Jaxon shouted. “Your mother is gone. Even if that is her, it is not Julia anymore. Kill the beast!”

“I'm Alice Wild,” I said to the Jabberwocky. “Do you remember me? I'm your daughter.”

The Jabberwocky closed its eyes, and a tear trickled out. I stood up, removing my blade from its neck. That was enough of a confirmation for me.

“Alice, no!” Kyran shouted. “It's a trick!”

The Jabberwocky drew up, wings spreading behind it, and opened its massive jaws. A roar rent the air as it lifted its head to the sky, but to me, it didn't seem like a challenge, it sounded like despair.

“Kill her!” Rina screeched at the Jabberwocky. “Kill Alice!”

The massive wings lowered, and its head undulated down to mine. Reptilian lips drew back as it snarled and started edging forward.

“Mother, it's me,” I said urgently as I backed up. “It's Alice. I know you're in there. Please, fight the magic.”

My boot went out over empty air, and I threw myself forward just before I fell over the cliff behind me. I hurried to my feet and glanced back at the ravine full of jagged rocks below. It must have been thousands of feet high.

The Jabberwocky roared.

The Card Kings rushed forward on their mounts; shouting in fury and fear. But they were too far away, they'd never reach me in time.

“Alice!” Kyran screamed in denial.

“Strike now!” Queen Rina had stalked up the opposite side of the hill, confident in her victory. She was just a few feet away from us now, pointing arrogantly at me. “Kill Alice!”

I stared up at the Jabberwocky, and it focused on me intensely. Then I, very deliberately, sheathed my sword.

“I won't hurt you, Mother.”

“Kill her!” Rina shrieked again. “Do it now!”

The Jabberwocky's face seemed to soften, and it lowered its cheek to mine. I felt the wet trail of its tears as it nudged me gently. Then it reared back and struck with the speed of a shark. Wind rushed by me as Rina shouted for death, and the Jabberwocky took hold of its enemy within its strong talons. Our enemy: Queen Rina.

The Queen of Hearts lifted her hand to fight back, and I slashed out blindly with my magic. All of it.

“Alice, we are here for you!” Jaxon shouted.

A golden energy pulsed out from my Card Kings and encased me. It flowed into me and then out of me. A full deck of energy shot from my hands in the form of playing cards. They whistled through the air and embedded themselves in Rina. The Queen of Hearts bent over on a huff of air, and the Jabberwocky folded itself around her. A greasy green glow filled Rina's hands as she struck out at the Jabberwocky blindly, but the beast–my mother–only held Rina tighter as she rolled them to the edge of the cliff... and over it.

“No!” I screamed as they fell.

I ran to the edge and watched the Jabberwocky draw its wings in against its back so that it would hurtle faster downward, and then it turned its body so that Rina would take the brunt of the impact. The earth trembled with the force of their fall.

“Mother!” I cried as my kings rushed up the hill to me. “Mother.”

“There was no returning for her,” Bevan said gently. “She made the best choice available to her; she decided to save you.”

“I am so sorry, Alice,” Kyran added as he stroked my hair gently.

“Queen Julia has righted her wrongs,” Jaxon murmured. “She has taken a hero's stand and died with honor.”

“Come here, sweetheart,” Draven pulled me into a hug. “Just breathe. I've got you. We've got you and will never let go.”

The other men closed in around us, and they held me as I mourned the mother I had lost, and found, and lost again.