WonderLand

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
The great, gold-gilded doors at the end of the absurdly long Throne Room Hall burst open, and two men breathlessly stumbled inside, practically tripping over each other in their haste.

The Dodo shoved Bill the Lizard off of him and scrambled to his feet, hurriedly adjusting his bulging waistcoat and smoothing back his grey hair. Bill picked himself up off the ground as well, and skulked slightly behind the Dodo, as if his bulk might shield him from the Queen's gaze- or the spear tips of her armor-clad guards, who motionlessly lined either side of the blood red carpet that stretched all the way up to the Queen's enormous, ruby-studded throne.

The Queen of Hearts looked down at the men across the room, her black eyes dancing with something far from friendly. Her perfect red lips pursed slightly- the only sign of emotion on her otherwise expressionless face. She raised a white-gloved hand and lazily flicked her fingers in the air. Immediately, the two guards nearest the Dodo and Bill stepped forwards, barring the way with their spears. A man dressed completely in white, a gold trumpet tucked beneath his arm, leaned towards the beautiful woman ever so slightly, his green eyes flashing.

"Yes, your majesty?" He rumbled in a low, submissive voice.

"And who exactly, pray tell me Rabbit, are...they?" A flicker of a sneer touched her lips as she said it.

"The Dodo and... some other guy, Your Majesty." The man replied, touching his forehead respectfully. "Unsavory fellows, who run a disreputable business, usually fencing shadily acquired goods."

"I see," The Queen murmured. "And what are they doing in my court?" Her tone was clipped and icy. The man in white spoke quickly.

"I believe they have valuable information about the Prophecy, Your Majesty."

"The Prophecy? That Alice girl, then?" The Queen said. It wasn't a question. The man in white didn't answer. "All right. Let us hear what they have to say, then. Perhaps they know something of value. Or perhaps they'll just provide tonight's entertainment, eh?" She smiled a cold little smile. "In fact, send one of the guards to give the executioner the... heads up." The pun seemed to amuse her, and she giggled, high and shrill.

Though they were at least sixty feet away and didn't hear the exchange, the Dodo and Bill the Lizard did hear the laugh, and they both simultaneously shuddered. The Queen in a laughing mood was never a good sign.

The White Rabbit stepped forwards and put the trumpet to his lips, blowing a short, harsh note.
"Sir Dodo and Mister..." He paused uncertainly, peering down at Bill, who sidled farther behind the Dodo.

"Bill the Lizard, Sir," The Dodo managed to croak after a moment, and bowed. The man in white sneered.

"And Mister Bill the Lizard, requesting court before Her Majesty, the esteemed and revered Queen of Hearts, Queen of WonderLand, and Queen of anything else she so wishes." He bellowed, his voice ringing in the otherwise silent hall.

"Come forward," The Queen commanded, her words carrying across the hall despite the fact she hadn't risen her voice at all. The Dodo and Bill stumbled forwards; the Dodo giving repeated, bobbing little bows with every step, and Bill wringing his cap frettingly in his dirty hands. It was a long, awkward walk to the Throne, and the two men were uncomfortably aware of the red-armor clad guards' sharp eyes, fixed on them. By the time they finally reached the great steps that led up to the dais that the Queen's royal seat sat upon, they were only too glad to sink to their knees and bow their heads- despite their mutual fear of presenting their bare necks to the axe-happy Queen.

"Your Gracious Majesty, Your Most Beautiful and Noble Lady of the Lands," The Dodo began, touching his forelock respectfully and keeping his head bent so no one could see the expression of disgust across his face. "Oh Shining Star of the Eastern Sky, Your Fairest Grace-"

"Get on with it," The Queen's icy voice cut through his supplications like a razor.

"Of course, of course," He apologized, bobbing in a bow again.

"You have news of the Prophecy?" She commanded, running a shiny black fingernail across her painted lips. The Dodo glanced up, regaining his composure as the lust of greed overcame his fear.

"Yes, Your Majesty," He breathed, fingering the semi-precious stones that adorned his fat fingers. "I have news of the prophecy- and of the girl, Alice."

The Queen's black eyes flashed, and she leaned forwards in her throne slightly, a different sort of greed coloring her alabaster cheeks. "Yes? What about her?" She hissed.

"She is here, Your Majesty; she's here in WonderLand!"

"What?!"

The Dodo ducked, and missed being hit by the heavy golden scepter that flew past his head by inches.

"Why wasn't I informed of this at once?!" The Queen shrieked, leaping to her feet in a fury, her once beautiful face distorted and mottled with rage. "You!" She pointed an accusing talon at the White Rabbit, who shrank beneath her torrent of anger. "Off with his head! Off with his head!"

"Your Majesty, please!" The White Rabbit pleaded, holding up his hands defensively, and eying the approaching guards nervously. "What have we said about lashing out? This hasn't anything to do with me!"

"I sent you to find her! I sent you to bring her to me! I spent ten years finding a way to make that damned Mirror work both ways so you could FIND HER!" The Queen snarled, looking around for something else to throw.

"And I did, Your Highness!" He insisted pathetically.

"Your Majesty!" Came the shrieking reply.

"Your Majesty!" He amended hastily. "Your Majesty, I searched for every girl by the name of Alice I could find, but none of them matched the prophecy!"

The Queen rounded on the Dodo, who seemed to shrink into himself. Bill looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

"The girl- are you sure she is Alice- THE Alice?" The Queen spat.

"Yes, Your Majesty- positive." The Dodo said, without meeting her eyes. The Queen whirled back around to fix the White Rabbit with her murderous stare.

"Then tell me, Rabbit- how did she get here if you didn't bring her?" She asked, her voice dangerously soft.

"I... she must have followed me, or been drawn to the residual traces of the Mirror's power and fallen through." The Rabbit answered quickly, hoping desperately, for the sake of his head, that his excuse sounded plausible enough.

It seemed to be enough for the Queen, for she gave a final scream and threw herself back into her Throne. The sudden outpouring of anger was gone almost as quickly as it had come.

"Is she pretty?" She finally huffed sulkily, her lips forming what might have been an attractive pout on any other girl.

"Oh no, Your Majesty!" The Dodo said hastily, bowing deeply again. "She is nothing compared to you- quite plain, a scrap of a girl!"

"I don't know, I thought she was kinda pretty-" Bill spoke up in a quavering voice, but fell silent at once when the Dodo winded him with an elbow to the gut. The Queen, fortunately, didn't seem to notice.

"Were is she now?" She asked, twisting a lock of raven-black hair around a slender finger.

"Er, she was headed into the forest, last I saw of her," The Dodo replied, hesitantly. "Your Majesty," He added quickly. The explosion he expected never came.

"The Forest, hm?" The Queen mused, her eyes narrowing. "The only place in WonderLand still free of my control. However will I get my hands on her now?"
The Dodo did not catch her mocking tone- he only heard the words and the illusion of spoils they promised.

"Your Majesty," He began quickly, feeling a little fevered at the realization how easy this would be, "I know where she was headed, and I've already met her- the girl will trust me, Your Majesty. Perhaps," He licked his lips, his eyes darting nervously at the guards that flanked him and Bill on all sides. "Perhaps Bill here and I could... bring her to you. For a small fee, of course."

The Queen's face was impassive as she gazed down at him from her Throne. Then a small, gentle smile played across her red lips, and her obsidian eyes softened by a fraction.

"Oh silly Dodo," She trilled. "It isn't wise to play against the Dealer, little man. They've always got the winning cards up their sleeves." She snapped her fingers, and fours guards immediately sprang forwards and grabbed the Dodo and Bill by the arms, one on each side, and started dragging them down the endless hall, their screams of protest and pleas for mercy falling upon deaf ears.

"Will they be beheaded, Your Majesty?" The White Rabbit asked after they had been dragged through the entrance doors and the mens' shouts had finally died away. The Queen motioned for a servant to scurry forward, proffering a large, silver platter of heart-shaped jam tarts. She took her time in replying while she pickily chose one of the treats.

"No, I don't think so," She finally said, taking a delicate bite. "I'm not much in the mood for a beheading right now. And besides," She licked some crumbs from the corner of her mouth, "They may yet come in useful to me later. We'll see what they're worth." She made another swift motion with her hand.

From the shadows of the corner of the room, a figure emerged, as smoothly as if he had been formed from the darkness itself. With lightly tripping steps, he skipped with effortless nonchalance up to the Queen's Throne and sat himself on the armrest, completely ignoring the defensive steps forwards every guard in the room took, until the Queen motioned for them to fall back.
The man reached over the Queen and plucked the tart from her hand and took a large bite out of it, before handing it back to her.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" He said through a mouthful of tart. The Queen smiled sweetly at him.

"Ah, Cat. There you are. You're always slinking off when I need you the most." She fluttered.

"I know. It's much easier to appreciate the value of things when you don't have them at your beck and call." The Cheshire Cat replied with a wicked grin. "This way, I know my services aren't being taken for granted."

"Well, I have a special job for you today, Cat," The Queen said, stroking the side of his face with the back of her hand. "You're going to go out and find that nasty little Alice girl and bring her back here." She pouted. "With my luck, she'll already be at that terrible Tea Shop, and Hatter and Hare will be telling her all sorts of awful things about me." Her fingers pressed into the Cat's flesh, but he didn't even blinked when her nails drew blood. "Find her. I want her." The Queen hissed, and shoved the Cat off her Throne.

He jumped at the last moment, and easily kept his feet. "Of course, Your Majesty. There is nothing else I'd rather do." He bowed deeply, mockingly.

She waved him off, and he disappeared as quickly and silently as he had come. She waited a minute, staring blankly into space.

"...Your Majesty?" The White Rabbit said after a while.

"Get the Walrus ad the Carpenter." The Queen ordered, picking up another tart. "Have them trail the Cat."

"You don't trust him?" The White Rabbit asked. The Queen smirked, and picked at her very white teeth with a black painted fingernail.

"Do I look like a fool to you?" She said. "I want this job done. I want Alice in front of me, I want WonderLand in my grasp once and for all. Cats are notoriously disloyal creatures." She smiled at the White Rabbit. "I never much liked cats. Drown them all, I say."