Status: Contest entry; feedback appreciated.

A Great Source of Calamity

The Resolution

The Oraculum was angering Mirana.

No, it was doing much more than angering her. It was causing the queen to become nearly sick with rage.

She had done everything in her power to ensure that Alice would never be able to return to Underland. Bayard had locked the door that Alice used as entrance and given the key to Mirana; it was now locked inside a chest that was being guarded by two of her chess piece soldiers. She had sent McTwisp to the Overland first though to make sure there were no secret entrances to Underland. Everyone believed that Alice would never return; the Hatter believed it so wholeheartedly that he had abandoned his constant tea party and retired to his rundown home to wallow in misery.

And yet, after all that she had done, Alice's smiling picture had not been removed from the Oraculum. Nothing had changed. The days were the same, as were the illustrations. There was not one miniscule change, and this was most infuriating. While Mirana had been trying to keep her bubbly, somewhat ditzy appearance, she had finally snapped under the pressure caused by her impeding usurpation and begun shouting in a manner that she had learned from Iracebeth when they were children.

"Where is Absolem!?" she yelled as she knocked the Oraculum from her desk. "Find me that insect, and find him now!"

The ladies that had been attending her shrunk back in fear of their seemingly foreign ruler. "We've searched, Majesty," one of them insisted.

"It's as though he vanished," pointed out the other.

"He can't have just vanished!" shouted Mirana as she brought her fist upon the desk in anger. "Find him! Bring him to me!"

One of the ladies bent to pick up the Oraculum while Mirana had been thundering about Absolem, and Mirana noticed her eyes widen as she looked at the calendar. Her throat felt thick and her hands began to sweat. "Guards!" she called as she let herself fall into her chair, looking quite faint.

"Yes, Majesty?"

She fanned herself as she addressed the two pawns. "They've tried to murder me!" she fabricated. At her sentence, her ladies were restrained by the knights. "They must be banished to the Outlands," Mirana declared. She locked eyes with the lady holding the Oraculum. "Forever."

The second guard yanked the Oraculum from the hands of the now shocked exiled courtier and sat it upon Mirana's desk. McTwisp came bounding into the room. "I heard all of the racket!" he exclaimed, "Are you all right, Your Highness?"

"Of course I'm all—Oh, you mean because of the ladies." As she never lied, Mirana had already forgotten that she had just banished two of her most trusted ladies and had forgotten what McTwisp meant by his question. "I'm quite fine," she said before patting McTwisp's white ears. "It's so kind of you to worry."

The rabbit gave her a smile before inching towards the door. "If that's all, Highness—"

"Actually," added the queen, "have you heard of Absolem's whereabouts, McTwisp? No one seems to know where the poor creature is."

"I haven't, Queen Mirana," McTwisp admitted before he took his leave.

Glaring, Mirana dropped back onto her chair. Once she was alone, the gravity of what she had done began weighing on her mind. She had banished innocent courtiers because one of them had learned of why she so desperately wished for Alice to be kept out of Underland; the other courtier had to go just so that Mirana's lie of attempted murder could not be refuted.

Did that mean that she had harmed an innocent creature? Surely banishment couldn't be that awful. It wasn't as though Mirana had ordered them killed.

Although Mirana had been very irritated as of late when people that were not assisting her in changing the fate predicted by the Oraculum, she was nearly overjoyed when the Hatter appeared in the doorway of the study. His appearance interrupted the thoughts that had caused her stomach to become a bubbling, nervous disaster. "Hatter!" she smiled, "What brings you to Marmoreal?"

"Hats, Majesty," he explained, holding up a medium sized trunk. "I've been thinking about your offer, and I—"

"I'm so glad you've reconsidered, Hatter!" she smiled as she stood up from her desk and met him near the door. "Come, you can unpack those in my closet, and I'll find a mirror so that I can begin trying them on."

"Wonderful!" the Hatter agreed, eyes gleaming.

The pair approached the closet, and Mirana waved away the white guards that protected Mirana's most precious possession, which she had hidden in the depths of the room that was her closet. While Mirana scurried about looking for a mirror so that she could see what the Hatter's creations looked like upon her head, the Hatter made himself quite busy in the closet. Upon Mirana's return, he frowned, "It seems that I've forgotten the best one!" he exclaimed in dismay.

"Oh, no matter," Mirana shrugged. "You may return with it when we're finished here."

"No," argued the Hatter. "You must have it now. It's my masterpiece, Your Highness."

Mirana gave a meek shrug. "If you insist. You are the professional, I suppose." Unhinged as you are, she added in afterthought.

Thus, the Hatter disappeared, leaving Mirana to wait.

And wait.

She gave up pacing about her room when she felt as though hours had passed. In reality, it was not but an hour. And as impatience was one of Mirana's newly acquired qualities, she slunk into her closet to inspect the hats produced by her favorite Hatter.

However, there were none. The trunk was sitting on the floor, unopened. There was a box sitting on one of the seats that was ajar though. It was the box that Mirana had locked the key into. The lock on the box had been decimated—how Mirana had no idea—and the key was missing.

Realization washed over Mirana a second later. "He tricked me," she whispered, though she was struggling to grasp the concept. She spun around, unsure of what she was going to do.

Once her eyes befell the sight behind her, Mirana's mind became even more blank. "Alice," she hissed.

"Mirana, please, let me help you," Alice requested imploringly. "Whatever your sister has told you, it's not true. She's trying to destroy you."

The white queen glared at the young blonde girl. "You're the one who tried to trick me," she countered. "You pretended to be this kind, ever helpful girl while you always had your sights set on my crown—my Underland!"

"Mirana, please..."

"Guards!" Mirana called, "Guards! Off with her head!"

There was silence in the castle as the white guards appeared in the room. They did not advance towards Alice, as they did not know whether their queen was being serious or not. Mirana was quiet as well, startled by the order that had slipped from her mouth. "What am I doing?" she whispered. The question was meant for herself, but another answered.

"Foolish," sighed Absolem, "You misinterpreted the Oraculum and by doing so have made yourself a threat to Underland."

Mirana shook her white blonde hair. "No."

"Yes," hissed the once caterpillar who had been transformed into a fluttering butterfly. "Alice's crowning was not the end of the White Mirana. Everyone knows Underland must have two queens. One cannot rule forever."

Mirana's mouth was dry, and she felt shaky. "All of this was for nothing?" she asked the butterfly.

"Yes."

Her trembling pale hand reached up to remove the crown from her head. "I've become Iracebeth," she lamented. She forced the crown into Alice's hands. "You must forgive me, Alice. I never meant..." She closed her eyes, waiting for Alice to lay upon her the banishment that Iracbeth faced.

"Mirana of Marmoreal," Alice began in an authoritative voice, "I hearby order you to... a break."

The confused queen opened her eyes. "What?"

"You've been so concerned for Underland for such a long time," Alice explained, "It's time for you to relax. I once knew a man who enjoyed boat rides. He said he found them good chances to relax and let his mind wander."

Weakly, Mirana nodded. "A boat ride," she said, the words sounding foreign. She hadn't thought of doing anything as frivolous as a boat ride since long before Iracebeth's rule. She turned her back on Alice and began walking towards the exit of the room.

"Your Highness?" called Alice. Mirana paused and glanced over her shoulder. "Fairfarren," she smiled.

The abdicating queen was forced to smile as well, pleased to see that Underland was obviously in capable hands.
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Different than I thought it'd be, haha.

But it was fun to write. Thanks for reading!