“Now!” The Red Queen pointed at Alice and one of the guards pressed her down to her knees. “Off with her head!”
This isn’t happening, Alice thought, but the flash of a blade behind her made it very immediate. One of the guards was holding an old-time executioner’s ax and it looked very real.
“Wait!” There was that word again, but this time Alice didn’t speak it. Wade burst into the room wearing a white robe trimmed in red and silver, something similar to what the Red King had been wearing when she met him. And where was the king anyway?
She wondered, glancing around the hall. The place was full with bodies, writhing, moaning, piled on top of one another, but she didn’t see him.
“I call for mediation.” Wade stepped between the guard and Alice, grabbing her upper arms and bringing her to standing. She had never felt so safe and leaned back gratefully against him. “Where’s the Red King?”
“Mediation?” The Red Queen snorted and waved her hand. “What do we need that for?”
“For fun of course.” The Red King appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, his robe only half-closed, although he was trying to fix that. He grinned and winked at Alice and she instantly relaxed. “The girl has to solve a riddle. How’s that, my pet?” He raised an eyebrow in the queen’s direction.
“Oh fiddlesticks.” The Red Queen turned her nose in the air, waving the idea away.
“Wait.” Wade took a step toward the Red King. “If she solves it, we crown a new king and queen.”
Both of the king’s eyebrows rose. “That’s quite a wager.”
“I believe in her.” Wade looked over at Alice and gave her the smile that made her melt into little puddles.
But she couldn’t do this. Solve riddles? It was insane. “Wade…”
“So be it!” The Red Queen’s eyes brightened as she looked at Alice. “Solve the riddle and you will be the new queen.”
Alice gulped. “I’ll do my best.”
“Tell me…” The queen leaned forward on her throne, her lips curling into a wicked smile. “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” Alice blinked, frowned, and looked over to Wade for help. If she failed, what did it mean? Were they really going to chop off her head? And if she solved it, well what did that mean? Is this what Wade had meant about being together, forever? Or was this part of the test?
She tried to think of any way the two things could be related but couldn’t come up with anything. A crowd had gathered around them, distracted from their own distractions by the queen’s proclamation. Finally, Alice had to admit defeat. Ravens and writing desks had nothing in common. They were going to cut off her head and she was never going to see Wade again.
She swallowed hard and met his eyes, blinking back her tears. She didn’t regret dying for him, not really. She just hated to disappoint him. More than anything, she wished she could be back home snuggled under her down comforter with Dinah while Wade made pancakes in her little kitchen. Thinking of home made her remember Maddie, and how she’d never see her again either. Her poor sister would always wonder what had happened to her.
And that’s when it came to her. Maddie and her solid belief in science was going to save her life in this strange, surreal place.
“A raven is like a writing desk…” Alice swallowed and turned to meet the Red Queen’s eyes, feeling rather triumphant. “Because a raven and a writing desk are, without a doubt, scientifically proven to be both made of atoms.” The whole crowd was quiet and then a deafening cheer went up around her. The queen stood, sputtering her protest, but the king, looking proud and amused, stepped in.
“That’s as good an answer as I’ve ever heard,” he exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing Alice’s hand. He kissed it gently as he had the first time and the way he looked at her made her flush.
“That’s not the answer!” the queen screeched. “There is no answer to that riddle!” But no one heard her. They were all starting to chant: “Long live the White King!
Long live the White Queen!” and a white robe trimmed with red and silver was being draped around Alice’s shoulders. She smiled over at Wade and he winked at her. The Red King was shaking his hand and passing over his crown and didn’t look too upset to be giving it up either.
“Look out!” The cry came from behind her and Alice whirled toward the sound, a woman’s voice. One of the tarts pointed at the queen’s throne, where the Red Queen had tussled for and won the executioner’s ax from the guard. She wielded the heavy, ungainly thing with no grace or skill, but it didn’t seem to matter. The queen swung and the ax was headed straight for the red collar around Alice’s neck as if it were a magnet.
The last thing she heard was the Red Queen screaming, “Off with her head!”
“Alice.” The sound of her name was far away, in another world. “Alice! Wake up!” She jolted awake at his command, gasping and clutching Wade to her. He wrapped his big arms around her and held her close, rocking her in the darkness.
“Was I dreaming?” she whispered incredulously. “Was it only a dream?”
“It must have been something.” Wade chuckled and kissed her forehead. “You were screaming ‘Off with her head!’”
Alice’s hand went to her throat, which was thankfully still attached to her head.
And then she felt it-a collar. It was fastened seamlessly to her neck and she was sure, if she turned on a light and looked into a mirror, that it would be red.
“Wade…” she whispered, fingering the band at her neck. “Was it really a dream?” He was quiet for a moment and then he asked, “Do you want it to be?” In an instant, she relived every moment in the strange land she’d visited and knew, no matter what her sister said about Alice’s imagination, it was as real as she was, as real as Wade or ravens or writing desks.
“No,” she admitted.
His lips moved over her neck, kissing her new collar. “Then let’s go back to Wonderland.”
She surrendered.
Her only regret was that she would have to leave Maddie behind. But maybe, some day, she could convince her sister to come over to the other side.