Chapter 15
“Finally, our intriguing new arrival,” King Evoldo declared with a suave smile. Though he was not tall, he had a commanding presence, with olive skin, clear and large eyes, dramatically parted black hair, and exceptionally handsome features. The queen regarded him slyly from her end of the table.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty,” Alice replied with a curtsey, then she dipped to the queen.
Was she to address them as Your Royal Highness?
A nagging feeling of self-consciousness crept in.
The pale-yellow belted dress with a sensible bell skirt was the closest thing to what she was used to—modest, practical, familiar.
But now, seated among royalty, she realized how out of place it looked.
The fashion here was unlike anything she had known, and suddenly, her choice felt almost childish.
But why would such a dress be in her room, then?
A scarlet guard pulled out the chair beside Blinkem, and Alice sat, trying to shake off her spiraling thoughts.
“You look very nice,” Blinkem whispered to her as she started to reacquaint herself with a proper place setting.
“Thank you,” she replied, looking up to meet his gaze. His fair hair was slicked back, and he wore a poplin shirt under a pale yellow jacket. “You are surely teasing me!” she said as scarlet-clad men began filling the wine glasses.
“Why would you think that?” Blinkem squinted. Was it agitation in his eyes? From the events on the beach, she gathered.
“A funny coincidence,” Alice said, without clarifying that it was their matching outfits that she found coincidental, both here and with the silver outfits at Guinevere’s.
He turned from her with a somber expression.
Who exactly was he, anyway? She wondered again if he would really have any insight into why Wendy had vanished, and why he chose to fall through the mirror and then run about naked at the Kingdom of Ev.
She turned her attention to King Evoldo, perhaps to comment on the grand murals—if she could befriend him, there was the possibility he would help her—but he was staring at her with an intensity that stopped her thoughts.
He reclined against the high, tufted backrest of his chair so casually that it seemed inappropriate, and, below the carved table, his legs were sprawled so far forward that Alice thought for a moment she could feel his boot nudge her ankle.
Wearing an informal tunic unknotted at the top under a modest red jacket with silk lapels, he gulped wine from the silver-rimmed wine glass he held with fingers covered in rings with varying gems. Alice looked away, but the pressure of his gaze remained.
“Alice,” he said, “I have heard quite the tale of how you came to our Roseland cottage. Where is this Wonderland you come from?” The queen sipped her wine, her smile remaining warm towards Alice.
Alice wished she had kept quiet about Wonderland. “My family comes from London, near Kensington Gardens,” she said. The king and queen exchanged a glance.
“And you have apisorceresses and mimics in this London?” King Evoldo said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean,” Alice said as discomfort in how foreign she felt rose.
Queen Rosemarie cleared her throat. “From what Blinkem has recounted, you were pursued by an apisorceress, the witch that could conjure bees; a mimic, the witch that could change her appearance; and a headless witch, a witch which confounds me.” Rosemarie grinned.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing. But all very powerful, it would seem. ”
“I had not thought…” Alice was more taken aback by the casual discussion over witchcraft than the actual reality that witches were in pursuit of her. Was this real?
“Alice, your face or your demeanor…” The king searched for something in his mind. “I can’t say what, but I find you very familiar. Do you have family here?”
Alice’s stomach churned as he scrutinized her. “You would not know me. Until today, I had never heard of this fine palace.”
“There is something,” Queen Rosemarie said, studying Alice. “I find your energy familiar.” What on earth did that mean?
“I was wondering,” Blinkem interrupted, “if there might be a way for us to join one of your shipments to the mainland.” Alice turned to him abruptly, causing her chair to squeak and Blinkem to jump like a scared jackrabbit.
“It seems the young lady,” King Evoldo teased, sipping his wine, “doesn’t want to go to the mainland.”
“I didn’t realize it would be so soon. It’s so lovely here.” It seemed terribly rude to immediately request passage, before dinner had even been consumed. Also, what if by some miracle Wendy had landed here at Roseland, too? Alice would need to find a way to search the grounds.
Evoldo smirked. “I’ll need to think about the matter,” he said, and Queen Rosemarie rolled her eyes grandly as he went on.
“A mysterious sea harpy shows up on the day two strangers, who are wanted by a slew of corrupt witches, trespass on my land, and now I’m supposed to offer you travel?
If you are fugitives, how much would you pay to cross the river? ” Blinkem fumbled, and Alice flushed.
“Oh, enough of that, dear,” Rosemarie said. “Of course, I will escort you to the mainland of Oz myself. We will take the yacht.”
“Is Oz another country?” Alice said, with sudden worry that she might never find Wendy at all. And she had sworn to herself that she would protect her—and help find her daughter! She did not like to fail so grandly.
“Oz is many things. Ev, where you find yourself now, is a territory of Oz. The central land of Oz is separated from its territories by the great rivers, and it has four main quadrants: North, South, East and West, and each of these is governed by their own king or queen.” Queen Rosemarie sighed as if exhausted by the fact, and Alice felt hopelessness creeping into her, too.
It was impossible to think how she would ever find Wendy in such a vast land—if Wendy had even traveled to Oz when she disappeared?
A guard came beside the king’s chair and whispered something near his ear.
Evoldo abruptly stood. “Well, this was enchanting, but I must be off.”
He was leaving though he had not yet eaten?
“You are going back down to the mines?” Queen Rosemarie asked.
“Surely there is nothing left!” The king waved his hand, dismissing her, but she continued.
“Make a man a king, and he obsesses over pillaging the land his wife rules.” She leaned back, glass in hand, taunting him, as his posture straightened in disapproval.
“He spends all of his time and our money mining in caves that were drained of minerals over a thousand years ago.” Evoldo dramatically cleared his throat, which caused Rosemarie to playfully roll her eyes.
“But my husband has a way of making the earth open for him.”
He chuckled half-heartedly. “That I do, and there are signs of yet another new well of emerald. Soon, the export of emerald to the mainland will surpass that of your precious roses, dear,” he said as Rosemarie smiled politely.
Evoldo came around the table towards Alice, extending his hand.
She glanced to Blinkem, but he only blinked, which was no guidance.
Unsure what else to do, she placed her hand in King Evoldo’s.
He kissed the top of her hand, his lips wet with wine.
“A man must tend to his obsessions to prove to his wife wrong,” he said, with an eyebrow cocked at the queen, who shook her head with a smirk.
He squeezed Alice’s hand, then finally released it and strutted like a pimpernel toward the door.
Before it, he stopped and turned. “Dear, I’ll remind you.
My niece will be arriving this evening.”
Rosemarie shifted fully toward her husband. “Is that so?”
“Surely I told you this.” Evoldo almost scoffed, but his dismissal reeked of a lie.
“Surely you did not.” Rosemarie’s voice was cold as she turned from her husband, who stared in defiance. Alice knew this exchange—when Father would abruptly remind Mother of a trip he was to set off on, a trip of which he’d never told her in the first place, for it would have upset her.
But why did the king’s niece upset Rosemarie?
With a delicate clink, Alice placed the silver spoon in the dish that had held her rose cream pudding. She had finished every bite of every course. After years of cold gruel, she had forgotten the pleasures of real food.
“I look forward to telling the chef of your compliment,” Queen Rosemarie said.
“Please do. I have never been fed so well!” Alice replied, noticing Blinkem’s leg bouncing beneath the table. Was he as anxious to discuss events in private as she was? She had to hope so. He owed her whatever answers he knew. Did that make him nervous?
“Queen Rosemarie, the greenhouse down the way,” Alice said, “Would it be all right if I walked down to see it? I’m afraid I’ll need some time to digest before laying down to sleep.
” Alice desperately wanted to understand where she was, how they’d arrived here, what might have happened to Wendy, and anything else that Blinkem could offer.
She wasn’t entirely certain he was someone she could trust, but he was the only one who had been both where she came from and where she found herself, so she felt she had little choice.
Rosemarie sat still for a moment, a glint in her eyes. “It calls to you, does it?”
Alice could not tell if this was meant to be mocking but ignored the possibility as she pressed for permission. “Yes, it’s a marvel. May I?”
“Yes, of course. It’s lovely in the evening. Blinkem, would you mind lending me your arm up the stairs?” Rosemarie stood. “In my condition, stairs have become quite the obstacle.” She rubbed her protruding stomach.
“Certainly, Your Majesty,” Blinkem said, standing. Rosemarie began to walk, glancing at them briefly.
Blinkem quickly leaned down toward Alice. “There is much I must tell you.”
Alice’s pulse fluttered—Blinkem’s scent was to blame. It caught her off guard—clean and crisp, like bergamot and linen, with the faintest trace of lavender. It wrapped around her, unraveling her thoughts and making it impossible to think clearly.
“In the greenhouse,” she managed to whisper, and he nodded before turning to escort Rosemarie upstairs.
Distant waves crashed from beyond the hedges.
The courtyard, bathed in still moonlight, began to fill with a low mist that crawled toward the crystal structure.
Shadows and silhouettes stood in quiet, visible through the glass.
As Alice approached, the murmuring crowd of voices resonated through the crystal walls.
Pulling open the heavy crystal door, Alice heard the voices transform into crisp, sharp, voiceless clicks of tongues.
A breathy implosion of words washed over her, and as she stepped inside, the sound fell abruptly hushed.
The hair on her neck and arms stood on end, for inside, no shadow moved.
Just as Rosemarie had said, there was no one inside but the roses.