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Hatter's Point of View Part18

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Alice and Hatter stared at the spectacle before them in disbelief. It was a large valley that was literally covered in magnificent old ruins. A bridge crossed the width of the gorge in the center of the city, the towers of which looked like giant bishops from a chess set. A large queen piece sat at the mouth of a waterfall, a knight keeping watch behind it. There was another knight carved out of the mountainside on the other side of the gorge. The golden sunlight revealed many more chess pieces strewn throughout the kingdom, and another bridge on the far side of the gorge.

"Well, well, what do you know…" Was all Hatter could say. He was shocked to find the Kingdom so intact. The Queen and her suits had spread it around that they had left no more than rubble, and this was certainly more than that.

As Alice and Hatter stared at the Kingdom in wonder, Charlie spurred Arthur forward, Guinevere following dutifully behind. Before they knew it, they were at a sort of rudimentary camp. There was a stable with a very old bed in the center of it, a hammock hanging from between two trees, and a fire and hanging pot in the very center.

Just as Hatter and Alice had dismounted, Charlie took the horses, removed the tack, wiped them down, and stabled them. Then he pulled Alice off after him, giving her a tour of the charred remains of the once great kingdom.

"Geez, Charlie." Alice whispered. "This place is huge!" They'd been walking around for at least an hour already.

"Before the war with the Queen of Hearts." Charlie started. "This was once the greatest city in the realm." He sighed. "The Red King and his elected council ruled Wonderland with the wisdom of the ages." His voice had a sad an wistful tone to it as Charlie reminisced.

"And the Hearts destroyed everything?" Alice asked him.

"We lived in harmony for 1,000 years." He said. They stopped walking. Hatter looked around, admiring the large ruins. I can't believe that this is still here. He thought vaguely. Then he realized they had come full circle and were back at the camp. "But, when the Queen came to power," Charlie continued. "She just wanted to feel the good, not the bad." They were silent for a moment as Charlie started walking again. Alice glanced back at Hatter, who shrugged slightly. Can't exactly blame 'er.

"Believe it or not, this was once the throne room." Charlie sighed. Hatter followed Charlie's eyes and saw something that he had missed upon his first cursory glance of the area. There were old chairs and tables, now falling apart with age. The walls were all gone and the rubble had been removed. It almost looked as though Charlie had taken painstakingly good care of it. "Sadly," Charlie interrupted Hatter's reverie. "All that's left now is the throne."

Sure enough, at what could only be the head of the now-disintegrated chamber was a large throne made of stone. It was covered with moss and leaves and the stone was looking very weather-beaten. On the throne sat a figure dressed in chain mail and a red tunic. The chain mail was rusted through now, and the tunic's colors had faded and the fabric was rotting away. The crown sitting on the figures head, however, shone to shame the sun. The Red King. Hatter realized. The King's skeleton was all that remained now. A noble tribute to survival despite time. Or, at least, it would have been had the King's head not been bowed in defeat.

They stood still, staring at the desiccated room, until Charlie began to move towards the camp. Alice and Hatter followed, absolutely silent. Until sundown, they were sent to fulfill errands; Alice fetched water and Hatter found firewood. Charlie then built a fire and began to cook some strange looking meat over the flames. The meal was finally ready as the sun sunk below the horizon. They still didn't speak.

Finally, it was Alice who broke the silence. "That was good, Charlie. What was it?" Hatter snorted slightly. She ate something without knowing what it was? He looked down at the bone in his hand. Come to think of it, I don't know what this was either… Oh well… He chucked to bone into the woods behind him.

"A barbecued borogove." Charlie said, very proud of himself. "They are the devil to catch, but well worth the trouble. Don't you think?"

Hatter laughed slightly and turned to look at Alice, who was now looking at the rib bone in her hand with a certain degree of doubt. "When in Rome…" She shrugged slightly, the dropped the bone beside her. What's Rome?

Charlie put down the poker he had been using to stoke the fire, and rubbed his hands together. "Shan't be long!" He said before heading off into the woods. Dump. Hatter decided. He shook his head again.

Alice waited until Tin Man was out of sight then turned to Hatter. "What I wanna know is how we're going to cut a deal with the White Rabbit." She leaned towards him slightly. "Is it really possible?"

No. Hatter thought. But he wasn't going to tell her that. "I know a girl," He said. "Carlotta St. Delaware, huh?" He raised his eyebrows at Alice. and nodded his head knowingly, whereas she cocked her's, a confused look clouding her features. I'd better explain. "Who dates this guy who used to play cards with a rich kid, who once studied law with an electrician, who works part-time with one of the technical staff." He waited for something, anything from Alice. Nothing. She was very clearly unimpressed with this connection. Hatter shook his head and stood up, the plate that Charlie had given him earlier in his hand. "I did say it was a long shot," he conceded. "But as long as you've got that ring," he circled around to the opposite side of the fire, and pointed at her hand. "You've got a chance."

Alice's head tilted slightly. "You?" Their eyes met and Alice stood. "What happened to 'we'?"
Part 18!! Yay!!! So, I wanted to leave you at a bit of a cliffhanger, but i'll probably update tomorrow. So, yeah.

Anyway, I'm really glad that y'all are so patient! I appreciate it SOOOOO much! I realize that I probably take longer to update than most people. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this installment of Hatter's Point of View!

PART 19: [link]

If you read my story, please post a comment that says "read" or something, then I know if it's generating enough interest for me to post the next chapter or not. Thanks!
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JustAnotherBlackbird's avatar
Read! :heart:

At some point, I'm sure having 9 "Read"'s is a little annoying, so I'm just going to start faving, okay?