Page 39 of Cheshire's Smile
My arms wrapped around my waist, hugging myself while the twins debated on what could be done about the sickness and how they would get to the Human Realm before it got to them.
“The queen would understand,” Coby countered his brother’s point. “It’s the sickness. She wouldn’t really condemn us to that, would she?”
Carban scoffed. “If you think that ice bitch cares anymore about us than Alice here does, then you are delusional. In fact, the sickness is doing her a favor getting rid of all her unwanted.”
I wanted to jump in there and tell him he wasn’t unwanted. But I didn’t. I kept silent and let their words hammer on my back the whole way to the palace.
Maybe I was a masochist for letting them blame this all on me. Maybe I wanted to be punished for my crimes. Maybe I thought I’d gotten off too easily. Or maybe I was full of it and just needed a large glass of wine to go with this horrible day.
The palace finally came into view, and that sight lifted a large weight off my chest. Then I realized I was going to see Cheshire and Hatter again. That they wouldn’t treat me like the twins were and then there would be questions.
Questions I didn’t want to answer.
Anxiety ate at me the last few yards to the palace bridge. Along the sides of it was a pool of sorts filled with the spirits of the fae, giving the water a glowy kind of blue color.
I wondered what made one’s spirit fall to the pool. Was it because they were so heavy with their sins that they couldn’t float with the others? Or were they being punished? I wondered if, one day, I too would be swimming in there for all of eternity.
“Morgana?” Dorian’s voice pulled my attention from the water. “What are you doing here?”
Dorian was another person I had wronged. In fact, I’d wronged him the most of all.
It was because of my deal with the shadows that I stole the love of his life from him and that he’d been punished, just as I had—cursed by the Seelie Queen. While the curse had been lifted, his punishment continued, at least the way I saw it. He’d lost the love of his life not once, but twice.
How he could handle spending any time with Kat after everything that had happened confounded me. Though maybehe felt the same way that I did with the twins. Any moment of their attention, even if it was bad, was better than nothing at all.
“I found some lost lambs that needed returning home,” Morgana answered in a haughty voice, her stance returned to that slinky panther, as if she too were putting on a show.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one hiding my true feelings.
Dorian’s dark blue eyes skimmed over our group. He’d let his jet-black hair grow out again so it hung down to mid chest. The left side of his face no longer glowed with the mark of his curse, but the swirling glyphs had never gone away either. A permanent reminder of what he had lost.
“I see,” Dorian drew out, brushing his hands down his black button up shirt before tucking his hands into his tight pant pockets. His knee-high black boots squeaked as he shifted his weight from one foot to the next.
It seemed there was some tension between the fae prince and the ex-queen. Interesting.
His gaze shifted over the twins before arching a brow at me.
“My father is expecting you, Alice. Follow me.”
Chapter 18
Our footsteps echoing through the open space of the palace was the only sound. No one else felt the need to fill the void of silence, and it wasn’t doing good things to my nerves.
Compared to the others fae palaces, the Shadow Realm’s palace was practically abandoned. There were no servants, gaudy decorations, or unnecessary furniture. The dark greyish blue of the walls combined with the dark tile on the floor made the space seem even more ominous than it felt. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say no one lived here at all.
Dorian drew us through the throne room, where a single broken throne sat. Morgana paused beside me, her eyes lingering on that long-forgotten throne before shaking her head and continuing as if nothing had happened.
There was a story there. I knew it, but I didn’t know how to ask without being insensitive. Besides, I had my own problems to deal with. Morgana would let me know if there was something I could do for her.
We passed the throne room and then through a side door until we reached a set of rooms that were much different than the rest of the palace.
It had furniture and lights. Papers and maps were strewn across tables. Half eaten plates of food sat with discarded glass cups on a low table by an overstuffed couch.
Dorian gestured to the couch. “Wait here. I’ll get my father.”
“Wait.” I reached out a hand and then dropped it. I realized I couldn’t ask for Hatter and Cheshire without showing my hand to the twins but I had no other choice. “Where are they?”
Dorian’s expression grew somber. “Just... wait here. Alright?”
