gall to bubble up through the Pool
of Tears, returning through a portal puddle she’d discovered here
on
Earth.”
The vast rooms of Mount Isolation took shape around twenty-year-old Alyss Heart, now become a rebel leader and dressed in the coarse-fibered clothes of the Alyssians. Beyond a half-destroyed wall, the Heart Crystal was visible. Aunt and niece faced each other, razor-cards, orb generators, and cannonball spiders rocketing between them. Alyss shot an energy spear from her finger, snagged Redd on the end of it, and began smashing her around the room. With a heave of imagination, Redd freed herself and closed with Alyss like a fighter ungifted in imagination who physically attacks her foes. Clangk! Scepters clashed, and just when Redd’s defeat seemed assured, she and The Cat dared what no Wonderlanders had ever dared before—a leap into the Heart Crystal. “I’d had a cold that day and wasn’t as powerful as usual, otherwise Alyss would never have done so well,” Redd said as, in the alcove, the final image dissolved. She blew at the cloud and it drifted off into the crypt. “Has a malicious ruler ever suffered more? I think not.” “There have been rumors that one might travel to Wonderland through certain puddles,” Vollrath said. “But until your mention of Alyss a moment ago, nobody, as far as I knew, had ever put the rumors to the test.”
Redd scoffed. “Why would they? What would any of you have returned to in my sister’s Wonderland but a skulking life in a society unappreciative of your talents? Nothing more than that awaits you even now, so long as Alyss remains queen. But your savior has arrived—me. For the first time, Wonderlanders reduced to living in this junk heap of a world have someone powerful enough to lead them back to their native home. And in exchange for helping me regain my crown, I will allow them to live free of whatever punishments were unfairly bestowed upon them by the narrow-minded courts of Wonderland.”
“I can think of a hundred souls in this city alone who’ll be eager to subjugate themselves to you,” said Sacrenoir.
Redd pushed away from the table and stood. “Take me to them. They will either pledge their allegiance to me—and if lucky, live through my impending war with Alyss’ forces—or I’ll kill them where they stand.”
“Your impatience is a virtue,” said Vollrath, his long ears tilting forward in supplication, “but to prevent your attracting too much attention from earthlings, you might want to consider a change of clothes. It’s unfortunate enough that you’re somewhat blurry around the edges, but in addition…well, a gown of animate roses is not exactly the fashion of the times.” “You don’t like my dress?”
The vines of Redd’s couture stretched toward the tutor, the roses’ petal-mouths chomping. “It isn’t that, Your Imperial Viciousness. The earthlings will not understand you. Not understanding you, they will be frightened and send their petty authorities to apprehend you.” “Ha!”
“Of course they’ll fail. That isn’t the point. But you’ll have to waste energy dealing with them instead of concentrating on your niece’s destruction. I doubt that the way to achieve your aim is to spread your strength across many fronts so that, when it’s time to battle Alyss, you may not be at the peak of your powers. Your niece, I gather, shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Earth.”
The vast rooms of Mount Isolation took shape around twenty-year-old Alyss Heart, now become a rebel leader and dressed in the coarse-fibered clothes of the Alyssians. Beyond a half-destroyed wall, the Heart Crystal was visible. Aunt and niece faced each other, razor-cards, orb generators, and cannonball spiders rocketing between them. Alyss shot an energy spear from her finger, snagged Redd on the end of it, and began smashing her around the room. With a heave of imagination, Redd freed herself and closed with Alyss like a fighter ungifted in imagination who physically attacks her foes. Clangk! Scepters clashed, and just when Redd’s defeat seemed assured, she and The Cat dared what no Wonderlanders had ever dared before—a leap into the Heart Crystal. “I’d had a cold that day and wasn’t as powerful as usual, otherwise Alyss would never have done so well,” Redd said as, in the alcove, the final image dissolved. She blew at the cloud and it drifted off into the crypt. “Has a malicious ruler ever suffered more? I think not.” “There have been rumors that one might travel to Wonderland through certain puddles,” Vollrath said. “But until your mention of Alyss a moment ago, nobody, as far as I knew, had ever put the rumors to the test.”
Redd scoffed. “Why would they? What would any of you have returned to in my sister’s Wonderland but a skulking life in a society unappreciative of your talents? Nothing more than that awaits you even now, so long as Alyss remains queen. But your savior has arrived—me. For the first time, Wonderlanders reduced to living in this junk heap of a world have someone powerful enough to lead them back to their native home. And in exchange for helping me regain my crown, I will allow them to live free of whatever punishments were unfairly bestowed upon them by the narrow-minded courts of Wonderland.”
“I can think of a hundred souls in this city alone who’ll be eager to subjugate themselves to you,” said Sacrenoir.
Redd pushed away from the table and stood. “Take me to them. They will either pledge their allegiance to me—and if lucky, live through my impending war with Alyss’ forces—or I’ll kill them where they stand.”
“Your impatience is a virtue,” said Vollrath, his long ears tilting forward in supplication, “but to prevent your attracting too much attention from earthlings, you might want to consider a change of clothes. It’s unfortunate enough that you’re somewhat blurry around the edges, but in addition…well, a gown of animate roses is not exactly the fashion of the times.” “You don’t like my dress?”
The vines of Redd’s couture stretched toward the tutor, the roses’ petal-mouths chomping. “It isn’t that, Your Imperial Viciousness. The earthlings will not understand you. Not understanding you, they will be frightened and send their petty authorities to apprehend you.” “Ha!”
“Of course they’ll fail. That isn’t the point. But you’ll have to waste energy dealing with them instead of concentrating on your niece’s destruction. I doubt that the way to achieve your aim is to spread your strength across many fronts so that, when it’s time to battle Alyss, you may not be at the peak of your powers. Your niece, I gather, shouldn’t be underestimated.”