“The gowns of the privileged class
suit you,” Vollrath lied.
“If wearing this rag will in any way speed the process of gathering my future soldiers, then I will wear it. But if it doesn’t…”
Vollrath bowed. “I will subject myself to your temper.” “You’ll have no choice.”
Again, Vollrath bowed. He knew how to humble himself before a potentially lucrative pupil. “It’s time to leave this tomb,” Redd announced. “I want to be unofficially introduced into Earth society. Cat!”
The Cat devolved into a kitten and rubbed against her leg. She lifted him onto her shoulder and he perched with his claws digging into her skin to steady himself—the pricks of pain a comfort to this high priestess of Black Imagination. Sacrenoir issued instructions to Marcel for the disposal of his audience’s remains and, torch in hand, led Redd and Vollrath out of the theater crypt. “Every would-be queen has a Looking Glass Maze, which they and they alone can enter,” Vollrath lectured Redd as they made their way through a catacomb to the open air of Paris. “Since you were in line to succeed your mother, there existed a Looking Glass Maze intended for you, and which, to tap the full potential of your imagination and become queen, you would have had to successfully navigate. You couldn’t operate the key to the Looking Glass Maze because it was the key to Alyss’ maze.” “Alyss’ maze?”
“Indeed. Perhaps when my old colleague Bibwit tutored you as heir to the throne, he was remiss in his teachings. It wouldn’t surprise me, although it would likely surprise most Wonderlanders. Only a handful of times in Wonderland history has a princess failed to complete her maze, but you are the first to be removed from succession. However, with regard to the fate of a Looking Glass Maze, the result of both must be the same.”
“What force or being constructs these mazes?” Redd demanded. “That is an important question, and the answer lies with those who can provide the answer to another, perhaps more pressing one: What happened to your Looking Glass Maze after you were removed from succession? I assure you, it did not cease to exist, and if you’re able to locate and navigate it…” Redd understood. A maze intended solely for her, designed specifically to unharness the full power of her imagination? Alyss had gained surprising strength and skill by passing through her Looking Glass Maze. Yet she, Redd, had nearly conquered Alyss without passing through her own. The maze was everything. She would storm through as many of its false passages as necessary to complete it; she would become invincible.
“Earn your life, tutor. Where do I find my maze?” “In the Garden of Uncompleted Mazes, of course. But where this garden is, I have no idea. You have to ask the oracles of Wonderland.”
“The caterpillars,” Redd sneered as a staircase of uneven stone came into view ahead of her. “I hate the caterpillars.”
Sacrenoir dropped his torch to the ground and kicked dirt over it to extinguish the flames. A slant of light
“If wearing this rag will in any way speed the process of gathering my future soldiers, then I will wear it. But if it doesn’t…”
Vollrath bowed. “I will subject myself to your temper.” “You’ll have no choice.”
Again, Vollrath bowed. He knew how to humble himself before a potentially lucrative pupil. “It’s time to leave this tomb,” Redd announced. “I want to be unofficially introduced into Earth society. Cat!”
The Cat devolved into a kitten and rubbed against her leg. She lifted him onto her shoulder and he perched with his claws digging into her skin to steady himself—the pricks of pain a comfort to this high priestess of Black Imagination. Sacrenoir issued instructions to Marcel for the disposal of his audience’s remains and, torch in hand, led Redd and Vollrath out of the theater crypt. “Every would-be queen has a Looking Glass Maze, which they and they alone can enter,” Vollrath lectured Redd as they made their way through a catacomb to the open air of Paris. “Since you were in line to succeed your mother, there existed a Looking Glass Maze intended for you, and which, to tap the full potential of your imagination and become queen, you would have had to successfully navigate. You couldn’t operate the key to the Looking Glass Maze because it was the key to Alyss’ maze.” “Alyss’ maze?”
“Indeed. Perhaps when my old colleague Bibwit tutored you as heir to the throne, he was remiss in his teachings. It wouldn’t surprise me, although it would likely surprise most Wonderlanders. Only a handful of times in Wonderland history has a princess failed to complete her maze, but you are the first to be removed from succession. However, with regard to the fate of a Looking Glass Maze, the result of both must be the same.”
“What force or being constructs these mazes?” Redd demanded. “That is an important question, and the answer lies with those who can provide the answer to another, perhaps more pressing one: What happened to your Looking Glass Maze after you were removed from succession? I assure you, it did not cease to exist, and if you’re able to locate and navigate it…” Redd understood. A maze intended solely for her, designed specifically to unharness the full power of her imagination? Alyss had gained surprising strength and skill by passing through her Looking Glass Maze. Yet she, Redd, had nearly conquered Alyss without passing through her own. The maze was everything. She would storm through as many of its false passages as necessary to complete it; she would become invincible.
“Earn your life, tutor. Where do I find my maze?” “In the Garden of Uncompleted Mazes, of course. But where this garden is, I have no idea. You have to ask the oracles of Wonderland.”
“The caterpillars,” Redd sneered as a staircase of uneven stone came into view ahead of her. “I hate the caterpillars.”
Sacrenoir dropped his torch to the ground and kicked dirt over it to extinguish the flames. A slant of light