shriveled and gray, its filigree
flaked and rusted—the scepter’s abandonment like that she had
suffered
from her parents.
“And they had the impudence to blame me!” Redd shouted, her mind again spiraling into the memory of that distant day that had changed everything. “It’s your own fault, Rose,” Theodora had said. “You refuse to listen to anyone’s counsel but your own, and you insist on being so undisciplined, disregarding the most basic principles of White Imagination.” “Perhaps I have discipline in other things!” Redd had spat. “That’s what I’m afraid of. You’ve already scared a number of important Wonderlanders.” Redd shook the memory out of her head. Her fingers closed around the scepter, giving her access to the full potential of her imaginative powers. She was the strongest Heart alive. Soon, she would be the only Heart alive.
CHAPTER 40
S HE HAD stopped trying to fight, only daring to move her mouth so as not to be knocked flat by the drug-delivery system the ministers refused to remove. Her brain was still woozy from the last dosing, when she’d tried to prevent one of King Arch’s wives from clipping a bauble to her ear. “You should let your hair grow,” the wife said now, flicking at Molly’s short-cropped bangs with a manicured hand.
“I like my hair the way it is.”
She had kept it short because of her work as Milliner and Queen Alyss’ bodyguard. It could have compromised her; a combatant might have snagged hold of long hair in a fight. But she didn’t have to worry about any of that now, did she? She’d given up her post. She probably deserved this humiliation for the deadly mistake she’d made—having to sit unmoving with Arch’s wives gathered around her, applying rouges and powders to her cheeks, coloring her lips, and dolling her up in their bracelets and necklaces.
“You could be pretty if you tried,” said another wife, coming at her with an eyelash brush. The wives stepped back to appraise her.
“Much better,” one of them said.
“Now maybe you won’t scare prospective husbands off,” said another. But Molly couldn’t care less about prospective husbands. She had noticed, in the rear wall of the tent, a slit that hadn’t been there before…as if made by the skillful swing of a blade.
from her parents.
“And they had the impudence to blame me!” Redd shouted, her mind again spiraling into the memory of that distant day that had changed everything. “It’s your own fault, Rose,” Theodora had said. “You refuse to listen to anyone’s counsel but your own, and you insist on being so undisciplined, disregarding the most basic principles of White Imagination.” “Perhaps I have discipline in other things!” Redd had spat. “That’s what I’m afraid of. You’ve already scared a number of important Wonderlanders.” Redd shook the memory out of her head. Her fingers closed around the scepter, giving her access to the full potential of her imaginative powers. She was the strongest Heart alive. Soon, she would be the only Heart alive.
CHAPTER 40
S HE HAD stopped trying to fight, only daring to move her mouth so as not to be knocked flat by the drug-delivery system the ministers refused to remove. Her brain was still woozy from the last dosing, when she’d tried to prevent one of King Arch’s wives from clipping a bauble to her ear. “You should let your hair grow,” the wife said now, flicking at Molly’s short-cropped bangs with a manicured hand.
“I like my hair the way it is.”
She had kept it short because of her work as Milliner and Queen Alyss’ bodyguard. It could have compromised her; a combatant might have snagged hold of long hair in a fight. But she didn’t have to worry about any of that now, did she? She’d given up her post. She probably deserved this humiliation for the deadly mistake she’d made—having to sit unmoving with Arch’s wives gathered around her, applying rouges and powders to her cheeks, coloring her lips, and dolling her up in their bracelets and necklaces.
“You could be pretty if you tried,” said another wife, coming at her with an eyelash brush. The wives stepped back to appraise her.
“Much better,” one of them said.
“Now maybe you won’t scare prospective husbands off,” said another. But Molly couldn’t care less about prospective husbands. She had noticed, in the rear wall of the tent, a slit that hadn’t been there before…as if made by the skillful swing of a blade.
Before being sent to engage WILMA, Hatter
had already searched most of the Doomsine encampment for evidence
of his daughter. Disguised as a day laborer, he now did quick
reconnaissance of the few unexplored neighborhoods that still
remained, but found nothing, Molly’s whereabouts as unknown to him
as ever.
He would have to start over. He’d never be able to search the
entire camp a second time. He squinted