Alice stood on the balcony that overlooked the castles courtyard. A large crowd had gather to watch yet another execution. Her mother the Queen of Hearts stood before her subjects with her head held high. She was dressed from head to toe in red. With her pale skin, raven hair, and chocolate colored eyes she was a vision of beauty. Alice looked nothing like her mother. She was wearing a simple blue dress with white stockings and black shoes. She had inherited blonde hair and blue eyes from her father.
Alice didn’t agree with her mother’s way of ruling Wonderland. When the King of Hearts was alive Wonderland was such a peaceful place. Instead of peace the people of Wonderland lived in fear. After the King had died the Queen ruled with an iron fist. Her laws were strict and absolute. If anyone so much as said anything against the Queen they could be assured that they would be executed for treason. The people of Wonderland were also suffering due to the high taxes the Queen had set. Many people were struggling and going without.
There were whispers of a resistance being led by The Hatter. These whispers were the reason why Alice wasn’t permitted to leave the castle. Her mother feared that the resistance would try to kidnap her to use her as a bargaining tool. It has been so long since she has been able walk freely around Wonderland.
The executioner brought a young man to stand before the chopping block. He looked up at the balcony with a pleading look in his eyes. The Queen glared down at him her eyes were cruel and cold. Alice wished she didn’t have to be apart of this.
“This man has committed treason against your Queen. He’s been caught posting posters of your Queen with the slogan off with her head written on them. I will not stand for such things. Let this be an example to any others with such clever ideas in their head.” the Queen of Hearts announced. She wasn’t going to just let the resistance get away with spreading their propaganda. She wasn’t going to rest until she has The Hatters head on a silver platter. “Off with his head.” the Queen ordered.
Alice watched as the executioner brought the ax down. The man’s head rolled across the courtyard. Alice cringed. She turned and went back inside with her mother following behind her. The Queen gave Alice a sympathetic look.
“Alice I don’t like executions anymore than you do.” the Queen said. She placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. As ruler of Wonderland she had certain responsibilities. The resistance was a threat to Wonderland and she would do whatever it takes to eliminate that threat.
“Well you seem to hold an awful lot of them mother.” Alice stated. It seemed like it was an every day event. Alice couldn’t even count anymore how many people her mother had sentence to death. The crimes ranged from being an accused resistance member to looking at her oddly. It seemed that any little thing could be punishable.
“A necessary evil I’m afraid.” the Queen explained. She knew that Alice wouldn’t understand, but everything she was doing was in Wonderland’s best interest. She couldn’t allow the rabble to get out of hand.
“I find it unnecessary mother.” Alice said. There was no way to justify her mother’s behavior. Alice knew that something must be done about it and she had an idea. Today’s execution was the last straw.
“Alice, honestly I don’t feel the need to explain myself to you.” the Queen replied. Alice was sixteen and was young and naïve. She couldn’t possible understand the pressure of running an entire kingdom.
The Queen stormed out of the room which served as a parlor of sorts. Alice being left to her own devices she knew exactly what she was going to do. She went to her quarters and locked the door. She found an old satchel and tossed it onto her bed. She went to her chest of drawers and opened the top drawer. She took a handful of vials that contained a clear liquid. If you drank it’s contents it would cause you to shrink. She also found some petits fours that if eaten will make you grow bigger. She stashed them away in the satchel.
She stashed the satchel under her bed. She would have to wait until the cover of night to set her plan in motion. She grabbed a book from her bedside table and began to read it. She was going to have to do her best to act completely normal.
Alice knew that she was taking a big risk, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Both her heart and her mind were in agreement. She was nervous and yet a little excited at the same time. It was a huge decision to make. Alice focused her attention back to her book.
Several hours must have gone by as Alice’s reading was interrupted by a knock on her door. She got up placing her book on her bed and opened the door. She was greeted by a servant with a tray of food for her. Alice thanked the boy and took the tray from him. She brought the tray over to the bed and set it on the bedside table. She removed the lid to find a bowl of beef soup and a roll. To drink there was a glass of milk. Alice tucked into her meal.
Alice left the empty tray outside of her room and returned to reading her book. She was going to have to make sure that her mother and the rest of the castle was asleep before she could make her move. She only hoped that she could be as brave as the heroes in her books. She had made up her mind and she wasn’t going to change it. Alice was going to go and look for the resistance. Her mother needed to be stopped. Alice knew that it was a dangerous idea, but it was better than doing nothing.
Her mother’s reign of terror needed to come to an end. Alice wanted to be able to restore Wonderland to it’s former glory. She was sure that the path wasn’t going to be easy, but she was ready for it. She only wondered if Wonderland was.
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