the bottom of her dress never once getting smudged with dirt or grime.
I followed after her until she stopped before a high root. She leaned over the root and pointed. Following her lead, I glanced over the root as well. My head cocked to the side as I tried to make out what it was she was trying to show me.
Then I saw it.
It was small but there just poking out of the surface. With a thin brown root barely holding the three green leaves up, the tiny sprout had fought against all odds to push through the surface of the ash and death of the Tree of Life.
"It seems there is hope after all," Mab murmured, giving me a side eye with a mysterious smile.
I frowned. "But it's only a sprout. There's no way that little thing could possibly stop the sickness." I shook my head in disbelief. "It's more likely to get eaten up by the sickness before it ever grows big enough to help the Underground."
"And yet," Mab straightened and took my hand with hers, "it preservers."
She held my hand over the sprout and a warmth spread into my hand. My magic coaxed by Mab's pulled from my center and out through my finger tips. Mine and Mab's magic mingled together and poured down onto the sprout like water from rain clouds. The sprout reached and stretched for the power, growing slightly bigger until it was less than half a meter high. Still, it was much better than it was.
"Will that be enough?" I gaped at what we had done. "Will it stop the sickness from spreading?"
Mab shook her head. "Only time will tell but we must be prepared for anything. A High King would be best," her starlight eyes slid over to me, "even a High Queen would do."
I snorted. "Where would we find one of those? Kat's not going to do it."
Shrugging an elegant shoulder, Mab stepped away from the sprout. "We never know what we're capable of until we do it. I was never meant to be queen and yet here I am." She glanced over her shoulder at me. "You were never to be Fae and yet you are. Never underestimate ones potential."
Pursing my lips, I chased after her. "I'm only Fae because I cheated. You all know it. I ate from the Tree of Life and made a wish and here I am. I have the magic of a Fae but not the mind set. The way I see it, I'm lucky to have even made it this far and part of that is likely due to the fact that I was locked up for so many years."
"Or you were waiting."
I frowned at Mab. "Waiting for what? Hatter? Because as far as I can tell he would have been better off without me. He wouldn't have ended up in the Bandersnatch had he not been involved with me when I got caught. Why haven't exiled me from the UnSeelie Court all together? I know Kat is the only thing keeping her mother from kicking me to the human realm for good."
Mab paused and turned to me. "You want to know why I have not sent you away? Is that really the question that keeps you up at night? That makes your heart ache and your bones tug at you."
"Ugh!" I threw up my hands and stalked in a circle. "You and your damnable riddles. Why can't you say anything like you mean it. Just tell me what I want to know!"
Sighing, her patience with my temper tantrum coming to an end. "So old and yet so much like the child you once were, Alice."
I glared at her still.
"Very well, no more games as you will." Mab stepped up to me and I flinched as she reached out a hand. Her fingers brushed through my blonde curls and she cocked her head to the side. "I do not fault you, Alice. We all wish to be what we are not at some time or another. You were just given the chance to take it."
I stared at her with puzzlement.
"I had such a chance once," Mab continued with a forlorn sigh. "I could have had it all. The High King and all the power that went with it and yet I could not bring myself to do what was necessary to take what I wanted."
My mouth dropped open slightly at the new information. "So, you are...you're the woman..."
Mab's gaze grew sad. "It is hard