Hatter's Heart - Erin Bedford Page 0,51

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His claw teased my skin behind my ear, making my breath coming shorter pants. "Do not think so hard, Alice. Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps, you had to lose us to really truly have us." He released me with that.

Pursing my lips, I narrowed me eyes at him. "Really? That was it? That's your big reassurance? Everything happens for a reason?" I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest. "I could have gotten that from a fortune cookie."

"There are cookies that see the future?"

Cheshire's genuine befuddlement made me laugh.

"No, they're from the human realm," I explained moving back into step with him. Dropping my arms back down, I sighed. "It's hard to understand without showing you."

"Then you will have to show me this fortune cookie." Cheshire slid his hand into mine, smiling at me with a hint of insecurity.

Squeezing his hand, I smiled back. "Of course. Once this is all over, I'd be happy to show you all the delights of the human realm."

Cheshire stroked his thumb across the thin skin between my thumb and forefinger, sending a delicious zing through me. "I will be counting down the moments."

Clearing my throat, I turned my attention back to the path before us. "Oh, look. We're here."

Chess waited for us right before the gate to the Seelie palace. His eyes dipped to our joined hands, but he didn't comment. The guards standing at the gate covered their mouths and shifted away from us as Cheshire came close.

"What is your business here?" One of the golden armored guards asked, his hand over his mouth muffling his words.

The other guard jerked a hand in our direction. "Go away with your disgusting stink."

I huffed and released Cheshire's hand. "We can't. We must see the queen."

"Is she expecting you?" the first guard asked, his eyes watering.

A wicked grin slid up my lips. "Oh, I'm sure she's been informed of our coming. But for the sake of politeness. Tell her, Alice and the Cheshires must speak with her. It is of the utmost importance."

"Important enough not to bath." The second guard glared at Cheshire.

Cheshire gasped, a hand to his chest. "I bathe quite often. I'll have you know, and I am offended you would suggest otherwise."

Tired of the delay, I added, "He has the sickness and unless you want to get it too, you'll let us in."

Both guards went for their swords their eyes wide in horror.

"The sickness? In the Underground? Again?" the second guard fumbled over his words seeming to want to cut us down right there.

The first guard seemed to have more of a head on his shoulders. "You must hurry to the queen. We will spread the word."

"The Moderator is taking those seeking refuge at her home," Chess explained. "Your people can go there as well. She's expecting you."

He nodded and gestured to his fellow guard. They moved away from the entrance allowing us to enter the Seelie palace.

For some reason, my heart was racing. I hadn't been to the Seelie palace since the White Queen locked me away. When they brought me before her, she had just ripped the heart from a Fae. I never found out what his punishment was for, but it didn't set a positive precedent for my sentence. I had after caused her daughter to kill herself.

I remember that moment so clearly. More than any other memory I had. Her pure white gown and pale skin soaked in the bloody aftermath of the Fae collapsed before her. She had curled her lips in disgust and handed the heart to a nearby servant. Her husband, King Oberon stood by idly with a bored expression on his face. When the queen saw me, her expression brightened considerably. A wicked grin on her usually cold mouth.

"Oh, Alice. I'm going to enjoy this."

"Hey," Chess bumped me with his shoulder as he walked next to me his father on my other side. All of us ignoring the Fae in the palaces' reaction to Cheshire's stench as if they were the ones who were out of place.

"Relax." Chess winked at me. "She can't do anything to you now. My kitten might be many things, but she can is her mother's daughter. Tatiana won't overstep in fear of losing the little power she has left."

I swallowed and nodded. "Yeah. Right."

I barely noticed the gardens cultivated by Kat on our way into the palace. The inside was just as white and golden as the outside. Every wall and floor without a speck of dirt or