Blood of Wonderland (Queen of Hearts Saga #2)(15)
Sir Gorrann watched her closely. “On the day you fled—Wonderlanders now call it the ‘Morning of Sorrows’—all the Cards were woken by their commanders in the early morning with the surprising news that the princess had murdered her own brother, his servants, and Heart Cards in cold blood.”
Two lies and a single truth,Dinah thought. I did kill two Heart Cards. I lanced one through the heart from behind, like a coward, and the other I pierced through the chest. Wardley killed yet another one in the stables to protect me. The blood on her hands was growing thicker.
The Spade continued, ignorant to her whirling guilt. “As the sun rose outside, we were instructed to put on our armor and march out to meet the princess in front of the gates and to capture her—eh, you—dead or alive. Our commander, the great Spade Starey Belft, made it clear to us that dead was completely acceptable, due to the nature of yer crimes.” The Spade cleared his throat. “I knew it to be a lie. The scar on my cheek confirmed it. The passion with which yeh had defended that silly wooden toy for yer brother had shown me that yeh could never do such a thing. Yer brother was never a threat to yer crown—it was yers for the taking, or so I thought. No, the only person who stood to gain from yer brother’s murder was yer father. This all raced through my head, yeh see, as I strapped on my armor and headed out to secure the gates. We waited. The Cards returned and began to sniff around the stables. Then I saw yeh, a terrifying vision if there ever was one.”
Dinah tilted her head, confused. The nightfire reflected off the Spade’s face, making his eyes glimmer like coins in the darkness. “How so?”
“I saw yeh, Yer Highness, straddled across that massive black steed of yours, tearing out of the stable labyrinth like the devil himself was chasing yeh, a sword in yer hand, the cloak trailing behind yeh. I watched in awe as yeh plowed over helpless men without blinking, bent on revenge. I couldn’t begin to fathom what yeh were doing, but yeh looked fierce as a dragon. As yeh were sprinting to the gate, the other two Hornhooves came out behind you, killing and maiming any man they came across. Do you know they killed ten men?”
More blood, thought Dinah, more death because of me. The Spade gave a light laugh. It bounced off the rocky land around them.
“Wonderlanders are still talking about it—they are calling you the ‘Rebel Queen.’”
“But I’m not the Rebel Queen. That’s not me,” blurted Dinah. “I was terrified. I was fleeing for my life. I didn’t even fully understand what was happening. Wardley put me on Morte and sent him running for the gates.”
“Yes, but the townspeople don’t know that. They only know what the king tells them, and that’s very little. Because of the Morning of Sorrows, they hate yeh, but more important, they fear yeh. To everyone in the kingdom, it seemed like an attack, a last vengeance on Wonderland after killing your brother—a wild act, filled with fury. They believe yeh wanted to kill as many Heart Cards as you could before deserting the castle and leaving yer father to mourn his only son.”
“That isn’t true. I would never . . .” But you would, said a voice inside her. You did kill innocent Cards. You can and you have. The Spade threw another bunch of branches onto the black flames of the fire, which leaped even higher, their invisible smoke irritating Dinah’s eyes. He continued.
“Trust me, it will be to yer advantage in the future.”
The future? Dinah pushed herself off the rotted log she was perched on, her tone dripping with annoyance. “I don’t understand what this has to do with Wardley. Tell me about Wardley.”
“Ah, sorry. I’m getting there, Yer Highness. Because everything that happened to your stable boy—”
“Wardley,” snapped Dinah. “His name is Wardley.”
“Everything was a result of your actions that day, you tearing out of the castle like a mad bear let loose. I stayed there long enough to see yer father and his small cavalry pass through the gates in pursuit of yeh, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a man so bent on the destruction of another. He longs for his vengeance, and he will never stop thirsting for it.”
In the past this statement would have sent Dinah into a flurry of tears, but now it just roused the boiling rage within her. She did not mourn the loss of her father anymore. He had taken everything from her. I should have killed him in the forest last night,she thought. I had my chance for revenge and walked away from it.
“When the King of Hearts returned from chasing you out of the castle, he was blinded with anger. He had lost the chase, and everyone in Wonderland knew it, especially the Cards. He maimed three fruit sellers just because they didn’t get out of his way fast enough, and there were a handful of townspeople that he beat so savagely yeh can hardly recognize them. He also finished off one of the white Hornhooves, only because she wasn’t able to catch up with yeh.” The Spade ran his fingers across his knife belt as he stood, and Dinah suddenly felt a bit unsafe as the anger in his tone rose.
“Wardley,” she whispered.
“Er, right. I know a Heart Card who stands guard at the palace infirmary. He says that after the king killed the Hornhoov, he barged into the wing where they were treating yer stable boy and demanded his blood as well. He was crazed, knocking over carts and beds. The doctor on duty argued that Wardley’s blood had already been paid and that he had a very real stab wound to prove his innocence. The king pushed past him, his sword in hand . . .” Dinah felt like she might faint under the bright stars shining that night, spiraled above in a glowing, circular pattern. “By some miracle, the king refrained once he saw that the blood flowing over the table and onto the floor all belonged to Wardley. He was unconscious, his wound raw and deep.” Dinah winced, remembering the feeling of her sword separating his muscle, ringing against the bone, the pained face of the boy she loved.