Blood of Wonderland (Queen of Hearts Saga #2)(52)

“Here. Take a smoke.” Out of nowhere, a chubby hand extended the end of the hookah pipe to her. “Just one taste, Princess. Just one taste and hear what Iu-Hora has to tell you.”

Dinah took the pipe and inhaled deeply, before she could think about the decision. Then she heard Sir Gorran’s words echoing in her head. “Impulsive, just like your father.” But that man wasn’t her father. Or was he? She couldn’t remember, and didn’t seem to care. The smoke went down sweet and tingly, and she immediately felt like she was bursting with joy. Her head was clear, and her ears were open. She collapsed with a giggle onto a pile of pillows nearby.

“Did you get these from Wonderland? The Yurkei don’t have pillows like this.”

“They came to me how they came to me. You did not come here to ask questions about the pillows. You came here to ask much more difficult questions. And I am here to ask you . . . who are you?”

“I’m Dinah,” she answered. “And I do not know why I’m here.”

“You are here because I brought you here. I have been waiting a long time to meet the Queen of Hearts.”

“I’m not queen yet.”

He seemed to slither around her. “Ah, yes, war. The great coming war. A war that will change the fate of Wonderland. Blood, smoke, and birds. A deck of cards, falling . . . falling. I see a loaf of bread, a bloody sword, a fractured heart.”

His words made no sense to Dinah. She laughed and then felt suddenly somber. “Can you see the outcome? I hear the Caterpillar is a predictor of fortunes.”

For no clear reason, Dinah started laughing at the word fortunes. It was so amusing, that word.

“I cannot see the outcome of the war, because it involves the fate of too many. My visions are blurry with so many souls to see. I see much death and unhappiness. I see a beautiful woman weeping at a window, a skilled arrow, blue stars in the sky. I see you riding a black devil, with great wings stretched behind you.”

“That would be Morte.” Dinah laughed until she wept. She looked around. How long had she been laughing? A minute? Three hours? The Caterpillar emerged from the hazy light, his features still unreadable aside from his glowing blue eyes. It was all she could see. Dinah was suddenly terrified.

What are you doing? Get back. Don’t touch me! She thought the words, but for some reason could not make her mouth form the sounds. Slowly, his fingers reached inside her tunic, and then he spun her around. For a moment Dinah was afraid of what was happening, but then she felt the pressing of his fingers against the scar on her shoulder.

“This was my work. A scar left on a queen by a chief. Something that she will never forget, but a sting that healed quickly.” A substance was seeping through her skin from his fingers. She could feel it alternating hot and cold, tingling against her shoulder. It was inside of her, whatever it was, passing through her skin like water. Iu-Hora spun her back around and suddenly Dinah felt like she was floating with him, up through the tent into the stars that looked down on dead Charles. They were flying through the sky now, over the Darklands, over the fields. They flew up, up, and away until they hovered above Wonderland Palace. The Black Towers shimmered with wickedness below. She blinked. No. She wasn’t in the sky. Was she? She was in the tent, and his blurry face was inches from her own, his hands on her face. Iu-Hora’s voice changed as he leaned forward as if to kiss her, and she felt the thick smoke from his mouth wash over her face. All the smoke was suddenly sucked out of the circular tent and there was nothing but darkness, nothing but the heat of his forehead against hers and the sharp blue of his eyes. A low, terrible voice boomed out from the blackness. It belonged to Iu-Hora, but it didn’t sound like him. Dinah found herself more afraid than she had ever been.

“Queen of Hearts, the daughter of two fathers, heed my words. You will pierce the heart of one man and cut out the heart of the one you love most. Follow the crumbs to find your throne and only then shall your head rest in the grass.”

Iu-Hora gave a silent intake of breath and suddenly blue smoke trailed out of his lips. His voice returned to normal and a silly giggle filled the tent.

“Would you like more, my queen?” Dinah pushed him backward into the pots and scales, which went crashing down under his massive weight. She wasn’t sure what was happening. Blue smoke was pouring out of her mouth, changing colors as she breathed. Red morphed into a fiery orange, which curled into a pale blue, then a misty gray. Coughing, she crawled toward the tent flap.

“Come back!” he cried, laughing. “I have so much more to show you!”

She was running now, away from the tent, smoke pouring from her eyes, ears, and throat. It steamed out of her skin. She stumbled and fell to the ground. His voice returned and whispered in her ear, although she was nowhere near him.

“Keep your temper, Queen of Hearts.”

Morte was beside her now, and she weakly pulled herself upward, stepping on his hoof, one of his bone shards giving her a thin cut on her ankle. She flopped over his back, lying facedown across him as she continued to choke on the colored smoke pouring from her mouth and nose. Morte began running back to her tent. Dinah’s body was shuddering as if it had forgotten how to function. She was alternately freezing and stifling hot, and her mind was racing, making illogical jumps. Was she up or down? Where was she? After what seemed like years, Morte arrived in the Spades’ camp and came to a violent stop in front of her tent. Yur-Jee and Ki-ershan leaped to their feet and gathered a shaking Dinah from his back. They babbled frantically in Yurkei, their voices so loud to Dinah’s ears.