The Wonder (Queen of Hearts Saga #2)(40)
Cheshire sighed and tipped back his chair, his feet up on the table as he munched on molded mint. “I learned early in my life that each man has something they value above all others—and my job was to find out what that thing was. After watching him for a few weeks, I learned that this man had a bastard son that he held dear, a young one, barely three years of age. He was his pride and joy, though he hid him from the world. One day, while he was out with his whore mother, I took the babe from her and held him prisoner at the bank. A squirmy young thing he was, but to my credit, I did not have him bound and gagged; no, he was a child, and so we simply locked him in a room, and left him alone with food and water. The man came right away with all the money to pay his debts. We gave the child back, but burned the seal of the bank onto his heel, lest his father forget to pay the debts he owed. He left Wonderland shortly thereafter.
“Somehow, Wonderland Palace had heard word of this transaction and hired me on at the King’s bank. Two years after I started as the accountant, I was one of three Diamond Cards managing the King’s treasury. I had a way with numbers, a way of getting what I wanted from those who owed the King, be it peasants or visiting lords. I was the third highest-ranking Diamond in the Cards, and I lived a life of counting and calculating.” Cheshire paused to take a sip of his tea and motioned Dinah to do the same. She shook her head and dumped her tea onto the grass. Cheshire looked exasperated.
“It’s not poison, Your Highness, but I won’t fault you for being cautious. You’re smart, like me. I mean, gods know people have tried to poison me over the years.” He took a breath and gave a deceptive smile, his unnaturally white teeth glowing in the darkness.
“I apologize if this next part is hard for you to hear, but it’s something you must know. One night, I was invited to attend the Royal Croquet Ball, something I believe you are familiar with. I too share your distaste for such things, but I see them as necessary for social climbing. That night, a radiant young woman was visiting the court. She was from Ierladia, and rumor had it that she was the King’s bride to be, the future Queen. Her name was Davianna.”
“NO.” cringed Dinah. “No, no.”
Cheshire leaned forward, his face sincere. “When I saw your mother, my world changed. Understand this—all my life I had gathered things for other people—money, goods, revenge. It was my skill. And yet, for the first time, I saw something I wanted for myself. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, the most beautiful woman most men have ever seen. Her hair was thick and black, like yours, and one could rest a lemon on the curve of her hips. Roses envied the red of her lips, and figs the dark purple of her iris. She took my breath away. Davianna danced with many men that night—mostly the King—in the way of a traditional ball.
“I waited my turn and took her arm. I couldn’t breathe or think. When she danced with me, both of our worlds seemed to stop. There was an intense connection, a feeling that we had been waiting for each other our entire lives. We fell in love instantly, a thing of fairy tales, but a truth nonetheless. She did not love your father, who was already a brutish man, a drinker, but she married him, because she longed to be Queen and we both agreed that Wonderland needed a steady hand to rule. I loved your mother for eleven years, with both my soul and body.”
He paused and put his cup down, his black eyes staring at her through the shimmering tree lights. “Together we conceived a child and named her Dinah. You, my beautiful and strong daughter.”
Everything seemed to stop for Dinah and she gripped the teacup so hard it shattered in her hands. Her mind was having trouble keeping calm, and she heard a cacophony of voices raise up inside of her, all revolting, all of them in a state of shock. A drop of blood dripped from her palm onto the table.
“Lies,” she whispered.
Cheshire gave her a sympathetic smile and continued. “I’m sure that’s difficult to hear, but let’s not forget that the man you thought was your father tried to kill you, and murdered your brother. You should relish the realization that you do not share his blood. Davianna and I loved each other for a little over a decade. Eventually, the King of Hearts began to suspect your mother of having an affair. Every waking hour I could, I spent with her, and there were many times when the King came so close to catching us that I barely escaped in time. In your tenth year of life, Davianna fell ill, very suddenly. I suspected poison, and I still do, though I have never been able to prove who did it or why.” He took a labored breath and Dinah noticed a slight tremble of his lip. “I never got to say a proper goodbye to her, except when they gathered the highest ranking Cards to pay their last respects as the life slowly drained out of her. Imagine, seeing the love of your life dying in front of you and being only able to exchange formal, pleasant words of comfort in front of the King, your heart feeling like it will burst inside of your chest.
“I dared not say anything, because who would watch over you if I was executed? And what would happen to you? The King already suspected that you were not his because of your dark hair and dark eyes—so unlike mad Charles, with his blond hair, surely your father’s child. Your mother, the breath of my life, died that evening. The King was left alone to grieve, but I arranged to have an urgent account matter to discuss with him that very evening. In his drunken grief, he confessed to me that he thought his late wife was unfaithful. I volunteered to root out the culprit, and a month later, with the proof to show, I gave him the head of the Diamond Cards, a handsome young man named Kenrik Ruhalt. Poor Kenrik—he denied it, all the way up until your father beheaded him in a secret execution in the dawn hours. I was given his job, and eventually worked my way up until I was the King’s Chief Advisor, the Head of the Cards.