The Wonder (Queen of Hearts Saga #2)(42)
“I told the King to change, bathe, and gather his Cards to help apprehend you. I ran—how I ran—first to the kitchens and then to the weapon room. I knew you would never survive without food in the wild—you were raised in a palace that gave you everything you ever needed. After I packed your bag, I ran to your room, where I knocked Harris and Emily unconscious. For a few seconds, I watched you sleeping, my daughter, the pride of my heart, with a face like her mother’s, and a fierce intelligence not unlike my own. I had never seen you so close, so perfect, the blood of my veins sleeping before me. I vowed I would do whatever it took to help you survive. Then you awoke… and tried to kill me.”
He gave a chuckle, and Dinah remembered the horror of waking up to the dark shrouded figure in her room.
“And though you did not follow my exact directions, you did escape, and in what GRAND fashion! You left behind a bloody mess, you stole your father’s Hornhoov, and then outran him and his army in a chase that the peasants will be talking about a hundred years from now!” He clapped his hands. “I couldn’t have planned it better myself. It was genius, a statement of your power. After you left, the King quickly declared you a traitor to the realm and placed the crown on Vittiore’s head. The coronation was the biggest that Wonderland had ever seen, and I believe she was glad to receive it. The King left immediately after she was crowned to resume the hunt for you, and it was the opportunity I had been waiting for. A chance to find you, to make sure that you were surviving in the Twisted Wood.
“Whispered sources told me of a Spade tracker that had a long-standing grudge against the King and I sought him out. I made a deal with your Sir Gorrann. He would track you down—with the King in tow—but would find you beforehand and take you deep into the Yurkei Mountains, where you would be safe from the King. He tracked you a little too well, but as you can see, he kept you safe, fed, and began training you to fight.”
Cheshire rubbed the front of his neck where Dinah had poked him with the dagger. A smile played across his face. “The Spade did well. I joined the King on this mission to hunt you down, and as soon as I knew that you were safely in Sir Gorrann’s care, I quietly took my leave from the King’s side and followed an alternate path up to Hu-Yuhar, but not before I convinced him to abandon his chase and return to Wonderland Palace.” He absentmindedly fingered his sparkling brooch.
“I saw you in the darkness that night, standing so still in the black dress I had packed for you. I was so proud that you had used it so well, and so furious that you would put yourself at that much risk, all for a chance at revenge. Please forgive me for my delay.” He gestured to the elaborate table. “One would not call me a light packer. But, finally, here we are, father and daughter, reunited at last, without secrets or lies between us. I have longed for this moment.”
Dinah’s voice caught in her throat. She longed to throw herself at him, to take his life, to beat him, to embrace him, to weep and laugh, all at once. She felt nauseated and dizzy, confused and elated. It was too much. She could barely strangle out a single bitter sentence. “Why? Why are you here?”
His fingers stopped moving against his cup and he cautiously stood and walked slowly over to Dinah. Kneeling before her, he bowed his jet-black head in the moonlight and then looked up at her, his white smile stretching wide over his thin face.
“Why? Because you are my daughter, the pride and purpose of my life, and I have come to aid you as you reclaim the throne in Wonderland. Why? Because you are the true heir of Queen Davianna, and your claim to the throne is stronger than Vittiore’s, who is a pauper, related to no one. She sits pretty on her stolen throne. I will help you take your vengeance against the King, with a mighty army of the Yurkei behind you. Why? Because you were born to wear the crown, and I will not see Davianna’s daughter slowly waste away in the Yurkei Mountains. Dinah, you must become a conqueror.”
Without warning, he pressed his lips to her hand and Dinah felt a wave of revulsion wash over her. She yanked her hand back as if she had been burned.
Cheshire stood and walked to the end of the table, where he gently picked up a covered silver cake platter. He set it in front of Dinah’s chair. “A gift for my daughter.”
“I don’t want to see it.”
“You must.”
Shaking, Dinah lifted the lid. Underneath it was her crown—the gold and ruby crown, a ring of hearts that blazed like fire, the crown she had left behind. Cheshire picked up the crown and lowered it onto her head. She had forgotten how solid it was, how its points dug into her skull, and the flush of happiness she felt when it rested heavy on her temples. This crown, her crown. The lanterns in the trees flickered, and she heard the rustling of a crane’s wings overhead. She looked down at Cheshire, kneeling in front of her. His black eyes met hers, a mirror image, her enemy, her father?
His voice boomed through the trees. “Rise, Dinah, and become the Queen of Hearts. It is time to embrace your fate.”
The night held its breath. Dinah looked down at him, his black eyes glittering in the starlight.
Embrace your fate.
She ran.
Chapter Twelve
All she heard was the crashing and breathing, alternating with each step. Twigs and branches breaking and snapping as she plunged through the Yurkei orchard, far away from Cheshire, far away from everything he had said. Her breath, loud and jagged, full of pain and confusion. The crashing and the breathing, that was what was happening now, and it was the only thing she could do, the only thing she could think about.