Beautiful Madness, Book One: Follow the White Rabbit

Chapter 1: Begin at the Beginning

Rose bunched the bulk of her skirt into her hand as she slid her legs over one of the plush armrests that framed her throne. Letting it drop over the side, she adjusted her weight until it was comfortably strewn over the usually loathsome seat.

A persistent tingling sensation continued its repetitive drumming at the back of her mind, but she pushed it out one last time. She wanted a single minute just to bask in what she’d accomplished before the vision that had been threatening to overwhelm her for days found a crack in her defenses. It could wait one more minute. It would have to.

Rose was not a petite girl, and even spread out on the luxuriously over-sized furniture she still felt unnaturally tall. Her willowy figure seemed awkward and disproportionate when compared to the elegant setting around her, but perhaps that was something she could change after she settled in. This was to be her home after all.

The hall she sat in was as elegant as it was sterile. The tiles of white marble streaked with silver had been Anora’s choice—a way to make her mark on the palace that had housed generations of royalty. Rose had checked and double checked that no one else was inside the marble chamber before locking the door behind her. This wasn’t the best position to be caught in, especially as it was only her second day as the Queen of House White. She knew what people would say if she was caught.

“Lady Anora would never have behaved in such an uncouth manner. Lady Anora knew how to show respect to her position”.

Well, Rose knew some of Anora’s secrets and could say with certainty that sitting in a less-than-dignified position was tame compared to what that woman got up to on a regular basis.

Truly alone for the first time since the brief moment she’d had in her dressing room before her coronation, Rose was finally able to revel in her success—and it really was a success. A girl like her should never have been crowned—not in the House of White, and maybe not anywhere in Wonderland. At least if she’d been playing by the rules. Like Anora before her, Rose was now the White Queen, and all Queens were entitled to their little secrets.

As if on cue, the tingling sensation broke down the barriers of Rose’s mind with one last offensive push, sending a wave of anticipation sparking through her veins. A moment later her head tilted back to welcome the incoming vision, despite it being decidedly unwelcome.

Blackness gave way to the same images that had first prompted Rose to take a chance and confront Anora—Wonderland changed before her eyes. Castles became stark, rectangular buildings with countless windows; lanterns were replaced by hideous glass bulbs, removing the warmth of firelight from every room; Neverwood, the strange and wonderful forest, lay flattened, covered in grass that stood only a half-inch high. It was an abomination, and Rose had seen it all before.

She’d believed that her ascension to the throne would ensure that this would never come to be. And yet the scene played out before her again, unchanged. Had she only managed to delay the inevitable? In the past her visions always showed the future as it was should things remain the same. Sometimes Rose was content to let events play out and enjoyed knowing more about the people around her than they suspected. Other times, like when she’d learned of Anora’s late-night liaisons, the visions spurred Rose to action. Those actions had led to Rose sitting in the surprisingly uncomfortable seat where she was now.

As the vision of Wonderland continued to distort itself in her mind, a new figure gradually came into focus, replacing the iron cities. A girl. It was difficult to make out exactly what she looked like, but something told Rose it wasn’t anyone she knew. The girl didn’t dress like anyone from the Western Queendom of Wonderland, where the House of White ruled. She wore slacks and a loose buttoned shirt. She was speaking to a crowd whose faces showed a mix of fear and determination. None of the girl’s impassioned words made it to Rose’s ears, but she took notice all the same.