The Knave and the Champion : Alice and Stayne

Chapter One - From Umbradge

  Um was sat on the left hand side of the Red Queen, trying to stay calm. Of course, the bulbous-headed Queen Iracebeth was oblivious to her newest courtier being Alice Kingsleigh, returned to Underland to defeat the Red Queen by slaying her Jabberwocky, as she was blinded by the lie of the insanely tall girl being Um from Umbradge.

 The Tweedles, or as she now knew them as the Red Queen’s ‘‘Fat Boys’’, had just left the court. The court of the Red Queen. It was a cold and quiet room, and the colour scheme seemed dull and grim; scarlet and the deep grey of the stone bricks. Her court was now silent.

 From the doorway to the Queen’s right, a tall man wearing black and a red heart-shaped eye patch appeared. Iracebeth offered her hand to him, and he kissed it. He looked out across the empty court, before noticing the golden-haired girl. He felt his heart skip a beat, and the next one thud hard.

 He looked at her, feeling an unfamiliar passion burning up inside him, inside his chest, and causing him such an overwhelming feeling. She was beautiful, tall, with long legs, and curled, long blonde hair. Her eyes were deep brown and mysterious. Never before had he felt something like this, certainly not for his Queen or any of her female courtiers.

 There had not been such a beautiful woman as this in the castle for a long time. Come to think of it, he had not seen a woman as beautiful as the one sat before him ever. She was even more beautiful than the last memory he could recall of the White Queen.

‘Who is this lovely creature?’ The dark Knave whispered to his Queen.

‘Um, my new favourite.’ Iracebeth replied.

‘Does she have a name?’

‘Um!’ The Queen replied, again.

‘It appears,’ Stayne made eye-contact with the girl, ‘your name has slipped the Queen’s mind!’ He grinned apologetically, but it soon faded when the irritated Queen exclaimed ‘Her name is Um! IDIOT!’

 Both he and Um were stunned by her anger. ‘From Umbradge.’ She explained.

‘Ilosovic Stayne.’ He introduced himself, crossing behind the Queen’s throne. He held out his gloved hand to Um, asking – from a gesture – if he may place his lips on the back of her palm. Um was unsure, and so shook his hand gently. ‘Pleasure.’ She said, trying to hide the sarcasm from her voice.

‘Oh, the pleasure’s all mine, Um.’ He smiled at her, turned her hand slightly and kissed it before returning to Iracebeth’s right. The Queen rolled her eyes before looking up at him. ‘Any luck with the prisoner?’

‘He’s stubborn.’

‘You’re too soft.’ She grinned cunningly with a slight chuckle in her voice. ‘Bring him!’ The doors immediately swung open to reveal several Red Knights escorting the Mad Hatter to the court.

 ‘Where is Alice?’ The Queen questioned, demanding an answer.

‘I wouldn’t know.’ The Hatter lied, even when she threatened to behead him. Thankfully, he was able to change the subject to hats. His hat suggestions for the Queen amused Um, before she had to calm him down from one of his usual turns.

 Stayne looked at this mad man. His profession had driven him insane, caused by the mercury, he suspected. However, this Hatter was completely off it. His clothes were the oddest of combinations, and his tools of his trade attached to them. This man is merely a fool, He shook his head.

 After a few moments of silence, Iracebeth dismissed the Hatter. He seemed to almost skip back to his room, given to him by the Queen for his trade to be in process. Stayne, again, looked over to Um. Her smile, her beautiful, soft smile made Stayne feel as though he was about to melt.

 Mental images and thoughts of what had just happened, what he would adore to happen, rushed into his mind. He blinked long and slow as he thought about Um. She was truly beautiful, and his heart felt ablaze when she spoke. He pondered of such things like what he would say to her, should the occasion call for it, or what he would do if they were alone.

 Stayne wanted to know more about this mysteriously attractive girl, and he contemplated on how he was to find out, and secretively. If Iracebeth were to find out that he was beginning to have feelings of that nature for anybody except herself, then he would find himself without a head.