Top Hat, Chapter 13: Before He Was a Knight
Chapter 12: This House is Not a Home is here
please read/review!!
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From the day he was born, Charles Eustice Fatheringay LeMalvoy the Third was the fourth wheel on the tricycle of life. Son of a royal cook and a midwife, Charlie took after no one in his family, mostly because he rarely left the safety of the space beneath his bed.
One leg was a little too short, he was prematurely balding, but by age 20, Charlie had become a page to the White Knight at court under the great Red King. When the Great War came to the kingdom of the Knights, instead of fighting with his people, Charlie ran for the woods and did not return to the kingdom until the castle lay in ruins. His shame, doubled with naivete in the world, lead to years of delusion. Charlie roamed the forest, alone, in the armor of the White Knight, carrying the burden of the death of his people on his back.
When sense had returned, so did the White Knight's page to the court of the Red King.
It wasn't a home, but the camp that Charlie fashioned there, in the ruins of the castle throne room, was a modest display of everything he owned. It wasn't a home, no, but it was a place to sleep and pay homage to the bones of his brothers.
When he crossed paths with Just Alice and the Harbinger, Charlie's life was affected, altered in a way he couldn't place. Almost as quickly as they came, they left again, though not before showing the new White Knight his own potential. He meant to repay them for their kindness and for endowing him with a strength he didn't know that he possessed.
Jack Heart sought SIR Charles LeMalvoy's personal guidance for the reestablishment of Wonderland and suddenly, Charlie had a new purpose. He could be a kind of champion for these people, if not his own people, and it began with building rehabilitation centers for tea heads - those who were particularly addicted to the Queen's infamous elixirs. It was in one of the newest facilities, just outside the city limits, that Sir Charles Eustace Fatheringay LeMalvoy the Third, White Knight and Minister of Reparations, met a stout little nurse named Dorinda Fay.
She liked him almost instantly, a fact he didn't know until after he married her. He wasn't particularly handsome, or smart, and he never remembered when he was needed at the clinic, but Charlie was caring. He sat with a little baby girl who had been born to an addict mother one day, cooing some little song to her that had only 3 words. Dorinda watched how he rubbed the baby's back when she fussed, made some sort of formula at meal times, and always treated her as if she might break if he so much as breathed too hard. Who knows what drew Charlie to the little girl, there were plenty of nursemaids on hand, but he stayed as if charged to do so by King Jack himself.
Charlie never let on when he had decided to marry Dorinda, but the proposal came out of thin air one morning as he stood in her office. There was no pomp or circumstance, he just asked, as if bringing up the weather or the state of Wonderland's economy.
Dorinda likewise could not explain what compelled her to say yes, but she was glad that she had. It was a partnership, if not a love match, and she grew to be impossibly fond of him in all his flaws.
The decision to follow Alice and Hatter to her world was well thought out, but not without many cons. Charlie would be giving up his position as Minister of Internal Affairs (as he had been promoted), Dorinda her rehabilitation center, and they had little money to spare... but the only time Hatter returned since running after Alice, he had proclaimed the earthly world to be full of more wonders than the land so named. It couldn't be worse than the kingdom under the Queen of Hearts, and ten years of serving the people made them both tired of fixing the problems of those that did not wish to be helped.
Earth was their new home, and with Hatter's help, a happy one.
***
"It's a novel. It should be at least," Alice laughed as Charlie finished telling his story over the box of pizza.
"Nonsense," He smiled, a gleam in his eye. Hatter clapped the retired knight on the back and retrieved the bottle of wine, offering to Dorinda and Alice. Charlie did not drink wine, not since his self-inflicted banishment into the wilderness of Wonderland.
Alice gave Hatter a look but he shook his head slightly, indicating Charlie ever-so-slightly with his head. She nodded back and smiled at Dorinda.
"Dora, Charlie told us you would be willing to help us with wedding preparations and I still need a veil. Would you be able to help me?"
"To be sure, my dear! Whatever you would like, I would be happy to create for you. If I do not currently possess the ability to craft it, I shall learn, for my son," she indicated Hatter at this, "and yourself are the dearest family we could ever imagine." Dorinda squeezed Alice's hand.
Charlie and Dorinda had beyond embraced Hatter as their son, even going so far as to seek out adoption papers in order to make it legal in their new home. It wasn't entirely necessary, but Charlie especially felt so extremely honored to be needed that he wanted to help them in any way possible.
"Have you set a date?" Charlie asked, taking a swig of lemonade. Hatter nodded at Alice now and she smiled as he sat next to her.
"We've made a decision and we need your opinion," Hatter said, putting his arm over the back of Alice's chair.
"Yes... it's not as if we are making this decision hastily-" Alice began.
"Not at all."
"What is it, my loves?" Dorinda asked.
Alice looked up at Hatter who smiled and nodded.
"We're going to elope... we only want you two to be there and we want to do it next weekend, in New Hampshire." Alice announced and Charlie clapped his hands together.
"How romantic! We would be happy to help, wouldn't we Dor?"
"Of course we would, Char!"
"Wonderful!" Alice laughed, hugging them both and kissing Hatter.
"And... if you are interested... we have found a permanent home for you," Hatter said once the excitement had died down. They looked shocked but Alice felt relieved that he saw things her way. She just couldn't live in the home she grew up in without her father. But Charlie and Dorinda would surely be happy there, and Alice felt her heart swell as her almost in-laws nodded and chirped their thanks and consent.
Once Charlie and Dorinda had resigned to their temporary apartment, Alice stood in the kitchen in front of the sink, elbow-deep in soapy water. Hatter sneaked in, snaking his arms around her waist.
"I knew they would say yes," he chuckled when she jumped. She smiled but there was something else pulling at the corners of her mouth. "What's up?"
"I feel so terrible... my mother will never speak to me again."
"Alice, she's moving to South Carolina anyway-"
"I know," She said quickly, not wishing to start an argument. "I know. I just feel guilty. It's ok, I really don't want her there, that's the point of eloping."
Hatter rubbed her arms and sat on the counter next to the sink.
"They are so happy." He changed the subject.
"So are we," Alice giggled, flicking water at him. Hatter laughed, agreeing. The phone rang and Alice held up her hands, covered in soapy suds. Hatter jumps off the counter and skips to the phone, grinning at his fiance.
"Yello."
"David? It's Carol."
"Oh... hello Carol," Hatter said, rolling his eyes at Alice. She'd managed to call only three times that day, unusual because she usually found a reason to call every hour on the hour.
"Is Alice there?" Carol sounded a little anxious and Hatter held the phone up to Alice's ear. She put her shoulder up to hold the phone without his help.
"Hi Mom," Alice said, glaring at Hatter. "Is everything alright?"
"Honey, don't freak out..."
"Ok, sure, Mom you're being weird-"
"Jim and I eloped!"
Alice dropped the phone.
_______________________________
A/N: Yeah... I had to do it. More later. :)
please read/review!!
____________________________
From the day he was born, Charles Eustice Fatheringay LeMalvoy the Third was the fourth wheel on the tricycle of life. Son of a royal cook and a midwife, Charlie took after no one in his family, mostly because he rarely left the safety of the space beneath his bed.
One leg was a little too short, he was prematurely balding, but by age 20, Charlie had become a page to the White Knight at court under the great Red King. When the Great War came to the kingdom of the Knights, instead of fighting with his people, Charlie ran for the woods and did not return to the kingdom until the castle lay in ruins. His shame, doubled with naivete in the world, lead to years of delusion. Charlie roamed the forest, alone, in the armor of the White Knight, carrying the burden of the death of his people on his back.
When sense had returned, so did the White Knight's page to the court of the Red King.
It wasn't a home, but the camp that Charlie fashioned there, in the ruins of the castle throne room, was a modest display of everything he owned. It wasn't a home, no, but it was a place to sleep and pay homage to the bones of his brothers.
When he crossed paths with Just Alice and the Harbinger, Charlie's life was affected, altered in a way he couldn't place. Almost as quickly as they came, they left again, though not before showing the new White Knight his own potential. He meant to repay them for their kindness and for endowing him with a strength he didn't know that he possessed.
Jack Heart sought SIR Charles LeMalvoy's personal guidance for the reestablishment of Wonderland and suddenly, Charlie had a new purpose. He could be a kind of champion for these people, if not his own people, and it began with building rehabilitation centers for tea heads - those who were particularly addicted to the Queen's infamous elixirs. It was in one of the newest facilities, just outside the city limits, that Sir Charles Eustace Fatheringay LeMalvoy the Third, White Knight and Minister of Reparations, met a stout little nurse named Dorinda Fay.
She liked him almost instantly, a fact he didn't know until after he married her. He wasn't particularly handsome, or smart, and he never remembered when he was needed at the clinic, but Charlie was caring. He sat with a little baby girl who had been born to an addict mother one day, cooing some little song to her that had only 3 words. Dorinda watched how he rubbed the baby's back when she fussed, made some sort of formula at meal times, and always treated her as if she might break if he so much as breathed too hard. Who knows what drew Charlie to the little girl, there were plenty of nursemaids on hand, but he stayed as if charged to do so by King Jack himself.
Charlie never let on when he had decided to marry Dorinda, but the proposal came out of thin air one morning as he stood in her office. There was no pomp or circumstance, he just asked, as if bringing up the weather or the state of Wonderland's economy.
Dorinda likewise could not explain what compelled her to say yes, but she was glad that she had. It was a partnership, if not a love match, and she grew to be impossibly fond of him in all his flaws.
The decision to follow Alice and Hatter to her world was well thought out, but not without many cons. Charlie would be giving up his position as Minister of Internal Affairs (as he had been promoted), Dorinda her rehabilitation center, and they had little money to spare... but the only time Hatter returned since running after Alice, he had proclaimed the earthly world to be full of more wonders than the land so named. It couldn't be worse than the kingdom under the Queen of Hearts, and ten years of serving the people made them both tired of fixing the problems of those that did not wish to be helped.
Earth was their new home, and with Hatter's help, a happy one.
***
"It's a novel. It should be at least," Alice laughed as Charlie finished telling his story over the box of pizza.
"Nonsense," He smiled, a gleam in his eye. Hatter clapped the retired knight on the back and retrieved the bottle of wine, offering to Dorinda and Alice. Charlie did not drink wine, not since his self-inflicted banishment into the wilderness of Wonderland.
Alice gave Hatter a look but he shook his head slightly, indicating Charlie ever-so-slightly with his head. She nodded back and smiled at Dorinda.
"Dora, Charlie told us you would be willing to help us with wedding preparations and I still need a veil. Would you be able to help me?"
"To be sure, my dear! Whatever you would like, I would be happy to create for you. If I do not currently possess the ability to craft it, I shall learn, for my son," she indicated Hatter at this, "and yourself are the dearest family we could ever imagine." Dorinda squeezed Alice's hand.
Charlie and Dorinda had beyond embraced Hatter as their son, even going so far as to seek out adoption papers in order to make it legal in their new home. It wasn't entirely necessary, but Charlie especially felt so extremely honored to be needed that he wanted to help them in any way possible.
"Have you set a date?" Charlie asked, taking a swig of lemonade. Hatter nodded at Alice now and she smiled as he sat next to her.
"We've made a decision and we need your opinion," Hatter said, putting his arm over the back of Alice's chair.
"Yes... it's not as if we are making this decision hastily-" Alice began.
"Not at all."
"What is it, my loves?" Dorinda asked.
Alice looked up at Hatter who smiled and nodded.
"We're going to elope... we only want you two to be there and we want to do it next weekend, in New Hampshire." Alice announced and Charlie clapped his hands together.
"How romantic! We would be happy to help, wouldn't we Dor?"
"Of course we would, Char!"
"Wonderful!" Alice laughed, hugging them both and kissing Hatter.
"And... if you are interested... we have found a permanent home for you," Hatter said once the excitement had died down. They looked shocked but Alice felt relieved that he saw things her way. She just couldn't live in the home she grew up in without her father. But Charlie and Dorinda would surely be happy there, and Alice felt her heart swell as her almost in-laws nodded and chirped their thanks and consent.
Once Charlie and Dorinda had resigned to their temporary apartment, Alice stood in the kitchen in front of the sink, elbow-deep in soapy water. Hatter sneaked in, snaking his arms around her waist.
"I knew they would say yes," he chuckled when she jumped. She smiled but there was something else pulling at the corners of her mouth. "What's up?"
"I feel so terrible... my mother will never speak to me again."
"Alice, she's moving to South Carolina anyway-"
"I know," She said quickly, not wishing to start an argument. "I know. I just feel guilty. It's ok, I really don't want her there, that's the point of eloping."
Hatter rubbed her arms and sat on the counter next to the sink.
"They are so happy." He changed the subject.
"So are we," Alice giggled, flicking water at him. Hatter laughed, agreeing. The phone rang and Alice held up her hands, covered in soapy suds. Hatter jumps off the counter and skips to the phone, grinning at his fiance.
"Yello."
"David? It's Carol."
"Oh... hello Carol," Hatter said, rolling his eyes at Alice. She'd managed to call only three times that day, unusual because she usually found a reason to call every hour on the hour.
"Is Alice there?" Carol sounded a little anxious and Hatter held the phone up to Alice's ear. She put her shoulder up to hold the phone without his help.
"Hi Mom," Alice said, glaring at Hatter. "Is everything alright?"
"Honey, don't freak out..."
"Ok, sure, Mom you're being weird-"
"Jim and I eloped!"
Alice dropped the phone.
_______________________________
A/N: Yeah... I had to do it. More later. :)