Down the Plot Hole: Knights of the Old Republic
Hatter was uncharacteristically silent and still as they made their way through the overgrown city. It was beginning to freak Alice out a little. Charlie was up ahead, keeping up a running commentary with himself, and after a few moments of watching his back go tighter and tighter with each hoofbeat she leaned forwards and whispered: "What's up?"
"A Rook, I think," Hatter replied absently, glancing upwards. "Why do you ask?"
"Because you seem very… un-Hatter, all of a sudden," Alice pointed out.
Hatter went still again for a moment, then looked at her over his shoulder. "My mother wanted to be a knight."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. She would have been Madam Madeline Hatter, White Knight of the Realm of the Grand Chess Alliance," Hatter told her, tongue rolling over the title with a glimmer of his normal showmanship. "I got an old book of hers as an unbirthday present once. She'd written it all over the flyleaves."
He smiled slightly, a look that was made all the more sad by the way the late afternoon sunlight was hitting his hat, throwing half his face into shadow.
"Is she..?"
"Dead. Yeah. She didn't take Dad dying too well." He shrugged. "Suicide by Suit."
Alice winced.
"It's just strange, being here, that's all. In a kinder world, she might be up there singing 'hey nonny nonny' with Crazy Charlie right now," Hatter added, almost apologetically. "Hell, maybe I'll join in. A duet is just what we're missing, don't you think?"
Alice snorted. "That and a Cheshire Cat."
"Oh God," Hatter said, horrified. "Don't even joke."
Alice was about to ask why when Charlie suddenly said. "Best dismount. The path will be difficult to navigate on horseback shortly."
She wondered when he had stopped singing.
Hatter dismounted and held out a hand for her to steady herself with as she followed him off. Charlie unbridled the horses, while Hatter watched with interest. Alice was more concerned with the teetering pillar leaning against a tree.
"So this is it, then?" Hatter asked as Charlie finished shooing away the horses. "The legendary City of the Knights."
Charlie nodded, and started down a path so rocky and obscured she wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been walking on it, showing them the way. "Before the war with the Queen of Hearts, this was once the greatest city in the realm. The Red King and his elected council ruled Wonderland with the wisdom of the ages."
"And the Hearts destroyed everything?" Alice asked. Behind her, she could feel Hatter turning around, taking in all of the sights.
"We lived in harmony for a thousand years," Charlie lamented. "But when the Queen came to power, she just wanted to feel the good, not the bad."
Charlie walked off. Alice and Hatter followed. "Believe it or not," the old knight continued. "This used to be the throne room. Sadly, all that's left now is the throne."
They stopped for a moment, contemplating the string of laundry, bathing, and cooking supplies that littered the place where the Red King still sat, sword in hand and crown resting firmly on his brow. Charlie had obviously set up his main camp here, to be close to his King.
"Wow," she heard Hatter say softly.
"Yes well," Charlie said brightly. "We best begin to bunk down. We're going to be losing daylight shortly, and there is nothing I dislike more than stumbling about in the dark for more firewood. Harbinger, I assume you have some idea what firewood looks like?"
"Dead, dry trees?" Hatter replied.
"Precisely!" Charlie cried. "Now if we all spread out, we should be able to collect enough to keep the fire burning all night long before the sun goes down…"
Alice caught Hatter's eye as the old knight wandered away. He gave her an amused sort of smile, hiked his hat up a little bit higher on his head, and said "I suppose we should get to it, then."
"I'll go that way," Alice said, pointing in the opposite direction from Charlie.
"Don't get lost!"
Alice rolled her eyes and she walked away, but after a few moments turned around to make sure she could still see where camp was. Hatter was still standing there, shoulders hunched as he regarded the Red King.
~*~
Author's notes for this series can be found here.