Alice: Wonderland is My Home?

Part 6: Rabbit's Cure For All

I assisted Hatter with his arm over my shoulder as we made our way through the forest. We walked until finally, we came to a little house on the edge of the riverbank. A quaint little cottage with very little light to it.

"Exactly who is this Rabbit?" I questioned a now very weak Hatter.

"He's one of the only few people who stayed after the Red Princess took over Wonderland. He's lik... "

"Hatter!" He suddenly passed out in front of the door as it opened. Opening to reveal an older man.

"Please, you have to help him." I begged, clutching his limp body in my arms. Looking up to him in desperation.

"Let's get him inside" He reached down and thrust Hatter over his shoulder.

Hatter had been out for over a few hours and my concern turned to worry. He was as white as a ghost and he constantly shook as he slept. Sweating frantically in his sleep. I sat at his side, holding a wet compress to his head like Rabbit had instructed me to.

"He'll be fine, I gave him the antivenom. It takes time for the body to fight against the venom to normalise again." I turned to him, as he placed his hand on my shoulder to console me. His hand inches away from my own bandage that Hatter had wrapped a couple of hours earlier. "I can do something about that, you know. Hatter's no physician like I am."

Rabbit had tended to my arm and whatever he had done immediately it had worked. Magically the infection had gone and left a small white scar.

"There. How's that?" He asked as I examined my scar.

"It's much better than it was before. At least now it doesn't hurt." I replied

"And it won't get infected. You were lucky Hatter got to you when he did." He said.

"Yeah. I suppose I am." I replied, smiling softly as I rubbed my arm.

(An hour later)

Hatter was still asleep and Rabbit had begun to prepare dinner to distract me. It smelt incredible from Hatter's bedside. I turned as he entered the room,

"How's your arm?" Rabbit's voice was soothing.

"Much better. Thank You... for helping us. I really appreciate it." I showed my gratitude for the help he'd given both of us.

"He must really like you." I looked behind at the sleeping Hatter and smiled. "You must be special to him. He hasn't been like this since his parents died and the Red Princess took over."

"What exactly happened? How did the Wonderland I read about become so twisted and dark?" This time I wanted the truth, the whole story.

"Well, it started when the White King and Queen were in their last years of their reign over Wonderland. The Queen's sister Eracabeth left in a jealous rage after the King chose her sister over Eracabeth. Years passed by and Lizbeth the White Queen had fell pregnant, Now Eracabeth had discovered her pregnancy and decided to use this to her advantage. The Red Queen had spies in the kingdom and used them to feed her information on the Queen's activities. The White Queen annually took a tour of Wonderland to visit the people and Eracabeth had the Guards to prolong her trip. So, The Red Queen being evil and a witch, decided to bewitch the King into thinking that she was Lizbeth." The story was vivid and it was about to get worse. "So, the King, thinking that Eracabeth was Lizbeth, used her powers of seduction and ended up in a heat of passion. Eracabeth vanished again this time with a secret of her own. She too was now pregnant."

My heart stopped, how could this be? No wonder the Princess is so cruel, if anything she is exactly like her mother.

"So, then what happened?" I asked, wanting more from the story.

"Well a few months later both sisters had given birth. Each with an heir to the throne of Wonderland. The King however discovered Eracabeth's spies and disposed of them the only way a king should rid the land of traitors." (He meant death.) "The king discovered the Red Queen's child and realised that over the years she had begun to gather an army to dispose of her sister's child and take over the kingdom for herself. The King however wanted to protect his wife and child. So, he decided to flee the kingdom to protect his family." He finished.

"They vanished, but where did they go?" I understood now the true reason for the Princess's rage. The humiliation her father had caused her mother. Understandable. "If the Red Queen took over Wonderland and the king and his family left Wonderland then they must have gone somewhere. Then the true heir to the throne of Wonderland is still out there." I began to piece together the story, using my background knowledge and expertise on Agatha Christie novels and detective stories to fit the puzzle.

"It is said that the King left Wonderland, for the human world for his daughter to grow up and live a normal and safe life. But a few years ago, he came back. His family's location had been revealed to a human spy working for the Red Queen. They had told the Queen that the king's daughter lived and he was in your world. To take revenge on the King and her sister she sent the spy to kill them." I stood, feeling the air from my lungs draining, hearing this story of heartache and jealousy.

"He left his family to protect them."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Wait a second, he just abandoned his family."

"He had no choice my dear. Either he and his family die together, or his family lives without him in safety from the woman he hates. Eventually Eracabeth grew ill until she died but not before she sent the Red Princess (his other daughter) away to the darkest part of Wonderland where she spent the rest of her childhood alone and unloved for her own protection. So the king was assumed to have died, the Princess was out of the picture. Wonderland was happy and at peace. Until now." That was the final chapter of the history of Wonderland.

"Now. Why? because the Princess has returned for a revenge mission on everyone? Because her father abandoned her at birth because he loved another woman and had a child with his truest love. Because her mother sent her away for her own safety. She seriously needs to get over herself and deal with it. She's not going to solve everything by destroying everything in a fit of rage." I had a flush of anger, feeling hatred for this girl. This messed up vengeful girl who's acting on nothing but revenge for what happened.

"That's not the end. Legends have said that the King's true heir will return and Wonderland will be peaceful and that she will defeat her sister and restore justice to prevail throughout the land." He looked at me with intrigue. "Alice, short for Alicia, isn't it? You're 18, 19 years old?" My heart was in my throat again.

"How do you know my real name? We've never met before." He began to walk slowly towards me, placing a pair of black spectacles on his face. Placing his hands on my face. Analysing me deeply.

"You don't think that I'd ever forget those eyes. After all... I was there when you were born." My heart stopped. 'This was ridiculous. What is he trying to assume?' I thought. The silence was deafening. "Alice? How old were you when your father left you? You must have been very young. Can you remember?" My eyes shifted frantically from left to right. I was suddenly overcome with flashes of memories of a life I had never seen before. Images of flowers that could sing. Animals that could talk. Then a familiar image, my father. A king.

"Alice, it may be hard to believe, but you... you are the heir to Wonderland. The daughter of the true queen of this land. You are the one who can stop your sister from destroying your home."

"Sister? No! I can't be." I was disheartened. Life suddenly started to make sense. I couldn't remember my childhood much, it was like my life started when I was 8. Like my memories had been wiped.