The Clockwork Heart

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Execution

"...Are you going to execute her, rabbit?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"She is a diamond servant, and she betrayed my trust."

"Why does that matter?"

"You'll understand when you're older. After you become the king, you'll have to execute people too."

"......"

***

The night was dark outside, and that day it began to rain. Autumn weathers were truly capricious.

Two weeks had passed, and the Cat wasn't able to get into the castle again. She had returned to the tavern, and the Dormouse treated her almost as though nothing happened before.

Meanwhile, the Rabbit arrived in the forest and couldn't find the king anywhere. The Hatter went with him; the Hatter frowned upon arriving.

"My labyrinth has been unraveled," said the Hatter as he sensed the air for magic. "Your brat managed to escape."

"Oh no... oh no no no no no... we're too late..." the Rabbit paced around in the clearing, back and forth and back. "But who helped him escape?"

"He probably made it out on his own," the Hatter muttered. "It appears that my magic still hasn't been honed enough; I must practice more."

"This isn't the time for that!" the Rabbit snapped. Then suddenly, as though the strength had been sapped from his body, he slumped over and said, "I'm going back to the castle now. I need to figure out a way to deal with the princess's death."

"Alright," the Hatter said unconcernedly as the Rabbit disappeared down the winding forest path.

After the Rabbit was gone, the Hatter looked around himself. He noticed a pattern among the fallen leaves and twigs. It was quite subtle, but it was undoubtedly the trail left by human legs.

A grin spread on his face, like a malicious adult who caught a child in a small wrong act. Taking of his jacket, he tore the fabric in half. He wrapped the torn fabric over both of his shoes, so when he walked through the leaves he'd make less noise. Then, he followed the trailed, careful not to step on too many twigs and leaves.

At the end of the trail, he came to an open grassy clearing in the forest. He looked around but didn't see anyone.

On the ground, he found a small diamond. It looked like it fell off the king's crown. After thinking about it for a little while, he became certain that the king must've met Alice already.

There was no logic to his thoughts and decisions. His gut simply told him the answer. Right now, his gut was telling him that the meeting between the king and Alice was peaceful. They got along, and perhaps they've become allies.

Suddenly an idea struck him. He looked up at the trees, the branches and the leaves. But soon he looked down again, disappointed.

For a moment, he was convinced about something. He thought perhaps the king and Alice had built a secret headquarters for themselves, like a tree house or something. But now he was proven wrong.

He sighed and decided to continue wandering in the forest for a few days, looking for clues about the king and Alice's whereabouts. If he got hungry or thirsty, he could just pick up some supplies at his cottage. He knew the layout of this forest very well.

***

After the Rabbit arrived back, he went to check on the princess again. This time, however, he noticed something was off. The princess's necklace was missing.

The Rabbit shuddered. Someone had stolen the necklace... was it that girl who he saw before? She sure had a lot of guts, going back to the dungeon to steal again after he sent her away.

It was just a petty thief, yet the Rabbit felt extremely nervous. I must find her and learn what she did with the necklace. He summoned a servant, the Jack of Diamond, and asked him about this.

"Someone stole something from the dungeon, a young girl who works here. About this tall, she looks like this and this. Find her for me."

"Yes sir."

"What's wrong? You seem a bit..."

"Nothing, sir."

The Rabbit watched as the Diamond Jack went away. As the door closed, the Rabbit narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Something was off about this whole thing.. Paranoia crept into his heart, and stung his mind.

He summoned a different servant and ordered her to look into the Diamond Jack. The servant bowed respectfully and left as well.

At last, the Rabbit was left all alone in his office. He sat down at his desk and continued to do paperwork, organize reports about money, and drafting one plan after the next about this or that thing. After a while, he felt the need to take a nap. What he wanted more in the world, more than anything else, was to collapse onto the desk and sleep.

Although he didn't look like it because of magic, the Rabbit was quite old already. All of his bones were old, and his muscles were sore/tired. His mind was awashed with memories, both old and new, and it took a lot of energy just to keep those memories at bay.

Not yet, he told himself. Not yet... when this is all over, then I can rest. When my work has been completed, then I'll rest.

The report came back after another three days.

'The Jack of Diamonds has a sister. She seems to have ties with the Tea Party, a rebel group. She may have snuck into the castle some time ago for unknown reasons. It is unclear if the Jack has ties as well.'

The White Rabbit thought about this, all alone, in silence. Then, he made his decision.