Lost In Wonderland

9. The Mad Riddle

Even though Ethan promised today to me, he wasn't here when I woke up. A maid from the kitchen assured that he simply had a small errand, but it wouldn't make up for the fact that I was missing out on precious minutes with him.

Lost in thought, I continued walking down the corridor, beating myself up about this situation, just as I bumped into Colin. Luckily, he caught me by the hand before I could seriously crash onto the ground.

"I-I'm sorry." I sighed, flattening out my night gown. I was too excited for our day that I forgot to take a shower when I woke up.

"You better watch where you're going next time." Colin laughed, his ears even moved between his snickers. "Next thing you know it, you've crashed into the Hatter's teacup collection." His once friendly expression turned harsh, as if he knew that feeling. I smiled, and he began to proceed, right before I yelled out to him to wait.

"Didn't you have to work today?" I questioned since often times, both he and Ethan went together on requests. It was rare to see them split up like this. It was just recently when the flood of requests ceased and they were capable of carrying them out.

He shook his head and waved off. "We didn't receive any new requests."

His words caught me by surprise, and I continued to walk towards my room. Modern paintings caught my eye from time to time, but I didn't stop until my hand reached the copper door knob.

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As I said, I took a shower and dressed in a mesh black and red dress that I had obtained from my stay at my mother's garden. Even though it covered a little above my knees, I had planned on wearing it for my day with Ethan.

"Miss Heart, would you like some tea?" A maid called from the other side of the door as I brushed my hair in front of the mirror.

"Yes please. Thank you." I spoke, not taking my eyes off of my matching headband. She slipped in, placed the steaming tray on my coffee table, and waltz out. I didn't even hear the door close behind her. I put the headband down, and grabbed the chipped tea cup. The stunning patterns swirled around the small, china cup that rested in the palm of my hand. Chipped or not, the cup still remained priceless.

I poured the tea into the cup, and tossed in two sugar cubes. The dark brew made it impossible to see the dissolving cubes. After stirring, I stood out on the balcony to admire the garden below.

My dress swayed along with the heated spring air. Even though the tea was of same temperature, the scent gave life to the garden.

"Amelia Gold Heart." A voice declared below me, catching me off guard.

"Ethan Nathaniel Hatter." I replied back without yet looking in his direction. Conflicting emotions roared about inside my gut, but I overcame them and peeked. With his gifted hat on his head, and his slick hair properly groomed to the side, he looked remarkable. He wore a dressy black coat that hung over his white button up and matching tie. It still phased me at how godlike Ethan managed to be at any time of the day, no matter what he was working on.

"Hatter?" I repeated astonished at the fact that he returned. On normal days, both he and Colin wouldn't have returned until past midnight after working on a request.

"It must seem crazy that I'm dressed so... formal." He managed to converse. Rushing inside, I placed the empty teacup on the tray and raced down to the garden to meet him.

He removed his top hat and put it on my head. I couldn't help but laugh. The dead thorns poked into the hat and tore away at the material while some hung loosely. There were no longer rose petals, but the scent remained strongly present.