The Missing Princess Of Hearts

Chapter 17

The white knight puffed out his chest proudly. "My name is Charley. Tell me, do you two work for the queen of hearts," Charley asked.

"No. We were only on a journey looking for a friend and the boyfriend of the oyster, so that way we can send the oyster and her boyfriend on their merry way back to their home," Hatter said.

"Where have you lost your friend that you need to go and find her," Charley asked as he helped Alice and Hatter out of the ditch.

"She was taken by the spades and a assassin named Mad March. And we still have yet to speak with the ally. He can help us come up with a way to over throw the queen, save Wonderland and save my friend Rowena," Hatter explained.

"It seems that this young woman means more to you than you are letting on. You have a strong love for this woman. If you didn't you wouldn't be trying to find her ad save her right now. The young woman is lucky to have you. I do wish you and the young woman well with your marriage when you get her back," Charley said before tuning and walked away, leaving Hatter standing there shocked for a moment. Alice nudged him, snapping him out of his shock.

"How can you be sure that I love Rowena," Hatter shocked impressed with Charley's ability to see that he loved someone.

"You're willing to put your life on the line to save the missing princess from being reunited with her mother," Charley explained.

Hatter gave Charley a confused look, before speaking up again. "Missing princess? My good sir, you are mistaken. The princess of hearts was announced dead at birth. The poor girl never had a chance to breath outside of the womb, the moment she was born," Hatter said.

"News travels fast around Wonderland. The queen was told a lie, because her new born daughter was kidnapped and given a new name. I'm sure you know the young woman by Rowena March Hare," Charley said while leading Hatter and Alice back to camp.

"What does Rowena have to do with this," Alice asked this time.

Charley turned and gave Hatter and Alice a shocked look. "You haven't heard the news, I take it."

"What news? What on earth are you talking about," Alice asked growing annoyed.

"The young woman you know as Rowena March hare, she's really Ruby Rose Heart, or should I say Princess Ruby Rose Heart. The queen of hearts found her long lost daughter, whom many believed had died at birth," Charley said causing Alice to look at him in shock, while Hatter looked away.

Alice turned her attention to Hatter and noticed the look of guilt, that he had on his face. After a moment it all clicked in Alice's mind. "You knew who she was all this time?!? That was why you chased after her, when she ran away from the shop! You weren't worried about her being caught for her wellbeing. You were worried about her being caught, because she would learn the truth. And now that she's most likely learned the truth, you are worried that she will hate you."

"You're right. I knew who she was the moment that she was brought into my shop. My half-brother's mother was the one who kidnapped the young girl at birth. But I was never allowed to interact much with her while she was just a baby. My mother always told me that, no good would come from a child who was stolen away from their mother. But my half-brother's mother managed to keep the young girl in the dark about her true identity. And then my half-brother took over raising the girl when his mother died. He took her far away where no one would be able to find her. And here we stand today, talking about Ro- I mean Ruby Rose Heart. Before you go judging me about not telling her the truth, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was afraid that she would hate me, and think of me as a liar. Though now that she knows the truth, she most likely pieced everything together and realized that I knew who she was all along, and hates me for keeping the truth from her as it is," Hatter rambled on.

"I don't think Ro- I mean Ruby hates you. When you see her again, explain everything to her," Alice said.

"That's if I see her again. I still need to find Caterpillar. He has the answers that we need to overthrow the queen of hearts and save Wonderland," Hatter said.

Hatter, Charley and Alice all walked until they finally met with Caterpillar who told them that the alliance that they were seeking was on their way to them.

Hatter kept rethinking the conversation growing annoyed that the meeting was cut short by Mad March, but no sign of Ruby with him.

Slightly before Hatter's meeting with Caterpillar

Mad March, Ruby and the spades were tracking down Alice and Hatter, leading them to a building, where Mad March believed that one of the alliance resides.

"I get that you are mad at me. But do you think you can put that anger aside and do something to help me find and take down all the traders who are looking to overthrow you mother," Mad March snapped.

Ruby glared at him. "Lets get one thing straight, you low life assassin. I don't take orders from you. Nor do I have to do as you say. I didn't even want you to tag along with me anyway. But you didn't want to keep your damn mouth shut, and you got us both into this damn mess. I am perfectly capable of getting the damn oyster and bringing her back to my mother, without your help."

"Well, I believe that your mother made the right choice by sending me along with you. We don't want to risk you tipping the oyster off that your mother is out looking for her," Mad March said.

"You have some nerve speaking to me like that. I would say that I could have your head cut off...but it looks like my mother has already done that, and had to replace your head with something so fragile. So, if you don't want anything to happen to your new head, I suggest you start showing me the same respect that you give to my mother," Ruby snapped on Mad March.

"In order for me to respect you, you have to earn it. And the only way for you to earn my respect, is by showing me the respect that I deserve. Which you had no problem showing me before. What changed," Mad March asked.

"Are you seriously asking me that question right now? Do you seriously have no clue as to what you had done wrong to me, to get me to hate you the way that I do right now?!? You lied to me my entire life! You had me believing that I was the daughter of two very skilled assassins. You had me believing that the whole time that I had to keep my face hidden, was because I was in danger of being used against you. But that wasn't the case at all. You would have me conceal my face, to keep the spades from finding me, and reporting their findings back to my mother. You feared what my mother would do, when she found out that you were keeping her daughter away from her. The very daughter that she was told that had died at birth, when I was kidnapped from her. You think that I will go and respect a man like you, who has kept the truth from me, then you are sadly mistaken. I won't show you respect anymore," Ruby screamed before catching Mad March off guard, grabbing hold of him, and slamming him into a tree, winding him, before she shoved the few spades blocking her, out of her way before she took off running.

Mad March struggled to compose himself, before hollering. "Don't let her get away! Capture her and bring her back to me! We will bring her back to the queen and allow the queen to deal with her daughter, and come up with a suitable punishment for the princess, after we capture the Oyster."

I can't allow him to get in my head like that. I have to keep moving forward. I have to find the Oyster and Hatter before Mad March finds them or captures me and forces me back to my mother, Ruby thought to herself as she continued to run.