Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Spinoff of Alice in Wonderland)

Chapter 6: The Red King

Anxious. For once, the dwarf named Anxious was probably not the only one feeling that way. Alice knelt before the Red King with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness bubbling up inside of her. From the marble floor to the ceiling draped in red and the crimson banners decorating the walls, everything about the room screamed extravagant.

When the dwarfs, Fury and Sarcasm, began to open the large set of doors, Alice did not know what to expect. A boisterous and spoiled King? A calm and collected one? Someone who would send her off to her death as soon as he realized she wasn't the right Alice?

The tension in the air was immense and chocked her. Alice soon realized that she wasn't the only one who was worried though. Although Fury and Sarcasm were the ones who opened the large set of doors leading to the King, they hung their heads low and stared at the floor, almost as if they were afraid to make eye contact with him.

Alice came to the realization that they wouldn't be joining her and felt relief wash over her body. That relief was short-lived, though, because she soon understood what that meant. She would most likely be alone with a King who could seal her fate with a few simple words. The color drained from her face and she felt a sickening feeling deep in her stomach. No dwarfs held her up anymore and she could feel her legs begin to buckle up.

Amusement, normally occupied laughing at some joke or smiling for no reason, held a solemn face that didn't suit him at all. He appeared as though he was attempting to smile but couldn't because an unseen force prevented it. His eyes no longer held the amused light that they always possessed even when his brothers fought. Instead, his hazel eyes seemed to belong to someone who already passed or who gave up all hope of happiness in their life.

Anxious stood beside Amusement, chewing his nails nervously while wearing the same overwhelmed expression he always seemed to have. Only, this time, the anxiety he possessed seemed to multiple tenfold of what it usually was. His gray-black hair covered most of his face and he looked as though he would be consumed by it. Amusement and Anxious stood side-by-side on the left side of Alice where Fury held the door open, both looking down to the ground in a fashion similar to his.

On Sarcasm's side of the door, three dwarfs stood (whose names Alice presumed to be Annoyance, Melancholy and Curiosity due to Amusement's earlier explanation--refer back to chapter 5 for more details--) each wearing their own versions of submissive, dead faces.

The boy who kicked Alice earlier spoke. "Our King," he began. His voice sounded grave as if he were speaking at a funeral. "We have brought you Alice." When the last of his echoes reverberated throughout the large room, he and another dwarf stood on either side of Alice and carried/dragged her toward the middle of the room. The click of their shoes against the marble was the only sound that could be heard. They then released her arms and bowed before the Red King sitting in his throne of silver, his bright red cloak covering most of the throne.

The throne was placed upon a small staircase consisting on three marble steps that lead up from the ground to the throne. This made the Red King seem many feet taller than everyone else even when he sat, and it allowed him to look down at his subjects. This wasn't necessary, in Alice's opinion, because she only met the cards, the dwarfs and the White Rabbit who were all loyal to the King, and all of whom weren't very tall. The cards and dwarfs were roughly the same height, a little less than an inch shorter than Alice. Although he was sitting, Alice could tell that the Red King was tall, even taller than Alice.

Alice also met the scientifically incorrect cat Cheshire, whom she has yet to see again, but she wasn't absolutely positive that he was one of the King's subjects, seeing as how he didn't seem to be a part of the plot to bring her to the King, at least for now.