Intertwined

Special Guests

"MUSE!"

I groan and drop my head down on the desk in front of me at the sound of my mother's voice echoing down the hall and into my open door. "COMING!" I call back, lifting myself up out of the chair I'd been in for the last hour. Mum was having an outfit made for me since we were expecting "special guests" although she never told me who these guests were. By this time we'd met pretty much every important Wonderland occupant, so I really hadn't the slightest clue who could be so bloody important. I stretch my wings and look back at our newest seamstress, a blue Gulliebird fae named Anatharia that loved to talk, being the reason I'd been sitting down for an hour while she constructed my shoes on my feet.

She squawks angrily when I get up, "No no nooo, I'm not finished with those yet."

I roll my eyes in her direction and level them on her, making her wither slightly. "And would you rather me tell the Queen that you held me here despite that she called for me? You know what happened to our last seamstress..." I trail off meaningfully. The Bandersnatch had gotten a filling meal that day, after our last seamstress was caught stealing from Mum's jewelry box.

Anatharia casts her eyes down, humbled. "No your highness."

I grin and give her a wide bow, "Then I shall be off." I kick off the shoes and run out the door barefoot, spreading my wings and taking off down the wide, arched halls. I knock over several patrolling guards in my wake, sending them fluttering down to the ground or up into the air on gusts of wind. My mother never reprimanded me for such, but I don't think she very much appreciated me knocking down the guards or flying in the castle, so I land carefully before pushing open the red double doors to the throne room.

My parents sit at the altar, under deep red velvet drapes adorned and restrained by golden threaded ropes, each in their own respective throne. My mum is dressed in a dress dripping with rubies and red velvet, trimmed in black lace with a black and red striped fitted corset making up the top. Father wears one of his current favorites: a black trench coat-like blazer over a black and red striped dress shirt with a black vest that's matched with black pants. He's the king, but he prefers to wear what he feels like wearing than wearing the royal robes.

"Hospitality Hat!" He calls randomly, and I watch as a group of sprites bring the hat to him, hovering in midair next to another group that holds his crown up. He looks up at me and grins when I step in. "You got here rather quickly. Ruffle the guards up again, aye?"

I smile sheepishly at my mum when she gives me a pointed look, "No, of course not." I cough, straightening up. "You needed something?"

Mum huffs and rolls her eyes, the same blue eyes I got from her, and smooths down her dress. "Yes," she clears her throat "Firstly for you to not 'ruffle' the guards, and secondly, to tell you that our guests are close." Then she looks at my feet. "Muse?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Where are your shoes?"

A silence descends, only to be broken by my father's laughter. "Oh Alyssa luv, let the boy breathe." he says, looking over at her with a grin. "I hardly think that the guests would mind bare feet."

I relax when my mum takes a slow breath and smiles back at him. "Fine, of course not." she looks at me and holds out her arms to me, "Come here darling."

Walking up the steps and into her arms, I place a kiss on her forehead. "I assume you want me to greet the guests?" I ask, leaning back from the embrace to look at her when she starts to twirl her red streak of hair around her middle finger, a nervous tic she'd developed.

"Yes..." she begins. "Just treat them as openly as you would a friend. You're 18 now, I believe you can handle this small task can't you?"

I nod then look over at my father when he asks, "Muse, what do you think? Hospitality hat or crown?"