Chess Piece (An Unofficial Heartless Sequel)

1

The smell of freshly baked lemon tarts brought Queen Catherine's nose to heaven. The smell reminded her of two years ago, when she, herself, was making lemon tarts to bring to the King's ball. It had been the first time that she had seen him. Him being the one that made her non-existent heart ache in ways that she never thought possible for a heartless person.

She guessed that it was her dessert tonight. She would make sure that the king got none. He was chubby enough eating normal dinner. It was not that she hated her husband, it was more like: she felt nothing for him. Nothing at all. Not even a small piece of love. Her love and heart had been given away. Given away to Jest, the court joker. Her physical heart had been taken by the Sisters that dwelled in the treacle well. It left her heartless.

She was the heartless Queen of Hearts. Funny, isn't it?

----

The click  of Catherine's heels always announced her seconds before she entered a room. It was by this that the peoples of Hearts knew when to a have a room clean. The sound of Catherine's devilishly red heels clicking  was a sort of warning. Like the warning that the Sisters had given her. A warning in which she should have payed lots of mind to.

Her heart- or chest, rather- ached with the memory of the drawings the Sisters had drawn. The murderer. The martyr. The monarch. The mad. If only she had ignored Mary Ann's screams. If only she had never gone into Peter Peter's pumpkin patch.

Catherine brushed the stupid thoughts aside. She would no longer think of the nonexistent person. She would no longer feel the nonexistent pain.

Catherine focused on the clicking of her heels.

"My sweet, welcome back!" The King greeted her as she entered their rose red room. He was probably going to pester her about the suit of ten children he wanted them to have. She had never, ever wanted to have that many children. Especially with this man.

Catherine's thoughts drifted back to who she really wanted to have children with. Again, the pain rippled through her chest. It may have been a heart, but not hers. It could have also been the stab wound from when one of the Sisters stabbed her.

"What do you want?" Her voice was flat. Usually, she tried to put a little emotion into it, but tonight, Catherine was too tired for all that foolishness.

"My-my sweet. I was wondering if tonight you could-"

He was cut off by a sharp knock on the large door of their room. "Come in." The Queen was in no mood of a guest.

Raven opened the door. "My queen," Raven bowed. "I have received news," It seemed as if the news were urgent enough for Raven not to rhyme. "What sort?"

Raven looked at the Queen of Hearts gravely, as if he were remembering something dreadful. Catherine knew exactly what that something might be- or someone, rather. "Well?" She asked.

Raven seemed rather distracted, which was very unlike him. "A Jabberwock, milady. There has been a Jabberwock sighting down by Rock Turtle Cove. It seems to have taken the Marquess and the Marchioness."

----

"Why would I care about the Marquess and the Marchioness? They mean absolutely nothing to me. Nothing. I have not a care in all of Wonderland for my parents."

The King sat quietly by her side, itching his neck. She then remembered that talking about the Jabberwock gave him rashes. She did not care.

The King leaned over to her ear. "My sweet, I think it is best if we do not do anything about this for a while. How about we think about something else? Like how many children we are to have! I have told you many times, but I shall tell you again. I want a suit of ten chi-"

"You bloody fool!" Catherine roared. "Can you not see that Hearts is in danger? Does it trouble you so much to have a care for the well being of the people in your kingdom? You are said to be a nice and sweet king, but that is all you are. It seems as if you lack intelligence; that is not a proper quality for a king to have."

The blood in her veins was boiling. She may not feel love or compassion anymore, but she sure felt anger. Her moron of a husband angered her so much at that moment that she was about to chop off his head. Queen Catherine quietly considered it. It would do the kingdom much good. It would do her much good too. She would pretend to mourn and then get over the King's death.

As her plan was formulating in her head, the room fell silent. Raven still stood quietly, awaiting his queen's instructions. He was much better behaved than the King, who was fidgeting with his tailcoat.

Off with his head. Catherine saved the thought for later; later when she would plan her husband's murder. Or execution.

"Take me back to the manor. I wish to speak with the maids. I also wish to speak with the rest of the staff, and any other citizens nearby."

Going back would have meant seeing Mary Ann again. Mary Ann, the girl whom Jest had died for. A girl which she regretted saving. Mary Ann had done a number of other things, like help plan out their bakery that they were to have. But she had also ratted out her and Jest. She had been the one to make Jest a criminal. Mary Ann had to pay. Her head, Catharine decided, would do quite nicely.

----

Raven was to take the Queen down to Rock Turtle Cove in forty-five minutes. All the while, Catherine dressed in a fine red and black dress. It fit her just nice, it was not too tight, nor too loose. It also was better than anything her mother would have ever made wear.

Her mother. The Marchioness. She had been carried away by the Jabberwock, yet Catherine didn't care in the least. She would put on a show for her people. Yes, she was a wonderful actress. An actress so good, her husband didn't know that every single thing that she did was an act.

Still in her devil red heels, Catherine slipped on the dress and headed out of her bathroom door. She had no servants help clothe her or feed her, or do anything of the sort. The only cleaned the castle. That was all they were to her. She would never let anyone close to her again. She didn't want another Mary Ann. And she definitely didn't want another Jest.

Raven knocked on the bathroom door. It was time for her to go back to Rock Turtle Cove.

Okay, first of all, I love, love, love Heartless. I'm not that big of a Wonderland fan, but this book is just.......wow. I love all of it. I love all the characters. If you have not read the book, I suggest you do before reading this, because Chess Piece is going to contain some major spoilers. Anyway, I'm sorry if I get some of the info wrong (although I just finished re-reading it today), please let me know if I do get it wrong. Also, let me know what you thought of this chapter. As always, thank you for reading.

-Hamster