Chapter 1

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   It was a warm day, my hair had gotten frizzy and I'd been trying to control my wild mane, when I'd heard bells ring and some shouting outside my window, I ran toward it, curious to know what the commotion was about. I was surprised to see the guards scurrying about and The Queen's personal messenger in his too-tight tights was talking quickly to a small mouse, who then hurried over to a small hole in the stone of the castle. No less than a minute later, a huge yell erupted from somewhere deep in the palace, and it didn't take me long to realize who it was: the Queen would always run about, ranting. She did that at least once a month. On a good month at least. She liked to break things, so when I heard a bang outside my door, I wasn't surprised. Except I began to get worried when she still hadn't stopped an hour later. That was over 45 minutes longer than her normal episodes. I jumped up, throwing my robe on over my corset and chemise. I the last thing the Queen would want, would be for one of her subjects to be out of her quarters indecently. 
  "My Lady Rose, please stay in your room, The Queen has requested all her most prized servants assist her in tracking the Alice. You could be in danger, return." I was startled by the guard, The Alice? Oh! The Alice. Then my heart skipped. The Alice. Alice was back. She was here. I raced inside and grabbed my precious agenda, and started to take down the events of the day. It was one of the only things that kept me sane, day after day of insanity. To keep things organized and neat, I mean I guess everyone at the palace is a little crazy.
   I started on my morning and then worked my way through my pretty boring day, until the incident with The Queen. Just then, a rap on my door was followed by my hand maid, with a tray of biscuits and tea.
  "Lady Rose, I do apologize, but dinner has been postponed due to the Queen destroying the kitchens."
  "It's not the first time. I'll live. I replied. Still, I was hoping for a bit of change, and the Queen was probably getting worked up over nothing, there'd been rumors before, of Alice being back, this time may be no different, but something in the back of my mind told me that it wasn't a fluke this time.
   By the time I'd finished my pre-dinner snack, a sharp screech pulled me to the side of my room, to the window. One of the worst things I'd seen was approaching, I'd never really known it's name, but it was a ghastly, ugly, amazingly strong bird, carrying two fat little men by their feet.
   "My Hearts, today has been eventful," I whispered to myself. The sun was setting, it lagged just below some lazy, fluffy clouds. I sucked in a sharp breath, as my maid left. I was alone, I listened to more loud clatters and bangs. I envisioned her pounding her head on the walls, yelling at the stewards as she made her way through the palace.
   Night came, and she still kept up, I lay awake in my nightgown and waited for the sunrise, for then I could roam the gardens, or play cricket.
Anything to get away from Her Majesty's dreadful screeches. I'd hoped by morning she may have calmed down. And for once she had, and decided to distract herself with my idea exactly. Cricket.
   She played with animals. Which I found incredibly distasteful, whacking little porcupines with flamingoes, it was her system. Not to be questioned, so I didn't. I sniffed, smelling a change in the scent of the air, the wind had changed, I turned, and took in the rolling gardens that had been half-heartedly decorated, the shabby decor falling to pieces. Unkempt hedges and crumbling statues encircled the palace. Yet in the middle of the chaos, we were calm. Well, I was. But the scent, the one strain in the air, it was otherworldly. I breathed deeper, once again analyzing in the unusual scent, neglecting to take into account the game turning my direction. I was snapped out of my world when a very prickly ball hit me in the back of the head, and the Queen shouted.
   "WHERE IS MY BALL?!" She boomed at the small White Rabbit that clung to the walls, then she swung her flamingo toward him and ordered he find it. I massaged the back of my head, and pulled it back down to reveal just a little blood and a few dark hairs that must've pulled loose as the little animal grazed my head, flying past.
  "Excuse me, but I would like to request Her Majesty's pardon." I said, trying not to wince, the pain was pretty intense. But this again, wasn't the first time. At times I'd felt like she'd personally targeted me on purpose.
   "You may, little girl, clean yourself up." She didn't bother to look at me. I politely curtsied, and bid my goodbye to the rest of her ladies in waiting. I sighed and then walked a little faster than she would've allowed. It took quite awhile to get back to my room from the gardens, but as I passed a window that looked down at the sprawling courtyards, I saw a sight I might never forget. The Queen was of course, yelling, but she wasn't yelling to any servant, or and of her own subjects. She screamed up to a girl who was about 3 times her normal size, and stark naked. For a moment I'd thought I'd imagined the girl. But no. It was in fact, completely real. I couldn't, for once I couldn't make out what The Queen was saying, but she didn't seem at all mad, she just called for her birds to fetch a drapery to cover the large girl. This was intriguing enough but I pried myself from the window and raced back to my bedroom.
 

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