The Wonderland Chronicles: Realm of Three Kingdoms

Chapter One: A Curious Tea Party (Part I)

Immersed in the soft, languid warmth of darkness, I was pulled towards awareness by an insistent ray of golden light pushing into my cocoon of stillness and safety. Alluring, it roused me from my comfortable state, seeming to beckon me to follow. I reached out towards it, unable to see my body but knowing I was drawing closer to the enchanting glow as it became brighter, and filled more of my vision. Suddenly, the light was all around me, encasing me in its luminous embrace and wrenching me up. It felt like I was falling, but rather than sinking I was ascending rapidly. Then, as soon as it had started, the fall ended, having transported my mind back to consciousness. I gasped loudly and sat upright, eyes wide open with surprise.

I was briefly disoriented, wondering where I was, before I remembered: I was in my bedroom and it was morning. I had awoken in a rather unpleasant manner, a bit unusual for me, as I was a deep sleeper. Groaning, I sat up; pulling a hand through my long brown hair tied back with a blue ribbon. I pushed the covers off myself to sit with my legs hanging over the edge of the four-poster bed. I gazed into the large oval mirror hanging across from me. Big, soulful hazel eyes stared back at me from the reflection - my lips pink, and my face the pale cream of my mother's good china.

My parents were wealthy relatives of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, so we lived in an old manor, the bricks long faded and the walls covered with aged ivy and roses. It was truly beautiful. My sister and I were born here and had lived in this charming house all our lives. I was sixteen, my little sister Elodie only seven years old.

My father, Henry Addley, was an inventor —a maker of all sorts of gadgets for the wealthy class of Europe. My mother, Diane, was a connoisseur of the finer things in life. She loved to dress up in her dozens of beautiful gowns and expensive jewelry, which my father gladly bought for her. She also loved to host tea and cocktail parties in our spacious gardens at least once a month. This day was scheduled for one such event.

My sister and I were always adorned in our very best, paraded around my mother's friends and their sons like prized cattle. Today was no different, I thought, as I looked over the pale, mint green dress that Mother had picked out for me. It had a flouncy, tea-length lace overlay skirt, and small puffed sleeves tied with white ribbon and edged in white lace. The hem was also lined in lace and the back of the dress buttoned up with small pearls. Matching sea foam silk slippers with a pearl on each were also included, as well as ivory stockings tied with thin teal lacey ribbons at the tops.

This outfit must have cost quite a bit. Of course, my father would only buy the very best for 'his ladies,' as he called us. My mother, true to her nature, was quite willing to take advantage of that.

A knock sounded on my door and I called for the maids to enter. Some of our peers did not have maids, but Mother hated housework with a passion, and Father was wealthy enough to afford them. I was grateful for their presence growing up, as my mother rarely played with me and my father was frequently away on business. The maids had been my playmates, my nurses, my comfort —everything. They rushed in, greeted me amiably, then immediately went to work drawing me a bath and arranging my garments. They added white underclothes and petticoats, hanging everything up so it wouldn't wrinkle.

Today was an important day, so Mother would be enforcing every precaution to make sure my sister and I did nothing to jeopardize her precious reputation.

I was anxious to try the new dress on, so I hopped off the bed and stripped away my flowing white nightgown as I walked, laying it on the bench in my bathing room.

One of the benefits of having an inventor as a father was that our home was outfitted with all the latest inventions, including indoor plumbing. It could be temperamental at times, but thankfully this morning it was perfectly behaved!

I stepped into the warm, lilac blossom-scented bath with a sigh of bliss. My lady's maid Mathilde went to work on my long hair, lathering it with the sweet scent of roses before rinsing it out. After I had scrubbed and washed the soap off, she ushered me out of the tub, wrapping me in a big fluffy towel.

I was then led to the vanity strategically placed in front of the hearth, where the other maids had brought a fire to life as they did every morning to keep the chilly English air at bay. It was thoroughly appreciated. A primitive heating system had been installed recently, but the building was old, and my father didn't want to do anything more to it than necessary, so it didn't function all that well. Father would have tried some of his own experimental ideas on the house, but after he nearly burned down the sitting room, and one incident where he'd accidently caused all of the glass in the house to explode (just to name the more disastrous events), Mother banned him from experimenting anywhere outside his laboratory in the basement.

Mathilde brushed out my damp hair as she bragged to me of her latest grandchild, born just the previous morning. I smiled at her ongoing chatter, one of my favorite things about her, and my mother's least favorite thing. That was why Mathilde, despite her vast experience and talents, served me instead of my mother.

My sister Elodie had her own maid, who was actually more of a nanny, but none of us would tell her that. She fancied herself too old for such baby sitting!

After my hair was dried from the heat of the flames, I donned my undergarments and Mathilde helped me into the beautiful new frock. I held the dress to me, reveling in the feel of the soft silk as she did up the pearl buttons on my back.

"There you go Miss Pleasance!" Mathilde smiled as I did a twirl before the mirror.

"It is truly the most beautiful gown Mother has given me," I told her happily, admiring the ensemble. I also put on some gold-accented pearl earrings from my jewelry box, as well as the golden and silver heart-shaped locket from Father I almost always wore. It had been in our family for many generations, he had told me. I was gifted it on my tenth birthday.

Now, what to do with my hair?

"Mathilde, would you grab my sewing kit, please?" I asked my maid. She nodded and went over to fetch it. When she hustled back from the wooden chest at the foot of my bed, I took the kit and set it on the vanity. "I have an idea for my hair."

Opening the ebony box carved with my initials, 'P.M.A,' for Pleasance Mae Addley, I took out the roll of snow-white silk ribbon my father had brought back from one of his many business trips to London.

I snipped a length of it with my little scissors, and lifting my hair up, tied it around my head in a headband fashion with a neat bow to the side.

"Perfect!" I declared with a smile, "Thank you Mathilde." Turning to her, I saw she had tears in her eyes and she sniffled, dabbing at them with a hanky.

"Oh Mathilde, what is the matter?" I asked in concern.

She laughed lightly, blowing her nose into her handkerchief. "Oh nothing dear, nothing. You're just getting so grown up and beautiful!"

I smiled and hugged her tightly around her plump middle. "Thank you. I would not be who I am today if it were not for you."

Mathilde squeezed me tightly, before laughing again. "It's been my pleasure dear." She tucked her hanky back in the neck of her grey linen dress. "Well then, let's get you some breakfast before the guests arrive, hmm?"

I nodded in agreement, my stomach grumbling at the thought of our cook's pastries: her specialty. I picked up the latest novel I was reading and accompanied Mathilde out of my chambers and down the ornate wooden staircase to the dining hall.