2.1 | Alice ✔

The White City

"Fascinating," King Alfred purred just as soon as Zain was finished with his story. Everyone had been hanging on the edge of their seats as he recited it like poetry. All except Ezra, who had that same look of graveness as the first time he'd told it. He nodded in agreement as he finished off the last delicious tart on his plate and dabbed his lips with the napkin in his collar. "And you're absolutely certain this was a white feline?"
                   
"Yes," he and Saber answered simultaneously. The king and queen exchanged a look, before directing their gazes to Ezra, who visibly shrunk in her seat. 
                   
"Ezra?" Queen Meredith called in a dangerously quiet tone. "Your suspicions?"
                   
"I . . . I mustn't say, my Queen," she stammered, tears welling to her eyes as her face flushed with color. "They're totally unfounded, and they don't make any sense-"
                   
"Ezra," the king goaded darkly.
                   
"I suspect Cheshire!" she sobbed out frantically. "He's the only possible culprit, but we all took an oath, and I trust he's kept to it! Besides, none of us could have possibly known there was another portal!"
                   
"Summon him immediately," the queen commanded callously. "For the sake of my people, I won't tolerate such blatant insubordination. His practical jokes have gone too far." Her gentle countenance slipped, and for a moment, there was a frightening flash of fury that was rivaled to none Zain had ever before witnessed. It was truly terrifying. "He's not only jeopardized our safety, but he's involved innocent outsiders . . ."
                   
"Please, my Queen," Ezra pleaded quietly. "I'm not certain that it's him. In fact, I don't think it's him at all-"
                   
"You did, but now you don't? Preposterous. There's no place for doubt and uncertainty here," the king growled. "He fits the description, and this certainly reeks of his MO. Bring him here at once. If he cannot plead his own case, then justice will be served, cold and swift." He stood from his seat, and Ezra hopped from hers, nearly toppling the chair. "Besides that, he needs to be interrogated. We must find out where he encountered that gateway, send these two back, and destroy it."
                   
"B-but what if he's innocent, my King?" Ezra squeaked. "What will we do then?" A dark veil settled over his face, and Zain couldn't decide which of the two royals were scariest when angry. The question evidently didn't sit well with him, especially since he didn't have a proper answer for it.
                   
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," he reasoned, turning his attention to Zain and Saber. "Until we do, the two of you are not to leave Ezra's sight under any circumstance. The outskirts of the Kingdom are expressly forbidden. That goes for all inhabitants of The White Kingdom." He quickly turned his head to Ezra, and she snapped up into a perfect salute. "Bring Cheshire here. Do it posthaste. I need you to take these two into the city and purchase them proper attire. They don't need to draw any more attention than they already have."
                   
"Y-yessir!" she said, turning on her heel and literally sprinting quick as a rabbit. The king then turned to the two of them, and they huddled together like children waiting for punishment. At the sight of it, the severe expression left the king's face, and he smiled down on them cheerily.
                   
"In the meantime, I'll give the two of you the grand tour of the palace!"

☆

Ezra returned to the castle with frighteningly accurate timing, just at the end of the tour. There was a mysterious man with her, and he didn't look too happy about this summons.

He had violet colored hair that was short in the back and came down to two long ponytails in the front. His eyes were an hypnotic mix of gold and green, and he had large, fluffy white ears and a bushy tail to match. His bottom half was like the hind legs of a feline, and were clad in form fitting black tights with the sides cut out. He wore a fuchsia midriff top with long, flowing sleeves. Only the fingers of his hands showed, and his claws were intimidatingly sharp. Despite his boldly effeminate style of dress, no alarms rang in Zain's head. But the fantasies played . . .
                   
"Zephyr," the king greeted him, rather coldly.
                   
"Alfred," he spat in the same regard. Ezra whirled on him to pin him with a warning glare, but she was far too short for him to continue regarding her presence. Besides, the king actually seemed amused with the man's insolence. 
                   
"Here you are," he said to Ezra, not removing his eyes from Zephyr as he dug into his breast pocket and retrieved a sack of gold, tossing it to the adviser. "Take our honored guests on a shopping spree. Don't come back until you've shown them the whole city." It was then that Zephyr glanced over, not initially sensing their presence. His eyes locked with Zain's a moment, and within that tiny vacuum, Zain experienced a plethora of emotions. Not a single one was of familiarity. 
                   
He's not the cat. 
                   
The man broke his gaze, not perceiving the epiphany playing in Zain's mind, and followed the king to where he beckoned. He's not the cat. That's the thought that played in his mind as he watched the two men disappear into the bowels of the fortress. It's the thought that kept playing as he and Saber followed Ezra off to the stables to fetch some horses to take them into the city. It's what screamed in his mind over and over as they settled on the horses and rode further and further away from the stronghold until it was completely out of sight.