𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

lemon yellow eyes stared curiously at the girl as she struggled to compose herself.

"cath, dear, are you all right?" jest asked in a concerned tone.

"jest... no... could it really be you?" catherine whispered, her face pale while trembling.

"the one and only," jest answered with a cheeky grin while taking off his jester hat with a bow, locks of silky raven hair falling over his eyes. putting his hat back on, he held out a hand to catherine.

"take my hand," he said with an intense look.

catherine didn't want to do that. she wanted to break down in the obnoxiously bright white rose field surrounding them and bawl her eyes out. she wanted to jump into his arms and squeeze the breath out of him. she wanted to slap him, scream at him, behead him. for loving her, leaving her, and becoming the source of her pain.

instead, catherine lifted a shaky hand.

once cath's hand settled into jest's palm, his grip became tight. very tight.

darkness spilled into the once clear blue sky above them. scarlet rain poured around them, splattering all over the roses. upon further inspection, catherine had realized it was blood.

with a gulp, catherine pushed back the strands of dark hair that stuck to her forehead matted with sweat, and faced the love of her life.

blood, inky black blood, secreted from every pore of his body. a whole fountain of it flowed from his neck.

"you did this!" jest laughed maniacally, as his his head slowly slipped of his neck.

"it's all your fault!"

"it's all your fault!"

"it's all your fault!"

his head thumped to the ground.

catherine screamed.

***

the queen bolted up from her bed with a shriek. the red satin pillows were drenched in either perspiration or tears, or both. clutching the velvety black sheets, she wiped the sweat off from her face. the terror that had followed her from her dreams faded within seconds, most likely due to her lack of a heart.

the queen's commotion had awoken raven, who was perched on a branch outside of her window. he gazed at the queen intently.

"it seems the terrors of the night have once again awoken you with a fright," raven spoke into the darkness.

"none of your business, bird," the queen spat, not wanting to admit that someone heartless like herself still had a heart in her dreams.

"ah, forgive my crudeness, a beheading this early would most definitely not display your shrewdness," raven teased.

the queen casted a side glare towards the former rook's form as she climbed out of bed, cursing about how lucky he was that she still wanted to keep him around. carrying on, the queen called for her maids and got on with her day

***

during breakfast, the queen didn't fail to take notice of how the pancakes were too crispy and the tarts were under baked, and she definitely didn't take kindly to it. in fact, some heads were at stake.

once the queen eventually calmed, she searched for a nearby servant. her eyes settled on a jovial squirrel chatting it up with a card.

"you! the squirrel! come here and inform me of my schedule," the queen ordered. the squirrel froze and began quivering, their gaze flitting around the hall.

"well what are you waiting for?! or else, off with your head!" the queen shouted impatiently

swiftly, the card that the squirrel was previously conversing with whispered to them and handed them a clipboard. the squirrel hurried their way towards her majesty.

the squirrel cleared their throat and, with a slight tremble in their voice, began reading off the board, "yo-your majesty, after breakfast you are scheduled for court rulings f-from 11 a.m til 3 p.m with 15 minute break between each hour, and then—"

"oh, push that back for a few hours to make room for some croquet, it been too long since i've last played," the queen interrupted.

"right, husband?" the queen asked turning to face the king with a smile so phony it made those surrounding her cringe. but, nevertheless, a smile was a smile to the clueless king.

"of course my sweet, whatever pleases you!" the king gushed.

"ye-yes, of course your majesties," the squirrel sputtered.

"well then, you are dismissed," the queen said with a lazy wave of her hand. the squirrel scurried back to the card, who gave them a pat on the back and took the clipboard from them.

***

before going out, the royal family was required to go through a procession. it was the queen's idea, she thought it would further establish her power and authority by standing out more, now that decision was biting her in the back. her hands were itching to just get it over with and wrap around a flamingo to release her stress from the night before. but, she bore with it since she didn't wish to go through the humiliation of going back on her own word, that definitely wouldn't be a queenly thing to do.

during the procession, the queen spotted a young blonde who wasn't bowing. the sight made her blood boil, who did she think she was not showing respect for the queen of hearts?! everyone else seemed to take notice as well.

"who is this?" the queen asked the knave of hearts in a harsh tone. when he didn't give a straight reply, she turned back to the girl with a scowl and asked, "what's your name, girl?"

"my name is alice, your majesty," alice answered in a mannerly way. one look into her electric blue eyes and the queen could tell she had not a single ounce of fear in her, which was struck her.

when the queen noticed the stray cards on the ground near the rose bush she questioned, "who are these?"

"why would i know?" alice replied confidently, "it's none of my business."

face burning red, the queen glowered, really who did this girl think she was?!

"off with her head! off with her hea—" the queen began yelling.

"absurd!" alice exclaimed

"she's only a child, my dear!" the king pointed out while holding the queen's arm in a concerned manner.

the queen ignored him and angrily pulled away to the cards on the ground.

"rise!" she barked. the cards immediately shot up.

looking at the rose bush they surrounded she inquired, "what were you doing here?"

"we-well, you see your majesty we wer—" a card began to reply with a fearful voice.

the queen examined the roses. they were white, dripping with red paint. a very familiar which brought extremely unpleasant memories.

"you did this! it's all your fault"

"what luck i have," the queen muttered under her breath. "off with their heads!" the queen announced as she stomped off to continue her procession without a single glance back.

"fetch me a handkerchief," the queen demanded, "i need to wipe off this paint on my hands."