Chapter 32: Securing The Hatter

Nicholas Hatter would have slammed the hammer against the blade and pushed it down. Simultaneously he would jump back and then once again make his way to exit—except he didn't really want to take his chances against an elite Royal Knight. It was far easier to escape the Queen of Hearts and so he considered the Knight's question and recalled Her Majesty's words, "She promised to pay her dues in good time… it's certainly not beheading, Sir Ginellevé?"

He wondered if his slight change in perception of the Queen would betray him.

Purple eyes flashed as the Knight's hold on their sword wavered slightly but they kept it tucked neatly underneath his chin, "Her Majesty requests your presence and it shall be done covertly. Follow my precautions or you will be punished severely."

His hands tightened slightly on his hammer's handle but in the end he dropped it and raised them up, "Be my guest, Sir Ginellevé. It shall be an honour to meet the Queen of Hearts once more, but does it have to be now because my hats—"

One look shut him up.

He barely managed to swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly—the prick of a sharp blade scraped against his throat but no blood was drawn. The Knight retrieved and returned the blade to its hilt and eyed the Hatter with disdain, "Close your shop for today and we'll leave for the castle at once."

And so the Mad Hatter's Shop was closed for that day.

His poor, poor customers were now left to wait and wonder where their favorite Hatter had gone to and where his whereabouts could possibly be. Sir Julius Ginellevé didn't lead him to the main road that led to the Castle of Heart's main gates, instead the two of them stuck to dark alleys until they reached the outskirts of the town.

The Kingdom of Hearts was a primarily forested area blessed with its spring-like climate that made for abundant flora and fauna across its lands. The Castle of Hearts and its adjoined town was one of the largest settlements but even they were minutiae to the landscape of forestry once you left the town's walls and went astray from the red road that connected the Kingdoms and their inhabitants.

And stray far from the red road did they go.

It was there that they began to navigate around the forest—thankfully it wasn't hard to keep up with the Knight but of course it was also probably due to them waiting for them. There were a lot of questions that lingered in Nicholas Hatter's mind as he tried to keep his new top hat on his head and follow after the Queen's Knight.

What kind of secrets did they hold?

How much did the Royalty hide if there was a path through the forest to arrive in the castle's curtain wall and a way to access from the outside?

Then again, everybody had their own failsafe so simple precautionary measures made sense. If the inhabitants of the Kingdom were to revolt or something of that note, the people within the castle could escape through this forest.

And somehow he was discovering it now due to the Knight bringing them here.

Well, he hoped that Sir Julius Ginellevé didn't mind as he committed the pathway to memory, a certain stone there, the weird bend of borough and such. Until finally they've reached the walls of the castle. Some castles were strategically placed inside a moat to block off invaders but somehow Castle of Hearts simply built a tall wall.

A very tall wall.

And yet it still tipped Nicholas Hatter off, there was no watchtower in the area they were going to and no battlements of sort—completely reliant that the mere height would deter intruders from assailing the castle.

Or perhaps whatever dwelled in the forest.

There were hushed and whispered rumors but Nicholas Hatter wasn't one for gossip despite his hobby of drinking tea with his friends. Sir Julius Ginellevé stopped in front of one of the walls and tapped on a specific area as he muttered to himself.

And the sound of rustling erupted for a brief moment until a hidden passageway appeared in front of them. The Hatter blinked but was quickly motioned forward by the Knight. "Follow me, it's rather dark and dusty so watch your steps."

"Of course, Sir Ginellevé." Nicholas Hatter answered with a smile. If there was anything he had to watch out for however, it would be the Knight themselves instead of any dark passage for them.

Who knew what could suddenly erupt under the darkness—

The Hatter reluctantly stepped inside the corridor and with one snap of the Knight's fingers, everything descended into the shadows.

It was already hard for the Hatter to tell time, but within the gloomy corridor, it simply made it harder than usual. He could hear the thud of the Knight's boots along with his own, no specific cadence but simply the sound of people navigating their way into a maze.

Now it proved a lot harder to take note of anything into his spatial memory.

It was far too pitch black for him to see.

And though he would have wanted to complain, he was far more afraid of seeing a silver glint of a sword than treading into the trenches of the abyss. Children were afraid of the dark but what was more fearful was what lingered in the light.

Some way or another, the Knight was able to maneuver and though it was very faint—a small glimmer of aura shimmered around the outlines of the man's figure.

It was said to have been exclusive to certain people.

"Magic," The Hatter whispered.

Sound of a sword being unsheathed rang in his ears, "What was that?"

"Tragic! I can't see a thing!" The Hatter adopted a high whiny tone, "I can't tell for how long we've been walking, are you sure we're not lost—"

It happened in a split second, the Knight had been in front of him and then they were pushing him forward towards the walls. Except he toppled past them and dropped towards a carpeted floor.

...a carpeted floor?

He looked up and blinked, "Your Majesty! Oh—" A certain Hatter found himself in the presence of not one Queen but four of them.