I shivered, realizing that I’d fallen into an almost trance-like state, thinking about my sister. “I’m sorry. There’s just so much on my mind.”
“Can you forget about it? Just for tonight—for right now?”
“I think so.” I gave him a smile. “I’ll try my hardest.”
He stopped dancing. “Good. Because a lot of people want to see you, to know you.” He gestured to the surrounding dance floor.
My lips parted. All around us, the dancing had stopped, and fae were watching us, waiting. Smiles laced their faces, and a few of the females were clutching their hearts, in clear danger of swooning over Henri.
Isadora stood closest to us, a box in her hand.
“What’s all this?” I asked as sweat began to slick my palms.
“We want to thank you,” the brownie said. “For standing up for us, for freeing our memories and our will. And most of all, for bringing happiness back to Wonderland.”
She waved a hand around, indicating the entire room of smiling, celebrating fae. “None of this could’ve happened without you, Princess Alice.”
Suddenly, a pit formed in my stomach.
Was this an ambush? A ploy to get me to try to take the crown for reals? What was in the box?
“You really don’t have to—”
Isadora shook her head and placed a hand over mine. “We don’thaveto do anything. That we know. But this is what we desire. The subjects of Wonderland would like to present you with this.”
I took the box, trying to hide the shaking of my hands as I did so. Carefully, I opened the lid, and instead of the crown that I feared would be inside, a cuff-like bracelet glinted up at me within a bed of teal velvet.
The cuff was about three inches wide, large but also thin and delicate. The gold had been hammered, and etched on its surface was the design of a rose amidst a field of thorns.
“I didn’t go into the details of how I knew your family when we met, but I actually worked for your mother, long ago. She was my queen, and dare I say it, a friend. This bracelet was hers. One of the only items she wore religiously,” Isadora whispered. “Before she left to take on the Red Queen, she bid me to give it to you. So you would always know where you came from.”
A lump rose in my throat. I’d never had a family, let alone a family heirloom. In the span of two seconds, this bracelet had become the most precious object I’d ever seen.
With trembling fingers, I reached into the box and picked it up, placing it on my left wrist. It was a perfect fit, not too tight or too loose. After taking a second to admire it, I dragged my gaze back up to Isadora’s.
“Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“I hope that when you wear it, you’ll think of the Wonderland Court. Think of us. And your family, of course.”
“Of course . . .” My voice cracked. I was seconds from losing it completely.
Thankfully, Saint Henri cleared his throat. “Thank you to everyone for attending the celebration this evening. The princess, and all who stood with her before and during the Trial by Aether, appreciate it very much.”
Politely, people began to clap, and Henri waited until they finished before he continued.
“Enjoy yourself. Eat your fill, drink, and be merry. If you wish to attend the trial of Sela White, join us tomorrow at noon.”
Murmuring flew from the attendees. I could tell that even if people had already made plans, they were going to drop them. No one wanted to miss the trial of the Red Queen, and I honestly couldn’t say that I blamed them.
“But until then, let us continue to revel in a new era of the Wonderland Court,” Henri said.
Someone offered him a goblet, and he took it and held it to the sky. “To Princess Alice.”
“To Princess Alice,” the crowd echoed, and my stomach wound into tighter knots.
Chapter 35
The courtroom was simply Heartfire Hall, already renamed ‘the Grand Hall,’ repurposed. Sort of.
