“You’re her princess. She loves you and believes in you.” He paused, as if deciding if he should continue, before adding, “When you were consoling her, you reminded me a lot of your mother. You have the comforting touch of the White line.”
I shook my head. There was no way that was true. Me? An assassin by trade? I’d never known what to say to those in pain, just like I’d barely been able to say anything to Isadora. It felt so wrong when I tried. Fake and flat. I carried too much guilt around to be able to effectively comfort people.
And even if I had helped Isadora a little, I wouldn’t settle for that.
“It’s not enough.” I lifted my face so that our eyes locked.
“Of course it’s not,” Hatter whispered. “But right now, giving her support and the space to grieve is the best we can do. I don’t feel safe letting her go home. If the soldiers keep swarming the streets, they might be looking for Isadora because of her relation to Circe. In fact, it’s probably smart if all of us lay low for a few days.”
My heart raced.A few days? Oh, hell no.
I pushed past him to throw open the front door.“Look at this, Henri.”
He didn’t need to join me to see what I was talking about. Fae lined the run-down streets, all of them huddled close together, gossiping. Fear sparked in some of their eyes, confirming that the spontaneous, swift public execution wasn’t a normal occurrence. What we’d done had sparked something that wouldn’t be put out soon.
“This chaos, this fear, it isn’t going to end in a few days,” I said, as sure of that as I was of anything. “The Red Queen knows something is up. And she’s paranoid, so she’ll act out.”
I thought back to the sensation I’d felt during the attack and execution—the sense that someone was watching me. I moved on, recalling the battalions in the woods, and finally, the fae I’d left injured on the floor at the Oyster House. Any of them could have told the queen about me. Or perhaps someone sighted me before I learned to hide my hair. It had been uncovered for hours before we reached Henri’s father’s house and a couple of times since then too.
I drew in a long breath. “Maybe she even knows I’m in the city.”
“All the more reason to be careful.”
“No. I’m done with the original plan.” My spine straightened. “I’m not targeting others to get to the queen. Hurting those creatures was one of the worst things I’ve ever done—and I’ve done some shitty things.” I glanced out the door again, watching the fae pass by, whispering of the beheadings. “And in the end, it didn’t even matter. March and Circe are dead, and I’m partially to blame. The queen hasn’t emerged from her castle, and probably doesn’t plan to. I can’t simplywaitfor her to come to me any longer. I have to make the first move.”My tone hardened as I spoke, just like my resolve.
“Alice . . . What are you saying?”
My gaze turned on Hatter. “I want to infiltrate the castle. Soon.”
“You’ve got to be joking.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“I’ll admit my plan didn’t pan out like I wanted it to, but you’ve seen how well guarded Heart Castle is. We can’t go yet. We haven’t even begun planning for a mission of that complexity.”
“So what? You planned the bandersnatch attack for days, and look how that ended!” I thrust my finger toward the street, as if he could forget that he’d watched his friends die.
He gripped the sides of his head, looking as if he was about to rip his hair out. “That was unprecedented! I’ve never seen the queen act that way before. Her retribution is never so swift. Usually she throws people in cells and starves them for months before an execution. That wasinsane—even for her.”
“I think we’re seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
We fought for hours, rounding on each other and going over the same points again and again. Eventually, others came to check on us, and got involved. Half wanted to act with me, the other half believed we should follow Henri’s cautious plan.
But I wasn’t having it, and in the end, I prevailed through sheer stubbornness. No matter how hard Henri argued, or how many excellent points he made, I didn’t give a damn. I refused to let any more innocents die. If no one wanted to join me, I’d go it alone.
“When do you want to make a move?” Henri asked once we’d gathered everyone in the great room to discuss methods of infiltration.
“Tomorrow.”
He groaned.
“Ohh, I don’t know if that’s brilliant, or a terrible choice, Alice,” Dee said.
My eyebrows pulled together. “Why do you say that?”
“Tomorrow is the queen’s unbirthday party,” she replied.
I held up a finger. “I’m sorry,unbirthday?”
