“'I suppose' is not a good answer for a queen,” he eased forward. “Queens should be certain in demeanor and speech. I'm certain that your uncertainty is a problem.”
“Fair enough.”
“What is your magic?”
“I'm not sure of that either. I may not have any.”
“Oh, you do,” he assured me. “I recall your birth vividly.”
“You're not the only one.” I shot a look over my shoulder at the kings.
“Yes, yes, the Card Kings were bound to you upon your birth,” the caterpillar said, “as it should be. As it has always been. But you do not seem to be bound to them. You are... attracted but not really interested. Curious but not determined. A princess, not quite a queen. You are in between.”
“The guys said that you might be able to help me find my magic,” I said.
“Find it?” Barney rose up higher and looked around the garden. “Has it run off?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Then why am I looking?” He dropped back down. “If it never left, then you must know where it is.”
“Actually, I don't,” I huffed. “I don't feel anything.”
“Ah, not feeling is different than not finding,” Barnabus declared. “You should have said so immediately.”
“Sorry?”
“Yes, you are,” he agreed. “But I will help you with that too. Take a piece of mushroom from the left of the cap. Beneath it, if you will.” He tapped his pipe toward the left side of his mushroom.
“All right,” I leaned over and pulled a chunk of pearly mushroom from the soft bit beneath the cap. “Now what?”
“Eat it, silly girl!” Barnabus huffed. “What else would you do with a mushroom?”
“Sit on it.” I looked pointedly at him.
“Humph, yes, well, only caterpillars do that.”
“This isn't psychedelic or anything, is it?” I narrowed my eyes on Barnabus.
“Eat the mushroom!”
“All right!” I shoved the mushroom into my mouth.
The flavor of forest and soil ran across my tongue as I chewed the spongy thing and then swallowed. I couldn't believe I was doing this; eating a damn magic mushroom inside a fairy ring in the middle of an English garden on top of a marble pyramid in the center of a make-believe world that I was a princess–potentially a queen–of. I felt like I was going to wake up at any moment.
And then I did.
The mushroom melted into magic, and that magic burst out into my body with a trembling effervescence that felt like bubbles under my skin. The world was suddenly clearer, brighter, and sharper, as was my mind. I was finally awake. I sucked in a deep breath and pulled in the power of my world with it.
My Wild Wonderland.
It had me then; inside and out. I could feel it racing through my blood, filling my bones and mind as it simultaneously flowed across my skin. I looked down at myself and watched the magic dance across my arms in sparking waves of gold. I began to glow, brighter and brighter until I had to close my eyes against the glare. Once my eyes were shut, I could see the magic inside me.
A deck of cards shuffled in my mind and then were cut into four. A king sat atop each pile, one for every kingdom in Wonderland, and they stared at me steadily. I knew what they wanted, what they needed, and as soon as I acknowledged it, I saw a golden shimmer flicker over the cards. The kings climbed out of their cards and came toward me, each of them encased in a golden aura... my aura. I was a part of them, had been since my birth, and I was the only woman who could unite them.
The truth settled inside me, and I accepted it. My life on Earth took on the dream-like qualities of a distant memory, and this life became more real. Wonderland had been wounded, and the strike had come from my mother. Queen Julia had paid the price, but I was the one who had to heal our world.
And I had been born with the power to do so.
