That’s quite a declaration.
I raise a brow at Gwyneth as we continue down the sunlit path shadowed by the petals. “You did a little reading around Wonderland?”
She squints as she holds her thumb and index finger close together. “What I know of this land is a smidgen of the knowledge it holds. But I have a lifetime to learn.”
“Can you summarise it?” Nash asks from up ahead, where he and Hart are taking the lead. Behind them is Charming, flanked by my giant capons, while Theo and Malachi take up the rear, grumbling quietly to each other. Something about keeping control of his dragon.
Gwyneth tilts her head to the sun and smiles. “Wonderland is unlike any place you’ve been, yet exactly as you’ve imagined in your wildest dreams. It’s pure chaos—where rules bend, wonders abound, and the impossible is simply another adventure waiting to unfold.”
Nash glances over his shoulder. “This sounds like Daphne’s world.”
I smile as Sir Sweeps-A-Lot zooms ahead and dusts any stray leaves and petals from the path. “See, my chaos has a place. Conquering the norm is so last annus.”
“Perhaps you should start with the norm, Calamity,” Hart adds. “Before venturing into the unknown.”
I wave him away. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
A bright yellow flower bends down so low, its large bell-shaped head kisses my hair. I pause and turn to smell the beautiful thing, which makes my nose twitch. “You are beautiful, but your scent is a little heady,” I decide.
The bloom stretches farther, and pain explodes across my nose. I yelp and jump back, stumbling into another flower.
“Watch it, clumsy,” the delicate pink flower snaps.
I cup my nose and pull my hand away, finding a little blood. “You bit me,” I accuse, pointing at the yellow flower.
It turns, and I startle at the smirking face that appears inside its petals. “You insulted me.”
Our gang falls back to form a group, and I park my hands on my hips. “How?”
“You said I stink.” The flower turns its head up, like it’s snubbing me.
“That doesn’t call for violence,” I point out. “And I only meant your fragrance was a little heavy for my tastes.”
“She insults us once more,” the pink one snaps.
There’s a muttering of discontent around the overgrown meadow of flowers. I take a step back, and Malachi draws his sword.
“Stay back,” Nash warns.
“Or what?” another flower sneers.
Wow, they are snooty. Who knew? “I always imagined flowers would be kind beings,” I grumble.
“The fact you imagined what the personality of a flower would be like says everything about you,” Charming drawls.
I arch a brow. “At least I have a personality. Your entire world centers around a shoe.”
“How about we all just calm down, and we’ll be on our way,” Gwyneth reasons.
“We are calm. It is you that drew your weapons,” the yellow one states.
“You drew first blood,” Nash reminds them about my stinging nose.
“Only the worthy shall pass,” another flower declares.
I roll my eyes. “Again with the worthiness? Have we not evolved at all? Worthiness isn’t something one person can determine. It isn’t in an act of fitting into a shoe or rescuing a damsel. Worthiness has to start from here,” I say as I tap my fist against my heart.
“That’s not how worthiness is decreed,” another flower shrieks. I wince as their voice grates on my nerves.
