Villainess Of Hearts

Worry and fret had begun to sink in for her, the Queen didn't think that she would grow paranoid of Julius Ginellevé's lack of presence but she had. Even with the Joker right in front of her, she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, "Have you by any chance done something to my Knight?"

"Oh my, what are these accusations for?" he laughed. "Surely you know that I wouldn't lay a hand on him, it would hurt to lose a hand—it could be reversed, but the memory would still hurt. And yet, it is indeed odd to not have your little Prince around?"

The Queen of Hearts was not amused, not in the slightest.

"Cheer up, it's inevitable that a man would desire to spend time away from you, in that, everybody needs their space. Surely you understand this well?"

Somehow, he managed to see right through her at times. Or maybe it had always been this way—perhaps it was something borne out of one's age. And yet even then, she had to speak or nobody else would do it. Rosalyn Lockhart frowned, "Then refrain from bringing up childhood make-believe games, I was a child before but now you don't have to make me remember about such things like pretending to be a princess and having a knight-errant prince to save me, that's a little too much."

It only made her recall such childish dreams…

What if the man was right that she had always desired to be the Queen when she was a child? It only made the strain between her and her family have more sense in it, and she wished it didn't. Her position was borne out of necessity, that was all.

"—but the two of you were adorable back then," the Joker sipped his tea. A longing sigh escaped his lips as he put his cup down. "I think it was one of the only times that he didn't dislike my presence, I do wind up far interesting tales for the two of you. Remember the Jabberwocky? You tamed it when he wanted to kill it."

The Queen fought the urge to cough, the little memories were distracting. And yet she had to put her foot down, "Interesting tales that might get your tongue cut off, it's blasphemous to utter such things and claim to be someone you're not like a prince or princess. It's treason."

"I could have declared myself emperor and gotten away with it."

"I do wonder if you're a person who's far wiser than all of us or if you're simply a child given this much authority." Rosalyn Lockhart rubbed her face with a hand. It was easier to not restrain herself from moving as she wished especially at a time like this. 

Even if it was ill-mannered. 

"You should know that maintaining a cheerful disposition is the way to win your position."

"What?" she frowned at him.

He coughed and waved a hand, "Oh, nothing. It's wrong, because it might have worked for the King but it did not for you. Well, it might have worked for Lady Catherine while she was trying to be Queen. Imagine the King of Hearts and her as the Queen, I wonder what kind of horrors would happen." he chuckled and looked around, "Is she still around by any chance?"

"You clearly talk a lot," Rosalyn Lockhart huffed, "I don't even know what to respond to, but no—you should know that she's not here anymore." And once she had left, it was also around the same time that she no longer saw Chesire either.

Perhaps the cat was more attached to the Lady than her?

The Queen of Hearts felt one of her eyes twitch. Surely the two of them had shared more fond moments? Was the reason for Lord Warth Duke's desire to capture the cat was to skin him alive or something because he stuck too close to Lady Catherine? 

"Well… do you not feel a twinge of jealousy at all?" he grinned. "How sunny the kingdom of Hearts would be to have the two of them."

Chesire had played with her in her room, surely the two hadn't gone that far— "I think I'd do far better than her."

The Joker blinked, "Really? I did not think that you and the King would improve your relationship overnight—I should say something more hurtful."

She stared at him for a good minute, "When exactly are you leaving?"

. . .

Nicholas Hatter was… what was the right word to exactly portray what he was feeling? Feelings? It was almost ridiculous enough to admit it, and yet he wouldn't exactly scorn himself for it. Before he struck the hammer and finished adorning the fine leather to the hat—he envisioned a bottle.

The liquid sparkling and shimmering.

Drink me!

Drink me! It said!

And he had refused it and watched the bottle crash and shatter on the ground. Its contents emptied itself in that spot on his wooden floor and never actually went away. If he closed his eyes and imagined it, he could still smell the faint aroma of the potion. A potion that was meant for him.

The Hatter could see the outline of someone wearing a cloak, the red one. It was eye catching and yet she had worn it with a secret smile as if nobody would look at her while she had been here. It was a little foolish to think that way, and yet it also managed to make him smile.

Nicholas Hatter sighed and tried to resume with his hat working.

And yet it wasn't working at all.

Friends. Friends were supposed to trust one another and rely on each other, they all had one another's back. It was for that reason that Mallory and Harold would sneak into the Castle of Hearts, bypass the guards, enter the Queen's personal chambers and threaten the White Knight with a butterknife.

Harold had recounted it all proudly and garnered some laughs and even mild horror from him.

The two had gone through lengths to save him and he would do the same. It was important that he did it and even without any prompting—he would. And yet that made the case with the Queen of Hearts a special thing. She was a Queen and he… he was a humble hatmaker.

An extraordinary man with numerous talents—but still just a commoner.

Plus Harold had reminded him of all the things that the Queen had done, all of the atrocity both in the present and of years prior. He knew them of course, he knew them by heart. It was a talk among the common people. The King with a heart of gold and the Queen who'd behead. 

Now the talk wasn't as pronounced here than in other villages, towns and cities in the kingdom, but a reputation was a reputation. He had almost lost his head before and the King of Hearts hadn't exactly come to his aid at that either for whatsoever reason.

And so rumors were rumors.

Perhaps some grain of truth was in it. He noticed how the servants and soldiers cowered away during his time there when he interacted with the Queen—and there had been assassins who were sent after her. Surely there was a good reason for assassins to come in the first place.

Or maybe there wasn't?

"Hah, I don't think now's the best time to discuss politics with my friend Hattie." he turned to the hat displayed on the shelf. The trusted old top hat he placed in the dusty part of the shelf to keep people from buying it, his very first creation. A fine hat that didn't exactly wanted to be worn. He raised a brow, "What? That's scandalous." 

Hatter shook his head. 

"No, I can't give you away to the Queen—don't take it personally, she only wears crowns." Nicholas raised his hammer and stared at his hands and the wooden handle. A fine man's craftsmanship evident through the dust and calluses in them. And yet he even grabbed her hand with his.

A loud hacking escaped his chest and he put his hammer down.

"Perhaps a fascinator? I suppose it is possible—you're right, she doesn't always wear her crown. Surely she takes it off when she's asleep or when she takes a bath…" his own mind took a sudden turn in a new direction. His face heated up and a rich red hue took over his skin.

He needed to change his thoughts—

"She probably looks amazing." he needed to be honest. Attraction was a common thing. If he tried to ignore the heat that he felt then it would simply burn and consume him more than what was necessary.

And he already had a lot of things running in his mind!

Yes, there was no room for denial and anything of that ridiculous nonsense. Beauty was beauty. There was no doubt about it, but more than that, some sort of affinity to her… he could feel it.

Or maybe he was simply imagining all of this?

It was once again a natural trick of his mind. He had hurt her before when he refused to drink the potion and she had numbly accepted it. Well, before the King of Hearts had arrived.

Did His Majesty ruin things?

Or perhaps the King of Hearts escalated it to something else instead of him being the subject of the Queen's attention? Perhaps the King's arrival was a blessing in disguise, he wouldn't know what to say if he returned the bottle. Perhaps the Knight would have come for his head for refusing her gift?

Nicholas Hatter didn't want to think of himself as a friend if he were to gauge himself at the same standards that he did for Mallory and Harold. He would drink and eat anything they served him, be it rotten cheese or weird carrots from Harold's sole garden patch. 

And yet he didn't do the same for her.

He felt immensely bad.

But most importantly, he had the desire to see her again. And yet Nicholas had already learned his lesson before when he got thrown in jail—he wouldn't exactly sneak to see her…. What about a present though? Seek for an audience?

Would she accept him—er, it? Would the Queen of Hearts accept his gift?