Villainess Of Hearts

The Castle of Hearts may have been smaller when compared to other Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Diamonds being quite vocal about such thinge but it had its secrets of its own that only the select would know—somehow, Sir Julius Ginellevé was one of them, although the story behind that was for another day. Within the castle walls, numerous hidden hallways were prevalent for someone to travel across the place without the need for any eyes to be laid upon you; he had taken advantage of it on some occasions. 

Once the Hatter had been fully delivered to the Queen of Hearts, he had pushed the man easily through the walls—phasing through like a phantom, the Knight simply stayed at the same position and within earshot. One could hear what lay beyond the walls but they would be unaware of his presence, it was a good use to measure whoever actually served the King and the Queen and who were the ones who deserved to be punished.

And so the Queen of Hearts invited them to her drawing room.

He was somewhat relieved that the Hatter didn't have any need for lecture, but his fingers twitched above the hilt of his blade—if they had in any way shamed Rosalyn Lockhart through his action or words, he was willing to show them how bad of an idea that would be. The price to pay was measured with blood.

The sound of shuffling footsteps sounded and he began to navigate around the secret passageway as well. A few thoughts came to mind, would it be better for him to follow his Queen or to pry on someone else? It was a little annoying that she wasn't in her study, he had dropped there first but she was missing.

It was actually by chance that they stumbled on the Queen, though he hadn't told the Hatter at that time.  And yet he understood that such activity of entertaining the other Royalty also took precedence, he had been the one to kindly remind her of the need for such diplomacy every now and then, it seemed to be paying off at last, but another thought came to his mind. He didn't bother hating his distaste, "I don't exactly fancy on eavesdropping on the Kings." He had much more preferable activities than spying on Alexander Hartsmichdt and his antics.

Alas, any information could prove crucial to Her Majesty, the Queen.

It was a conundrum that plagued the Knight for the moment, he wished to be at her side and also keep watch if the Hatter performed any suspicious activities—and yet information was tantamount to gold if given to the right hands.

Sir Julius Ginellevé then made his choice.

. . .

Nicholas Hatter wondered what mess he had gotten himself into. Dealing with one Queen was rather eccentric and even somewhat thrilling when you counted escaping from the men yesterday, but dealing with a total of four Queens was simply madness—and he wasn't that mad to desire such a thing. All four of them could order his head off and the guards would be ill-pressed to figure out whom to present his head for.

Alas, this was also the opportunity to keep himself aware of the happenings within the Kingdoms and Her Majesty had promised that she would pay her dues to him; and though he wasn't exactly seeking any reward, he was still curious.

Perchance this was a chance for him to showcase his talents? 

No, that wasn't the case—he watched the Queen of Hearts stroll down the corridors waited by no servants at all as she led the Queen and him towards her drawing room. This had been a spur of the moment decision and he simply went along with it lest she asked for his head and decided better a choice it would be. But she wasn't exactly what he had expected beneath the surface of an ill-tempered woman, he expected someone to order people around and behead them whenever she pleased. 

Except right now she was the one who was doing the act of entertainment and without even a servant or a lady to assist them.

He wondered what kind of performance he could provide to them.

"And we're finally here." 

The least he could do as a gentleman was hold the door open for her and the rest of the Queens.

Although it may seem like he was locking himself into a den filled with a pack of hungry wolves.

. . .

It was the man himself who opened the door for them and revealed a room with wine red wallpaper, pale white chairs to lounge in and a polished centre table. They were in the drawing room at last. There was an ornate mirror, another console table on the side, and standing beside it was a proud grandfather clock. In another area of the room was a large, empty fireplace, before which stood a wrought-iron screen with curling vines and clusters of red roses.

The drawing room was a lot smaller than Rosalyn Lockhart's personal study place but nobody else would have known that except her. She couldn't remember stepping in here at all but the furniture and decoration were up to her standards, somebody else must have taken care of it. But those were simply minutiae details than the person that they would all pay attention to—she didn't have any glimmer of a memory if the man actually sung well, but if he had been summoned to sing previously then there should at least be some skill with the Hatter.

Rosalyn Lockhart made her way to one of the chairs and plopped down, she had already done what was asked of her. 'Lead us to the drawing room' and she did it, it didn't seem like the other Queens needed to be told to sit down—they could stay standing if they desired it.

"Mister Nicholas Hatter, thank you for coming up on a prompt notice." She hadn't exactly been expecting them to arrive and be discovered by the Queens, her gaze fell on the man, a silent urge to play along.

He placed a hand on his chest and bowed, "It is an honour to perform in front of Her Majesties and showcase the talent of the Heart Kingdom."

And so she waited.

Already the other Queens had also taken their seats, the very first had been, Her Majesty, Neo Anasthasia, plopping down right beside her. She paid no heed to it, she'd concern themselves about her for another moment and simply propped a hand underneath her chin, rested her elbow on the armrest and gazed at the man.. This was the time for them to show that having 'friends' was a worthwhile pursuit.