“What exactly happened?” I asked, curious as to what their stories were, especially Malcolm. He was nice enough, that I could tell, but in his eyes it is apparent that there used to be some kind of darkness.
“Alice came, the original Alice, and she found him in those woods. She did or said something that persuaded him to come out of the forest and help her fight the Queen. None of us could believe it, really, that boy never ever listened to anyone. He was much like Chase in that he would only joke with people, but on a much larger scale and was wanted for many, many crimes. But nevertheless, Alice spoke to him and he listened and with his help she was able to take down the Queen. All seemed to be restored for Malcolm.”
“But then Alice left and he changed again, this time he was darker and colder than ever before. Whatever happened to the happy joker was lost in the Dark Forest forever. He became violent and after a while, and a few more crimes, he went back into exile in the forest. But as the story went, Alice came back. She found out what happened and she went back for him, even though we all thought he was a lost cause. It took a while, but he finally came to and tried to talk the Red and White Kingdom into signing a peace treaty. It didn’t work and they ended up destroying each other.”
“Then Alice left him again. They were very close at this point but instead of going back into the forest, he stayed sane. So when the Kingdom of Dreams came, Melvin, who had served with him, recommended him to the King and Queen and he became their first general.”
“So there is a lot of dark secrets in Malcolm’s past?”
He nodded. “Yes, and there is a lot that none of us know. We don’t know what happened in the Dark Forest, what he was up to. You have to be very strong to survive as long as he did in that forest. But all in all, I haven’t seen him this happy in a very long time. He trusts you Alice, you should know that.”
I shook my head. “No, they all have their doubts about me.”
“I have a feeling after this morning they have more faith in you. You did well, especially with that katana.”
“Oh, thanks. It was really Chase that did well, he explained everything in a way that I could understand,” I turned to him. “Why does no one seem to trust Chase?”
He laughed. “No one really has trusted the Cheshire Cat in the stories. I guess it has to do with him not having any loyalties through the wars. He leads people in all different directions, coming and going as he pleases.”
“Why is he helping now? If he has no loyalties, I mean.”
“This war is different. This war affects everyone and everything. No one is their self anymore, becoming slaves to Morpheus. I guess Chase just couldn’t stand not being able to play tricks on anyone any longer.”
For some reason I couldn’t believe that was the only thing. Sure Chase liked playing tricks on people, but there had to be more to it than that. There was so much more to him, at least that’s what it seemed to me. “So that is why Malcolm doesn’t trust him? Because he has no loyalty?”
“I think, in the end, Malcolm trusts him to do what is right. They are the only ones left and Chase can help them get in and out of places. He’s the only one other than the White Rabbit who can travel to your world.”
“Malcolm was pretty mad at him this morning,” I said.
“Chase should have known better, but I know he was just trying to make you feel better. Malcolm will get over it. If he was truly mad, you would know.”
“What do you mean?”
Howard smiled. “Let’s just hope it won’t come to that. Now, you should get back in there and practice. And don’t mention this conversation to them, I don’t think they would appreciate me talking about their pasts to you.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to pry,” I began.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry, you should know who you are fighting with. That way you better understand what is going on.”
“What about you then? Why are you in the middle of all this?”
He laughed. “That’s a long story for another time. Now get going, they are waiting for you.”
I nodded then turned to head down the balcony stairs. Now I was getting even more curiouser and curiouser about it all, especially when it came to Malcolm and Chase.
CHAPTER 14
We worked on fighting skills for the rest of the day. The sun began to set in the distance and Malcolm decided to call it a day. Dinner wasn’t as extravagant as it had been the night before, but that was fine since I wanted to take a bath and clean up, as I hadn’t been able to for a while.
I was very surprised and thankful to find that the castle did indeed have plumbing. I drew myself a bath and was able to soak in the warm water for a good amount of time. I was pretty happy they had warm water as well. The castle was huge so I didn’t have to worry about anyone waiting for this bath since they could go somewhere else. It felt really good on my muscles, as they were sore from fighting all day.
What I enjoyed most about the day was being able to learn how
