Chapter-43
Chapter: The Hollow Queen
The castle looms before us, its once-grand spires now twisted and wrong, as though the very stone itself has been warped by the weight of its ruler's despair. The sky above churns in unnatural hues, deep reds and purples swirling together like bruised flesh.
The Mad Hatter, for once, is silent.
The rabbit, however, is tense, ears twitching, nose wrinkled in apprehension. "She is not as she once was," it whispers, its voice tight with something close to grief. "The Shadow… it twisted her, too."
I nod, sensing the heavy presence in the air. The Shadow's corruption lingers here, thick and oppressive, coiling through the corridors of the castle like an unseen mist. It is not alive, but it is watching.
The throne room is empty. No courtiers. No guards. Only silence.
And the Queen of Hearts—a hollow figure upon a decayed throne.
She does not move as we enter.
She does not acknowledge us.
---
A Queen Unmade
Her dress, once the brilliant crimson of fresh roses and spilt blood, is now dull—faded into something almost black, the color of old bruises and dying embers.
Her crown is askew, a tarnished remnant of authority that no longer holds weight.
Her eyes, vacant, stare into nothing.
The Mad Hatter, shifting uneasily beside me, clears his throat. "Er—your Majesty? You, ah—you do remember me, yes? Lovely hat, rather difficult to forget, terribly charming—"
No response.
Not even a flicker.
"Oh dear."
The rabbit lowers its head, ears flattening.
"She has been like this for some time," it murmurs. "She does not speak. She barely moves. She was once… terrifying. Now, she is nothing."
The weight of corruption presses against me, thick and cloying, but… something is off.
This is not possession.
This is absence.
The Queen of Hearts is empty.
---
Breaking the Silence
I take a slow step forward.
"Queen of Hearts."
No response.
"You know who I am."
Still nothing.
The Mad Hatter fidgets. "Perhaps she needs a gentler touch—your Majesty, I must say, love what you've done with the place, very… gothic ruin meets looming dread, terribly fashionable—"
Nothing.
I exhale slowly, considering.
And then, deliberately, I step into her line of sight.
She does not react at first.
Then—
A flicker.
A barely perceptible twitch of her fingers. A slow, almost imperceptible shift in her hollow gaze.
The Mad Hatter stops breathing.
The rabbit stiffens.
I hold my ground.
"Tell me," I say, my voice low, even. "Is this the future you envisioned?"
---
The Echo of a Throne
The Queen's lips part, but no words come.
The air trembles.
The walls seem to breathe.
And then—faint, broken, like something long-buried struggling to claw its way to the surface—
"…future?"
The Mad Hatter grips my sleeve.
"Oh, that was new!" he whispers. "That was very new! Should we be concerned?"
The rabbit doesn't answer.
Neither do I.
Because I am watching her.
Watching the flickers of something returning.
She is not gone.
Not yet.
But something stole her.
And I intend to take it back.
---
A Queen, Reclaimed
I step closer.
The Shadow's corruption has wrapped itself around her, but I can see it now—not fully merged, not fully consumed. It is not a part of her. It is a parasite, leeching from a throne that no longer commands but merely exists.
"You are the Queen of Hearts."
A pulse runs through the room.
The rabbit flinches.
The Mad Hatter steps back.
The Queen's fingers twitch again.
"You are the Queen of Wonderland."
Her vacant stare shifts—slightly.
I lean in, lowering my voice—
"And you are not dead yet."
---
The Choice
For a long, long moment—nothing.
Then—
A sharp inhale.
The air implodes.
The shadows convulse.
And the Queen moves.
Her hand—shaking, weak—rises.
Her voice—cracked, barely more than a whisper—speaks.
"…Who…?"
And I smile.
"I am the one who will set you free."