“It’s not a nickname.” Chopin waved his hand in the air. “Ever heard of Frédéric Chopin, the French composer?”
“He was Polish.” Tom felt the need to correct him.
“Whatever,” Chopin tensed, his knuckles whitening around the knife. “His father was a cook like me. A cook who liked to chop. Chopin, you get it?”
“I got it the first time.” Tom challenged him.
“So, you want to know who the Fourteen really are or what?” Chopin said.
“I do.” Tom nodded.
“Then follow me downstairs in Oxford’s most underestimated kitchen.” Chopin inclined his stiff head in an unusual way, as if about to tell Tom a secret. “You know I’ve been secretly feeding Oxford’s student’s cats instead of fish for the past five years?”
“Blimey.” Tom said.
“Not any cats. Cheshire cats.”
Tom swallowed hard, trying to remember if he’d eaten in the university.
“Why do you think Oxford’s students are the smartest all over the world. ‘Cheshire meat is all you neet.’”
“You mean ‘need’.”
“Of course I meant ‘need’. Had to change it, so it rhymes.” Chopin’s face went red. “Now follow me down the rabbit hole.” He snickered, then itched his back with the kitchen knife.
Tom went to follow him, reluctantly, but first he had to wake up Inspector Dormouse from another sudden nap.
Chapter 59
Chess City, Kalmykia
I am astonished, staring at the three Wonderlanders behind the glass, among others I have never met. My attempts to break through the glass proves futile, so I stop, sensing that I will need my energy soon.
“You didn’t expect that, did you?” The Chessmaster’s voice attacks me from a hidden microphone inside the glass box.
“I’m confused why you didn’t kill them.” I say.
“Because Lewis’ magic that connected them to their pieces didn’t only allow me to kill them right away, but it gave me a chance to play with them the way I want.”
It suddenly strikes me that all I had to do was throw the chess pieces away — or maybe return them back in place — in order to save them. By that, I mean saving Fabiola. Whether she wanted to kill me or not, I still like her and know she is one of us.
Margaret and the Queen, I’ve never cared for.
“Pillar!” I call out, wondering if he could hear me. “Get rid of the pieces and save Fabiola!”
“Don’t bother,” the Chessmaster said. “I’m not counting The Pillar in this game. My men have already taken him to a place where he will be tortured equally to what he deserves. As for you, princess, we have a game to play.”
“What do you mean?” I lower my voice – why, I’m not sure. It’s like there is a suppressed memory that wants to break free all of a sudden.
“You don’t remember, do you?” The Chessmaster sneers.
“Should I remember something?”
“Me and you, dear Alice. Me and you,” he says. “But no hurries. It will all come to you. Besides, I love to torture you while you’re still amnesic. Oh, the pain of not knowing, Alice. If you ever know how it cuts deep.”
“Stop it! What do you want? Why have you saved Fabiola, the Queen, and the Duchess?”
“To use them against you,” The Chessmaster says, and a sheath erupts out of the ground in my glass block. It peels off on its own, showing a sword inside. A hell of a long and heavy-looking sword. “Pick it up, Alice. You will need it.”
For the first time, I’m not doubting him. I pick it up to protect myself from whatever is about to happen. Boy, is it heavy.
“Now let me tell you about the rules of the game,” the Chessmaster says. “Each of you Wonderlanders inside his or her glass box is taking their position in a chess game. The Queen of Hearts is the Black Queen. White Queen is Fabiola. Margaret is the Rook in the Black army. I’d have preferred if more chess pieces were found, so we’d have one hell of a game, but maybe later.”
“So, we’re playing chess with real Wonderlanders in a life sized chessboard? That’s lame.”
“Patience, dear Alice,” the Chessmaster says. “It’s not a game of chess, but a game of bloody chess.”
“Meaning?” I ask, staring at the sword in my hand, all kinds of scenarios start playing in my head.
“Black will play against white. When it’s time for a piece to kill another, it will kill it, except this time, the killing will be real.”
“How so?”
“You will see how,” he says. “But you haven’t asked me what your role in this game is, Alice?”