“Do you miss your mother?” Vittiore inquired.
It seemed to Dinah that all the air was sucked out of the room at once. She was never asked about her mother. After she died, it was as if Davianna had never existed. Only Harris mentioned her from time to time. Dinah found herself unable to produce a hateful reply, not about this. “I think about her smile. I think about the way she would smile to herself as she made her jeweled slippers. I remember how she would read stories to us, with different voices and accents. And how she would hold Charles—so fiercely unlike everyone else—as if he was made of glass.”
Tears gathered at the corner of Vittiore’s eyes. Her unflinching blue gaze unnerved Dinah, who found a fury rising inside. “Why would you ask about my mother? She was nothing to you, and she never even knew you existed. You should be thankful that she is dead, otherwise you would never have been allowed to come here, to be given everything from my father, simply out of pity for his bastard child.”
Vittiore refused to rise to Dinah’s taunt and changed the subject. “I can see how that would be upsetting for you. It’s truly unfair.” She sighed and rose from her seat, her features vacant. Her mind was obviously somewhere else as she stared at the view from her balcony. “Have you ever been outside the palace? There is a beauty you cannot dream of.”
“I have no desire to leave,” replied Dinah. “This is my home, my kingdom, my palace. I need to stay here.”
Vittiore looked around the room anxiously. Dinah turned her head. There was no one here; what was she looking at? Dinah turned her head back and was startled to find Vittiore inches from her face. She pulled Dinah close. Their lips were almost touching, and she could feel Vittiore’s flowery breath against her mouth.
“You should leave. Just go, GO, as soon as you can,” whispered Vittiore with breathless urgency. “There are things you could never understand happening here. I don’t understand them either, but I hear the whispers.”
“I understand you want my crown,” hissed Dinah. “Isn’t that what this is?”
A look of pure confusion crossed Vittiore’s face. “What?”
Both girls jumped back from each other as a loud crack came from outside the doorway. It burst open and the King of Hearts strode in, a furious look upon his flushed face. He was followed by six Heart Cards, Nanda, and Palma.
“Dinah!” he thundered. “What are you doing in Vittiore’s chambers?”
“We were just having tea,” Dinah stammered, suddenly feeling very small.
“Are you not supposed to be at your lessons right now?”
Dinah stood shakily. Her legs gave a tremble, as they always did in the presence of her father. Be strong, she told herself, you will be Queen soon.
“I finished my lessons early. I visited Charles this morning. Apparently Vittiore has been visiting Charles as well. May I ask the last time you saw your son?”
Her father moved across the room with alarming speed, his huge hand gripping Dinah’s arm. He turned his hand roughly and Dinah’s skin burned beneath it.
“Insolent child! Don’t presume to have the right to lecture me on how to deal with my family. I’ll see your mad brother when Wonderland has a peaceful, perfect day, with no need of a ruler.”
Dinah twisted her arm from his grasp and spun to face him. “Soon you’ll have much more time on your hands, when I take the throne beside you. I’ll see to it that your afternoons are much more leisurely.”
Before the King brought his closed hand across her face, Dinah saw a glimmer of pride in her father’s eyes. She was fiercer than he realized. But it was only for a moment, and then she was sprawled on the ground, the left side of her face throbbing.
“Father, STOP!” cried Vittiore, her blue eyes wide with shock. The King of Hearts gave her a murderous look.
“Darling, please go back to tea. Nanda and Palma will help you. Dinah, get up and go back to your apartments. Do not come here again. You can have no purpose here, besides distracting Vittiore from her studies. It is so like you to serve as a stumbling block for all good things.” The King curled his fingers and two Heart Cards approached. He motioned to Dinah, and they yanked her roughly to her feet. “Take them both away.”
Nanda and Palma escorted the shaking Vittiore into her dressing room, cooing gently in her ear. The King pointed to Dinah, who had pushed off the guards and was standing shakily on her own feet.