Wardley nodded as he mopped at the back of his neck. “As I healed in the infirmary, I heard rumors of my fate. The King wanted my head, but had been dissuaded by his council.” Wardley pronounced the word sharply, making it clear that he meant Cheshire. “I was stripped of all my titles and duties. I was still technically a member of the Heart Cards, but I was no longer the future Knave of Hearts. Xavier Juflee dismissed me from being his apprentice.” Dinah winced. Wardley practically worshipped Xavier. “The King ordered me into service before I was completely healed. All I did after that was labor in the stables, forced to rebuild each wooden gate by hand with inadequate tools. It was my punishment.” He puffed up his chest and gave her a sad smile. “I have a new title, I’ll have you know: Wardley the Weak, the Card who was bested by a princess. A title fit for a king, don’t you think? Most days I was unable to work in the stables because of my wound, so I would just lie in the hay, dreaming of an escape from the pain.”
He paused. “Many times I woke up in the stables, not remembering that I had fallen asleep. The days seemed never ending, and the nights….” Wardley had a faraway look in his eyes, a look that Dinah had seen before—it was a place she could never reach him. His mind was elsewhere and for a second she saw a flicker of something pass in front of them.
“Wardley.” At the sound of her voice, he snapped back to attention, his eyes filled with tears. “And then…?”
“After a while Cheshire found me. He told me bits of his plan, each week a bit more information—never enough that I could act on it alone, and never enough that I could ever accuse him of treason. He’s crafty, Dinah.”
So am I, she thought, because he is my father.
“Finally, the man told me what he wanted. He wanted me to lead an army of Spades south to meet you, here in the Darklands. To fight for the rightful Queen, to fight for you.” He smiled. “But I did not need convincing. You are the rightful Queen of Wonderland, and like a sister to me. I wondered: how do you convince an army of Spades to fight against their fellow Cards? What would make a single Spade drop their loyalty to one crown to fight for another?”
Dinah had no idea. Wardley leaned forward, a drop of water falling off a curly lock of brown hair. “Rights, Dinah. The Spades long for their own rights. As it turns out, I didn’t have to convince anyone. They have been waiting for this for a long time. Combine that with the King growing madder every day and it was an easy sell. Our departure date was set, in the middle of a long night. I stole away from the stables and came to the place that Cheshire had told me, half-convinced that this was some sort of insane game that the King was playing to test my loyalty. But there they were in the darkness, a silent army of Spades just waiting in the courtyard, with their commander Starey Belft at the helm. Here’s what I’ve learned, and what you should remember: the Spades’ loyalty is not to the King. It has never been to the King. It is to Starey Belft, for he lives the depraved life of a Spade, and so they respect him. They would follow him into hell, and they did. We marched for two weeks’ time and lost more than twenty men. We only have a few horses. The things I’ve heard from these men, you wouldn’t believe….”
Sir Gorrann poked his head into the tent and looked surprised to see Wardley soaking wet and Dinah watching silently.
She smiled. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“I couldn’t care less. The council is waiting for yeh both.”
Dinah gave a slight nod. “We’ll be there shortly. Thank you, Sir Gorrann.”
He left and Wardley eyed the door skeptically. “What about him? Do you trust him? You know he was in Cheshire’s pocket, don’t you?”
“Aside from you, I’m not sure there is anyone I fully trust, or ever will again. The man I thought was my father tried to kill me. My mother lied to me my whole life. And yet, I believe that Sir Gorrann has my best interests at heart. I consider him a dear, eternally grumpy friend.”
Wardley pulled a ripped tunic over his head. He softly took Dinah’s face in his hands and her heart stopped. “You do know what you are doing, don’t you? You’re planning a war, Dinah. A war in which many people will die, perhaps even yourself. This isn’t playing swords in front of the stable. This isn’t a game.”
Dinah pulled back from him, her face flushed. Wardley always knew how to get under her skin. “Of course I know! I’m the rightful Queen. Shouldn’t I fight for my throne?”
Wardley shook his head. “You are, but I worry for you. You’ve never seen a battle, you’ve never seen a man….”
Dinah slapped him hard, across the face. “What? I’ve never seen a man die? I’ve seen my brother’s body crumpled on a stone slab. I’ve seen a farmer with an arrow buried in his back just because he happened to be near my path. I killed more than a few Cards on my way out of the palace, and I see their bloody faces in my dreams! So don’t tell me that I haven’t seen death or war, or that I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve been at war with the King of Hearts since the day that I was born.”
“You slapped me!” Wardley laughed a bit before stepping back and shaking his head, his eyes searching her furious face. “You are not the same girl that I kissed under the Julla Tree. That hurt!”
“Don’t forget that again,” she snapped, resentful that Wardley had riled her up, as he always did.
“Let’s go, they are waiting for us.”
“Don’t be mad. I’m sorry I doubted you.” He reached out and tugged playfully on her braid, and Dinah’s fierce heart melted.
Chapter Fifteen