“You’re trying to tell me he actually has a conscience?”
“He did where Alice was concerned.” The lory adjusted the regal robe that kept slipping from her lack of shoulders. “Morpheus used all his resources as a solitary fae and finally found her and my husband hidden away in the caves of the highest cliffs of Wonderland. Alas, it was too late for Alice by that time.” Lorina returned the thimble to Jeb, half full now.
Jeb sat up straighter, causing the cage to rock. “So why does he want to help Queen Red get another queen on the throne, when he should hate her for putting Alice in a cage for all those years?”
“Mayhap he’s angry that Grenadine didn’t try to find Alice herself once the child was captured. But Grenadine lost her memory ribbon and forgot about the child.”
“A good ruler would’ve had more than one ribbon to remind her, would’ve made sure everyone and everything was in its place.”
“My queen is a good ruler!”
Jeb winced at the ear-splitting roar.
The dodo’s snores stopped. “My vociferous wife speaks the truth, lad. Morpheus appears to be holding a grudge for what he perceives as neglect, even if it was simply an oversight.”
Jeb shook his head at all the holes in everyone’s reasoning. “No. There’s more to this than that.”
“You have good instincts, mortal knight.”
Jeb perked up at the tinkling voice. A glowing light floated through the small window in the dungeon’s heavy wooden door. Jeb stood and gripped the birdcage bars, angling his head to get a better look.
Gossamer.
The little sprite fluttered over and whispered something to the magical blue thread fixed around the wire door, letting herself inside the cage. The thread tied itself into a knot again after she’d reattached the latch behind her.
She sparkled like the lit fuse on a Roman candle as she hovered in place, studying Jeb with a sympathetic expression.
Since they were now the same size, she brought to mind a painting Jeb once saw by a Czech artist, Viktor Olivia. He was most famous for his depiction of a fairy who seduced men into getting drunk on absinthe. Gossamer embodied that creature: a woman’s perfect form, dusted green and naked with glistening scales covering her like a string bikini.
He had sensed when he left the mirrored hall that she was on his and Alyssa’s side.
“You came to help,” he said, hopeful.
A copper key, the same color as her eyes and almost the full length of her torso, swung from her neck. Her gaze dropped to her dainty feet, as if she were battling herself. “I would’ve been here sooner, but Morpheus is always watching in the looking glass. Now that he’s with Alyssa, preparing her for her coronation, he will be too busy to keep an eye on the rest of us … until the end.”
“The end?” Jeb gripped the bar next to her, intent on her dragonfly gaze. “You have to tell me—everything.”
The sprite glared at Lorina, who’d been inching toward the wire door. “You well know you haven’t the power to leave this cage unless I open it for you.”
Huffing, the lory fluttered up to the trapeze again.
Gossamer led Jeb to the pear slice, and they both sat down. The fruity scent overpowered the stench of the dungeon and calmed him enough to hear her out.
Gossamer curled her hands over Jeb’s where they rested on his clamped knees. “I’ve already betrayed my master enough by being here, and his wrath will be great. All I can say is that, within the hour, Alyssa will be forever indentured—tethered to Wonderland for all eternity. Morpheus has planned all along to send you back, mortal knight … but without her.”
A vein in Jeb’s temple began to writhe like a snake on a hot plate. He leapt up and banged his head on the bars again, trying to shake loose the taunting blue thread, unable to control the helpless fury boiling through him. More blood dripped along his temple. “You have to get me out! I’ve got to stop this!”
“Yes, yes! Us, too!” the dodo and his wife piped up. “We must help Queen Grenadine keep her crown!”
“Of course,” Gossamer said, grasping Jeb’s hand to drag him back next to her. “You will all be given the chance to fight for your loyalties.”
“But I can’t fight like this.” Jeb kicked a pear seed the size of his foot. “Did you bring an amplifying pastry?”
“No. It is not the strength of your body that will save Alyssa, but the strength of your artist’s heart. Though I can assure you, you won’t be leaving this place in your present form.”