Dinah lowered her eyes. “My father, the king, murdered my brother in cold blood so that he would not have to share the crown. I have no love for my father and the fact that you see none of him in me is the greatest compliment I’ve ever been paid.”
Mundoo smiled and lifted his hand to Dinah’s cheek. She forced herself to stay steady as his tan, weathered hand caressed her jawline. “And what of Wonderland Palace? Do you have loyalty to them? To the Cards?”
Dinah considered her answer carefully. I am a mouse in an eagle’s nest, she thought, and one wrong move will deliver me straight into his mouth. “I have no loyalty to Wonderland while it remains under the rule of the man who murdered my brother.”
Mundoo’s bright blue eyes sparkled. “Well answered. I see you are adept at the language of ruling and politics. I should not be surprised.” Mundoo stepped back from her and began pacing around his throne. “You must know the history of my people and Wonderland. Our legends say that the Yurkei arrived here hundreds of years ago, flown here on the backs of great birds. We lived in peace with the land, and made this place—Hu-Yuhar, the hidden city—our home. We had no need for war, for weapons, other than to hunt. And then one day, strangers came, borne by a boat from a distant land, from the ‘Other Worlds’ as you call them. These men established Wonderland Palace and proceeded to push us back into the mountains. Your ancestors declared war on us, and we have been battling the line of Hearts ever since.
“And for what? We long for nothing more than to live on our lands and have peace. It’s true—when a Wonderland village comes too close to our lands, we will burn it to the ground, because we must fight for each inch of grass. This is a vast country, and yet the palace feels it must own every inch of it, from the Western Sea to the edge of the Yurkei Mountains. As you are probably well aware, I have spies in Wonderland Palace, and I hear whispers that your father is laying the groundwork to start his great war. He longs to push us into the sea, the place from where his ancestors came. He seeks to find and destroy Hu-Yuhar.”
Mundoo gave a sigh and rested his hand upon the throne as he gazed at her. Dinah could see lines of worry etched across his strong face. “And so we come to you, you who rode so boldly into my territory astride the black devil. What do I do with an exiled princess? Most of the people down there would have you publicly executed.” Dinah stood still as Mundoo raised a few flaps on the side of the tent. Then he wrapped his hand around her neck and pushed her face toward the light. “Look down, Dinah. You may have been exiled from Wonderland and the king himself may wish you dead, but that matters little to a fatherless child or a woman whose bed will never be warm again.”
Dinah kept quiet as she looked down at the throngs of people below, Mundoo’s hand against the back of her head. Nothing he said was untrue.
“Executing you, your Spade, and your steed would be the easiest course of action. But I think that we can find a better use for you. How much do you know of your kingdom as it currently stands?”
“I know that the city is restless because of raised taxes. I know that my father is growing ever more paranoid and that he is amassing the Cards in great numbers; for what purpose, I am unsure. I know that he has placed Vittiore, his puppet, on the throne next to him, and that he rules with an ever harder iron fist. He is preparing for something, but it is of little concern to me. I am no longer a member of the royal family. I am now simply a girl who has no home.”
Mundoo smiled. “If only I could believe that. I hear your sister is very beautiful, with hair like the sun.”
“And a mind like mud,” replied Dinah, sharper than she intended. “She does nothing that my father does not tell her to do. Vittiore could not rule over an anthill.”
“Interesting. But your father, he is a clever man, no?”
Dinah thought of how her father had beheaded Faina Baker right in front of her just to teach her to not put her nose where it didn’t belong. “He is intelligent, yes. He is a skilled fighter, but he is also brutal and unforgiving and a drunk. It has made him slow in recent years. He is full of hatred, for reasons I do not understand. The cleverest man in the palace is Cheshire. Most of the decisions my father makes come from him.” In her mind’s eye, Dinah saw Charles’s tiny body crumpled under a starry sky. Her voice rose. “I have nothing but hatred for the king. I would gladly take his life. I attempted to in the Twisted Wood until the Spade intervened.”
“So I have heard.” Mundoo stared at her, his unflinching blue eyes piercing her tingling bones. “I find you very interesting, Dinah, exiled Princess of Wonderland. Stories of your escape from the palace have echoed through this land, even here in Hu-Yuhar, our home. You are called many things: the Queen of Death, the Red Queen, the Rebel Queen, Rider of the Black Devil. Some even say you are a ghost or an omen of the future. . . .”
“I am no one,” replied Dinah. “I am simply Dinah, an exile who stumbled into your mushroom fields by accident.”
Mundoo raised his eyebrow. “By accident? Yes, that is interesting. No one stumbles into our sacred burial ground by accident. No. Your Spade led you there, though his reasons are not yet clear.”
“No, we were . . . ” Dinah found the words dying on her tongue, and the twinge in her heart told her that Mundoo was right. The Spade had led her there. Had she known it the whole time, exchanging her own security for the comfort of a friend? She had thought they were simply fleeing the king, perhaps heading over the Yurkei Mountains to the Other Worlds. “I trusted him,” she gasped, her throat dry and raspy.
Mundoo stood and handed her a small wooden bowl filled with water. “Drink. I insist. It pains me to hear your voice.”
Dinah, feeling humbled, gulped the water noisily.
“You should know not to trust anyone when you possess so much power.”
“I do not possess power,” she answered, wiping her mouth. “I possess a sword, a bag full of filthy clothing, the pelt of a white bear, and a horse.”
“Ah, your horse.” Mundoo untied a piece of fabric that was lashed to his glorious throne and the roof of the tent pulled back, like an egg with its shell removed. The sky opened up above them, and the space was filled with the whirling cold wind that had so easily tossed the ladder. Dinah barely had time to duck before a giant white crane flapped into the tent, its huge wings sending bursts of air across her face. The crane landed on the throne and gave a loud squawk at Dinah. Mundoo continued, seemingly oblivious to the dangerous-looking bird. “Morte will be put to death soon enough. A price must be paid for all the blood he has taken from this tribe. Believe that I will find no joy in killing a Hornhoov. They are rare and exquisite creatures, and I have never seen one as large as him. We will study him first.”