What are you doing? Get back. Don’t touch me! She thought the words, but for some reason could not make her mouth form the sounds. Slowly, his fingers reached inside her tunic, and then he spun her around. For a moment Dinah was afraid of what was happening, but then she felt the pressing of his fingers against the scar on her shoulder.
“This was my work. A scar left on a queen by a chief. Something that she will never forget, but a sting that healed quickly.” A substance was seeping through her skin from his fingers. She could feel it alternating hot and cold, tingling against her shoulder. It was inside of her, whatever it was, passing through her skin like water. Iu-Hora spun her back around and suddenly Dinah felt like she was floating with him, up through the tent into the stars that looked down on dead Charles. They were flying through the sky now, over the Darklands, over the fields. They flew up, up, and away until they hovered above Wonderland Palace. The Black Towers shimmered with wickedness below. She blinked. No. She wasn’t in the sky. Was she? She was in the tent, and his blurry face was inches from her own, his hands on her face. Iu-Hora’s voice changed as he leaned forward as if to kiss her, and she felt the thick smoke from his mouth wash over her face. All the smoke was suddenly sucked out of the circular tent and there was nothing but darkness, nothing but the heat of his forehead against hers and the sharp blue of his eyes. A low, terrible voice boomed out from the blackness. It belonged to Iu-Hora, but it didn’t sound like him. Dinah found herself more afraid than she had ever been.
“Queen of Hearts, the daughter of two fathers, heed my words. You will pierce the heart of one man and cut out the heart of the one you love most. Follow the crumbs to find your throne and only then shall your head rest in the grass.”
Iu-Hora gave a silent intake of breath and suddenly blue smoke trailed out of his lips. His voice returned to normal and a silly giggle filled the tent.
“Would you like more, my queen?” Dinah pushed him backward into the pots and scales, which went crashing down under his massive weight. She wasn’t sure what was happening. Blue smoke was pouring out of her mouth, changing colors as she breathed. Red morphed into a fiery orange, which curled into a pale blue, then a misty gray. Coughing, she crawled toward the tent flap.
“Come back!” he cried, laughing. “I have so much more to show you!”
She was running now, away from the tent, smoke pouring from her eyes, ears, and throat. It steamed out of her skin. She stumbled and fell to the ground. His voice returned and whispered in her ear, although she was nowhere near him.
“Keep your temper, Queen of Hearts.”
Morte was beside her now, and she weakly pulled herself upward, stepping on his hoof, one of his bone shards giving her a thin cut on her ankle. She flopped over his back, lying facedown across him as she continued to choke on the colored smoke pouring from her mouth and nose. Morte began running back to her tent. Dinah’s body was shuddering as if it had forgotten how to function. She was alternately freezing and stifling hot, and her mind was racing, making illogical jumps. Was she up or down? Where was she? After what seemed like years, Morte arrived in the Spades’ camp and came to a violent stop in front of her tent. Yur-Jee and Ki-ershan leaped to their feet and gathered a shaking Dinah from his back. They babbled frantically in Yurkei, their voices so loud to Dinah’s ears.
“Iu-Hora! No Wonderlander has ever been in his presence! What did he give her? Witch doctor! Pure evil!”
Wild hallucinations ran through Dinah’s mind, and she heard pieces of Iu-Hora’s words again: “Daughter of two fathers . . . pierce the heart of one man . . . cut out the heart of the one you love most . . . follow the crumbs to find your throne. . . .”
As the guards spoke in rapid Yurkei, Dinah heard Wardley’s voice ringing above the commotion. “What the hell happened? Give her to me! Bring Cheshire now!”
Wardley cradled her against his chest, and she was aware that he was carrying her inside her tent. A thin trail of maroon smoke curled out of her lips, and Dinah blew it lovingly at his face. She struggled to stay awake. Wardley leaned his face over hers. “You can close your eyes, Dinah. I’m here.” With a sigh, she surrendered, happy to fall asleep in the arms of the one she loved most.
Fifteen
Dinah slept the entirety of the next day, accompanied by the most vivid and bizarre dreams she had ever had. She would wake drenched in a sweat that pushed itself out of her skin in a swirl of vibrant colors, to find Cheshire and Wardley staring down at her, discussing things that she could barely understand.
“When will she be fully aware?”
“Hopefully the tea will draw out the hallucinatory effects of the smoke.”
“Did they find him?”
“The Yurkei are guarding him day and night. We will not do anything. Actually, I think he might be of great use to us.”
“Has Mundoo been notified of what his witch doctor did to the queen?”
“We sent two riders this morning with the message. They also carried our finalized plans for the battle. God help us if they are caught.”
“They won’t be. They’re Yurkei.”
Dinah would listen for what could have been hours or seconds before drifting back into her dazzling sleep. The next day, she woke to a cool cloth being pressed against her forehead.
“Your Majesty?” She looked up, hoping to see Wardley, but instead found herself uncomfortably close to Cheshire’s face. “How are you feeling?”
Alarmed, Dinah pushed herself up faster than she should have and was rewarded with a bout of nausea. “Oh. Oh.” She allowed herself to sink back into the cot. “What happened?”
Cheshire resumed lightly patting her head with the cloth. “What do you remember?”
“I was out walking because I couldn’t sleep . . . and I found Iu-Hora’s tent.” She frowned. “And then . . . then . . .” She should have remembered, but there was a gaping hole in her memory; it was puzzling and unnerving. She could see bits and pieces, but the knowledge of what had happened was missing. “I’m sorry . . . ,” she sputtered. “I don’t really remember. There was smoke and light and . . .”
Cheshire made a disgusted sound, yet his face showed a certain delight and fascination. “The Yurkei witch doctor has more powers than Wonderland has ever bothered to fathom. I highly doubt that you wandered there entirely on your own accord. He’s been known to call those to him when he feels the need, whether by injury or trance. There is evil in that tent that might be of use to us yet. He has a mastery of alchemy that Wonderland has yet to discover.” He stroked Dinah’s hair softly, attempting to soothe her. It made her uncomfortable. “We almost lost you to the fever. If you had died, Iu-Hora’s head would have been sucked down into the shadow ponds by now. You have caused a great stir, daughter.”
Heads . . . something about her head . . . Dinah couldn’t remember. There was only the unclear memory of smoke and light, and a burning deep in her lungs.