Page 5 of Alec in Wonderland (Rainbow Tales #1)
Baxenvir, Knave of Hearts, strode down the echoing hallway, chin lifted. Not in pride. Well, not entirely. He didn't want to see the adoring looks on the faces of the courtiers. He didn't think he deserved them. And he was too proud to be proud of something he didn't deserve. Pride was a tricky, two-headed beast, and both heads were biting him.
War hero. That's what they called him. The Queen's Champion. The Knave of Hearts. But Bax didn't feel like a hero. He hated war. There was nothing heroic about it. Especially the Queen's brand of war. Plus, blood made him squeamish. But he'd trained from a young age to fight for his kingdom, and that's what he did. His job. His duty. He never sought glory or relished killing those he fought. It made Baxenvir sick to think about the lives he'd taken. Often, during a battle, he went into a sort of trance, pushing aside his fear and disgust so he could do what he needed to do—become a cold-blooded killer.
And they praised him for it.
Just looking at the starry-eyed faces of the courtiers who vied for his attention made Bax sick to his stomach. They knew nothing of war. To them, it was sexy. Anything dangerous was sexy to a courtier. Perhaps it was the Queen's fault. She made danger fashionable. The Queen of Hearts set the standard for everything in the Card Kingdoms, sex appeal included. So it shouldn’t have surprised Bax that he was so sought after. Next to the Queen, he had the second-highest kill count.
No. That wasn't true. The Jabberwocky had killed more than Bax and the Queen combined.
“But you don't see any of them seducing the monster,” Bax muttered. “Maybe it's because no one knows where she keeps him.” He chuckled to himself as the image of a pack of ass-kissing courtiers fawning over the Jabberwocky filled his head. “I wonder if they'd ask it about all the battles it had fought.”
On the rare occasion that Baxenvir took someone to bed, just to relieve the loneliness and see to his needs, he had to listen to them prattle on about his prowess and then evade the stupid questions they asked. War wasn't sexy. Talking about it made sex nearly impossible for him. Sometimes, he simply ignored everything they said, did what he had to do, and got out of there. Much as he did in battle.
The only thing that kept Bax fighting was his queen. He could still remember the horrific battle that changed everything, sealing the fate of the Card Kingdoms and launching him into hero status. He'd been fighting for his life, certain that this was the battle that would end the Queen's bid for supremacy, when screams filled the air. Her screams. The King of Diamonds had killed the King of Hearts.
The Hearts Army, already beaten down by the overwhelming numbers of the Diamonds' forces, floundered with their King's death. And they weren't the only ones affected. The Queen fell to her knees, covered in her husband's blood. Her sorrow had mesmerized Bax. He'd never seen anyone so overcome with grief.
The image of the Queen of Hearts cradling her husband's headless body would haunt Bax forever. But at that moment, her grief gave him strength. Baxenvir pushed down his fear and pain for his queen. He fought his way to her and defended her as she wept and moaned, rocking the King's corpse. No one else had gone to her aid. The Queen of Hearts was not the most beloved of queens, and Bax knew that many of her soldiers hoped she'd die along with her husband. Bax had been one of them until the Queen's sorrow slid an arrow into his heart. Then there was nothing that could stop him from protecting her. All alone on that hilltop, Baxenvir fought off an onslaught of soldiers that outnumbered him five to one. He fought and held them back long enough for the Queen to recover.
Baxenvir remembered the exact moment the Queen returned to herself and rallied. She touched him—laid her hand on the back of his thigh where there was a gap in his armor. He recalled raising his shield to protect them as he looked down and met her stare. Her face had been red from blood both beneath and atop her skin, but her eyes burned with power. The Queen of Hearts rose to her feet, her stare never leaving Baxenvir's, and cupped his cheek as if they were alone and had all the time in the world.
Then she spoke the words that bound Bax to her forever. “Your loyalty has won mine, soldier. Now, we will fight together, and you will be my champion.”
That's when Baxenvir, a lowly card soldier, had become the Knave of Hearts. He had fought to protect, then fought beside his queen. Together, they drove back the Diamond soldiers, but it still wasn't enough to satisfy the Queen's rage. The fury and pain rolled off her until she channeled it into dark magic.
Bax defended his queen once more as she summoned the Jabberwocky into existence. A monster. A creature of nightmares. She chained its will with hers and sent it forth to decimate the Diamonds Army. Bax could still remember the acrid smell of the monster's breath and the shine of its scales. Madness had threatened him then. It threatened anyone who dared to look upon the Jabberwocky. But that's when Bax sank into his first battle trance.
The cool numbness of that blessed oblivion crept over Bax, turning him into the killer he needed to be while simultaneously making him immune to the Jabberwocky's terrifying aura. Bax fought on while others cowered, earning the title of Queen's Champion. Luckily, the trance dulled the rest of that battle. He remembered little more than bits and pieces. He saw the Queen of Hearts pointing at the monarchs of Diamonds. Her vicious expression as they died terrible deaths. The glow in her eyes. And that's all he could remember until he came back to himself at the end, when the Hearts Army roared in victory and their blood-drenched Queen stood beside him, her expression vacant as she stared across the wasteland that had once been Hortensia, the crown city of Diamonds.
That trance had saved Bax. If not for that mental numbness, he might have gone as mad as his queen. Yes, he knew the Queen of Hearts was insane, but he also understood why. He'd never forsake her, no matter how mad she became. Because of that battle. Because of her words. Because of the way they had fought back to back, defending each other. That kind of connection is unbreakable. Even by madness.
Back in the present, Baxenvir stopped before the Queen's door, waiting for the guards to open it. His heart still bled for his queen. Because hers had never healed. She sliced it open every day, offering her heart's blood to her dead husband. The King had been more than the Queen's greatest love. He had also been her rock. He kept her from succumbing to the darkest of her passions. When she went into a rage and sentenced someone to death, the King would quietly pardon them. He knew she just needed to release her fury. She didn't actually want anyone to die. Not back then.
Unfortunately, the Knave of Hearts was no replacement for the late king. He wished he could help the Queen combat the fury that often claimed her or talk her back into calmness. He wanted so badly to be the man she needed—the man who could support her while caging the wild parts of her nature. But Bax couldn't be that man. No one could. But he could comfort her. A little.
When the guards opened the double doors for the Queen's Champion, he stepped through into the Royal Solarium—a room awash in red. From the carved ceiling to the tiled floor, it was all shades of crimson. And there she was, almost invisible in that red sea. Only the paleness of the Queen's skin gave her away.
But the Knave was used to seeing red. He zeroed in on her immediately and went to bow to his queen. “Your Majesty. How may I serve?”
“My knave,” the Queen murmured, her stare only half focused on him.
Bax knelt beside her. “My Queen, are you unwell again? May I comfort you?” He opened his arms.
“Ah, my sweet boy. Knave of my heart.” The Queen of Hearts laid her head on Bax's shoulder and sighed as his arms folded around her. “He's gone. My love is gone forever. Even the darkness can't bring him back. I've tried. I've tried so many times.”
“I know, Your Majesty. We all mourn King Harver. But you avenged him. Do you remember? He would be so proud of you.”
The Queen lifted her head and looked at Baxenvir. Her hand went to his cheek. “I remember. You saved me and led us to victory.”
“No, Your Majesty. Do not credit me. It was you who summoned the Jabberwocky. I only guarded you until you could gather your strength.”
“You were instrumental, Bax.” She stroked his cheek. “My beautiful knave. The people love you as much as I do because they know you saved us.”
“I'm humbled by your love, Your Majesty.” He bent his head. “And I'm sure I don't deserve it. Nor do I deserve the glory you give me.”
“Oh, but you do. More than you know.” The Queen kissed his forehead. “It is you who has kept sorrow from swallowing me whole. Every day it threatens to pull me under, and every day, you come to me and pull me out. Thank you, Bax.”
“It is my honor to serve you, Your Majesty.” The loyal Knave of Hearts looked upon his queen with adoration. “And it's my deepest hope that you will one day pull yourself out and stay here with us. We need you.”
“One day.” The Queen of Hearts stood up and turned to look toward the curving balcony. In the distance, a white castle rose, hazy on the horizon. “When I have the world at my feet. Then I'll have something to keep me from falling under.”
“Will you marry the Prince now, Your Majesty?” Bax stood up as well. “I see your strength returning. Maybe it's time to—”
“No!” the Queen roared.
The Knave of Hearts stood unflinching before her fury. He had learned that it was the only way to survive it.
When the Queen met his steady stare, her anger melted. “I'm sorry, my sweet knave. I'm not ready yet.”
“It's all right, my Queen,” Baxenvir said. “Prince Albion is secure. He'll be here, waiting for you, when you're ready.”
“Yes.” She turned back to the view. “Just a little longer. Then I will take the White Kingdom without a fight. And once White has fallen, Black will follow. All of Wonderland will be mine.” With a shifting expression, she turned back to him. “Fetch the Prince. I should like to get to know my intended better.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Bax bowed, hope rising in him, then hurried from the room.
It wasn't the most honorable solution—forcing the White Prince to marry the Queen of Hearts, and there was certainly no love between them. But the alliance would save thousands of lives. Hundreds of thousands. It had taken Bax weeks to convince the Queen of Hearts to give his plan a try. Weeks of gentle coercion and plotting. He knew he had to be ready to act the second she agreed so that she couldn't back out. And he had. The Knave of Hearts had led the mission to capture the White Prince himself. Now, the Prince was theirs and through him, the Queen of Hearts would gain control of the White Chess Kingdom.
The only problem was the White Queen. Bax wasn't certain of her reaction. Would she give up control of her kingdom to save her son? Or would she sacrifice her only child to protect her people? He couldn't predict the outcome. He wasn't a seer. Or a mother. All he could do was hope that the White Queen loved her son more than her kingdom.
Of course, all of that was moot if the Queen of Hearts didn't agree to the marriage. Or if she executed her royal prisoner during one of her rages.
Bax's footsteps slowed. Maybe capturing the White Prince hadn't been such a good idea.