Mad (Wonderland Warriors, Book One)

~*+Chapter Five : The Warriors+*~

Immediately, a light smirk played across Albrecht's lips, a glint of amusement in his brown eyes. He rose to his feet in one lithe, graceful motion, but Alyssa remained crouched on the ground, too stunned for a moment to remember to move. So much had happened in only a matter of minutes that her mind was just beginning to stop swirling around, her thoughts slowly untangling. Sighing, she shook her bangs out of her eyes, swallowing heavily past the lump in her throat. She followed Albrecht's gaze, her eyes traveling upward until she caught sight of a particularly smug-looking young girl.

"Katt," Albrecht greeted with a cordial nod, as if he were quite accustomed to girls popping out of nowhere and talking to him. "Impeccable timing, as usual."

"Could you expect any less from me?" she replied, her voice playful, but with an edge of cleverness, as well. Her gaze traveled over Albrecht's shoulder and rested on Alyssa, who froze as if she were caught under a spotlight. She felt suddenly self-conscious, somehow inadequete in comparison with this girl.

The girl was tall, with the willowy frame of a ballet dancer, yet there was all the fierceness of a cat in the way that she held herself. Her eyes were an unsual shade of yellow-green, and were currently narrowed with curiousity as she stared at Alyssa. Her hair was dark and cut short, fanning out in feathered layers and framing her intelligent features nicely. As her gaze lingered on Alyssa, she fixed her with a smile, the kind of devilish grin that a hunter might give to its prey. Alyssa shuddered inwardly, but was determined not to cringe away from the girl.

"Oh? It seems Albrecht's gained another unwanted fan, eh? And you are...who?" she asked, cocking her head to the side ever so slightly.

"Uh, I'm...Alyssa," she replied, wincing as her voice faltered noticeably at the end of her sentence. "Alyssa Little."

"Alyssa Little," the girl repeated, now twirling a lock of her hair around her index finger. "I like it. It almost reminds me of another girl who came to visit us, years ago...she was a lovely little thing. Truly mad!" she tacked on cheerfully, grinning so broadly that it sent a chill down Alyssa's spine. "This place was perfect for her."

The wistful placidity of the girl's voice made Alyssa shiver again. She was grateful for the interruption when Albrecht said, "Ah, Katt. That's enough, thank you. You don't want to confuse her anymore, and I'm sur the White Queen will want to explain everything to her in private."

Katt shrugged, and Alyssa wondered how much of a threat this 'White Queen' really was. "Well, I was only trying to start up a conversation," she whined piteously, sticking out her lower lip in a playful pout. She turned back to Alyssa then, offering her an elegant hand as she said, "Well, then, stand up. You'll get all dirty, crouched on the ground like that."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow, but took Katt's hand and slowly rose to her feet. Glancing quickly at herself, she grimaced, brushed as much dirt off herself as possible, and muttered, "I think it's too late for that."

"It could have been much worse," Albrecht pointed out, and she sighed heavily, knowing he was right. This was at least the third time today that she had narrowly avoided injury or death. How long would she continue to be so lucky?

"He's right, you know," Katt piped up in a soprano singsong voice. Giggling, she pranced behind Alyssa, placing her hands on her shoulders and peeking around. "You could have died!" The way she said it, the idea almost sounded exciting.

Albrecht sighed. "Spare us your dramatics, please, Katt," he said, sounding exasperated. "Are they all gathered back at The Annex?"

Katt nodded, though the wicked grin had not left her face. "They've been poking around in the forest for hours," she responded. "Trying to put up wards against Romulus and his men. Though, without Queenie around to help them with her magic, they might as well not put up any effort. Their spells are too weak to last more than a few hours."

"Queenie?" Alyssa repeated, thoroughly confused.

"Why, the White Queen, of course!" said Katt, whacking Alyssa lightly on the back of the head. "Surely you didn't think she stayed in the woods with those twits all day, did you?"

Alyssa shrugged. "I-I wasn't really sure. I haven't exactly been here long enough to know everybody yet. Though, I'll admit, it would be a little easier for me if someone -- " she shot a look at Albrecht, who snorted with mirth, " -- gave me a straight answer once in a while."