The Melancholy of Wonderland

The Queen of Hearts and the City of Aces

"Wow, it looks like they took a bunch of dang playing cards and stacked them into freaking New York." Anya wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You ready for this?" Raven nodded.

"Let us proceed."

Anya approached the soldier in front of the castle with no hesitation whatsoever. "I want an audience with your queen," she said bluntly. Raven winced and covered his face with his hand.

"There is a list to your left."

"Alright, thanks. The heck, there's 1,865 dang people waiting in line!" Anya sighed aggressively and regained her composure, opening her backpack. "Screw this, I ain't waiting that long."

She pulled out the ultimate weapon: Tape-style whiteout. Thank God she had fell to Wonderland with her school stuff. Anya crossed out the next person waiting in line with a smirk and signed Anya Haroldsman with a flourish. She smacked down the quill and strutted away with a satisfied grin.

"Why did you do that?"

"It was the quickest and easiest way to talk with the queen. The poor sap next in line can't have a request that even comes close to being as important as ours."

"Is that all?"

"...Okay, I might have been a tad bit impatient. Your point being?"

"Nothing, it's just the same old, same old." Anya gave the blond a shrewd look but shrugged it off all the same.

"Aight, now when the heck do these audiences start anyway? Card Guard? Care to share?"

"The Queen of Hearts sees five citizens a day when the sun reaches its highest point," came the monotonous reply.

"Guess that's solved," Anya mused. "Well, it's way past noon so I guess we find a place to camp out until tomorrow."

"We have money. A small inn will do," Raven reminded her.

"Lead the way, dear Wonderlandian."

"Please do not refer to me in such a way."

"Why not? I just stated the facts. Geez, you're always so uptight..."

Anya stretched her arms over her head, getting a feel for the hot sunlight. She was standing right in front of the doors to the Ruby Palace with Raven, waiting impatiently for the hearings to start. Like its name suggested, the Ruby Palace was a tall, intimidating building made purely of crystalline red material. When the doors finally opened, Anya was not surprised to see that the inside was a deep scarlet. Black and white heart-themed tapestries broke up the sea of blood and the entire room was decorated with hearts in both obvious and subtle ways. Instead of a throne room, it was designed like a courthouse.

There was an elevated platform on the ground for the witness to stand. There was a stylized podium on it. It looked like a thin box with one side missing so someone could enter it. A small overhang overlooked the entire room with an ornate throne on it meant for the queen. Along the sides of the room were bleachers that rose to the ceiling made of a deep-colored wood. People rushed in, taking seats. The hearings were a popular event it seemed. Raven gave Anya's hand a reassuring squeeze before heading into the sea of people. Anya strode to the line in front of the raised platform.

Guards carrying menacing spears entered the room, one of them carrying a scroll instead. The guard unraveled the scroll and in a booming voice declared, "The daily requested hearings of the Queen of Hearts will now commence! The requesters may ask anything of Her Majesty. Remember, coming down from the audience and interfering with the hearing is an offense of the Central Book of the Code of the Heart. The Code of the Heart is absolute. Now entering Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts!"