The Queen, as usual, was surrounded by her servants as she laid gracefully across the golden couch. They fawned over her with giggles and compliments. Her Lady in Waiting in particular would whisper of the castle gossip right into the Queen's ear.
Alice shuffled into the room and closed the door softly behind her. Some of the servants glanced at her, but otherwise no one took any notice. Rocking back and forth on her feet, Alice cleared her throat.
"Ah, Alicia. There you are," The Queen paused, a horrified look overcoming her face. Immediately, she stood. She waved her arms to dismiss her attendees as she shot towards her daughter. They filed out quickly, not keen to see the wrath of the Queen.
"Your dress," Tatiana cried out, grabbing the fabric. Her hands then took hold of her wrists, revealing her gloved hands "What did you do to your gloves?"
"Hey! Hands off!"
Alice tensed under the touch of her mother, pulling her wrists back. She opened her mouth to respond, only to be stopped by a startling gasp.
"And your shoes, where are your shoes!" The poor woman looked close to tears at this point.
"Well I find that lack of shoes have much more comfort."
"Quieter too."
"Have you been walking around like this? Did anyone see you?" She fired question after question.
"I just went to the library." Alice thought it be best that she didn't mention the Sun Summoner. Or the running. Or the Little Palace. Especially the Little Palace.
"Honestly, you should take more care," Tatiana sighed, moving back towards her white couch in what could only be described as melodramatic "What would your father think of this behaviour?"
"It wasn't on purpose!" She insisted with a huff. The princess could not care less what her father thought in that moment. Her tattered dress swished around as she moved, almost in agreement.
"You are a lady!" The Queen looked her up and down "Or at least, you will be."
There was a long tense silence, where Alice glared at the ground. Had she been in Wonderland, her 'behaviour' would have been applauded, expected even.
"Then come back."
They whispered in unison, as if they morphed into one giant hive mind. Their icy voiced overlapped each other, a shiver rippling through Alice's spine.
The youngest Lantsov shifted on her feet, glancing up to make eye contact with her mother.
"I will not see this sort of attitude during the Winter Fete."
Alice Alice felt some sort of irrational anger wash over her. A need to spit and argue about her so called 'attitude'.
"Do you hear me?"
The young girl swallowed her pride and anger, burying it deep inside as she nodded her head. Her mother, however, was dissatisfied with her response and repeated her question.
"Do you hear me?"
"Yes mother," she whispered, the words burning her tongue.
Tatiana huffed, moving away from her youngest and over to a display of three dresses, all lined up perfectly. Alice supposed that there were specific servants just to make sure that the stands were not a hair out of place.
The first was white, to resemble purity, with intricate brown stitching. White lace marked the edges. It fell elegantly to the floor in layers. Buttons made fully out of gold adorned the sleeves and went up the front.
It reminded Alice of a dress her mother used to put on her porcelain dolls. Tatiana always seemed to care more for them than Alice ever did. It was a shame that they had 'mysteriously' fell from the shelves one night after a particularly bad argument with her parents. Leaving fragments of porcelain scattered across the floorboards that had taken hours for the servants to clear.
The second was also white, but with much less elegance and a lot more dramatic flare. Long rows of lace covered every inch of the fabric, looking as if it would swallow Alice whole. The sleeves fell in a bell shape, tightening around the wrist of the poor mannequin.
The final one was blue, a colour Alice had grown to favour. It was the kind of blue you looked for every time you glanced at the sky. Dark blue embroidery across the hemming created images of what she thought were dancing trees. Ribbon of the same navy weaved in and out of the fabric, tying the dress together.
"Despite your earlier actions, I'm letting you choo-"
"The blue one," Alice cut her off. She watched as her mother's eyes hardened, an eyebrow raising at her rude interruption.
"I actually really liked the first one."
"No, no. The one in the middle is the best."
"I fear Alice may drown in all that awful lace."
"The lace is the best bit!"
Alice cleared her throat, silencing them.
"Can I please wear the blue one," she repeated, far more politely than she had previously.
All three of the dresses held that gaudy royal flair that Alice had grown to dislike, but the blue one felt like something she would've worn in Wonderland.
Tatiana pursed her lips, eyes lingering on the first dress. Up until Alice turned 11, her mother was always the one to choose her dresses, no matter how many tantrums her younger self would have. And rightfully so, in Alice's opinion. One time the Queen made her wear a thin laced dress in the middle of winter, Alice consequently falling sick for at least 2 weeks afterwards.
"There will be a lot of important people at the Winter Fete," Tatianna hummed, moving on from the dresses and facing her daughter once more.
She placed her hand on Alice's shoulders, oblivious (or just ignoring) to how her muscles tensed beneath her touch. The young girl fought her every instinct to shake the hand off. Her heart stuttered and stumbled in her chest, hammering through her ribs.
"You will remain by my or your brother's side at all times. Do you understand?"
Alice gave a short nod. Her mother looked dissatisfied at the wordless answer, but said nothing to correct it.
Her hand flitted from her shoulder up to her cheek. The warmth was there (small, but present), but Alice could only feel the ice that lingered at her fingertips. They spread from her face to the rest of her body, licking at her tauntingly at her skin.
"Don't embarrass me Alicia."
For a moment she tightened her hold. It may have been Alice's active imagination but she could've sworn nails dug into her flesh.
Then, she let go.
She waved her hand in dismissal, as she had done to her servants. Alice had never left so fast, allowing the door to slam closed behind her despite her mother's protests.
They were silent.
Alice pressed her cheek against the stone wall as her whole body heaved with each breath. Tears burned her eyes as her hands violently pulled at her skin.
Alice didn't know if there was anyone around in the corridor to watch her, nor did she care. It's not as if the castle didn't already view her as insane. The passing whispers told her as much.
Poor Alice. Poor little, naive, dumb Alice. Getting worked up over her mother's touch.
She gave herself another five sections before forcefully pushing herself off the wall and brushing her fingers over her dress - putting little effort into making herself look presentable.
Dumb Alice. Idiot Alice. Stupid Alice.
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Another short one because I am exhausted from school
Little advice if you're in the uk and are choosing what A levels to pick, don't do four. It's not worth it.
Just wanted to sprinkle in a few of Alice's issues here because sometimes it's the small things that set you off on a breakdown.