Royal Reunion (5 Feb 2002) Alice meets someone very special. Note: Mirari players other than Alice should not read this log.

The chapel of the Palace of All Seasons
More modest than one might expect of a king's chapel, the chamber has wooden benches on the left and right of a long, red-carpeted aisle. Near the front are enclosed pews, and an altar of gold and white linen, and stained glass windows of angels and saints lit from inside by candles everywhere. Rows of candles sit to the far front. Apart from the aisle's carpet, the floor is a silky-smooth polished wood that reflects very nicely.

The queen glances to Father Crow again, making a gesture of quiet dismissal to him, and the priest bows before withdrawing from the chapel. She removes her hat, and shakes back her calf-length hair and black fur cloak, revealing a dark, somber dress, made a little festive by light blue embroidery and white lace at the throat, cuffs, and peeping beneath the edge of the full skirt. She hangs hat and cloak on a peg by the door, then turns toward the altar again.

Across the chapel stands a little girl who had risen from where she was kneeling behind the front-most benches, left of the altar. Garbed in the clothing of a maid, knees and sleeves damp from her earlier attempt at mopping, she stands in silent awe of the other -- and when that other begins to turn she reaches up and clasps both hands over her mouth, eyes widening. She looks very stunned, and very obvious, unable to think of what to say or do.

The queen takes a half-step down the aisle before her eyes fall on the small, damp serving girl. A frown creases her brow, enhancing the fine wrinkles around her eyes. "Child," she says to the girl, "what are you doing here? The chapel is to be empty now."

The girl jumps as the queen speaks, gasping, seemingly surprised by it. Her eyes widen all the more for her reaction, but beyond that she seems frozen to the spot.

The tall blond woman looks even graver at the little girl's reticence. "Never mind why, then, little one. You are dismissed now -- go." She gestures back to the entrance, continuing to move to the altar.

Blinking again the child suddenly remembers herself as the shock gives way to fear, fear that she might have to leave when she finally found her. The hands fall from her mouth and she curtsies, then like a tide says, "NayyourHighnessIcameandII'mhereand-" She inhales deeply, looking up, "andKuonandLadySorerecessNyumaeandtheYear'sEndandandand-!" Another blink and the child's hands are back covering her mouth again.

With a bemused shake of her head, Queen Seraph finishes crossing the distance between them. "'Tis plain you must think you have some purpose being here," she says, and the faux servant can't tell if the queen is more exasperated or amused. She bends to take the girl's grubby hands into her own pale gloves, freeing her mouth. "Now, child, tell me. Slowly. You may begin by telling me your name -- I do not recognize you."

It takes Alice a moment to say anything, for a long moment she simply watches the queen in wonder, and when her hand is taken from here she can feel the little girl shaking slightly. "V-verily," she stammers, and then more, "your Highness." She curtsies again after a pause and a blink, continuing with, "Tommy who's really Lord Explorer Thomas says 'Alice' -- Agatha who is Lady Redmane, Elinor who is really a Golden Hawker fae but-she-didn't-say-so, and Simon who is really a talking cat do too! Lord October says Your Highness, Kuon does too -- and Gabriel calls me 'squirt' sometimes!"

The queen listens to this recitation with the same bemused look on her face. "I think I shall need to sit down." And saying so, she does as much, seating herself on one of the pews. "I am to conclude that you are called ... ah ... Alice Squirt?"

Alice follows the queen over to where she sits but remains standing, hands folded together in front of herself. The queen's review of her name makes her giggle, and the laughter must ease some tension in the girl for she smiles now and seems to ease in manner and word -- she doesn't appear to be shaking anymore, certainly. "'Tis not so, Your Highness! Alice Westfield -- from Ainigton!" The little girl screws up her face at a thought, less certain of the name than she ever had been before. "But nay, it may not be so."

The girl wrinkles her nose as she thinks more on the matter of what her name might be, and just how to say so, and as she does she unfolds her hands and reaches in to conspicuously bulging pocket and draws out her beloved stuffed unicorn. This she draws up in to a loose hug as she watches the queen watch her.

When the girl gives her last name, the queen freezes for an instant, staring at her. "Who sent you here, child? Who told you that name?" Queen Seraph asks, sounding alarmed and angry.

Alice's hugging of the doll tightens at the queen's sudden anger, seemingly shrinking behind the unicorn. "N-no one, Your Highness, it's my name," she answers quietly.

Seraph folds her gloves hands together, her jaw clenched and tense. "Then -- then how have you come to be here, Alice Westfield, of Ainigton? The mortal folk do not often visit the land of the fey."

"Lady Sorceress Nymuae brought us -- Agatha and me too -- across the Siege of Stone and Water, which was a lot of fun, and-and ... then we went to Lord October's house and that was really pretty, and we got to see True Dawn, and then we were talking about what we should do and I said I wanted to come here so Kuon said I could sneak inside but I'm not very good at spy games but I made it okay so that's how I got here Your Highness," Alice rambles.

"I see." The queen regains her composure as the little girl speaks. "Where did you meet Kuon, Alice Westfield? Why did he tell you you could sneak into the Palace?"

The little girl relaxes a little, drawing away from the doll and swaying idly on her feet as she answers, "Truly, I met Kuon at Harcourt Manor in Ainigton, Your Highness; we used to play together! He likes fetch and cookies." She blinks, then frowns a little. "But he's really the King's Huntsman and I don't think we can play fetch anymore."

"Kuon said I could sneak in because it was important. The Lord of Year's End is real and so are jruuh and Mirari is in trouble -- and I wanted to meet you, Your Highness, to be sure!" the little girl adds after a moment.

Seraph's eyes widen as Alice relaxes her grip on the unicorn doll enough for the features of the stuffed animal to be made out. She draws off her gloves, fanning her face. "Kuon was in Ainigton ... and he sent you here to warn me. Why did you wish to meet me, Alice?"

The little girl seems to notice the queen's distress at the sight of her doll, so she unwraps her hands around it and offers it to the queen. "When I get scared or feel bad I hug Lord Mel, but nay, you seem so sad ... do you want to hug Lord Mel too? Truly, I think he belongs to you too, anyway," she tells the queen. She smiles just a little, trying to comfort the distressed queen as she tries to say what she isn't sure how to explain.

Though she reaches out with one hand for the doll, the queen seems afraid to touch it, her fingertips hovering inches away from it. "Alice, you should not be here," she says, her voice low and tremulous. "Mirari is not a safe place for ... little mortal girls. Thou ought to return to thy home, in Ainigton."

Alice's smile breaks, and she blinks, looking bewildered -- and then she frowns and shakes her head vehemently. "But-b-but, Lady Yseult said I should be here, that Mirari is my home no-matter-what-happens, that ... that I should be here-- with you, Your Highness!" Uncertainty rings in the little girl's voice, along with fear. She is uncertain why the queen wants her to leave. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

The queen's hand falls away from the doll without touching it. "Why did Lady Yseult tell you that?"

"Be- ... because, Y-your Highness, you ... you're my mother, 'tis so ..?" asks the blonde haired child as she clutches her doll in her arms, her eyes searching the face of the queen with a mix of apprehension and curious awe.

"Did Lady Yseult tell you that, too?" Seraph's expression is guarded, and whatever she feels is masked.

The little girl blinks, and as nervousness touches her heart she shifts back and forth on her feet again, swaying slowly. She looks down. "Nay. Lord October said it was so when we were talking about what we were going to do. Lord Tommy thought so too, but he wasn't really sure. Kuon was, though," is her answer, spoken softly.

"Where is Kuon now, child?" the queen asks, quietly.

Alice answers in the same quiet tone, "Kuon is outside in the stables waiting for me, Your Highness." She looks faintly sad, though she feels the ache far more than she seems to express it. As if hiding it so the sad queen cannot see -- Alice thinks she's sad enough, and she doesn't need her sadness too.

The queen clasps her hands around her biceps, rubbing the dark velvet with her fingers. "An-- Alice -- why have you come here?" she asks again, even though the girl already answered the question once. There's an odd quality to her voice, almost desperate.

"I- ... " The little girl shuffles her feet, hugging her unicorn tightly. "I wanted to meet you, Your Highness, and because Mirari is in trouble. 'Tis because Lord Year's End is coming back, maybe -- like happened in Lady April's mirror-letters."

"The Year's End is only a story, Alice. He's not real," Seraph explains gently.

Alice shakes her head a little. "Nay, Your Highness, 'tis not true ... 'tis very much not true! The jhruuh are his servants, Lady Yvone said so, and I've seen them, and they're very scary. One tried to eat me but Lord Mel-chiz ... Melchiz-dek came and saved me!"

Seraph's eyes drift to the doll. "When was this?"

The girl's nose wrinkles. She answers, "I'm not sure, Your Highness. 'twixt a month and maybe two ago and now. T'was when Lord Melchiz-dek was still in Ainigton before he went back to Mirari and was unicorn-napped in the dark place where the jruuh gather and the dragon slept."

"You know where Lord Melchizedek is now? Who told you this?" Seraph asks, raising her head.

"Lord Melchizedek said so when Lady Sorceress Nymuae used my doll to find him. He couldn't say anything, but he pointed where he was, and it was very dark. We knew because we think we were there once too." The girl nods a little, hugging her doll instinctively as she thinks of the plight of its living counterpart. "Tommy and Agatha are looking for the Lord Protector now."

"Who are these friends of yours, Tommy and Agatha?" the queen asks. "Are they of Ainigton, as well?"

The girl nods again. "Tommy is really Lord Thomas the Explorer who got lost and came to Mirari, but he's really a lot older than he looks-- I think." Her nose wrinkles again. "I'm very sorry Your Highness if I don't get it right," she apologizes before continuing. "T'was Agatha I came with when Lady Sorceress Nymuae brought us here. She might be Knight Redmane, but I don't think she wants to be. Oh! And Lady Sorceress Nymuae is Rebecca, too; she's my best friend from Ainigton. We all used to play together."

A half-smile forms on the queen's lips as Alice speaks. "I hope you enjoyed your games then, my child. Don't you miss Ainigton? And your--" Her breath catches, then she continues, "--your parents?"

Alice looks up and blinks, smiling a little, too. "I do miss Ainigton sometimes, but I like Mirari a lot. It's so pretty, Your Highness. Tommy and Agatha didn't believe that animals could talk and faeries and unicorns and all sorts of things were real but they really are! And there's magic, and True Dawns, and Lords and Ladies and everything!" She watches the queen for a moment, remembering that's not all she asked, and so she says, "I love Daddy and Mommy, but Mommy is always busy with Rickon and Gabriel doesn't want to play anymore. I told Daddy all about Mirari but he didn't believe me. Mommy didn't either."

At Alice's last words, the queen looks sad again. She reaches out to touch a lock of Alice's blond hair, smoothing it back from her forehead. "I am sure they love you very much," she whispers. "Sometimes ... it is hard for people to accept the truth. Easier not to believe."

"Really?" asks the little girl curiously. "When someone tells me something I try to believe, unless it's really silly. No one told me that animals could talk and unicorns were real, but I was sure. Sometimes you don't need someone to tell you what's true for it to be true, to be sure."

"No, you don't." Queen Seraph strokes Alice's hair for a moment. "You have told me that you were attacked by jruuh, Alice. In Ainigton, or Mirari?"

Easing, Alice relaxes her hold on the doll again as the queen's sign of affection. Her smile widens too, hesitating only as she remembers the attack. "T'was in Ainigton, in the forest near the cave where the jruuh came from and the Siege of Stone and Water and cookie-eating ravens is."

"Then Ainigton is no safe haven for you, either." The queen stands, the lace and velvet of her gown rustling, and she pushes her long hair back from her face with both hands.

Alice looks up at the queen as she stands, for before the queen sat at more or less eye level. "Nay. Everywhere seems too scary now ... Everywhere shouldn't be scary, the mean old Lord of Year's End shouldn't scare people. It's not nice; doesn't he know how nice Mirari is?" says the little girl.

"No, it's not nice," the queen agrees. She offers Alice her hand. "Come, little one. Let us go find Kuon. You said he is waiting for you in the stables?"

Alice tucks Lord Mel under her left arm, then gladly takes the queen's hand with her right. "'Tis so, with Huntsman Colin. Colin sir is Kuon's friend, and he helped me sneak inside, so if Kuon isn't there, I bet Colin knows where he went."

"I am sure he will." Seraph closes her fingers around Alice's, and smiles. "I am glad you came." She says it so softly, it might almost be to herself.

At seeing the queen smile, really smile, Alice beams. If she hears the queen's comment she doesn't speak of it and instead simply looks content enough to hold her hand and see her smile. She even considers offering the queen a hug, but thinks you're not supposed to hug queens without royal permission and that might take a while, and she also remembers she's rather wet. "Are dogs really not allowed in the castle? I think that makes Kuon sad, and I'm really sorry I got the floor all wet and..."

As they near the chapel door, where her cloak and hat hang on a hook nearby, Queen Seraph shakes her head. "That's quite all right," she begins. Standing before the cloak hook, she suddenly turns, and kneels to embrace Alice, hugging the little girl fiercely. "...it doesn't matter at all," she whispers.

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