Naqam had to remind himself to breathe. Hatter pressed the gun harder into the vulnerable flesh under the Ace's chin, making him look up at the Real Worlder. His eyes flashed and he said, "You've got five days to impress upon me the fact that you don't want to hurt these people."

He tried to turn his head slightly to alleviate the pressure, but Hatter twisted his hand into the collar of Naqam's shirt, forcing him to stay still. He smiled grimly, and said, "If I was you, I'd do a damn good job."

Then, he let Naqam go, the gun disappearing into his jacket. He tugged at the brim of his hat, then motioned for Naqam to follow him.

Blinking once, Naqam rubbed a single finger under his chin, frowning. He cursed under his breath when Hatter let out a piercing whistle to get his attention. Glaring, he stormed down the steps, the look morphing into a scowl when this elicited nothing but a grin from the Real Worlder.

Apprehensively, he looked at the two beasts in front of him, one black and bigger than any one creature really should be, the other an almost delicate-looking animal with a sand-colored hide and a creamy white crest of hair along its neck and a matched tail.

Hatter snapped his fingers, catching Naqam's attention. He scowled, and said, "You could just say my name, you know? It's—"

"At the moment, I don't care to learn your name. It's enough to know what you are," Hatter said shortly.

Naqam blinked, taken aback by his harsh words. Which was ridiculous, he immediately realized. Hatred was rarely a one way street, after all. Rolling his shoulders slightly, he raked his hair back out of his face, not missing how the action caught Hatter's attention, making him freeze up for a second.

He recovered, then said, "You're on the palomino. She won't throw you unless you're phenomenally stupid."

Naqam pointed at the sand colored horse and Hatter nodded, but the Ace didn't move. Mostly because he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

With a sigh, Hatter went over to the horse's left side, beckoning for Naqam to join him. When he hesitated, Hatter said, "It's up to you how painful these next few days will be."

With another scowl, he walked over to stand next to Hatter. The horse made a small nickering sound and Naqam glanced at it distrustfully. On its back was a seat made of leather.

He started violently when Hatter reached past him, his arm brushing his shoulder, reeling backwards, right into the other horse. The black beast snorted and reared up, dark legs flashing right past Naqam's head.

Automatically, his hand went to his hip, searching for a weapon. He never got the chance when Hatter grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards, just as the horse came down, hooves cracking like a shot against the stone of the courtyard.

Naqam's heart pounded in his chest, his eyes huge. Hatter shunted him to the side and the Ace watched in horror as the man approached the beast, his hands palm out toward the horse who was pawing the ground, its hindquarters prancing nervously.

"Are you crazy!" Naqam hissed, making the horse rear again.

Hatter waved a hand at Naqam, obviously wanting him to shut up. The horse's eyes rolled as Mad approached, fighting against the thin strips of leather binding it to the post.

Moving slowly, fluidly, Hatter muttered under his breath words that Naqam couldn't make sense of.

He watched, dumbstruck as the horse stopped tugging and prancing, its frantic movements calming as Hatter continued to talk. Once he could place a hand on the horse's sleek neck, the animal went completely silent, flicking its ears toward the Real Worlder. It turned its head, huffing into the man's shoulder.

Hatter said something else in that strange language, then turned, giving Naqam a dirty look. His voice angry, he said, "Keep that up and you'll get your idiot head bashed in."

Naqam, who was still several feet away, gave him a disbelieving look. His voice raising with aggravation, he gestured at the horse. "That thing tried to kill me! I didn't even do anything to it!"

The horse snorted again, its head going up, but Mad grabbed the leather strap at the corner of its mouth. With another foul look, he said, "Lower your voice, slow your movements and calm your mind."

"I'm perfectly calm!" Naqam said, though his heart was still doing a war dance in his chest.

Hatter shook his head and said, "You've got too much energy. Just like..."

He trailed off, his eyes going dark for a second. Then he shook his head. With a sigh, he said, "Think like when you were learning to watch a target without getting noticed yourself. Small, minimal movement. If you have to move, do it smoothly. Don't be loud."

Naqam narrowed his eyes at Hatter, uncomfortable that he'd found such an effective way to teach this lesson. He nodded slowly, letting his muscles relax, forcing his breathing and heart rate down as far as he could get it and still stay upright.

Hatter nodded approvingly, then he untied the palomino and led her out toward the middle of the courtyard, away from the black terror. He gestured for Naqam to join him once more on the animal's left side.

Not about to be cowed, Naqam stalked toward Hatter, who gave him a flat, warning look. Immediately the Ace slowed down, letting his muscles slide fluidly over his bones.

When he was once again standing at the animal's side, Hatter pointed to its back and said, "Pay attention. I'm only saying this once. That's a saddle. Keeps you on the horse if you can't figure out how to do it yourself." His hand moved down to a loop near the horse's belly. "Stirrup. Put your foot here, haul yourself up."

When he didn't say more, Naqam looked at him questioningly. With another eye roll, Hatter grabbed the sleeve of the Ace's shirt at his shoulder and pulled him right in front of the saddle. Crossing his arms, he said, "Left hand on the horn, right on the cantle. Left foot in the stirrup and lift yourself up, swinging your right leg over the horse."

Naqam blinked, hit by too many strange words at one time. He'd always done better with visual lessons anyway. He opened his mouth to say something, but Hatter was already a step ahead of him. 

With a few snide words, he walked back over to the black beast and untied it. Looking once over his shoulder to make sure the Ace was watching, he put his booted foot in the stirrup, then with more grace than Naqam would have expected, swung himself up into the saddle.

Naqam almost missed how he did it. Hatter crossed his arms, leaning over the horn, tipping his hat back, green eyes watching the younger man. Bristling at the subtle challenge, he walked over to the other horse, keeping his movements even.

Copying everything he'd seen Hatter do, he applied more force than was necessary and very nearly sent himself over the other side of the horse. He thought he heard a hoarse laugh as he scrambled to right himself. He found his balance quickly, and watched as Hatter somehow got the black monster to move toward Naqam and the palomino.

He tensed, but the horse didn't do anything terrifying. Hatter, who looked down at him from his perch on the back of the bigger animal, smiled thinly and said, "Just keep your balance. She'll follow. You take off on my horse, I reserve the right to shoot you off her back."

"I'm not going anywhere," Naqam said, his tone sharp. He centered his weight, then nearly lost it again when Hatter got the black horse moving and his horse immediately followed.

They rode in silence through the town. Hatter kept his gaze straight forward, ignoring the staring people around them. Naqam, doing everything to emulate Hatter's position, straightened his back, his shoulders square and his chin high. 

He didn't meet anyone's gaze directly, but he could feel their gaze on him nonetheless. Whispers followed in their wake, and Naqam had the delicious thought that they were whispering stories about the last Ace of Hearts, their fear revived by his appearance.

Before long, they were beyond the limits of the town and into the trees leading away from the ocean. The sounds of construction had slowly picked up after they left, but they were once again fading behind them as they traveled.

The silence was killing Naqam. He felt like Hatter should be saying something, he just wasn't sure what. The horse swayed under him as they continued to move and at least half his attention was on keeping the animal under him.

What would make such a ridiculous creature, anyway. No wonder they hadn't had any of these things in Wonderland until this Real Worlder brought them.

Naqam's fingers went to his hips for the millionth time, and he finally opened his mouth, his eyes on the back of Hatter's head. "We left my guns at the castle."

Hatter made a noncommittal grunt, but didn't answer. Naqam wanted to move up alongside him, but didn't know how to get the horse to move any faster than she was going. Which, to be perfectly honest, was not at all fast enough for Naqam. He could have walked to wherever they were going faster.

Raising his voice, making birds take flight from their perches around them, he repeated, "My guns are still at the castle."

Hatter heaved a sigh, then twisted around in the saddle to stare at Naqam, who sat back a little at the look he was being given. For a long moment, Hatter just studied him, then he twisted back around to look forward. Shaking his head, he called back, "You can do plenty of damage all by yourself. You don't need anything with gunpowder."

Naqam's mouth puckered. That was true enough, but that didn't mean he liked being without his weapons. Crossing his arms, he ducked a low-hanging branch, then said, "Why can't I have them?"

Hatter snorted, spurring the black beast up a small incline and Naqam was forced to clutch at the horn as the palomino followed suit. Once they had slowed back to a walk, Hatter said, "Don't try to play stupid with me, kid. Aces are a lot of things. Stupid ain't one."

Purely because Hatter wasn't looking at him, Naqam let his face sour. It had been worth a shot.

He opened his mouth, but Hatter said, "Killian doesn't believe this whole 'I just wanted a place to belong' thing. Neither does Adira. Alice has always been more inclined to give people a chance, but she's had enough experience with a Heart's Ace to be wary. You're fighting a losing battle already. This is your one and only chance to get up the hill, kid. I'm the only thing that's gonna let you stay here if that's what you're really trying to do."

"What else would I be doing?" Naqam asked, making his voice as guileless as possible. His eyes were narrowed as he listened to the Real Worlder list out the obstacles he faced.

Hatter's horse slowed, then stopped. The palomino stopped as well and Naqam waited uncertainly as they sat. The trees created weird shadows in the waning sunlight; flowers sang softly to themselves around them. Eventually, Hatter turned the horse until he was facing Naqam straight on.

Through gritted teeth, he said, "You have two strikes against you already. One is that you're the Heart's Ace. The second is that you look like one. Now, I don't know what they told you about Tamsus, or what you know about him, but trust me when I say that here, in this place, with these people, that is not a compliment."

Naqam instantly bristled, his lip curling back in a snarl as Hatter dared to speak of the previous Ace. Hatter gave him a humorless grin, and said, "That's more like it." He pointed a gloved finger at Naqam. "Consider this a testing period, boy. You pass, maybe I believe you. The reason you're here with me is because we all think you're hiding something. And until I know what that is, you won't see the inside of Spade Castle. Won't get within a ten-mile radius of Killian or his family. Understand?"

Turning his head away, Naqam scowled at a little red-headed bird looking at him curiously. His jaw worked for a second as he thought of the best way to respond. Obviously, Hatter was no one to be trifled with.

But Naqam had never planned for this contingency. Hatter was just supposed to be an act of vengeance. He wasn't supposed to be an obstacle to the King, not really. Everyone in Wonderland knew that Hatter only visited the royal family occasionally, preferring to spend his time in a secluded corner of Killian's kingdom, raising his beasts. They also knew that all members of the family traveled often to see this man, but no one was foolish enough to draw near themselves.

Madison Hatter was a independent country unto himself here in Wonderland.

He was also just another relic from a long past war.

Except, the person in front of Naqam was anything but a relic. Hatter was still as tough and sharp as he had been twenty years ago. And now he was going to be watching Naqam's every move.

After another second, Naqam looked back at him and said, "Regardless of who I might look like, I'm just me. That's all I'm bringing here. Everything I said back there was true."

"Well, then you won't mind us spending a little time soothing our paranoia." Hatter made the horse wheel around. Over his shoulder, he called, "You're still hiding something, Ace. And ugly secrets have a way of coming to the surface."