"She's going to do what?" The twins' eyes grew moist and they stared at me in shock. 

I refused to meet their teary gazed, ashamed to have to bring such news. "I'm sorry," I said.

The twins leaned against each other with defeated looks. "We're gonna die...?" Dee mumbled.

I heard nervous murmurs from the rest of the group as they also started taking in the situation. Rab and Hatter looked worried while Mouse and March just looked sad. I felt bad to break the news to them, but I didn't want them to go in blind. They deserved to know what was coming. They deserved an explanation to their fate.

After a long silence, Rab finally spoke up. "Do you know anything else? We could use anything helpful," he said, still trying to sound positive.

I shook my head, eyes on the ground. Everyone fell into a completely dead silence again. Suddenly, there was noise from the stairwell as guards entered the dungeon. Everyone stood, fearing what was to come. This was it and we all knew it.

Rab and Hatter resisted slightly as they were pulled out of their cells, but they settled down after a few harsh growls. The twins refused to part until a couple of guard physically separated them, making Dee start to cry. Mouse was silent, and March let off a rush of ramblings about various things that weren't helpful in the slightest. Once everyone was being held by a guard, we were taken up the stairs and through the halls of the castle. I didn't even bother resisting. I was just a weak kid anyways. Why I thought I would ever be able to defeat a queen and her army, I didn't know.

Suddenly, however, my guard pulled away from the group. I frowned and glanced back in worry. "Where are we going?" I asked, tripping as the soldier pulled me along.

I was taken to a room and pushed inside without a response. More scared than I would've admitted, I turned to ask what was going on only to have the door was slammed in my face, the lock clicking. Warily, I turned to survey the room. Why was I brought here? Suddenly, my eyes landed on Cheshire standing near a window. He was staring at me, unmoving. In an instant, my eyes narrowed and I glared at him. What did he want?

I opened my mouth to speak when Cheshire rushed across the room, pulling me into an embrace and startling me into silence. I stood frozen for a moment. Then I came back to my senses and I shoved him away, stumbling back. "What are you doing?!" I asked. Cheshire looked nervous and the fury I'd been holding in boiled over at the absolute audacity. "Don't you ever touch me again! How dare you even try to talk to me after everything that you've done!" I said. My hands clenched into fists and I raised them as if to hit him. "I hate-"

My voice caught in my throat as I finally fully registered Cheshire's face. The tears slipping down his cheeks as he pressed his lips together firmly, his flattened, quivering ears, his turquoise eyes looking more vulnerable than I'd ever seen him before. He was trembling, and looked so ashamed he could have disappeared. 

"I-..." Cheshire's voice was rough. "I'm so sorry... I know that's a lousy apology and you never have to forgive me for what I did... But I'm sorry." 

I dropped my hands. "What do you want me to do?" I asked. "Why are you here?"

Cheshire literally cowered. "I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was wrong... I never cared about the war. I thought that being on the strongest side would just be the right choice. I didn't care about anyone. But... I never thought I'd have to choose between her..." His voice caught, "and someone else..." At that moment, the usually calm and collected man I thought I knew so well, dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry...! Everything I said was a lie!"

I stared at him. His ears, usually cocked with pride and confidence, were plastered down on his head. His tail was wrapped around his ankle in a feeble attempt to hold onto something as his body shook with tears. He'd never looked so upset before.

This wasn't good enough. Furious, I ran up to push him back, violently grabbing his shirt. "Why are you telling me this now?! My friends, your friends, are about to be slaughter! And it's all your fault!" I shouted. I shook him, so mad I could rip right into him. "You betrayed all of us!"

When he merely stared up at me, eyes wide with shock and regret, I released him to storm a few steps away. My head was spinning; I couldn't think. Why was he doing this? My conscience was already so swarmed with fear and guilt, I couldn't deal with any of this. 

Cheshire stood up slowly, making a cautious suggestion. "The queen has to give her speech before she can proceed with the execution. If we hurry, we might be able to make it in time."

It sounded like a good idea, but I didn't know what to do. If he really was sorry, then maybe we had a chance at rescuing everyone. But if he was lying and it was another trick, I could just make things worse. These thoughts clouded my judgement and I struggled to make a decision.

Cheshire seemed to know what I was thinking. "You don't have to trust me," he said, making an advance towards me which I rejected. He stepped back again. "I... I only ask that you believe me."

I sighed deeply. "Fine," I said. "But tell me something."

"Tell you what?" Cheshire asked.

"Why was it Rab's life for mine?" I asked. Cheshire shrunk at the question, ashamed. "Why make me condemn him just to save myself? He was your friend."

Cheshire seemed reluctant to answer, his head low. "It's wasn't a matter of Rab's life over yours," he said. "It was for your safety. I... I didn't want to see you die."

I watched him with a steady gaze for several moments. Then I shook my head and walked past him. "You're selfish," I said.

*******

We ran down the secret passage, racing towards the courtyard where the whole castle was gathered for the execution. We could hear the queen's guard speak loudly even before we reached the door. Before I could grab the handle, Cheshire stopped me. "Let me go out first. The queen still trusts me and won't suspect anything," he said. He handed me a knife, being sure our fingers never touched. "Just wait here a bit."

I nodded and he quietly stepped out of the passage, the door closing behind him with a gentle click. After waiting to make sure the coast was clear, I opened the door slightly and peeked out, watching him enter the courtyard and stand beside the queen. I took a deep breath to ready myself.

"Traitor! Alice loved you, bastard!" Rab was shouting as Cheshire stepped up to stand next to the queen's chair. I could see the guilt written across Cheshire's face, the remorse he held for his actions was clear. However, Rab cared less for that than I. He fought valiantly to get at the man before him. When it was clear he wasn't getting away, Rab narrowed his eyes. "I can't believe my best friend could stoop so low."

This must have angered the queen and she quickly instructed her guards to continue with the execution. My heart sped up as Rab was dragged over to a stone and his head held down. I knew what was coming next and I took my chance, pushing the door open and sprinting across the courtyard with the dagger in hand. 

"Let him go!" I shouted.

The hands holding Rab down froze and there were murmurings throughout the courtyard. I had done it. Rab slowly opened his eyes. They widened when he saw Cheshire with his hand around the queen's throat, and me standing on the queen's other side with a dagger pointed over her heart. I felt my hands sweating with excitement and fear.

The guards immediately released Rab, and Cheshire demanded all the guards to step away from the others. The queen held very still. Once everyone was free, Cheshire turned back to the queen. "This execution is still on," he growled.

The queen narrowed her eyes and suddenly knocked the dagger out of my hands. As it clattered to the ground, she ripped Cheshire's hand away and grabbed him by his hair, pulling him close to keep him from moving. I went for the knife, but the queen slammed her foot down, shattering the metal weapon instantly. I withdrew, a shard having sliced my finger.

"Now," the queen said, fire in her usually mocking eyes. "Why don't we fix this little problem?"

Still holding onto Cheshire firmly, she smoothed her dress and stepped down from her chair. With a mere toss, she threw Cheshire towards us, a look of displeasure on her face. "I'm very disappointed in you, kitten. I was hoping to share my victory of Wonderland with you," she said.

Cheshire sneered. "Keep it. I never wanted your glory."

"Too bad," she hummed. She addressed the rest of us. "Capturing you in pairs was simple enough, but a group as large as you are now is too difficult even for me. I wanted to see you off one by one, but that has proven impossible."

Her eyes fell on Alice. "Dear nephew, I was so excited to be able to do away with you with my own hands, but that appears to be out of the question," she said. With a smirk she stepped on a stone beside her. "That's alright. I have other means of getting what I want."

The wind suddenly picked up and Hatter's eyes grew wide with fear. "Oh, no," he said.

He didn't have to explain to me what was happening, I already knew. The queen was opening the portal; she was opening the door to my world. The sudden gravity of the situation was apparent at once; this was getting dangerous. If any of Wonderland's residents fell in, they would be expelled from Wonderland forever.

The queen smiled as the portal began sucking in anything that wasn't held down in close vicinity. "Knowing that you'll live with the knowledge that you couldn't save your friends will be almost as satisfying," the queen said.

*******

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