Free Wonderland (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 1) by Robert McKay

queen to shout for someone to take her head for daring to disagree, even about their own opinion. There weren’t any guards that were close by, so Alice worried the queen may expect her to do the deed. Instead, the queen laughed politely. “Oh, Laxana, there’s no need to feign disinterest, you never could resist a blonde, and young and willing to learn makes it three for three.”
    The woman looked down at Alice, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. “Very well, you have me pegged. Will you introduce us already?”
    “Of course,” said the queen, her wicked grin returning. “Alice, I’d like you to meet Laxana, Duchess of Wonderland, and my dear friend.”
    The duchess extended her hand to Alice, palm down. She took it in her own because that much was obvious. What she was supposed to do other than that was beyond her. A quick glance at the queen showed her kissing the back of her own hand. The duchess pretended not to notice, though she had to be in her peripheral vision.
    Alice did as she was expected and kissed the back of the duchess’ hand. It was very smooth and soft. It was awkward to be kissing a stranger. Her unease was wiped away by their smiles. They looked so proud of her. “A pleasure to meet you, um, Your Majesty?” said Alice, making it a question because she wasn’t sure what to call a duchess.
    “Your Grace, actually,” said the duchess, slowly drawing her hand back and giving Alice a dazzling smile. “Only a king or queen is called Your Majesty. And a pleasure to meet you as well, Alice.”
    The queen watched their exchange with veiled calculating eyes. “Laxana will, of course, be playing croquet with us. She’s quite the player.”
    “Pish posh,” said Laxana, her eyes only flicking away from Alice for a moment to look at the queen. “Everyone knows there’s no croquet player in the kingdom who can hold a candle to you.”
    “There you go with your flattery. You know it won’t get you anywhere,” replied the queen, a silly grin on her face.
    “Oh yes, but you do blush so prettily, I can’t contain myself,” said the duchess, finally turning back to face the queen.
    Alice stopped paying much attention to their words after that. It was all idle banter and Alice had more important things on her mind, like the heavily laden table of food she could smell all the way across the room. She looked at it longingly as the queen and duchess prattled on about sums of money that meant little to Alice. She was so hungry, she actually contemplated eating the mushroom in her pocket.
    After a time Alice realized both of the women had stopped talking and were looking at her. They had probably asked her a question, but she hadn’t heard it. “I’m sorry, did someone ask me a question?”
    They both laughed heartily at that. Alice realized that the duchess was quite a bit younger than the queen, with very few laugh lines, and if possible, even more pretty. She didn’t appear to be wearing any makeup either, which Alice found strange for such a public occasion. Her mother wouldn’t ever be caught dead at a grand occasion like this one without her makeup on. Even her dress, which was beautiful, did seem less extraordinary than someone of her stature would wear to a grand party.
    “I was asking if you might like to have something to eat, Alice,” said the duchess, her radiant smile making Alice smile in return. “You look as if you might bite someone soon.”
    Alice blushed and turned her gaze back to the ladies. It had drifted back over to the food without her realizing. “Yes, that would be lovely, I feel as if I haven’t eaten in days.”
    When she thought about it, she probably hadn’t missed much more than her dinner the night before and her breakfast. She was amazed. As far as she’d ever heard, there was no such place as Wonderland within easy distance of Nedra, and she’d gotten there and had an adventure in less than a day. Either this was the most detailed dream of her life, or