There was a long, tense pause as the battling stopped all around the clearing. Alice stared at the Red Queen's finger, which was only inches from her neck. She was still breathing too hard to speak.

The nearest Red Knight¹ tossed his sword down on the ground. "We follow you no more," he said to the Red Queen, "Bloody² Big Head."

"How dare you!" shrieked³ Iracebeth. "Off with his head!"

Another Red Knight threw down his sword, then another, and another, and gradually every single Knight in the clearing disarmed⁴ himself, staring defiantly⁵ at the Red Queen. She stamped her feet furiously, and then her shrieks⁶ of rage grew even louder as the crown lifted off her head and started to float through the air. Iracebeth grabbed for it, but it wafted⁷ out of her reach and over to Mirana, where it settled gently on the White Queen's head.

"Iracebeth of Crims," said the White Queen, "your crimes against Underland are worthy⁸ of death. However, that is against my vows⁹. Therefore, you are banished¹⁰ to the Outlands. No one is to show you any kindness or ever speak a word to you. You will have not a friend in the world."

The Knave¹¹ of Hearts sidled up to the White Queen and bowed unctuously¹². "Majesty¹³," he said in his slippery, slimy voice, "I hope you bear me no ill will."

"Only this one," Mirana said, pointing without looking at him. "Ilosovic Stayne, you will join Iracebeth in banishment¹⁴ from this day until the end of Underland."

The Knave went very pale. Knights¹⁵ seized his arms and chained him to Iracebeth. The former Red Queen leaned toward him, batting her giant eyes. "At least we have each other," she said.

In a panic, Stayne pulled out a knife and tried to stab Iracebeth. She screamed as the Hatter threw a pair of scissors and knocked the knife away. Stayne dropped to his knees before the White Queen.

"Majesty, please kill me …" he begged. "Please."

"But I do not owe you a kindness," the White Queen said, looking down at him with no pity in her eyes.

"Take off my head!" he pleaded.

Knights dragged the unfortunate pair away. As they vanished into the woods, everyone could still hear Iracebeth screaming at Stayne. "You tried to kill me! HE TRIED TO KILL ME! He tried to kill me!"

Her voice faded into the distance, and a soft breeze seemed to send a sigh of relief through everyone in the clearing. All at once, the Hatter burst into an enthusiastic dance.

"Oh, the Frabjous Day!" he sang out happily. "Calloo! Callay!"

"What is he doing?" asked Alice, amused. She had taken off some pieces of her heavy armor and was breathing more easily now.

"Futterwacken," the Cheshire Cat answered her, grinning.

The White Queen knelt beside the body of the fallen Jabberwocky and caught a drop of its blood in a vial. She stood up and handed the vial to Alice as the Hatter let her go.

"And blood of the Jabberwocky," said the Queen. "You have our everlasting¹⁶ gratitude¹⁷. And for your efforts on our behalf, I give you this."

The Queen handed the vial to Alice. She held it up to the light, surprised by the color of the blood inside. "Will this take me home?" she asked.

"If that is what you choose," said the Queen.

Alice lifted the vial, but stopped as the Hatter put his hand on hers.

"You could stay," he said, his gaze warm and full of promise.

"What an idea," Alice said softly. "A crazy, mad, wonderful idea." She looked around at all the strange and wonderful beings she'd met in this and wonderfully strange place. She imagined what it would be like to stay—to talk to animals every day, to ride the Bandersnatch and explore Underland, to dance the Futterwacken with the Hatter whenever she chose.

But thoughts of her mother and sister and unfinished business intruded¹⁸, and she knew she could not stay … at least, not now.

"But I can't," she said to the Hatter, taking his hand. "There are questions I have to answer. Things I have to do."

She poured the new potion into her mouth. "I'll be back again before you know it," she promised the Hatter.

"You won't remember me."

"Of course I will!" she said. "How could I forget? Hatter … why is a raven¹⁹ like a writing desk?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Fairfarren, Alice."

All of Underland began to shimmer²⁰ around him, and his hand disappeared from hers as everything dissolved into—

—the meadow where Alice had first chased the White Rabbit. Alice found herself clinging to the edge of a rabbit hole. She pulled herself up and out of the hole. Grass was tangled²¹ in her long hair, and her clothes were wrinkled and torn. She shook her head, trying to remember what had happened. How odd. Had she fallen asleep?

She stood up and brushed off her skirts.

Whether she wanted to or not, she thought, she'd better get back to Hamish and the party.

 

空地周围所有的战争都停了下来，紧张的停顿延续了好一会儿。爱丽丝盯着红皇后的手指，她的手指几乎戳到了爱丽丝的脖子。爱丽丝还在喘着粗气，连话都说不出来。

离红皇后最近的一个红骑士把剑扔到地上，对红皇后说：“我们再也不替你卖命了，血腥的大脑袋！”

“好大的胆子！砍掉她的脑袋！”伊拉贝斯厉声喝道。

又一个红骑士扔掉了手中的剑，然后一个接一个，渐渐地空地上所有的红骑士都放下了手中的武器，用挑衅的眼神盯着红皇后。她狠狠地跺着脚。当皇冠慢慢从她头上升起，开始在空中飘移，红皇后愤怒的尖叫声也随之变得越来越刺耳。伊拉贝斯慌忙伸手去抓，但她够不着飘在空中的皇冠。皇冠飘向了莫安娜，最后轻轻地落在了白皇后的头顶上。

“罪人伊拉贝斯，”白皇后说，“你对地下世界所犯的罪行让你死罪难逃。但是，这违背了我永不杀生的誓言。因此，你将被流放到荒蛮之地。没人可怜你甚至没人理睬你。在这个世界上你再也没有朋友了。”

黑骑士偷偷踅到白皇后跟前虚情假意地鞠了一躬。“陛下，”他带着谄媚的腔调狡猾地说道，“希望陛下不要对我有成见。”

“除了这个人，”莫安娜把脸撇到一边指着他说，“斯塔亚尼，从今天开始你将和伊拉贝斯一起被流放，直到地下世界终结的那一天。”

斯塔亚尼听后脸色惨白。白骑士上前捉住他的胳膊把他和伊拉贝斯拴在一起。刚刚下台的红皇后倾着身子靠向斯塔亚尼，眨巴着大眼睛说：“至少我们还有彼此。”

惊恐万分的斯塔亚尼拔出一把小刀试图刺死伊拉贝斯。疯帽子掷出一把剪刀打掉了他手中的刀子，红皇后尖声惊叫。斯塔亚尼跪在白皇后面前。

“陛下，求您杀了我吧……求求您了！” 他苦苦哀求。

“我不需要对你仁慈。”白皇后不屑一顾地看着他说道。

“砍掉我的脑袋吧！”他恳求道。

白骑士拖走了这倒霉的一对儿。尽管他们已经从树林里消失，但所有人依然能听到伊拉贝斯对斯塔亚尼歇斯底里地大喊大叫：“你想杀我！他想杀我！他竟然想杀我！”

她的叫嚷声渐行渐远。一阵微风似乎让空地上所有的人都松了一口气。忽然间，疯帽子激情澎湃地跳起了舞。

“噢，辉煌之日！”他高兴地唱着。“酷！酷极了！”

“他在干吗？”爱丽丝笑着问。她脱掉了身上几块沉重的盔甲，呼吸也变得更轻松了。

“富特韦根舞，”柴郡猫咧着嘴笑着回答。

白皇后跪在倒地的炸脖龙的身边，用一个小瓶接了一滴它的血。她站起来，将这个小瓶递给了爱丽丝，这时疯帽子松开了爱丽丝的手。

“这是炸脖龙的血，”白皇后说，“我们将永远感激你。为了感谢你为我们付出的努力，我把它送给你。”

白皇后说完便把瓶子递给爱丽丝。她把瓶子举起来对着太阳光，里面血液的颜色让她很是惊讶。“喝下这个能让我回家吗？”爱丽丝问道。

“如果这是你的选择的话。”白皇后回答。

于是爱丽丝举起瓶子，但疯帽子伸手阻止了她。

“你可以留下。”疯帽子说，他的目光诚挚又坚定。

“多好的主意，”爱丽丝轻声说，“一个疯狂而又绝妙的主意。”她环顾四周，望着在这个陌生却又让人愉快的地下世界里碰到的所有奇怪又让人惊奇的生物。她想象着如果留下来，她的生活会是什么样——每天跟动物聊天，骑着大毛兽到地下世界探险，无论什么时候只要她有兴致就和疯帽子一起跳福特韦根舞。

但一想到母亲、姐姐还有未完成的事业，她就知道自己不能留下……至少，现在不能。

“但是不行，”她握着疯帽子的手对他说，“还有些问题等着我去答复，有些事情等着我去完成。”

说完爱丽丝便把新药水倒进了嘴里。“在你发现之前我还会再回来的。”她向疯帽子许诺。

“你会忘掉我的。”

“我当然不会！我怎么可能忘掉？疯帽子……为什么乌鸦像写字台？”爱丽丝立马说道。

“我也一无所知。永别了，爱丽丝。”

整个地下世界开始在他周围闪闪发光，然后他的手从爱丽丝的手中消失，所有的东西都渐渐消失在——

爱丽丝回到了第一次追赶白兔子的那片草地上。她发现自己紧紧地抓着兔子洞的边沿，然后费力地爬出了洞口。她的长发上缠着青草，身上的衣服又破又皱。爱丽丝晃了晃脑袋，试图回忆起过去的事情。太奇怪了，难道自己睡着了吗？

她站起身，轻轻地理了理皱巴巴的裙子。

她想，无论愿不愿意，她最好回到派对上，回到哈米什身边。

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