The uninfected looked rather embarrassed, that March could see.
“If I were you, I would feel ashamed for the rest of your life,” The priest looked around. “If I were you, I wouldn’t hide in here and cry and pray for someone to save my sorry butt because I think I’m a good person. If I were you, I’d turn and face the villain.”
The March’s ears stood erect, seeing how some of them had been influenced by the priest’s talk, about to push the church’s gates open and deal with the plague.
“Go out now! Stare darkness in the face and kick its ass!”
Just before they did, the March Hare saw Fabiola enter the church, yelling at the priest. “How dare you come in here with that blood on your hands and talk to them like that?” she roared like he’d never seen her for a long time. “Get out of here, Pillar!”
Chapter 87
St Peter’s, The Vatican
When I get back to the basilica, I see Fabiola scream at the Pillar.
I don’t actually hear most of what she says. I am looking at the Pillar. He takes off the fake priest’s outfit, showing the blood-stained blue suit underneath. His face is slashed with bruises and cuts, and he needs medical attention.
More than anything, he looks like someone who needs a hug to me. You can’t kill so many people and feel okay, not even if you are the Pillar.
“I want you gone.” I hear Fabiola now. “I don’t want to see you ever again.”
“Why would you say something like that to me?” He sounds sincere.
“You’re a terrible man.” The veins on her neck stick out. “A terrible, terrible man. Get out.”
“I just killed everyone who worked for the Executioner, Fabiola. Does that not count as an act of righteousness to you?”
“You don’t want justice, Pillar. All you want is blood.”
“How can you have justice without blood?”
Wow. The conversation is taking a heavy turn.
“Ask the kids,” he approached them. “Are you happy the Executioner and his friends are all dead now?”
The kids hurray.
“Stay away from them.” Fabiola stands in the way. “They don’t need a role model like you in their lives.”
“Yeah, I understand.” The Pillar wipes blood off his lips. “I’m the bad guy after all.”
“Don’t try to have anyone sympathize with you,” Fabiola says. “You fooled Alice and took the key from her. You made a deal with the Queen of Hearts.”
“I did.”
“Why?” I cut in. “Why give the key back to her?”
“First of all, I have the key with me. I haven’t given it to her yet.”
“So why were you going to give it to her after you played me?”
“I said I made a deal. I didn’t say I was going to keep my end of it.”
Chapter 88
“I don’t understand,” I say.
“The Queen asked to meet me a few days earlier, asking me if I’d join Black Chess,” the Pillar says. “I said no, but then she offered to tell me the whereabouts of the Executioner, which she knew was very important to me. I’ve been looking for the Executioner for so long—don’t ask me why.”
“See?” Fabiola says. “He only stands on his side.”
“Wait, Fabiola, please.” I sense I’m about to hear something else that I don’t like. “Does this mean we weren’t in Columbia to find the cure?”
The Pillar hesitates. “No. I brought you along so you could help the children out. Sooner or later I was going to kill the Executioner and his men.”
“But you didn’t kill him before he told us about the Dodo location,” I argue.
“That’s because I needed to find the whereabouts of the March Hare, save him and then get you with him and children on the plane and go finish my work. I knew he was behind this from the beginning.”
“How is that possible?”
“The March Hare extracted all kinds of drugs and cures from plants in Wonderland. It was him who extracted the Lullaby, which helped Lewis Carroll with his migraines. No one but him could have cooked it.”
“Frankly, I don’t know what to say to you,” I say. “I mean, you do all the worst things in the world. You lie, cheat, manipulate, but then somewhere between the lines you have a good cause. I am so confused.”
“Don’t be,” Fabiola says. “Whatever cause he had, he risked the end of the world by taking you along. What if something had happened to you while you were there?”
It’s a plausible thought, but it depends on whether ridding the world of the Executioner was as important as saving lives.
“So do you have any idea how I can kill Carolus?” I tell the Pillar, hoping he’ll tell the truth this time.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I think your best bet is that the March remembers all the details of what happened with Carolus. I believe the solution lies in the Hare’s ears – it’d be a shame having them stick out all the time for nothing.”
“We’ll take it from here,” Fabiola says. “Now get out of here, Pillar.”
The Pillar nods. He looks defeated in a way. Like I noticed before, he can hardly stand up to Fabiola. We all watch him walk out the door, wondering if we’ll ever see him again—or if we ever want to see him again.
“And please stay away from Alice.” Fabiola stabs the words in his back. I know if there’s one thing he likes the most, it’s to be near me. “Once the Inklings are set to go, we won’t need you.”
The Pillar slowly turns back. “Why do you hate me so much, White Queen?” he says. “I lost this for you.” He waves his right hand in the air and points at something.
I blink, trying to interpret what he means. Lost what for her, Pillar? What in the church was he pointing at? Was he pointing at God? Has he lost his faith to her? It doesn’t make sense.
Fabiola stiffens. The Pillar’s words cut through her somehow. She fights the tears and stands straight, saying nothing.
“Get out, Pillar.” She kills him now—and me. “Go pay the Queen of Hearts with the key in exchange for your revenge. Go spill blood and spread mayhem wherever you want, but not near us.”
The Pillar turns around and walks out. As he does, he stops near one of the uninfected and scares her. “Boo!”
Chapter 89
Radcliffe asylum, Oxford
The Cheshire, in Todd’s body now, grinned at his sister.
“You look awkward,” she retorted. “Go find Dad and make fun of him.”
“So you’re not Tweedledee?” the Cheshire said.
“What? You’ve read those Alice in Wonderland books now? Aren’t you too old for that?”
“No one’s too old for those books, don’t you think?” the Cheshire said. “So you’re not Tweedledum, either?”
“I’m not,” she says. “What’s wrong with you today?”
“I guess it’s the Alice in Wonderland books.” The Cheshire cocked his head.
“You know what happened to me the first time my teacher read the book to us in class when I was younger?”
“No. What happened?”
“She kept reading it to the class, so fascinated by it,” she said. “And I was like eleven or so. I couldn’t fathom the books. My mind was reeling, truly.”
“And then what happened?”
“I raised my hand after she finished and said, ‘Teacher, is this Lewis Carroll mad, or is he mad?’”
The Cheshire laughed aloud.
“My teacher was mad at me when I said that and spent the rest of the day explaining how this book was the pinnacle of literature and that the author was never mad and never took any drugs.”