White Rabbit Trials

One Alice turned the crisp page of the fragile book she held, her eyes quickly scanning the new page. The words pulling her deeper into a fantasy that she knew was not real, but she could always imagine. She had read this particular book a thousand times, though she never grew tired of it, even if she could recite every word perfectly.  The cover worn from her constant hold, and her fingers shaping carved into the pages. Alice looked up, the sun-kissed her tan skin, the warmth wrapping itself around her, similar to the cold touch of the shadows the tree provided. She sat alone on top of the hill, not too far from her family’s farm, a small place she could have to herself. The air around her seemed absent, then again, she would sometimes forget to breathe being unaware of her surroundings. If she wanted to look away from her book, she could see the horizon, that laid behind the quaint house that was hers; the mixed colors of blue, and white.  The hill sat upon a good amount of land that was her family’s farm, crops took up most of the sight that you could see from down below, it felt as though the crops were all that were there, even when comparing the small house to it. However when others saw the other farms in comparison you would realize how truly small this was, but to Alice, this was a sort of paradise for her. If you looked a little over you would see some farm animals that strolled through their small pens, enjoying a small life without any care, that is, until slaughter.  Alice looked back down to her book, once again entrapped by the words. “The masked man revealed his true face to the young village girl, with a gasp she had come to realize whom she had been meeting all this time- it was the kingdoms-” “Hey, there bookworm.” Alice jumped in surprise, barely even having noticed the shadow over her. When she looked up she found the owner of the voice that broke her from her little spell cast by the book. Peri, her cousin, stood over her, smiling brightly down at her, covering her from the sun, but it looked more as though he was shining. His face was covered in dirt, making his usual dark skin look a little lighter than usual. He brushed some of his dark hair away from his face, covered in a light sheen of sweat. “Thought I’d find you here.” Alice smiled back, questioning as to why Peri was looking for her, he only did when it was for help, reminding her to finish her chores, or someone was looking for her. The hill wasn’t so secretive that her family didn’t know where she went and it wasn’t as if they couldn’t come get her, however it seemed that only Peri was the only other person to enter her sanctuary freely. It was what made him her best friend on the farm even if they were cousins.  “Yep, you found me, what I’m curious about is why?” She joked, taking his outstretched hand to stand up, brushing off the stray blades of grass from her dress.  “Lunch is ready, Mom was calling for you for about ten minutes,” He said, scratching his nose, “didn't you hear her?” Alice thought for a second and thought that she had heard someone calling for her earlier, yet never even took notice. “Yeah, sorry I was distracted.” Peri rolled his eyes at her, unsurprised by her being distracted. It was normal for Alice to be a million miles away while reading a book, stuck in a little fantasyland, captive by the words on the page. Sometimes she was so deep in her own mind that her family would take away her book just to get her attention. She wasn’t intentionally distracted easily coming off even a little distant, she simply just found that reality was not as fun and harsher than ones she would read about. “Well, Mom said she wants you to come down and get your lunch, Dad also wants to talk to you about something.” He added a warning that meant their conversation topic was a little more serious.  “I see, well, best not to keep them waiting.” She said politely, already sliding down the hill without waiting for Peri. He called for her to wait quickly catching up. The walk to the house was not that far, but it was always bothersome to Alice having to walk around all the crops they had, especially since much of it was never sold and just used for themselves. Alice guessed she had to be thankful for that, never having to really go hungry, unlike others who did not, the only downside to it though was their living conditions. They were already restricted with where they could sell, and how much they were allowed to have, what they were allowed to have.  It all had to do with their status in the world, their ranking among the Hearts they were assigned at birth. Her family was mostly filled with those of single Hearts, Perri and his twin, Sherry, were lucky to be three Hearts, which entitled them to much more than a farming life. They could become merchants allowed to travel to the Country of Hearts, wouldn’t be able to sell much, and would even be the lowest of merchants, however, they would be able to live in better conditions and eat food that others grew. They were also allowed to go to school, to learn to read and write, something Alice was envious of.  Alice tried to be thankful for what she had, even if it was illegal for a Heartless to even be a farmer, but no one in Spade really cared. Or those who knew of her status. As a Heartless, she was branded an outcast at birth, born with nothing in her name and would die with nothing in her name. Her only options were to be either a slave or a prostitute, the bane of society as many would call them. She never met another Heartless and sometimes was glad she didn’t, scared of having to witness that pain that she should have to endure too.  She shivered involuntarily, wanting to rid herself of the thought.  When they reached the small worn down house, she saw some of the farmworkers who were of single Heart eating the food Aunt Viv made, looking at her with admiration. They lived in the old barn that was no longer in use, their family had to get rid of the animals since they weren’t making much profit off of them. It wasn’t very much, but at least it was something.  Their house was a quaint crooked one, it was more like a shack if anything and was in dire need of repair. The wood was rotting and decayed, years of dirt were soaked into the floors, the windows cracked allowing many different bugs to sneak their way in. It provided enough shade at just the right time of day, this was when the workers would have their small break, cooling down from the unrelenting heat the sun provided.  “Alice, there you are, wondered where you wandered off to again.” Aunt Viv laughed, holding up a tray with a single sandwich meant for her. It was probably something simple, Pb&J Alice guessed, one of her favorites.  Aunt Viv was a very voluptuous woman, her greying hairs tied tightly back into a bun, showing more of her round face that had wrinkles in all the right places. She was a large woman, even stronger than many men,but many other farmers told Uncle Tom how lucky he was to have caught Aunt Viv, for her renowned beauty that made other farmers’ wives envious. Aunt Viv never even took care of her looks that much, not when she was doing most of the housework, helping the workers in the fields, and cooking meals for almost 13 people. She was someone Alice admired because of how hard she tried, never once complaining.  “Sorry, I was-” “Reading, I know love, now take your lunch and go talk to your uncle, once you finish that, I have some things I want you to do.” Aunt Viv slid a stray strand from her face, smiling while handing Alice the sandwich. “It will be delivered to Miss Parley, along with Peri.” She stated, then turned to one of the workers- John, Alice thought his name was.  Alice did as she was told, and entered into the house, it wasn’t very hard to find Uncle Tom, he was seated alone at the small round dining table that nobody ever really used anymore. It was tucked next to the kitchen and the table held a vase of old daisies, long dead, and dirty water. It felt a little cooler inside, though the air was still. Uncle Tom was reading the newspaper that had arrived two days ago, his focus remained on a certain article, Alice wasn’t sure he even noticed her presence.  “Sit.” He motioned to the seat across from him, she did as she was told. He remained quiet and Alice observed his face, trying to think exactly how serious their talk would be. Uncle Tom was a very scrawny man, his face was always close to unreadable, barely ever showing emotion. His hair was white yet he himself didn’t look as old as he was, in fact, he looked fairly young. He was not as strong as Aunt Viv, while she was more brawns, he was the brains.  When he finally looked up, his gray eyes holding a sort of mischievous gleam behind them despite his blank face. “As you know,” He began, “The market is tomorrow.” A sense of dread went down Alice’s spine, she loathed the market. To be more specific it was certain people that she disliked there, wolves that would always prey on her when she went, out for her blood.  “Yeah, I know.” She replied, her voice even. “I’m going to be straightforward with you Alice, I want you to accompany me and Sherry tomorrow.”  It wasn’t too surprising, in fact, Alice had foreseen this when Uncle Tom called for her, though it didn’t stop from raking chills down her spine. “Sherry is good with heavy liftin’, selling our goods, natural even.” He complimented, a sense of pride showing in his voice.  “So why do you need me?” She questioned, not following along with him.  “Sherry is good, but she doesn’t attract customers, not like you Ally.” His voice softened when using the nickname she was given by the family. It was used to make her feel like she was a part of their home and one of them. Sometimes it did, she swelled with the pride of having it, most times, however, it didn’t close the gap she felt that was there.  “When foreigners come, they come looking for rare goods, for something unique and to stock back up on food.” He continued, “Even more so, they look for something that catches their attention right off the bat.” He set the paper down finally, showing the article that had his attention at full.  The headline read-  Royal Guard stationed in Spade. “The royal guard?” Alice thought to herself, curious and wary as to why they would be stationed in Spade. Most of the time only traveling merchants came, seeking out goods to buy, and selling goods from other countries to earn themselves a quick buck. However, for the Royal guard, for either the Queen of Heart’s, or the supreme Red Queen, to visit a poor country like Spade, was much too rare. Perhaps there was trouble at one of the capitols, or maybe even worse, a fugitive had escaped to Spade and they were looking for them.  Uncle Tom waited for Alice to slowly sort out her thoughts, allowing her to take in such news. Alice was no fool, and from this article, she had reached the same conclusion Uncle Tom was implying.  “I’m the eye-catcher?” She said, coming off as a question, seeming more to herself than him.  He nodded, “The royal guard is full of rich people Alice, each of them can afford to buy our small farm. We really need the money, the owner of the land is getting impatient waiting for our payment. Can’t afford to go another month without payin, there’s nowhere else to go.” His voice was solemn, his eyes downcast thinking of the outcome if they didn’t pay rent another month. The owner was generous enough to allow them to go this long, yet even generosity had its limits.  Alice didn’t like the market, everyone in the family could tell, even so, when they begged for her to go and help, they were always able to make enough money to survive. Sherry had teased Alice meany times upon this, insisting she used some sort of power to control them or brainwash them into buying the most useless things. Aunt Viv said it was because she was just stunningly beautiful. Alice doubted both, yet unsure as the reason for it herself. Beauty was not something she possessed and power was only for the highest in society.  Alice was only that.  Alice. She glanced at him, their eyes meeting, it was then Alice had agreed to go to the market. Her reasons for refusal were selfish and her family was ever so lenient with her in everyday life. She never did half the chores the others did, she received her own room when most of the workers slept in an old barn, and the twins shared a room.  “Thank you, Ally.” He gave her a warm loving smile, one Alice wished he showed more often. Uncle Tom wasn’t that type of man though. She smiled back and finally bit into her lunch.