Alyss said nothing.

“People sometimes come here and wait for the return of those who’ve fallen in. They cry and let their tears drop into the water. That’s how it got its name.”

Alyss stared down at the water. It wasn’t fair. How could the world be so sad on her birthday? She tried to imagine what she’d do if Dodge or one of her parents fell into the Pool of Tears. What would life be like without them? But she couldn’t do it. Imagination failed her.

“We should go back,” Dodge said.

“Yes, yes,” said the trees and shrubs closest to them.

People would come looking for them, Alyss knew, maybe even Hatter himself. She could not escape being who and what she was.

“Maybe if we go back and act as though nothing has happened,” she said, “it’ll be like nothing did.” Dodge lent her his guardsman coat-no small gesture considering what it meant to him, Alyss knew. She

wore it over her head like a shawl to avoid being recognized by Wonderlanders, part of a disguise that

also included a caterpillar mask she imagined for herself.

To prevent Bibwit from tracking them, she and Dodge didn’t speak during the journey back to the palace-a journey that seemed much shorter than their escape had been. Sooner than soon, they were making their way along the row of glorious fountains that led up to the front gate. Alyss could see the iridescent Heart Crystal beyond the locked entrance, giving off its white clouds of imaginative energy.

“Meow.” A kitten with golden fur rubbed against her leg.

“Where did you come from?” She took the kitten in her arms. It wore a ribbon for a collar, and attached to the ribbon was a card with a simple greeting: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALYSS! “He knew me even through my disguise.”

“Who’s it from?” “It doesn’t say.”

Dodge looked around to see who might have been so generous, but of the many Wonderlanders enjoying the festivities outside the palace, no one paid them any attention.

“It’s smiling,” he said. “I didn’t know cats could smile.”

“He’s smiling because he’s happy to be with me.” Alyss wouldn’t put her new pet down.

The guards at the front gate recognized Dodge Anders but said that they couldn’t give entry to his friend without proper authority. Alyss took off her mask.

“Our humble apologies, Princess,” said the guards, promptly unbolting the gate. “We didn’t expect to see you. Beg your pardon.”

“I will pardon you on one condition,” Alyss announced. “You must tell no one that you saw me and

Dodge outside the palace. Can I rely on you to say nothing?” “Of course, Princess.”

“Not a word.”

The guards bowed. Alyss and Dodge entered the palace. Once the gate was locked behind them, the kitten jumped from the princess’ arms and bounded down the hall.

“Kitty, no!”

But the kitten ran and ran, as if it knew exactly where it was going and had things to do, appointments to keep. Which, in fact, it did.

Q UEEN GENEVIEVE slipped away to her private rooms for a moment’s rest, leaving the guests to occupy themselves. Without a word, Hatter Madigan followed and stood guard in the hall.

The queen’s quarters consisted of three interconnected salons. One of these was filled with overstuffed couches and giant pillows to swaddle Her Highness in lazy comfort; another was a dressing room, storehouse for the queen’s many royal outfits; and the third was a bathroom, outfitted with tasseled curtains made of a fabric more voluptuous than any found outside the queendom.

Genevieve studied her reflection in the bathroom looking glass. Her daughter’s birthday always made her feel old. It wasn’t very long ago that she herself had begun her training to become queen. She saw lines at the corners of her eyes and on both sides of her mouth that hadn’t been there a year earlier. It was a shame that imagination had its limits, that it could affect the physical realm only so far and she couldn’t imagine herself young again.

What was that smell? A familiar, spicy-sweet aroma. She saw a plume of blue smoke and followed it into the sitting room, where she found the blue caterpillar coiled dreamily around his hookah and puffing

away. Ordinarily, Genevieve would have been angry to discover anyone, let alone a giant larva, in her private sanctuary without having been invited. But the caterpillar was no ordinary giant larva. There were eight caterpillars in Wonderland, each a different color. They were the great oracles of the region, already old at the dawn of the queendom. They served the Heart Crystal and didn’t much care who occupied the throne so long as the crystal remained safe. It was said that they could see the future because they

refused to judge it, but lately more and more members of the suit families were shrugging off the caterpillars’ prophecies, claiming a reliance on them was nothing more than silly superstition, a remnant from more barbaric times. The caterpillars didn’t actively interfere in the workings of the government or in the rivalries among the suit families, but they weren’t above letting Genevieve glimpse the future if it concerned the safety of the Heart Crystal, so that she might take action to protect it.

“Thank you for coming today, Caterpillar,” she said. “It’s an honor to play host to one so wise. We are all humbly grateful-especially Alyss.”

“Ahem hum hum,” grumbled the caterpillar, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

The smoke formed the shape of a butterfly with extended wings, then metamorphosed into a confusion of scenes. Genevieve saw a large cat grooming itself. She saw what looked like a lightning bolt. She saw Redd’s face. Then the smoke again formed the shape of a butterfly. The butterfly folded its wings and Genevieve awoke on a couch with the smell of stale tobacco in her nostrils. The caterpillar was gone. Hatter Madigan and a walrus in a tuxedo jacket two sizes too small were standing over her.

“You must have fainted, madam,” said the walrus-butler. “I will get you some water, madam.” The walrus hurried out of the room. The queen remained silent for several moments, then- “The blue caterpillar was here.”

Hatter Madigan frowned and put a hand to the brim of his top hat. His eyes scanned the room. “I’m not quite sure what he showed me,” Genevieve said.

“I will inform General Doppelganger and the rest of the Millinery. We will prepare a defense for whatever’s coming.”

Just once, Queen Genevieve would have liked to relax the watchful vigilance she was forced to maintain every hour of every day to ensure Wonderland’s safety. The caterpillars’ prophecies were always so

vague. Sometimes their visions reflected only possibilities, the dark wishes of those who never planned to carry them out. But she couldn’t take a chance, not when it concerned Redd.

“Make sure not to alarm our guests,” she said. “Of course.” Hatter bowed and left the room.