GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
“W here is Alice?” Carolus’ face twitched.
“Calm down,” the Queen told him, not facing him but the presidents of the world from behind the curtain overlooking the huge meeting room. “She is on her way. Besides, didn’t I give you a Lullaby pill?”
“It was just one pill. Not enough.”
“Well, then save your anger for Alice when she arrives. I have no idea why everyone is so interested in this girl.”
“Because she is the Real Alice.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Who else would walk around trying to save the world?” Carolus said. “It must be her.”
“That’s the Pillar’s doing. He wants something from her, probably the whereabouts of the keys. That’s all. She isn’t Alice.”
“She must be.” Carolus’ head ached. His jaw looked tense.
“I think you should wait in the other room for her to arrive,” the Queen said. “You can’t show up at the meeting anyway. Everyone knows you’re the madman with the hookahs.”
“Not even when Alice arrives?”
“You can do whatever you want to her when she comes, but not in the meeting room. I need the press to document and videotape the presidents swearing and humiliating each other when the tea’s effect begins. Wait for her when she leaves the room. I’ll get my guards to help you catch her.”
“I don’t need your guards. You don’t know what my plan is.”
“I surely don’t.” The Queen rolled her eyes. Lewis’s split persona had always been cuckoo in the head. “And I don’t want to. All I care about is seeing the presidents clash against one another.”
“Good luck with that.” Carolus turned around.
“Wait,” the Queen said. “I just need to make sure we understand each other, that what you told me about the plague is true, or my plan will be useless.”
“I told you the truth.”
“’The ‘truth’ is not the best word to use on this occasion.”
“Rest assured. What I told you about the plague is a fact. You go rule the world while I get Alice.”
“Agreed.” The Queen rubbed her hands and entered the meeting.
Once she got inside, a butler offered her tea.
“I don’t need tea,” she mumbled, sitting down. “Do I look like I need to tell the truth?”
The butler, who was Indian, walked away confused, cursing those arrogant English people who’d wrongfully occupied his land for years. He suddenly realized how much he despised them.
The Queen of Hearts smiled, listening to his mumbling. Good. The Tea of Truth was working.