“Y ou know who he is?” I glare at the Pillar.
“I wouldn’t have gone through this journey if I had, right?” the Pillar says. “He is trying to trick us for some reason.”
“Am I?” the voice says. “But hey, my name isn’t that important.”
“Then what’s important now?” I ask. “How could you have possibly arrived before us when it’s you who sent us to find Carroll’s Knight?”
“Believe me, dear Alice,” the Chessmaster says, “it never crossed my mind that this, the Chess City, is where the final chess game would take place.”
“Then why are you here?” I ask.
“I had you followed. It’s that simple. Millions of people all around the world were scared I’d kill their leaders and put their countries into an eternal sleep, so everyone in the world was practically helping me,” he explains. “Some reported seeing you in Tibet, a few spotted the poorly disguised balloon, and finally, a few residents in neighboring Kalmykia towns spotted you enter it.”
“So you’re as blind as us to where Carroll’s Knight is in this city?” I ask.
“Not quite that blind,” the Chessmaster says. “Bear in mind that Lewis Carroll was something of a genius, having made the clues lead you here to a city that may also be a portal to Wonderland.”
A light bulb suddenly flickers in my head. Is it possible that the March Hare knew about the whereabouts of Carroll’s Knight all along? But that’s impossible. I know he likes me and wouldn’t keep such a thing from me. He is just a child inside a man, designing Wonderland-themed gardens and cities, wanting to go back to relive his childhood.
It was all Lewis’s planning. But why?
“But you must have known something,” the Pillar challenges him.
“Not until an hour ago, when I found out the clues led you here. I had my men search the empty city and found a few of Carroll’s lost diaries.”
“In this city?” I say. “What’s in the diaries?”
“The diaries don’t exactly point to where I can obtain Carroll’s Knight, but they tell of a great secret.”
“Spit it out!”
“It has to do with the chessboard you’re standing on,” the Chessmaster says.
“The one the Pillar accidentally activated,” I remark.
“Nah, he didn’t,” the Chessmaster says. “That was a joke I made up. Nothing activates it, and the fake earthquake is part of the March Hare’s nonsensical and absurd design, having planned Chess City to become another Wonderland. It’s all done with the touch of the button.”
“Never mind all that,” the Pillar says. “What did you discover about the chessboard?”
“Ah, this will really amuse you.” The Chessmaster laughs. “You see, each piece you found is connected to some of your beloved Wonderland characters. The white queen piece was connected to Fabiola, the rook to the Duchess, and the black queen to the Queen of Hearts.”
“Is that why Fabiola was poisoned?” the Pillar asks.
“Exactly,” the Chessmaster says. “At first, I thought this was how Lewis Carroll protected Wonderlanders from me. As Death, I’ve always been puzzled about my inability to kill Wonderlanders. Turns out Lewis protected most of you with a spell that demanded he created chess pieces from his bones and hide them all over the world.”
The Pillar and I exchange glances. So this was why Lewis made that chessboard. It explains why the Chessmaster asked him about the chess pieces the day he took his life. Lewis really cared for the Wonderlanders, though he knew most of them were monsters.
“But I wasn’t quite right,” the Chessmaster says. “Each time both of you found a piece, a Wonderlander seemed to be dying, while in reality they were only poisoned, and some mysterious army of black men brought them to me.”
“Not much of a difference,” I remark, “because I assume you killed them when they arrived. My God, you killed Fabiola, the Duchess, and the Queen. Soon you will kill each of us, once you find the chess piece we’re connected to.”
I close my eyes, clench my teeth, and feel like I could kick myself for being so stupid. This is why the Queen was afraid of the Chessmaster. He is no Wonderlander. He is no Inkling. No Black Chess. But he is the one capable of ending the Wonderland Wars before they start, because he is about to kill us all right now.