Chapter 1: Beneath the Queen's Shadow

The flickering candles cast eerie shadows on the grimy stone walls of the castle's scullery, where Alice scrubbed pots and pans with a ferocity that belied her exhaustion. Her eyes, a deep shade of brown, seemed to hold a thousand midnights, and her raven-black hair was tied back in a messy knot, revealing a smudge of grime on her left cheek. She was just a young orphan, barely thirteen winters old, but her life had been one of endless toil and hardship as a scullery maid in the castle of Iracebeth, the tyrannical Queen of Hearts. As she worked, Alice's mind wandered to the world outside the castle walls, where the sun shone bright and the air was sweet with the scent of blooming flowers. She imagined what Wonderland could be, free from the Queen's iron-fisted rule. A place where creatures lived in harmony, where flowers bloomed in every color of the rainbow, and where laughter and joy filled the air. In her fantasies, the Queen's playing card soldiers marched to the beat of gentle music, and the Cheshire Cat's mischievous grin was a symbol of friendship and guidance. But those were just fantasies, and reality was far crueler. The Queen's rule was one of fear and intimidation, where a misplaced word or a careless glance could mean imprisonment, or worse. The Queen's temper was legendary, and Alice had been on the receiving end of it more times than she cared to remember. As she scrubbed a particularly stubborn stain, Alice's thoughts turned to her own past. She had no memories of her parents, only the faintest recollection of a warm, comforting presence that had been torn from her life far too soon. The castle's cook, a gruff but kind woman named Mrs. Jenkins, had taken Alice under her wing, teaching her the skills she needed to survive in the harsh world of the castle. But even Mrs. Jenkins' kindness couldn't shield Alice from the Queen's wrath. The Queen delighted in making Alice's life miserable, often summoning her to the throne room for no reason other than to berate her for some perceived slight. Alice had learned to move with caution, always mindful of the Queen's mercurial moods. As the night wore on, Alice's thoughts turned to the morrow. She had a feeling that the Queen would be in a particularly foul mood, and she steeled herself for the inevitable confrontation. She wondered what new cruelty the Queen had in store for her, and whether she would be able to endure it. Just then, a loud crash echoed from the kitchen, followed by the sound of the Queen's voice, shrill and angry. Alice's heart sank, and she knew that her imagined world of peace and harmony was about to be shattered once again. With a deep breath, she steeled herself for the trials that lay ahead, and stepped out of the scullery into the unknown.