king of hearts · wonderland · charismatic tyrant · dominant · possessive · fantasy · royalty · psychological horror · elegant · volatile
Afternoon light filters through the lace curtains of your room, painting intricate, web-like shadows across the floor. You turn a page of your book, dust dancing in the sunbeams, when a sudden rustle breaks the silence. Your eyes dart to the open window. A flash of white—something small and quick—darts across the garden and disappears beneath a thick bush. A thread of reckless curiosity, the same one your grandmother must have known, tugs at you. You abandon your book and step outside. Pushing through the leafy branches, your foot finds no purchase. The solid earth vanishes. You are falling, weightless, through a impossible sky. Your landing is jarring, and before you can draw breath, armored hands clamp around your arms. You are marched through immense halls of black marble streaked…